The next morning came all to soon for my liking…
The sun was just starting to stream through the windows when Rarity woke me.
“Fluttershy, you have to get up now. We need to be in the courtroom in half an hour.” I yawned and slowly rolled out of bed. Rarity flitted around me, brushing my mane and tidying me up, while Applejack remained in the corner of my room, a sullen expression on her face.
Rarity gently poked me with the hairbrush.
“Huh?”
“I said, I brought something for you to wear…if you want.” She lifted up a short black skirt, free of embellishments. “I thought you might want something to cover up the bandages…”
I stared at the skirt. It was so different from anything Rarity normally made. Usually her skirts were done in bright colors with sparkly gems…but this…this was no doubt made for today. It was made for a pony in mourning.
I nodded
All of us were silent when we entered the courtroom…just as we had been on the walk over, Rarity and Applejack doing their best to hide me from the pointing hooves, the whispers, and the wide-eyed stares. I, the pony who t didn’t even seem to be seen most of the time, had suddenly become famous in a few short days.
Who could blame them for staring though? I was the first pony to enter Pinkie’s basement who wasn’t…well, Pinkie, and survive.
Quite possibly a few ponies were angry that I had been the one to escape, and not some loved one of theirs.
We took our seats at the designated table. While Rarity herself was not a witness, her involvement in the situation left no doubt in anypony’s mind that she had a right to sit with us.
I glanced around the room as more ponies filed in. “Is Twilight coming?”
Rarity sighed, “She’ll have to. It’s customary for all the princesses to try murder cases. The only reason Princess Cadance didn’t have to come is because she’s dealing with some issues in the Crystal Empire.”
I frowned, “But…given how personal this is for Twilight…. Couldn’t the princesses have allowed her to not try the case?”
“Well, to tell you the truth…” Rarity leaned in close with a whisper, “Spike came by when you were asleep. Apparently the princesses did offer to let Twilight just come to the trial as a friend of yours and Pinkie’s. But, she asked to help try the case.”
I wanted to say that Twilight shouldn’t try her best friend, that she should have just let the princesses do justice, but the words died on my lips.
Twilight was somewhat of a volatile pony at the best of times. Give a pony like her a situation where one of her closest friends had murdered others, including another one of her best friends…Who wouldn’t want to see that she got what she deserved?
I shivered slightly. I couldn’t do it though. I wanted justice for Rainbow Dash and all the other lost lives, to see Pinkie given what any murderer should get…But, I couldn’t be the one to convict her. Even after everything she’d done, she was still my friend. Serving as a witness was one thing, but being the one to decide if she lives or dies?
I felt like crying. No friend should ever have to make that kind or decision, regardless of the circumstances.
With all the necessary ponies in the room, the door swung open for the princesses. Celestia, still looking slightly dazed by the whole situation, walked in, followed by Luna. Behind them was Twilight. Her mane and tail were impeccably groomed, her crown atop her head. She walked with the walk of a stiff professional who had already decided how things were going to play out. It was her eyes that frightened me though, they were cold, void of emotion.
From behind her, Spike scampered over and sat with us. Applejack nodded her head toward Twilight with a concerned look on her face. Spike simply shook his head and shrugged.
Luna’s voice broke through the silent conversation. “We call to order the trial of Pinkamena Diane Pie, charged with the first-degree murders of Rainbow Dash, Peppermint Twist, Violet Spring, Time Streak…”…The list went on, all the names of the ponies Pinkie had killed. “As well as the attempted murder of Fluttershy.”
Twilight spoke in a ridged voice, “Bring her in.”
Two guards opened the doors, and everypony, including myself, turned to see the pink mare walk into the room.
I’m not sure what I was expecting to see in Pinkie’s face. Sadness? Pain? Regret? I know I definitely wasn’t expecting a happy smile.
“Hey look! All my friends are here!” She skipped into the room, the chains around her hooves clanking after her.
“Hi! Hi! Hi Rarity! Hi Applejack! Hi Fluttershy!” The two guards holding her chains roughly pulled her over to the chair set aside for her, and fastened her chains to it.
“What the hay is wrong with that pony?!” muttered Applejack. I could only stare. Where was the sorrow, the remorse? She was treating this all as some big tea party.
“Yes, well…ahem” coughed Celestia, “Pinkamena Pie, you have been brought here today so that we may decide your fate based on the nature of the offenses we can prove you have committed…”She trailed off, and glanced at Pinkie.
“Nopony named Pinkamena here!” she sang, “If your talking to me then my name is Pinkie.”
Luna rolled her eyes slightly. “Using proper names is customary in court…but, very well…Pinkie. Now, I would like to call forward our pieces of evidence that show you were involved in the murders of the before said ponies.” Officials wheeled in tables littered with bits and pieces from Pinkie’s basement. Other pieces of evidence that were either too large or too gruesome to be displayed were shown in photos that were given to the princesses and the jury.
I looked at the jury, wondering what purpose they would serve in this case. In any other situation, they would be the ones to convict Pinkie. But, as with all murder cases, Pinkie could only be convicted by one of the princesses.
The final piece of evidence wheeled in was Pinkie’s dress. My stomach lurched as I remembered her holding up Dashie’s cutie marks in front of me.
I was glad they hadn’t brought in the Dashie doll…I don’t think I could have handled seeing that again.
I watched numbly as a specialist came up and pointed out each of the cutie marks, reading the names of the ponies that those cutie marks belonged to. Looking at the pieces of evidence, my memories of the basement began to overwhelm me, pulling me into the darkness…
I felt Rarity nudge me, and I glanced over to see her looking at me expectantly. “W-What?”
She coughed, “Fluttershy, darling, Princess Luna just asked you to come to the stand, it’s time for your testimony.
I stood up, and edged out from behind the table. Taking a hesitant step forward, I glanced up at the princesses, and then over at Pinkie, who continued to smile at me with unbounded enthusiasum. If my knees hadn’t looked at that point I probably would have collapsed on the spot.
I couldn’t do this…
I wheeled about and galloped out of the courtroom, the doors swinging on their hinges. From behind me, I felt somepony tackle me and pin me to the ground, effectively cutting off my escape to the outside.
“And just where do ya think yer goin’?!” said Applejack with a snarl.
“ANYWHERE.” I screamed. I quietly began to sob, “I can’t…I can’t do it, Applejack…I can’t do it. I can’t get up there and say the words that will convict my friend….. I can’t. I’m just…I’m just not strong enough.”
When Applejack remained silent, I opened my eyes to se her silently crying.
“Oh, sugarcube...” she whispered, wrapping me in a hug.
“I don’t want her to die…I don’t want her to die.” I moaned, burying my head on Applejack’s shoulder
“None of us do.” she said, speaking with a conviction that surprised me. “But she’s killed ponies, Fluttershy…and she needs to pay for that. After all, If any other pony had been the one to do these things to our Rainbow Dash, wouldn’t ya want them to get what’s comin’ to em?”
I shuddered with guilt. “…Yes.”
She pushed me away gently so that we were looking each other in the face. “Which means you need to go in there, and help them do what’s right. If not for yourself, and the pain she’s caused you, then for Dashie, as well as all the other ponies she’s taken lives from.”
I sighed, and nodded. Applejack gently helped me to my hooves, and we walked back into the courtroom.
“Tell me...”said Twilight, trotting back and forth in front of me, “exactly how you came to be at Pinkie Pie’s house.”
I sighed, “It was Applejack, she came to speak with me about Rainbow Dash going away and not telling us. After I finished talking to her, I decided to take Angel out for some fresh air; my talk with Applejack had left me slightly concerned, so I decided to stop by Sugar Cube Corner and ask Pinkie exactly how long Dashie had said she planned to be away.”
“And what did you find there?”
‘I couldn’t find Pinkie or the cakes. Looking in the kitchen…I found the door…and, well, I got curious.” I whispered.
Twilight nodded. “Could you please describe for us your encounter in the basement?” She asked, her voice shaking slightly.
I launched into the tale of the basement once more. Even when I felt the tears form and start to fall, I didn’t stop or falter. It felt good to let it out.
After I finished my story, ending with Applejack’s rescuing me. I allowed the tears to fall more freely, for my body to shake. Twilight opened her mouth to ask another question, but Celestia, looking slightly sick to the stomach, placed a hoof on her shoulder.
“No further questions at this time.”
I sat in numb silence as Applejack and the guards were brought up for their questioning about the basement. After the last guard finished, the princesses put their heads together and murmured quietly. The rest of the ponies took that as the cue for their break, and proceeded to talk among themselves.
I frowned, “Why hasn’t anypony been questioned by Pinkie’s defense lawyer yet?”
“What defense lawyer?” muttered Rarity.
“She…she doesn’t get a defense lawyer?! But the rules state that every suspected criminal gets a lawyer!”
“Well Pinkie is hardly a suspected criminal!” she snapped.
I recoiled slightly. “I’m sorry dear.” she sighed, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that…well…you’re the kindest pony I know, and I think it’s marvelous you want to be fair and kind to everypony, but…some ponies don’t deserve kindness. No matter who they are or who their friends are…they are bad bad ponies.”
“I…I know. I just…We’ve already lost Rainbow, I’m not sure if I can stand losing Pinkie.”
She nodded and sighed
Luna’s voice called attention back to the room, “While we have no doubt in our minds that Pinkie Pie is indeed guilty of both first-degree murder and attempted murder. We would like to hear what the accused has to say for herself.” She fixed Pinkie with a cold glare, “And perhaps convince us why we should be merciful with your life.”
A unicorn guard enveloped Pinkie with his magic glow, and lifted her, chair and all, to the center of the room, in front of the Princesses.
“Pinkie…” whispered Celestia, “Why did you do what you did?”
Pinkie let out a giggle. “Well duh! Cupcakes!!!”
“Did the lives of those you killed mean nothing to you?!” Celestia clapped her hooves over her mouth, looking startled at her own outburst.
Pinkie stared at her with a frightening calmness, “Of course they mattered, but I like to make ponies happy, and ponies love my cupcakes.” she slowly turned her head toward the table at which Rarity, Applejack, Spike, and I sat. “In fact…It’s kinda your fault.”
She grinned slightly, “I killed to make cupcakes, and I made cupcakes because all my friends loved them so much. If they hadn’t eaten them, I wouldn’t have baked more cupcakes, and therefore would have killed less ponies.”
Her grin grew wider. “Supply and Demand”
Next to me, Rarity turned a slight shade of green. Then it hit me…I had eaten her cupcakes. I glanced around the room; everypony here had eaten her cupcakes, even the princesses.
We had all consumed our fellow ponies.
Then Pinkie’s eyes shifted to me, and she smiled the biggest smile I had ever seen. “I recall that you, Fluttershy, were particularly fond of the cupcakes I made for Hearth’s Warming Eve…the ones with the Peppermint frosting.”
Oh Celestia…
I started to hyperventilate as bile rose in my throat.
“ENOUGH!!!” screamed Twilight, jumping up. She gave Pinkie Pie a look of disgust and utter betrayal. “Pinkamena Diane Pie, for your crimes of an unspeakable nature against all of ponykind, I sentence you to death by lethal injection!”
Her words hit Pinkie like a stone. The smile dropped off her face as she stared at Twilight. Her hair fell limp with a rustle in the ar.
“No…NOOOO!” She launched herself off her chair and towards our table as the guards grabbed hold of her chains.
“nonononono!” she cried, still trying to reach our table as the guards dragged her towards the door.
“No!!!! Applejack! Rarity! Don’t let them!!! I’m not a bad pony!!!”...
She was sobbing now, “NONONO!!!”
She stared at me for a second… without really seeing me. “DASHIE!!!”
“NO! NO! DASHIE!! DASHIE!!! NO! I’M SORRY!!! DASHIEEEEE!!!!!
I was crying and shaking as the door slammed shut.
I heard a moan of anguish and turned around to see Twilight bury her head in her hooves as she cried.