October 10, 1:15 PM
Canterlot District Court
Defendant Lobby
After a few hours, the trial had finally ended, but only for the day. At the same time the next day, Twilight would have to go back with new evidence to prove her friend innocent of the crime. Twilight was disappointed that she couldn't end the ordeal right there and then, but she was also happy that Rarity wasn't declared guilty.
Well that didn't quite go as expected, and the day isn't even over yet. Twilight thought.
"Twilight, are you alright?" Spike asked. "I know you're probably tired from shouting objection all day, but your sure got quiet quickly."
"Sorry, I'm just a little frustrated. I spent all night reading up on Equestrian law and nothing that I learned actually helped me." Twilight said.
"Weren't you on jury duty at one point? What was that like" Spike asked.
"Now that you mention it, that trial lasted all day, and it was nothing compared to attempted murder. This trial seemed much more fast paced. Why would a crime this serious be so rushed?"
As Twilight thought over her own question, finding it all illogical, she took notice of a pony walking about who would be able to give her an answer. Walking out of the courtroom, she saw the Doctor, who acted as the judge for the trial.
"Hey, Doctor!" Twilight called out.
The Doctor turned and saw Twilight and Spike running to him. "Oh! Hello, Uptight Snoo--err, I mean, Miss Twilight Sparkle. You're still here?"
Nice try, Doc. I heard what you were about to call me. Twilight though with annoyance. "Doctor, I'd like to talk to you about the way you handled the trial today."
"Very well then. What would you like to talk about?"
"Well for starters, why were you rushing it? It felt like you were going to announce a verdict at any moment. We're you trying to settle everything Today for some reason?"
"Oh, so you found this trial to be different as well." The Doctor said. "I'm not from Equestria, so I thought the way I was handling the trial seemed off too, but it was what Celestia wanted and I can understand why."
"Yeah, you may need to make sense, buddy." Spike sad.
"Well now, it's actually quite simple. Just as you and both figured, most trials are carried out through traditional means. Information carefully explained to all, a fixed number of days for the trial, why I was surprised to hear that Equestria can actually use a jury system from time to time."
"Yes, that's all exactly what I was expecting!" Twilight said. "Why wasn't it for this trial?"
'Crimes of the tallest order, such as attempted murder on royalty, requires Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to be part of it, but as you can imagine, they also have an entire kingdom to watch over." The Doctor explained. "Even though I'm the judge, they still have to watch it to make sure everything is being run smoothly.
"Yeah, I guess that would mean they can't spend who knows how long on something that would come unexpected and ruin their entire schedules." Twilight acknowledged.
"Exactly. The solution was the three-day trial system, which is what we're using. A fast moving trial system where the defence and prosecution quickly bring in evidence until the trial comes to a halt. If the judge, me, is satisfied with the evidence, I'll make my verdict, but since there's now a witness that needs to be brought in, I decided call it a day."
That explains it..WAIT! Does that mean I only have two more days to clear Rarity's name! Oh heck, it'll be a miracle if tomorrow's trial lasts two minutes." Twilight thought with great dread.
Although Twilight was happy to get an explanation about the seemingly rushed trial, the fact that the trial would likely last only one more day. She suddenly felt more stressed out than when she was at court.
"Alright, Spike. We better start investigating. Any ideas on where to start?" Twilight asked.
"If I could make a suggestion, how about you see your client at the detention center?" The Doctor suggested. "From the looks of things, she knows much more than she's been letting on."
"Great idea! Thanks Doctor. Let's head out, Spike."
"To getting Rarity out of jail!" Spike said. "Allons-y!"
After Spike jumped on Twilight's back, they left the courthouse as quickly as they could to begin their search for clues for the next day of the trial. After they had already left, the Doctor was left with a confused look due to what Spike said as he left with Twilight.
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October 10, 1:30 PM
Canterlot Police Department
Room 105: Criminal Affairs
With the police station not being far from the courthouse, it didn't took Twilight and Spike get there. The detention center was in prison next door to the station, but Twilight she couldn't see Rarity right away.
"What are we doing back here, Twilight?" Spike asked. "I thought we wanted to go to the detention center?"
"We do, but I want to talk to Star Cestus first. Like the Doctor said, Discord is probably talking to her first, and as the prosecutor, he gets talk to her and investigate before us." Twilight explained.
"You mean we only get the scraps of whatever Discord gets? What a rip!"
Yeah, this is exactly why I wish I could abuse my princess title. Twilight thought. "That said, I think it would be smart if we move one step ahead of him and see if we can learn anything new from the police."
"I don't know, Twilight. You and the chief don't seem to get along very well."
"Oh, I'm sure it'll all be water under the bridge."
Twilight hoped to meet Star Cestus with no further trouble, but she didn't get that lucky. After walking in the room, Twilight and Spike saw a circle of officers surrounding Star Cestus, cheering for their boss. Star Cestus was standing on his hind legs and was standing in front of a large, white free-standing punching bag, which had the colors of Princess Celestia's man, as well as an image of her face on the main punching area.
With his front hooves, Cestus was giving the punching bag blow after blow. As he punched the bag, the cheers of his peers got louder and louder. None of them realized that for each punch, Twilight got more and more angry at them all.
"...16.5...17.2..." A voice coming from the punching bag said.
"Come on, boss! You can do it!"
"Put some muscle into it!"
"My grandma can hit harder than that!"
With the rest of the officers motivating him, Cestus gave the bag one final, powerful punch where Celestia's face was.
"..18.0. New record!" The Punching bag said.
The sound of the new record caused a lot of excitement for the officers as they cheered and raised their hooves in cheer. The fun quickly came to an end though, as all it took was one lone officer to turn their head to see the angry princess, screaming at her sight.
The scream caused everypony in the room to notice Twilight and none of them were happy. The death glare from Twilight caused most of the officers, and even Spike, to slowly back away. Only Commissioner Cestus walked forward to greet their princess.
"Uhh...hi there." Cestus greeted. "Sorry for all that happened to your friend, but congratulations for doing as well as you have."
So after punching away at Celestia's face, he becomes nice for me? Ooh, he's so going to get it. Twilight though with anger.
"Something wrong, pal?" Cestus asked.
"I'll tell you what's wrong! First you arrested my friend, then you testified against her, and now you're doing the next best thing to punch Princess Celestia in the face! What's wrong with you?"
"Hey, I was only doing my job, pal! I didn't like what I did today either, but I had to do what I had to do!" Cestus answered. "And considering how little we all get for doing so much, can you blame me for not liking my boss?"
"She's our great and powerful ruler! You have no rights to see her like that!"
"Please, the great and powerful Trixie is more appealing, and she's just a traveling circus act!"
Having reached the end of each other's patience, Twilight Sparkle and Star Cestus, for a second time, went at each other's heads, creating a large, dusty cloud of smoke as they fought each other. There was a good 5 feet difference between the dusty cloud and the nearest pony.
The police ponies were frightened when Twilight walked into the station, but their jaws all dropped when another certain pony walked inside. Causing the officers and Spike to all bow down before her, Princess Celestia herself entered the scene. She saw Twilight and Cestus mindlessly fighting and wasn't happy.
"ENOUGH!" Celestia shouted.
As soon as they heard Celestia's voice, Twilight and Cestus stopped and looked up to Celestia in fear and quickly stood up straight to greet the princess. They both knew Celestia wasn't pleased with either of them.
"I'm disappointed in both of you right now." Celestia said. "Twilight Sparkle, you're suppose to be working on Rarity's case. Star Cestus, you're suppose to be out their and investigating if Rarity was even the true culprit. Do you both understand me?"
"Yes, Princess Celestia." Twilight and Cestus said together.
"Good. I'm going to come back to talk to you too later. Hopefully by then, you'll be working together on this case."
Knowing that she came at a bad time, as well as not being happy with Twilight or Cestus, Celestia left the station, but she had the intention of coming back, leaving Twilight and Cestus feeling ashamed for what they did.
Princess Celestia: Rulers of Equestria, master of magic, and expert at bringing a girl down. Twilight thought. "I...I'm sorry for getting angry. I guess all you were doing was playing with a punching bag."
"Yeah, well...I'm sorry for disrespecting somepony you cared for." Cestus said. "Maybe we should just stop talking about princesses for a while."
"Finally, something we can agree on." Twilight said, finally smiling at Cestus. Alright. Now maybe I can get some actual cooperation with this guy.
Since Twilight was finally on good terms with the police commissioner, she decided to take the chance to ask him a few questions and started by asking him some personal questions.
"So tell me, what exactly is it about high society that you don't like?" Twilight asked.
"It's not just me. Pretty much everypony here have issues with them." Cestus answered. "All of us clock in here everyday in the morning and stay until the night, sometimes in the longest hours, and while the money looks good, spending it here in Canterlot is a challenge. Homes, food, and anything of luxury is normally out of our reach."
"I can't say I can understand. I know a lot of ponies here in Canterlot and none of them seem to think the way you do."
Cestus laughed at Twilight's comment, expecting she would say something like that. "Of course you wouldn't know. You were raised as a fat cat."
And here I thought he wouldn't be disrespectful again. Maybe I should hear him out. Twilight thought. "You've called me a fat cat a couple fo times now, which would suggest I'm some really rich snob. Why do you think that of me?"
"Easy. When it comes down to it, you've been a spoiled brat. You've practically been raised by Princess Celestia herself and probably got to spend everyday practicing magic, which your cutie mark there shows is your favourite thing to do!"
Actually, that's something that's been bothering me for a while. Twilight thought. "Now that you've mentioned it, I've been curious. If you're a cop, then why do you have a boxing cutie mark? I don't see anything they have in common."
At that moment, Cestus's started to look sad as he looked back at his flank, but he didn't let it get him depress.
"Ah, so you noticed. Yes, I'm a former pro boxer, but I bet that I'm still the best in Equestria." Cestus said with a huge smile, taking pride of his talent.
That explains why I was losing those fights. At least I got him in a good mood, but I have the feeling it won't last. Twilight thought. "So why aren't you still a boxer?"
Cestus sighed as Twilight asked. "Well, truth be told, boxing isn't exactly the most popular sport in a nation as peaceful as Equestria, so it doesn't exactly pay the bills."
"So you had to get a job at a place where you could actually support yourself?" Twilight asked. No wonder he didn't like me. I've worked hard too, but I've been living my dream by practicing magic. Actually, it looks like a lot of the ponies hear don't have the appropriate cutie marks. I never knew how rough it was to live in Canterlot.
With a new sense of sympathy for Cestus, Twilight felt she was ready to ask for him help on the case.
"I know I'm practically everything you hate in a pony, but believe me when I say that I can still be your friend. I've never treated a pony any different from another and you'll be no exception. Let me prove that a princess like me can still help ponies like you."
Cestus looked at Twilight funny, but then laughed before he answered. "Nah, your no princess, pal. You're just...well...a pal. Miss Rarity is lucky to have a friend like you. I'm sure you can prove she's innocent."
Friendship really is magic. Twilight thought with a smile.
With Cestus finally calm about his personal issues and having trust in Twilight, the two bumped hooves and agreed to work together. Since they actually came to an agreement, Twilight felt certain that she'd be able to find what she needed to succeed in the trial.
"I guess I better get back to the investigation." Cestus said. "Got anything you'd like to share before I head out to the crime scene?."
Since the police will be at the crime scene, I guess I can't go there yet. Twilight thought. "Don't suppose you can bring me back some evidence to help my case, could you? I'm sure if there's anything to clear Rarity's name, Discord will want it destroyed."
"I'll be sure to keep an eye out. Just try and stay out of trouble."
Ready to investigate the crime scene again, Cestus and a number of other officers left the room. Since Twilight already spent a lot of time in criminal affairs, she decided to move on with her investigation too.
"Alright, Spike. I think it's time we go see Rarity now." Twilight said.
"It's about time. I thought you forgot I was even here." Spike said.
To be honest, I did. Twilight thought. "Oh! One quick thing before we head down to the detention center."
Using her magic, Twilight targeted the punching bag that Cestus was using earlier, lifted it up, and magically made it disappear.
"What did you do to that punching bag?" Spike asked.
"I teleported it back to my room at the castle. I'm not quite done with the idea of the police commissioner of Canterlot punching Princess Celestia in the head. I'm sure Princess Celestia herself wouldn't approve of it."
"There was a big sticker on it saying 'Approved by Princess Luna'. I'm sure they do."
WHAT? No wonder Celestia banished her to the moon. She wanted to talk to me anyway, so I guess that's one more thing to talk about.
Having her affairs all wrapped up with the police and her next stop being in the same building, Twilight and Spike left criminal affairs to meet Rarity in the detention center, hoping Discord had either stopped interrogating her, or even better, not at all. The calmer Rarity was, the easier everything would go. Twilight felt lucky for that happened already, but was ready for anything that would crush her dreams for the fiftieth time that day.