Chapter Two
It was morning, not because the lone unicorn in the dark dungeons could tell – she was snoozing the day away – anyway. Though, it wasn't the most pleasant sleep she had. Half of the night involved her dreaming of Noize's trial.
And then everyone became apples...How bizarre...
"Hey! Wake up!"
The sleeping mare's eyes sprung open. Everything was still pitch black. Even though she couldn't see, she suddenly felt a slight chill. Still lying on her side, she remembered where she was. Her body had ached all over when she attempted to stand; a flat pile of hay isn't the best choice for comfort…
The unicorn couldn't depict where her position was in the darkness until her peripheral picked up a source of light. It was faint, but she kept watching it until it grew brighter, and the sound of hooves grew louder. It was two castle guards; one wore a special saddle with two lit torches on each side, and the other held an empty sack in his mouth.
"Treble!" The saddle pegasus spoke. "You have been called into trial before Princess Celestia. Due to being the head of your group, you will be held reliable for the incident, and thus you will do nothing but defend yourself. Is that understood?"
The navy unicorn did nothing but nod. Defend yourself? Held reliable? How could she possibly win this trial knowing she wasn't truly at fault?
...What if she gets the same sentence as Noize...?
It is too much to think about right now…She'll cross that bridge when she comes to it.
The saddle guard unlocked the door and the other placed the sack over her head. The sack had a rope attached, making it easier for the guard to pull her along like a dog on a leash.
Minutes of walking later, the guards pulled her into a chariot. They then strapped themselves into their harnesses, and took off into the sky. A third guard followed them from behind the chariot, to keep an eye on the mare.
'The court is not in Canterlot?' The mare thought. 'Where is it being held?'
The travel seemed like forever. The unicorn started to doze off since she couldn't depict the time of day with the sack over her head. For Celestia's guards, they certainly have a lot of endurance...
The chariot screeched to a halt. The sound had jolted the unicorn awake. To her it had felt like an all-day trip…and boy did the day fly by...
She heard the pegasai in front of her undo their harnesses and come around to the back of the chariot. The walking sounded muffled...and puffy...
Like they were on clouds...
"Get a move on," One guard spoke, now tugging on the rope.
The mare found it odd that the guards haven't done anything to prevent her from falling through the clouds. Have they forgotten that a wingless pony can't walk on the combination of air and water? A few seconds of not budging, another guard spoke up.
"The Princess knows of your ability, and had told us ahead of time. How get moving. The Princess is waiting."
Treble was surprised that they know this...She had only been exposed last night, yet the white alicorn was already fluent on the information. However, it's a possibility that Princess Luna told her.
She stood on her hooves with her head lowered and walked over to the clouds, standing atop of them without the need of magic. The guards stood beside her, guiding her to wherever her destination is. Minutes of walking later she hears chattering; it gradually grew louder as she and the guards walked toward the commotion. The navy mare couldn't see what was going on, but she knows that the volume was at its peak. The crowd just kept yelling; they surely must be spouting at her, but she couldn't make out the words. The guards guided her to a lone podium in the center of the room. They finally removed the sack. Her eyes couldn't handle the lighting in the courtroom at first, but as soon as they adjusted...
Everything was clear to her...
The audience was filled with pegasai. Every one of them was spouting as her.
"That's the leader!" A magenta-colored mare shouted.
"Such a bizarre unicorn!" A purple one spoke.
"How can she walk on clouds? It's a conspiracy!"
"A freak of nature! Ostracize this mockery of a mare!"
...Ouch...
Every word seared into the unicorn's brain, slowly hurting her from the inside out. And all she could do was look down in shame.
"But..." she thought. "It wasn't my idea..."
It wasn't long till a bailiff pony came into the room to silence the crowd.
"All rise!" He bellowed. "The court has now come to order! This is the trial of Treble, leader of the Treblemakers. Please make way for Princess Celestia!"
Everypony stood in silence as the white alicorn entered the courtroom. Her eyes were closed as she approached the bench. Her colorful mane and tail glistened as much as her tiara and other royal wares. As soon as she opened her eyes she stared at the lone unicorn in the podium. Treble had never seen a glare so grimacing before. It was like she already knew what her sentence was going to be: Community service? Prison?
...Banishment?
The young mare was just waiting to get it over with.
"Miss Treble," Celestia began. "I am sure you know why you're here, correct?"
The navy unicorn looked to the floor and nodded.
"Yes...your honor..." she said quietly.
"This particular incident has been the most extreme of all your plans, but it has been stopped by my beloved sister. I must ask you, how do you plead?"
"Not guilty!" The mare answered immediately. "Your honor, you have to understand...I'm sure you were aware of what had really occurred!"
"I have seen it with my own eyes, sister!"
Everypony turned to a sparkling cloudlike mirror that was spouting the voice. Within seconds the mirror projected an image of Princess Luna, showing herself in her workroom at the Canterlot castle.
"You mustn't believe this mare! Her plan to almost overthrow the kingdom was too great, and should pay for such insolence!"
"Dearest sister," the white alicorn started. "You know better than to impede my judgments."
"Forgive me, sister, but I cannot allow this pony to be acquitted without the proper sentence. You must consider the events I have told you about last night!"
"But your highness!" Treble bellowed. "She saw all the wrong things! I was trying to save you, not harm you! Please, your honor, you have to remember what happened!"
The white alicorn had closed her eyes for a few seconds, only to narrow her eyebrows and shake her head.
"I'm sorry," she said. "But I cannot recall a thing..."
This stunned the unicorn. She had no idea of how to respond. She had already started to think that winning this trial was way out of her reach.
"Fellow pegasai!" Luna shouted. "We mustn't let this excuse of a mare roam the skies! She was clearly on the verge of ending the kingdom by eliminating the Princess!"
The crowd gasped in shock. Treble couldn't bear staying silent form hearing the navy alicorn speak unconditionally without consent from her sister.
"I was not the head behind this operation!" she exclaimed. "It was my partner, Bass! He planned this and wanted to end the kingdom!"
"Order, you two!" Celestia cuts in.
"But your honor, she's –!"
"Silence, or I'll have you in contempt, Treble!"
She complied. The white alicorn turned to the mirror.
"You...don't believe me, sister?" Luna questioned.
"How can you be sure that I was under Treble's grasp?"
Luna narrowed her eyes at her sister.
"Must you have doubt?" she asked. "But you should be lucky to rely on me! Behold! The image of truth!"
She reveals a photographic image large enough for everypony to see on the mirror. The picture revealed a slightly blurred image of Bass and another cloaked pegasus flying off with the encased Princess, and Treble was trailing behind them. What really caught everypony's attention was that there was a physical link connected from the spherical cage to the unicorn's horn.
The whole crowd was surprised. Celestia chose not to express her feeling of shock within the courtroom. Treble was speechless.
She could not believe how many ponies were getting deceived...Everypony's eyes were now directed at the lone unicorn with very provoked faces. The white alicorn closed her eyes upon turning to Treble and opened them slowly. Her face was so blank there was no telling when she might blow up in the navy mare's face.
"Well, Treble," The Princess began in a low tone. "What do you have to say for yourself..?"
"Y-Your honor..!" The young mare spoke. "This isn't what it looks like! I-I was trying to stop Bass!"
The princess narrowed her eyes.
"You're telling me that that was not you pushing me along?"
"No! I –"
"Was it not you who used forbidden magic to restrain me!?"
Treble was speechless. She couldn't find a way to counter that.
…Bass would never forgive her if she didn't use magic...
"…Y-...Yes..." She spoke at a low tone.
The audience began spouting at her once more.
"Strip her of her magic!" One says.
"Send her to the dungeons!" A cerulean pegasus hollered.
"Have her banished from Equestria!" A sea-colored one shouted.
Hearing the word "banish" made her heart drop once again. She doesn't want to end up like Noize...not when everypony doesn't know the real truth...
The bailiff went an appeased the crowd.
"Treble," Celestia began. "You have been charged with destruction of royal property, assault on my guards, breaching the forbidden archives, public disturbance, seizing, restraining and attempted banishment of a monarch. Did you believe that you could possibly leave this courtroom free from sentence?"
"But your honor! You have the wrong pony!"
"You are subjected to the responsibility of your partners!"
"But I didn't want to do it!"
"Enough!"
Her voice echoed across the room. Silence took its place for a few seconds till the agitated alicorn spoke again.
"Sister," she started. "I would like you to end your transmission. I will tell you the outcome later."
Luna instantly nodded and vanished from the mirror.
"Treble, I honestly don't know why you try to add perjury to your list of charges...Perhaps you're worth of accepting banishment..."
"Please, your honor..!" she begged as her eyes filled with tears. "I don't deserve these charges..! I don't deserve to end up like Noize!"
"Noize?" she asked. "You know about his trial?"
"I was in the audience. He was like an older brother to me...I don't want my life to end without carrying out his short-lived dream..!"
The princess paused to take in those words.
"I'm sorry..." she says. "...But I cannot let you leave without proper judgment."
Treble just stares at the floor with her head down.
"But I choose not to banish you." This caught the unicorn by surprise. "However...I still find your defense unconvincing. The fact that you would use forbidden magic to harm me..."
Treble had to say something.
"But I was forced to!"
"And you continue to spout lies in this courtroom!"
"I wouldn't lie to you, princess..!" The navy pony tears up.
"That's enough! I'm ready to make my judgment!"
The alicorn's horn began to glow brightly. Within seconds it had fired a ray of light at the unicorn, lifting her up slightly.
"Treble," she began. "For your charges, I hereby strip you of everything but your life."
No pony has ever heard of a sentence like this.
"...What?!" Treble questioned frantically. "What do you –..."
She looked all over her body until she finally realized...
Her cutie mark had vanished...Now she was starting to panic.
"W-What are you doing?!"
"I'm stripping you of your talent," The alicorn says. "Your magic, your color...and your personality."
The panicking unicorn watched her body colors fade to white. Her eyes had also been stripped of its color, revealing a lifeless grey. Even her horn had vanished.
"I plan on giving you a fresh start," she says. "Which also means your memory will be withdrawn."
"W-What...?!" The young mare was very afraid of her current state.
"Unless you can admit that you were at fault for your charges, only then you will your original form shall return. But as of now, I am putting your on a special parole."
"But what do you mean...?!"
"You will have to find out soon enough, because unfortunately you will not remember this trial..."
"W-Wait...your honor...don't do this to me!"
She began to yell at the top of her lungs, but it was suddenly cut short as she realized the princess had silenced her voice as well. A few seconds later an orb filled with a hazy entity was extracted from the mare's mind; it was consisted of her memories. Surely everything extracted will be put in a safe place.
Just being overwhelmed by the intensity and velocity of what had occurred in the courtroom caused the poor mare to black out once again. Once the affliction was made, the princess had released her grasp, carefully dropping the unconscious pony where she once stood. She took a second to draw out a sigh, not aware of the other pegasai who were taken aback of what had occurred. Several had exchanged gazes and words to themselves quietly. The alicorn then looked at the guards that still stood around the punished mare.
"This pony is needed of discipline," she said. "Place her where she can learn that, please."
The guards nodded. One of their hovered over the ashen pony and picked up her body. He then proceeded to leave with the other two tailing behind. From outside of the courthouse, nothing else could be seen for miles. How high up could they be? Maybe the darkened, starry skies and chilly air was a good clue...
The guards were aware of where the courthouse was positioned above, so they knew just the place to send her:
Ponyville.
The other two guards grabbed a hold of some small stray clouds nearby, and surrounded the motionless pony with them. They made sure there was enough coverage to conceal her, but also unable to sustain her weight. As soon as the guards positioned her in the right place they released the cloud, letting gravity carry her to her destination...at a gradual speed.