Sweet Revenge

by StormLuna


The Prosecution's Questions

One month had passed and Sweetie Belle had completed her training and was now living in and working from Twilight's castle. Things were far different from how they were in the past though. No longer did Twilight's friends come to visit, Spike never talked to either of them and Apple Bloom wanted absolutely nothing to do with either one of them. It still bothered Twilight some but when it came to Apple Bloom, Sweetie no longer cared that she wanted nothing to do with her. To her, she had sided with an enemy and to her, that was an unforgivable sin.

Monday morning arrived and the day had come for Silver Spoon to finally face the music for the deaths of her father and his security guards. Both Twilight and Sweetie Belle were early to rise that morning as they had to be up in Canterlot by nine since Twilight had aided in gathering evidence and Sweetie talked to Silver Spoon about the plea deal.

As they were leaving the castle Twilight commented, "You know, I hope this doesn't turn into a long trial. I'm hoping it will be short and sweet."

Sweetie added, "Something that won't hold us up for too long and hopefully the jury won't take forever to reach a verdict." She paused before laughing, "Well with the way the evidence points to her, I'd think they wouldn't need any more than five minutes to come back with a guilty verdict, sentence her to a super-max facility and then we can all forget that bitch ever existed."

Twilight replied, "That would be nice but given that juries get paid for their time, they may take a while. Even if they come to a decision in five minutes, they may just sit there and bullshit for a week before coming to a decision....well that and maybe laugh about Silver Spoon going to prison!"

Sweetie commented, "Maybe." The two headed to her pickup and said, "Well let's get going, we can't be late because if we are, we could be facing our own charges."

The two got in Sweetie's pickup and as they pulled away from the castle, she cranked her music up. The first couple times Twilight rode with her, the volume kind of hurt her ears but by this point she had grown to like not only the type of music she listened to but having the volume cranked up like that.


Once they pulled up to the courthouse, they noticed that multiple media outlets were present, including national cable news outlets. Twilight's jaw dropped open, "Wow, this must have become national news!"

Sweetie turned the music down and replied, "Well given who was murdered, it doesn't surprise me. It isn't like she went and killed three random ponies off the street."

The two headed into the courtroom and discovered the place was packed. Not only was everypony who would be questioned present but national news outlets had their cameras set up and it looked like half of Ponyville had shown up, including all of Twilight's former friends. They all gave Twilight and Sweetie deep scowls, scowls that they completely ignored. Their main focus was on Legal Eagle who had a look of confidence in his eyes and Silver Spoon, who was sitting there with a look of despair in her eyes.

The two sat among the other witnesses and waited for court to start. At nine the bailiff said, "All rise, court is now in session. Presiding in the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon is the Honorable Balanced Scales."

When Silver Spoon saw the judge, she was terrified as it was the same judge who had sentenced her to prison after shoving Sweetie Belle. Once he sat down he said, "You may be seated."

Everypony sat down and he began, "Today we begin the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon." He turned to Silver and asked, "I know you have claimed your innocence to the authorities Ms. Spoon but I am going to ask you one more time. How do you wish to plead to the charges against you?"

Silver Spoon was not thrilled over the question but she knew that with the stakes this high, that she could not raise her voice or do anything else to upset the older no-nonsense judge. She replied, "I would like to plead innocent."

"Very well." He paused before turning to Legal Eagle, "Mr. District Attorney, why is it that this defendant, Ms. Spoon, has been brought before the court?"

Legal Eagle began, "Your Honor, mares and stallions of the jury, this defendant, Silver Spoon has been brought before the court because evidence points to her murdering three ponies in Ponyville. One of these ponies was her father and the other two were night security guards, ponies who the victim, Mr. Silver Dime, paid to protect him from such attacks.

The evidence found not only at the crime scene but also in the defendant's home overwhelmingly provides proof that she murdered the victims. Not only was her mane found in the clenched fists of Mr. Dime but also blood from Mr. Dime along with the two security guards was found on the brass knuckles found under the defendant's bed, the brass knuckles that are believed to be the murder weapon.

From what the prosecution understands, Ms. Spoon was to receive 50 billion bits upon the passing of her father, Mr. Silver Dime. That is an astronomical amount of money and perhaps she wanted the money early. I am pretty sure that many ponies would kill if it meant they would receive that amount of money."

Balanced Scales replied, "Very well." He then turned to the defense attorney, "And why does the defense believe that the defendant has been wrongfully accused?"

Moonstone, the defense attorney replied, "The defense believes that Ms. Spoon is not guilty of this crime because she herself along with her wife have stated that both of them were asleep at the time of the murders. Another reason is that it is not believed that Ms. Spoon would have the physical strength to strangle anypony over the age of eight."


The Questioning of Locked Vault

"Very well." Balanced Scales then turned to Legal Eagle and asked, "Who does the prosecution wish to question first?"

Legal Eagle replied, "The prosecution calls Locked Vault to the witness stand."

Locked Vault headed to the witness stand and was asked, "Do you Locked Vault swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Locked Vault replied, "I do."

Legal Eagle began, "Locked Vault, from what the prosecution understands, it was you along with Secure Lock who first discovered the murders. What happened to cause you to discover the bodies?"

Locked began his testimony, "My co-worker and I are Mr. Dime's day guards so we were heading in to work to relieve his night guards. When we arrived at the mansion, nopony answered after I had knocked so I used my magic to unlock the door and we headed in. The first thing we discovered was silence, which should not have been the case. We then began to search the house and the first thing we discovered that the TV was on in the den of what seemed to be an empty house.

We then began searching other rooms and when nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary or out of place, we searched Mr. Dime's bedroom and that was when we found him along with the two security guards laying there dead."

"So what was your initial reaction when you saw the bodies?"

"Well we were horrified when we saw them and the very first place we rushed to was the palace of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Why did you go to talk to Twilight right away rather than going to the police station to inform Officer Silver Shield."

"Well at the time we were both so distraught and shocked over this that Twilight was the first one we thought of."

"After going and talking to Twilight, what happened after that?"

"Princess Twilight along with the two of us headed to the police station to inform Chief Silver Shield and then the four of us headed to the crime scene where the silver mane was discovered."

"Locked Vault, when you saw the silver mane in Mr. Dime's fists, did you wonder if Ms. Spoon had killed the three victims?"

"To be honest, I didn't even think about that. My number one priority was notifying the authorities."

"Very well. Your honor, I am through questioning this witness."

Balanced Scales turned to Moonstone and asked, "Does the defense wish to cross-examine this witness?"

"I do your Honor."

Moonstone approached the stand and asked, "Locked Vault, you say that you and your co-worker rushed over to Twilight Sparkle's palace upon discovering the bodies. While the defense knows that she is the first one you thought of, the defense believes that the princess does not particularly care for the defendant. Was the reason you rushed there first because you knew that Twilight may not particularly care for the defendant?"

"Like I said, Secure Lock and I rushed to Twilight's castle first because she was the first one we thought of. Regarding the princess's views on anypony, that did not cross my mind. When I saw my boss and two of my co-workers brutally murdered, things like that did not cross my mind. I simply wanted to report what happened."

"Very well, the defense is through questioning this witness."


The Questioning of Princess Twilight Sparkle

Balanced Scales asked, "Who does the prosecution wish to question next?"

Legal Eagle replied, "The prosecution would like to question Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight headed to the stand where he was asked, "Do you, Twilight Sparkle, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Twilight replied, "I do your Honor."

Legal Eagle began, "Princess Twilight, from what earlier testimony has indicated, you were the first one that Locked Vault and Secure Lock came to upon discovering the murders. What was your reaction when they came to you first?"

Twilight replied, "Well I will admit I was a bit irritated since handling things like this is not what a princess normally does but I then joined the two in heading to the police station to notify Silver Shield of the crime."

"Alright, you went to the police station and the prosecution is assuming the four of you then went to the crime scene."

"That is correct."

"Upon arriving at the crime scene, what were your thoughts upon seeing the bodies of the victims?"

"I was indeed shocked that such a crime would occur in Ponyville. I knew that the evidence at the scene had to be gathered so I assisted Chief Silver Shield in collecting it in a way that it could not be contaminated."

"After collecting that evidence, what did you do next?"

"Silver Shield and I then allowed the guards to go and we then headed to the defendant's house where we did a search for the murder weapon, which was found underneath the defendant's bed."

"When what is believed to be the murder weapon was found, what happened next?"

"We sealed the brass knuckles in a baggie as we did the silver mane and then took the defendant's children over to Sweet Apple Acres where a friend of the defendant lives before taking Ms. Spoon and Ms. Shadow Blast in for questioning."

"Regarding this questioning, what happened?"

"Well the defendant denied committing the crime before shoving Chief Silver Shield and then ultimately me as I was aiding Silver Shield in arresting her."

"What happened next?"

"After that, Silver Shield took Silver Spoon up to the city jail and took the evidence to the crime lab while I went home."

"Very well. Your Honor, I am finished questioning this witness."

He then turned to Moonstone and asked, "Does the defense wish to cross-examine."

With a smile on her face Moonstone replied, "We do."

She then approached the stand and asked, "Princess Twilight, from what the defense understands you do not particularly care for the defendant. Is that correct?"

Twilight replied, "That is correct."

"Why is it that you do not care for the defendant?"

"This dates back many years. As a filly, the defendant often times played very mean pranks on many ponies down in Ponyville. She and her friend were horribly cruel to three fillies down there, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. She also played pranks on myself and my friends. She and her friend were particularly cruel to Fluttershy, a friend of mine who is rather shy and whose feelings are more easily hurt than others."

"Princess Twilight, that was many years ago. Why would you hold on to such a grudge for so many years over what some would consider simple pranks?"

"I held on to those because I never truly believed she had reformed, even after she and this friend of hers stopped with the childish behavior. Also, it was what she did while she was in college to one who I think of as a friend, how she betrayed her when my friend truly loved her."

"Princess, did this betrayal affect your life in any way, shape or form?"

"No it did not but I certainly did not like seeing a friend of mine have her feelings hurt and have her sweet, loving heart crushed."

"Alright, moving on to the murders and the arrest. What were your thoughts when you saw the murdered corpses of Silver Dime and his security guards?"

"Like I said earlier, I was indeed shocked that such a crime would happen in Ponyville and wanted to aid Silver Shield in catching whoever committed the murders."

"When you were shoved and Silver Spoon was arrested and then sentenced to five years in prison, how did that make you feel?"

Despite knowing that it would not look good for her Twilight was truthful, "I will admit, I was elated. I felt as though this was karma working to punish a not so nice pony for her past bad behavior."

"So you were happy to see the defendant locked up? You were happy to see a loving mother locked up? Would you ever kill anypony to frame somepony that you did not like so they would be locked up for even longer?"

"No I would not. I do not like the defendant at all but I certainly would not murder anypony for any reason. Taking lives for any reason other than in self-defense is wrong."

"Princess Twilight, what about this friend of yours who the defendant betrayed? Would she go as far as killing somepony to frame somepony that she does not like in an effort to completely destroy their life."

"No, this friend of mine would not do that. She is a pony who believes in law and order and would never commit a crime for any reason."

"Very well. Your Honor, we are through questioning this witness."


The Questioning of Shadow Blast

After Twilight left the stand, Balanced Scales turned to Legal Eagle and asked, "Who does the prosecution wish to call next?"

Legal Eagle replied, "The prosecution would like to call Shadow Blast to the stand."

Shadow Blast headed up to the stand where she was asked, "Do you, Shadow Blast, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Shadow replied, "I do."

Legal Eagle began, "Shadow Blast, from what the prosecution understands, you and the defendant are married and share the same bed. Is that correct?"

Shadow replied, "It is, we do."

"During nights, has Silver Spoon ever woke you up when she has to get up to use the restroom or would you say you are a heavy sleeper?"

Shadow Blast had put up with this before and wasn't thrilled about answering it but she knew she had to, "She has probably only woke me up once or twice during the night so I couldn't be sure how many nights she even gets up."

"So what you are saying is that she could have got up in the night, went over to Mr. Dime's mansion, killed him and the security guards and then returned home and you wouldn't know she did it?"

Shadow sighed, "Look, if she were gone for that long I would ultimately wake up and even if I wouldn't, I know my wife would never do anything like that. She is a kind, sweet and loving mare who loves her family and would never harm anypony for any reason."

"You say this but from what the prosecution understands, she was set to receive 50 billion bits upon the death of her father. Now that is a massive sum of money that many ponies may act differently if they were set to receive it. Would your wife jump on the opportunity to collect that early?"

*angry* "No she would not. Her father has been very good to her and has provided her with everything she could possibly need. She would have no reason to kill him. She knows that if she was to do that, it would ruin not only her life but all of our lives and that is the last thing she would ever do."

"During your questioning, she shoved not only Chief Silver Shield but also Princess Twilight Sparkle during questioning. If she has nothing to hide, why would she shove two ponies in a position of power?"

"Well she felt as though she was being tricked into admitting guilt to crimes that she did not commit."

"Very well. Your Honor, the prosecution is finished questioning this witness."

Balanced Scales turned to Moonstone and asked, "Do you wish to cross-examine this witness?"

Moonstone replied, "We do." Moonstone then turned to Shadow Blast and asked, "Shadow Blast, from what the defense understands, the murders happened on the same night that a large party was held for your wife, is that correct?"

Shadow replied, "It was. That evening a huge celebration was held for Silver Spoon and her successful business."

"I am assuming that it went fairly late into the night and that after the party was over, you and your wife were likely very tired."

"We were, both of us were very tired. I remember that night Silver Spoon was so tired that she fell asleep very quickly."

"Was she so tired that she would sleep through the rest of the night and would not wake until the following morning?"

"That was the case. She slept through the entire night and we do hold one another in a tight embrace at night. When we woke the following morning, we were both laying in the same position. Had she got up in the night for any reason, getting laid back down, especially returning to the same position without waking me would be impossible."

"So basically there is no way that she could have got up in the night?"

"That is correct."

Moonstone turned to Balanced Scales and said, "The defense is finished questioning this witness."


The Questioning of Silver Spoon

Balanced Scales turned to Legal Eagle and asked, "Is there anypony else the prosecution wishes to call to the stand?"

Legal Eagle made direct eye contact with Silver Spoon and replied, "Yes, the prosecution would like to call Silver Spoon to the stand."

Silver Spoon nervously approached the stand. When she arrived she was asked, "Do you, Silver Spoon, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Silver replied, "I do."

Legal Eagle decided that he was going to try and break her. He decided that he was going to get very aggressive and intimidating to maybe try and get a confession out of her. He began, "Ms. Spoon, from what the prosecution understands there was a time when you and your father were not on good terms. Is that correct?"

Silver Spoon was horribly nervous but knew that as long as she remained honest, that everything would be ok. "That is correct. At one time him and I were not all that close."

"When was it that things began to sour between your dad and yourself?"

"It was when I lost my scholarship after the end of my first semester in college. We still communicated but during my time cleaning rooms after dropping out of college he seemed to be rather cold to me." She then began to cry, "It-it was when I got arrested that, that he basically cut ties with me. And-and when I got out of prison, he said I-I wasn't his daughter anymore and disowned me."

"That had to have upset you quite a bit. Your own father disowning you, that probably angered you quite a bit didn't it?"

"I-I was more devastated than I was angry. All I wanted was for him to welcome me back into his life, I never wished ill will upon him."

"Now from what I understand, when he passed you were set to receive 50 billion bits. Now that is a lot of money and I can't help but wonder" *pauses* "would you kill somepony for fifty billion bits?"

*screams loudly* "NO, I WOULD NEVER KILL ANYPONY!"

Balanced Scales banged his gavel and said, "Silver Spoon, such behavior is not allowed in my courtroom. Calm down or I will hold you in contempt of court, which is a crime in itself. Do you understand?"

*quietly* "Yes your Honor."

This gave Legal Eagle more ammo to work with, "Silver Spoon, you seemed rather defensive with your response. If you truly are innocent, you would have responded with much more composure and not yelled like that."

Silver Spoon was angry by this point but knew that any further outbursts would not bode well for her and that even if she were acquitted, she would still have more time added on because of the contempt. She let out a slight growl, "Well you would be like that if you were in my position."

"This is about you, not me. Anyway, if you had the opportunity to get fifty billion bits in nothing flat, would you jump on it?"

*nervously replied* "Well I would think it would be nice to have that much money but I would never kill anypony over it, especially since my dad had it in his will that I would receive that much."

*raises voice* "Silver Spoon, from what the prosecution understands at one time you were not a very nice pony. We understand that there was a time when you did nothing but take advantage of those around you, including your marefriend in college." His voice became more intense, "As many ponies know, wealthy children are often spoiled rotten and will stop at nothing to get what they...."

Silver Spoon screamed and despite having her hands cuffed behind her back, lunged forward, causing her head to make contact with Legal Eagle. The entire courtroom gasped in shock and the judge was not one bit happy. He banged his gavel and stated, "Silver Spoon, I am adding three years onto your current five year sentence so whether you are acquitted or not, you will still have 8 years in prison." He calmed down and added, "Legal Eagle, you may continue."

Legal Eagle had a smirk on his face as he stated, "The prosecution rests your Honor."

Balanced Scales asked, "Does the defense wish to cross-examine the witness?"

Moonstone replied, "We do."

Moonstone approached the stand with a concerned look on her face and asked, "Silver Spoon, this has to have been a very hard time in your life. It is clear that these accusations are bringing you a great amount of heartache. Is that why your responses have been defensive in nature?"

Silver replied, "Yes, it is. Everypony seems to think that I am a cold blooded killer when I am anything but. Yes I was an unpleasant mare in the past but I have changed, I am no longer mean spirited like that."

Moonstone then began to examine Silver's rather dainty arms. She pointed to them and said, "Silver Spoon, it is clear that your arms are not exactly muscular. Do you think that you would even have the strength to hit with so much force to bloody and kill ponies like what happened to the victims, even with brass knuckles? Also, do you think you have the strength to strangle anypony?"

Silver began to cry, "No, I don't. Ponies don't even take that into account. I don't have the physical strength to kill like they think I did."

"I understand that you have plenty of ponies out there who do not like you. Do you think that any of them might have the ability and know how to make it look like you did it."

"I do know one who would likely have the know how but she was not in town at the time the murders took place."

"I know your wife was asked about this but on the night the murders took place, there was a huge celebration held for you that evening, correct?"

"Yes, there was a celebration held for me that ran pretty late. When my family and I got home, we were exhausted. When we went to bed, I was out like a light."

"And I am assuming you got a full night's rest, that you were not woken up nor did you wake up for anything?"

"No I did not. The next thing I remember was being woken up by the sun."

Moonstone gave her a kind smile before saying, "The defense is through questioning this witness."

Balanced Scales said, "Very well. Since the prosecution has rested, the court shall go into recess for two hours and then the defense can call witnesses to the stand."

The judge banged his gavel and the courtroom began to empty as everypony was headed to the nearby restaurant district to grab a bite to eat. Silver Spoon however was led to a holding cell where she would be allowed to have a meal of her own.

As they were exiting the courthouse Twilight and Sweetie Belle had smiles on their faces. Sweetie laughed, "Can you believe what she did Twilight? Can you believe that she would lunge at Legal Eagle like that?"

Twilight replied, "I can't. I honestly didn't expect her to be so dumb. Well now she has eight years that she must serve regardless but with the way things are going, I have a strong feeling Legal Eagle will get what he wants, what we want! I have a feeling Ponyville will finally be rid of her once and for all." She paused before adding, "And when that happens, we can have Scootaloo come up and we can hold an epic celebration!"

Sweetie replied, "Oh yeah, I'm sure she will be as happy as we will be!"