Justice
Justice
By Tundara
Tyr was incensed. Her hooves crashed down with every step. Tension, carried from rigid wings through her neck to the base of her jaw in pulsing steel bands, threatened to snap at the slightest provocation. Pages and guards alike dodged out of her path, shying away from her searing gaze.
Backing out of Princess Celestia’s office, Chronicle was the first to attempt to check her advance.
The old seneschal held up a hoof. The words, “Princess Tyr, if you wish to speak with Her Highness, perhaps tomorrow would be better,” bounced off her, and she swept past him, hurling the doors open with a frame shattering bang.
“Why?!” Tyr shouted, her voice rattling the windows and rustling the closer tapestries.
Princess Celestia did not so much as bat an eye or look up from the work before her. Her quill swished across the scroll, she took a sip of the wine at her side, and then, when Tyr verged on another outburst, finally said, “I did what was necessary.”
Anticipating the response, indeed, it would have been shocking if Celestia had given anything encroaching on a denial, Tyr stomped her way up to the large chair set in front of the desk. The chair, oversized for most any other pony, was plush and hugged Tyr’s long legs. It also meant that her arrival was equally anticipated.
“Why?” She asked again, this time with only a little of the angry magma coiling through her veins to give the question a slight hissing heat.
“It is very simple; your ruling was incorrect.”
“Incorrect?” Snarled Tyr, her wings thrusting out of their own accord. “You were not there in Ponyville to know one way or the other.”
Celestia dipped her head, just a little, into a nod. “You are correct, I was not in Ponyville. Had I been, I would have made the same decision I did today. With all the evidence presented, all the testimonies given, each pony taking their chance to speak; there could be no other outcome.”
“But… Why? Why are you letting him get away with it? What he did was wrong! What Filthy Rich did to those ponies was despicable.”
“In that we are in agreement,” Celestia sighed, letting the weight of the admission fill the large office. She poured herself a fresh glass of wine, and one for Tyr.
Snatched up in her crackling aura, Tyr glared at the glass. She didn’t care much for wine. It reminded her too much of her old home. Placing the wine aside, she dared not hold it long lest her anger shattered the glass, she plunged ahead.
“I don’t understand. If you agree with me, then why let him get away with it? He ruined their lives!”
“But, he did not do anything illegal.” Celestia put extra emphasis on the final word, drawing it out into almost a slur. “There will be repercussions for Mr. Rich and his business associates, make no mistake, but in a legal manner.”
Tyr snarled and thrashed in her chair. The magic hardened adamantite frame groaned beneath her simmering fury. “So, the poor ponies get no justice then? Instead, you sneak and slither as always, and snub his next business deal or land acquisition? That is not Justice! He needed to be dragged into the light and punished. Not, patted on the head and told what a good little stallion he was for being so sick and wicked.”
Tutting, Celestia gave a disapproving frown. “That is a bit harsh, Tyr. Mr. Rich has his flaws, and—”
“Flaws?” Tyr leapt up, her voice reaching it’s original heights. She began to pace, the need to move outweighing any sense of formality, even in this place, even in front of Celestia. She burned with a need to act, to enact Justice.
A primal necessity flared through bone and sinew, commanding that she find Filthy Rich and meet out his deserved punishment. Only then would the burning abate, the droning pleas that filled her ears fade, and she’d know peace.
Instead, she growled, ground her teeth, and continued to pace.
“It isn’t just a flaw to turf orphans out of their home. It is sick,” she spat the words out of the corner of her mouth. “He knew what he was doing. The pain and suffering his actions would bring, and he felt nothing. No, worse, he was happy!
“Happy about all the fresh bits that would fill his coffers. Never mind that he was tearing a family apart. Those fillies and colts, their caretakers, they were a family as true as any acquired through the happenstance of birth; and he was the prime actor in wrenching that family to pieces. They fought him and his cronies. Did everything they could, and came so close to saving their family. They had the money! But, he tore them asunder regardless. With a laugh! The land worth more than their orphanage could give.”
A long sigh rattled from Celestia and she stood to join Tyr. Placing a tender wing across the smaller alicorn’s back, she said in a comforting tone, “They were placed in new homes, some foster, a coulpe adopted, and the rest in other orphanages. As the law proscribed. To the letter, as a matter of fact.” Tyr stiffened, and a flash of crimson rage tinted the corners of her eyes. “I’ve seen to it that they will all find their new homes to be more than comfortable,” Celestia attempted to assuage, but only seemed to stoke the flame in Tyr’s breast further.
Her own gut twisted at her words. In an age past, it very well could have been her on the other side of the desk, spitting fire and accusations, burning with a righteous wrath. Time and experience had long since tempered such foolish notions as there being fairness in governance. Whenever she encountered such flaws and failures, Celestia did her best to correct the law to the best of her ability.
After a thousand years, her ability was well honed, experience giving her a sharp eye at spotting loopholes and ways the law could be twisted.
But, she was not perfect.
“You can’t wash away the stains with wave of your wing, Celestia.” Tyr shrugged off her aunt and stomped towards the door.
Celestia did not respond. There was nothing to say, as it was true.
Tyr stopped halfway across the room and wheeled back, mane crackling about her head in a electrified halo, teeth bared as she snarled.
“You don’t see what I see, Celestia. The grasping tentacles, viscous black tar leaking from their surface, that wrap themselves around the willingly wicked. The wounds across the fabric of Harmony they leave with each step. I hear the cries of those wronged continually. Every act of injustice, whether willful or not, is laid bare to my eyes. What good am I if I can’t right those wrongs? If I must let the sinful walk free? No, I won’t allow that. I can’t. I am Justice incarnate, and one way or the other, I have to see the wicked punished.”
With this, Tyr spun and yanked the doors open, almost tearing them from their hinges with the force of her aura.
Celestia sighed, but did not give chase. She only called out in a soft voice, “Tyr, you have to learn a simple truth; the Law is not always Just. It is the Law. No more, and no less. It has no care about what is moral, right or wrong. Only that it is followed and a civil, ordered society is maintained.”
At the door, Tyr paused and shook her head. Over her shoulder, in a soft voice, she said, “Such cynical logic I can never accept.”
With these parting words, Tyr stormed from the office as she had entered it, the crash of those fine oaken doors ringing through the halls.
Celestia sat for some time staring at the chair Tyr had occupied, her thoughts and heart heavy. The decanter of wine emptied. Chronicle came and went, stacks of paperwork growing in his passage. The ink on her quill hardened.
And, eventually, she stood and made her way the the tall windows overlooking the palace gardens, the castle walls, the city beyond, and then the twinkling light of the towns and villages in the valley further along.
“If only life were so simple that refusing to accept reality denied it being true,” Celestia whispered.
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It's rather left at an awkward point though. A vengeful Tyr out to seek Justice? That's problematic and rather needs a bit more than a simple statement about how Justice =/= Law.
What happens next? Is Tyr reigned in? Does she do something she shouldn't?
Now this does beg questions. To begin with, if Tyr sees the "willingly wicked" in such a manner, what would she see if she focused that sight on the likes of Pinkie Pie, Applejack or Fluttershy?
Also, it's nice to see so much activity from you; I thank you for these two good, enjoyable shorts.
7833148
Perhaps something for a follow-up.
Or, it could be a story hook for an entire book. Tyr seeking to find herself, and a balance between Justice and Vengeance, her struggles with Celestia. They battle for control over the Arbiters and Judicators (judges and sheriffs), the the organisations fragmenting into three camps; those who support either Tyr or Celestia, and those who wish to take a wait-and-see approach. Tyr sliding further and further towards Vengeance. Celestia growing ever more desperate to pull her back from the edge.
Or not. That would be a rather large project, and first I need to finish the main story(ies) before starting another of that sort of scope.
It's quite obvious. Tyr will become the Batmare.
7833303
Did she? Blah, that is rather an embarrassing miss on my part.
Oh well, I'll leave it as it is, warts and all! 
I kind of think she's a bit overly upset over something that I'm not every sure justice would really apply to.
Something of an aside:
I'm a bit surprised/curious that a orphanage would even really exist in the setting; one of the background ideas that shows up in your universe that that polyamorous relationships are seemingly common, and culturally relevant. This is to say, it seems most ponies have a, so to speak, birth herd, comprised of more than just two ponies (ie dam and sire).
In other works of fimfictions, which have used the 'herd' model, I've always found it a bit strange or out of place that orphanages would exist in such a society; not because orphans can't or don't exist, but rather because it seems to me that the nature of a herd would mean there was always somepony there to take care of the children, if one of the members died.
If you have a herd of three ponies, that gives you at least six grandparents who could step in, and that's ignoring aunts or uncles and their herds too. if they also have herds of at least three ponies, then we're talking about nine ponies who could survive and provide family for the kids.
I'm curious what your thoughts are, though, on this.
7834158
While certainly more uncommon than what we have, orphans wouldn't be unheard of, either. It really just breaks down to probability. And while the herd structure provides a lot of security, it can't answer for everything. Medicine within the setting is not up to our standards. Magical healing is all but unheard of owing to the Second Reformation of Magic. Death by illness is far more common.
For a comparative; I've been re-reading Jane Austen's works (finished Sense and Sensibility the other day, and am about a quarter through Pride and Prejudice now). In both those books, the main characters' sister falls ill from walking in the rain. Marianne Dashwood almost dies, and Jane Bennet is laid up for days and days with what would be a minor cold for us thanks to all the pharmaceuticals with which we attack the mildest malady. Myths is, nominally, set in a comparative technological level, at least as medical remedies is concerned. Their surgical knowledge is closer to on par with ours, and they have things like heart rate monitors through enchanted items. Its a little bit magi-schizo in nature, over-all. The sensitive nature of these items, and the difficulty of reproducing them even in Equestria's more magically industrialised level makes them uncommon and found only in hospitals of large cities, or areas directly under the crown's supervision (such as Ponyville). Doctor Crown on the Bellerophon for instance has no access to these devices as the extremely volatile nature of the ship would destroy them within days, either through the heavy duty enchanting used on the ship itself, or the wild magic that flows through the oceans.
This is to say nothing of accidents, or other unfortunate occurrences.
My thinking is that the orphanages are rather rare, but do exist, run either by the crown, or by the Sisterhood; depending on the region. There would also be a few private orphanages set up by wealthy or powerful patrons. I figure, for the sake of this story, Ponyville's orphanage belongs in this category. With the construction of Notra-Dame de le Etoiles at the site of Twilight's old library, the town would be in the middle of a boom, and the value of land would be rising astronomically. Turning the orphanage into housing for the workers would likewise be extremely profitable. More so than the orphanage could afford to pay the Riches. So, despite his grandfather having set up the orphanage, Filthy Rich hatched a plan to make more money with the land and buildings.
As a quick aside, to any curious, no, Scootaloo is not an orphan in Myths.
Now I'm curious... if this is how Tyr sees "Injustice" ...How would Cadence react to Forced Love. AKA what the CMC did to Mac & Cheerilee.
7838129
Yes, though Leviathan was unaware that fact. She was using Faust's connection to Harmony, and Faust was subtly altering it so Leviathan would see what she needed. Leviathan sees all Ioka as a giant Go board, and she and Faust as the players. Here, she is setting up the board, playing a few pieces to be part of her big finally in a few years when she invites Twilight into her lair. It's all a massive game spanning worlds and thousands of years, and she lies and cheats and never plays fair.
7837334
Eh, a minor loss of a few pieces. Success or failure of the corruption was never as important as having something with which to use against Twilight. Losing is an annoyance, or would be, if she hadn't lost bigger to Faust and Twilight but it only means there are more pieces on the board to take next time.
7838788
Well, while it's not really been explored beyond a concept in my head, the book the CMC used to make their 'Love' potion was a copy of the Book of Love. Cadence had 'her' book purposefully filled with bad information and other sundry nasty surprises. Her thought, at the time, was that nopony would be daft enough to actually want to use the thing and it'd be buried in some archive and not gain prominence like the books of Harmony, Sol, and Selene, which was still widely read and available at the time, though quickly falling into disfavour following NMMs defeat. Cadence was only partially right. There are copies of the book that get found every now and then.
7839081
Interesting... Still can't fathom why Cadence would be stupid enough to make a love potion so powerful it breaks the laws of physics xD
7839903
She's never been the most rational pony, a side effect of being the embodiment of an emotion.
Only Discord has the power to change reality at whim and he never cared about things like law and justice because he thinks they're boring. Tyr should really calm down because if she reacts this strongly to an incident serious injustice might break her. I can imagine that fleeing the country is still viable in the old queendoms.
I feel like i should point out to newcomers, this MIGHT give some things away from some of the other stories
7927004 So this isn't canon? Cause this feels like a LOT of spoilers otherwise.
7927025
It's complicated. It's indicative of where I'd like to go and have the characters end up, for the most part. Some are sillier than others, or have inside jokes (like the beach party story). Pretty much everything post-Myths timeline wise is soft-canon, everything set pre-Myths or current Myths is hard-canon. There are practical reasons for this, as the way I write is very fluid. I have goals and ideas where I want to go, but the story can and does shift in different directions. Some are more grounded than others, such as the Muses. Others less so. There is a reason why Twilight is hardly ever even mentioned. This is because there is enough variance on where she'll end up that it is very difficult to even have something set in stone so far out.
I look on the anthology as stories I write for fun and to unwind. Rather than just shoving them in a folder, I share them, even if they may be spoilerific. Then again, they could turn out to not be spoilers as a single chapter in the future could take the series and setting in a new direction.
Doesn't help much, I know. Just, enjoy the stories and don't worry too much about them. That's what I do while writing them.
So I finally caved and read the anthology
the stories were entertaining and although I initially was put out by the Rarity & Celestia pair up i do believe I can learn to accept it as long as the narrative of the story can convince me of their chemistry. I haven't read all the commentaries so I don't know if you have already answers this, but if I understood correctly the will be/are nine muses, in which three mares will be the birth mothers of three each, while at the same time they are mothers of all nine. So does this means there is a third mare on their herd we don't know about and haven't meet?
8078162
Like all good prophecies it is open to interpretation. The most literal are the birth mothers of Serene, Celestia, and Rarity. It could also mean who they hold as their mothers in their hearts, this being Celestia, Rarity, and an as yet-unmentioned mare. Or, both interpretations could be right.
8078463
nevertheless thanks for answering 
Hahaahaha I love this answer because is a cryptic as anyone want and it can either mean "it's a secret and you'll have to wait to find out" let it be here or in the main myths story........ Or it can mean that you have no idea
8078817
Hehehe, thanks! But, really it's both. The first interpretation is the most accurate and the one I generally run with. But, it's also open ended and allows wiggle room in case someone else joins Tia and Rarity.
I put it at 'low' odds, however. It just mucks things up and gets confusing. I'd need a good reason, basically. Or a really good story. Or for it to happen organically while writing.
"there can be no justice so long as laws are absolute. even life itself is an exercise in exceptions"
I'm a little pissed because the first time I read this quote was in a story here in fimfic, and it was said BY celestia
I'm also annoyed I can't find that story again