Fire and Brimstone, Book 1

by BluePhoenyx

Chapter 6: The Trial

The hot and stuffy courtroom was full of angry ponies waiting for the trial to start. Tensions rose for each passing moment they waited. Crimson sat shackled with royal guards beside him just eager to take him down if he tried anything. Next to that table was another table with a well groomed pony with a gray coat and a dark mane reading files.

The Bailiff, large and intimidating pony with a near black coat, stood. “All rise.” The Bailiff announced in a deep voice. “The honorable Judge Mare resides.” All of the ponies quiet down and stood up as an older pony with a tan coat with gray hair and mane wearing black robes walked in from the back room. She went to the chair in the middle of the court and rose her chin. “Be seated.” The Bailiff said. All of the ponies sat in their chairs as he himself took a seat. “Ponyville vs. The Destroyer.”

“The… Destroyer?” Judge Mare asked in near disbelief as she put on her glasses. She looked into a file on her stand and gave a slight smile. She lightly smirked and chuckled gently. “The Destroyer it is.” She cleared her throat and regained her composure as she started to browse through the file. “Who speaks for Ponyville?”

“I do.” The well groomed pony stood.

“Ah, hello Gregor. Good to see you again.” Mare said with a welcoming smile.

“Thank you.” The well groomed pony replied and sat down as the Judge continued.

“Who speaks for The Destroyer?” She looked at Crimson’s table. After a brief silence, “Very well.”

The courtroom doors opened with a crash as Twilight Sparkle rushed into the court. “I do!” She exclaimed. The ponies in the room started to whisper amongst themselves as Twilight trotted to the front of the courtroom. She slowed to a walk as she neared Crimson’s table.

The Judge slammed her gavel on her desk. “Order!” The audience quieted down as the Judge looked over at Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, this outburst is an outrage and disrespectful to my court!”

“I’m sorry, Mayor Mare.” Twilight said and she sat next to Crimson.

“That’s Judge Mare.” Judge Mare corrected.

“Oh, sorry… Judge Mare.”

“Ms. Twilight Sparkle, star pupil to Princess Celestia. You honor me with your presence.” Crimson bowed to Twilight.

Twilight whispered with her hoof to her lips. “Shh.”

The Judge looked straight at Crimson and Twilight. “Are you done?”

Twilight cleared her throat. “Uh, yes. Sorry.”

The Judge lifted her chin and once again regained her composure. “Very well. Charges?”

The Bailiff read from a sheet of paper. “Sixty-two counts of Aggravated Assault, fifteen counts of Attempted Murder…”

As the Bailiff read the charges, Twilight leaned to Crimson. “Just call me Twilight.”

“Ms. Twilight.” Crimson whispered bowing once more.

“Just ‘Twilight.’”

“… one-hundred-forty-six counts of Disturbing the Peace, and fifty-five counts of Vandalism.”

“My, that is a long list.” The Judge said.

The trial continued with the court showing a heavy bias against Crimson. The more Gregor talked, the more the court grumbled and disliked the red coated stranger.

“Witnesses.” The Judge announced.

Gregor stood. “I’d like to call Witness 1 to the stand.” A pony walked up from the back of the court and went towards the witness stand.

Twilight leaned to Crimson as the witness was being sworn in. “Don’t worry. Just stay quiet and only answer exactly what you’ve been asked.”

Crimson nodded.

“May I approach the witness?” Gregor asked the Judge.

The Judge nodded. “Go ahead.”

Gregor walked up to the witness stand. “So tell us what happened.”

“It was a sunny day. I was on my way to the store when I saw this strange pony walk into town.”

“Do you see this pony in this room?” Gregor asked, turning to Crimson.

“Yes I do.” The witness replied and he pointed to Crimson with his hoof.

Gregor turned his head to the courtroom recorder. “For the record, the witness pointed to the defendant.” He turned back to the witness. “Please continue.”

Gregor started to slowly pace back and forth as the witness continued. “He was in this strange armor. He looked very frightening. The more he was acting strangely, the more I watched him. He was growing more and more suspicious. Then he yelled something and attacked the town.”

“Did you or anyone you see do anything to provoke this attack?”

The witness shook his head. “No.”

Gregor stopped pacing and turned to the witness. “So he attacked for no reason?”

“Yes.”

“How strange.” Gregor looked around at the other ponies in the court. After a brief pause, he turned back to the witness. “What did he do?”

“He did this… strange thing that shook the ground and made a loud noise. I was scared.”

“And what happened when the Royal Guards came?”

“The Royal Guards rushed to stop The Destroyer. Every attempt lead to them being knocked out or wrapped up in the ground or something.”

“So he resisted arrest?”

“Yes.”

Gregor looked at the jury. “There was a lot of damage done to Ponyville. Did you see him burn any buildings?”

“I saw him use this strange fire magic at some ponies who went near him.”

“So he ruthlessly attacked any pony who got near him?”

“Yes.” The witness replied.

“I have no further questions.” Gregor walked to his seat and sat down.

The Judge looked over to Twilight Sparkle. “Defense, your witness.”

“Uh, I need a moment.” Twilight replied as she look down to think.

“Try to hurry it up.”

Twilight’s frowned as she thought about the situation. Then her eyes widened as she got an idea. She stood and walked to the witness.

“Twilight Sparkle, you’re not supposed to approach the witness without my permission.” The Judge remarked.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.”

Gregor smileed at the rookie’s constant mistakes.

“Can I approach?” Twilight shyly asked.

The Judge adjusted her glasses and stared at Twilight. “You may.”

Twilight walked up to the witness stand. “Do you know this pony?”

Gregor stood. “Objection! Repetition.”

“Sustained.”

“Sustained?” Twilight asked.

“As in, ‘I agree with the objection.’” The Judge explained. The courtroom started to murmur and chuckle. “Order!” The Judge demanded. The courtroom quieted down.

Twilight turned her head toward the mumbling patrons in the courtroom. “Okay, umm…” She nervously looked back at the witness. “Have you seen this pony before?”

“Objection. Repetition.” Gregor said again.

“Sustained.”

Twilight snapped her head to the judge. “What? Why?”

The Judge looked over at Twilight. “You’re asking a previously answered question. Now get on with it and stop making a mockery of my courtroom.” The frustrated Twilight turned around and fumed to herself as the courtroom again started to murmur and chuckle as they saw no confidence in Twilight’s ability to defend Crimson. “Order!” The Judge demanded.

Twilight turned to the witness. “Okay, have yoooou… seen this pony before today?” She looked over to Gregor. He remained silent with a cocky grin.

“No.” The witness replied.

Twilight turned back to the witness. “So you watch him from the moment he entered Ponyville?”

“Yes.”

“Constantly?”

Gregor lifted his hoof. “Objection! Asked and answered.”

“It’s for clarification.” Twilight remarked, looking at the Judge.

“I’ll allow it.” The Judge ruled. She looked at the witness. “Answer the question.”

The witness looked at the Judge, then back at Twilight. “Yes.” Twilight excitedly whispered to herself as she performed a downward pump with her hoof.

Judge Mare looked angrily at Twilight’s actions. “Twilight Sparkle, can you at least TRY to be professional in my court?”

Twilight snapped her hoof back to the ground and looked straight ahead of her with a blank expression. “Oh, yes. Sorry.” She cleared her throat, then turned toward the witness to continue her questioning. “How would it feel to be watched constantly?”

“Objection! Opinion.” Gregor gave a cocky grin at Twilight.

“Sustained.” The Judge ruled.

Twilight huffed as the judge’s ruling. She looked over at the shackled pony. She got an idea and whipped her head to the witness. “This alleged ‘attack’ that you saw before you got scared, what did it do?”

“Objection! Asked and answered!” Gregor objected with a grin.

Twilight looked at Judge Mare. “I’m questioning the magic effect, not the pony in question.”

“Overruled.”

“Yess!” Twilight whispered in excitement. She was about to do another hoof pump, but she opened her eyes with a quick breath then quickly regained her composure.

The judge watched Twilight as the witness answers the question. “It caused a loud boom and shook the ground.”

Twilight turned toward the witness. “And did this alleged ‘attack’ hurt any pony?”

“Uh…” The witness started to think for a moment. “Not that I saw.”

Twilight started to lightly pace back and forth in the courtroom as she continued to question the witness. “Did it damage anything?”

“I don’t think so.”

Twilight stopped and looks at the jury. “Isn’t it strange that this so called ‘Destroyer’ didn’t actually DESTROY anything?”

Gregor’s grin suddenly vanished. “Objection! Op-”

“Overruled.” Judge Mare immediately ruled, cutting off Gregor. The judge looked at the witness. “Answer the question.”

Twilight turned toward the witness as he started to sweat a little. “I guess.”

The court murmured at the reply as Twilight smiled. She starts to think about what else to look for in the testimony. The Judge slammed her gavel on the desk. “Order!” The courtroom quieted down.

After a brief pause and some thought of her next action, Twilight looked up with another idea. “This fire, when was it used?”

“Objection! Repetitive.”

The Judge lifted a hoof. “Overruled.”

The Judge grabbed her gavel as the witness started to get more and more nervous and unsure. “Umm… Whenever some pony would get close to him.”

“But not at any random pony?” Twilight asked.

The witness shook his head. “No, not really.” Some of the ponies in the room started to whisper amongst themselves as Gregor nervously loosened his collar a bit. Twilight continued with the questions.

“So whenever some pony threatened him?”

The witness started to feel unsure of everything as he started to avoid eye contact. “I suppose you can say that.”

Twilight tilted her body to try to get the witness to make eye contact. “Did you see the defendant use this fire magic?”

The witness started to move uneasily, trying hard to avoid eye contact. Twilight tried to match his body movement. The Judge sighed in frustration, then looked at the witness. “Would you mind sitting up?”

The witness looked at the Judge. “Yes, Mayor.”

“Judge Mare.” The Judge corrected.

“Oh… Yes, Judge Mare.” The witness, now very nervous and stressed, sat up.

“Answer the question.” The Judge ordered.

“Oh. Uh, yes I did.”

Twilight watched the uneasy witness. “At a building?”

Gregor stood and lifts his hoof. “Objection!”

“Sustained. Rephrase the question.” The Judge said as Gregor sat back down.

“Okay, umm…” Twilight started to lightly pace before she got an idea. She turned back toward the witness. “Ah, did the defendant directly use the fire magic to catch a building of fire?”

“Umm, not directly.”

Twilight walked up to the witness. “So how did the defendant allegedly catch the buildings on fire?”

The witness thought for a moment. “Umm… I don’t know.” The courtroom started to talk amongst themselves.

Twilight’s eyes popped a little as she leaned her head in. “Could it be that the fire was deflected to hit these buildings?”

“I... suppose so.” The witness replied, unsure at what to think about the situation.

Twilight turned to the jury. “So if he didn’t feel threatened at all by any pony, no damage or harm would have been done to Ponyville.” The courtroom exploded in an uproar. Twilight smiled and walked to her bench to sit down while The Judge slammed her gavel on the desk

“Order!” The Judge stood and slammed her gavel again. “Order in the court!” Finally, the courtroom settled down.

The court stood quietly in an awkward silence. The Judge looked at Twilight, who was sitting down. “Are you done?”

Twilight looked surprised. “Oh, yes. Yes I am.”

“You may step down.” The Judge looked at Gregor, who had a nervous look about him. “Bring on your next witness.”

Every witness Gregor brought to the stand generally ended up the same way. Twilight built confidence and learned how the courtroom works. The more witnesses that Gregor brought to the stand, the more Twilight learned on how to word questions. Even when Gregor brought up Royal Guards to the stand, the story eventually ended up the same. Crimson just sat quietly and waited patiently, observing these strange pony’s customs in law and order. A few hours later, Judge Mare asked for another witness.

Gregor looks stressed and beaten. He stood up with a desperate idea. “I call to the stand The Destroyer.” All eyes locked in on the shackled pony.

Twilight leaned to Crimson. “Do just as the other ponies did.” She advised. “Answer direct answers to questions and don’t say any more than you have to.”

Crimson nodded as the guards lifted him and brought him to the stand.

“State your name.” The Bailiff said.

Crimson stood up. “I am Ebon Commander Crimson Thull from House Thull, son of Galvis and Nolia Thull, brother to Scorch, Demi, and Temethyst Thull”

The Judge adjusted her glasses at Crimson’s reply, then turned toward Gregor. “Your witness.”

“May I approach?” Gregor asked.

The Judge looked at her notes. “You may.”

Gregor walked toward Crimson while keeping his distance. “Destroyer, would you-“

Twilight stood. “Objection!”

Grogor turned in surprised. “What grounds?”

“Badgering. He has given his official name and should be called by such.”

The Judge nodded. “Sustained.”

Twilight sat down with a smile as Gregor sighed. “Would you say-“

“Objection. Leading the witness.”

“Sustained.”

Gregor huffed to himself. Then he turned back to Crimson. “Isn’t it true that-“

“Objection. Leading.”

“Sustained.” The Judge agreed.

Gregor, now angry and frustrated, continued to try to get a single question asked. He glared at Twilight. She grinned and glared right back at him. “What…” He looked over at Twilight. She lifted a hoof and gestured for him to continue with his question. “… affiliation were you with to achieve your rank?”

“I was given my rank by the ruler of my house, Temethyst Thull, the eldest of my family.”

“I have never heard of this ‘house’ of yours. Where is this place?”

“Beneath you.”

“Explain.” Gregor said.

“Underground.”

“What were you doing underground?” Gregor asked.

“Living.”

“Care to explain?”

Crimson lightly shook his head. “I do not think I can explain it any further.”

“Are you intentionally trying to piss me off?”

“Objection! Badgering the witness.” Twilight announced.

“Sustained.” The Judge ruled. “Careful with your outbursts, Gregor.”

Gregor looked at the judge. “What? He’s avoiding my question!”

“Then you’d better word your questions better.” The Judge commented.

Gregor stomped his hoof on the ground in protest. The Judge looked at Gregor. “Mr. Gregor, if you make another outburst like that again, I’ll hold you in contempt!”

Gregor tried to calm himself down with a few deep breaths. “You have rather destructive magic. Where did you learn it?”

“Underground.”

“Explain.”

Crimson looked at the judge. “Objection. Repetition.”

“That does it!” Gregor jumped up at the shackled witness. The Bailiff stepped on Gregor’s head and stomped him to the ground as the entire courtroom exploded in yelling. The Judge continuously slammed her gravel on the desk, struggling to get order in the courtroom. Crimson sat calm and peaceful in the booth, watching the chaos around him. Finally, the room started to settle down as the Bailiff held Gregor.

“Order!” The Judge looked at the Bailiff. “Get him out of here!” The courtroom again exploded as the Bailiff drug the once well groomed pony out of the courtroom. Again, the judge slammed the gavel. “I said ORDER!” The courtroom quieted down. “The next pony that I even hear breath will be held in content!” The courtroom stood still and silent. Judge Mare looked about the courtroom.

Twilight stood up. “Your Honor, I move that this case should be dismissed due to a lack of prosecution.”

The courtroom simultaneously stood up and was about ready to raise havoc, but the glare Judge Mare gave to the crowd stopped their protest, and they sat back down quietly. “Due to the defendant’s inability to face his accuser, I have decided to release the defendant.” Judge Mare ruled. “Twilight Sparkle, since you have taken a great effort to defend this pony, I have decided to charge you with his parole.”

“What?” Twilight asked as the Judge continued.

“Every action this pony does will be your responsibility. Every mistake he makes, you will share in his punishment. We will reconvene at a later date that I’ll decide later.” She stood up and smacked down her gavel. The crowd stood up and created a huge commotion as Crimson was released from his bindings. Judge Mayor walked out of the courtroom from a back door.

Twilight looked over at Crimson with a worried look about her face.

Comments

[BluePhoenyx]

Author's Note - Chapter 6: The Trial
In this chapter, Crimson faces the courtroom for his charges. But with Crimson not knowing the rules of the courtroom, the chances of him making it through the trial are slim to none.

This chapter was very interesting and rather difficult to write. A lot of dialog. I hope I made things interesting to read. Also, there are a couple of things that were never discussed in the show - the laws of the courthouse. I also decided to make a very interesting judge for the trial. I could have made a new pony for the judge, but I felt that who I chose kind of fits the role (as far as I know). Why? Because this pony takes their job very seriously. And with towns and such, wouldn't citizens have dual professions (like a police office and a shop keeper)? That's my theory and I'm sticking with it.

In addition, this chapter required a lot of general research. I don't know the laws and rules of the courtroom so I had to look into a lot of etiquette and such. There will probably be a lot of errors and politically incorrect issues in this chapter. Regardless, for someone who hasn't even seen any court shows, I think I did alright.

The next chapter, Chapter 7, will be posted... Let's see... 12/3 or so. Enjoy!

Edit: 12:12p pst, 12/3/12
Added the chapter number to the author's note.

[The Infinity Doctor]

1711908 I think it's supposed to be 'I will hold you in contempt of court', not 'content' - you might want to fix that later....

[BluePhoenyx]

3839846
That's what I meant probably wrote that out of habit or auto correct. thank you for catching that and thank you for the comment.