“Twilight? Twilight? Hey, Twilight…TWILIGHT!”
Spike’s yell snapped Twilight out of her daze. For half an hour, she’d been trying to shelve a sideways book, bumping ineffectually against the other books.
“Huh? What is it, Spike?”
“The fact you were on a whole other planet. What’s up with you today?”
Twilight couldn’t tell him what was up with her. She was still reeling from yesterday evening and spending hours in Big Mac’s arms. She didn’t even remember how she got home. All she could think about was being in his arms again…
Her thoughts were interrupted by a newspaper flying in her face.
“Hey!” She snapped at Spike.
“Sorry.” Spike said with a semi-apologetic shrug. “Just you’d want to see the front page.”
Twilight looked and her eyes widened in shock. It was a picture of Trixie being arrested by two royal guards. ‘TINPOT MAGICIAN DICTATOR ARRESTED!’ The headline declared. Twilight read the article.
‘Traveling magician Trixie Lulamoon was arrested after a month of searching while performing at Trottingham. Trixie was reported to the army of Canterlot of having used the artifact known as the Alicorn Amulet to defeat the Elements of Harmony and take over Ponyville. Although the Elements were able to take the amulet from Trixie, both it and she vanished shortly after.’
Twilight’s insides turned to ice again. She remembered that event all too well; Trixie wanting revenge for her humiliation, defeating her in a magic duel, kicking her out, enslaving the town, Twilight tricking her into giving up the Alicorn Amulet, Trixie secretly helping out with the show for the delegates from Saddle Arabia and apologizing…
Only now she remembered that quite a few ponies, including some of Twilight’s friends, had organized a manhunt for Trixie, turning the whole town and a section of the Everfree upside down in order to bring Trixie to justice. Twilight hadn’t said anything because, one, Trixie had been long gone by that point, two, she had hated to think what the mob might have done to Trixie if they found her, and three, Trixie was repentant, so there was no need to punish her. Eventually, the whole thing had died down and that was the end of that, but apparently someone had complained to the royal guards themselves. And now they had found her.
Twilight stood in the middle of the library, staring at the article and feeling very sick, not noticing that Spike had received the mail from the postman until he held an important looking letter in front of her face. Twilight opened it.
‘Twilight Sparkle, you have been summoned to appear at the trial of Trixie Lulamoon’
The sick feeling in Twilight’s stomach intensified.
A week later, Twilight was sitting in the fanciest courthouse in Canterlot where Trixie’s trial was taking place. Trixie was dressed in a prison jumpsuit, her hands were cuffed, she was flanked by two guards, and she looked very scared. Twilight couldn’t help but feel bad for her. The judge entered the courtroom and the trial began.
“Now begins the case of the town of Ponyville vs. Trixie Lulamoon.” The judge said. “Ms. Lulamoon, you are accused of using a dangerous magical artifact to get revenge on someone who allegedly wronged you and take over a town of innocent people and force them to serve you. How do you plead?”
“Guilty, Your Honor.” Trixie said, all brashness and bravado gone from her voice.
“Your Honor, I would like to begin by calling to the stand Miss Twilight Sparkle.” The prosecutor said.
Twilight took the stand, took the oath, and sat, hoping she could help Trixie in some way.
“Miss Sparkle, is it true that Miss Lulamoon purchased the Alicorn Amulet in order to get revenge on you?” The prosecutor asked.
“Yes.” Twilight admitted.
“And when she beat you, she kicked you out of town, sealed it off from the outside world, and enslaved the populace?”
“Yes.”
“Did you attempt to contact any other authorities in any other town?”
“No.” Twilight admitted, answering a question she’d been afraid to hear.
There were several gasps and surprised mutters.
“Why, may I ask, did not do so?” The prosecutor asked. “Are you not the princess’ student? Surely she would’ve helped you.”
“Princess Celestia was away at the time preparing for the delegates from Saddle Arabia.”
“Yet there was no one else you could ask for help? Princess Luna? Anyone?”
“I was able to stop her!” Twilight protested. “I was able to trick her into removing the amulet and everything was returned to normal.”
“And you let her go?”
“She apologized! She learned her lesson!”
“Miss Sparkle, Miss Lulamoon’s crime is not a case of wrecking someone’s belongings out of petty spite, it is a case of using a powerful and dangerous artifact to get revenge and forcing innocent ponies to be her slaves! These are very serious crimes, Miss Sparkle, and saying you’re sorry does not cut it. Also, whatever became of the Alicorn Amulet?”
“I gave it to my friend, Zecora, to hide it away so it could never be used again.”
“So, instead of turning this dangerous artifact over to the authorities or your mentor, you gave it to a friend of yours so she could hide it away. How do you she wouldn’t abuse its power?”
“She’s a zebra, not a unicorn!”
“Be that as it may, all ponies have some form of magic inside them and the Amulet has the power to augment magic and corrupt anyone who wears it. Let’s recap, shall we? You let a mare who kicked you out of your home and enslaved innocent townspeople get off scot-free because she said she was sorry, gave the amulet to a friend of yours instead of the authorities, and told no one about this incident at all, without ever considering the anguish the other ponies of Ponyville may have gone through?”
Twilight couldn’t answer. Her mouth opened and shut stupidly, feeling all the eyes burning into her.
“No further questions, Your Honor.” The prosecutor said.
The rest of the trial was a blur for Twilight. Trixie’s lawyer argued that Trixie was a victim of the corrupting nature of the Alicorn Amulet but the prosecution pointed out that Trixie had bought the amulet willingly. Several citizens of Ponyville recapped Trixie’s deeds, such as imprisoning the mayor, forcing Snips and Snails to pull a wheel less wagon, and forcing ponies to decorate Ponyville in her honor. When Trixie came up to speak, she told about how she lost everything in Ponyville due to the Ursa Minor and the actions of the ponies there. She’d become a laughingstock and forced to work on a rock farm because of them. She’d wanted to get back at the town that ruined her; Twilight was just a particular target.
Eventually, the jury brought in the verdict: guilty on all charges. The judge sentenced Trixie to 20 years in prison, 10 for good behavior, and when she got out, she would be forbidden to practice magic. As the court adjourned, Twilight watched from the courthouse steps as Trixie hid her face from the reporters as she was taken to the paddy wagon. In spite of all she’d done, Twilight couldn’t help but feel awful for Trixie. Her dreams were destroyed, partially due to herself but also due to Ponyville and Twilight.
But what also hurt was the way the other ponies who’d been to the trial were looking at her and whispering to each other. Twilight knew what they were talking about: how could Celestia’s student let a vengeance-seeking pony with a dangerous artifact off without so much as a slap on the wrist and not tell anyone? This was worse than that meeting.
Twilight numbly made her way back to the train station, planning to hide under the covers for the rest of the day.
The next morning, Applejack, Macintosh, and Braeburn had just finished breakfast. Applejack was reading the news, Trixie’s trial on the front page. Applejack was glad that Trixie had gotten what she deserved for what she did to the town, heck, AJ had been part of the mob that had searched for Trixie after Twilight beat her! But then Applejack found an editorial talking about Twilight’s actions in the whole thing.
“…so, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s student and the Element of Magic, let’s a vengeance-seeking magician who enslaved an entire town with an infamous artifact off the hook with nary a word to anyone else and dumps said artifact on someone else and just hopes they’ll get rid of it and not, you know, use it or sell it to another seedy character? I don’t know about you folks, but there is definitely something wrong with this picture! Does Twilight really think that major crimes can be fixed just because the perpetrator says that they’re sorry? Does sorry fix murders? Arson? Grand theft? No! And while we’re on that, did Trixie ever say she was ‘sorry’ to everyone else in Ponyville? Was she even sorry at all or did she say that to Twilight so she wouldn’t tell the princesses? I don’t know about you, Equestria, but I think Celestia needs to re-evaluate her choice in students…”
“The nerve of some people.” Applejack sighed.
“How’s that, cuz?” Braeburn asked from the sink where he was washing dishes.
“This guy talking crap about Twilight in the paper about how she handled that Trixie takeover.” Applejack explained as Mac took the paper from her and began reading it himself.
“Oh, yeah, I remember you told me about that. Half the family wanted that Trixie gal’s skin for what she did to you guys. Uncle Wolf Apple even wanted to break out the noose.” Braeburn chuckled.
“I admit that I wanted to whoop Trixie’s hide for what she did to Ponyville and I even want to whoop Twilight a little for just letting her go, but this…this is gonna destroy her. Being Celestia’s student means everything to her, and if ponies start saying she’s not good enough, I don’t know what she’ll do.”
“Well, I don’t know Miss Twilight all that much, but I do know that she didn’t want anything bad to happen.” Braeburn said, adjusting his hat and causing something inside it begin to slip out. “I’m not saying she should’ve let that Trixie gal go the way she did, but she probably thought it was best for everybody to just move on. You best check on her, though, if she is gonna take this news as bad as you say.”
A picture fell out of Braeburn’s hat. Applejack grabbed it before Braeburn could snatch it up and looked at it. It was a picture of Fleur de Lis, Equestria’s most famous model, lounging on a bed in very revealing red lingerie. A hint of perfume lingered on the picture and written on it was a phone number and ‘Call me, loverboy! XXXOOO’. Applejack turned to the sheepish Braeburn.
“She was passin’ through Appleloosa, her limo broke down, and I offered her a place to stay until it was fixed. I gave her my bed and took the couch, but she said it was inhospitable to make her sleep alone.” He explained.
“Oh, really?” Applejack said skeptically.
“Aw, come on, AJ! The hottest model in Equestria dropped right in my lap! How could I say no?”
“And that justifies you leaping on every hussy that opens her legs?”
“Hey, I was a gentleman with her! She enjoyed the town, made a few generous purchases from the businesses, and paid to replace all the furniture we broke!”
“Furniture?”
“She was, uh, quite the animal, if you know what I mean.”
“Ugh.”
Macintosh missed out on the discovery of this particular lover of Braeburn’s. Once he’d read the article, he had immediately left the house and headed for the library.