//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Land of Dreams // by JoyceCarleton //------------------------------// Twilight arrived at the city hall and was escorted all the way to the door before the meeting room. During the entire trip, the soldiers had not said a single word to her about what was going to happen, so all she could do was hope for the best. They opened the doors for her and Twilight let out another huge gasp. Before her was a large round table with ponies and griffons seated around it. She recognized Shining and Gilda among the group but there were other familiar faces as well. “Take a seat, Twilight Sparkle,” Shining said to her. She went to the only unfilled seat by the door. “You can go now,” Shining said to the soldiers. They saluted him and closed the door behind them as they left. “Let the interrogation commence!” Trixie announced. Twilight very desperately wanted to catch up with the ponies and what had happened but it was obvious that that would have to wait. “So, Twilight Sparkle, if that is your real name, what were you doing in the ruins of Ponyville?” The only thing to do was to simply answer their questions for now. “When I saw a smouldering mass in the distance, I rushed to it. That place happened to be Ponyville.” “In the distance? What do you mean?” one of the griffons asked. “I was at the top of a mountain.” “What were you doing there?” “I woke up trapped in a cell. When I escaped, I found myself at the top of the mountain.” “And you have no idea how you got there?” “No, I don’t.” Some of the officers started to talk amongst themselves about Twilight’s testimony. As they did, Twilight tried to stare directly into the eyes of an orange earth pony with a blonde mane and wearing a cowboy hat. She simply looked straight back at her, her expression relatively unchanged. She then looked over at a white unicorn with a purple mane and wearing a beret. She, too, did not seem to be trying to give Twilight any kind of signal. “Enough.” The conversation among the officers was broken when an armoured unicorn next to Shining spoke up. “You, the purple unicorn, I don’t want any more short answers. Answer just this one as fully as you can: Tell me about yourself.” Twilight paused for a moment before answering. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am a unicorn born in Canterlot. When I was a filly, I took the magic exam and was taken as Princess Celestia’s personal student. Since then, I had constantly studied on the various forms of magic. In the early years of being a mare, Princess Celestia sent me and my assistant dragon, Spike, to Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship. There, I and five other ponies worked together to defeat Nightmare Moon who had reappeared during the Summer Sun Celebration at Ponyville. Following this, I and my new friends became the keepers of the Elements of Harmony and we continued to learn more about the magic of friendship.” Several of the officers seemed to be mulling over if was a factual piece of Twilight's biography. “Do you think all that exonerates you of your recent crimes, Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie began. “Whether or not you have saved anypony before is questionable at best, but even if it were true, what you have done can never be forgiven!” Some of the officers nodded to themselves. Twilight took a deep breath. “Whatever you think I did, I assure you I am innocent.” “Lies cannot fool the great and powerful General Trixie!” Twilight cocked an eyebrow when Trixie said ‘General.’ “Tell me, what evidence can you provide that says you are innocent?!” “I believe a pony is innocent until proven guilty,” Twilight countered. The officers looked at each other a bit doubtfully now. “Even if I am the only possible suspect for whatever crime I’m being accused of, I fail to see what substantial evidence you have that says I am guilty.” A few of the officers crossed their hooves or arms. “She makes a valid point,” Shining commented. “Eeyup,” a large, red stallion said in agreement. “This war has created enough bloodshed as it is; should we be forced to execute a truly innocent pony, especially when any notion of guilt is based on much rumour mongering over the years?” Shining argued. “Does anyone else have anything they want to ask her?” the armoured unicorn next to Shining asked. Everyone looked around a little bit but no one had anything else to say. “Shall we commence with our deliberations then?” They all nodded. “You may leave now, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight got off her seat and left the room. The soldiers outside took her to an empty room in the city hall to wait for her verdict to be made. They left her alone in the room and stood guard outside. Now that there was no one to watch her, she could finally speak her mind fully. “Oh my gosh! Applejack! Rarity! Big Mac, too! They’re all okay! Well, I mean they look older now and Applejack doesn’t have her freckles anymore but I know it’s them! They’re probably just acting like Shining and not saying anything until they get a chance alone with me. Oh, and Trixie was there, too?! A general?! And was that Derpy? Well, I can’t say much about them but I am glad that somepony else I know is here, too. Wait, general? Ah, maybe that means everypony else is here, too! I mean, there’s no way somepony like Fluttershy could ever become a general! And I just don’t see that with Pinkie Pie, either. Rainbow Dash, maybe, but I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason why she’s not there either. Oh, I can’t wait to talk to them all again! That unicorn next to Shining seemed like a reasonable stallion and with my friends there as well, I’m sure I’ll be safe!” Twilight jumped around the room for a bit, smiling, momentarily forgetting about the crisis going on above ground. About half an hour later, Twilight was brought back to the meeting room. Despite her earlier feelings, she still checked the faces of the officers to see whether or not she was found innocent. No sign whatsoever. Twilight took a seat and waited nervously. “By a vote of eight to seven,” Shining began, “Twilight Sparkle has been found not guilty.” Twilight was a about to breathe a sigh of relief when Shining continued to talk, “Due to the closeness of this vote, and the severity of the crime Twilight Sparkle has been accused of, there will be a tribunal to be held a week from now. Until then, she will be under a number of restrictions to ensure the safety of all the civilians residing here in Haven. Included will be a restriction from using any kind of magic, maintained by the ring placed onto her horn. Another restriction will be constant surveillance by at least one officer at all times. Other restrictions, within reason, may be applied at any point up to the time of the tribunal.” Twilight just looked at them with her mouth half-open. “That is all.” Twilight just remained motionless on her chair. “That means you may leave now; we need to commence our next meeting,” Trixie said. Just then, something clicked in Twilight’s head. “You said that I have to under constant surveillance by one of you officers, right?” “That is correct,” Shining answered, without hesitation. “So, that means I cannot leave the room unless one of you comes with me.” “That is also correct,” Shining continued to answer without a moment’s pause. “So, I guess that means I’ll just have to stay here until you finish your meeting.” “That is also-” “Wait a minute!” one of the griffons interrupted, “we have just barely given her innocence and we’re just gonna let her sit on our meeting?!” Twilight had no idea what the next meeting was going to be about, but she had a feeling that it was important that she be present for it. “This is ridiculous; that restriction should not apply until the end of our meeting!” another griffon said. “But, if we go with that kind of thinking, then her restriction of magic also wouldn’t apply until the end of our meeting,” Rarity said. “And that’s the last thing we wanna take a chance on, right?” Applejack joined in. “Eeyup,” Big Mac added. “This is true; we have already come to our decision and we cannot simply revoke it on a whim. Twilight Sparkle will sit in on our meeting,” Shining declared. The griffons grunted while some of the ponies looked a bit nervous. “Fine, fine, we’ve wasted enough time! Let us commence the debate on our next topic of discussion!” Trixie declared, giving Twilight a bit of a dirty look as she said this. “Yes, it is time to discuss what we will do about the expected attack on us by Marshal Shadowbolt.” “Is there enough evidence to believe that we will truly be attacked by her?” “Commodore Derpy, share with us the full details on the capture of the enemy pegasus.” “Uh, okay. Well, my team and I were patrolling like usual when we saw him sneaking around near the valleys. At first, we waited to see if he would just fly away, but he went all the way to the base of the valley. He also seemed to be tapping on the wall. When it looked like he was coming close to the secret entrance, we went in and captured him.” “Could this only be a coincidence?” “I do not think so,” Shining began, “From my interrogation of the pegasus, I can reasonably conclude that he was a scout sent ahead before either an air raid, or a larger scale attack. From what I hear about the pegasus’ activities, he had a very good idea of where our entrance may be located. It may take some time, but I can almost guarantee that an attack will be launched in this valley.” “What would you say is the estimated time of attack?” “No more than a few days, I believe.” A few of the officers gasped at Shining’s words. “What can we do, Commander?” Shining thought to himself. “I say we fortify our defenses and prepare to make our stand! Show the enemy that we cannot be moved!” one of the ponies suggested. Some of the others nodded in agreement. “No, I think that with the information we have now, there is still time to evacuate.” This opinion was much less popular. “Commander, what should we do?” “Hmmm, what do you think, Twilight Sparkle?” “What? Me?” “Yes, you. You say you were Princess Celestia’s personal student, so you should have an idea, too, right?” Shining asked. “Uh, I don’t know.” “You don’t know?” one of the griffins said in an accusing manner. Twilight fidgeted in her seat and started to quickly think. She hardly knew anything about the enemy; how was she supposed to come up with a good plan? “Um, safety of the civilians should be a top priority…” “So you think we should evacuate then?” “Uh, no…” “Then we shall defend?” “Uh, not quite that either…” “What are you getting at, then?!” a griffin barked at her. “I think we should attack…” Twilight finally concluded. All the officers stared at her very intently. “Well, the great and powerful General Trixie thinks that is a great idea!” Now the attention was turned to her. “It took years for Haven to be made; simply evacuating will spell certain doom for us all. Defending? Why? For all we know that was one of many scouts that were sent out all over the area. Maybe here was also only one of many stopping points for the scout. If we take what we do know into account, Shadowbolt’s forces are probably standing by somewhere, waiting for all the reports to come back. If we wait, Shadowbolt may be able to call upon more reinforcements before the attack, making things much worse for us. But, if we attack them before they have full information and a chance to gather additional forces, we can gain two things: an advantageous battle and possibly hiding our true location if we can eliminate more scouts in the process.” The officers began to deliberate this plan and Twilight was quite surprised that Trixie had summed up her thoughts so well. “This is a very risky plan,” Shining began, “But if we make our move very soon, it may just pay off.” “I’m sorry, but I just cannot agree with a plan originally suggested by a pony who has been known as the world ender for the past eight years!” one of the griffons stated. Ad hominem much, Twilight thought to herself. “Well, how about some kind of guarantee then?” Trixie asked. “What do you mean?” “Let’s bring Twilight Sparkle with us onto the battlefield, her magic still restricted, of course. This way we can keep a close eye on her and she won’t be able to do anything suspicious back here in Haven.” The griffons still seemed unsure. “I will fight!” Twilight declared. “If I put my life on the line, without any magic, will you all believe me then?” Even Shining’s expression suddenly changed to shock when she said this. “What do you all say? The great and powerful General Trixie thinks this is an excellent idea!” Slowly, the officers agreed with Twilight’s proposal. They set the date for the attack to be tomorrow morning and the officers left to begin the preparations. As Commander, Shining was too busy to monitor Twilight so the duty was left to Gilda for the rest of the day. “I can’t believe I have to watch over the world’s worst criminal.” “Hey, I was voted not guilty!” “Just barely; all the griffons wanted you dead.” “I am entirely innocent!” “Tch, whatever.” “Hmph, at least I know my friends voted for me.” “From what I know, you do seem to count on friends to help you with everything.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Nothing.” Gilda went to the barracks to inform her troops and make sure that they were well prepared. “Now what?” “Nothing, I’m done for the day.” “Oh.” “Yeah, so go to sleep so I can rest, too.” “Wait, can’t I stop by my friends first?” Twilight asked hurriedly. “They’re all busy with their own things. I only finished quickly because our air force is way smaller than our ground one. Also, there are some other things they have to deal with, too.” “No, I don’t mean Applejack or Rarity.” “Your brother’s the busiest of us all.” “I didn’t mean Shining, either.” Gilda paused to think for a bit. “Derpy?” “No, not Derpy! Gilda, how can you not know who I’m talking about?!” “Stop calling me Gilda; you are not my friend.” Twilight growled. “I’m talking about Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike!” Gilda suddenly spun around and thrust her spear into the ground right next to Twilight. Twilight fell over in surprise. "W-what are you doing?" “They’re all gone!” Gilda shouted while glowering at her. “What?” “I said they’re gone!” “G-gone?” “Yeah, gone! While you were trapped in some cage or something or whatever, there was a war going on! Did you think everyone would just magically survive until you came back? Was that your plan? Huh?! Summon some evil creature, wait eight years, and then come back to save the world?!” “N-no! Of course not!” “Well, whatever you intended doesn’t matter! How many times does it have to be said for you to get it? There’s evil terrorizing the world and we’ve all been dying left and right trying to fight it off! This is one of the last places in all of Equestria we have left! If we fall, all hope is lost! There are no Elements of Harmony or magical friendship to suddenly protect all of us! We use our magic, pick up our weapons, and drive forth right at the enemy! That is all we can do!” Twilight tried to stammer out a few lines as tears began to form in her eyes but Gilda continued. “You can do nothing! You are useless! A burden! A menace! The world would have been better off if you never existed!” Gilda took several deep heaves and then took her spear back out of the ground. She turned to leave but Twilight grabbed her leg. After a long pause, Twilight shakily spoke. “I’m sorry…” Gilda grabbed her hoof and pulled it off her leg. “Go to sleep; I’m done talking.”