//------------------------------// // Episode 3: "Judgment at Canterlot, Part 3" // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 14 // by twilightsparkle3562 //------------------------------// … … Previously on "My Little Pony" … … Twilight: "Each of your recent crimes against Equestria, dating back to my brother's wedding to Princess Cadence, warrants a sentence of life imprisonment in Tartarus or even a death sentence. Knowing you three, you would have fought the charges in a court of law and yet…you admit to your guilt. What is your confession behind this?" Chrysalis: "Grogar was worse than any of us combined." Rarity: "Tell us something, Queen Chrysalis, do you love Tirek or not?" Discord: "Grogar, once the ruler of Equestria, treated like a common criminal. How does it feel?" Grogar: "I will never surrender or bow to Princess Twilight and her friends!" Rainbow Dash: "Are you going to believe this?! I mean, Chrysalis, TIrek and Cozy Glow as one big family? I sense something fishy going on here! What if this is all just another ploy or trick?" Twilight: "If they say they love each other, then I believe them." Tempest Shadow: "There is something that I think you should all see! It's on Cozy Glow's back!" Twilight: "We, the six princesses of Equestria, sentence you to time served in Tartarus for your crimes against Equestria, as well as probation for life." Applejack: "Tempest, what is it?" Tempest Shadow: "It's Lavan, the fire demon. He's been found in a cell at the kingdom of the distant lands…Him and a zebra, dead." … … "Dead?!" Twilight asked her royal guard captain in a shocked voice. "What do you mean Lavan is dead?" "Him and his zebra friend," Tempest answered. "In a cell where Grogar had his operations." Twilight rose to her hooves at the shock of this development that an ally of Grogar's was found dead. Immediately, she began to suspect that this was no ordinary death. "Show him to me." She demanded, much to the shock of her fellow princesses! "But Twilight," Spike protested as he grabbed onto her left wing. "You can't leave now, you're on detox!" "I'll be back soon, Spike," Twilight retorted, pulling her wing away. "If Gentle Breeze or Gentle Gust ask any questions, tell them I had to deal with an emergency! I promise, I'll be careful. But this can't wait. If it was an assassination, I might have to change security detail before any more targets are eliminated." "Twi, yer gonna have to reconsider what you're doin'! Please! Let one of us go instead!" Applejack added in a concerned voice. But Twilight wasn't hearing any of it. "As the supreme princess of Equestria, I have to tend to any national security emergencies. I appreciate your concern, but this is something I must do alone," Taking off her crown and placing it on the table, she looked at her royal guard captain. "Wait here." She instructed to her friends and, casting a teleportation spell, followed Tempest out of the suite. Once Twilight was gone, the rest of her friends and fellow princesses could only look at each other. "Hey, don't come to me if she ends up back in magic kindergarten!" Spike remarked as the others glared at him. "I don't care what she says, she's not doing this without me! I'll never be able to live with myself if anything bad happened to her because I wasn't there." He followed the trail Twilight and Tempest had left behind from afar. … Teleporting, Twilight and Tempest found themselves in the distant lands where several pony soldiers scoured the area for any evidence that could be used against Grogar. Making their way to the main entrance of the castle, they approached a guardspony who saluted them. "Your highness." The guard greeted as she dropped her salute. "Where are the bodies?" Twilight asked. "In the dungeons," The guard answered, directing Twilight and Tempest to a group of pony soldiers as they made their way into said dungeons. But just as Twilight was making her way down, she saw another group of pony soldiers digging up what appeared to be a shallow grave. "That's where the Storm King is, your majesty. What's left of him anyway." Hearing this caused Tempest to make her way over to the grave of her former superior and Twilight followed. "Back away, back away now!" Tempest barked, motioning for the pony soldiers to get back from the grave. "Who said you can dig here?! Get back! I wanna see that scum regardless of what condition his remains are in!" Looking down at the grave, Tempest saw what appeared to be a skull and several bones in the form of a satyr. Kneeling, Tempest used her broken horn to pick up the Storm King's skull. "So this is what happened to him after we fought?" Tempest whispered in a hushed and angry voice, holding the skull in her unstable aura. "He was buried here. Pathetic." A hint of anger and disappointment befell Tempest as she studied the skull, before placing it on the improvised tombstone. "Tempest, I…" Twilight tried to console the broken horned unicorn. "-You better not look, Princess," Tempest ordered to Twilight, stopping her from walking any further. "It's apparent that Grogar murdered him. He should have been legally executed for his crimes by Equestria's hooves! Forget the trial, we all know he's guilty! Why give him a chance to plead otherwise?!" All she could do was lower her head in disbelief, not getting herself the chance to finish off her false hero that would never have given her horn back. "Alas, pitiful Storm King," Tempest declared. "I knew him, Princess Twilight, a creature of false promises. How sad to see that this is how it all ended for him. I should've been the one to kill him! He had it coming!" "Of course you knew him," Twilight replied. "And enemy or no enemy, Grogar will be charged with many counts of murder as long I have anything to say about it. It'll be on the long list of charges he's already facing. And with evidence like this, there's no chance he'll escape conviction. At last, this long national nightmare will come to an end." Rising to her hooves, Tempest reluctantly realized she could only focus on the job at hoof. She needed to escort Twilight to the bodies of Lavan and Zeb. "You two," She said to several pony guards. "I want these remains placed in evidence bags, understood?" The guards gave a silent salute to let her know they had heard her command. Leaving the guards to do what needed to be done, Tempest and Twilight proceeded to the dungeons and lo and behold, they saw the bodies of the Lava Demon and his Zebra bretherton, covered by a blue tarp with crime scene markings next to the tarps. "Remove the tarps," Twilight ordered and the guards complied. "I want to see them for myself." Doing as they were told, the guards removed the tarps and there, lying on his back was the body of Lavan the Lava Demon. And lying on his side was the body of Zeb the Zebra. Bending down, Twilight looked down at the body of Lavan and saw what appeared to be tear stains streaking down his face, his eyes opened in shock and fear and his mouth opened in equal manner. "Chirin just added another charge to his crimes," Twilight whispered. "From the looks of it, he had a spear placed in Lavan's throat as well as Zeb's throat." "Your highness, you should return to the hospital." Tempest advised. "Not yet, Tempest," Twilight replied to her captain. "I want these bodies removed and disposed of in a dignified manner." All the guards could do was cover the bodies with her magic once more. Meanwhile, all Tempest could do was sit in reflection, remembering how these were the two enemies she'd fought to obtain her captainship within Twilight's ranks. "Princess Twilight," The guardspony from earlier spoke, holding what appeared to be a blood stained spear to her. "We found this in the moat." Chirin was trying to dispose of his actions," Twilight murmured to herself, before turning to Tempest. "Tempest, I want this spear examined. See if Lavan and Zeb's blood is on it. If it is, then Grogar probably stuck them both with it. No other creature would do such a thing." "Forgive me, Princess, but what about King Sombra? Surely, he could be responsible for this just as much?" Tempest proposed. At that, an idea came into Twilight's head as to whether Grogar acted alone or he had personal help. She knew Sombra would have something to say and was going to get the information she sought out of him. Unknown to Twilight or Tempest, Spike had seen and heard everything from afar. He had arrived just in time to see the bodies be carried out. Despite what he'd been a witness to since the war with Grogar had begun, the little dragon still became sick to his stomach witnessing such gastly scenes of carnage. … … Returning to Canterlot hospital, Twilight and Tempest teleported and thankfully saw that Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze were nowhere to be found. "What is that?!" Fluttershy cried in dismay as she saw the blood stained spear Tempest had taken possession of.. "Girls," Twilight somberly informed (she wasn't aware that Spike had only just snuck back in ahead of her). "I have learned that the Storm King, Lavan and his accomplice Zeb were all murdered on Grogar's orders. And this spear may prove it." "That's not ketchup or tomato sauce on the spear is it?" Pinkie Pie gulped. "It's blood," Twilight declared. "Supposedly both the blood of Lavan and Zeb, the real ones." "I was afraid you'd say that." Pinkie replied and turned away in disgust. "But Zeb wasn't cloned," Spike spoke up. "Don't you remember, Twilight?" "Of course he wasn't," Twilight remarked. "But either way, Grogar should be charged with three more counts of murder." "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed while waving her forelegs from side to side. "You want to charge goat boy with three more counts of murder?! Why not just leave him with the charges that he has? I mean, he's already got enough charges against him, right? Is it really necessary to add more when he's already likely to get the harshest sentence as it is?" But Twilight wasn't going to back down easily on Rainbow's suggestion. "These charges for the sake of history, so that all will know the depths of Grogar's cruelty and why it cannot be tolerated," Then, turning to the broken horned unicorn behind she declared. "Tempest, I want to personally question King Sombra on his possible involvement in what happened in the distant lands." "Why would you want to bring him into the picture, Twilight? Hasn't he caused enough trouble as it is?" Spike remarked. "And why would he admit to anything? Unlike Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow he has no reason to turn on Grogar. He stood by Grogar until the end." "Knowing Sombra, I'm not taking any chances," Twilight declared. "I wouldn't put murder past him, especially if he thought he could pin on Grogar in the hopes of getting away with it," And she instructed. "Tempest, bring King Sombra here to me right now!" Gulping nervously, Tempest wanted to protest her present thoughts on Twilight's suggestion, but found that she couldn't. Nothing she could think of sounded at all like a reasonable objection. So, doing as she was told, she teleported back to the dungeons of Canterlot castle and made her way over to the cell containing Grogar's second-in-command. "Stand down," Tempest ordered to the two ponies standing guard before banging on the cell door. "Sombra! King Sombra! Come forward!" Tempest heard nothing and the more she waited, the more irritable she became. In her mind, she didn't want to bring Sombra to her princess, but she had very little choice. "King Sombra, Princess Twilight wishes to question you! Show yourself!" Sitting on his prison bed, Sombra turned to Tempest and silently glared at her with an evil stare. It seemed for a moment that he knew what he was about to be questioned on. "Does she now?" He casually remarked. "Why?" "Because she does. I don't have to tell you anything," Tempest retorted before turning to the guards. "Open the cell door and bring chains. Don't let him out of your sight no matter what!" "Chains? My my, aren't we a little formal?" Sombra replied in a mocking voice. "What makes you decide such things?" "So you don't do anything stupid, that's why," Tempest declared as the guards brought in some long chains to place on Sombra. "Two of your comrades were found dead in the distant lands and I think Princess Twilight knows who's responsible." Before Sombra could speak, the deposed king of the Crystal Empire was forced to his hooves and placed in chains, then forced to walk towards Tempest. "Is there a cage that is available?" Tempest asked one of the guards, who nodded in reply that there was. "Bring it here," Then, she turned back to Sombra. "Time to pay Princess Twilight a visit. I'd consider my next options carefully if I were you." … … It was late at night by the time that Sombra was brought to Canterlot Hospital. Once again, the hospital was placed on lockdown to prevent Sombra from escaping or doing something that would help him escape. Approaching the royal suite, Tempest ordered the two guards standing guard to stand down. "Open the door." Tempest ordered and they complied. As Twilight and her friends watched, Sombra was brought into the hospital room, shackled and caged while all he could do was growl and snarl at his enemies who gave equally angry glares in return. "So, we meet again, Sombra," Twilight declared before turning to her captain. "Tempest, stand guard and don't let anypony or anycreature in or out of this hospital without my permission!" "Yes, your highness." Tempest saluted and departed the room to keep watch over the hospital as a whole. Once the door was closed, Twilight and her friends circled the cage, demanding to know the whole truth about what happened to Lavan and Zeb. "Do you know why you are here, Sombra?" Twilight asked. "Well, do you?!" "Because we lost the war and I assume that I will be hanged," Sombra answered in a mocking tone of voice. "Is that it?" "Try again, King of Nothing!" Rainbow Dash mocked, much to Sombra's irritation. "We brought you here because of something else!" "This is because of that treacherous fool, Lavan and his donkey friend isn't it?" Sombra correctly guessed. "I should have known that you would want to charge me with murder. You think I had something to do with it, don't you?" Holding the spear in her aura, Twilight approached the cage and placed the spear between the bars. "Do you recognize this, Sombra?" She asked, showing the blood stained tip of the spear to Sombra's face. "Two of your comrades were killed by it!" "Of course I recognize it. It's a spear, isn't it? Anyone could have been stabbed by it," Sombra rolled his eyes. "It doesn't prove I did anything you say I did. And it also doesn't prove Grogar did it either. They could've killed each other, deciding to save face instead of snitching on Grogar. Ever think of that?" "We believe that Zeb and Lavan were stabbed with this spear by someone who wanted them dead. And you are going to tell us if they were indeed stabbed or not, and if so by who." Rarity demanded "Or what? Are you going to blast me with another blast of your rainbow magic?" Sombra snickered and smirked. Sombra felt a beat of his cage as Pinkie Pie struck with a pair of drumsticks. "Hey, I can make a xylophone out of this cage," Pinkie laughed. "I can do this all night. So if you want it to stop, you better start answering our questions. Unless, of course, you like my little concert." "Sombra, we are not messing around," Twilight firmly demanded. "Did you or Grogar use this spear to kill Lavan and Zeb?" "That creature tried to burn down Equestria with his partner, and you still sympathize with him?" Sombra remarked, producing a mocking smile on his face. "Gosh, I'm so touched. Almost breaks my heart to think you believe I'm a cold blooded killer. It's Grogar you're after, I'm just a mere accomplice of his. How should I know what he wanted me to do with Lavan and Zeb or what he had planned for them?" "Watch it, Sombra!" Twilight snapped. "You do realize that this is a murder charge that could fall on you, right? If we run tests and find it's your hoofprints on the spear, you'll be charged with murder and left to the same fate as Grogar. Or is that what you want?" "Why are you getting so hung up on a measly little spear?" Sombra growled. "Does it look like I am responsible?" "Stop toying around with us, Sombra!" Twilight demanded. "You would do anything to win Grogar's respect even if it meant killing. Did you hold onto this spear and kill them? Answer my question!" "To answer your question," Sombra casually remarked. "Yes, I did. By my emperor's orders." Sickened by Sombra's attitude, Spike rose to the air and stared down at the creature that he defeated in the Crystal Empire. "You've got some nerve, Sombra," Spike growled quietly. "Consider yourself charged with two counts of murder, you fiend." "So what? The work is done, isn't it?" Sombra coldly retorted. "Get him out of here!" Applejack cried as Twilight gapsed As tears began to form in her eyes, Twilight could only be relieved that she had finally gotten her answer, All Sombra could do was smile happily at the sobbing Twilight, grateful that he had toyed with her mind. Nevertheless, he had been charged with murder and would soon meet his own fate with the other accused. … …