Mayor Fluttershy

by The_Swedish_Horror

9. The trial

The next day a jury of ponies were assembled at the Ponyville Courthouse. Spike and Rarity were the defendants in the trial. The unicorn and the dragon looked very sad, constantly peering down into the carpet with shame.
The prosecutor arrived to the court. The light blue pony was late and she had a thick scarf around her neck. She also wore some kind of dress in many bright, horrific colours. Rarity cringed at the sight.
"I accuse the defendants of many crimes!" she said and pointed at them. "Hmm... *cough*... I have a sour throat. Like totally sour."
The old judge looked at her with a displeased smirk.
"I am sure that you have something very interesting to say, my dear Turf," she said. "Perhaps even... relevant in a court of law... Now, shall we continue?"
"Totally."
"What are the crimes?"
"It's like totally littering and making a fire without permission. The fine is 100 bits for the fire and 50 bits for the littering... But I think they should be released with a warning."
"WHAT?!" the former mayor Mare screamed from the back row.
"Silence!" the judge ordered. "I will not tolerate any unnecessary interruptions."
"Yeah, totally a warning. I mean, it's not like they did it on purpose, huh?"
A pony with a very light coat and a two-coloured mane started to cry in the back row, right next to the mayor. She was shaking with tears and her eyes were red and swollen. Lily Valley gave her a hug.
"Lyra is gone," the prosecutor said. "And there is nothing we can do to bring her back. The only thing we can do is to care for the ponies and dragons that are still with us. Spike is not a cold blooded murderer. He is a kind, caring dragon that would never do anything even remotely close to murder..."
"Objection!" the defender shouted.
"What?"
"This trial isn't about murder. It's about criminal negligence because the defendant used... I mean... is accused of using fire in a way that led to the untimely demise of miss Heartstrings."
"Oh, I didn't know."
"You didn't know?! What kind of prosecutor are you?!"
"Cut me some slack!"
"Order! Order! Behave properly or I will hold you in contempt of court, miss Turf!"
"Yeah, totes. I will like totally behave properly, ma'am."
"You will address me as YOUR HONOR!"
"Yeah, totally, your honour!"
"This whole trial is already a confusing mockery... Why is the prosecutor more lenient than the defender?"
"Because they are innocent, your honour?"
"No, probably because you are acting more and more strange, miss Turf.. If you continue to behave in this questionable way I will see no other option than to throw this case out of court. It's becoming a waste of time."
"What about my poor Lyra?!" Bon Bon sobbed from the back row.
"I'm sorry... she is in Pony Heaven now. May Celestia protect her soul. However, I see no further reason to continue this trial. Both the prosecutor and the defender seem to have agreed that the crimes involved are minor and should be punished only with a symbolic fine. This trial is pretty much over, provided that there are no further ways for the prosecution to make this already absurd and tragic event even more preposterous..."
"Awesome!" the prosecutor said.
Then suddenly the doors to the courtroom swung open and a guard pony stormed in!
"Your honour! We have found the prosecutor, miss Turf, bound and gagged in her office! I have sounded the alarm!"
The room soon became filled with the sound of confused mumbling from the ponies.
"Then, who are YOU?" the judge asked in bewilderment.
"I AM RAINBOW DASH!"
For it was Rainbow Dash, dressed in a wig and a fake tail! She threw her disguise on the floor and spread her wings. The guard ponies shut the doors and moved closer to arrest her. There were four of them, but Rainbow was faster! She leapt trough the air, just above the heads of the jury and then dashed around like a fly trapped in a bottle.
"You can't catch me!" she yelled.
"Stop! Stop in the name of Celestia!"
The guards jumped after her, but they were all earth ponies. They were stronger built but not nearly as nimble and fast as Rainbow. Compared to her they were slow and clumsy. Then a door opened and five pegasus guards emerged. They flung themselves at her and Dash got entangled in the big crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. She swung around and then the whole thing came off from its hook. The chandelier and the pegasus fell to the floor in a rain of crystals, brass and parts of broken stucco.
And then all nine guards descended upon her en masse.

After a while the real prosecutor arrived. Turf looked indeed a lot like Rainbow Dash, except for her mane and tail that had an orange colour. The two of them had an eerily resemblance.
"That pony attacked me!" she cried and pointed her hoof at Rainbow. "She like totally ambushed me and tied me up with duct tape!"
"Then you may press charges later, miss Turf," the judge said. "But for now the court is adjourned. I will postpone the trial to next Tuesday."

And that night three cells were occupied at the Ponyville Lockup. Spike, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were all held in custody until the next trial. They each and one had their own cell but they could look at each other trough the prison bars. Spike was the saddest of them all, he nearly ever looked up. It was evident that the dragon felt guilty, although what had happened wasn't his fault.
"Spike!" Rarity said in her softest voice. "Don't be sad, Spike. It will all get better. We will be released and this whole thing will soon be over. Nopony thinks that you are to blame."
"But... the prosecutor? And the jury... and the judge?"
"Nopony that matters..." said Rarity. "I think that you are a brave dragon and I know that you were only trying to protect me. That I will never forget. Not in a million years, Spike. And Rainbow wouldn't had done what she did if she didn't think you were innocent. That's two ponies who's opinions matter."
And Spike smiled a little. He felt like a big and heavy stone had fallen from his chest.