I straightened the collar of my suit, and checked the time. Those massive doors beckoned me to enter with as much bravery that I was prepared to muster. No more games, no more dawdling. Time to present my case.
I entered the courtroom. Or rather, it was really just Twilight’s throne room modified into a court, complete with rows of seats for an audience as well as a jury, and a stand for those who wanted to present evidence. The purple alicorn was in her seat at the end of the room. Surprisingly, she chose to remain her regular-sized self. Thank goodness for that. As well as the fact that I was the first to arrive. I took my seat in the front row of the bleachers, and she looked at me with a small smile and a nod.
I nodded in return. It was showtime.
Corkscrew showed up second, and sat beside me. When I asked him where Quick Draw was, he said that she decided to stay home to hold the fort. Made sense. At least I had one of my crew members with me on this case.
When the clock struck twelve, the room filled with ponies, some changelings, a dragon or two, and a few griffons. Wait, there were even some batponies in attendance as well? Nice. A small selection of them were reporters. I could tell from the hats, notebooks, and other items they wore. Others were regular civilians on duty.
One of them in particular, Agent Sweetie Drops--aka Bon Bon--shot me a look, and hid her face beneath her hat. I remembered from my time within her monster hunting team, that that gesture was a code. To signal, ‘if anything goes wrong, I’m here.’ Nice to see she didn’t forget me, even if I didn’t remain there very long. Other familiar faces such as Tree Hugger, Moondancer, Celestia, and Luna were also there. Though, the alicorns were seated far in the rear seats to keep everypony from being distracted by their presence.
Once the congregation seats were filled, the jury would enter their seats in their respective stands. Among them would be relatively important, and noteworthy figures. These included Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, Chancellor Neighsay, Shining Armor, the former Dragon Lord Ember, Mayor Mare, and a tall, muscular female Griffon. Wait, was that Gilda?
It seems the jury was evenly divided. Three who supported my case, three who were against my case, and a wild card in Gilda who was unbiased. Made sense to me.
Everything was in order, and Twilight spoke. “Thank you all for coming. I know this might be a tad awkward since this is the first trial I’ve held as a princess. Even so, I will do my best to ensure all sides are properly heard and analyzed before a conclusion is reached.” She addressed the audience with a sense of order in her voice. I liked that. The purple alicorn wasn’t as passive as her sunlit predecessor. “We are gathered here today on behalf of an individual who wants to extend a hoof of friendship as well as a second chance to one individual: Cozy Glow.”
Soft murmurs and opinions washed over the crowd once everyone heard the name. They were silenced when Twilight cleared her throat.
“Ahem. In accordance with my new laws, the pony--or creature of another species--who called for the trial shall make his--or her--case first,” she raised her hoof, and pointed directly at me. “Pale Vestige. Please stand up, and make your opening statement to the congregation. After which, counterpoints will be issued by members of the jury, then a short recess. Next, opinions will be given by the court, followed by closing statements from all sides. You may begin.”
I exhaled, and stood up. It was now or never. I opened my vest, and reached into it to grab a little device that Flash Drive made for me. A pop-up easel to present evidence upon. “Fillies and gentlecolts of the world. I ask you. What is the magic of friendship?” I placed a large, ringed binder on the easel for visual aid.
No response, but given that it was rhetorical, I didn’t expect one.
I opened the binder to an image of a certain being of chaos. “Time and time again, there have been countless enemies that have been redeemed into the side of good. Such as Discord, Sunset Shimmer, and even Starlight Glimmer,” I said each name and flipped through the binder to images of each individual that I mentioned. “Not to mention, they have caused nearly as much damage as Cozy Glow did. ‘But Pale,’ I hear many of you ask, ‘didn’t Cozy Glow nearly destroy the entire planet?’ True. Yes. However, she had assistance. On her own, she wasn’t even that much of a threat. But it was thanks to Discord setting her free along with Tirek and Chrysalis, that she was able to take control of Grogar’s Bell, and take away the magic of the alicorns, and Discord himself!”
The ponies in the crowd started to mumble amongst themselves.
“One time!” I heard the draconequus shout from the back.
Fluttershy immediately scolded him with her trademark stare. “Quiet.”
“Ahem,” I cleared my throat to get everyone’s attention once more. “With that being said, it can be argued that if she weren’t banished to Tartarus in the first place, she wouldn’t have been able to ally herself with the other villains, and thus, she wouldn’t have tried to destroy the world.” I pointed to the former alicorns who sat in the back, then Twilight herself. “Except all of you decided to put her there immediately. That is the exact problem with the way things were run in this land. You all shot magic at a problem and just hoped it would go away. Guess what? It didn’t. Instead, you essentially created your own monster by doing so.”
The crowd started to mumble amongst themselves more loudly this time. It was hard to make out just what they were saying, but I could tell I stirred something up. Even Luna and Celestia looked on at me with unfazed expressions. As if to encourage me to continue. To my right, in the jury stands, I noticed Starlight blush at the mention of her past.
“Order!” Twilight used her magic to slam a small wooden hammer against a wooden disk that she placed upon her throne. “Always wanted to do that.” “Continue, Pale.”
I tipped my hat. “Thank you. Now with that being said, I do not condemn everyone for doing what they did. It’s within your nature to react rashly to such powerful enemies. But I am here to explain how we can improve,” I flipped the page to an artistic drawing of a young Sombra. “Sombra was once an individual who lived among the ponies like everyone else. But he was shunned for being different. With nopony else to turn to or to take care of, he lashed out and started an entire war that damned the Crystal Empire for a thousand years. But it all started because nopony gave him a chance. Similarly to Cozy, Sombra had no sign of any parents or any family to be there for him. Radiant Hope was the only one to bother, and in doing so, she lost her life alongside him. We need to be more understanding and take care of each other or else we’ll have yet another self-made apocalypse bringer in the next thousand years. And that starts by showing that everyone has the ability to make amends for their actions. No matter how horrible they may seem on the surface.”
With my statement finished, I returned to my seat in the front row next to Corkscrew. I exhaled, and he gave me a reassuring pat on the back. Twilight would address the congregation next.
“Thank you for your statement, Pale. Now for the counterarguments. Who would like to go first?”
I watched as Starlight got up from her seat. “Alright then...first off. Pale Vestige. Can you please step into the witness stand?”
She wanted to question me. Alright, then. I would do my best to respond to whatever she had to say. I got up, and took my seat in the stand beside Twilight’s throne.
“Okay. Firstly, I would like to express how thoughtful it is for you to do something like this. Nopony else would’ve taken the time to risk debating in favor of one of Equestria’s most dangerous enemies…” she totted towards me with a binder of her own to showcase her own set of evidence. “And I also respect your perspective regarding how Cozy Glow was treated.”
Gah. I hated this approach. Butter the witness/suspect up with a compliment, only to destroy their argument. Effective, but a painful sort of roundabout way of dealing with someone.
“However…”
And there it was. Just get to the point.
“I want to talk about what led up to it,” she opened her binder to show off several images of Cozy at the School of Friendship, “Cozy Glow came to the School as a lonesome student. She earned the trust and friendship of everypony in the class. Chief of which being Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom,” she pointed at the young mares who sat in the congregation together, “And we gave her that trust. But the very moment she tried to take over the School, she burned that trust.” She showed another image of the filly as she attempted to take over the school with the power of the magic of the alicorns she had stolen.
I knew this very well. And already had a counterpoint ready. But I didn’t say a word.
“I get that you take pity on her. But somepony so powerful...she couldn’t be allowed to remain here. Tartarus was the only place that we could reasonably put her at that moment in time.” She sighed, and looked down. “I was in her shoes too once...in a way. Everypony knows about the village that I enslaved for my own selfish actions. And to this day, I regret it. The power of cutie marks was not something to trifle with.”
That was an understatement. But once again, I looked on and watched silently as she made her points.
“But what Cozy Glow did was different. The power of the alicorns was something that nopony had ever come close to damaging. Let alone absorbing. So when she did that, not only did she commit an atrocity of the highest power, but she also threw away all of the friendships she had built up to that point,” she turned to face the congregation. “Not just the Crusaders, but all of the students who had truly desired to be her friend. She readily tossed away everything she had all for nothing but power just like Chrysalis did. I offered her a hoof in friendship, and she denied it outright. So I ask you all, does that sound like somepony that can be trusted? Does this look like somepony that wants to make amends?” On the next page of her binder, Starlight showed off the...admittedly dreadful looking alicorn form that Cozy Glow took when she absorbed power. I couldn’t stand the sight of it myself either.
The audience went mad with mumbles and chatter. To the point where Twilight had to slam her little hammer again. “Order!” After which, she addressed Starlight. “Do you have more to add?”
“Yes, Princess Twilight. I do, in fact,” she answered boldly. “Or rather, Sunburst does. Would you be so kind?” She went and returned to her spot in the jury.
“Not a problem,” the yellow unicorn said with a nod. He rose from his seat, and stepped out in front of the crowd. “Greetings, everypony. As you know, I am the Vice Principal of the School of Friendship alongside Starlight, and--”
A voice rose out of the crowd. “That’s my boy!” Stellar flare waved from her seat.
“Blech.” Sunburst sighed, and continued. “Anyway, in reference to you specifically.” He turned to me, “Pale Vestige. What is your reasoning for this? Just why do you want to give Cozy Glow another chance when nopony else will?”
“Well, it’s simple. I too was nearly a victim of the ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ mentality that plagues this society. Much like Sombra, and Cozy...I felt the need to attack and provoke others to prove myself. I didn’t have anypony significant in my life.” I hated to do this, but now was the time to lay it all out on the table. “My parents separated when I was young. My mother was a deceitful, horrid lady who abused the money my father made. In turn, my father became aggressive, bitter, and they fought frequently to the point of them both leaving. Mother claimed it was because Father was always this way, and Father refused to explain anything. I knew they were both lying to make the other look worse, so there was nothing I could do.”
There was some more mumbling within the crowd, but I didn’t address it. I simply continued to explain how I came to be where I was.
I took a deep breath, and went on. “And so, I grew up in Manehattan with no one to watch out for me. Bullied constantly. Until one day...I snapped. I simply acted out of pure rage, and fought whoever I could. Constantly got into trouble, and did nothing but bring about chaos out of fear.” I laughed to myself a little. “Wasn’t until somepony intervened and saved my life that I was able to turn it around. I want to do the same for Cozy. Pure and simple.”
A few members of the congregation shed tears at my story. This is why I despised bringing it up. It didn’t feel right to make everyone listen to my problems. Sunburst, meanwhile, kept his professionalism.
“Ahem,” he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “That’s...quite the interesting background you have there, sir. Now I see why you’re so passionate about this. However, there’s still another problem.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”
He looked up to me, speaking with a more focused tone than before. “Do you truly see yourself as qualified enough to watch over somepony such as her? Someone so willing to cast aside everything she had worked up for just to have a chance at watching the world burn? I ask this because--and forgive me for saying so--but just how do you expect to reform somepony like that if Twilight and her friends--who are the Elements of Harmony--couldn’t?”
The crowd started to speak amongst themselves yet again. I suppose that was one strain of context I had not considered. I wasn’t some lucky being blessed with demi-god abilities and able to handle anything that the world throws at me. “...You’re right. I’m not as powerful as they are. But I have complete control over my own skills, and know what I can do.”
“That’s all well and good. And I’m sure you’re very competent at your job. But something like this is simply beyond your...everything. And I don’t mean any personal offense, but I’m trying to get you to understand. You’re biting off far more than you can chew with this, sir.”
Maybe I was. I wouldn’t know until I actually tried, didn’t I? “Possible. But sharks are born swimming, you know.”
“Hmph.” With nothing left to say for the moment, Sunburst backed away. “That is the end of my statement, Princess,” he announced before he went back to his seat.
Twilight sighed from above. I could see that this topic weighed heavily upon her shoulders. It wouldn’t be a problem that could be logically computed like many others. This would take some time before she could give a final word.
She wiped away a bit of sweat from her forehead. “Alright, in accordance with the rules that I have set in place, everypony is now allowed to take five minutes to think about the statements before the trial resumes. Feel free to speak among yourselves.”
And like a classroom without its teacher, the congregation began to lightly chatter among itself.
I seized this opportunity to get some air. I left the courtroom, and exhaled. The quiet of the hallway was calming and helped bring down my nerves. This was stressful. We just started and I was already losing it? No...I can’t. Not here.
“Hey man.”
I physically jumped up, and relaxed when I saw who it was. “Oh...Tree Hugger. Was there something you needed?”
“Nah, I’m good. But I can tell you’re super jazzed out right about now.”
Understatement. I rolled my eyes in response. “Yeah...well, I’m starting to freak out a little. Don’t mind me--” I was cut off.
The green mare cupped my cheeks within both of her hooves. “You just gotta chill, bro. Every little thing is gonna be alright. No matter what happens, I’m here for ya.”
I had to admit, her half-lidded, mellow gaze was very comforting. Even without her brownies, Tree Hugger was a very supportive pony, and I couldn’t thank her enough for it. “Heh...thanks, Tree,” I said as I breathed in and out in a slow fashion. But when I did, I could swear for a fleeting moment that I felt something sneak past us both. Or was my mind playing tricks on me? Hmmm...
“Thaaaat’s it,” she let my cheeks go, and pulled me in for a hug. “We got two minutes until things start up again. Do your best out there, and don’t let anypony jack up your groove. You dig?”
“Yup...I dig, Tree. I most certainly dig.”
With a smile, she left, and re-entered the courtroom. I soon followed, and took my seat next to Corkscrew.
“You okay, boss?”
“More than you know, kiddo. Let’s get this done.”
Twilight slammed her tiny hammer once more to quiet the chatter. “Order! We will now hear the thoughts of the members of the assembly, and move onto the closing statements from all sides before a ruling is made. Who would like to speak first?”
Hang on, was that...I knew it. My instincts were right. Before anyone in the room could say anything...time froze. Everyone around me stopped and was frozen in some sort of magic spell that prevented them from being able to move, speak, or understand anything going on around them.
Everyone except me.
I waved my hoof in front of Corkscrew’s eyes to no reaction. “Huh?” I got up, and looked around. Everyone including the alicorns were stuck in a time-stopping spell.
“I told you that you should have dropped this, Pale.”
My heart sank, and I shut my eyes when I heard that familiar voice. “I wanted to deny this being the truth. I never wanted it to be true. And yet…”