//------------------------------// // Paying the Piper // Story: Children of Chaos // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// The castle gets lonely, obviously enough. I had spent several days checking everything out, all the rooms, all the decorations -- many of which detailed events that had occurred in my life, as well as the more infamous things I had done. These served as reminders to what ultimately made me decide to turn myself in for indictment at The Hague. I decided I would write Princess Celestia a final letter informing her of my decision, even though she had told me not to attempt contacting her any further. It was probably the saddest letter I had ever written, and amazingly enough she actually responded. She told me in her response that she was satisfied to hear of my decision to turn myself in, but was also disappointed to hear that I had given Discord a second foal. She reiterated her ominous warning about attempting to return to Equestria, to which I mentally noted was not likely, given the circumstances. She also wrote that she might actually come to visit me some time in the future, but such a visit would have to wait a substantial amount of time. I had told her about my castle, and that she was welcome to stay there if she liked. She included a quick thanks for the offer of hospitality, and if she chose to visit, she would make herself at home in my castle, even though it had been a gift from Discord. A few days after I had received her response, I teleported myself to The Hague to turn myself in. I had finally made my choice after some long hard thinking about what I had done. I was promptly arrested and taken into custody for processing. I went willingly. I was brought before a magistrate to face indictment, and the list of charges was ridiculously long. The courtroom was pretty stark, and rather small considering the severity of the charges -- but since this was being televised around the world, the room didn't need to be any larger than it was. I had contacted an attorney to represent me -- he told me that the indictment process was not the actual trial itself, that would come later. "Twilight Sparkle, do you understand the charges which have been filed against you?" asked the Magistrate. This guy reminded me of my old Physics teacher in High School, but nowhere near as nice. "Yes, your honor," I said meekly. I had a look of terror on my face. "How do you plead?" "Not guilty, your honor." My tail stood straight out, my ears lay flat against my head, my eyes about as wide as they would go. The thought made me sick to my stomach, but that was the advice my attorney had given me, after I had apprised him of the circumstances leading up to my actions on behalf of Discord. I seriously wondered if anypony would believe the actual truth, what with Discord being a fictional character and all. I figured it might be worth a try, though. A gasp came from the few people assembled in the courtroom, and the Magistrate shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Surely you can't be serious," he said in disbelief. "Your honor, I have an explanation, however I find you might not believe what I have to tell you regarding the circumstances which led to The Final War. In my defense, I would like to state first and foremost that the situation in the Mid-East had become untenable -- and since the Israelis were not willing to bargain in good faith, I felt compelled to take action. Since the United States government was not willing to treat both sides equally in the Peace Talks, I felt something had to be done. Since Israel had violated numerous U.N. Resolutions regarding their expropriation of Palestinian land in violation of International Law, and the existence of an Apartheid Wall also being a violation of International Law, I felt it was my duty and fully within my power to unilaterally try to dismantle that wall. I had no intention of starting a global thermonuclear conflict, but had cooler heads prevailed in Washington, Tel Aviv, Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing, such a conflict could have been avoided." "That's no excuse, Twilight Sparkle." "I made an extreme sacrifice to save what was left of humanity," I said. "I could have allowed the radiation to kill all life on the planet, and this trial would not be taking place at all. Part of me wonders if I should have gone ahead and allowed the radiation to kill everything, myself included -- but that would have counter-productive to say the least." "What sort of sacrifice did you make? You're responsible for killing nearly five billion people." "There is a powerful entity who goes by the name of Discord. Perhaps you've heard of him, perhaps not. He was the one who cleaned up the mess I had made, under the condition I bear him a child. That was more than three years ago. It was while I was working for Discord that these actions came to pass -- and as for my employment under Discord, I was forced to work for him, or face certain death." "So you were coerced into working for him, and that's what led to the escalation of conflict." "Yes, your honor." "So we must indict Discord for war crimes as well." "He will not go willingly, and he will be very difficult to locate," I stated flatly. The tell-tale zipper sound happened again. I wondered what was going to happen now. "Twilight, what a surprise. Giving yourself up to the authorities, eh?" Discord chuckled. "Your honor, may I present Discord, in the flesh." Everyone in the courtroom was shocked, mouths agape at his appearance. He smiled his trademark evil grin, and waved to the cameras. "Hello, everyone! Yeah, I made her do it! What are you going to do about it? Arrest me? As if!" he laughed, then disappeared. "Twilight Sparkle, how are we supposed to go about arresting him?" "He would have to give himself up willingly, the same way I did. My conscience bothered me to the point where I felt compelled to turn myself in willingly. Other than that, I would have been forced to remain in my home for the rest of my life." "Very well then. Your plea has been entered, and your trial will start in six weeks. You are to remain in custody until sentence is rendered." "Yes, your honor." I was then escorted back to my prison cell.