TRIXIE, APPLELOOSA SHERIFF
By: Einhander
Edited by Admiral Hoofesome (1st Pass), Space Commie (2nd Pass)
Pre-Read by Cola Bubble Gum
Prologue: Judgment at Canterlot
"Fillies and gentlecolts of the jury... "
Shining Armor approached the podium in front of the jury, magically putting his papers in order. He cleared his throat, then stared forward and spoke: "This is no fantasy. No careless product of wild imagination. No, my fellow ponies. These indictments that I have brought to you today, specific charges herein against this individual, known to you as Trixie. "
"Ahem!"
Shining rolled his eyes. "Who, for the record, insists she go by her full name, The Great And Powerful Trixie."
Trixie sat up straight in her chair, straining against the chains that were keeping her close to the table. "Trixie would also accept the alternate phrasing of "Trixie, Comma, The Great And Powerful."
Shining's eyes were lidded as he said, "Let the record so reflect." The court reporter, a unicorn who was magically scribbling down the words with a quill on a piece of parchment, nodded at Shining who continued on: "These... are matters of undeniable fact." He walked up to the jury box, clutching a document. "Witnesses have told you, firsthoof, of what they saw and heard the defendant do. We also have the defendant's confession!" he lifted up the piece of paper, which had a page full of scribble that was signed with a flourish and the name "Trixie, TGAP."
"This case is clear. It’s straightforward. I ask you now to pronounce judgement on the accused." He then returned to his table and nodded at the judge.
Luna cleared her throat and announced, "We thank thee, Shining Armor." She fidgeted slightly on her chair. While she had been a princess for thousands of years, she only recently had become a judge. Staring over at the box full of juryponies who were staring back at her expectantly, she shifted her glance to the defense table. Trixie was seated next to her court-appointed attorney, the veteran lawpony Slow Drawl, a light brown Earth Pony with a bright white mane and a tired expression. He had his reading glasses on and his nose stuck in a book. Luna asked. "Does the defense have anything to say before the jury announces a verdict?"
Slow Drawl shook his head and didn't bother to look up from his book. "Don't look at me, y'honor. Mz. Great and Powerful is representing herself, if ya will recall."
Trixie drew herself up and said with a smile: "The Great and Powerful Trixie believes this jury will deliver a just verdict without her having to say one word more."
Trixie sat down with a flourish, holding her head up high. Slow Drawl sighed and flipped a page.
"Very well, members of the jury, thou hast a long list of charges to consider. Please take as much time as you --yes, sir, what is it?"
The fore-pony of the jury lowered his raised hoof, "Just a sec, your honor." He quickly huddled with the other jurors. There was some hurried whispering, a fair amount of nodding, then the fore-pony turned back to Luna, "We don't need any time, your honor."
Luna arched an eyebrow. "Then you have a verdict already?"
"Oh, sure. Right everypony?" The rest of the jury nodded.
Luna noticed Slow Drawl shut his book and stand, suddenly alert to the proceedings. The princess asked, "Does the defense have any objection?" Slow Drawl opened his mouth, which was quickly blocked by a blue hoof. Trixie shook her head, and the law pony grunted and sat back down.
"Very well. Juror fore-pony, I charge thee, announce thy verdict!"
"We find the defendant incredibly guilty."
There was a gasp from the defense table.
"Of all charges."
A bigger gasp.
The fore-pony nodded, “Yes.” Then he sat down.
Luna shook her head gravely. "Is this the decision of all?"
The other 11 ponies nodded or said "Yes." Trixie stared at them, mouth agape.
"Very well, rise, Trixie Lulamoon. Thou have been convicted of over 26 crimes against ponies by a jury of thy peers. We-"
"Peers! Ha! Trixie finds your poor use of the phrase to be the darkest of jokes!" cried Trixie. "Trixie has no peers, and if she did, they would be wizards and illusionists of the highest order!" She closed her eyes and tried to summon her magic, but failed. She glared at the chains on her legs that were sapping her magical strength.
"Silence!" shouted Luna in her Royal Canterlot Voice. "Or we shall find you in contempt of court!"
"Trixie has nothing BUT contempt for this court!” snarled Trixie, who the then turned her fury from her chains to her 'peers', who cowered under her gaze in the jury box. "Fools and how'dshedodats, all of you! I will not be found wanting by the likes of you.” She climbed on top of her defendant’s table, and continued, “Trixie will FIND you. Trixie will go into your HOUSES and MESS UP THE PLACE. The Great and Powerful Trixie-"
Luna stomped her feet and started casting a spell. "This is thy last warning-- cease and desist or face the consequences!"
"Make me," roared Trixie, pointing her hoof at Luna, "You self-important, stuck-up, condescending--"
And the rest was silence. Trixie stopped in mid-rant as a blue aura enveloped her. Luna stepped down from the bench, horn flaring with magic, as the cloud completely encompassed Trixie in a sphere of magic. The princess finished the spell, and the cloud of magic dimmed slightly, but held Trixie frozen in time.
There was an audible release of breath as the various members of the jury came out of their hiding places, with wild eyes and shaking hooves. Luna looked at them with dismay and announced. "This court thanks thee for thy service. All are dismissed." The various fillies and colts nodded and walked out of the courtroom, some shaking their heads.
When they had all left, Luna moved back to her judge's chair and looked down on Trixie.
"Trixie Lulamoon, alias The Great and Powerful Trixie, alias Trixie, Comma, The Great and Powerful: thou hath been found guilty. Does the people's pony wish to be heard as to sentencing?"
Shining Armor nodded. "Yes, your honor. Trixie Lulamoon is a repeat offender who has, as recently as two minutes ago, shown nothing but contempt for the laws of pony kind. She returned to the scene of her previous frauds and cons to wreak havoc with illegal magic, injuring several ponies, damaging property, and almost disrupting the major diplomatic event with Saddle Arabia set to take place in the next few days. She is implicated, but not charged, in many more crimes."
Slow Drawl cleared his throat and said, "'’Implicated, but not charged' sounds a lot to me like accusations without proof, Judge."
Shining gave the him a Look, then turned back to Luna. "We recommend the maximum sentence allowed under the law. Three years in the Crystal Empire prisons."
Luna nodded and said, "’Tis just. Very well. Trixie, I sentence thee--"
"Now hold on just a minute there y'honor," interrupted Slow Drawl, taking off his glasses and standing. "I think ya'll may be fixin’ to harvest before ya plant yer seeds."
"Attorney!" said Luna. "Explain thyself."
"I may just be an old country law pony from Appleloosa, your honor, but it seems to me that y'all are denying the defense a right to speak before she's sentenced."
"Really, counselor?" snorted Shining Armor. "I think she said enough."
"Now I ain't approvin’ of anything she's done today, but if you'll recall, that was all in the heat of an obviously upsetting verdict. We have moved to a different phase of proceeding, namely, sentencing. Whole different barrel of cherries. Y’all gave shiny britches over there a right to speak, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander."
Luna stared Slow Drawl down. "The court has heard enough from Ms. Lulamoon today. To let her speak further would only hurt her case. Besides, did she not fire thee?"
"Yet here I am, your honor. Mz. Trixie since she can't speak right now, I'm gonna step in and ask: what's the rush?" He calmly put his book back in his bag. "Ya said yourself, you don't want to hear from her today. And I agree that Mz. Trixie is in no condition to think clearly about her position, today."
"So what do thee propose?"
"That's just it. Don't hear from her today. Adjourn the case to tomorrow."
Luna frowned. "The courts are busy. Justice need not be delayed for someone as guilty as this pony.."
"Then if not for her, then for justice itself, your honor." insisted Slow Drawl. "Let's do this right. She ain't goin nowhere.”
Luna turned to Shining Armor. "What say thee to this request?"
Shining Armor looked at Slow Drawl critically, then said, "Fair is fair, your honor. We can wait a day.”
Luna mulled this over, then rose from her judge's chair and walked towards Trixie. She stopped when they were face to face, eyeball to eyeball. Luna stared at the frozen unicorn and said, "Then let her think about what she's done."
"Court is adjourned until tomorrow morning!" announced Luna, heading for the exit. "Guards! Take her away."
After Luna left, Shining Armor's guards shared a blank look as they contemplated how to move the frozen Trixie. Finally, they physically lifted her up and carried her through the cell doors, down to the dungeon.
Shining Armor sighed and gathered his papers. Before he could leave, he felt a hoof on his shoulder.
"I need to see Princess Celestia. Like pronto."
Shining Armor coldly removed the hoof from his shoulder. "The princess is very busy."
"Oh, I'm sure she is. Complexities of raising the sun and all that. However, I think you'll find if you tell her Ol' Slow Drawl needs a favor, she'll find the time."
"Sir,” said Shining with narrowing eyes, “I don't know you, but you should know this about me: I've been away from my wife for days because of this nonsense. And now I have to come back tomorrow as well."
Slow Drawl smiled as he closed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Tell you what, son. Go ask the princess if she knows me, I'll wait right here. And if she don't know me, if she ain't willing to spare a moment, why you can personally escort me to yer dungeon for the night. I'll camp out right next to my client."
Shining Armor blinked. "Lying to the captain of the guard is a jailable offense, you know that?"
Slow Drawl laughed. "I should. I helped write the dang law."
It was a few hours later.
Trixie was brought down by the two guards and left gently on a cot, with the cell door closed behind her. She remained frozen in time, the aura not as strong as it was before but still enveloping her. Her mouth was still open, hoof still outstretched in accusation.
It was a dark, damp cell, but with plenty of straw and a bucket with fresh water. Not that Trixie could notice, as the clock ticked on and she stayed the same, pointing at an accuser who was no longer there. Day turned to night, the sun shining in through the jail cell window turned to moonlight, shining on the frozen accuser.
The guard assigned to watch Trixie started out alert, but as he watched the sun become the moon, his eyes drooped along with his attention. For being the supposed most dangerous pony in all of Canterlot, this prisoner wasn't doing much.
Then there was a sudden scream of, "-- you blue hued ancient gasbag!"
The guard jumped, stammered, "Oh sh..." and then he was gone.
Trixie blinked, taking in her new surroundings and the fact that it was suddenly night. She was lying on her side on the jail cell cot, her hoof still pointing forward. A wave of fatigue came over her as she went limp. Every limb fell to the ground. There was a CLUNK, and she looked down to see her magical shackles were still on her knees.
She sighed, looking over at the window. The moonlight was bright and unforgiving. She lacked the strength to move out of it's glare.
So... this is how it begins for Trixie...
A structure caught her eye. Trying to rally, she leaned up to look out the window. Then she saw the scaffolding outside, a relic from old times that had been dusted off recently. She had heard rumors that they were reviving the old ways of punishment. Stocks, quarries, the noose...
Or maybe how it ends...
She shook her head. Celestia would never do that.
Maybe.
She sat up on the cot, leaning back against the wall, letting memories wash around her mind and heart. How did she she end up here?
Almost automatically, her inner voice replied:
Twilight Sparkle...!
“Evening, Mz. Lulamoon…"
Trixie turned and saw Slow Drawl walking towards her cell gate. His light brown coat, white mane and unmistakable cutie mark: the scales of justice. She glared at him, huffed and turned away, looking out her window.
“I’m sorry, Mz. Trixie, Comma, The Great and Powerful. That is what we decided on for the record, right?”
“Trixie…” she hesitated, not feeling up to using her full name, “Trixie has nothing to say to you.”
“Good!” said Slow Drawl. “You talk too much anyway. So tell you what, I’m gonna do some talkin’ and you, you do some listen’n. And when I’m done, you got nothin’ to say to me, that’s fine. We’ll part ways. Deal?”
Trixie didn’t reply, as she stared out at Luna’s moon. Her ear twitched, giving herself away. She was listening.
“Let’s assume, for the moment, that’s a yes,” said Slow Drawl, taking off his glasses and looking at the back of his client’s head. “Now you see that statue out there? Tall lookin fella, dragon head, looks very surprised to be a statue?”
Trixie’s eyes searched until she found it. True enough, there was tall dragon/horse/eagle creature in the garden outside the window. Captured in amazing detail in stone, his eyes were wide open and his mouth was a frozen scream.
“That there’s Discord. You might’a remember him from that business a little back where chocolate milk rained from the sky and buffalos were dancin’ like they were in the Manehatten Ballet, before Twilight Sparkle put a stop to it.”
Trixie groaned at the mention of her hated rival. Of course. Of COURSE the weak and annoying Twilight Sparkle was the one to put a stop to the no-doubt-had-his-reasons Discord. She stared again at the statute. It looked so real, so lifelike, so hard to carve…
“Trixie seeks answers. Why would they make a statute of this creature, if he was such a villain?
“You misunderstand me. That’s not a statue of Discord. That is Discord.”
Trixie’s head snapped back around to face Slow Drawl, her face horrified.
“The process, as I understand it, is similar to what the cockatrice of the Everfree forest can do to a pony. It starts with your legs, and then it goes up your flank. You can feel it happening, but even if you have the presence of mind to move, you can’t. You feel as if you’re frozen, and in a manner of moments it doesn’t matter how you feel because you are frozen in stone.”
"And if you should be so lucky to ever get free from a cockatrice’s gaze, ya wake up like from a bad dream... Except the world has passed you by. Time keeps moving, you just ain’t aware of it. I hear tell of one pony, he turned to stone and got rescued fifteen years later. For him, it was a minute, but by the time he got home, his little filly had all grown up, and he was a stranger to her."
Drawl let a moment or two pass before continuing. "But I haven't got to the worst part. What makes a sentence of stone worse, much worse than a cockatrice attack, is that when you turn to stone because of a spell... Your mind stays awake. Your stone eyes can still see, your ears still work." He stared at Trixie with hard eyes. "You hear everything. You see everything. You remember everything."
"They... They can't do that to Trixie! Trixie didn't hurt anyone!" she gulped, then added, "Much..."
"Oh no, Mz. Lulamoon, like I said, that's all in the past. Since Luna's return, Celestia has ruled that no pony or creature may be sentenced to stone or banished to the moon and so forth. And Discord is the only creature left in the land still serving such a sentence. And, hopefully, one day I will secure his parole." He mused. "No, they got something much more... Civilized in store for you. Ya’ll hear tell of the Crystal Empire?"
"It was just recently rediscovered, was it not?"
"Sure was, and set free by your favorite pony, Twilight Sparkle." There was another groan from Trixie. He ignored it. "King Sombra is gone. Princess Cadence and her husband-- our prosecutor up there, Sir Shiny Armor-- rule the land. But they didn't just discover the empire, the crystal ponies, and the Crystal Heart. They also found the Crystal Dungeons."
"Crystal Dungeons?" Trixie asked. "Trixie hasn't heard of them."
"Course not, because no pony's supposed to talk about it. They're cages of despair and unforgiving light, built by Sombra himself to keep any dissenter locked up. Imagine a cell built like a loop, entirely made of reflective crystal. The prisoners see nothing but themselves, endless copies of themselves, running in circles as long as the judge sees fit." He shook his head. "No creature deserves that."
Trixie was shaking. Her earlier thoughts of revenge were being poisoned by fear. She lifted a shaking hoof and pointed it at Drawl, "Trixie doubts your story. Celestia would never allow such a fate for any pony."
"The same Celestia that keeps Discord frozen in stone?" asked Drawl with a raised eyebrow, "But you're right. It ain't Celestia sending troublemakers there. Luna's in charge of the pony justice system." Trixie's eyes went wide, and Drawl nodded, "That's right, Mz. Lulamoon. Your judge. She ain’t her sister, full of forgiveness and understanding. She's old school law and order, judgment style. And she has the power to send you the same place she sends the Diamond Dogs, the outlaw ponies who rob trains in Appleloosa, and the changelings who fell behind after the invasion."
Trixie narrowed her eyes. "Trixie is no ignorant Diamond Dog or mindless changeling. Trixie is the most powerful illusionist in all of Equestria. There is no prison the can keep her, crystal or no." She turned away from the Drawl and stared back at the moon. "Let Luna do her worst. Trixie will find a way out."
Slow Drawl let the silence grow between them. He tilted his head back and forth, as if the words were rolling around in his head. Finally he said, "Maybe you will." Trixie turned her head. Drawl continued: "Maybe you buck the odds. You got the guts, no question. You may have the talent, too. But say you get out, Mz. Lulamoon. Then what?"
Drawl walked up to the bars and placed a hoof on them. Trixie watched him out of the corner of her eye. "You run, right? You run as fast and far as you can. Then one of two things happens. One, you stay one hoof ahead of the law, the rest of your life. Possible. You'll go from town to town, never staying anyplace for long, always going to sleep afraid..."
Drawl's voice was scraping against Trixie’s mind, and his words were digging into her skull. She gritted her teeth and asked, "Or..?"
"Or more likely, ya get caught. Maybe not the next day, but soon enough. Because Luna will use every resource she’s got to track you down. And they'll drag ya here and put you through a trial for escape, and then, mark my words, she will make an exception to Celestia’s new rule and-" as he finished his rant, he slammed on the bars for each word, "Put. You. In. Stone."
"What do you want Trixie to do?" she seethed. "'Pony up' and take my three years in a crystal prison? Or plead for mercy in front of Luna?" She shook her head. "Trixie won't beg, Mr. Drawl."
"You know, there was testimony that was going to come out durin' the trial... I got it thrown out as hearsay, before y'all fired me. But you should know. Shining wanted the jury to hear what the children said about you. The two times you came to town, their teacher had them write down about the experience, because they kept having nightmares. And what they wrote is that they were terrified of you. Let me see here," he produced a document, and started to read aloud, "’She's still in my nightmares,', 'My brother makes fun of me because I need a night light,' ‘She’s not real, right? Shes a made-up monster, like the boogie mare,’ and my personal favorite, ‘I can’t sleep, Trixie will eat me,’
"STOP!" screamed Trixie. "Enough! Trixie can't take it anymore!"
"Is that what you wanted to achieve when ya'll set out with your traveling roadshow?"
There was another silence. Trixie was quietly crying. "Trixie wanted to amaze and delight ponies of all ages." She turned towards Drawl and said, "The Great and Powerful Trixie wants to show ponies things they've never seen before, wonders and illusions to dazzle the mind and enrich the soul. To make their lives a little more... amazing. And have them remember the pony that brought that amazement to their eyes."
There was a pause. “It is all I live for,” she sniffed.
Slow Drawl cocked his head at that. That was the first "I" he ever heard out of her. I wonder...
"Trixie,” he said, “Are you a smart enough pony to know when someone's offering you a helping hoof?"
Trixie lifted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"
Slow Drawl got very close to the bars. "There may be another choice. If, and this is a big if, miss; IF I can get the judge to offer you a way out that ain't jail... Would you take it?"
Trixie kept her eyes on his, searching for clues. "That depends. What would Trixie have to do?"
"Yes or no. Right now. Jail, or something else. And don't say yes if you don't mean it."
She pounded on the cell bars. "Trixie can't agree to something she doesn't know the details of!"
"Trixie ain't got much of a choice, does she?" said Drawl. "Look. Either go to jail and whatever happens, happens. Or the other way. My way.”
"Why are you helping Trixie, after everything Trixie did to you?"
"I have my reasons."
They stared at each other.
"Trixie... Trixie will agree to your terms."
Slow Drawl laughed. "There ain't nothing to agree to, just yet. You hold tight, now, and I'll see you in the morning. I got work to do."
"Will you speak to the Princess?"
"Trying to influence a judge, behind closed doors, in the middle of sentencing? Honey, I'd lose my license in 10 seconds flat." He laughed. "On the other hoof, ain't no law says I can't speak to her sister..."
Luna was sitting at her desk, her horn aglow as she scribbled furiously with a quill pen. When she had agreed to be the new head of the Justice Department, she knew it would be hard work. She just hadn't expected the tedium. Forms upon forms upon madness. Endless paperwork madness. No wonder Celestia was willing to part with the job so easily.
Still, things had gotten better from her perspective. Crime was down, punishments were up, and the guard ponies seemed to walk with a spring in their step now. Cadence and Celestia seemed less enthused with her tactics, but Shining Armor had responded very positively to the changes. It had helped matters considerably when Shining Armor had reported the discovery of King Sombra's Crystal Prison. Now that she had a place to send (or threaten to send) the worst offenders, Canterlot was breathing easier and the Crystal Empire was getting the necessary funds to hire ponies and get things going again.
Most of the trials she had presided over were easy enough. The cases were either close calls or criminals who thought they could fool a jury; Shining had not prosecuted anypony he thought truly innocent. Then the Trixie case had come through, and everything changed.
Some ponies were only too happy to tell the jury what Trixie had done, especially Twilight's blue and orange friends. But Twilight herself declined to come testify, causing a giant headache for Shining Armor (and a blow out fight the siblings.) Twilight kept insisting that punishment wouldn't solve anything, which was all well and good in theory, but made it difficult to prosecute the case when the star witness wouldn't come forward. Or it least it should have, since the defense lawpony Slow Drawl volunteered to take Trixie's case for free. But everything was thrown for a loop when Trixie 'fired' her free lawpony a day into the trial, insisting she'd represent herself. At that point, in the words of the newsponies covering the trial, "The farce became a circus."
Trixie objected to practically every question asked of the witnesses by the prosecution, on the grounds of "shenanigans", a term which she could not find in any of her law books. And the only questions she asked of each witness had to do with her talent and magical prowess. Members of the audience often broke into incredulous laughter and had to be removed from the court. Luna was greatly relieved that the jury came back with a guilty verdict so quickly.
But now came the question of punishment.
Shining Armor was right: a sentence of 3 years in the Crystal Empire prison was a legal sentence. But no pony had ever been sent there for that long, only changelings and other uncontrollable creatures who had committed crimes of treason and violence. To send a pony there for anything short of treason or murder would set a giant precedent. And yet, she had been convicted at a fair trial of a laundry list of crimes.
"Lulu?" A sweet, gentle voice floated on the wind. "Do you have a moment?"
Only one pony could call her that and live to tell the tale. Luna smiled, "Tia, why are you up? Your duties resume in mere hours, you should be asleep."
Celestia shook her head with a drowsy smile. "I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about Trixie."
"We share a common problem." Luna mused, staring over the file in front of her. "Three years in the Crystal Empire prison seems harsh, and yet, the crimes are numerous and real."
Her sister's smile fell, as she stared at a model of the prisons that was set up on Luna's table. There little color-coded figurines in many of the cells of the model, indicating where different races of prisoner were.
The cells were about 70% full. Higher than last time, Celestia noted grimly.
"Sometimes I wish that this prison was destroyed during Sombra's attack on the Empire," Celestia said.
"Dark times call for drastic measures, sister." Luna replied, calmly organizing her papers, "Crime was high and now thy will agree, it hath gone done."
"Yes, but the cost is high, Luna.." said Celestia sadly, "Equestria must be free, or it is not the Equestria we fight to defend."
"Any future that our subjects hath must be derived from law and order. And this subject, Trixie, hath no respect for it whatsoever."
Celestia laughed, although it had a hollow ring to it. "You have me there."
"This unicorn has caused havoc, even pain, to good ponies. Friends of ours. Ponies who have saved us time and again, ponies who testified against her."
"But not Twilight," said Celestia. "Doesn't that bother you? The pony who was the most wronged, and she did not come forward."
Luna sighed, "That doth give us pause, yes. But the jury's verdict is done, without her testimony, and there will be no appeal."
"Lulu, did you read her file? I did. Foster home after foster home. She came to the School for Gifted Unicorns on a scholarship and was dismissed for behavior issues. But she got top marks in all her classes when it came to achievement."
Luna frowned. "Lots of ponies also came on scholarship, and graduated without using a forbidden magic for revenge."
"Maybe Trixie is different. Maybe she deserves another chance."
And with that, Luna lost her temper and started shouting in the Royal Canterlot Voice: "You give too much! You trust too much. First you gamble with Twilight Sparkle 's life to restore the Crystal Empire, then you speak of voluntarily releasing Discord--Discord, who has almost dethroned thee twice! And now you wish to give this little tyrant a second chance!
"A third chance actually. She woke up an Ursa Minor shortly after you returned. I sentenced her to community service.”
Luna rolled her eyes. "There it is! Face facts, sister. Some ponies cannot be redeemed."
Celestia took a step back, the words slapping her in the face. Luna instantly felt the visual rebuke and realized she had gone too far. "We are sorry, Tia, but it is true. Some ponies just... turn to evil. " Celestia lowered her head, and tears started to gather. Luna panicked, "’Tis not anypony's fault, dear sister! One can love and care as much as one can, and still the object of that love can come out twisted." Celestia took yet another step back, visibly shaking now. Luna felt like she was about to cry as well, and pleaded, "Please, dear sister, this is the last thing that I wanted... do not cry, Tia. Please. I love thee. What is wrong?”
Celestia looked her sister in the eye. "They said the same about you, Lulu," she whispered, "They said... They said it wasn't my fault. Some ponies just ‘go bad’."
The words cut Luna like a blade. She looked up at the sky mournfully. Some ponies still shied away from her or were excessively formal.
Like they were afraid.
"And then..." Celestia continued, "I lost you. I thought it was forever. But she brought you back."
"Twilight Sparkle..." said Luna.
"Yes... dear Twilight," replied Celestia, "Twilight who would not come testify against Trixie, who has done nothing but harm her."
Luna cracked her neck, deep in thought. No wonder Celestia didn't want this job. It was harder than raising the Moon. "Ponies forgive, but do not forget easily, do they Tia?"
"Given enough time, and good deeds, ponies will remember the right more than the wrong."
Luna chuckled bitterly. "I have many more years and deeds to go."
"Then let this be the next good deed."
"But what am I to do? Forcing her to do magic shows for sick ponies or the like?" Luna snorted. "The era of a slap on the hoof is over. The crime is heavy; the punishment must be severe!"
"Then let it be severe, but severe in how it impacts her and others, for the good." Celestia sorted through her scrolls, finally found the one she was looking for and quickly flashed it to Luna. "What about this?"
"Sister?" Asked Luna. "What is that missive?"
"A request from the town of Appleloosa. Their sheriff has broken his leg, and they are without a pony to enforce the law. They are asking for one of our finest to serve until the Sheriff can get back on his hooves... This sounds perfect!"
"But we cannot spare Shining!" she grabbed the note out of Celestia's hoof. "Queen Chrysalis might-" Luna stopped, staring at the note, and then back at Celestia. "Oh."
Celestia had her best innocent looking face on. Luna narrowed her eyes at her sister, holding up the note for Celestia to see. The envelope was addressed to Luna, but on the inside the letter was clearly addressed to Celestia, from Slow Drawl, on behalf of the fair citizens of Appleloosa.
"We hath observed what thou hast performed here." said Luna, dryly.
"I just thought it was an interesting idea!" insisted Celestia.
"Thou were always a terrible liar, Tia."
"Okay, okay, so I might have gently manipulated the mail so that it crossed your desk... that's no crime."
"Actually--"
"What I'm trying to say... is that I advise you to test her, Luna. Challenge her to do better."
"Give a convicted criminal a law enforcement position! In one of our most dangerous areas..."
"Yes, a mixture of some of our bravest ponies with some of the worst scum and villainy around. Who is more likely to survive? A straight arrow, or one who already knows every trick in the book?”
Luna shook her head, “She’s headstrong, stubborn, self-important, impetuous--”
“She reminds me of you, Lulu," said Celestia. Luna's head snapped up sharply at that. Celestia continued, "Great power. Great sense of drama. A desire to be loved. A great wellspring of hurt when another pony got more attention."
"And a desire for revenge...?" murmured Luna.
"This is it for Trixie. The crossroads where she goes down one path or another, and if she goes to the Crystal Prison, her fate is sealed. She will stay there for however long you say, but I fear she will be back again in short order, a bitter pony filled with sadness and hate. Or we could give her a chance to become something--somepony-- great." Celestia smiled, "Like you, sister."
There was a pause. Luna had looked away, embarrassed. Celestia decided to double down. "I am so proud of you, Luna. You have accomplished so much since your return, when so many doubted you could. But I believed in you. Twilight believed in you. Give her the same faith, now."
Luna glared at the letter, deep in thought. "And if she fails?"
Celestia looked away, the moonlight illuminating her profile. "Then she fails. And any judgement you impose I will not overrule."
Luna mulled it over. Then a thought entered into her head. A wonderful, terrible thought.
"Very well, Sister. We shall use thy idea." She smiled wickedly. "But we shall do it OUR way. With OUR conditions."
"Oh?" asked Celestia, joyful inside but trying to hide it.
"Yes..." continued Luna, "Let her prove this faith we hath in her. Let her be a force for good, but she must also BE good when she does so. And, I believe, Twilight must write to thee when she has learned something?"
Celestia hesitated. "I do ask her to write me friendship reports from time to time, yes..."
Luna laughed, "Very well then. Let Trixie go to her new home, under my conditions. And let her write us reports on what she has learned there, with her new title."
Celestia arched an eyebrow. "Reports? On Friendship?"
Luna turned and smiled, her eyes somehow bigger than her smile. "Justice. She will write to us about Justice."