Trial and Error

Unbeknownst to Twilight, The Doctor, Star or Spike, the library had been closely watched for any signs that Starstrike were to return. When she did, the authorities had been notified and had begun to surround the library in a matter of a few minutes. They waited until nightfall before they struck. The large wooden door was brought down with a loud crash. Uniform wearing police ponies came rushing in, pushing Pinkie Pie, The Doctor and Spike out-of-the-way as they forced themselves upstairs and into the loft.

The Doctor rushed behind them as he heard Starstrike's distinctive scream.

Twilight was now yelling at the top of her lung with white hot anger. "What's the meaning of this!? You can't just barge in here like that!"

"We should be taking the lot of you in with us for harboring a criminal." One of them spat at Twilight, they were ponies from the northern village, and obviously didn't care much for the Alicorn Princess.

Star looked terrified as one needlessly forced her to the ground to tie her.

"What are you doing!? Can't you see she's already injured! This is police brutality!" The Doctor growled out at them as he tried to force his way to the terrified mare. He had never in all his lives thought ponies from Equestria could ever be this cruel. He pushed several out of his way, trying to get to her. "Star!"

She looked up to him from her position on the floor, there was fear in her eyes.

No sooner had he got to her side, was he sent crashing to the floor and restrained himself. He struggled for freedom.

All the commotion of the police throwing her down, The Doctor trying to get to her, and Twilight screaming at them to cease what they were doing, made Star dizzy. Overwhelmed, she lost consciousness. When she next woke, she was tied up tightly and no longer in the library. She looked around, the room was dark and her whole body hurt, just what exactly did they do to her while she was knocked out? When her eyes adjusted to the darkness she spotted several storage boxes around, did they lock her in some sort of closet? The room had no window to at least let in some sort of light, so it was hard to fully tell.

"Are you... awake?" A voice asked in the darkness, it sounded weary, almost as if the stallion behind it had not slept throughout this whole ordeal.

"Doctor?" She asked softly as she looked in the dark for him.

He fell over and crawled towards her. "I'm so, so sorry Star... had I known that things would have come to this point I would have never brought you back here." He managed to get closer to her. It seemed they tied him up as well.

"No... I should have known that I was never going to be free." There was a tone of sadness to her words as she looked in his general direction. "What are you doing in here?"

"They brought me in for resisting arrest and assisting a criminal."

She sniffed. "Oh Doctor, I'm sorry. This is my fault. You shouldn't have gotten involved with me."

"Ah well, you know me, I love trouble." He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. He glanced up at her and faintly saw the tears running down her face. "No. Don't cry Star, don't let these... ponies see you crying. That's what they want. They want to see that they won. Don't let them win."

"I can't help it." She moved so she was on her stomach as well and moved herself closer towards his voice. "You can still get out of this... maybe I can chew through the ropes or use my magic... and you can get to the TARDIS..."

He frowned as he looked at her. "I'm not leaving you. I made a promise right?"

"Doctor..."

"Right?"

She was silent before finally answering him. "Yes..."

He stared at her for a time before resolve reached his eyes. "I've lost a lot in my lives Star, I'll be damned if I lost you too."

"Doctor...?"

"Twilight has gone to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Because you're a citizen of Ponyville by birth, you will be tried by the royal court. It's going to be a fair trial Star. They won't let this happen to you. I'm sure of it."

She whimpered as she fought not to cry, her bottom lip was quivering in the struggle.

"Hey, that's good news you know." He managed to scoot closer and placed his head over hers, letting her feel that, although he couldn't touch her, he was there to support her any way he could.

She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but the worry was still deep in her.

It was morning when one of the police ponies entered the room. He growled when he saw Star and the Doctor butted up against each other, fast asleep. Jealousy hit him hard. He knew the mare from childhood, and the hate of his elders for her kind was deeply embedded in him.

Once, when he was younger he had wanted to do things with this mare, to make her his, maybe even take her away. There was a sick twisted sense of adoration in his hate for her. He stood above her and reached down, grabbing her mane in his mouth, he dragged her roughly away. Now was his chance to do something he had wanted with her for a long time.

Feeling the sudden pain, she snapped awake and yelped softly, there wasn't much she could do to get free aside from using magic, but if she did, it would likely bring worse consequences to her or even to the Doctor.

He woke hearing the sound of Star's whimpering and grit his teeth. He looked in the direction it was coming from and stared horrified by what he could faintly make out thanks to the bit of light that filtered in from the crack of the doorway.

The sash that Star had around her waist had been undone and the stallion had all his weight on her, his hooves dug into the skeletal remains of her wings as he was trying to mount her.

He didn't understand why, but all he could see was red as the rage filled him. The Doctor had enough. This stallion had awoken the oncoming storm. The Doctor got his front hooves free and forced the ropes off of him as quickly as he could. The moment he was free, he ran forward and rammed into the stallion from the side, knocking him off of her. He moved to stand over her protectively.

The other stallion had been knocked clear into the wall and was recovering slowly from the impact.

The Doctor turned his attention to Star, the anger in his eyes softened when he gazed at her. Hovering over her, he leaned in and pressed his muzzle to hers, trying to comfort and reassure her that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

The bone wings folded shakily as she slid closer to his warmth and protection.

The stallion stood and shook his head. "But you're an earth pony, one of us, why are you protecting her? She's a waste of life, a murderer, she doesn't deserve protecting. She's unimportant."

The Doctor glared. "In all of my lives I've never met one pony who wasn't important. And this mare is more than important enough. She's been abused, cast out and made a victim in a plot to sully her name. And I'm not going to let you do that."

The sound of hooves hitting the cold stone came from behind them. "I will not tolerate actions such as these in my kingdom." Came the regal voice of Princess Celestia as she had entered just in time to see the last bit of the situation.

The police stallion faltered in his position at the sight of not only Celestia, but Luna and Twilight as well.

Despite the appearance of the other three Alicorns, The Doctor did not move from his position over Star.

"Princess Celestia, he was one of the police officers that raided and tore up the library last night." Twilight informed her.

Star looked towards Twilight's voice and saw the mark on her face, a bruise was forming. Had they attacked Twilight too? Her eyes narrowed at that. Their problem was with her, not with Twilight Sparkle. She wanted to yell and call him out for what he was, but she knew it wasn't necessary, all three of them were there, and they all had authority in this place more than she ever would.

The stallion was cornered, and he knew that he was in trouble. He had been warned before going out in their search that they would no longer be in the northern village, that Alicorns were respected and were also the highest authority outside of their region.

He really messed up big. He shifted and looked over to Starstrike, he couldn't help the twinge of jealously as he saw the Doctor looming over her and how she leaned just slightly closer to him and his warmth. Growing up, he always thought Star was a pretty mare, despite being an Alicorn, but the hatred of his peers and elders for her had warped his thinking into believing that no good could come from courting an Alicorn. Perhaps if he had been braver, he would have gotten the mare he had secretly wanted.

Celestia moved more into the room. "You are now under arrest for police brutality and attempted rape."

The officer tried to protest, but Celestia called in the royal guard and they dragged him off to a cell all of his own.

Once he was gone, both Luna and Twilight went over towards them.

The Doctor leaned away and sat back, no longer standing over Star, feeling that she was now safe.

Twilight had already informed Luna and Celestia about where Star had been all this time and what had happened to her. But it still did not stop Luna from getting upset at the condition the mare was in.

Star slowly sat up and looked at Luna with an apologetic look. How much trouble had she really caused her friends? She looked sheepish.

Luna uncharacteristicly pulled her into a hug. "I was worried for your safety Star. I am glad that you are with us again."

"I'm sorry Luna."

She leaned away from her. "We will help you out of this mess, you will see."

"Thank you." Her ears were flat against her head.

"Now how we get you out of this is the real question." Twilight said as she started to pace. "If we had concrete evidence against them to use as your defense..."

The Doctor straightened up then. "I want to be her witness."

"Witness? Why is that Time Turner?"

Celestia looked at them quizzically.

He coughed. "Well... in dabbling with time, I was able to go back into her time line when Miss Star wouldn't divulge more much-needed information to me. I found out quite a bit and also saw a lot of how she was treated."

Celestia looked at him and nodded. "Very well. Do you have anything else?"

"I have names and other things I rather not reveal at the moment."

Star cocked her head to the side and looked at him. "Names?"

"Yes, it might be useful." He looked back at Celestia. "Allow me to go back to my TARDIS and I can get more things."

Celestia contemplated this before nodding. "Luna, go with him."

Luna stood straight and nodded. "Yes sister."

"Whatever it is you're going to do, please do it quickly, or at least return to the right time." Twilight said with a glare. "You coming back with the information could either save Star or make things worse. Let's both hope it won't get worse. Because I swear if it does Time Turner..."

"No need to say more." He looked down at Star, before looking back at them. "May I have a bit of time alone with her?"

The three princesses looked to each other before nodding. They headed for the door.

"I will wait for you outside." Luna said as she left with her sister and Twilight Sparkle.

Once alone, the Doctor looked down at Star. "I'll be back before you know it. I promise."

"But Doctor..."

"No buts Star, this is all to help you," he paused, his eyes darting back and fourth before he pressed his head to hers, "when this is over, we're gonna have that dance."

She blushed at the affection, temptation rose but her shyness stopped her, the left wing twitched.

He noticed it in the corner of his eye, closing his eyes he rubbed his muzzle against hers. He licked her cheek affectionately, his hearts racing in his chest. He could feel her face was heating up. He pulled back. "Well... time to go. I'll be back before you know it." He gave her a grin before jumping up and trotting to the door. He stopped and looked back at the blushing mare.

She felt like her heart was going to burst as she watched him go.

With the door closed behind him, he turned his attention to Luna. He gave her a big grin. "Well then Princess, shall we go?"

She nodded.

"Allons-y!" He trotted off to the TARDIS, Princess Luna in tow.

Time passed slowly for Star as she awaited trial, she prayed the Doctor and Luna would return soon. As time went on, it almost seemed as if they would never reappear. Worry set in not only in Star, but in Twilight as well.

Twilight was more than ready to track down that idiot Doctor and give him a pummeling.

Too much time had passed and the trial was set in motion, which left Star feeling like she was in for a death sentence. She sat nervously and as patiently as possible as she silently prayed that he and Luna would come back before it was too late.

A pair of Celestia's royal guard came into the room and escorted her out, leading her up the stairs and through the town hall's court room. She was relieved to know that they were all still in Ponyville. They sat her on the defendant side, while the chief from the northern village of Selle along with a few of his lackeys were sitting on the opposite side. The courtroom was practically full up on residents from Ponyville and Selle.

Star felt her nerves on edge as she looked around at familiar and unfamiliar faces. She glanced back when she heard the main doors open in hopes of seeing Luna or the Doctor, but instead a mint green pegasus entered the room, followed by a gray pegasus and a black pegasus. The three new comers sat on her side.

She spotted Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity, but no Twilight Sparkle, Spike or the Doctor and Luna. Her heart sank as she felt her hopes lost. She turned her attention to the table, feeling the glares in her direction. Siting on the Selle side was a pegasus with an icy gaze, who seemed pleased with the events unfolding before her.

Twilight entered the room and sat at the table with Star. She would play the role of Star's defense, she had to buy time. She noticed Star relax a little when she sat at her side.

Spike moved to sit with the other mares, nervousness written all over his face.

"Things will be alright Spike." Rarity said softly as she gazed down at the young dragon.

"Oh I hope so Rarity." He looked over to the Selle side and caught a glimpse of the pegasus. "Hey... Rainbow, isn't she from Cloudsdale?"

Rainbow looked over and nodded. "Yeah... she and her husband own the rainbow factory. I wonder what she's doing here." She watched her for some time before shuddering. "She gives me the creeps."

Applejack nodded. "I'll say, she's got a mean face on her."

Rainbow shuddered before looking around at the Ponyville side of the room, it was full up on ponies there to support Starstrike. "Well Star can't say she doesn't have friends now can she?"

"That's for certain, I didn't realize how many ponies actually knew her." Rarity looked around. "Poor girl must be scared out of her wits."

"None of this is very fair now is it?" Fluttershy said softly.

The others shook their heads.

Rainbow caught a glance of the three pegasai and cocked her head to the side. "I wonder... what they're doing here."

"Who?"

"Who!? Only Rainwing and Jet Breeze, the very founders of the Wonderbolts!"

Applejack looked back towards them. "That is odd. Why would they be interested in something that has nothing to do with them?"

Rainwing looked down to the note she had received earlier that day.

To Rainwing, Jet Breeze and Thunder Bolt,

There is to be a trial at the Ponyville courthouse that is of most importance. You three will want to go, as there will be information there concerning you presented.

Respectfully,

The Doctor

Jet looked at her and nuzzled his mare. "What ever it is, I'm sure we'll find out soon."

She nodded and looked over to the opposing side, her eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of Snow Drifter. "What is she doing here?"

Jet looked in the direction she was looking in. "Probably here to absorb the misery of that mare on trial."

Thunder looked at his parents and sighed softly. "I can't believe grandma would come here."

"Don't even call her that Thunder." Jet was glaring at the mare who gave off a "I'm better than you" aura.

"I'm sorry dad... it's a force of habit."

Rain shook her head. "I'm really glad dad left her when he did."

Jet nodded in agreement. "Too bad she still has part of the factory."

"Don't remind me." She turned her attention to the front of the courtroom where Celestia had seated herself.

Celestia knocked the gavel and called for order. "That is enough chit-chat now. We are here for the trial of The Ponies of Selle versus Starstrike. The charges against her are neglect, abandonment and involuntary pony-slaughter." Celestia turned her gaze towards her and Twilight. "How does the defendant plea?"

"Not guilty your majesty." Twilight spoke up.

"Very well, the trial will continue." She looked toward the chief of Selle, a grizzly old yellow Earth pony with a white mane. "You may begin."

He cleared his throat as he stood up. "The ponies of Selle would first like to thank your highness for graciously allowing us this trial for justice."

Celestia could only stare at him, unamused by the blatant sarcasm. If it were really up to that stallion, he'd take Starstrike right to prison or worse, give her an outright death sentence.

When she said nothing, he cleared his throat again and moved away from the table. "The mare seated at that table," he pointed at Starstrike as he spoke, "has been nothing but trouble since she was born. A menace and disturber of the peace and our ways in Selle since she and her parents set foot back into our peaceful and quiet village." He paced as he spoke. "She may appear to be sweet, shy and innocent, but for her parents, poor Petal Dancer and Dusty Flint, she was anything but. Always getting into trouble in school and causing all sorts of mischief to the young ponies around her. She was lucky her parents even kept her, how generous of them."

He got nods of approval from the Selle side, but glares from some of the ponies on the Ponyville side. They certainly weren't believing his tale at all.

He continued. "When the two fell ill, they depended on Starstrike to care for them and return to them the kindness and love they had shown her. At first it seemed as though Starstrike was following through with her duty to her ailing parents, until some of us began to notice that she was no longer around." He turned a cold gaze to Star. "After a few weeks the villagers got worried, and so we sent in a team to look in on the house. What we found was heart breaking to say in the least."

Star's left wing was twitching as she listened, so many lies were pouring out of this stallion's mouth.

"Petal and Dusty, dead in their beds, covered in their own filth and already starting to decay."

Star winced at the imagery. If only I hadn't been so eager to go. I should have called someone to take over watching them. The guilt ate away at her. Maybe she should go to prison. She saw no way out of this now.

"At first we worried something had happened to the mare in question. There had been no sign of her so we launched an investigation, worried that some criminal had done something absolutely horrible to her."

The jury was littered with Ponyville residents and Selle residents, it was evident that the Selle side already had bias opinions on her.

"When we went to her room, he found most of her belongings gone, but nothing else in the house had been taken. And then we found this." He went to his table and lifted up the pamphlet. "This pamphlet reads, Come to Ponyville, Where every pony is some pony special." He chuckled. "How curious."

Star couldn't help but shift in her seat.

Twilight placed a hoof over her and shook her head. It was obvious that this stallion was up to something, doing everything in his power to make Star look entirely like the bad guy here.

Celestia was starting to look very annoyed.

"So using that information, we tracked her down to Ponyville, but by the time we got here, she was already gone. Almost as if she knew we were looking for her for her grievous actions." He stood in front of Starstrike now before banging his hooves on the table, making her jump up. "So where have you been in the last two years? Plotting more heinous crimes to pull against the kind citizens of Ponyville?"

"Objection! He's badgering the defendant." Twilight yelled out.

"That is enough Chief Mighty Maille."

"Apologies... Princess." He leaned away, a slight smirk on his wrinkled muzzle. He was pleased with how shaken the mare had become under his story telling. Things were certainly going their way.

"I will call up our first witness." He declared as he moved back over to his side. And that was how the whole trial had went. For Selle it was an apparent triumph, but for Star it was a complete disaster. Where were the Doctor and Luna, did he mess up the calculation again?

Celestia sighed to herself before nodding to the jury. "If there are no more statements or witnesses to be seen, the jury will now discuss the verdict."

The doors burst open then. "Wait!" The Doctor came rushing in, causing a commotion in the room.

Star turned towards the back to the room.

"This is not over!"