//------------------------------//
// Secrets. 
// Story: Regent 
// by xTSGx 
//------------------------------//

	
For copyright/disclaimer information, see Chapter One.



Version 1.1


Published 10/26/13






Chapter Five: Secrets.

 
Twilight wearily walked into her room, casting a dim light spell to see where she was walking in the pitch black. She could hear Spike snoring softly on the other side of the room.
 
'Who schedules a four hour meeting with the Board of Canvassers at nine o'clock at night?!'
 
After haphazardly throwing her regalia onto the dresser, she made her way into the bathroom, activated the crystal light, and locked the door.
 
“Ugh!”
 
She stretched herself out.
 
“After that bureaucratic nightmare, I think I'll indulge a little.”
 
Walking over to the tub, she drew a hot bath. She wrung her hooves together as steam quickly filled the room.
 
“Alright. I have half an hour. Twelve point five ounces of bubble bath soap. An advanced copy of the newest edition of Arcane Magic Quarterly that Morning Star gave me. And—” she giggled, “a rubber ducky.”
 
At the mention of the duck, she levitated it up and squeaked it a few times. She then dumped most of the bubble bath into the water and agitated the water to froth it up into a small mountain of bubbles. Twilight then slowly dropped herself into the water, sighing contently as she did. She flexed out her rarely used wings under the water and allowed them to float freely just under the surface. Her eyes focused on the duck, which floated innocently in a small bubble alcove.
 
“Now, Mr. Anatinae, watch out for the Hooficus Monster.”
 
At the mention of the dreaded beast, a purple leg slowly crept out from its bubble hiding spot. It watched the innocent duck and the moment the duck turned away from the bubbles, pounced in a flash of lavender and soap. The duck managed to evade the hoof by diving underwater.
 
“Curses. Foiled again. You will be mine, Anatinae.”
 
For the next several minutes, Twilight toyed with her captive rubber duck. Wearing it out until, finally, it surrender to the sadistic whims of the purple monster that had tortured it so. With its last breath, it squeaked out in defiance of the purple monster—content in knowing that, even though it's body may have broken, it's spirit never faltered—before she slowly filled its body with water, sending it to a watery grave.
 
With her foe dealt with, Twilight settled into the bathtub and began to read Arcane Magic Quarterly's cover story, titled “Lost Artifacts of the Crystal Empire, Lost No More.” Ten minutes and three articles later, Twilight put the magazine down and picked up a loffa and bar of soap.
 
“Time to wrap this up before I shrivel into a raisin.”
 
Another fifteen minutes passed before Twilight stepped out of the bathtub, squeaky clean. She grabbed a towel and dried off her mane and tail, before padding herself down. Still damp, she reached into the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a book titled A Foal's Guide to Preening.
 
“Let's see if I can get it right this time.”
 
After glancing at the diagrams in the book, she opened a wing and started adjusting the feathers with her mouth.
 
'Carefully smooth them out and twist it so th--'
 
“Ouch!”
 
Twilight yanked her head away, a purple feather in her mouth. She sighed.
 
'Almost had it that time.'
 
The alicorn grabbed a bucket filled with purple feathers labeled “Quills” and spat the feather into it before returning to her preening.
 
'Now, carefully...'
 

-----


Twilight gurgled and spit out the mouthwash before she grinned in the mirror.
 
“Finally. Time for bed.”
 
Flipping off the light, she walked out of the bathroom and hopped into bed. She then reached over, set her alarm clock, and put a sleep mask on, before settling into bed and letting sleep overtake her.
 

 

 
At some unknown time later, she felt something poke her side.
 
“This is a bad idea, sir.”
 
The dream of pancakes and mine carts filled with Hearths Warming Eve ornaments started to break as consciousness returned.
 
“Well, what would you have me do? We tried knocking for ten minutes.”
 
'That's funny, it almost sounds like there's somepony in my room.'
 
“I must agree with the Captain-General, sir. You of all ponies know what happens when you disturb a sleeping alicorn.”
 
'Make that “ponies”.'
 
Twilight started to drift back off.
 
“I'll have you know that Luna was extremely remorseful over that, and the eyeball grew back anyway, or did you forget our healing abilities?”
 
Another jab to her side caused Twilight's train to sleepville to derail with severe casualties.
 
“Lady Regent, please wake up.”
 
“Go way, Spi.”
 
Another poke to her side.
 
“I'm sorry, Twilight, but we have important matters to discuss.”
 
'Why must dream constructs be so interruptive?'
 
Twilight lifted the sleep mask and peered out. Three sets of glowing eyes peered back at her.
 
“Ah!”
 
Startled, she jumped up, the sleep mask falling onto the bed.
 
“Oh good, you're awake.”
 
She could just make out three outlines standing next to her bed. She could also make out the fangs in their mouths that glistened in the moonlight.
 
'Vamponies! Why did it have to be vamponies? “Twilight Sparkle”, it's like irony is out to get me or something.'
 
On instinct, Twilight shot three bolts of magic at the vamponies.
 
“Whoa!”
 
“What did I say, Borealis?”
 
“Air Dodge!”
 
The three disappeared in a blink of an eye just as the magic was about to hit them. A gust of wind signaled their appearance on the other side of the bed. Twilight stared at them for a moment before the rational side of her brain finally turned on and she looked at the door.
 
“Guards!”
 
“Yes, Lady Regent?”
 
She turned her head to face the intruders.
 
“What?”
 
“Captain Aurora Borealis of the Night Guard, reporting as requested.” the middle pony gestured to his right, “Captain-General Solar Eclipse also reporting.” he then turned to his left, “As is Sergeant Sprinkles and you know, Sergeant, you don't have to yell out the move before you make it.”
 
Twilight stared at the three.
 
“What?”
 
“My apologies for our unusual introduction, Lady Regent. You didn't answer your door, so we felt it best to ascertain what was going on.”
 
Eclipse glared at him.
 
“You felt it best to, sir. I suggested we waited until it wasn't three in the morning to talk to the Regent.”
 
He glanced at the mare.
 
“Yes, yes, Echo. I wanted us to share credit. You should know by now that the Night Guard's a team effort. We never do things by ourselves.”
 
She gave an exasperated sigh.
 
“How many times must I tell you, sir, it's Eclipse.”
 
“Yeah, but 'Echo' rolls off the tongue so much better than 'Ecli' does.”
 
Twilight waved a hoof to get their attention.
 
“Excuse me, but what are you doing in my room at,” she looked at her clock, “three twelve in the morning?!”
 
Aurora smiled.
 
“Oh, we're here for our scheduled meeting.”
 
Twilight couldn't believe what he said.
 
“What?”
 
“You know, the meeting that the Ministry of Defense organized.”
 
Twilight wasn't sure if she was rubbing her eye to remove a sleepy, or an oncoming headache.
 
“There wasn't any meeting. How could there be? I was sleeping!”
 
Borealis rubbed the back of his head.
 
“Well, I figured you were just taking a power nap.” he put a hoof to his chin, “I could have sworn I talked to Minister False Flag about scheduling a meeting.” he shrugged, “Must have been somethin' else.”
 
Eclipse growled.
 
“Permission to speak freely, sir?”
 
“Of course, Echo. A positive work environment within the Night Guard is vital to its smooth operations and that means being open with communications.”
 
“You're an idiot.”
 
Borealis frowned.
 
“That's not very positive.” he mumbled.
 
Twilight looked at her clock.
 
“Look, I have a busy day tomorrow. Dusk Court's going to be getting its first group of regular petitioners and I'd rather not be half asleep when I hear them. Go talk to Solar Flare and schedule a proper meeting. I'm going back to sleep.”
 
She put the sleep mask back on and tucked herself back into bed. As such, she was unable to see Aurora bite his lip.
 
“I'm afraid that isn't really an option.”
 
Twilight sighed heavily, still in her sleeping position.
 
“And why's that?”
 
Borealis look to his subordinates.
 
“You see, the monthly meeting of the Star Chamber is tonight.”
 
Twilight sat up and sighed once more.
 
“I have no idea what that is.”
 
Borealis returned his focus on Twilight.
 
“The Star Chamber is Equestria's secret court—authorized several years prior to the Nobility's rebellion in an attempt to try the more powerful nobles who could usurp the High Court's authority, it's since become the primary avenue that the Night Guard use to get legal authorization for our activities, without needing to dirty up the justice system with useless prosecution or put Parliament in undue jeopardy.”
 
An uncomfortable feeling settled over Twilight with those last few words.
 
“Are you seriously telling me that I've been in charge of the country for almost four weeks, and no pony bothered to inform me about this?”
 
The three bat pegasi looked at each other before Borealis spoke again.
 
“I guess we kind of figured somepony else would have told you by now.”
 
“Alright then, as Regent, I'm ordering the meeting rescheduled until I haven't gotten two hours of sleep.”
 
Eclipse cleared her throat.
 
“With respect, ma'am, that isn't an order that we can follow.”
 
Twilight grit her teeth.
 
“And why not?”
 
Eclipse reached into a compartment on her armor and pulled out a piece of paper.
 
“Earlier today, Strikeforce 'Sea Lion' successfully raided the town of Hollow Shades and captured Sunshine Smiles, the remaining leader of the Cult of the Broken Circle. He needs to be dealt with as soon as possible, lest our containment procedures on him are overwhelmed and he escapes into downtown Manehatten, aka Equestria's largest population center.”
 
Twilight threw her sleep mask onto the dresser.
 
“Fine! We'll do your stupid secret police meeting tonight.” she glared at the three ponies, “Is there anything else I need to be aware of?”
 
For some reason, none of them could look her in the eye.
 
“Well, we do need to debrief you.”
 
“Augh!”
 
“Will you all please shut up!”
 
All eyes looked to the basket containing Spike.
 
“You have a fifteen hundred room castle, and you pick the one room that I'm trying to sleep in to have a meeting.”
 
Borealis looked back to Twilight.
 
“We can debrief you en route to the Chamber.”
 

-----


The halls of Canterlot Castle seemed eerie at night. Usually filled with all sorts of government officials and tourists, they were empty. Instead of stained glass windows reflecting the sunlight in, candle flames caused shadows to dance about. Conversations and laughter echoed through the halls during the day, but silence reigned supreme at night.
 
The three bat pegasi and alicorn walked down one of those halls at a leisurely pace. Captain Borealis held a piece of parchment with a wing.
 
“First up, there's Project ARMACHAN, the Night Guard's primary weapons development program. Let's see, let's see. Boring procedural information. Cost analysis. Geez, I should have had them write out a bullet list or something. Ah, here we are. Project Lead Dry Leaves reports that work on 'Hoofheld Portable Cannons for Use in Combat Situations' continues.
 
“The project is experiencing expected difficulties with recoil and aiming issues but expects to remain on course for the first field deployments in the Fall of 1012. What else we got?”
 
Aurora haphazardly tossed the “Eyes Only” classified document over his shoulder where it hit Sergeant Sprinkles in the face, before Aurora reached into his saddlebag and pulled out another document with his wing.
 
“Next—alright, this one has a summary—Section 31 reports progress with the Changeling Morphogenic Virus. They've successfully stopped all transformation attempts and reduced the fatality rate by 32% in captured test subjects.”
 
Twilight stumbled as she walked.
 
'What did he say?!'
 
Sprinkles jumped to the right to avoid the scroll, only for it to hit him anyway.
 
“Then we have the National Shield Initiative. This one isn't classified but I included it anyway because it's cool. Dr. Widow Maker has stated that work is progressing on attempts to use thaumatic—or is that “thaumic”? I can't tell, somepony—”
 
He glared in Sprinkles direction.
 
“What did I do?”
 
“—spilled jelly filling on this and smudged it. Anyway, attempts to use thaumatic or thaumic radiation to construct a country spanning shield for national defense. While there is progress, the shield remains incredibly unstable and we're still a long way away from a fully functioning shield.”
 
Sprinkles smiled smugly as he ducked out of the way of the scroll, only for it to somehow hit the back of his head like a boomerang.
 
“Finally, there's an update from the Equestria Dirigible Company, who won a bid to construct a mass produced heavier than air vehicle for use by non-pegasi. They report that the two prototypes, codenamed 'Eagle' and 'Vulture', have successfully completed testing at the Crescent Moon Military Base.
 
“The 'Eagle'—which is an,” Borealis squinted at the text, “apparatus which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, to provide thrust—shows great promise in scouting and 'fast strike' attacks; while the 'Vulture' uses affixed wings on its body that generate lift caused by the apparatus' forward airspeed and the shape of the wings—goodness, that's technical. It shows promise as a potential bomber and heavy cargo carrier that's much faster than any dirigible we currently have.
 
“The first shipment of 'Eagles' has been earmarked for the Royal Equestrian Navy, which will begin operating them as recon aircraft within six weeks as soon as new pilots are trained. The first shipment of 'Vultures' has been delayed due to an ongoing issue with the rudder that still needs to be sorted out.”
 
He tossed the parchment at Sprinkles, who flinched, only to have it land gently on his back. The group turned a corner and headed down another of the castle's seemingly endless halls.
 
“That concludes our major projects. There are, of course, other projects we're working on, but it's probably best if you don't know about them. That way, you can't be accused of lying and you don't have to dirty your hooves in the Night Guard's inner workings. Captain-General.”
 
Eclipse looked at her superior.
 
“Yes, sir?”
 
“Please debrief the Lady Regent on the Guard's standard and special operations recently.”
 
“Yes, sir.”
 
Eclipse cleared her throat and picked up a clipboard from an undisclosed location.
 
“As part of our standard duties, the Night Guard reports no known unauthorized uses of Dark Magic, thefts of artifacts, or attacks on ponies deemed 'Critical Security Assets', such as the Bearers of Elements of Harmony. We report fourteen thousand, four hundred and thirty-one active duty personnel and an additional one thousand, three hundred and eighty-seven reserve personnel. No injuries or deaths have occurred since the last status report.”
 
She flipped a page.
 
“Cleanup operations continue in the Everfree Forest to contain the Class B Leviathan that has caused issues with travelers and compasses. Given their expertise, the Arcane Magic Council is being consulted on how best to proceed with final containment of the creature.”
 
Another page was turned.
 
“The Guard are proud to report that all records of our involvement in the assassination of Grand Emir El Dorado al-Pinto and installation of his brother, Arabus A-Leaf II as Grand Emir of Saddle Arabia have been purged from the Restricted Access section of the Canterlot Archives as per Princess Luna's orders.”
 
'A-Assassination?!'
 
“Thanks to covert operations, we've successfully eliminated the upstart Free Democracy Party—famous for its anti-royalist platform—from causing further issues. It's good that Party Chairman and founder Ideal Hope was able to see reason before we had to deploy the 'family option'. Those doughnut pictures proved far more incriminating than we had initially thought.”
 
'What are they doing?!'
 
“And finally, a failure in the crystal matrix caused the National Dream Database to crash yesterday. The failure caused a lapse in dream monitoring and recovery from nine pm to five am before backups were able to activate. As a result, there have been sporadic issues with linking dreams to individuals and tagging potential threats.”
 
Twilight stopped, causing the others to halt as well.
 
“Dream database?”
 
Eclipse looked up from her clipboard.
 
“Yes, ma'am. The National Dream Database. Thanks to Her Majesty's efforts, the Guard have been able to monitor and store Equestria's many dreams.”
 
“Isn't that a horrible violation of privacy?”
 
Borealis scoffed.
 
“Of course not. Parliament—via the DREAM Act, which stands for Defense...uh, something, Equestria, something, something, Act—has duly authorized the Night Guard and Princess Luna to watch over and store citizens' dreams.”
 
Twilight gave an incredulous look.
 
“Parliament? As in the congress that eats out of the nobility's hooves? The group whose members have a bribery or ethical scandal every other week? The government body that has a lower approval rating than wolves?”
 
Borealis tried to salvage things.
 
“The Canissian Empire is very well respec—”
 
Twilight advanced.
 
“Wild, ravenous wolves infected with rabies!”
 
Borealis flinched.
 
“Okay, so Parliament's not the greatest. But, this is totally legitimate. The Star Chamber must approve all dream requests.”
 
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
 
“And I'm in charge of this Chamber, correct?”
 
“Uh, yes. You are the 'Chief Justice' of the Star Chamber.”
 
Twilight started walking again.
 
“Then we'll just have to see how many more of those requests get approved.”
 
Borealis bit his lip as he looked to Eclipse.
 

-----


“Alright, we're here.”
 
Twilight stared at the door.
 
“But it's a broom closet.”
 
Borealis shook his head as he opened the door. Several mops, brooms, and cleaning supplies were stuffed into the cramped space.
 
“That's just what Princess Celestia wants you to think. In actuality, it's the entrance to the Star Chamber. Best to keep it hidden in plain sight and all that.”
 
After messing around with one of the shelves, he reached up and tugged on the lightbulb pull chain. The light turned on. Borealis furrowed his brow.
 
“Wait, that's not right.” he looked over at Twilight, “It's supposed to open.” he tugged on the chain rapidly several times. Aside from the light turning on and off, nothing happened, “I just don't get it. Maybe the door's broke.” a look of dread crossed his face, “Oh no. I don't want to have to call up maintenance. They're always such a pain in the flank.”
 
Twilight looked away from the amusing sight and noticed Solar Eclipse slowing rubbing her eyes, muttering to herself.
 
“I could have done anything. I could have taken up Spitfire on her offer, but noooo, I had to join Equestria's elite and where has that gotten me? Foalsitting a Guard Captain too stupid to remember where a door's at. Mother was right, as usual.”
 
Twilight turned around and saw another closet on the opposite side of the hallway.
 
“Perhaps this is the right one?”
 
Borealis stopped rearranging the closet and looked over.
 
“Ah, that has to be it.” he walked over and fiddled with a shelf, before pulling the lightbulb chain. This time, a grinding noise was heard as the back wall of the closet slid out to reveal a spiral staircase leading down into the depths of Canterlot Castle, “Here we go. Allow me to lead the way, Lady Regent.”
 
The trip down the narrow, winding staircase took a minute before the group arrived at the bottom. On both sides, two Night guards stood watch. Borealis smiled and waved at the two before walking down the lantern lit hallway. Twilight glanced around at the old stone walls and ceiling. Moss and cobwebs decorated the hallway. She stopped abruptly when the end of the hallway came into view.
 
“There's nothing here!”
 
Two unicorn guards were standing at attention in front of a rune carved into the floor. Behind them, the emblem of the Night Guard hung on the hallway's dead end. Eclipse nodded to the guards, who began to dump magic into the rune.
 
“Not quite, ma'am. The rune that you see on the floor is a Long-Range Teleport. Once we step onto it, we'll be teleported to the Star Chamber's current location.”
 
Twilight looked over from the now glowing rune.
 
“Current?”
 
Eclipse nodded.
 
“Yes, ma'am. Due to the secrecy and classified work the Star Chamber performs, it's meeting location varies each time. This is to ensure that the highest levels of secrecy and security can be maintained. For this session, the Chamber will be meeting on the fourteenth floor of the Glass Glow Building in Manehatten, where the Night Guard's regional command facilities are located.”
 
A low hum started from the glowing rune. The two unicorn guards stopped pumping magic into it and nodded at Borealis.
 
“Alrighty, Lady Regent. If you'd just step onto the rune, we can get this gravy train rolling.”
 
Twilight, along with her Night Guard entourage, stepped onto the rune and disappeared in a flash of red light.
 

-----


Twilight looked around to see the walls of an office building staring at her. Several Night guard stood at attention along those walls. Twilight looked over to Aurora as the four stepped off of the glowing rune.
 
“Cool. Those techies fixed that glitch where it teleported us over the Chesapony Bay. That was always annoying.”
 
'Wait, what?'
 
Borealis looked to the guards, who nodded.
 
“Time's a wastin', Lady Regent. If you'll follow me, we can get this meeting underway.”
 
“Okay.”
 
The group walked down another hallway, this time bathed in the monotony of office building white. At the end of the hall, flanked by two more bat pegasi guards, was a steel door. A strange emblem was engraved on it.
 
“Here we are.”
 
The two guards saluted as the door groaned open. Inside, a large, circular room greeted the group. On one side, a court bench with five leather chairs was located. The center of the room was slightly indented into the floor and had a solid granite floor, as opposed to the dark carpeting that adorned the rest of the room. A star shaped rune was carved into the granite. Candles, and a large, lantern covered chandelier cast an eerie glow of light to the windowless room. Several ponies mulled about.
 
Borealis looked to Twilight.
 
“I don't suppose you've met the Star Chamber before?”
 
Twilight cast an annoyed glare in his direction.
 
“What part of 'I have no idea what this is' didn't you understand?”
 
Borealis chuckled sheepishly.
 
“Right.” he motioned for an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn to come over, which they did upon seeing the alicorn that accompanied him, “I'd like to introduce you to the other Star Chamber members.” Borealis pointed to the earth pony mare, “This is the Honorable Pink Lilly, Chief Justice for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.”
 
Lilly bowed.
 
“It is an honor to serve with the Regent for these important meetings.”
 
Twilight awkwardly motioned for her to stand.
 
“The, uh, honor's all mine.”
 
Borealis pointed to the pegasus stallion.
 
“This would be the Honorable Buzz Flyby, District Judge for the Equestria District Court for the Northern District of Cloudsdale—that's a lot of 'districts'.”
 
Buzz bowed slightly.
 
“Lady Regent.”
 
Before Twilight could respond, Borealis once again grabbed her attention by pointing to the unicorn mare.
 
“And lastly, this is the Honorable Deep Pockets, Federal Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Vanhoover.”
 
Deep nodded. Twilight looked at Borealis in confusion.
 
“Why's there a Bankruptcy judge on the Star Chamber?” she gasped and turned to Deep, grinning sheepishly, “No offense.”
 
Borealis put a hoof to his chin for a moment before shrugging.
 
“I dunno. Since I've been Guard Captain, there's always been a bankruptcy judge on the Star Chamber.”
 
Twilight furrowed a brow and cast a quick glance to the court bench.
 
“But wait, that's only four, including me. There's five chairs over there.”
 
Borealis' face brightened.
 
“Oh, right. And lastly—” he pointed to himself, “Aurora Borealis, Captain of the Night Guard.”
 
“You're on it too!?”
 
“Uh-huh.”
 
“But doesn't that represent a massive conflict of interest? Aren't the courts supposed to be neutral and unbiased?”
 
He patted her on her shoulder.
 
“Rest assured, Lady Regent. I'm totally unbiased. I only look out for what's best for Equestria, just as any judge in the courts would. Now, let's get this session underway.”
 

-----


Twilight fiddled around in her chair, trying to find a comfortable position.
 
'Who made these chairs? It's like they were designed for bipeds or something.'
 
She looked up abruptly as Solar Eclipse cleared her throat.
 
“The Star Chamber of Equestria is now in session. Her Majesty, the Lady Regent of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle; Captain of the Night Guard, Aurora Borealis, the Honorable Pink Lilly, the Honorable Buzz Flyby, and the Honorable Deep Pockets presiding. Lady Regent, please proceed when ready.”
 
Twilight fumbled with the papers in front of her.
 
“Right. First, we have a warrant request by the Night Guard to store and track dreams of 'groups and individuals residing within the Principality of Equestria and its Territories' pursuant to sections three, four, and five of the DREAM Act. Request certified by the Office of the High Overseer. Mr. Strike, please proceed with your request.”
 
Deputy Attorney General Lightning Strike cleared his throat.
 
“Thank you, Lady Regent. The Ministry of Justice, acting on behest of the Night Guard, is requesting a standard wiretapping warrant for the monitoring and storage of dreams.”
 
Buzz looked down at the pegasus.
 
“And how long will these dreams be stored by the Guard?”
 
“As per Section Five of the DREAM Act, the Night Guard will only store the dreams for a maximum of two years, before the crystal matrices storing them are wiped.”
 
Buzz nodded.
 
“Very well.”
 
Deep looked up from the papers in front of her.
 
“Can we be assured that proper privacy protocols will be enforced—specifically those outlined in Cloudy Days v City of New Yoke?”
 
Lightning smiled.
 
“Absolutely. All proper protocols will be adhered to.”
 
Deep jotted something down on her papers.
 
“Good.”
 
Several moments passed without anypony saying a word. Twilight looked around.
 
“Seriously? That's it. None of you are the least bit concerned by this? I mean, personal experience has taught me the High Court's bad enough, but this is worse.” she turned to Lightning, “How can you ask for such a general warrant request?” she fumbled around with a thick law book in front of her, flipping through several of the pages before she arrived at the right page, “As determined in Equestria v Crimson Shot, a wiretapping warrant must 'be limited in its scope and duration, as an in perpetuum warrant is in violation of Article Eight of the constitution.'”
 
Lightning Strike was taken aback by the sudden hostility toward the request.
 
“Well, Lady Regent, the—uh—Ministry of Justice feels this warrant request isn't in violation of the Crimson Shot decision as it does have a limited duration and scope. The duration is one month, and the scope only covers Equestrian citizens. Residents of the Crystal Empire, Diamond Dogs, Buffalo, and many others are not included in the warrant application.”
 
Twilight slumped down into her chair.
 
“Fine. Let's just render our verdict on this. Do we break for recess so we can debate it like the High Court does, or is this just a straight vote?”
 
Lilly looked over.
 
“While standard court procedures would require us to break for a recess to debate the matter, given the secrecy and urgency of the Star Chamber and lack of a formal ruling, it has been tradition that an immediate vote is taken, without an opinion issued.”
 
“Very well then. All those in favor of granting the Ministry of Justice's warrant request?” Four hooves went into the air. Twilight shook her head sadly, “And those opposed.” She limply raised her hoof, “The Star Chamber—” she sighed, “authorizes the warrant request with Aurora Borealis, Buzz Flyby, Pink Lilly, and Deep Pockets in the majority and Twilight Sparkle dissenting.”
 
Twilight looked to Eclipse.
 
“What's the next matter on the docket?”
 
Eclipse looked down at the paper in front of her.
 
“Next on the docket is a request by the Arcane Magic Council for access to the 'Magical Containment Area' of the Crescent Moon Military Base so they can retrieve Nightmare Moon's armor that's being stored there and analyze it.”
 
Twilight's mood brightened at the mentioning of the Council.
 
“Oh yeah, I talked to them the other day about this.” she gasped, “Maybe I should recuse myself. It's the textbook definition of 'conflict of interest'. I don't want to be disbarred or impeached!” the strange looks the other members of the Star Chamber were giving her reminded Twilight to stay calm. She giggled, “Right, uh, you guys go ahead and debate it.”
 
Lilly shifted her gaze around at the other members, who remained silent, before returning it to Twilight.
 
“What's there to debate? This is just a standard request. We have the fullest confidence in the Arcane Magic Council. There really isn't any reason why it shouldn't be approved.”
 
“Really?”
 
The other members all nodded.
 
“Well then, all those in favor?”
 
Four hooves went up.
 
“The request is passed with Buzz Flyby, Pink Lilly, Deep Pockets, and Aurora Borealis in the majority with Twilight Sparkle abstaining.”
 
Eclipse whispered to one of the other Night Guardponies, who nodded before motioning for several of the other guards to follow him.
 
“There is one final matter that the Star Chamber needs to address. Docket eight, seven, one, three, three. Equestria v Sunshine Smiles. The charges are: Twenty-seven counts of foalnapping, twenty-seven counts of first degree foal abuse. Twenty-seven counts of attempted murder. Twenty-seven counts of torture. Three counts of high treason. Two hundred and seven counts of illegal use of Dark Magic. And eight counts of tax evasion.”
 
The steel door opened and, surrounded by Night guards, a bright blue unicorn stallion shuffled in, bound in heavy shackles and wearing a Magic Dampening Ring on his horn. The Night guards positioned him within the rune carved into the granite floor. The rune hissed and glowed a dull red while several wisps of smoke leaked out of the granite.
 
“Sunshine Smiles was tried in abstentia in the Star Chamber and convicted of all charges three months ago by unanimous vote. Princess Luna delayed sentencing until his capture.”
 
Lightning Strike crinkled his nose in disgust.
 
“In light of the horrible crimes that this pony and his cult have committed, the Ministry of Justice is recommending the maximum penalty allotted by law. Use of a full Memory Wipe and Reformation Spell, to be administered by representatives of the Health Institute of Equestria and Ministry of Love.”
 
Twilight was unable to suppress a shudder as she stared into the eyes of Sunshine, his scleras tinted blood red due to repeated use of uncontrolled Dark Magic.
 
“W-What do you have to say?”
 
Sunshine snorted.
 
“Say? My, my, Element of Magic, you certainly allow for the flare for the dramatics to happen. Dear Luna would never let the 'soiled lips of evil' speak in her court. I have only this to say. Watch yourself.” he looked around the room at the Star Chamber and Night guards, “You should all watch yourselves, because its ending. The world will soon reach its end, and when it does,” he chuckled, “Everything will burn. Burn!” flames began to erupt around the mad pony, “Burn!”
 
The Night guards scrambled toward Sunshine as he was engulfed in the fire. The guards stepped back as the flames abated, leaving behind only a pile of ash, bone, and the chains that once bound the cult leader. Twilight and the other members of the Chamber sat stunned at what had happened.
 
Eclipse rolled her eyes.
 
“Oh no you don't.”
 
She walked up to the pile of ash and jabbed it with a hoof.
 
“Ouch!”
 
The ash, and the air around it, warped and churned for a second before it disappeared with a “pop”, revealing the unharmed Sunshine Smiles, still bound in his chains and now frowning. She turned to Twilight, whose face was a mix of confusion, fear, and gratitude.
 
“My sincerest apologies, ma'am.” her leathery wing reached into Sunshine's mane and retrieved a small, coin-like object from behind his ear, “We had thought we had thoroughly searched him for any runes, but it appears this illusion rune was small enough to avoid detection. Rest assured, nopony was in any danger. The Arcanic Magica rune on the floor would have disabled any dangerous magical discharges.”
 
Twilight let a small smirk form as she looked at Sunshine's pouting face.
 
'So much for dramatics.'
 

-----

 
“I just hope he'll be truly reformed.”
 
Aurora smiled solemnly as the two walked out of the Star Chamber's room and back down the hallway toward the Long-Range Teleport.
 
“You have nothing to fear, Lady Regent, once the High Court stamps off on the Spell's use, the evil pony that was Sunshine will be gone.” Borealis' smile grew lighter, “It really is amazing what those loons over at the Arcane Magic Council have cooked up over the years.”
 
It seemed as though Borealis' smile was contagious.
 
“Yeah, I suppose they are. Oh, and Aurora?”
 
Borealis looked back at Twilight.
 
“Yes, Lady Regent?”
 
“As Regent, I have direct oversight of the Night Guard's activities, correct?”
 
Aurora thought for a moment.
 
“That'd be right. 'Commander of the Armed Forces' and all. Why?”
 
Twilight's smile morphed into one that made the head of the feared Night Guard gulp with worry.
 
“I'd like to have a word with you about the Night Guard's ongoing operations.”
 

[-----]


Borealis and Eclipsed watched Twilight walk back to her bedroom.
 
“I knew this was a bad idea, sir. She's just set back research by several years.”
 
Aurora sighed.
 
“What would you have suggested we do, Eclipse? We were legally obligated to debrief her.”
 
It was Eclipse's turn to sigh.
 
“I know that, but the law didn't specify when we had to debrief her.”
 
Borealis gave a rare glare.
 
“I'm not going to be lowering the Night Guard to the level of a lawyer. We may do a lot of questionable things, but that's one line I refuse to cross.” he softened his gaze, “Besides, it's only for a year. Once Luna returns from vacation, she'll greenlight everything again. These projects are simply too important to Equestria to be tossed by the wayside because it made Twilight's ethical side uncomfortable.”
 
“I just hope she comes to understand the importance of our, as you put it, sir, 'questionable things'. It would certainly make things more legally challenging if one of the princesses decided to constantly challenge our activities. I don't even think your weekly luncheons with Docket Number would help.”
 
“Oh, I'm sure she will, Echo. Twilight's going to have to eventually learn that while Equestria may be filled with love and rainbows, there's always going to be someone out there wanting to take those rainbows for themselves, and we have to do decidedly unloving things to ensure that that doesn't happen.”
 
“I told you not to call me that, sir.” 
 
 
 

*********** 




Twilight sat, bleary eyed, on the throne. A large mug with the words “#1 Sister” painted onto it was suspended from her telekinesis. Steam and the strong smell of coffee wafted from the mug's top. She blew on the coffee before taking a sip.
 
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. What did I tell you, Twilight.”
 
Spike sat on the steps below her, signing documents before tossing them into a plastic bin. His hat was now even more extravagant than before, with several large golden feathers protruding from its top.
 
“You should have rescheduled that meeting with the Equestria Library Association and taken a nap instead, but noooooo, you had to talk with them about their new rules,” he chuckled, “and look where it's gotte—”
 
“Spike,” Twilight's voice dripped with the venom of a thousand box jellyfish, “if I hear one more word out of that mouth, I'm appointing you Postmaster-General and assigning you to mail sorting duties to give you 'hooves on' experience.”
 
“Eep.”
 
The throne room door opened and several of the Dusk Court staffers walked in, carrying an assortment of papers and books. Leading the small mob was Minister of Justice Antitrust. He waved around a folder as he approached the throne.
 
“Lady Regent, I'm glad I caught you before tonight's Dusk Court.”
 
Twilight resisted the urge to let out an annoyed sigh.
 
“Yes, minister?”
 
He handed over the folder containing a stack of papers with legalese typed on them.
 
“It is my duty to inform you that the Equestria Radium Corporation has appealed your Royal Decree ordering their shutdown to the High Court, which has agreed to their petition for writ of certiorari. As it's a Royal Decree case, they will be hearing oral arguments tomorrow. You have the right as issuer of the Decree to personally argue your case before the High Court, or you can opt to allow the Solicitor General to do so, the choice is yours.”
 
Twilight took another sip of coffee as she threw the folder into the pile of paperwork Spike was sorting through.
 
“I'll leave the case in the capable hooves of the Solicitor General.”
 
Antitrust bowed briefly.
 
“Very well, Lady Regent.”
 
Twilight glanced up at the clock.
 
'Forty minutes until the first public session of the Court in years. Please go well.'
 
 
 

**********




Two Royal Guardstallions stared at the throngs of ponies standing in the hallway outside the throne room.
 
“I tell ya, man. I haven't seen this many ponies here since Princess Celestia decided to give away bits that one day to 'liven things up'.”
 
Spike's voice rang out from inside the throne room.
 
“Petitioners are requested to form a single-file line. Please ensure you have your petition request in legible writing so the High Overseer can properly document and organize it. Next petitioner.”
 
The other guard turned to the first.
 
“I know. Day Court was always so peaceful and relaxing, but this,” he gestured to the group of ponies that were now trying to line up, “is ridiculous.”
 
The first guard ribbed the second.
 
“And just imagine. Any one of them could have a knife or a bomb or something and we'd never know.”
 
The second guard scoffed and rolled his eyes.
 
“Wishful thinking. The last time something exciting happened—actually, it was that bit giveaway, too. We're just here for show, or, if you believe some of the more mature rumors, eye candy for the thousand year old mares.”
 
The first guard adjusted his armor.
 
“In this armor? I don't think so.”
 

-----


Spike ran forward, his feathered hat flopping in the air, and handed Solar another sheet of paper, before he hustled back to the podium at the throne room's entrance to talk with the next petitioner. Solar attached the paper to his clipboard and read it.
 
“Presenting: Mrs. Red Chrysanthemum of the Village of Whinnyright.”
 
A nervous amber earth pony walked into the throne room and bowed.
 
“Your Majesty.”
 
'It's been a while since I've heard a 'Your Majesty'.'
 
“What can the Regency do for you, Mrs. Chrysanthemum?”
 
Chrysanthemum fidgeted.
 
“You see, I have this fabulous garden that grows all sorts of vegetables.” she sighed in content, “It's truly the envy of the village.” she snorted, “and I know it is because one of my neighbors—Stained Glass, that old crotchety mare—keeps on stealing my beloved tomatoes. Those poor sweethearts. Being viciously ripped from their vines in the dead of night and goodness knows what that brute's doing to them. She's probably using a butcher's knife to slice through their delicate insides, uncaring over the damage she's causing.” she sniffled, “I've tried everything. Putting up a little white picket fence. Glaring at her while shopping. I even stopped buying cookies from her colt—but nothing's helped! I just don't know what to do.”
 
Twilight expertly closed her gaping mouth before anyone could see. She glanced over at Solar Flare, who, thanks to his many years as a government official, had trained himself in the art of subtly rolling his eyes.
 
“My condolences. However, I'm afraid this isn't an...issue that the Dusk Court can handle. Perhaps you could talk with Miss Stained Glass to resolve your differences?”
 
Tears began leaking from Chrysanthemum's eyes.
 
“B-But m-my tomatoes!”
 
Twilight groaned inwardly.
 

-----


Solar Flare sighed as he looked over the wheelbarrow full of Royal Decrees and other paperwork he'd have to go over.
 
“I wonder if I can retire soon.”
 
“Don't even joke about it.”
 
He turned to see Twilight approaching.
 
“Ah, Lady Regent. This certainly was one of the busiest Court sessions that's occurred.”
 
Twilight looked over the paperwork.
 
“And one of the most successful.” she took a deep breath, “Finally, I can get some actual good done and won't be choked by bureaucracy or special forces that are doing everything but making Equestria a better place to live.”
 
Solar raised an eyebrow.
 
“I wouldn't speak so soon, Lady Regent.”
 
Twilight's perky mood fell in an instant.
 
“Why? What now?”
 
Solar delicately reached into the pile of papers and carefully pulled out a scroll, holding his breath as the wheelbarrow's stack swayed dangerously to the left, before fully pulling it out once the unstable tower had settled.
 
“This is from Speaker of Parliament Slush Fund. He wants to meet with you as soon as possible. It's concerning Parliament's upcoming vote on the National Budget Act.”
 
 

End of Chapter Five.