Chapter 9: The Pieces Are Revealed
It was a while before I came too.
As I started to wake up, I felt myself laying on a very uncomfortable bed. When I was fully back to reality, I looked around to find myself in a dark, windowless prison cell. I jumped up off the bed and ran over to the bars of the cell.
The cell was at the end of a dimly lit corridor that led to a closed door, and my cell was the only one in the corridor. I didn’t know what to think as I went back and sat down on the lumpy mattress that was in the cell. I couldn’t believe it, I was actually in jail. I was in jail, I had been arrested for something completely out of my control, after all Princess Twilight had told me that it had all been a mistake.
That thought made me start to panic. Had Princess Twilight lied to me? Had Princess Celestia instructed her at what to say to get me back to Tall Tale? Had it all been one big lie? With my worldview completely shattered, and no idea what was going to happen next, I did the only thing I could bring myself to do. I laid down on the old dirty bed and cried my heart out.
Hours ticked by, but I had no way of knowing thanks to the lack of a window in my cell. The only way I could tell time was ticking by was through my well tuned internal clock, and the appearance of a small tray of food at some point while I had been facing away from the cell bars. Nothing five star I assure you, just a bowl of oats and a glass of water, but I couldn’t care less, I was just happy to be fed.
As I sat awake in my bed, at around midnight going off of my internal clock, I heard the faint sounds of a train going past outside the walls. As I listened to it travel past, unable to guess at what type of engine it was thanks to the muffling of the stone walls, an old song came to my mind. It was something many of us would sing when drunk in the bar back in Tall Tale when we heard one of the late night goods head out, more as a drunken joke than anything else.
The song had come around years ago while a folk singer was spending time in jail himself, but it quickly became a classic around on the rails. As the sound of the engine began to fade away, I couldn’t help but sing to the last line of the chorus as I finally drifted off to a restless sleep, “Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me, let the Midnight Special shine a ever lovin' light on me.”
Two more days went by with me stuck with nothing to do in the cell but listen to the trains passing by the prison, eating the slop I was given for meals, and singing along with the sounds of the midnight goods train to help myself find some sleep.
After my third night in the cell, I once again found myself staring at the ceiling, one of my new “favorite” pastimes, when I heard somepony talking with the guard that I had learned was stationed at the closed door ending the hallway. Do to how far away the door was from my cell, and how thick the door was, I couldn't make out what they were saying. But after a few moments of muffled conversation, I heard the door open and the guard’s voice, “You’ve got twenty minutes.”
After he said that, I heard the tell tale sound of hooves pounding on the concrete floor fill the corridor. Seconds later, Coal Dust appeared on the other side of the bars. “Stokes!” I couldn’t believe my eyes, “Dusty! Oh Faust am I happy to see you!” I said as I ran over to the bars of the cell. Dusty cocked a smile, “And I brought someone along with me.” “It’s nice to see you again Fire Stoker, and good to see you’re alright.” Said Princess Twilight Sparkle as she walked into my view. I flinched back a little when I saw her.
While I had no reason to believe it was Princess Twilight’s fault that I ended up arrested, the idea that it was partly her fault was still fresh in my mind. My flinch didn’t go unnoticed by the Princess, she sighed, “Fire Stoker, I understand that you might feel that I hold some blame for you ending up here. But I want to let you know, that I had nothing to do with it. It turns out that the guards were able to get their hooves on a copy of that telegram you showed me a few days after the fact. Since your friend Files never stated where you guys had ran to, so their leaving Tall Tale was just a ruse to lure you back.”
That somewhat put me at ease, but I was still stuck behind bars. “Wait, does that mean you’re here to let me out?” The slight hope amount of hope that I had let build up inside of me disappeared in an instant as I watched both Dusty and the Princess hung their heads. “Unfortunately not Fire Stoker. There is nothing me or the other princesses can do but let you go to court.” “What! Why? Aren’t you guys the highest authorities in the land?”
Twilight sighed before looking back up to me, “While in any normal situation, you’d be right and I’d be walking you out of here right now. But, that is not the case in your scenario do to the circumstances of the situation.” I raised an eyebrow at that statement, “What might those be?” “You were accused of murder by one of the higher noble houses. Because of this, we can’t just simply throw out the case, no matter what we know about its validity. You’re going to have to stay here until you are taken to the court appearance.”
That was the absolute last thing I wanted to hear. The thought of having to spend even more time in that Faust forsaken cell was a horrifying one. I looked over to Coal Dust, who hadn’t said much since actually arriving, “You good there Dusty?” “I should be the one asking you that. I’m fine, just pissed. I knew all of this before we got here, but seeing you set alone down here just gets under my skin. I knew those nobles were bad news, but I never thought they’d go this far.”
I chose not to focus on the fact that he had said ‘down here’, as he had made me think of something, “Princess, I understand that you can’t let me leave, but can you at least tell me who made the claim? I’ve been trying to make sense of that since I woke up here.” Coal Dust turned to look at the Princess as well, “Yeah, you never got around to telling me who they were either.” Twilight nodded, “I guess that’s the least I can do for the two of you, the charges were filed by Prince Blueblood.” She said, spitting out the word Prince with as much disdain as she could muster.
It sounded weird to me to hear a crowned Princess of Equestria show so much disdain towards one of her subjects. That’s when the name she said set an alarm off in my head, “Wait a second, Prince Blueblood? As in Prince Blueblood Plattera? That Prince Blueblood?” A scowl appeared on the Princess’s muzzle, “One in the same.”
I felt anger begin to build up inside of me, but Dusty beat me to voicing that anger. “I knew it! I bucking knew it! I knew those bucking nobles were up to something, but nopony wanted to believe me!” Princess Twilight visibly jumped at the sound of Coal Dust’s outburst, “What the hay?” Even though I was just as anger as Dusty at that little drop of knowledge the Princess had given us, I knew that Dusty would quickly go off the deep end if he didn’t calm down. He tended to not handle his anger very well, or handle it at all. “Dusty, calm down.” “Why bucking should I Stokes! That little son of a..” “Coal Dust!” That stopped Dusty right in his tracks.
Considering how long we had known each other, it was rare for either of us to use the others full name. If we did, the other knew to shut the hell up and listen. “Chill, the hell, out. Go walk to the door and back or something. Last thing we need is you ending up in here too.” Dusty muttered a sling of curses, but did as I asked and slowly walked out of my sight.
I then turned back to the now shocked Princess, “Sorry you had to see that Princess, Dusty’s not very good at controlling his temper.” “I can see. But what I don’t understand is why he got so angry when I mentioned Prince Blueblood.” Princess Twilight said as she her eyes flicked to watch Coal Dust walk away. I sighed out of frustration, more at the situation than the Princess herself, “It’s because Prince Blueblood was one of the noble ponies who took over the railway four years ago. He’s actually one of the five “big bosses” of the railways now. Himself and those four others have earned a hated reputation among us back home. The fact that he’s the reason I’m in here is, eye opening and frustrating.” “And raises many questions. Ones that will have to be answered quickly.”
That caught my attention, “What do you mean?” Twilight sighed, “As I said earlier, the Princess has no choice but let you go to trial. But since this is one of the first murder cases to pop up in almost 100 years, and the fact that the accusations came from a noble, she wants the trial to happen as quick as possible. So your hearing is to take place Friday.” “Friday! That’s four days from now!”
The fact that I actually knew that it was Monday was more impressive to me than the fact that I was four days from my life possibly being ruined.
Twilight nodded, “Yes, it is. And given by your reaction that’s the first time you heard about this.” “What was your first clue?” I said automatically, my old railroad brain not contemplating who I was actually talking to. The second the end of the sentence left my mouth, I realized what I had said, “Sorry, Princess. Being cooped up in here for three days and old habits from back home don’t mix well.” Twilight nodded knowingly, “I understand. But I ask because in this sort of situation, you should have been visited by the lawyer representing you.”
I shook my head, “Nopony’s come to see me. You and Dusty are the first ponies that’ve visited me since I got put in here.” The look on Twilight’s face soured, “That raises even more questions.” “What else is new.” Dusty commented with a thick layer of snark as he reappeared in front of the bars. “Calmed down?” “Enough to hold a conversation.” He muttered back. I rolled my eyes, but I kept the comment of ”We’ll see about that.” to myself.
It was then Twilight cleared her throat, “Sorry to interrupt, but to go back to my previous point. If you haven’t had any contact with a lawyer by now, it would seem like you weren’t assigned one. Given how close to the trial we are, that could prove problematic. Any lawyer would have a hard time getting the facts of this case squared away before the trial takes place.” “I bet that wasn’t done on purpose.” Dusty muttered under his breath, but he went no further. I took that torch, “Well, if I know anything about Blueblood” ”More like Blueballs” “Dusty. Anyways, if I know anything about him, he’s gonna probably hire the best lawyer his money can buy. I can’t represent myself against that!”
A very small smile came across Twilight’s face, “No, no you can’t. That’s why I’ll represent you in the trial.” Both me and Coal Dust turned to stare at Twilight in shock, “You can do that? Won’t the nobles call favoritism or something if we win since you used to be Princess Celestia’s student?” I asked, an honest question in my mind. Twilight scoffed, “Princess Celestia has receded over trials where her sister was representing one of the ponies, and ruled against her several times. If they have a problem with me representing you against Blueblood, they can take it up with the three of us once this is over.”
I thought about that for a second. Even though I could literally have my life ruined in four days by one of my asshole bosses, the fact that I was going to be legally represented by one of the Princesses, the one that many considered one of the smartest ponies even before her ascension. I suddenly felt very confident that I was going to get the chance to have the power of a locomotive be at my beck and call. “Thank you Princess, you have no idea what that means to me.” “Please, just Twilight. I’m not your princess right now, I’m your friend and lawyer. Now I hate to cut this short, because I can’t imagine how lonely you’ve been the last few days. But the time the guard gave us is almost up, and I have a lot of work I need to do if we are going to prove your innocence.” She smiled as she nodded her head, “Stay strong Fire Stoker. I’ll see you at the trial.”
With that, she turned and walked away leaving me and Dusty alone. “You’ll be seeing me there too Stokes. You better believe that me and the others are gonna have your back against these guys.” I felt a warm smile come across my muzzle, “Thanks Dusty. Let the others know that I’m alright.” Coal Dust nodded, “You can count on me. Hang in there Stokes, with Faust as my witness we will get you outta here.” I chuckled, “I’ll hold you to that Dusty.” He smiled back, “You do that.” With that, he turned to leave, “Stay strong Stokes.” And with that, he was gone, and I was left on my own once again.
But, even though I was once again left alone in the tiny cell I was now forced to call home, I felt confident. I had one of the Princesses on my side, and what seemed like every railway worker in the nation at my defense. I walked back over to my lumpy mattress and laid down with a confident smirk plastered on my face, “If you want to take me out Blueblood, then I’m going down swinging.”
The next three days actually passed by pretty quickly all things considered, even if I was completely bored out of my mind. Yet, Friday morning came all the same, and I was as ready as I was gonna get. An hour after my breakfast had been served to me, the same bowl of oats and water I’d been given for every meal since I had been stuck in there, one of the guards walked down to my cell before letting me out and leading me through the prison and out front where a barred chariot waited to bring me to the castle where the trial was being held.
The ride wasn’t rather long, but it was completed in silence, as I had a lot on my mind. I was in for a shock though as we approached Canterlot Castle. Lined up on both sides of of the walk up to the castle’s main doors were hundreds of ponies, maybe even other a thousand. Several of them were holding signs demanding for my release, and probably ninety percent of them were dressed in greasy, tattered, and faded railway denims.
As the guard chariot came to a stop in front of the walk and I was let out, the crowd of ponies began to cheer and shout encouragements as I was walked up to the main doors. It nearly brought a tear to my eye. After being lead through the main doors, and down a short hallway, I was lead through the twin doors that lead into the throne room. I was surprised to find two things. First, there were even more ponies inside the throne room, again with most of them dressed in railway denims. And second, everything was set up like an actual courtroom. The thrones of the two sisters had even been removed, replaced with a classic judge’s bench.
As I was lead up to my table in front of the bench, I looked around the room at the ponies sitting around, noticing that many of them were friends and co-workers of mine from back in Tall Tale, of course dressed in their denims. As my eyes connected with theirs, they would mostly nod, or mouth words of encouragement as I was lead up to the front. “Stokes!” A voice called through the hum of other voices in the room.
I looked up ahead of myself to see Coal Dust sitting in the front row right behind where I was about to sit, surrounded by many familiar faces. After I had been sat down, uncuffed, and then had my left hind hoof cuffed to the table leg, the guards walked away to stand next to the bailiff at the other side of the room.
Finally being left alone, I turned around to see the wonderful sight of Dusty, my Mom, Crankshaft, Blastpipe, Ash Pan, Wood Refer, Blow Torch, Files, Red Hot, Smoke Box, Fire Box, and even Ditchlight, Bulkhead, High Ball, Spotlight, Bulk Jr., and Big Red all sat in the front row right behind me. “Guys, it’s good to see all of you, and everypony else. It seems like half the railway showed up.” The group laughed, “That’s because they did.” Blow Torch said, drawing my attention towards him.
It was then that I noticed Blow Torch was in rough shape. His right foreleg was wrapped up and in a sling, and the rest of his body was covered in different bandages. “Faust Torch the hell happened to you?” The large backshop earth pony shrugged, “Patch panel on one of the switchers blew out while I was on the walks checking the welds on the dome. Knocked me off and banged me up a bit, but I’ll live.”
“Back on topic.” Red Hot cut in, “It looks like half the railway showed up because they actually did, more than half actually. The railroad’s pretty much shut down right now. The only ponies who are still back home are a few running the passenger routes, and a hooffull of roundhouse workers. The rest are all here, to support you.” I couldn’t believe it, “You guys basically shut down the whole railway, all just to come out here and support me? Why?” “Because, if you go down over this, the railway is basically screwed. Management will know they can get away with this stupid stuff, and if they believe that they can get away with it, the railways just gonna fall apart.” I looked over to find that it had been Ditchlight who had spoke.
The old stallion and my old boss looked worse for wear. He had been the oldest of the original owners, and his age was really beginning to show. We all knew that his time left was limited, but he never really let it show. “He’s right Fire Stoker.” This time High Ball spoke, “If they think they can just throw their workers in jail to get out of their problems, there’s no hope for the Smokey’s. So we felt that if they won this, and we’d all be screwed anyways, might as well put a dent in their books and be here to give you all the support we can.” That time a tear did come to my eye, “Thanks guys.”
“Smug bastard.” I heard Coal Dust mutter from my left. I turned to him, but all he did was motion his head towards the other table in the courtroom. That’s when I finally noticed him. Prince Blueblood and his lawyer were already sitting at the other table, almost reclining in their seats, with the smuggest looks I’d ever seen plastered across their faces. I heard Crankshaft huff, “They already think they’ve got this won.” I didn’t say anything more as I turned back around to face the bench, the confidence I had felt over the last few days fading quickly.
My only hope at not only saving myself, but my friends, the railway, and my town, now lay in the hooves of Princess Twilight, who was worryingly absent. Time ticked by slowly, as the start time for the trial edged closer and closer, and still there was no sign of Twilight. I sat there at the table, looking up at the bench sweating bullets. No matter the fact that I knew I was innocent, being seated pretty much next to Blueblood, soon to be having one of the co-rulers of the nation staring down on me passing her judgement, and Twilight still being missing, I was getting worried. “Where the hell is Twilight?” I muttered to myself as I looked around the room again for what felt like the tenth time in the past minute.
That’s when I caught a slight shift in the bailiff’s stance, and the two words that left his mouth nearly stopped my heart, “All rise!” I stood on shaky legs with the rest of the room as I saw her walk in. “In the case of Blueblood v Fire Stoker, her Majesty Princess Celestia presides.” The Princess walked up behind the bench before taking a seat. “Be seated.” She commanded, her voice flat, emotionless, and calculated.
I quickly retook my seat along with everypony else in the courtroom. My lungs nearly jumped into my throat as she turned her attention towards me, “Fire Stoker, you have been accused of First Degree Murder, Evasion of Arrest, and Interference of a Royal Guard investigation by a member of Royal Nobility. By law you are allowed to represent yourself if you so choose. Do you have a lawyer or are you representing yourself?”
I tried to speak, but my mind had completely shut down and I couldn’t make myself say anything. That’s when my saving grace came through the door, “Indeed he does your highness.” Everypony in the courtroom turned to see Princess Twilight walking in, her saddle bags bumping against her sides. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the brief look of concern that came across Blueblood’s and his lawyer’s faces as Twilight sat down next to me.
That relief didn’t last long when I saw the raised eyebrow upon Princess Celestia’s face, “Twilight, my faithful student. Interesting to see you here. You are taking the role as Fire Stoker’s lawyer.” Twilight nodded, “Yes your Highness, I am.” Princess Celestia nodded once, “Very well.” It was then the trial began properly.
Blueblood’s lawyer, Quick Case, spent the next two hours bringing up every little mistake I had ever made in my entire career, and twisting the #97 incident to fit his narrative that I had murdered Crystal Shard. The weird thing was, throughout the entire two hours, and every accusation Quick Case leveled at me, Twilight remained silent. She hadn’t spoken as much as a word since she had talked with Princess Celestia at the beginning, and I wasn’t the only one to notice either.
After his closing points on the #97 incident, Celestia turned away from Quick Case to look over at us, “Twilight, you haven’t made any attempt to dispute Quick Case’s arguments. Is there a reason for this?” “Indeed there is your Highness.” Twilight said as she stood up from the table. “I was merely observing the accusations and arguments of my opposition to see if it proved my theory.”
This caused Princess Celestia’s eyebrow to raise again, “I see, and do you feel your theory has been proven?” Twilight nodded, “Indeed I do your Highness. From what I have witnessed her, and the investigations I have done into the events in question, I firmly believe that the charges placed against my client, Fire Stoker, are entirely false. Additionally, I firmly believe that these chargers were filed against my client purely for Blueblood’s financial gain. And furthermore, I believe the actions committed by Blueblood and his fellow nobles over the last four years have indirectly lead to nearly 100 deaths.” You could almost feel the air in the room disappear as Twilight finished her final statement.
A fresh tension rose in the courtroom in its place with the rise of Princess Celestia’s eyebrow. “That is an interesting string of theories Twilight, ones that carry with them the need for proper evidence to prove.” “Evidence that I have been able to discover, along with a witness that has been in this exact same scenario in the past for near identical reasons.” “Objection your Highness!” Quick Case yelled, “By rules of the Equality In Court Act, witnesses cannot be introduced on the day of a trial as the opposition must have time to configure their arguments with the introduction of said witness.”
That’s when Twilight cracked a smile, “While that is true, due to the short time frame of this trial to compile evidence and witnesses, such an action is allowed with the exception that the judge of the trial has the ability to dismiss the witness and any information they bring with them.” “Twilight is correct Quick Case. I will allow the witness to testify, but any information he gives will be considered inconsequential until my say so.” Twilight nodded, “Of course your Highness.” It was then Twilight lit her horn, and one of the doors at the back of the courtroom swung open.
Three sets of hoofsteps began to sound along the marble floor of the throne/courtroom, along with the clanking of hoofcuff chains. Everypony turned towards the door, that is except for Twilight herself. Every railpony from Tall Tale, including myself, and Princess Celestia went slack jawed as our eyes fell upon two guards that were stationed on either side of an earth pony.
The stallion shuffled his hoofs as he walked in full four hoof shackles, his orange prison jumpsuit covered up almost all of his light grey coat, yet his man was left long and hanging. Underneath a part of his white to grey mane, tipped in a similar orange as his jumpsuit, was a kind grin of an aged stallion. He was walked up to the front of the courtroom until he was nearly even with me, standing in front of a still shocked Princess Celestia.
When he came to a stop, he flicked his head so that his mane fell away from his face before he looked up to the Princess herself with a smile, “Afternoon your Majesty.” He said in a deep voice, thick with a Tall Tale accent.
It took Celestia a moment to let what she was seeing sink in.
Once it had all finally clicked for her, she could only mutter one name.
“Hotbox."
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Remind me who he is...
9431330
Fire Stoker's grandfather who disappeared without a trace 19 years ago
9431335
Gotcha.
Wait,... ohhhh this gunna be awkward ain’t it?
9431340
Maybe, maybe not
... well isn't that interesting.
False imprisonment, imprisonment without trial, impersonating a government official, one hundred cases of manslaughter of varying degrees, thousands of cases of neglect and reckless endangerment, embezzlement of a high degree, and more all brought directly before her highness herself.
9432062
Interesting indeed isn't it?
Oh dang, things are getting interesting (and a tad awkward) in the courtroom now.