Starlight Glimmer:
A few more days come and go after the new revelation that Noah wasn’t the first human to visit Equestria. Everycreature on the School of Friendship staff is now confident that this discovery will prove to be the ace in the hole for Twilight when she testifies in the Bridle hearing today! Noah and I are currently in the air, en route to the Horseshoe building in Canterlot. I spent the past few days giving Princess Twilight some debating lessons. To be honest, it felt kind of weird to be the one teaching her, since usually, I am the pony who learns from her; not the other way around!
What I am most impressed about is how much progress my rider has been making in his own Friendship studies, since we’ve pivoted from his own personal lessons to setting up my new school of Friendship. I think that once the school is up and running, I can make Noah a full graduate. He’s so close! In the meantime, we’re riding on a nice tailwind, which makes our flight slightly faster.
“So, Starlight. Quick question. How well did you train Twilight for her hearing today? We’ve held red-room (mock trial) sessions in the Ponyville castle for almost a week, and Twilight still seems to struggle with cross-examination. Do you think she’ll buckle under the pressure?” Noah asks me. He helped me write some of the opposition questions, and our team is working around the clock to make sure Neighsay gets what he deserves.
“Well…I think she’ll do just fine. Your sister and Trixie are taking the train, and they’ll probably be there before us. Their train left a few hours ago. Lyra is with Twilight in Canterlot already, and Bon Bon, Maud, and your mom are in Ponyville, making sure that the few human students who’ve stayed put have adequate accommodations. I think the rest of the Mane Six will also be in Canterlot for the hearings, but I am not entirely sure.” I reply. Noah takes a minute to think about my response, while he’s watching the clouds go by underneath us. Really? Now he zones out?
“Darn it, kid. Now’s not the time to zone out! I get it, your Aspergers and ADD make it hard to follow long conversations, but this is important. Please get it together!” I kindly remind him, with a bit of agita in my voice. He fidgets a bit on my back, before taking a deep breath. “Sorry Starlight. I am always a bit nervous when we have to do “Princess” stuff. To answer your question, I’ve known Twilight for a few months. I find that when she’s by herself, she can get easily cornered, but when she’s with her friends, nothing and nopony can stop her. If the “Mane Six” are in the hearing gallery, I think she will do just fine.” Noah reassures me, giving me a gentle pat on my neck.
I see the Canterlot skyline ahead of me. Noah does too, and he spurs me to speed up a bit. I take it my rider is tired of dealing with the stress and wants to get this over with. I get it, I really do! I feel for the human.
“Now, hold on, mister Noah. Your marefriend is going to give you the scenic flight! Please keep your hands and legs inside the mare at all times. We’ll be in Canterlot shortly.” I declare, tilting my wings downwards to begin our descent.
“Wait, Starlight. What time is the hearing?” Noah asks me, forgetting what we went over this morning. “High noon. Princess Celestia will be presiding over the hearing, and Chancellor Neighsay will be the pony interrogating Twilight. Depending on the situation, we might have to testify, as well. I think Twilight can handle this one on her own, but I can’t know for sure.” I think that answer will suffice, for now.
A few more minutes of riding come and go, and I finally land gracefully at the front door of the Horseshoe building. It is shaped like, well, a horseshoe, and it is where most legislative actions in Equestria are debated and codified. Princess Celestia signs the bills into law and depending on the case, it may go to Princess Luna for a “two-pony verification” procedure. Noah climbs off my back and casts a quick spell to dress himself in more appropriate attire for testimony.
“Your magic is getting really good. Who taught you that one?!” I quip, a bit surprised by Noah’s choice of wearing a sharp lawyer’s suit and tie.
“Rarity. Duh. After your coronation, she took my measurements and made me a few outfits. I just know how to put on the clothes, not tailor them. I’m surprised she knows how to make clothes for males!” Noah says, astonished.
Poor guy. Noah’s got to work on timing! Rarity is coming along for the hearing, and she has a human child on her back, too! It’s that boy, Shaun, the nonverbal one!
“Darling, I have ears! Of course, I can make clothing for males, even human males!” Rarity pouts. I take it she hasn’t learned how to talk while wearing a bridle, yet? I used to sound like that, too! Noah blushes, before shaking Rarity’s hoof. “Rarity, that’s NOT what I meant. It was supposed to be a compliment at your many talents, and-.”
Rarity laughs. “Oh come on, Noah, I was joking! I know you don’t harbor malice. Now…about Shaun.” She says, referring to the young man astride her. Shaun didn’t say anything, but his brown face clearly emoted joy, something that I haven’t seen him emote before.
“He’s a gifted artist! Isn’t that right?” Rarity asks her rider. He nods and casts a spell to show some of his sketches. Wait…there are more humans who know magic now?!
Noah couldn’t help but laugh. “Welcome to the wizard club, Shaun. Let me guess, you fused souls with Rarity?” He asks the young man. Shaun nods, petting the mare with affection. “It’s purely platonic, darlings. I just wanted to give the young man the means to enhance his skills. Besides, he helps me with the preliminary sketches for my clothes!”
Noah whispers into my ear “Shaun must be an autistic savant. Look at how detailed his drawings are! Even my sister can’t draw that well!” From what I remember about autism, somehumans with it have highly advanced skills in a specific area of interest, while being heavily deficient in other areas. Nevertheless, my thesis is that anycreature can learn Friendship. If Shaun got Rarity, who’s one of the “Mane Six” to befriend him, then certainly other humans can follow suit!
Rarity turns around with Shaun, looking to see if any of her other friends are on their way. “Aw, fiddlesticks. Everypony else must either be tardy or inside. I think we can make our way inside, don’t you, Princess Starlight?” Rarity asks, helping her new friend Shaun dismount her.
“Ok, take the bridle out like this…” Rarity guides the human on how to remove the bridle, and Rarity zaps the saddle away, shaking her mane. “Ok. We’ll practice again later.” Rarity says, smiling and embracing Shaun. Shaun returns the hug, and then those two go inside the Horseshoe building.
“Noah. The Bridle chamber is on the second floor. It makes sense because it’s the upper chamber of the Horseshoe! Come along now, let’s see Princess Twilight kick some flank!” I jest, trotting in front of Noah. He follows me eagerly, quite interested in learning more about Equestrian politics. He is the “Rider of Justice” so he’s going to learn rather quickly!
***
Princess Twilight Sparkle:
I think I practiced enough? It doesn’t matter, anyway. I am sitting on a rather uncomfortable wooden chair inside the Bridle chambers, going over some key documents. I’m happy that Rebecca triple-checked my remarks. As good of an orator as I am, sometimes I need to have a third party proofread in case my anxiety gets in the way! I have autism too, you know! It just manifests differently in mares than in stallions. I’ve gotten good at masking it, but I detest public addresses! They are the worst!
“Breathe, Twilight. Just breathe. You can do this. A hearing isn’t the end of the world, even if the pony your up against wants to usurp everything you’ve fought for.” I remind myself, before noticing that Rarity and…somehuman I don’t recognize enter the chamber.
“Hi, Darling! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Shaun and I came here to show our support. We all want your School of Friendship to succeed. Our other friends are on their way, and Princess Starlight and Noah are right behind me!” Rarity says, finding her seat in the viewers’ gallery along with Shaun. A few seconds later, Noah and Starlight enter the room and both wave.
“Hey!” Starlight says, teleporting next to me on the other side of the hall. I feel more relaxed seeing my student here. We hug and embrace with our wings. Surprisingly, Noah also teleports over here. His magic is getting quite good…still not up to par with his marefriend, but he’s reached parity with an average unicorn by now.
“Hey, thought I’d show up, too,” Noah says, giving me a high five. “Wait, am I supposed to be here, or do I need to also enter the viewing gallery?” Noah asks Starlight. I interrupt him for a moment. “You and Starlight are also going under oath today. Pull up some chairs!” I tell them. They both do so.
A good half-hour elapses before the rest of the Mane Six arrive. Rarity was the only one among them to have a human companion with her, so I take it nopony else was interested? Surely not, perhaps some of the humans went home for the time being. Everypony waves, and sits down in the viewers’ gallery. A few more minutes elapse, and then I see that annoying stallion Neighsay, fully decked in regalia, approach the head chair of the Bridle and sit down.
“Good afternoon, Princess Twilight.” Neighsay greets me with a fake smile.
“And to you, Chancellor Neighsay. Now, what do the fine ponies in Appleloosa have to say about this hearing? Surely they must contest to their tax dollars going towards such nonsense.” I playfully joke with him. He’s not amused, and his grey horn emotes his frustration.
“No joking around, Ma’am. It could cost you what you seek. Tread carefully. This is my chamber, not yours.” Neighsay reminds me. He then turns his attention to my fellow Princess and is in a much crosser mood.
“And good afternoon, Starlight Glimmer.” He says, not referring to my student by her proper title.
“It’s Princess Starlight, Chancellor. Only close friends or-” she looks at Noah… “students can be colloquial with me.” Good for her! Standing up for herself. She learns from the best. “We’re going to win today, Chancellor. We have some very compelling arguments to share.” Starlight grins maniacally, like when she was my adversary. Noah gives his teacher a high five, and we all quiet down, once we see Princess Celestia enter the chambers. All the nonroyal ponies bow and Celestia gives the “at ease” look, telling her subjects they can sit.
“Alrighty, I am here to preside over Chancellor Neighsay’s challenge to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s request to overturn his injunction of the School of Friendship: Ponyville Branch. Can both parties rise?” Celestia asks me.
Here we go. Neighsay and I both stand up and raise our front right hooves.
“From this point on, will everything you say be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you on the Elements of Harmony?”
“Yes,” Neighsay says.
“Yes,” I say.
“You are now both under oath. As chairpony of the Bridle, Neighsay may present his arguments first. Chancellor, you have the floor.” Celestia says. As much as I love Princess Celestia, why did she give this idiot the floor first? He’ll just stall for as long as possible and prevent me and my friends from speaking! This is so unfair!
Starlight sees me get worried and holds my hoof. “You’ll be fine, Twilight. Breathe. Just breathe.”
Chancellor Neighsay casts a projection spell onto the wall of the bridle, showing my schoolhouse. He begins to present his case.
“Princess Celestia. As we all know, I am a very big supporter of the Magic of Friendship. I co-chair the honesty caucus with Braeburn Mac, and we do what we can to ensure that Friendship is thriving in my district of Appleloosa and in all of Equestria. Nevertheless, the act of letting nonponies learn our ways could very well be our undoing.”
Neighsay changes the slide to that of a changeling.
“We know too well the threats that changelings have posed to our way of life. They can infiltrate our society easily, making them easy candidates for espionage. Did changelings not raid Canterlot, capture Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and threaten our very social fabric by removing all of our love?”
I want to scream. What does Neighsay know about the changelings? Chrysalis is a bad egg, I’ll give him that. But when changelings are given love, they don’t have to steal it from somepony else! Didn’t Thorax show us that?
He changes the slide yet again, this time to a human.
“And now, we have come across an alien race that claims to seek nothing but our hooves in friendship. Surely, Princess Celestia, you would have done your homework on this species, correct? They are killing their own planet for natural resources, hate indiscriminately, and aren't even able to make their own Friendship. Why is it our problem to provide them aid? Wouldn’t it be better to just let them rot in their own filth and focus on improving our own society? We have so many issues that we need to focus on, but instead, I am wasting my time arguing with Princess Twilight and this usurper, socialist pony about a “School of Friendship? This is a School of Lies! This is in flagrant violation of the Equestrian Constitution, and I beseech you to shut the school down.”
I am a Princess of Friendship. That means I try to get ponies to cooperate with each other and live in harmony. That doesn’t change the fact that I want to buck this pony into a tree at full force, with my alicorn magic at maximum power! Still, I need to compose myself. I have a feeling that my arguments will be quite compelling!
“Is that all, Chancellor?” Princess Celestia asks Neighsay. He nods, and sits down, deactivating his magical projector. Princess Celestia looks at me and smiles.
“Princess Twilight. You have the floor.” Celestia says, giving me the opportunity to advocate on behalf of a more universal definition of Friendship! It’s showtime!
“Before I begin, Princess Celestia, am I allowed to present evidence to the Bridle, and to Chancellor Neighsay?” I ask the Sun Princess.
“Of course, you may submit evidence to the hearing,” Celestia says, giving me a huge sense of relief. It’s a good thing that I am a talented mage, or this trick wouldn’t have worked! I’m very happy Starlight, Lyra, and Trixie helped with the extra magical juice. Now, let’s see if this magic trick will work today.
I cast a spell, showing the entire story with “Fausticorn” Total Eclipse and the human girl, Athena. Every moment from that journal entry is accurately reconstructed using magical technology, uncut, and with sound. The entire viewer’s gallery was glued to their seats. Seeing that little girl die at the hooves of those darn Windigos actually made Fluttershy cry. She was smart enough to keep her muzzle shut, but a pegasus guard had to kindly escort Fluttershy out of the room. Poor mare…
When the presentation is finally over, I deactivate my magic and begin to address Princess Celestia. “As you can see, Princess Celestia, Noah is not the first human to visit Equestria. Your mother, Total Eclipse not only befriended but adopted a human child for six years. Offering her hoof in Friendship gave that girl six more years of life than she would have had on Earth.”
I turn to face the viewer’s gallery and the other Bridle members. I’m going full Princess mode right now! “Can’t everypony see that humans, especially those with neurodiverse conditions, are in more need of Friendship than almost anycreature else? Didn’t you hear what Athena said about her own family abandoning her for being different? Ponykind has a unique opportunity to provide love, friendship, and care to a race that is in dire need of it. I don’t want any blood on my hooves, and I am sure you don’t either. Please, everypony, vote on the School of Friendship and let me and my friends do what they are best at: spreading Harmony across Equestria, and now Earth, too.”
I finish my address and sit down. Chancellor Neighsay was stunned and had a huge look of embarrassment on his face. Seeing that little punk get what he deserves gives me great joy. He is speechless, and the ponies in the viewers’ gallery give Neighsay the stink eye. Oh, how the tables have turned, Chancellor!
“Have both parties presented their case?” Celestia asks us. We both nod.
“As Princess of the Sun and Mane Monarch, I now call a vote. We need a quorum of ponies in the Bridle to vote on this matter. Roll call!”
There are one hundred ponies in the bridle. All one hundred ponies are present, and press a green button on their desk signaling their presence. Celestia casts a projection spell, with a tally.
“All one hundred ponies are here. We have a quorum. Now, you will receive two options on your ballot. A green one and a red one. The green one approves Chancellor Neighsay’s veto of Twilight’s school, while the red one discharges this case totally, and gives Twilight Sparkle full autonomy on this matter. Vote carefully, because double jeopardy means you can’t petition the court again on this!”
One by one, the ponies make their selection. One green vote, one red vote. Three green votes, one red vote. This isn’t looking good! Noah and Starlight are holding each other, and Starlight lends her wing to Noah for comfort. I hold my own wing, too, stroking my primary feathers to calm my nerves! The time goes by incredibly slowly, and I feel like I am being tortured! The tension is palpable!
Forty-nine votes each. Whoever the last vote has my entire Friendship program in their hooves. If they vote against my school…I don’t know what these humans and nonponies are going to do!