Circumstantial Evidence

by Mad Hatter

Revelation of Accusation/Ancient Laws: Part Two

The killer's breed or Sombra's seed
The glamor, the fortune, the pain
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain
Don't ask for friendship anymore

Two minutes to midnight
The hooves that threaten doom
Two minutes to midnight
To see the nightmare since the womb~

Back to life as we know it. Sun's routine continues, albeit with the knowledge that somepony else is part of it. She smiles as she goes through her exercises.

On to the firehouse. “How's it goin' Sun?”

“Damn good, heh” she gleefully intoned. “Now that that's all done with, time to get back to life.”

The day went slowly. Almost too slowly, given what the last few weeks were filled with. Who'd have thought she'd miss the sort of excitement that came with being accuse of murder? She was still on pseudo-light duty, being spared from being on call for a few more days. Even more fortunately, the gang had piled together a small congratulatory sum. It wasn't a huge amount, but it filled her larders and ensured she wasn't getting evicted. Everything was as it was.

That night it was to be a bit of a celebration at the bar. Sure, she didn't need to trawl for a stallion anymore, but it was still fun. Just hanging around some friends and shooting the breeze.

Only one pony seemed to not be having fun. Slumped over the bar and blind stinking drunk sat a colt, on his ninth hard mix. He kept glancing over at Sun, bitterness clear on his muzzle. After slamming the final drink (And subsequently falling out of his stool and picking himself up) he staggered to her position on the bar.

“Yu-you!”

“Hm?” Sun turned inquisitively. With a smile ill-fitting to the scene, she added “Sorry, got somepony. Good luck to ya though.”

*SMACK*

The bar froze as eyes turned to the drunk and his victim.

“You..*urgh* You bitch! Yer suppos'd to be in jail! Unc-uncle Bluezblood said he was gunna take-take care of yas...” Followed by unceremonious unconsciousness.

“Take care of.... You piece of shit! You set all this up!?” She bellowed, holding up his head with a hoof. “I oughta-”

“Woah there Sun. No use actually doing something here. That means trouble for both of us.” The bartender stared on to the scene as much as any of the patrons.

Sun releases her grip and drops the bits for the last drink on the counter. “Yeah, you're right. Lil' bastard's got enough problems as it is.” as she left, her hooves hitting the floor perhaps just a bit harder than they had to.

After everything Sun Showers has been through, a grudge would be an understatement. After a solid half-hour of ranting and yelling in her home (Stopped only by being reminded via a knock on the door that she had neighbors), she started to plot. She thought on the matter for some time, and was up half the night before a thought struck her.

Nah, that'd get me arrested all over again. Looks like it's just down to getting him arrested for all that shit. Too bad, you'd think there'd be a better way. Like there used to... Used to?

“But.... The laws of duels haven't been touched. Just ignored since nopony uses them. Very few laws are actively removed due to disuse."

A smile that can be easily described as 'wicked' crept across her muzzle.

Looks like I'm going back to the library tomorrow.

Right after work she found herself at the door to the library before even taking a post-work shower. If Spike's dragon nose could tell, he was doing a good enough job of hiding it. "Welcome to-oh! Good to hear about the trial ending well."

"Surprised you'd heard anything about it, what with your boss gettin' to be a princess all of a sudden. Where'd she go anyway?"

"She's still here. Twilight! Guests!" and sure enough, the former librarian-turned-princess came down the stairway.

Sun displayed a bit of surprise. It would have been more, but after everything that's happened (And being around to see various other crises that hit Ponyville) it wasn't the reaction somepony from out of town would give. "You're still here? Thought they'd give you a kingdom or somethin'"

"Oh, I'm still here. It's really more title than station. Though I have a checklist here of possible outcomes and future requirements..." as she held a list in her magic. One that if unrolled completely could paper the walls.

Spike gave a theatrical cough aimed at Twilight, and she transported the list out of sight. "Yes. What are you looking for today?" she asked with a bit of embarrassment.

"Need the books on old laws again."

"Oh my. Did something else happen?"

"About to, heh."

A single, large tome floated out from it's position on the comically oversized "E" section of a shelf and laid itself out on the table. Sun quickly hoofed through it until reaching duels. Sun muttered aloud reading the requirements.

"Hoofcover slap regular way to challenge, can use my work gear for that...Public venue for witnesses" A smirk as she continues reading.
"No...moral failings?" she looked at Twilight, intending the reading as a question.

"Modern interpretations decided that it means 'no criminal record'"

"OK, I'm good then. Pur-purview of royalty? Whassis?"

Twilight looked over the passes she held a hoof under. "That duels were only for royalty at the time. Since it hasn't been used it's still a requirement."

"Well, buck." *Looks at Spike, who wore that silly grin when youth heard something they weren't supposed to* "Sorry. So what am I gonna do now?"

"You could get your family history studied."

"How do I do that?"

"Fortunately I've been working on a spell to do just that. Originally it was for Applejack to find who came before Granny Smith, but I could test it out here."

"Yeah, fire it up!"

"Well, alright. It's still untested, so make sure to tell me if any unpleasant side-effects arise from the casting." Twilight opened a book with blank pages and laid it on the table. She concentrated on it as her horn glowed it's trademark color. The haze enveloped the book as she turned to Sun. The stream of energy held Twilight, Sun, and the book as the glow from her horn increased. Sun felt a tingling throughout her body as the book autonomously etched her name into the bottom of the page. Small lines linked it to two names above it - her parents. It continued to branch out as the tingling intensified. A few minutes passed as the page filled with generation upon generation. As soon as the casting finished Sun hit the ground.

"Oh my! Are you alright?" Twilight stood over Sun, holding out a hoof.

"Buuh?" Shaking her head, Sun got up. "Yeah. Felt funny for a bit, but kinda shocked when it finished."

"Hmmm. It needs far more testing then. That would likely be too harsh for Granny Smith to take. Can't risk it then..." Twilight scratched out a line on an entirely new checklist. "Sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, fine now. So what's it say?" As she stepped quickly to the book. It now showed a genealogy from her to her ancestors, leading back hundreds of years. Most of it she didn't care about at the moment. Small traces of color adorned each name. "So how can I tell which is which?"

Twilight looked over the page with Sun. "These color-coding are based on several factors. The red tint is for earth ponies. Seems you have more earth in your lineage than a typical pegasus - that helps explain your size and stamina..."

"Hey, I work out a lot to keep this!"

"That's a very big part of it too, but this doesn't hurt. Now where were we...ah, yes. The blue is from pegasus family, which is most of them, as expected. Ponies do have a tendency to stay within their own. The Yellow is unicorn. Only a couple of them in here, also not surprising.."

Sun pointed a hoof near the top "What's this one for? Windspear is in blue and silver."

Twilight studied the color. "Yes. Silver is for titles, and gold would be for blood relations." She took a book named "Pegasi of Historical Note in Equestria: 300-600 AB" which was filed under "Equestria, Pegasi history therein" under E. "It should be within roughly this time period." Flipping through the pages "Here we go. Windspear was a general during the Shadow Conflict - where a extremist group of night-worshipping ponies and some mercenary companies attempted a coup. For her actions Windspear was granted the title of Duchess (Translated from old Equus) and land that is now part of Cloudsdale."

Sun traced a hoof from the name downwards, the colors mixing in a nebulous display until it reached her name, now sparkling with a combination of what came before her, dissipating back to blue when she removed the hoof. "So does that mean...?"

"Yes. Technically, you are a descendant of royalty."

"Wow, what're the odds of that?"

Twilight gave a slight smirk. "Pretty good, actually. Titles never expired, so approximately one-third of Equestrians could claim such a title. Outside of the currently living nobles though, it doesn't mean much."

"Means enough to me. I'm gonna go use this power. Book also said somepony higher had to oversee it. You wanna?"

Slightly perplexed that Sun was presumably serious "You're serious about the duel?"

"Yeah. So you gonna or what? Er, princess Twilight."

Twilight looked over the book. "I need to study this more before I consider myself an authority on the matter. If you're truly serious, I will ask Luna. She is more familiar with the old ways than any of us." Sun almost too enthusiastically nodded. Twilight sighed. "Spike, take a letter"

Author's Note:

Song is "Two Minutes to Midnight" by Iron Maiden.