Princess Celestia sat in her quarters and waited and waited for a response to come back from Princess Cadence in regards to helping Green Sleeves. While she waited, Celestia was beginning to think of how to go forth with the impending trial that would soon take place. Just then, she heard a knock at the door of her quarters.
"Enter," she called and the door opened, revealing a guard and a well dressed middle aged brown stallion right behind him wearing a black jacket, white shirt and red necktie.
"Sorry to disturb you, your highness," said the guard, saluting Celestia. "But, I brought the attorney general for Canterlot to discuss the impending trial. He says that he wants to arraign the defendants as quickly as possible."
"That's quite all right," replied Celestia, rising to her feet. "Leave him in here with me and do not allow anypony else here unless otherwise noted, is that clear?"
The guard saluted Celestia and departed leaving the middle aged pony alone with her. For the time being, Celestia would have to put the situation with Green Sleeves on hold to meet with her attorney general for Canterlot and for that matter, all of Equestria.
"I know you are exhausted from the events in Rainbow Falls, so I won't be here for very long," said the attorney. "But, I've come to request something from you and that is to…"
"Arraign the defendants," interrupted Celestia, who then walked over to a small table. "Yes, I am aware of that, Jack. You are perhaps not the only one who wants the trial to start as possible. I, too, want this trial to start as quickly as possible. However, the attorney who will act as the defense attorney for the accused has not arrived yet."
Celestia had her suspicions, but Jack was cutting right to the chase.
"I'm even beginning to wonder if this is even intentional," wondered Jack. "Herr Horsebein will probably purposely delay his arrival to allow Blackheart and his goons to plot an escape from the dungeons of Canterlot castle."
"We are doing all we can to prevent a possible escape," said Celestia. "As we speak, I have ten of my best soldiers guarding them in the dungeons. I've also ordered that if any prisoner tries to escape, that they will kill them right then and there on the spot. But, I can only hope and pray that doesn't happen."
Celestia then stepped away from the table and sighed heavily, for she knew that there was far more important matters aside from this trial. But, she couldn't focus on them now and instead turned all of her attention towards her Attorney General for her kingdom.
"What are the charges?" asked Celestia, once again sitting by the fire.
"Well, there is the matter of charges of murder, attempted murder, crimes against ponykind, attempted murder of a royal," began Jack, pulling out a series of documents and dropping them at Celestia's level. "All of this is, I believe, enough evidence to secure a conviction for all the accused defendants."
"It's important to remember that you might fail to win convictions, Jack," advised Celestia. "In which case, some or all of the defendants will go free allowing them to continue their reign of terror on Rainbow Falls."
Jack realized the severity of what he was up against and turned away for a brief moment, trying to gather his thoughts and keep his composure. He had to remember, after all, that Blackheart had a desire to kill Celestia, Luna and all the most important ponies of Equestria in an effort to claim the throne of Equestria and rule it under his own vision.
"Of course, you know that there is a good chance you might testify on the stand," remarked Jack, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cigarette, lighting it as he walked over to the open window. "Excuse me for a moment, your highness."
"Do what you have to do, Jack," said Celestia, waiting patiently while Jack puffed smoke out into the daytime sky. "This is a difficult time for all of us and we all must cope in our own ways."
In fact, Celestia felt her spine tingle slightly at the thought of how Blackheart's plans for Equestria were so sinister and so wrong. Still, she set about trying to go through the pages of evidence that was to be used against Blackheart. Jack eventually stopped smoking and went back over to his superior.
"Hmm, it seems to me that all the evidence appears to be in order," she concluded, turning her attention away from the papers and looking back up at Jack. "I am very obvious that you and your office have enough evidence to secure convictions for all the accused. However, we must be aware of the threat that hangs over Canterlot while this trial is going on."
"I completely agree," responded Jack. "I propose that Instant Justice provides additional security measures around Canterlot. We must make sure that the witnesses for the prosecution are given the highest orders of protection at all times, in case any of Blackheart's associates attempt to disrupt the trial. If you will excuse me, your highness, I will go down to his office and have him carry out the necessary security measures required."
Then, Celestia felt that she needed to say her peace, something that she felt needed to be done. No sooner did Jack bow to her and turn to leave did she say her peace.
"Wait Jack," she said, stopping him in his tracks and causing him to face her once again. "I would like to testify at the trial."
Jack was astonished to hear this come out of his superior's mouth.
"Your highness, I…Are you sure that you want to do this?" he asked. "You are aware that…"
"I am aware, Jack," interrupted Celestia, rising to her feet. "I need to do this for you must also be aware of the fact that I was a target of assassination, both myself and Luna."
Although it was against his better judgment, Jack had no choice but to honor Celestia's request despite the fact that he had his objections over such a request.
"You must let me do this, Jack," she pleaded. "Yes, it would make both me and Luna vulnerable, but it must be done."
Jack was conflicted to how he was going to respond to this question, but he finally came around after a few minutes of complete and utter silence.
"Very well, your highness," he sighed. "I will let you tell your story to the jury and notify Judge Hangman's Noose that you wish to be on the witness stand."
With those words, Jack grabbed his suitcase and bowed to Celestia one last time before walking of the doors of Celestia's quarters. Now, Celestia was alone, eager to do her part to end Blackheart's reign of terror once and for all. She was the one who captured him and his associates in Rainbow Falls and now was going to reveal to all of Equestria what Blackheart had tried to do to both her and Luna.
…
At that very moment, a puff of smoke came down through the fireplace and a scroll emerged in front of Celestia, who opened it and read it aloud to herself.
"Dear Aunt Celestia,
I will be in Canterlot tomorrow and will focus on helping the pony you saved on finding a better
pony to spend the rest of her life with. As the Princess of Love, I will not tolerate ponies who
abuse their love for one another for evil purposes whether it would be for themselves or for
their superiors. See you very soon!
Your loving niece,
Mi Amore Cadenza."
Putting the scroll down next to the documentation of the accused, Celestia rose to her feet and sought out Green Sleeves. But just as she left her chambers, Celestia saw Luna walking towards her. However, Celestia noticed her younger sister had a distressed look on her face.
"Luna, what's wrong?" asked Celestia, worriedly.
"I saw the Attorney General walking past me," answered Luna. "He says you wish to testify at the trial of Blackheart and his associates. Well, I said to him that I wish to testify as well, big sister."
"No Luna," Celestia said firmly, trying to look out for her little sister's well-being. "I don't want you to have any more stress…"
"Sister!" interrupted Luna, sharply. "I must testify at the trial as well. My testimony will help end Blackheart's reign of terror just as much as your testimony will. Please, you must let me do so."
Celestia stood there and could only wonder how to honor such a request….
You know, it would be good for Princess Luna to testify along with her sister.
7936266 Indeed.
Herr horsebein, funny combination between englisch and german.
7936115 not enough to save it for even right now too much idiot balling. first with Celestia even apointting him to mayor and his blantant actions. she \should have been deposed long before it got to this.
here's the thing she's the princess highest rule in the land her word is law so this trial is unnecessary just do what other leaders would do and get rid of them quietly maybe burn them no evidence left behind
7938130 Celestial believes in rule by consensus and chooses to rule as such. She can overrule at anytime but prefers her subjects to be more independent, to be moral without her forcing them. Truthful Blackheart has no legal hope, his autorney can not win. That being said Blackheart likely has a plan b, a violent one.
7938509 which is what she SHOULD be taking into account but isnt so interesting to see how this trial will backfire on her
7938515 The reason for the trial is Celestia does not FORCE morality, she is sure that majority of ponies are moral and will convict Blackheart by the preponderance of evidence not "Because Celestia says so". With the trial Blackheart is convicted because it's justice not because it's Celestia's will. Ruling by force is ruling by fear. Ruling by fear leads to the citizens resenting you, resentment turns into anger, anger turns open rebellion. The only way to quash a rebellion for good is for the people themselves to destroy it, for the citizenry to be the "immune system" that drives out the corrupt and evil. Yes some corrupt governments last a long time but all are either destroyed by a more powerful foe, or from with in by the citizens. Celestia's choice is more risky but I expect in her mind the" health" of Equestria's government is more important.
The problems I see with the pros and cons others have put forth of Celestia just taking command and having Blackheart and company executed is:
A) You are thinking in terms of a modern day Earth society. Equestria at best is an industrial revolution society augmented by magic and arcane devices {DJ Pon3 turntable, The Flim Flam Brother's Super Cider Squeeze 6,000, etc.} The ideas of Eugenics and a strong nobility ruling class throughout most of the world persisted in our world until world war 1 put the nails in the coffin for the strong nobility ruling class and world war 2 has mostly killed Eugenics for the most part. Equestria on the other hand has only had the unification of the three tribes, the reign of Discord, the loss of the Crystal Empire, and Nightmare Moon's rebellion, all of which are ancient history to the average pony, something they read about in school, but other than history buffs, not really relevant to them in their daily lives. To put it bluntly they have lived in relative peace under a strong monarch ruling over them for a thousand years and in the last few years the peace has taken several hard knocks and thanks to Chrysalis beating the strong monarch not once but twice, doubt has started to rise in a the population's mind. This has given others like Starlight Glimmer and Blackheart the opportunity to rise to power and spread their own ideals in a nation that hasn't faced a real rebellion or civil war in all that time with Sombra and Chrysalis being the closest by far and Discord being more of a natural disaster. Trust me, Lennon and Hitler started with less and did more as well as only getting stronger after going to prison or exile.
B) Despite what she wants, Celestia is a Deus Rex or God Queen, but she strives to let her subjects work things out for themselves and loathes taking heavy hoofed approach. Even if it would stregthen her possition as a strong monarch, she realises it would undermine her subjects independence and lead to them relying on her more and more in an endless cycle that would result in a theocracy and religious wars centered around the princesses as heads of competing religions and ponies being tortured and killed in their names for the slightest infraction like preferring a moonlight stroll to a sunny summer picnic.
C) Celestia needs too not just get rid of him, but defeat him legally, morally, and philosophically in front of everyone to end his ideology before it spreads and prove Harmony is the superior and best path. She has to win here and now or deal with the same ideology again and again the same way communism and fascism has become persistent throughout the world despite their inherent flaws that make them easy to abuse by tyrants and dictators.
D) Finally the elephant in the room for those against just executing him and be done with it. 1) She is a freaking sun goddess and queen in all but name and could drop kick him into the sun if she wanted to and make up whatever story she wanted and get away with it. Luna would most likely back her on this one and banishing them would be a bad ideal because of the whole sun and moon thing. Other than Twilight nobody else knows how to move them and would you hand celestial objects to someone with OCD and one misplaced book away from a mental breakdown unless it was an extreme emergency? 2) Ultimately this is author's call and they are kind enough to bring us along for the ride.
Are you a fan of 'Law & Order'?