Chapter 6: The Trial of Pokey Oaks vs. Dodge City Building and Loan
Applejack had met Princess Celestia before on several occasions, so hearing this news from her grandmother made her feel optimistic. “Seein’ the princess was a good thing, right?” she asked, trying to interpret the look on her grandmother’s face as she watched her turn to the next page.
Granny Smith nodded without looking at her granddaughter as she showed a royal pardon penned by Princess Celestia herself. The Apple grandchildren cheered at the good news, though their jubilation was cut short by Granny Smith’s lack of jocularity. “Good news ain’t always cut and dry,” she explained, looking at the pardon and remembering what it took to get it. "It took a lil' over a week since the night of the Gala to get an audience with Princess Celestia, and by then I was so nervous I could barely think straight..."
---------------
Sew n’ Sow smiled nervously as she and her daughter approached the palace in their threadbare Sunday best, grateful for the audience they had earned from Smithy’s lucky catch. Sew n’ Sow kissed her little girl on the cheek before they approached the royal door. “Yer the apple of mah eye, lil’ darlin’,” she said with a nervous smile. “Now just be on yer very best behavior while we talk to that princess ‘bout lettin’ yer daddy go. His freedom’s ridin’ on yer good behavior now! So be sure to bow real nice, and talk when yer talked to, and fer heavens sakes, don’t slouch!”
Smithy gulped back her anxieties as the guards cast an examination spell upon them to make sure they weren’t carrying anything harmful in their saddlebags. The whole thing was a lot of pressure to put on somepony so young.
The guards permitted the two ponies inside, accompanying them to the royal throne room to meet up with Princess Celestia. The princess had been told ahead of time about the request that the Seed Family had made in exchange for a vague good deed that the child had done for the kingdom. The princess dismissed a well dressed zebra before she nodded regally to the simple subjects approaching her throne.
Celestia watched contently as the mother and child bowed low before her. Signaling for the guards to back off a bit, the princess stood with a welcoming smile on her face at the simpletons bowing on the floor. “So, I hear you were quite the patriot to the city of Canterlot, my dear Granny Smith,” she said in a surprisingly cheerful voice for such a serious situation.
Smithy looked up at the smiling Celestia, uttering a dumb little ‘uh huh’ as she stared awestruck at the beautiful princess. She had never been in the presence of anypony so important or so beautiful before. No wonder everypony held her in such high regard!
Princess Celestia let out a kindly laugh at the filly’s simple utterance. “Surely you’ve seen royalty before, my little pony,” she smiled, crouching down on the still bowing Smithy’s level, getting a shy little ‘uh uh’ out of her subject.
Smithy gazed in awe at a princess whose laughter sounded like music, and whose smile was a beam of joyful sunshine. She relaxed a bit as the princess looked peacefully upon her. “Uh, princess?” she asked shyly, getting a terrified look from her mother at talking out of place. “We were hopin’ maybe we could talk to ya 'bout mah daddy, iff’n that’s okay.”
Celestia smiled at the childlike bluntness that Smithy displayed. “Right to the point," she chuckled. "I like that in a pony. Do you have politicians in your family?”
Celestia took this opportunity to walk up to an ornate set of draping curtains. While she understood the seriousness of the situation to her subjects, she couldn't help enjoying the opportunity for theatrics. Using her alicorn magic, she levitated the curtains away for a dramatic effect to reveal a ragged looking Pokey Oaks. He was detained in chains and held back by two strong earth pony guards.
The very sight of her father threw Smithy into hysterics. “Daddy!” she exclaimed with tears in her eyes, forgetting to mind her manners as she ran up and jumped at him with her front legs outstretched to hug him. Celestia signaled the guards to allow the display of affection, looking over at Sew n’ Sow with a ‘you can join in too’ look on her face as she nodded at the father and daughter.
Elated by the gesture, Sew n’ Sow galloped up to her beloved husband and covered his face in kisses. “I’ve missed ya so much,” she cried into his neck as she hugged him hard.
Returning the kisses and hugs hungrily, Pokey Oaks looked down at his daughter clinging to his front leg for dear life. “The apple of mah eye,” he said, barely able to contain his pride. “How’d I ever get so blessed with ya? I heard all 'bout how ya caused all this today. I just can’t thank ya enough, mah lil’ darlin’. I'm so glad they ain't broke ya yet!”
Gently breaking up the reunion with a lady like throat clearing, Princess Celestia led the family before her throne for Pokey Oak’s trial. Everypony was surprised to see that Mighty Rich was now standing beside the throne, having taken the opportunity to get there while the Seed Family had their reunion. “I sure am glad we could finally do this,” Mighty Rich said with a humble bow to the princess. “I’m just sorry it had to come to this. I wish like heck it all could of been avoided.”
Smithy shot Mighty Rich a dirty look. “What’s he doin’ here!” she demanded of the princess, pointing an accusing hoof at him.
To quiet her young subject, Princess Celestia lifted a royal hoof above her head to demand silence. “He is here for the very same reason you are, my dear Granny Smith,” she said calmly. “He is here for your father. Though I admire your gusto, I must ask you to give Mighty Rich the same courtesy that you request of me and all of my subjects.”
Smithy had thought to tell the princess how she preferred not to be called by her given name, but one sideways glare from her mother ended that idea. Now was everything, especially since how they chose to defend themselves could mean the difference between freedom and imprisonment. While still having a lot more on her mind, Smithy chose to stiffen her lips and keep her thoughts to her self for her father's sake.
Mighty Rich began his statement with a friendly little smile at the princess. “I thank ya kindly, yer majesty,” he mused. “More importantly, I thank ya fer yer divine council over such a serious matter such as this, yer good citizen Pokey Oaks.”
Pokey Oaks perked his head up at the acknowledgement of his name. What was this smooth talker up to?
Mighty Rich winked at the prisoner before continuing with his opening announcements. “Yer majesty, this here is the finest seed man ya ever laid eyes on. Surely a skill like this could of been enough to raise a family, but ya know what a terrible drought Dodge City’s been under over the past few years due to all the bickerin’ them union boys keep doin’ up there in Cloudsdale. I know Chairman Carpet Bag and his staff is makin’ real good progress with them union boys, but a drought like that takes a toll on a man’s business, leavin’ him from well off to well near starvin’.”
Pokey Oaks was in shock as he heard the speech. Was the pony who put him behind bars really defending him just now? And why? “Uh, yer majesty?” he said, raising a chained hoof to break the speech. “Iff'n I may be so bold, what’s he doin’ here defendin’ me? He’s the one who put me in jail in the first place.”
Mighty Rich expected this kind of reaction, and had prepared documentation to back up his reasons for being there. “Pokey Oaks, I really tried to work with ya,” he sighed as he began his explanation, pulling out an accounting book dedicated to the account for the Seed Family. “Ya went through a mighty rough patch right ‘bout here, as ya can see by the lack of payments fer several months. I know I talked to ya a lot 'bout this, even helped ya try findin' work. Ya even signed on multiple occasions that ya intended to pay set amounts each month so that ya’d be takin’ care of yer debt. Yer lies got outta control, and when I tried to talk some sense into ya, ya went and attacked me. What else could I do? I hated doin’ this, but I felt endangered. I had to protect mah bank and mah customers, so I went after ya legally. It weren't what I wanted to do mind ya, but I had to do it.”
Pokey Oaks felt ashamed of his behavior, and blushed furiously as he explained it to the princess. “I… did things I ain’t proud of,” he confessed. “I was so frustrated with everythin’ goin’ on with mah family. Mah wife kept losin’ babies and the ones I had were so starved their belly buttons were stuck to their backbones. With this wormy lil’ pencil neck breathin’ down mah back 'bout makin’ payments I just didn’t know what to do anymore. I felt like everythin’ I did I failed at, and I was desperate. Mah mama suggested runnin’ fer it after I attacked Mighty Rich, and I was outta options. I know it weren’t right, but I didn’t know what else to do to keep mah family livin’.”
The ‘wormy lil’ pencil neck’ comment aside, Mighty Rich still looked down at the defeated pony with a sense of sympathy. “Look, I know yer not a bad man, Pokey Oaks,” he said, trying to encourage the prisoner. “Ya just made a few bad decisions is all. I'd loved to just let go of yer debts, but doin’ so would have ruined the accounts of all the other ponies who trusted their money to the Dodge City Buildin' and Loan. I had to do it to keep the books even or else others would have had to pay fer yer mistakes. And if I'd let ya slide, everypony else would have wanted that kinda treatment too. If enough ponies did it, we'd have no more banks, ya understand?”
Princess Celestia looked down upon both of her subjects with sympathy. Surely they both wanted to strike a peaceful agreement over an unfortunate financial situation. “Mighty Rich,” she said, addressing the loan pony. “You say that Pokey Oaks is a seed collector. Do you have any samples of his seeds?”
Feeling completely unprepared, Mighty Rich shook his head. He was surprised to hear Sew n’ Sow saying “I got them seeds” as she pulled a satchel of seeds out of her saddlebag. The tired mare marched up to the princess with the satchel proudly held in her teeth as if holding onto them had been her sign of love and fidelity.
Setting the satchel down with a sweeping bow, she watched nervously as the princess rooted around in the satchel with her hoof and flicked out seeds that had peeked her interest. “I have never seen such an amazing assortment of seeds!” Princess Celestia exclaimed, smiling up at the prisoner and his family. “Surely your talents are being wasted in Foalsom Prison.”
The princess’s remarks made Pokey Oaks smile. He’d forgotten how good it felt to be proud of something. “However,” the princess added sternly, watching her subject’s smile begin to fade, “you are still in a massive amount of debt to this man who must in turn take care of those who have trusted their money to his bank.” The realization stuck Pokey Oaks hard as he lowered his head in shame.
Princess Celestia approached the Seed Family, who were clinging to each other in a desperate last attempt to show that they belonged together. Craning her head toward the poor family, she put on a mischievous smile. “There is something I need you all to see,” she said, winking at the Seed’s. They looked at each other in disbelief as the princess walked away from them before revealing a balcony with her magic. Was this her idea of some kind of cruel joke?
Following obediently, the Seed Family walked out onto the balcony to join Princess Celestia and Mighty Rich. The view from the balcony could very easily be considered breath taking, though the breath had already been taken out of Pokey Oaks months ago. He could barely hold his head up as Princess Celestia held out her hoof to reveal her kingdom. “Do you see that wooded area over there?” she asked her subjects. “That is the Everfree Forest, a fertile, if not dangerous, part of my kingdom. I have not held dominion over that part of my kingdom since I had to banish my sister to the moon centuries ago. Though she is no longer with us, her dark magic still radiates over that part of Equestria. Though there are many dangers there, I feel that there are several profitable opportunities to be had as well. That magic has affected the plant life, so I’m sure you could find some truly fascinating seeds there, Pokey Oaks. I bet you could turn quite a profit farming and seeding there, enough to pay off your debts for your crimes.”
Pokey Oaks’s jaw dropped as he dashed up to the edge of the balcony, looking down at the tree covered land before him. “Ya mean it?” he asked in awe, his voice raspy with disbelief.
The princess nodded regally at the display of gratitude. “I do mean it,” she explained as Pokey Oaks hastily kissed her hoof, much to the displeasure of his wife. “But I must tell you that it comes at a price. I shall repay your debts in full today to Mighty Rich, but now you will be working for me. If I see you falling into old financial habits, you will once again serve time in Foalsom Prison, and this land will be taken from you. And Mighty Rich, in exchange for the payment in full, I would like for you to keep a close watch over the Seed Family farm to ensure Pokey Oaks is doing as he is instructed. I want to see him turn a profit, and I want you to report to me regularly on everything that you see. Are you both in agreement?”
Smiling at the happy Seed Family, Mighty Rich bowed down to the regal princess. “It’d be an honor to be of service,” he said, hardly able to hide the giddiness in his voice. “And I have to thank ya kindly fer yer generosity toward all yer subjects. Ya really are as wise and compassionate as ya are lovely, even to a ‘wormy lil’ pencil neck’ like me. Right Pokey?”
He shot Pokey Oaks a teasing glance, chuckling cheerfully as the chained pony smiled and blushed at the earlier insult. The two began to laugh heartily at the loan pony’s sick sense of humor. “Aww, come here, ya ol’ pencil neck!” Pokey Oaks replied, throwing his hooves around Mighty Rich and squeezing him in a huge hug. “I ain’t ever gonna forget ya fer this! Never ever, ya hear!”
---------------
The news of Pokey Oaks newfound freedom made the Apple’s cheer out load. Granny Smith even smiled as she talked of the fair and just trial that helped free her father. “It was a right goodin’ of a trial,” Granny Smith explained as she remembered her father’s chains falling off with the help of unicorn magic. “All was goin’ so good as Mighty Rich shook hooves with mah daddy, them two talkin’ up a storm 'bout plans fer the future. ‘Course I was happier than a pig in fresh mud to have mah daddy back, but it all sorta faded away as we walked past the kitchen. Outta the corner of mah eye I saw that lil’ zebra boy chained up at the kitchen sink, and after that I just couldn’t shake why we got that trial in the first place.”