Celestia walked regally down the ornamented hallways, admiring the web of architecture and tapestries that was her home. Shining Armor walked to her right, and Luna walked to her left. The group proceeded to walk through the corridors in silence, and only their soft sighs could be heard. No one liked doing this. Well, except for Celestia. She was all powerful, and she thought she had the right to exercise this authority.
The three ponies came to a stop before a grand doorway, its oaken doors reaching far above their heads. The door was painted with a warm purple, and shining gold laced its edges and handles. The three ponies nodded to each other before pushing open the door to reveal their destination.
Several rows of benches lined the first half of the room. Directly in front of those pews were two tables, one on each side of the aisle that split between the seats and benches. Then there came a large desk facing the door with a gavel resting in the corner. A small wooden desk sat next to it. Ponies of all kinds were packed in these seats; rich and poor, mare and stallion, younger and older. All had come to see the testimony of a criminal.
Celestia took her seat at the desk as the high judge. Her advisors- Luna and Shining Armor- stood off to the side of the room. They would help with her verdict later. Then two police ponies dragged in a sorry looking pony, one with dirty, tan fur and a brown spiky mane. A sandglass cutie mark adorned his flanked as he continued warily forward to her feet.
“We are here today to hear the testimony of Mr...” Celestia paused for a moment while reading her papers. The she frowned and looked up and the pony before her, the one she trusted to manage all of the time issues. “Of Dr. Whooves.”
Ponies around the room gasped as they heard his legendary name, and they continued to murmur until Celestia called for order. The tan pony’s eyes were wide and in shock, his mind still reeling from the sudden shock of being placed in the open before lots of ponies. Celestia sighed again until she told Dr. Whooves to explain his case.
He wove a tail of great danger, about breaking into the Canterlot Library to get a spell he needed to travel back to a certain time after his TARDIS had broken. He told how he was chased from the Star-Swirled the Bearded wing with guards on his tail, the unicorns shooting bright blasts of magic at him. He tricked Twilight Sparkle into performing the spell, since he was an earth pony an he had stolen it. He mentioned how he had found out of somepony’s scheme to take over Equestria by stealing a force greater then the Elements of Harmony- the Stone of Curses. It could over power anything, and they plotting pony had already stolen it. He spoke of how he went back in time with his assistant Derpy Hooves and how together they had saved the Stone of Curses and Equestria. And when they teleported back, they teleported onto private property. Oops.
Witnesses were called to the stand, and there weren’t that many. There were a few who spoke about Dr. Whooves breaking three different laws, all of which rolled around in Celestia’s head. She pondered the consequences for breaking each, and realized she didn’t care.
The judge called for a ten minute recess as she and her advisors chatted. She watched smugly as the police ponies walked up to Dr. Whooves side and denied him the right to talk to anypony. Meanwhile, Celestia, Luna, and Shining Armor all filed into a small room behind the court.
“Well, what do you think?” Celestia said lazily. She had already made up her mind, really. She just thought it was fun to disagree with these two.
“I believe he hast earned thee right to a pardon for his crimes,” Luna said in her important, old-fashioned voice. Celestia rolled her eyes at the silly dialect, then signaled with the raise of her eyebrows to continue.
“Celestia, he has yet again saved your precious Equestria. I think we can forgive him for landing on private property,” Luna continued, with a more modernized tone.
“Yes, you’re right, of course,” Celestia replied indifferently. Just go along with it. “Shining Armor, what do you think?”
“I agree with Luna,” he said numbly, then proceeded to walk out the door. Celestia rolled her eyes and smiled at his gruffness. She knew he hated trials. But she dragged him along anyway.
“So it’s settled then,” Luna said pointedly. She started to move towards the door as Celestia’s eyes floated across the room in a bored haze. Luna raised an eyebrow and waved her over, beckoning Celestia to snap out of it. Celestia jumped and then giggled at her foolishness, then walked out the door side by side with Luna. She took her seat again in the court room, and saw Luna give Celestia a wink from the side of the room.
Celestia silenced the court with the simple raising of her hoof. She kept her face expressionless as she stared down at the tan time pony before her. He smiled back up, looking more confident than a pony should in court. Good, his certain attitude would make this much more fun.
“We have come to a verdict,” Celestia said in a booming voice. The room fell silent as the gazes of all ponies travelled upward to her poker face. She let the touch of a smile reach her lips before she slipped it behind her mask. Dr. Whooves was trotting in place in anticipation.
“The defendant has been found guilty as charged,” Celestia stated sternly. Another smile nipped at her lips as she saw Luna’s jaw drop to the ground, and noticed the Dr.Whooves was going into shock. The police ponies came to collect him, and found Celestia asking them to bring him to her room. They hurried away to meet their princess’ orders.
Celestia left the court room without waiting up for Luna or Shining armor. She kept a smirk on her face as she walked down the adorned palace halls, slowly making her way to her room. She dismissed the guards keeping watch there once she arrived, and silently stepped inside.The tan pony sat in the middle of the room, speechless and on the verge of crying. He looked up to find his majesty staring coldly own at him and a scowl formed on his face.
“What? You broke three laws. I must punish with equality.” Celestia said sarcastically. Whooves’ scowl turned into a frown of disappointment, sadness, and betrayal. Celestia shrugged it off and continued pounding on her prisoner. “Come now, don’t be like that,” Celestia purred. Dr. Whooves closed his eyes and pushed a hoof into the ground, slowly turning himself to face away from Equestria’s ruler.
“It’s only fair,” she whined, and continued to walk around his body. She smiled cruelly and put a hoof up to his chin. She slowly lifted his face to be even with hers, but his eyes remain shut.
“Look at me,” Celestia demanded. When there was no change, she repeated her phrase slightly louder.
“Look at me!” she yelled, and she saw Whooves’ eyes squeeze tightly shut. Just as she was about to order again, the tan pony jerked his head to the side and screamed out “No!”
Celestia stood up slowly. She kept her face very grim, though on the inside she was dancing with anticipation. “Dr. Whooves, for disobeying a direct order from Princess Celestia, you will have the utmost punishment,” She said in a mono-tone voice. She smirked as her horn started to glow with golden magic, and the next instant they were gone in a flash of golden light, bright enough to have been a drop of sunlight coming directly from Celestia.
When the two reappeared, they were in Celestia’s rock garden. Celestia whispered a command to walk with her, and this time Dr. Whooves obeyed. Celestia smiled as she saw all of her precious statues, and she noticed how their eyes seemed to follow her. It looked as if they were crying for help. She scowled as she noticed the new Discord statue, because his eyes burned with hatred. Still they walked, until they both reached an empty spot in the garden.
“Your punishment is a magic duel,” Celestia grinned, and she gestured to the empty spot on the grass. Whooves moved there silently, his suspicion clear on his face. Celestia’s horn began to glow, and there was nothing he could do.
He realized a second before Celestia began that he had no magic. There was going to be no magic duel. The tips of his hind hooves were stuck to the ground first. Then he noticed a cold, hard feeling nipping at his hind legs. He whipped his head around and stared in horror. His legs had begun to turn to stone. He felt the rock creeping farther along, leaving dead, unfeeling rock in its wake.
“Why are you doing this?!” Whooves screamed, and he reared up as the stone encased his hind legs. He waved his front hooves frantically around, trying to escape the magic’s grasp. All the while Celestia stood as still as a statue, watching with glee. The stone had trapped his forelegs now, having them sticking out wildly as if punching the air. Dr. Whooves stopped twisting his head now, and he stared directly at Celestia. He closed his mouth, and gave her a glare of daggers and pure hatred. Tears still leaked from his eyes as the stone slowly crept over his head, freezing him in time forever.
What was left was a light grey statue rearing up, waving his hooves and staring at the admirer. The tears he had wept were still there, kept in the rock. You could see the emotions that had played out on his face as well as you could have if he were actually there.
Celestia walked away slowly with a smile. She would name the statue “Defiance.”