Chapter 14
"Guilty on all Counts"
When the news that a verdict was reached came about, everypony attending the trial raced over to the throne room and hastily gathered in silence, trying to hold in any emotions that could come out in an unexpected manner. Even the princesses were patiently waiting, also trying to hold in their own emotions as well. However, for Celestia and Luna, they knew that as soon as the trial was over, they would have to try and accept the apologies that Lock Down was trying to present to them.
Nevertheless, General Kuwaga was wheeled into the throne room as Fancy Pants and the rest of the jury took their seats, eager to reveal what Kuwaga's fate would be.
"Has the jury reached a verdict, forepony?" asked Celestia, looking over to Fancy Pants.
"We have, your highness," replied Fancy Pants, rising to his feet and addressing the princesses.
"Then on the charges of war crimes against Equestria," asked Celestia. "How do you find the defendant, General Kuwaga of the Changelings?"
Everypony held their breaths except for Kuwaga, who was confident enough that he was going to be acquitted on all charges. He had every reason to believe that they would believe his brief, yet poor excuse of a defense. Finally, with a deep breath, Fancy Pants said what needed to be said.
"We find the defendant, General Kuwaga of the Changelings," said Fancy Pants. "Guilty."
The smirk smile disappeared from Kuwaga's face as the sound of the verdict echoed through the throne room. But, it wasn't the end of the verdicts, for there was more to be revealed in terms of the other counts.
"On the charges of murder," asked Luna. "How do you find the defendant, General Kuwaga of the Changelings?"
"We find the defendant guilty," replied Fancy Pants, as Private Centipede could only smile at the sight of Kuwaga losing all of his self confidence with each time that the "guilty" verdict would be announced.
"On the charges of kidnapping Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Princess Twilight Sparkle," asked Celestia. "How do you find the defendant, General Kuwaga of the Changelings?"
"We find the defendant guilty," said Fancy Pants as Kuwaga struggled to break free of his chained bonds, trying to escape, but he couldn't. He wasn't going to die, not here and not now, but it was too late. He couldn't escape and was now going to have to face the consequences.
In fact, several ponies in the gallery were starting to nod their heads in agreement over the verdicts. They all agreed that Kuwaga was found guilty on all counts, but they couldn't agree on whether or not Kuwaga deserved to live or to die.
Some would rather see Kuwaga end up like Tirek, rotting away in the depths of Equestria's basement prison, Tartarus for eternity. They agreed that killing Kuwaga would not erase the crimes that the Changelings had committed.
However, the other half wanted to see Kuwaga die for his crimes. They wanted to see Kuwaga feel the pain that he and his Changelings had inflicted on their loved ones by hanging in the center of Canterlot. But, they all knew that Celestia and the other princesses would have to decide on Kuwaga's fate. Once the throne room was once again silenced, Celestia closed her eyes as she and the other princesses prepared to make their decision.
"Before we pass our sentence upon the defendant," she said, lowering her head down for a second, before raising it back up to the gallery of ponies that were gathered. "We want to say that killing innocent ponies is something that we will not tolerate in our society. Those who harm or even kill our subjects will be punished to the fullest extent of our laws. However, I want to assure our subjects in attendance that we are and have always been against the death penalty."
For a second, Kuwaga let out a sigh of relief, for that he knew at that moment that Celestia and her fellow princesses didn't have the guts to kill him…or so he thought.
"Therefore, since the Changelings had directly attacked Canterlot itself," continued Celestia, her voice growing more stern as her eyes switched from the gallery of ponies down to Kuwaga. "We could not allow the defendant to be let off lightly for the magnitude for his crimes. For you personally attacked my niece and imprisoned her against her will in the dungeons of Canterlot as well as cause her husband, myself and a few other ponies to turn their backs on Princess Twilight Sparkle, just so you could continue your plans of domination."
Once again, the memories of the invasion impacted the minds of Cadence and Twilight. But, the princesses stayed strong and were determined to not succumb to the memories of the royal wedding like last time.
"I will not allow you to be punished lightly on account of this," Celestia cried in a loud voice. "On the charges that you have been convicted of, it is our decision that you be sentenced to death by hanging."
With those words, Celestia pounded her gavel and several guards came over to pick up the cage with the furious changeling general inside. Kuwaga couldn't believe it and now, he was carried out of the throne room screaming at the top of his lungs.
"DAMN YOU, CELESTIA!" screamed Kuwaga as he struggled against his bonds. "DAMN YOU AND EQUESTRIA ALL TO TARTARUS! WE WILL HAVE OUR REVENGE IF IT IS THE LAST THING WE EVER DO!"
The screams that came from Kuwaga were practically ignored, no matter how loud his voice was. He was going to die and even if he did appeal, then it would fall on deaf ears. However, the decision to kill him was not a perfect choice among the princesses.
"What have we done?" gasped Luna to Celestia, turning over to her sister. "Have we done…?"
"Yes, my dear sister," remarked Celestia, her voice hushed to the point where it wasn't even heard by her sister, niece and youngest equal. "We have sentenced a creature to death, something that we have not done in a long time. I just hope that our decision doesn't haunt us in the end."
Soon, the time had come to prepare for a hanging in the center of Canterlot…