February 14, 12:54 PM
Ponyville Courthouse
Defendant Lobby
That was exhausting. Twilight thought.
Even though the trial was shorter than she first anticipated, it felt like it went on for days. Pinkie Pie had received a guilty verdict, only to have it be retracted thanks to Twilight's efforts. At first, she planned to run out of the courthouse to get ready for the final day, but after stepping out of the courtroom, she realized just how busy she would be, which caused her to fall down on a bench in exhaustion.
"Now's not a good time to sleep, Twilight. We need to get going!" Sweetie Belle reminded.
"Yes, yes. I know. Good thing I don't have a book right now or I'd never get up."
Since Twilight couldn't relax for long, she got herself back onto her hooves before she got comfortable. The few moments she did rest for made her look forward to a nice long sleep once everything was dealt with.
Unfortunately for Twilight, the courthouse wasn't a good place to rest. After the trial ended, many of the ponies from the gallery were still around, all of whom were making noise, but since the trial was over, there was no judge to silence them. They were all trying to leave, but they were leaving at a very slow pace. This was because the police had to escort each individual pony out one by one.
After the last visitor was escorted from the courthouse, only the police, Twilight, and Sweetie Belle were left in the courthouse. When all was done, Cestus and Hope were able to meet up with Twilight without having to worry about any other duties. Cestus looked sad and had trouble keeping his head raised. Hope, while he looked calm as usual, appeared slightly irritated.
"Hey, pal. Congratulations on today's trial." Cestus said, but he didn't smile or even said it joyfully.
"I've certainly thought too lowly of you. I've had to make it my twelfth observation of Ponyville not to underestimate you again." Hope admitted, but he tried to avoid eye contact with Twilight.
I sure am not sensing any good vibes from these guys. Twilight thought.
"I'm not sensing any good vibes from you guys." Sweetie Belle spoke out.
"SWEETIE BELLE!?" Twilight shouted. After quickly covering up Sweetie Belle's mouth, scared that she would say anything else, Twilight spoke up with a bit of embarrassment. "H-hi guys. What's with the long faces?"
Cestus sighed. "I just got dismissed from the case. As you can guess, Hope wasn't happy with the idea of me helping you girls. Ugh...I'm still in trouble from the Gilded Horseshoe incident, so I might even get fired for this."
Hope looked at Cestus with a disgruntled look. "How do you think I feel? This is the most serious case I've ever had to deal with and I might lose it now. But I suppose you've at least done everything I've wanted you to do."
"Can I at least keep looking for the missing child? I know I can't force my officers to help me anymore, but--"
"As long as you don't interfere with my case any further, you may do whatever you wish here in Ponyville." Hope said, granting Cestus permission to keep looking for Scootaloo. "Your highness, you be sure not to get yourself in any more trouble. Don't think I've forgotten about what you did at the detention center yesterday. Your actions will likely be a part of my next case."
Being the busy prosecutor pony that he was, Hope made his way out of the courthouse, leaving Twilight and Cestus, both of whom were on thin ice, alone with Sweetie Belle. They may have won the trial for the day, but not without major consequences.
Brutal. I almost forgot that I've been framed for evidence tempering and being an accomplice. We were talking about it like an one hour ago, but it feels almost like a month. On top of that, Cestus has no reason to be cheery either. I better talk to him.
As she felt bad for her friend, who was on the verge of being fired, Twilight put her hoof Cestus's back and began comforting him. "Hey, cheer up. We're doing great."
"Yeah, Mr. Cestus. Don't be sad." Sweetie Belle said as she jumped on Cestus's back.
The girls tried their best to make the sad cop feel better, but he could only respond to the happiness with a sigh, unable to get cheered up. "How can you girls torture yourselves like this? You've taken as many punches as i have and you still smile."
"Well, to be perfectly honest..." Twilight said, who paused halfway. She didn't even had an answer prepared right away. She had to think for a second figure out why she was smiling. "A friend once told me that during the worst of times, you need to fake your biggest smiles. If you do, then it could help others smile for real."
Cestus returned a blank expression on his face to Twilight and Sweetie Belle. "I know you two are friends with Pinkie Pie, but please don't tell me you two have caught her insanity."
That's a distinct possibility, actually. Twilight admitted to herself. "Look, this is probably the worst thing I've ever had to experience, and unless a giant monster comes and steal away all magic in Equestria, I can't really think of anything worse. Times like this, I really need to see some form of happiness. Normally, I could rely on Pinkie Pie for something like that, but...well, you know."
"Hmm...you sure have a strange friend." Cestus said before sighing, but after taking breath, he gave a small smile. "But you two are definitely strong friends, aren't ya pal?"
"Yeah, well...friendship is magic."
At that moment, Twilight and Cestus were able to let out a well needed laugh. Both were off to a start of a very bad day due to the chaotic trial, but where finally able to look back and laugh at it. By all means, they probably shouldn't, but just as Twilight said, it was something that they needed.
"You're right. I need to keep smiling. I need to keep my spirit high if I want to rescue Scootaloo from that jerk who attacked us."
That's right. I actually forgot about Scootaloo. But I'm sure Sweetie Belle didn't. Twilight thought, realizing that it wasn't just Pinkie who was in trouble. "By the way, have you had any luck finding her?"
"Well, we just finished a thorough search to every single pony who entered the courthouse and couldn't find the pegasus you described to me. We also reminded them that they aren't allowed to talk about the details of the trial. Her life will depend on whether or not you have gossips in this town."
That should mean that not every pony in town will even know what happened today. Theoretically, Masquerade shouldn't know what happened today, so he shouldn't do anything bad to Scootaloo yet. We'll need to find her before Masquerade finds out how the trial went.
"Hey, I just thought of a great idea!" Sweetie Belle said excitingly. "Since Mr. Cestus got fired, how about he comes work for us?"
"Hey, hey, HEY! I didn't get fired yet, kid!" Cestus said angrily. "Although, I guess that's not actually a bad idea. What do you think, Twilight?"
"That's hard to turn down. I need to try and look into the third murder, if that can even be possible, talk to my friends, and now try and save Scootaloo. I could use all the help I can get."
Happy that the three had agreed to team up, Sweetie Belle let out a happy cheer, for she felt that it became impossible for them to fail. "Alright. Let Team Starlight's investigation begin!"
While the child was excited, the two adults simply laughed at how adorable she was being. It wasn't a bad thing however. The more morale they can muster, the better they can handle the rest of the day. With the three on a roll, they decided that they had enough of a laugh and agreed to head out.
While it was important for them to find Scootaloo, the reality was that they had no leads as to how to find her. Until they could find something, the group had to keep their priorities straight, much to Sweetie Belle and Cestus's disdain. For the time being, Twilight had some very important business to take care of with Pinkie Pie.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 14, 1:21 PM
Ponyville Detention Center
Visitor's room
After allowing Cestus to join her and Sweetie Belle with their investigation, Twilight arrived at the detention center's visitors room to finally reunite with Pinkie Pie. Twilight didn't get the chance to see Pinkie since the trial the day before. By that logic, one would think that Twilight would've been happy to see the friend she had been defending for the past few days.
Sadly, there was nothing to smile at once Twilight saw Pinkie As it had been a while since she had her medicine, Pinkie had once again suffered from her withdrawal symptoms, twitching and shaking unnaturally.
"H-h-hi, T-Twilight. N-nice to see...to see you again. "Pinkie stuttered. She once more appeared as a complete wreck.
"Hey pal, you don't look so well. Everything alright?" Cestus asked.
I guess I'll have to share with him the secret about Pinkie's medicine. Why does Star Cestus have to be a cop. Twilight asked herself. "Okay, Pinkie. It's time to take your medicine now. I'm sorry for not letting you take it properly before."
Using her magic, Twilight teleported Pinkie\s AMP bottle pass the glass wall, allowing Pinkie to grab it. Before, Twilight only gave Pinkie enough of the medicine to fight off the withdrawal symptoms, but since she now knew the reason why Pinkie was taking illegal medicine in the first place, she realized that it was something Pinkie really needed.
After popping two pills into her mouth, Pinkie didn't change at first. However, after a few seconds, almost instantaneously, Pinkie's mane returned to normal and a bubbly smile appeared on her face. When it happened, Twilight had blinked, so she had no idea as to how the process occurred.
"Uhh...better?" Twilight asked.
"Better. Normally, I would need a nutty chocolate bar to feel better, but all is good now."
Why am I more worried about her now? Twilight thought, but she shook off the question as an unimportant detail. "Pinkie Pie, if you don't mind, I would like to ask you some very serious questions."
"Okie dokie loki. I'll give you some very serious answers." Pinkie said, which was followed by a very goofy, almost angry look on her face in a failed attempt to look serious.
"Psst. Twilight." Cestus whispered. "I know I just joined the team, but mind if I just leave this to you? The last time I interrogated her, I was ready to rip my mane off."
"Welcome to Ponyville, Mr. Cestus." Sweetie Belle said.
Lucky for me, I'm an expert on this pony. I even have a little instruction manual to help me.
Twilight had waited patiently for a chance to talk to Pinkie about her illness, and with the help of Shepard Pi's journal, her questions would finally get answered. The journal had a lot of information, but Twilight hoped to learn more from Pinkie herself. She decided to start it off with a question she already knew the answer to.
"Pinkie, can you tell me what you know about your medicine?"
"Oh, you know. Antibiotics and some vitamins. Nothing illegal or anything."
I don't even need to use my magic to know that was a lie. Twilight thought as she saw through the poorly told lie. "So you're saying that the bottle that I just gave you, which is labeled Anti-Magic-Purgers contains something completely different?"
"Umm...yes?"
FREEZE!
"Did you just say anti-magic-purgers?" Cestus asked. "Auto Ratchet has suspected that somepony has been stealing those or something. I've been investigating it for a year now."
"Yeah, you can blame me for--OOPS!" When Pinkie accidently spilt the beans, she quickly tried to cover up her mouth. "Th-The bag's out of the cat!"
"Other way around, Pinkie." Twilight corrected. She then turned her attention back to Cestus. "Cestus, I've recently discovered that Pinkie is actually a very sick pony. She needs the medicine."
"But that stuff is suppose to be unicorn medicine, isn't it? Why does an earth pony need it?"
"Long story short, it's Pinkie Pie." Sweetie Belle spoke up. "Of all the things you've learned about her, is this really the strangest one?"
Cestus looked at the filly with a shocked look. He then turned his head to give the same look to Pinkie, who responded with a happy wave of her hoof. It didn't take him two thoughts to realize that Sweetie Belle was right.
"B-but that doesn't explain why, in a medical sense, does she need it."
Pinkie wanted to give Cestus an answer, but before she did, she looked around the visitor's room. She saw that while the guard was in the room, he didn't try to eavesdrop or anything. Regardless, Pinkie became quieter for the next part. "As you may or may not know, even earth ponies have magic. My Uncle Shepard told me that I was gifted with it."
Twilight then responded. "Yes, I've read his journal. Apparently, you have magic comparable to that of an alicorn. Is that really true?"
"Hmm. I know I just took my medicine, but since I haven't done it in a while, then maybe..."
Pinkie then started to do what may actually of been the strangest thing she's ever done. She first placed her medicine bottle in front of her, then she leaned down over it so that her face was right in front of it. She then closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and began to focus. The idea of Pinkie Pie focusing wasn't actually the weird part.
What is she up to?
It didn't happen right away, so Twilight and the group thought nothing would happen at all. Slowly, but surely though, it became happened. A pink, magical aura appeared around the bottle. Then, at a steady pace, the bottle raised upwards as Pinkie raised her head. None of the ponies knew where the magic came from right away, but it came to them, it came in an instant. The magic came from Pinkie Pie.
It was astonishing. It was the most amazing thing Twilight had ever seen. If she didn't see it for herself, she wouldn't have believed that an earth pony could actually cast magic. But not all great things can last forever. The strain was eventually too much for Pinkie to handle, forcing her to stop the magic, letting the bottle fall back down to the table.
Pinkie huffed and puffed after performing the feat, but she ended it with a smile. "Ta-daa!"
"But...how...could..." Twilight stammered, almost not believing that Pinkie had done what she had done. "How were you able to do that without a horn?"
"It has to come out somehow. If I focus and work really, really hard, I can force it out. Not really healthy for me though." Pinkie explained.
As Pinkie described her ability in detail, an epiphany struck Cestus. "Then the other day...you actually did blow up a tree, didn't you?"
Pinkie giggled. "Yep. That one was a real doozy. I thought I was going to get crushed. In hindsight, it probably would've just been easier to move 3 feet to the left like my Pinkie Sense told me."
"The Pinkie Sense...OF COURSE!" Twilight shouted. "Your body is filled up with so much magic that it must've been what gave you your Pinkie Sense!"
"Huh. You know, I never thought of that. I just thought my senses exist because the rest of my body was smarter than my head, but your theory sounds good too. Mine still makes more sense, but its still a good theory."
How the heck does her theory...never mind. It's not important. Twilight thought. "But there's still one thing that I haven't been able to figure out. How have you been getting this medicine? Apparently, some friend of your uncle's has been getting it to you, or so his journal says."
"I can't say. If I did, then my uncle's friend would get in trouble. It's sort of part of the deal we got going on." Pinkie explained.
Of course she wouldn't rat her little drug dealer out. It was worth asking though.
"Alright pal, let me at her." Cestus stated. "I'm a cop. I can interrogate her."
"Have you not learned anything about me?" Pinkie asked, being the one to state the obvious, much to everypony's shock.
"Alright, alright. Stupid idea." Cestus admitted. "You win this time, pal."
"Didn't I win last time too?"
Pinkie words stunned Cestus, silencing him in an instant. He got very angry at the pink pony and did his very best not to burst into anger, but much like before, it was a difficult task to hide that much rage inside a small stallion like himself.
"If you were somepony I didn't actually like, I'd probably punch you already."
"Aww, that's not nice...wait...punch. OH! That's right! My hooves!" After remembering something that she did, Pinkie pushed her hooves up onto the glass for Twilight to see. "Look Twilight! I burnt my hoofprints off just like you asked me to do."
Twilight and the group stared at Pinkie's hooves silently. Cestus, let alone Twilight and Sweetie Belle, should've been used to anything done or said by Pinkie Pie. Pinkie also sat awkwardly as she showed her hooves. After eight seconds of silence, what Pinkie said finally got through to the group.
Oh, right. That's an issue. This will probably not end very well. Now for the appropriate reaction Twilight remembered and thought to herself. "WHEN DID I TELL YOU TO DO THAT!?"
"Just yesterday. You came down right after Cestus came by to talk to me. I saw you guys walk by each other."
"But now it's obvious that it wasn't you, right?" Cestus asked.
"Right, because I was with her all day." Sweetie Belle remarked. "It was definitely Masquerade. Without a doubt! The only way it couldn't be him is if Twilight has an evil sister or something."
Pinkie let out a horrified gasp due to scenario Sweetie Belle suggested. "Of course! That all makes sense! She must've given me the key to get out of my jail cell so that I'd go to jail for certain!" However, after saying that out loud... "Wow. Even I think that sounded ridiculous."
"Prison key?" Cestus asked. Something about what Pinkie said made his brain work up. "Hmm...a key...AHA!"
As an idea popped into Cestus's head, he got excited. A level of vigor was given to him that not even Twilight was able to give to him. Whatever that was on his mind, he wanted to deal with it right away and waste no time.
"Twilight, you go on without me for a little bit. I need to try something! Bye!"
Barely saying a word, Cestus bolted out of the detention center. Twilight didn't even get a chance to say anything, like if he wanted help. He was in such a rush that he didn't even realized that he bumped into another pony on his way out.
"Huh. He must've needed the bathroom." Pinkie said.
What's he up to? Did he remember something important? I wish he didn't just run away on me like that. Twilight thought. "Anyway, I guess I may as well ask you a few more questions."
"No, your highness. It's my turn to ask her some questions."
The unexpected voice caught Twilight off-guard. As it turned out, the pony that Cestus had recklessly bumped into was his former boss, Prosecutor Hope Ray. While Twilight had spent a little time talking to Pinkie, it was clear that the prosecutor wanted his chance as well, and it was unlikely that he wanted to share.
"Visitor hours is over for now. Please allow me to get to my work." Hope requested.
"No way! You're a big meanie!" Sweetie Belle said angrily. "First you got Twilight in trouble, then you made Pinkie look guilty! Why should we let you near Pinkie at all?"
Staying calm and composed as usual, Hope handled the angry child perfectly by saying the one thing he knew would calm her down. "I have just received word that your little friend is up and active. I suggest you go see her while it's still visitor's hour."
"Apple Bloom? She woke up?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know the child, so I have no reason to really speak with her since she would have no new information that I'd be interested in. You two seem to know her quite well, so perhaps it would help her health to have friends around."
Oooh...this sneaky son of a...he's absolutely right. Apple Bloom probably needs to see her fellow crusaders, and I'm sure Sweetie Belle needs to see her too.
Twilight didn't want to leave Pinkie alone so soon, but she expected Hope to apply some pressure on her if she didn't leave. It didn't help that she was given a good reason to leave. She was really on the fence and couldn't decide what to do.
"Oh, it's okay Twilight. Get going." Pinkie urged. "Now that my brain is fixed, I'll be sure to make things very difficult for Mr. Sunshine. My mind is a complete enigma to even me."
"Pinkie..." The touched Twilight said. She still didn't want to leave Pinkie alone with Hope, but since that her client/friend insisted that she should leave, it made it much easier for her to make a final decision. "Alright. Just try and hold on for a bit. I'll be back again later."
"Okie dokie loki." The cheerful Pinkie said. "Alright, Mr. Sunshine. I just drove a smart pony mad for a second day in a row. BRING IT ON!"
If I could, I'd stay and watch her unleash hell on Hope. But, I have my priorities set now. Twilight decided. "Ready to see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle?"
Sweetie Belle, much to Twilight's surprise, was actually quite sad when she was asked the question. Twilight expected her to of been very excited to see her friend after waking up from her coma, but rather than being excited, Sweetie Belle was quiet. Very quiet. In fact, she had been quiet for a little while.
"Sweetie Belle?"
"Yeah...yeah, I'm ready to go."
With little enthusiasm, Sweetie Belle was the first to walk out of the visitor's room, with Twilight following close behind. While Twilight came closer to learning the full details of Pinkie's medical history, she was still no closer to getting her acquitted. She would've asked about where she was during the third murder, but Hope made it so she would have to ask later on.
For the time being, she had to deal with her pouty assistant, even though there was still so much more she had to do. She was off to the start of an unproductive investigation, much to her disdain.