The Trial
Twilight stood nervously alongside Rainbow behind the table on the left side of the courtroom’s main floor, Scootaloo’s parents on the right with their lawyer sitting on the far side of them. Their lawyer, a brown pegasus, looked to be a little older than Scootaloo’s parents and she looked like she didn’t want to be there at all.
Twilight could barely stand looking at Scootaloo’s parents, the disgusting ponies they were. Sitting in chains, they were slouching in their chairs, their eyes locked on the table in front of them. Twilight watched them for a few moments more, her fears that they might try something to hurt Scootaloo slowly dwindling away. She stared at them, almost wanting them to get up and try something just so that she could do some real damage, for as her hate for what they did to their daughter grew, so did the rational side telling her to chill out.
Finally tearing her gaze away, she looked up and saw that the judge’s stand was still empty. They’d all been sitting in the room for the past fifteen minutes waiting on the judge and he was nowhere to be found. She knew for a fact that the judge was always supposed to be on time, well, at least that’s what her books had told her.
“Hey egghead, there’s nothin’ to worry about…” Rainbow whispered from her right, noticing that she was shaking. “Trust me, we’ve got this in the bag!” She rubbed Twilight’s back with a hoof, running it right in between the bases of her wings.
Twilight smiled, but she didn’t relax one bit. “I know, Rainbow, it’s just that I’m afraid that the court might deem us unsuitable parents…” Twilight whispered back before looking down at Scootaloo. Giving her a warm, reassuring smile, she laid a wing over her shoulders and pulled her up against her. “How you holding up, little one?” she asked.
“F–fine, I think… I just want to get this over with,” Scootaloo said softly, laying her head against Twilight’s side.
“Wait, what do you mean we might not be good enough parents?” Rainbow’s hoof stopped for just a few seconds before she resumed rubbing.
“Well… I should have told you this earlier, but when I went with Celestia to arrest Scootaloo’s parents, she told me that if we want to adopt Scootaloo, there’s a small law that says that troubled foals need to have parents that are married, and since we aren’t even in a relationship, I…” Twilight paused and took a deep, shuddering breath before she continued. “I’m fairly certain that Scootaloo’s parents will lose custody of their foal; that’s a given, but what I’m worried about is the fact that we might not be good enough…”
“What?! That’s a load of horseapples!” Rainbow furiously whispered back. “You know that we’re the best thing that’s happened to Scootaloo since she was born, and she k–”
“Yes, Rainbow, I know that, but the courts don’t!” Twilight shot a glance up at the stand, making sure that they weren’t creating a disruption. “How can we prove to them, other than our word, that we’re good enough for her?” She paused, waiting for Rainbow to respond. She watched her move her lips as she tried to come up with a rebuttal, but after waiting a few more seconds, she continued, saying, “You see? That’s the kind of thing I’m worried about.”
“B–but you’re a princess! Heck, we even have Princess Celestia on our side! She saw how badly Scootaloo’s parents treated her back in the hospital, so it should be a clear-cut case for the jury!”
“Yes, but none of that proves that we can properly take care of her, Dash!” Twilight said, trying to keep her voice down so that Scootaloo wouldn’t hear them. Twilight shot a nervous glance behind her, wondering if she knew any familiar faces in the sea of ponies behind her. Apparently, word had gotten out about this trial and quite a large amount of ponies had been interested enough in the upcoming proceedings to come. Twilight spotted her parents and Spike sitting in the center a row near the back.
Her parents both shot her a reassuring smile before nodding towards the front, indicating that she should look back around. Spike, on the other hoof, jumped to his feet and gave her two thumbs up with a wide smile. Feeling a little bit more confident, Twilight smiled and turned back around towards the front, though her nervousness was still making her tremble slightly. She glanced to her left, her gaze falling upon the three princesses who occupied their own special position in the room.
Celestia sat silently as she went over some documents, no doubt refreshing herself on the arrest reports while Luna and Cadence made small talk. Next to them sat their own lawyer, Quick Quill, one that had been hoof-picked by Celestia herself.
Quick Quill was Princess Celestia’s own personal lawyer and was always her go-to pony for things pertaining to the law. He was a light gray earth pony well versed in the ways of Equestrian law, especially in dealing with sticky situations such as these. He knew for a fact that Celestia picked him for one little detail of his: his photographic memory. That ability gave him the means to study and know every little detail in the folder that was given to him a few days prior. Usually, other lawyers would take quite a bit longer, weeks more, even, just to make sure they have everything down, but not him.
Fidgeting on her small cushion, Twilight bit her lip as she started to run through as many worst case scenarios as possible, but just as the first one popped into her mind, a small door in the corner behind the judge’s stand opened, revealing a brown earth pony. The courtroom quickly fell silent.
“The honorable judge Sealed Scroll will be presiding over this court trial. Please rise,” the lone guard standing beside the judge’s stand said in a deep, monotone voice as the judge walked inside the room. Everypony stood up and remained respectfully silent as they watched the stallion take his place up at his stand. “Everyone has been sworn in your honor.”
“Thank you, everyone, and good morning. Please be seated so we can get this trial underway,” Sealed Scroll said as he organized a small stack of papers on his desk. “This is the trial for Brick Lump and Tranquil Breeze against Princess Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.” He turned to Scootaloo’s parents and said, “Mr. Lump, the charges listed against you are: endangerment of a foal and attempted assault on royalty, and as for you, Mrs. Breeze, the charges listed against you are endangerment of a foal. How do the two of you plead?”
“Not guilty!” the two of them yelled back. Brick Lump slammed his hoof on the table in front of him indignantly, making Twilight jump a little in fright.
“Please settle down, Mr. Lump,” Twilight heard their lawyer say in a hushed voice. “You must remain civil in a court of law if you wish to be successful.”
“Hey, I’ll do whatever the heck I want!” Brick Lump exclaimed loudly as he slammed his front hooves on the floor.
The judge hit his gavel against his desk multiple times. When Brick Lump quieted down, he said, “Mr. Lump, if you do not act in an appropriate and respectful manner, I will have no other course but to hold you in contempt of court.”
Brick Lump huffed. “Fine, yer… honor,” he said, spitting that last word with no small amount of distaste.
“Good. Now, we may proceed.” Sealed Scroll cleared his throat. “The outcome of this trial will determine whether or not you are guilty of the charges I have listed to you, and it will also determine if young Scootaloo will be taken from your care. Whether it be with you two or an orphanage is up to the jury.”
“What about us? Why can’t she be placed in our care?” Rainbow furiously whispered into Twilight’s ear.
“Shhh, we can propose that idea when we take the stand,” Twilight whispered back. “Speaking of which, I think we’re about to go up.”
“Miss Rainbow Dash, as you were the first one to discover the reason behind we are all here today, I must ask that you take the stand first,” Sealed Scroll said.
“Well, here we go, I guess…” Rainbow quickly whispered into Twilight’s ear before she stood up. Not even bothering to look at Scootaloo’s parents, she trotted across the courtroom floor and took the stand, their own lawyer taking the floor a moment later.
“Ahem!” Quick Quill cleared his throat as he stopped in front of Rainbow. “Miss Dash, would you please state your name for the court?”
“Um, okay… Rainbow Dash.”
“Good. Now, can you please recount for me what happened, starting from the very beginning?”
“With pleasure…” Rainbow said, shooting a cold glare at Brick Lump and Tranquil Breeze. “It all happened almost a couple of weeks ago. My weather team and I had just finished making the snow storm of the year for everypony to play in the next day, and after getting home late that night, I was just about to go to sleep when I thought I heard someone crying outside beneath my house.” Noticing some members of the jury raise their eyebrows in confusion, she quickly added, “Oh, I live in a cloudhouse.”
When she saw their expressions relax into understanding, she continued. “Even though I really wanted to fall asleep, I got up and looked out the window. Only then was I sure I heard somepony crying, and I knew I recognized that voice.” She paused and pointed to Scootaloo. “It was Scootaloo. She’s one of the local town fillies that I’ve taken under my wing in the past few months, and we’ve grown pretty close. I mean, we’ve gone on camping trips with my friend and her little sister and we’ve done a bunch of other fun things.”
“I see…” Quick Quill stated. “Would you call yourself a mentor or an older sister-figure to this filly?”
“Yep!” Rainbow said with no small amount of pride.
“Alright. Please continue, Miss Dash. You said that you found her outside in a blizzard?”
“Yeah, so when I heard Scootaloo crying outside, and lemme tell ya, it was probably below freezing that night. A filly her size could easily freeze to death if she was exposed to the cold for a long time, so of course I was concerned for her safety. I tried to get her attention, but she wouldn’t answer me.” Rainbow’s voice started getting louder and louder, her tone showing just how angry she was getting. “At that point, I knew something was up, so I flew down and landed in front of her. I called her name again, but she didn’t even hear me! Heck, when she ran into me, I saw a huge bruise on her head! I–” Rainbow paused when she saw Twilight raise then lower her hoof, silently reminding her to calm down.
Rainbow took a couple of deep breaths before continuing. “When she finally recognized me, she grabbed onto me like I was saving her from some monsters. Little did I know, I was…”
“What do you mean, Miss Dash?” Quick Quill asked, his voice level and calm.
“I mean that Scootaloo’s parents,” Rainbow spat that word out. “If they can be called that, drove her from the house in the middle of the night. I’m pretty sure they were drunk off their asses, too.”
“What do you think drove Scootaloo away from her home?”
“Oh, I know exactly why because Scootaloo told me exactly what she did and why she did it. When I eventually got her to tell me what happened to her, she told me that her life at home wasn’t as perfect as she’d led everyone on to believe. Lemme tell you real quick that Ponyville is a great place to live. We don’t have any criminals, there’s barely any crime, and everyone is so friendly. So knowing that, it was really shocking to hear that Scootaloo’s life was so bad.”
“What do you mean by that?” Quick Quill asked, now pacing back and forth.
“Oh, you guys are gonna love this…” Rainbow said, sarcasm dripping from her words. “For starters, both of her parents drink heavily, they abuse her both physically and mentally while drunk, they starve her, and to top it all off, when I went to get Princess Twilight Sparkle’s help, we came back to find one of Scootaloo’s wings broken!” Rainbow kicked the wooden booth she was in with a hoof in anger. “A lot of her feathers were bent way out of place and she had to be hospitalized overnight. It was only by Princess Celestia’s grace that she didn’t have to suffer for many more weeks, and oh yeah, the first night I found her I let her stay at my place,” she said. “She was so traumatized that I let her sleep with me, saying that she didn’t want to be alone. She’d told me that she’d always wanted her mother to hold her with her wings, so that’s what I did. Both Twilight and I have stepped up to take care of her these past couple of weeks, and while it’s been a little hectic, I know that I’m up for the task of caring for her.”
Brick Lump suddenly jumped to his hooves and slammed his hooves on the table, shocking everyone in the room, some more than others. “Ah can’t sit here an hear this load from ‘er no longer! Das a loada shit an you knoweet, judge!” he barked.
“Order! There will be order in this court!” the judge yelled back at him, slamming his gavel on his desk repeatedly. “If you speak out of turn, I will be forced to hold you in contempt of court. Trust me, you wouldn’t want that.” He looked back at Quick Quill and said, “You may continue.”
“Oh, I have no further questions, your honor... Thank you for your testimony, Miss Dash. Will Princess Twilight Sparkle please take the stand?”
Twilight nodded once and stood up at the same time Rainbow did. As they walked past each other, Rainbow gave her a reassuring smile and a wink. Twilight took the stand a couple seconds later, her heart racing from the sheer amount of nervousness she was feeling.
“So, let us begin… Princess Twilight Sparkle, what is your involvement in this?” Quick Quill asked.
“Well, Rainbow Dash came to me after dropping the filly back off at her house the next morning. She came asking for my help, primarily asking for me to use my position as a princess to help her get Scootaloo away from her pa– Brick Lump and Tranquil Breeze. Rainbow had quickly filled me in with all of the important details, especially the part explaining Scootaloo’s small wings, and when I had heard enough, I knew I had to act,” she finished confidently.
“And what did you do?” Quick Quill asked, cocking his head to the side.
“Rainbow brought me back to Scootaloo’s house, and right before we were about to go inside and confront the parents, we heard an ear-splitting scream come from inside, no doubt coming from Scootaloo. Rainbow was the first to go inside. I followed her and when I heard another yell, I went upstairs to find Scootaloo’s father had pinned his daughter to the floor and was hitting her. One of her wings was already broken, as shown in the medical records that you should have up there, judge.” She waited a few moments until he nodded, prompting her to continue.
“In the following week, both Rainbow and I have taken care of her as if she was our own. I’ve known Scootaloo for quite a while now, and we’ve grown closer than ever before due to this rather unique situation. I feel that, as a princess of Equestria, all of my subjects should be able to live happy and productive lives. When I saw Scootaloo’s plight and Rainbow’s determination to make things better for her, I couldn’t just stand by and not help.”
Twilight cleared her throat and said, “Back when I first went to Scootaloo’s house, I had to push Brick Lump off of his daughter with my magic. Before I knew it, he tried to attack me, so I had to restrain him further to ensure he didn’t inflict bodily harm on me.”
“But she hit me first!” Brick Lump yelled indignantly. “I was disciplining my daughter and she hit me so hard mah vision went all blurry!”
“Mr. Lump, this is your last and final warning!” the judge barked at Scootaloo’s father. “If you speak out of turn one more time I will be forced to find you in contempt of court! If you wish to have any chance of winning, I highly suggest you shut your trap and do what your wife is doing: be quiet.” A few ponies snickered in the crowd.
“…Fine. I’m sorreh, yer honer.” Brick Lump sat back with a huff.
“Anyways…” Quick Quill said slowly, raising an eyebrow at Brick Lump’s outburst. “What did you do next, Princess?”
“While I dealt with those two…” Twilight gestured at Scootaloo’s parents. “I had Rainbow fly Scootaloo to the hospital immediately; her injuries were that grievous. Under my authority, I placed Scootaloo’s parents under house arrest, contacted Princess Celestia, and went to the hospital just in time to find Scootaloo come out of surgery.” A soft gasp ran throughout the crowded room. “Yeah, it was that bad. Brick Lump and Tranquil Breeze clearly do not care for their daughter, your honor. I cannot believe that something as serious as this was allowed to go on for so long, and the records that I procured from Ponyville’s town hall show that Scootaloo’s parents deliberately and maliciously put themselves over the safety and well being of their daughter. They do not deserve to be called parents.”
“Hmm… that’s quite the testimony,” Quick Quill stated calmly. “I have no further questions, your honor!”
“Oh! Um, wait, I still have more to say, your honor,” Twilight quickly said, looking up at the judge. “May I continue?”
“Granted. You may proceed, Princess.”
“Thank you. Over the past couple of weeks, both Rainbow Dash and I have cared for Scootaloo as if she was our own. As Princess Celestia’s personal student, one of my tasks, along with my studies, was to raise a baby dragon from the moment he was hatched, Spike.” She smiled as she shot a glance his way. “Though while some times have been a little hard on the both of us, I gained valuable knowledge in how to care for young. Using that knowledge, I was able to properly care and attend to Scootaloo’s needs these past weeks, and I can definitely see an improvement in the filly’s attitude prior to our direct involvement with her life.”
Twilight glared directly at Brick Lump. “There’s something else that I feel the need to say. Like Rainbow Dash said earlier, Scootaloo has been subject to near lucid nightmares about her parents abusing her. I’ve seen firsthoof on more than one occasion how these nightmares have affected her life, and I can’t imagine the sort of terror she goes through as she lays in bed each night, wondering if she’s going to have to go through another nightmare. To be honest, judge, I don’t know how long these nightmares have been going on for. In the two times that she’s had nightmares at my place, she’s woken up screaming and crying in fear for her life. Surely a filly does not deserve to live such a life.” She sniffled a little bit as she felt tears creep up in her eyes. Twilight wiped them away with a hoof and cleared her throat. “I have no more to say, your honor.”
With a short nod, Twilight stood up and returned to her cushion, making a point to not even look at Scootaloo’s parents. She sat down between Rainbow and Scootaloo again and stared forward as she tried to contain her feelings. It was only when Rainbow nudged her did she break out of her funk. She looked over at her, wondering what she wanted, only for her to have her smile at her.
“So what now?” Scootaloo asked Twilight. “Is it almost done? I just wanna go home…”
Twilight cocked her head to the side in confusion. She wants to go home? Surely she can’t mean back to her old house… She’s probably talking about Ponyville or something… “Shhh… I know sweetie. I’m not sure how long this is gonna take, but when we’re done, we can all go get some ice cream. That sound good?” Twilight whispered back, giving Scootaloo a little friendly nudge.
“Sure…”
“Mr. Lump, as one of the defendants, you may now take the stand,” Sealed Scroll said, breaking their conversation.
Scootaloo’s father silently stood up from his seat and walked up to the stand. Sitting down, he flicked his greasy hair out of his face. “Hurry up, missy,” he said, looking at his lawyer. “I ain’t got all day for ya shenanigans.”
“Mr. Lump…” Scootaloo’s parents’ lawyer started as she stood up, her voice prim and proper just like a Canterlot noble. She trotted up to where her client sat in the stand. “Before we begin, I must ask that you not to refer to me by ‘Missy.’ My name is Sharp Wit, something I’ve repeated to you on a few different occasions.”
“Yeah, yeah, I gotcha, I was only playin’. Ask away, Sharp Wit!”
“Humph… Yes, alright then. Mr. Lump, can you tell us your side of the events?”
“I’d be glad to! Mah wife and I came home one night to find our daughter drain pourin’ all of our liquor, the good shit too! She had already poured over twenty bottles down the drain before we were able to stop her, and of course we were angry! She had just wasted, like, nearly three hundred bits of good liquor all for nothing! Scootaloo there was rambling on and on about how mah alcohol makes me violent and about how she wanted a happy family, but that’s a load a bull. To show her that she did wrong, I started disciplining her, but she ran outta the house.”
Pointing a hoof at Rainbow, he suddenly raised his voice, “And then she came into the picture! That stupid mare kidnapped mah daughter from us that night, and when she brought her back to mah house the next day, she trespassed onto mah property. On top of that, her friend right over there…” He pointed right at Twilight. “Assaulted me and made it so that if we tried to leave our house we’d be hurt terribly. That demented pony has inflicted so much emotional trauma on mah wife and I.”
“Wait, hold on a moment, sir…” Sealed Scroll said. “Let me get this straight: You’re telling me Rainbow Dash kidnapped your daughter, correct?”
“Yessir!” Brick Lump said triumphantly.
“And then she brought her back to your place of residence, unharmed, and left her in your care the next day, correct?”
“Yup. But while she was there, she–”
“That’s all I need to hear,” Sealed Scroll stated, cutting Brick Lump off. “Do you have any further questions for your client, ma’am?” he asked to his lawyer.
“No, your honor.” Sharp Wit turned to look at Brick Lump. “You may return to your seat. I would like to call Mrs. Breeze to the stand next!”
Tranquil Breeze stood up, her chains rattling about as she awkwardly made her way over to the stand. Their lawyer ran her through the same questions as she had done with Brick Lump only to receive eerily similar answers. It only took them a couple of minutes to run through the small number of questions, and each of Tranquil Breeze’s response only incriminated both her and her husband further.
“Mr. Lump and Mrs. Breeze, your testimonies completely contradict the testimonies of both Miss Dash and Princess Twilight. I’m more inclined to believe them due to the evidence stacked against you, but the jury shall decide you and your wife’s fate,” he said. He turned to Sharp Wit and asked, “Do you have any further questions for the witness?”
“None, your honor!” she replied quickly, motioning for Tranquil Breeze to return to the table. “I would, however, like to call another witness to the stand: Miss Dash!”
“Huh? Why me?” Rainbow asked, apprehension thick in her tone. She lowered her voice and whispered into Twilight’s ear, “But I already went up… Why do I have to go again?”
“It’s just how things work, Rainbow; now quit stalling and get up there!” Twilight quickly whispered back.
“Um, okay…” Rainbow nervously stood up and flew her way over to the stand. Landing a little clumsily, she cleared her throat and waited for Brick Lump’s lawyer to begin.
“So, Miss Dash, on the night you found my clients’ daughter walking in the storm, you said that you ‘held her’… is that correct?”
“Um, yeah? Where are you going with this?”
Sharp Wit continued on, ignoring Rainbow’s question. “And on that night, did you two share the same bed?”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow at Brick Lump’s lawyer. “Yeah, I wrapped a wing around her and snuggled with her, just like she wanted me to.” She saw Sharp Wit start smiling as if she was saying exactly what she wanted her to say, but she continued anyways. “I had offered to let her sleep on the couch, but she stopped me, saying that she didn’t want to be alone or something like that.”
“I see, I see…” Sharp Wit mused, an evil glint in her eye. “Now, while you and Scootaloo were alone in these past couple of weeks, did you have any sort of physical contact, inappropriate or otherwise?”
“What?! How dare you ask such a… a… a thing!” Rainbow stood up and slammed her hooves on the railing. She flapped her wings and stopped at a hover right in front of Sharp Wit’s face. “Exactly what are you implying? You must be outta your mind if you think I’d do something like– like that to Scootaloo!”
Twilight suddenly felt Scootaloo tug on her wing. “What do they mean, Twilight?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Twilight balked for a moment. “Oh! Um, nothing, Scootaloo. That sort of stuff is for when you’re older and stuff.” She wrapped her wing around her and started listening to the argument again.
“–and to answer your question, no, I did not have any sort of inappropriate contact with Scootaloo in any way, shape, or form, or anything that can be construed as such,” Rainbow finished. “Now, if you don’t have any more real questions to ask me, I’m done.” When Sharp Wit remained silent, Rainbow huffed and walked back to sit down next to Twilight, her posture rigid and as stiff as a board.
Wow, I didn’t know she could talk like that… Twilight thought in amazement. She had figured Rainbow would speak in simpler terms, but she was glad to be surprised; it would only help their chances of winning. She tried to catch Rainbow’s eye, but she wouldn’t look back at her.
“Yes, well then, I think it’s time for the jury to decide whether they are guilty of all charges or not,” Sealed Scroll said as he organized some papers on his desk. “We shall all reconvene in one hour…”
“Welcome back, everyone,” the judge started as he took his seat again. “Let’s keep things nice and simple then, shall we?” He looked over at the jury. “Have you come to a decision?”
One of the members of the jury, a light pink pegasus, stood up. “Yes, your honor. We find the defendants, Tranquil Breeze and Brick Lump, both guilty on the charge of endangering a foal. For Brick Lump, we also find him guilty on the charge of attempted assault on royalty, your honor.”
“I see…” The judge sat back in his seat and stayed silent for several moments before speaking again. Leaning forward, he directed his attention to Brick Lump and Tranquil Breeze and spoke slowly. “From this moment henceforth, Scootaloo is now no longer under your legal guardianship. Records from Ponyville have shown that you have repeatedly put yourselves over the safety and wellbeing of your daughter, so I have no other choice but to take her from your care, something that should have been done years ago. Brick Lump, the court finds you guilty on all charges and I sentence you to twenty five years in prison, twenty for foal endangerment and five for attempted assault on royalty.”
The judge paused as he focused his stern gaze on Tranquil Breeze, ignoring the outburst from Brick Lump. “Mrs. Breeze, the court finds you guilty on the one charge, foal endangerment. As the mother of the filly in question, I would have thought that you would have cared enough for your filly to give her a decent life. Because of this, I am forced to give you the maximum sentence for the charge, twenty years in prison. Nether of you have any chance at parole, and Princess Luna has already assured me that she has a special hoof-picked cell just for the two of you.” Sealed Scroll looked at Princess Celestia’s guards lining the walls. “Guards! Take them away!”
Rainbow couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment as she watched Scootaloo’s parents be walked out of the courtroom through a small side door. She turned to Twilight and went for a hoof bump only to find her in a serious mood, her eyes locked on the judge.
“What’s going to happen to Scootaloo, your honor?” Twilight asked, her tone slightly nervous. She laid a wing over the filly’s back and pulled her close. The three of them waited breathlessly as they watched Sealed Scroll take a deep breath.
“I’m afraid that she’s going to have to go to the Canterlot Orphanage.”
“Wait, can’t we just bypass all that needless paperwork and have you just put her in my care?” Rainbow asked as she stood up. She kept her wings folded at her side as she continued, choosing to remain civil. “We’re already super close, and I know for a fact that she’d rather stay with me than go to some old orphanage. Both Princess Twilight and I have taken care of her in both of our houses, and on top of that, Twilight has assured me that she will help take care of Scootaloo with me, so what can go wrong?”
“Is this true, Princess?” Sealed Scroll asked as he looked at Twilight. “Have you pledged your help to assist Miss Dash in this venture?”
“Yes, your honor. I have, and to be honest, I’m wholeheartedly looking forward to it.”
Sealed Scroll tapped his hoof on the desk as he thought for a few moments. Looking at both Twilight and Rainbow, he asked, “You two live in separate households, right? Unmarried?”
“Uh… yeah, we each have our own houses. Twilight has the public library and I have my cloudhouse, and no, we aren’t married. Why? What does us being together have anything to do with this?” Rainbow asked.
Oh crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap Twilight thought as she started to panic. I just knew this was going to happen!
“Hm…” Sealed Scroll frowned as he laid his hooves on the railing. “I’m sorry to say this, but the law states that those not already in your immediate family cannot live in a public building. On top of that, those that wish to adopt a troubled foal, Scootaloo in this case, must be married and living in a single household in order to take care of them properly.” He paused when both Twilight and Rainbow gasped. “But since she isn’t up for adoption, that law does not apply here.” He chuckled when he saw Twilight’s and Rainbow’s shoulders fall in relief. “One issue still remains: the housing situation…” He focused his gaze on Rainbow. “Miss Dash, since you have the only legitimate property of the two of you, Scootaloo would have to live in your residence. Is this possible?”
Rainbow’s eyes went wide. As an exuberant smile spread across her face, she said, “Yeah! I mean, yes, your honor.”
“You do know that taking care of a filly, especially with so much emotional trauma, is quite a responsibility, correct? Furthermore, due to her flightless condition and the state of your house, you will have to either provide a means for her to access and leave the property under her own power or you will have to find someplace to live on the ground. If those requirements are not met within seven days of tomorrow, Scootaloo will be taken from your care and given to an orphanage at the discretion of the courts. Do you understand and agree to this information?”
“Yes, your honor, I do,” Rainbow firmly said. She felt like a million bits on the inside and it took all of her willpower to not scoop Scootaloo up and fly a victory lap over everyone in the courtroom.
The judge suddenly focused his attention on Scootaloo. “Young filly, could you please step forward?” he asked, ignoring the worried looks on both Rainbow’s and Twilight’s faces. Scootaloo timidly stepped forward, slowly walking to the center of the courtroom floor.
“Um… what is it, yo– your honor?” Scootaloo asked, sweeping her tail around to try and cover her flank.
The judge shot Scootaloo a reassuring and gentle smile. Leaning over the railing, he looked down at her and softly said, “Scootaloo, as of right now, you do not have any legal guardians for the moment, so I’m left with a couple of choices. One, you could go live in an orphanage with other fillies and colts, or two, you could go live with Miss Dash and Princess Twilight. Which of these do you prefer?”
Scootaloo looked up at the judge, her eyes brimming with tears. A small smile growing on her face, she looked over her shoulder back at Rainbow and Twilight. “I… I want to live with Rainbow and Twilight!” At that, she turned and ran back to Rainbow, tears of joy and relief running down her face. Rainbow opened her hooves just in time for her to jump into her embrace and she wrapped her hooves around the older pegasus as hard as she could. Scootaloo buried her face into Rainbow’s breast as she felt her wrap her wings around her, feeling like everything was starting to go right for once.
“It is settled then,” Sealed Scroll said as Twilight laid her wing over Rainbow’s back, his smile growing at the adorable display of affection. “Now, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash: are you up to the challenge of becoming Scootaloo’s permanent legal guardians?” Sealed Scroll asked.
“Yes!” both Rainbow and Twilight said in perfect harmony.
Sealed Scroll slammed his gavel down on his desk once. “It is done, then! Good luck to you both,” he said with a smile. As he stood up, he looked at Rainbow and said, “Remember Miss Dash, we are going to need documentation that you have provided Scootaloo a way to access your house within seven days of tomorrow. I bid you all good day,” he said as he collected all of the papers on his desk.
“Yeah, we did it!” Rainbow said, bouncing Scootaloo up and down on her lap. No matter what, she couldn’t get the filly to let go of her. Suddenly, Rainbow felt Twilight nuzzle her affectionately on her cheek, this one lasting so much longer than any other previous nuzzles.
“You did great today, Rainbow,” Twilight said proudly.
“No, we did great today,” Rainbow shot back with a triumphant grin. She looked back down at Scootaloo and started rubbing her back with a hoof. She gently folded her wings back to her side and scooped her up in her hooves. She hugged her fiercely, and when Scootaloo wrapped her hooves around her neck twice as hard, Rainbow wasn’t even surprised when she felt a tear of joy slip from her eye. “We did it, Scootaloo… we did it.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
1,005 users online
1,680,595 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Yeahhhhh!!!
I couldn't help but Imagine one of those Law & Order Trials
Really excited with this chapter... I can't wait to read what happen next
So much adorableness,
Glad to see those two got what they deserved, their lawyer really hit a new low with that question.
Hum, can't say that went good and heartwarming, it was, but now what? I presume the only conflict now is to get Two and Rainbow married?
YES! YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!
JUSTICE HAS PREVAILED!
Finally we get here!
ALl in all, fun chapter, though part of me expected Twi/Dash to kiss to try and "prove" their relationship and what not...perhaps similar to I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.
Part of me was expecting you to troll us and have B.L. and T.B. win. I'm glad I was proven wrong
Great chapter and for some reason, I imagined the intro to the arrest and trial of Sctoolo parents, this theme was playing:
With each secene change being:
Well keep up the good work.
I LOVED IT!!!!!!
4842002
Very nicely done this first part!
Now, there are two choices for you:
1) Write a cliche plot about first Scootaloo living with Twilight and Rainbow, then plot-twist that she is to be taken away, then happy ending for all three (do NOT do this, it would only be a disservice to a great story)
2) Write about the difficulties of the 3 of them living together, their problems, their accomplishments, their snuggling snuggle times, up until the marriage of Twilight and Rainbow.
Yea, for a reader to suggest how a story is to develope is a crime, BUT: Just to many stories that started out good just ended in a cliche an became so boring, predictable and lame. I would really like to see this story to be one I will still favor when it's finished.
Make that happen!
A few instances of the return key needing to be hit one more time, as well as 'everyone'. Unless you meant it that way, otherwise 'everypony' fits better.
Neither of you have any chance at parole
And I'll be in there too!
Did they really think they'd have a case? Seriously? They didn't have a chance and everypony knew it. The only part I was worried about has been answered... now, can Dash build some steps out of cloud? Or is she going to bring her home closer to the ground?
Holy shit, Abyss. This is amazing. Great job.
Well, looks like the court case ended well.
So Scootaloo needs someway to access Rainbow's cloudhouse, huh? So that means either a ladder or anchoring it to the ground so she can just hop up. Pretty sure either would be super easy to establish.
Either that or get her a flying pet from Fluttershy strong enough to carry her up and down that stays with her at all times.
Heck, just dock the cloud house to the upper branches of the Library, so Scootaloo can just hop over from the balcony. Or maybe build a rope bridge.
Either way, the only issue there would be providing proper documentation, which Twilight could provide in spades.
So looks like everything's golden for Scootaloo.
Wow... Equestrian court is a zoo. Remind me to never get a speeding ticket there.
soooo did you just throw in that accusation of pedophilia just as bait for us to read? cause it literally lead nowhere.
4846394 Agreed. (only I can't drive)
I need to know, did you run out of story on how twi and rainbow avoid the law because the judge says that the law doesn't apply but they are adopting scootaloo right and the law clearly states that the adopting party must be married and living in a single household.
Well done ol' chap. Here have one of these:
th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2011/345/7/b/one_squee_coin_by_kintexu2-d4it7no.png
Glad I was wrong though I can't shake the fact that it has been rather peaceful........too peaceful.
I had a feeling they were gonna try to pull that one. So now we wait for Scootaloo to get a helicopter blade like Tank's.
Good chapter, but I feel like that one scene where Rainbow was accused of pedophilia to be unneeded seeing as how it lead to nowhere. I actually don't even think Rainbow would've gone that in-depth in explaining how Scootaloo slept that night with her - she doesn't seem like the type of pony who'd talk about touchyfeely stuff like that, anyways.
But Brick Lump is guilty of treason(pretty much anyway.)... Hang Him! Hang him high! Anyway... I was half expecting Dash and Twi to ask the judge to marry them on the spot, Still this is good, a cloud house gets to be wheelchair accessible and Twi and Dash get to take their time to seduce each other. Well see you at the next chapter.
I'm a little bugged by how you used everyone and everybody instead of everypony, it kind of breaks the immersion.
NOW TO SPECULATE ON HOW TO GIVE SCOOTALOO EASY ACCESS TO RAINBOW'S CLOUD HOME!!! Or Tirek could show up two days later and Twilight suddenly has a castle to raise Scootaloo in.
4846400
My personal guess to that was that their lawyer might have attempted to make Dash lose her cool by using what she had said against her. And it didn't happen, cuz she kept her cool.
Well, that lawyer was just laughably desperate by the end. Wonder if Rainbow could sue for slander.
And yeah, sneaky judge there at the end. Legal loop holes yay!
Oh shame, and here I was expecting a phoenix right joke. Oh well.
HUZZAH!!! Another brilliant chapter, a few grammatical errors, but otherwise spectacular. The Abyss, i don't know how you do it but you are by far my favourite writer on this site. One last thing, if you require a proof-reader at any point, i'm always looking for things to do, just so you know.
keep writing, im looking forwar to chapter 17 onward
Darn I was hoping I could have the parents for a SNACK!!!!! *WolfGrin and licks my muzzle*
Well done. the court scene was exactly like a real one would be.
4846400
Nope. trust me. that is tried in EVERY custody case. U just never read about it.
4846746 he presented it as a tease before. that is why i said it like that.
Looks like the build up was for nothing after all, it went perfectly well! You certainly know how to mess with your reader's heads Abyss. I can't wait for chapter 17 of this fantastic story.
Good job with the court case.
I was confused when it said that Quick Quill has a 'photogenic memory' seeing as there is no such thing (I guess that if there was a spell that allowed a pony to put their memories onto paper, than a memory that looks good in a photo would work). I would guess that you mean that he has a photographic memory.
Huh. I was expecting something horrible and tragic.
Kind of straightforward and uninteresting. This could have happened offscreen
its....so....beautiful
Rainbow knowing and using the word "construed" was surprising to say the least. I had to google it myself (english not being my native language) . I wonder if Twilight is going to ask about this latter...
Anyway , Rainbow just need to bring her home to the ground and there is no problem. Except for Derpy.
4846569 Yeah, but he was only charged with assaulting Twilight Sparkle. It's not like he was accused of assaulting real royalty.
Uh oh. Better hide!
Yeah... I needed this chapter after the evening I had...
Good to see that Scootaloo's sperm & egg doners had justice delivered to them for what they did to her. Now, How shall RD fulfill the requirements of the court?
One can only hope that Scoot's "parents" will be put in whatever passes for a general population holding area... Judging by how Equestrians seem to react to foal abuse I imagine they would have some... accidents.
But then, any moment that they are not suffering torment is something they do not deserve.
Yeesh 20 years without parole. I can't even imagine what the sentence is for 2 grams of pot.
Liquid pride was shed.
Usually court cases are labeled "plaintiff verses defendant." This sounds like Twilight and Rainbow Dash are the ones on trial.
Missing "why."
There seems to be a word missing here. Biggest, first, last, worse, best?
This sentence is too close to the one above it.
Usually here is where the cross examination would begin. Or the judge would at least see if the defense wanted to cross examine the witness.
Is this Brick's idiolect or is it a mistake?
Once again, the defense would have been given the option to cross examine.
This paragraph is too close to the one above it.
Once again, the option of a cross examination would have been offered, to the plaintiff this time.
The burden of proof is all on the plaintiff. Brick Lump and Tranquil Breeze could sit there and play Old Maid throughout the entire trial and they would not have to say or do anything to prove their innocence. In a jury trial, the judge should not say anything that may influence the jury in any way. They should come to their own conclusion during deliberation. And even small claims jury trials take the better part of the day.
With or with out the jury? It could take the jury less time or more time to finish deliberations. It could take them minutes or days.
Wow, it is like he knew the exact moment that they would reach a verdict.
This paragraph is too close to the one above it.
I am sorry to be the turd in the punchbowl, but someone had to be. All that aside, this chapter was pretty good. It will be nice to see where else you go with this.
KBO.
A photogenic memory? It must look really nice! I believe you meant photographic memory though.
And a nice chapter too, by the way.
Oh holy beast core those two sure dug a huge hole! lol good job with the case. By the looks of things tirak is due for his appearance. Soon at least. From what I saw of the castle of friendship in the season four finale it looks like twilights friends are moving in with her. That can help solve the problem just make sure scootaloo isn't in the library but at school when tirak attacks.
Oh holy beast core those two sure dug a huge hole! lol good job with the case. By the looks of things tirak is due for his appearance. Soon at least. From what I saw of the castle of friendship in the season four finale it looks like twilights friends are moving in with her. That can help solve the problem just make sure scootaloo isn't in the library but at school when tirak attacks.
4847265 don't you know? That stuff's legal in Ponyville. Baked in all the cupcakes.
This had me on the edge of my seat, I thought for sure Scoots dad was going to try and attack her at some point. Glad I was wrong but this was still an awesome chapter. Still though, would have been nice if he had at least gone after Twilight. Then we could see him get one last smack before he disappears from the story.