//------------------------------// // Chapter 4. // Story: A Cold Ending. // by Knight of Crows //------------------------------// Jason once again used the Wendigoes to keep tabs on the Elements and the Sisters. Once upon a time, he wouldn't have dreamed of finding joy in the suffering of others. Now? To know that he nearly broke Luna to the point of taking her own life and by extension, Celestia's, he was more than satisfied with the results of the first day, having almost toppled a government with mere speculation alone. He was content with the results of the first day. As the courtroom filled once again with the same occupants as before, he decided on his next victim as Luna rejoined the judges: The Princess of Friendship herself. "You say that you received those wounds. Could you elaborate?" Luna asked. "There's plenty of time for that. All you need to know at this time is that there is only one wound that wasn't inflicted on me by a resident of Ponyville, but we'll get to that later. And by the time we're done, you will understand why I believe your kind to be a blight on the world." Jason vaguely answered. "You can't seriously hate an entire race because of a few xenophobic individuals." Twilight said. "'A few'? If this were a trial by law that only used the Horn as evidence, there isn't a prison in the world with enough cells for the guilty. It would actually make more sense to just put the entire town on lockdown and sort out the innocent from the guilty. Your culture, your race thrives on xenophobia. All evidence needed will be provided as the trials go on." Jason claimed. "Even I must ask how you've come to this conclusion, Equestria has been nothing but fair to us griffons at least in trade and treatment of our emissaries." Grandpa Gruff said in a questioning manner. "All evidence will be revealed over the course of the trials. But if you want one example to start, how about a zebra shaman named Zecora? For years, she's lived in the Everfree, but her stripes of all things and the way zebras are known to speak, terrified the town to the point of locking themselves away from the 'evil enchantress'." Jason replayed the memory of this before skipping to when Applebloom tried to follow her. "Applebloom! You get back here right now!" Appleack said in the memory. "Beware. Beware, you pony folk. Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" Zecora warned. Everyone saw Applejack scoop up her sister while disregarding Zecoras' warning about the poison joke. "You-You keep your creepy mumbo jumbo to yourself, Ya hear!" The rest of the elements said words supporting Applejack as Zecora warns them again as the memory concludes. "Beware, beware!" "And what did Zecora get for trying to warn them about poison joke? False accusations of cursing them, kidnapping the child with the intent to eat her, and they wrecked her home." Jason continued to play those memories, prompting Zekia to become enraged. "Our speech and stripes on our hide are marks of our pride!" Zekia said with a glare. "But we made up with Zecora afterward." Rainbow tried downplay the incident. "And it all lead to one of the most important lessons I've ever learned, one I planned to share with everypony at my school!" Twilight played the memory of her friendship letter to Celestia, in which she learned to never judge a book by its cover. The crowd cheered as Jason looked at her unamused. He played the memory of when he first met her in response. Jason spotted the castle of Friendship in the distance. He walked at a brisk pace, not noticing ponies starting to take notice of him. The resident sat back and watched as Jason made it to the castle doors and knocked. Moments later, Twilight Sparkle answers the door. Twilight's eyes widen as she looks Jason over before she frowns. Jason, on the hand, was starstruck at meeting the Princess of Friendship in the flesh. "Wow. It's you. Um, hello, I'm Jason Wright. And--" Twilight's hoof shoots up sharply, prompting Jason to look down in confusion. "Sorry, I am not in the mood to deal with any more humans. Goodbye!" "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of all the bullshit you were spouting a moment ago, about not judging others based on their appearance." Jason countered. "Twilight?..." Spike looked at her in disbelief. "What?! No... That-... I wouldn't-" The Horn glowed and Twilight stumbled before looking back up at Jason with recognition. "It's-... It's you!" "Hi! Not that you'll get the reference, but think of me as a monument to all your sins. Here's another example of your xenophobia towards me." Jason Wright is seen running through the market. His appearance was far more worn than he is in the present as a mob of ponies is chasing him down while throwing various items at him. One of the ponies scores a hit with a rock, causing Jason to trip and tumble. "You bucking freak!" "We told you we don't want a monster like you here!" "Crawl back to the Everfree!" "What were you doing behind my store!?" Every cruel word had a rock accompanying it as the mob peppered Jason with them. The human tried to shield himself as best as he could. "Please, s-stop. I was just hungry! That's why I was going into the trash! I didn't mean--" "Oh? Were you hungry? More like you were stealing from me. Or maybe looking to hurt my foals!" Twilight and the others gasp at the sight of Mr. Cake leading the mob. "But don't worry. We've got something for you to eat..." The mob of ponies gathered several trashcans and emptied their contents. Mr. Cake grabbed a hooful of trash, as did the others. "Here! It's on the house!" The pelting resumed as Jason entered the fetal position. Several bits of old and spoiled food stained his clothes, while more rocks were thrown. It lasted several seconds before Jason managed to scramble to his feet and run off into the forest. The ponies even cheered at their accomplishment as the mob dispersed. Jason paused the memory for a moment. "I didn't even know Zecora was there until I started reviewing all of these memories" Having witnessed such an atrocious display, Zecora's eyes widened as she sees Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy walk right by the event as if nothing happened. Zecora quickly rushes to them and speaks in a panic. "Twilight! Has your sight gone bad? The citizens of Ponyville have gone mad!" "Hmm? What do you mean?" Twilight asks. "A creature I have never seen just suffered something most obscene. Rocks and perishables were thrown freely. The creature ran in terror. You must believe me!" "Oh, don't worry yourself about it, Zecora. There's been an infestation as of late," Twilight said. "Thanks for the info, Z. I'll be sure to have Wynona on guard duty in case the varmint comes around the farm," Applejack said. "We should have the guard stationed around town—anything to spare us from its unsightly presence," Rarity stated while throwing her nose in the air. "I'd wish it would just go away," Fluttershy said with a shudder. Zecora could only mimic a goldfish at the acidic words of her long-time companions. "Are you alright, Zecora? The girls and I were heading to the spa. Do you want to join us?" "No, no! I must go!" The mouths of the other princesses nearly hit the floor in shock after the display, the rest of the Elements had similar reactions. Twilight tried to speak, but couldn't find any words to say as she backed away, as if trying to hide from the accusatory gaze on her. "And that was after my first week in your 'loving' town." Jason added. "That can't be right. Ponies wouldn't just do something like that without reason!" Starlight claimed. "Well, I never stole, vandalized, threatened, attacked, trespassed, insulted, or even talked back to anyone in a confrontational manner. The fact the Horn isn't reacting is proof enough. All I did was exist. Why wouldn't I be public enemy number one when even the Princess of Friendship wanted nothing to do with me?" Jason asked. Her silence afterward telling him all he needed to know. "Why didn't you try to contact me?" Celestia asked. "Because no one would sell me writing materials, the dragon mail was unavailable thanks to Twilight, and because no one would hire me, I was homeless within a week and had no means of travel." Jason answered. "'Dragon mail'?" Ember quoted. "Spike's flames can send and receive messages, which is something she uses often. When he's not basically being ignored or treated like a slave." "Nopony has ever done either of those to me!" Spike denied his poor treatment. "You don't go to school, you don't eat a proper diet by dragon standards, you have no friends your age because your chores take up all the time you aren't simping for another pony, and your chores consisted of cleaning and organizing an entire library, now an entire castle. By the way, you're the only one who works there. If that doesn't break any labor laws under normal circumstances, I don't know what does." Jason listed. "THEY WHAT??!!" Ember shouted in rage. "It-it's really no big deal. I-" Spike tried to calm her, but she would have none of it. "She makes you work that entire castle by yourself?!" "It's really not-" He tried to get out. "Your diet? What have you been eating this whole time?" Ember demanded another answer. "G-gems. I-" "Spike, gems are like candy to dragons. They harden our teeth and increase our resistance to lava and fire. You need meat. And this 'dragon mail'? Show me." Spike did as she said and showed her how he does it. "Enchanted flames? Why didn't you tell me?" She asked as calmly as she could to the hatchling. "Nopony ever asked. It's really not that-" "Spike, enchanted flames are a bloodline trait exclusive to arcane dragons, who my father said died out ages ago. You're the last known member of a powerful bloodline." Ember interrupted again. Jason saw this as an opportunity to steer the conversation towards his over-usage of his flames. "It should be obvious. He's a direct line to royalty, who's to say someone won't send a bomb in the mail, or impersonate any known users and use it against them in other ways? It's another example of negligence and recklessness. Afterall, what would happen if any rivals got a hold of him?" Jason said. "That's not it at all! It's not even that big a secret, I do it in front of others all the time, and there's never been any danger." Spike claimed. "So, what do you call what happened when Discord broke free and Celestia kept sending letters through you to a corrupted Twilight?" Jason played the memory of how the Elements became corrupted, their attempt to stop Discord, and how Twilight had given up until receiving her friendship letters. "How did that feel?" Spike grew nervous before answering. "I couldn't move or hold down any food for days. But it was the only way to help so they could stop Discord!" "After Twilight forgot all her friendship lessons, again. She has a habit of doing that. All it took for her to become corrupted was to give up on her friends after seeing them at their worst one time, which wasn't even their fault. Some leader, some friend she is. Then again, I shouldn't expect less. You're mistreated all the time." "You're wr-" "What do you call this?" Jason replayed when Spike fell asleep on a patch of ice during winter-wrap up, falling into freezing water, and the Elements laughing as he caught a cold. Ember's face became a full scowl as she saw this. "You laughed at him??!! He could've died!! Dragons are cold-blooded, you fools!!" Ember shouted, she almost sounded ready to kill someone herself. "I find it ironic how the most studious mare probably anyone here can think of was so ignorant of a trait shared by most if not every reptile in the world. No offense to any dragons or other applicable scaly creatures. Then again, it shouldn't come as a surprise when you look at his upbringing." Jason led on. "That's it!" Twilight slammed her hoof down. "You can say whatever and twist facts around as much as you want, but I won't let you bully my little brother! I remember precisely why I slammed the door in your face all those years ago, and I don't regret that one bit." Twilight played the memories of her visit to the human world as she narrated. "My crown containing the Element of Magic was stolen and taken to the human world. I chased after her and found myself in front of a school with human versions of everypony. When I reached the cafeteria, I saw the horrors your kind is capable of. Trays with bacon, steaks, ham, your kind butchers and eats sapient creatures like it's nothing!" Everyone gasped in horror as Twilight pointed out the lunches many humans had. "Is it any wonder why I reacted as such? You're all cannibals!" "That is a rather severe revelation!" Queen Novo said. "A scary one at that." King Shifting Sands said. "Even our griffins don't eat anything that can talk back." Grandpa Gruff said. "Nor dragons." Ember said, eyeing Jason warily. "Ha! So, what do you have to say to that?" Twilight smiled with the rest of the defendants as if she just won the case. "... Well, first off, your kind has been bullying Spike his whole life. Second, what you mean to tell me is that you admit to the charges and want to continue proving my point?" Jason asked with a bored expression. "What are you going on about?" "Twilight, both in that world and the one I come from, humans are the only sapient life. Cows, pigs, horses, zebras, yaks, dogs, the ones in those worlds are animals. They can't speak, read, write, or express pain, wisdom, or intelligence in any capacity similar to any creatures in this room. In fact, that worlds version of Spike for example is as much an animal as Applejack's dog or Pinkie's alligator." Jason explained. "I-... What? Wait, you didn't come from that world?" Twilight's face changed to one of uncertainty as she noticed the Horn didn't react. "Besides, humans are omnivores. Some humans choose to live on vegetarian diets while others will refuse anything that came from another living creature, such as milk or eggs. I could've been one of those humans, and you would still be standing there trying to justify starting the systematic abuse I've lived through. But let's say you are right about humans, you still proved my point." Jason ignored her question. "I made a mistake, but what do you claim I proved?" "Regardless of mine or the diet of humans, you just admitted to judging me before getting to know me, resulting in Ponyville following and going beyond your example that day. You still failed to inform the town or take preventative measures against the 'murderous cannibal', who you basically allowed to roam free, unsupervised, for three years. Does that sound like something a Protector of the Realm or a Princess should do?" Jason asked. Every creature in the room turned their gaze to her, similar to how they did upon the revelation of Celestia's plan on Nightmare's return. "I-" "That's three years the 'murderous cannibal' spent being harassed, beaten, and almost killed on multiple occasions by multiple assailants when the 'monster' in question did nothing to warrant such responses. Theft? Assault? Rape? Kidnapping? Murder? Vandalism? Fraud? Treason? I did none of those things. As for you? Negligence in failing to protect the town. Negligence in failing to inform the town of the danger. Negligence in failing to protect a legally innocent creature from unlawful acts that could've very reasonably provoked a violent reaction. And reckless endangerment for every pony who took part in such acts without knowing the 'risks' involved. Thank you for admitting to some of your crimes, but we still have quite a list to go. Some will be revealed during your friends' turns" Jason interrupted. "B-but I..." Twilight couldn't find the words to defend herself or admit she was wrong, not that Ember would give her the chance. "What were you saying about Spike being bullied his entire life?" Ember growled. "Spike, do you know how you came into the possession of ponies?" Jason asked the hatchling. "They said they found my egg alone-" "Spike, there is always some trusted dragon watching over eggs. They're never unattended, even single dragons will carry the egg with them or hide them in safe and unreachable places while searching for food." Ember told him. "The reason you came into the possession of ponies was because they're the ones who orphaned you!" Jason said excitedly. "They WHAT??!!" Ember roared, nearly burning the crowd. "The ponies who brought his egg to me had served the crown faithfully for years. Other guards spoke highly of them for their honorable conduct and efficiency. Even I must question this." Celestia said. "Then let me show you." Jason touched the Horn again to replay the day Spike was found. A squad of royal guards is seen in a small cave overlooking a town, speaking to a large dragon that resembled Spike. "We are not here for trouble, we are only passing through. Once my mate returns, we'll be gone." The dragon spoke, her voice neither threatening nor fearful. "Well, you don't have a choice in the matter. Your mere presence is scaring the town, lizard. You can either leave now, or we'll make you." A light purple unicorn stallion with a blue mane and a wall behind a shield for a cutie mark gave her an ultimatum. "Wait, that's our grandfather!" Shining Armor said. 'He had been awfully quiet until now.' Jason thought. "Grandpa Shield Wall?" Twilight confirmed they knew him. 'Of course he would be named something like that.' Jason thought again. 'You wouldn't take your offspring and leave your mate behind. He won't be more than a few hours, why must you make this difficult?" "Frankly, that's not our problem. What is our problem is that you're taking up residence where your kind isn't welcome. Leave, or your mate will be coming back to a corpse and a shattered egg." Shield threatened. "Try it!" She snarled, her body became coated in light blue flames as they spread around the edges of the cave. "Try it, and there won't be enough left of you for a funeral. Succeed, and you'll burn with the rest of that town!" "Of course, you non-ponies always choose the hard way. Kill her." Shield immediately conjured a barrier around his squad to protect them from her flames before conjuring six more to cover her head and her limbs, locking them in place and extinguishing her flames due to a lack of concentration. "What the-?" The dragon flailed around as best she could, but the unicorn's magic held strong, "Now, let's bring that head down." Shield slammed her head down hard enough to daze her as his companions walked towards her. "Stop... Please?" Spike didn't want to see anymore of the incident, but Jason continued. "You deserve to know, so you will." The dragon thrashed around, but the shields held strong even against her fire. The guards were merciless in her execution. Once she stopped clinging to life, they turned towards her egg and her hoard. "Well, boys, I think we just earned a massive bonus." Shield looked at their work with satisfaction. "What about the egg?" One of the others asked. "Smash it, sell it, makes no difference to me." He answered. "I've never seen a dragon manipulate flames like that before. Do you think it was a special breed?" Another asked. "Wouldn't know, it's not like our libraries have anything about these overgrown lizards besides 'they breathe fire, raid our towns, and have massive hoards of treasure'. Now start looting, otherwise I'm taking your cut." Shield ordered. The princesses couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. Spike was at a loss for words, completely silent, save for the occasional choked sob. "He was my hero, my inspiration for joining the guard..." Shining had to make an effort to keep his food down. "He said he saved that town though." Twilight said with tears in her eyes. "What about her mate? What about Spike's father?!" Ember at this point could only be described with one word: Vengeful. "He came back, found his mate dead, egg missing, and immediately knew the ponies were involved." Jason answered as he skipped forward to the dragon's attack on the town. A black dragon with grey spines and red eyes is seen flying over the town. His body covered in blood red flames as he is seen attacking the inhabitants indiscriminately. This continued until he was shot out of the air by a ballista, pinning his wing to his abdomen, sending him crashing into another building. As the guards neared, the building erupted in flames that were quickly spreading to others nearby. "Blood will have blood." He growled before continuing his onslaught. Jason ended the memory as he saw no reason to continue it, then looked up at Celestia. "13 guards and 51 civilians died. 36 injured, and 19 of them suffered life changing disabilities. The hoard was worth less than the cost of medical bills alone. You arrived later that week to commemorate the local guards who 'valiantly saved the town'. Upon seeing the 'recovered' egg, they 'gifted' it to you. You even signed the petition for a monument to be built as a reminder of that day. Nothing from the hoard was used for the town or the victims." He continued, fully intent on feeding Ember's rage while at the same time, ruining the Sparkle family. "Where is he??!! Where are those cowards??!! I'll incinerate them myself!!!" The dragoness roared. "So, what was that about 'honorable conduct and efficiency'?" Jason asked. "Because murder of an endangered species BECAUSE of their race, grand theft, obviously withholding income information, and kidnapping with intent to sell, resulting in a father going on a blood rage and causing more murders and property damage in retaliation sounds like the exact opposite of both to me. If that's what you call 'honorable', then I dread to see the opposite." "I assure you, every one of them will be punished to the fullest extent of the law." Celestia swore. "Have fun with that because it only gets better! They're living out their retirement like kings thanks to the stolen hoard from an innocent family they massacred. And Spike? You took it a step further by basically denying him a future! First you ponies orphaned him, stole his inheritance, then you signed his life away and made him a fucking house pet! And if you call him an animal because he's a dragon, then have fun charging those guards for murder when your laws basically classify it as animal abuse!" Shining was still reeling from the truth of his idol, but Twilight, with tears in her eyes, tried to comfort a sobbing Spike as she turned her attention to Jason. "He. Is not. A pet! He is my little brother, and nothing will change that!" Jason responded by pulling up another memory of Celestia signing adoption papers for Spike as the family pet. "Your parents and princess would beg to differ." Jason commented. "But-... Princess?" Twilight looked up at Celestia, who looked down in shame. "I couldn't grant him citizenship due to the laws that are still in effect. It was the only way he could legally remain in Equestria, and I believed the Sparkle family most suited to raise him as their own, having hatched him." She explained. "And it accomplished nothing but subject him to years of abuse and neglect by the very family that killed his own in cold blood. In fact, I already checked myself using the Horn, but he was nothing more than a means to an end to them. He's lucky to even be alive what with the MANY times he should've been put down by law, like the several house fires and the neighbor's dog he maimed as a baby, which Twilight Velvet bribed for silence despite that one, unknown to her, being in self-defense, or the property damage from his greed growth in recent years" Jason listed as he showed the memories. "He was just a baby; I couldn't imagine the trouble being any greater than the foals they already had, much less pose any significant danger." Celestia became increasingly alarmed, both by the revelations and Ember's growing rage. "You're free to ask Night Light and Velvet when you next see them. The only reason they kept him despite how costly or unsafe he was to keep around was for Twilight and Shining to stay close to the crown and look how their patience and tolerance paid off! One became a national hero, a princess even, and her brother climbed up to Captain, even marrying your niece! They played the 'Game of Thrones' and won by doing nothing but feeding him gems and bribing the neighbor!" Jason mocked how poorly her plan worked. "You-. I-... Nothing. Nothing that you've said! Nothing you've shown! It can't be true! Why didn't you send Spike out? What do you gain from hurting him?!" Twilight questioned as she denied the evidence. "Nothing but the truth can be spoken when the Gjallarhorn is in effect. As for why I didn't send him out? Because he deserves to know who took his real family, his future, away from him. He deserves to know his life was a lie, that he was never truly loved. Because hurting him also hurts you, and there's only one thing that could make me happier: To see this world come to an end, for it is not worth existing." Jason looked down at Spike, who was trying to block out everything said. "It's another reason why I called you out on your school. We'll get into details later, but non-ponies are second class at best, and dragons especially, your school would've been a glorified zoo if not just illegal." "You're hurting him because it hurts me?! He's innocent in all of this! And you say you're not a-" "'Monster'? Is that what you were going to say? I never claimed I wasn't a monster, but I did basically say three years of abuse and two more of nightmares, blindness in one eye, occasional muscle spasms, the constant pain I'm in, even breathing hurts, and other physical disabilities thanks to what the ponies I truly admired, the town I loved, did to me, all with smiles on their faces, turned me into one by your standards. You wanted a monster, but you've never actually seen much less read about one. I'm no monster..." Jason walked towards her and looked her in the eyes. "I'm so much worse. I am what you made me. You overestimated humanity's tolerance and capacity to forgive. But your biggest mistake? Underestimating our capacity for malice and the lengths we'll go to get what we feel we're owed. And I am owed so very much." Jason glanced at Spike before walking back to his original position. "It's time for a short break. We'll continue in an hour if there are more charges to be brought forth against Twilight Sparkle. Otherwise, we'll move on to the next defendant." Celestia announced. "There are more, but yes, that's enough for now." Jason decided to give everyone a moment to let this new information sink in. As he turned to leave, he stopped by the exit. "Can you hear it?" "Hear what?" Cadence asked. "Hehehehe... Nothing you need to concern yourselves with at this time." "The Howls in the Wind."