//------------------------------//
// Part 1 
// Story: Daughters 
// by Charlie Herrs 
//------------------------------//

"Guilty."

The word seemed to echo forever. In this massive hall, everything did. But it was this single word that seemed to taunt her endlessly, ringing in her ears. She looked down to see her hooves, shackled and trembling. Was it fear? Yes, it must be; this was her trial, after all. 
"The terms of your punishment will be decided in the coming days. For now, you are hereby suspended from your duties and will be detained in one of the cells beneath the castle."
She looked up to see her judge. It was the Princess, Celestia, her unmistakable beauty and elegance creating what seemed to be a glow around her. Behind her, to the left, sat a jury of seven ponies, who all seemed to be dressed for an extravagant occasion. Their sad, sober expressions a deep contrast to the bright jewelry and brilliant clothing they now wore. As the Princess pronounced the trial over, and as the large, armor-clad guards began to lead her toward the exit, the small pony in shackles realized she had to say something. She had to provide some evidence to prove her innocence. But as she opened her mouth to speak, she found nothing.

In fact, she couldn't remember what she had done.

Daughters, Part 1



Her cell was not what she had expected. Where she had imagined dirty stone walls, there was concrete, with blank, orange-tinted paper covering. Where she expected an old blanket or thin pile of straw, there was an average - if somewhat firm - single bed.  If not for the iron bars keeping her confined, she might be able to imagine this place as her home. It wasn't a hole in the ground to rot in, but a place to live. Somehow, this concerned her even more. She sat on the bed, trying to calm herself. She relfected on what had happened earlier. Why was she on trial? What crime had she committed, that she would be locked away? Through the small, barred window near the ceiling on the back wall she could see that night was falling. As she contemplated asking the guard outside her cell why she had been imprisoned, she became overcome with exhaustion, and when she looked up to find the guard was no longer there, she allowed herself to sleep.
When she awoke, she felt a strange sense of panic. There was something happening. Something she had to do. She lept to her feet, struggling to think of what it was. She started pacing around the cell, racking her brain. That's when she saw it. A mirror, bolted to the wall above a sink in the corner. She had seen the sink when she was brought in, but hadn't noticed the mirror. Had it been there this whole time? It must have been. She ran to it, still trying to remember what it was that was so important. When she looked in the mirror, she was surprised. She had felt so terrible since the trial, she expected to look just as bad. But what she saw was a young, soft-faced earth pony with a coat the lightest shade of blue and a short, sightly messy redish-purple mane. Her eyes, a bright, beautiful green. She stood, examining her features. When she turned, she saw a long, flowing tail. Then, as her eyes followed her tail from its end upward, she saw her cutie mark. She couldn't quite tell what it was. She got closer to the mirror, wishing it could have been just a bit wider. Then, when she had just the right angle, she realized what it was: a ring.
Well, not quite a ring, but something like one. It looked like a milloin little shards of glass, loosely arranged in a circle. In the center, what appeared to be a bright light, or many lights. It was strangest thing she had ever seen. And then, suddenly, a flood of memories came rushing back, as if by some sort of magic. At first, only places, then people, and then, a single name: Rose. Was it hers? If not, whose was it? No, it must have been hers. It felt so familiar, so... comfortable. She could remember faces of other ponies she had met, but only this name. It would work for now, at least. Of course, in this cell, now might mean a very, very long time.
As she stood there, shocked by this sudden revelation, she realized that she should now be able to remember what it was she had been locked down there for. She thought, scanned every memory that was now in a way new to her. Every face on the street, every place she had been, but ultimately found nothing. She was missing what could've been the most important event in her life. It was the most sickening feeling she had ever had. But, fortunately, she now knew that for sure. Just then, she heard footsteps approaching from outside the cell. She turned and saw one of the Canterlot guards walk up to the bars, keys around his hoof. 
"The Princess wishes to speak to you." He said, in a voice that sounded somewhat uncertain.
"I don't..." Rose began, surprised by her own voice, "I don't know why I'm here."
The guard paused for a moment, contemplating this.

"It seems," he said, "that the Princess is having the same problem."

As Rose made her way to the castle's throne room, she suddenly realized how nervous she was. What could she say? That she's deeply sorry for whatever it was she did? How can you apologize for committing a crime you can't even remember? Not that it mattered; according to the guard escorting her - in shackles, of course - through the castle halls, even Princess Celestia couldn't seem to recall the reason for Rose's imprisonment. Just as she began to think of what she was going to say, she was led through two massive doors leading into the Great Hall. The butterflies in her stomach were threatening to come up.
"Is this the prisoner?" The Princess asked. She knew the answer, of course, as the shackles were probably hard to miss.
"Yes, your Highness." the guard replied, with a bow. Then the Princess turned to Rose.
"Well, little one, you certainly don't look dangerous. What is your name?"
Rose's mouth was painfully dry. "I... I believe may n-name is..."
The Princess had adopted a confused look. "Yes?" she said. Rose thought she felt her heart stop.
"Rose!" she blurted out, forcing herself to speak. "I believe my name is Rose."
"Rose," the Princess said, "it's a very pretty name. You say you believe it is yours?"
"Y-yes, your Highness." Rose felt a little better with this compliment.
"But you are not certain?"
"No... I am not c-certain, your Highness..." Rose was now almost whispering.
"Well then, perhaps you were jailed for stealing it from someone else."
A joke. Rose felt as though a massive weight had been lifted off of her back.
Rose laughed hoarsly, and she knew immediately how obviously forced it was, but the Princess didn't seem to notice.
"Exactly how much do you remember, Rose?"
"I can't say for sure, your Highness," Rose started,"but I remember much more than I did last night. I know that this is Canterlot, and I know I was raised in Ponyville. Some memories, too, but I couldn't even begin to piece them together." She only now noticed that the Princess didn't seem to be listening. She seemed fixated on something behind Rose. Rose looked around, wondering what could be so distracting to royalty.
"What is that," the Princess said, "on your flank?"
Rose was horribly confused. She looked back, trying to quickly figure out what it was the Princess was talking about. Then she realized: her strange cutie mark.
"Oh," Rose said, "I'm not sure what it is. I was kinda hoping you would know."
The Princess rose from her seat and slowly stepped down towards Rose, not taking her eyes off of the mark. She stopped suddenly.
"Could it..." she trailed off. She stood there, seemingly lost in thought, for what seemed to Rose like an eternity. Then, she regained her focus. No, she was even more focused than before. "This mark is familiar, but I cannot be sure of its meaning. I woke up this morning having no memory of the day before, but for some reason this mark is causing me to recall some parts of it."

Rose admitted that she had had the same experience earlier. She felt both excitement and fear at the Princess's  new demeanor. Did she remember what Rose had done?
Rose was contemplating asking when the answer came by itself. "I still cannot recall any sort of trial, nor do I remember ever seeing you before today. This is very strange. Every guard and groundskeeper I have questioned today claims they do not remember a trial, either." 
"Maybe it was magic," Rose said, "a unicorn that accidentally casted a bad spell, or..." She stopped herself. She had nearly suggested it may be the work of a wizard, but the thought was ridiculous. Wizards were nothing but old ponies' tales.
"Or what?" the Princess said, expectantly.
"I... I was going to say..." Rose had to say it. The Princess would surely know if she was lying. "A wizard." she said, "I was going to say a wizard and then I realized how silly that was."
Rose expected the Princess to dismiss this immediately - of simply laugh - but she didn't. Instead, it appeared to Rose that she might actually be considering it. Rose dearly hoped the Princess wasn't patronizing her.
"At any rate" said the Princess, "we won't know anything more until we figure out what your mark is, and the castle library is extremely limited. I want you to travel to the public library not far from here, there you should find a very knowledgable student of mine. I will inform her of the situation at hand, and when you arrive you will search for anything that tells us what any of this means. Will you do this?"
Rose was overwhelmed. A personal favor for the Princess? Things were certainly looking up. "Yes!" said Rose, a bit too loudly. Her voice echoed through the room, just as Celestia's did at her trial not a full day before. "I mean," Rose said, catching herself. "Of course, your Highness." 
She gave a bow, and the Princess commanded the guard to release Rose from her shackles. As he did, the Princess looked deep into Rose's bright green eyes. "I give you freedom to leave, because I cannot help but believe you. You have agreed to do this task for me, and if your word is good, you may keep this freedom. Whatever crime you may have committed will be dealt with when your task is complete. If you fail to complete it, the trust I have in you will be broken, and your freedom will be taken back. Understood?"
Rose swallowed hard. She wasn't use to this kind of pressure. At least, she didn't think she was.

"Understood, your Highness."