The following morning, Spike walked through a long hallway, ignoring the cold glances the dragon guards gave him. He took several deep breaths and tugged on his collar. His heart was racing as he passed several dragons and some doors. Each step he took felt like it took forever, and the hallway seemed to go on forever. Finally, after what felt like hours, he saw a golden plaque on a set of large, wooden doors being watched by two dragon guards.

Defendant Lobby No. 2

With another deep breath, Spike pushed the doors open and stepped in. Around the room, there were two large windows with bars over them. The far side of the room had a table with some cups and a coffee pot on it. On each side of the doors were two more guards watching over the room and stayed motionless.

Boy am I nervous! Spike thought to himself. Never thought I’d be stepping foot in court as an attorney; much less in the Dragon Lands. I gotta stay focused.

“Spike!”

The drake looked over and saw Twilight and Rarity waving a hand at him. They both got up and walked over to him. Twilight had her mane in a tight bun and was wearing a dark blue dress jacket with a white dress shirt underneath, with a matching medium dark blue skirt. Rarity’s mane still looked shrabby, but she had managed to clean herself up a little to be more presentable.

“Good morning, Twilight.” He looked up and down at her and let out a whistle. “Looking good, Twilight.”

The alicorn chuckled. “Thanks.” She looked at him. “Not looking too bad yourself, Spike.”

The drake was dressed in a back dress jacket and pants. He had a white dress shirt underneath and a black tie with it. Rarity stared at him dreamily and felt her heart start to race. She let out a contentful sigh as she felt all her troubles go away.

“Um, Rarity?”

She snapped out of her daydream. “Huh? What?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Are you feeling okay?”

Rarity chuckled weakly. “Oh, um, of course I am. I’m just wondering where you two got those clothes.”

“Since we became attorneys, we figured we’d better look our best for the trial,” answered Twilight. “We both went to see Sassy, and when we told her what was going on, she was more than happy to make us some clothes free of charge.”

Rarity smiled. “Well, I’ll have to be sure to pay her extra for doing such an act for you two.”

The doors to the lobby opened up again. “Hey, Twi!”

The trio turned around to see their friends all coming in with smiles on their faces.

“What’s up?” Rainbow asked Spike and Twilight. “You two ready for this?”

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Um…”

“Of course they are, darling,” interrupted Rarity. “After what I’ve told them, they no doubt have a plan. Right?”

Neither Spike nor Twilight said anything.

Rarity’s smile waned a little. “Right?”

Spike stepped back and forced a smile. “Um, yeah. Twilight and I just need to discuss it again...in private.”

He grabbed the alicorn’s arm and walked to the other side of the room. He looked back to see the others were staring at them with bewilderment.

“Twilight, what’re we going to do?” he asked in a low voice. “After what Matches told us last night, we’re in trouble. What do we tell Rarity?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes slightly. “Nothing. If we let Rarity know what’s going on, then it’ll only make her feel more nervous then she already is.”

“But we have no plan,” argued the drake.

“I know,” said Twilight. “But telling Rarity this news won’t help at all. We just need to think of something.”

The doors opened again. “Good morning, Twilight.”

Spike and Twilight turned around to see Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Matches entering the room. The trio had grim looks on them. Matches looked down and had an anguished look on him.

“Good morning, princesses,” said Twilight. She looked at Matches. “Are you alright?”

Matches shook his head. “I’m sorry, Princess Twilight,” he said. “It looks like I was wrong.”

The alicorn looked confused. “About what?”

“Last night, I frantically did as much reading as possible about Crystal Magic and hoped for something to help, but I found nothing.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “What!?”

Princess Celestia put a hand on the Princess of Friendship. “Matches told us about what happened last night. Twilight, I have to admit that this isn’t looking good. If Garble got rid of the evidence, it’ll be very difficult to prove it was him as the cause for all that’s happened.”

“We still have the proof about the attacks he did in Equestria,” said Spike. “So maybe we can undermine his whole story by showing that evidence.”

“But the prosecution will demand evidence about this pony you claim you saw,” argued Luna. “Evidence that has been destroyed no less.”

A thought crossed Twilight’s mind and she looked at Matches. “Speaking of which, who is the prosecution? Ember said she’d see him today. Did you see them, Matches?”

The dragon shook his head again. “I saw Ember, but no sign of the prosecution. I let Ember know what happened, but she didn’t seem to be herself.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She was upset to hear about it,” stated Matches, “But she didn’t react the way I thought she would. She seemed so out of it.”

“Why?” wondered Twilight. “Is it because she’s nervous about today?”

Matches shrugged. “Maybe, but I heard her mutter something as she left for the courtroom.”

“What was it?” inquired Twilight.

“It’s him of all dragons,” said Matches.

Spike and Twilight looked at each other. “Who?”

“No idea,” replied Matches.

“Hey! Are you going to fill us in on what’s going on?”

Everyone turned around to see Rainbow with an impatient look on her surrounded by the others.

Twilight smiled weakly. “Oh, sorry, Rainbow.”

“So what’s going on?” wondered Applejack.

“We were just discussing about last night,” said Twilight.

Celestia stepped forward. “Luna and I will be watching the trial.” She looked at Twilight and Spike and smiled. “Despite some ‘developments’, I believe they’ll find a way to win. After all they’ve been through over the years, I don’t have any doubts.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Developments? What’s going on?”

The group looked uncomfortable and didn’t look at Rarity.

“What is it?” she wondered.

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Well, you see–”

“Excuse me.”

Spike turned around and saw a tall, green dragon guard glaring at him. “Yes?”

“Court is about to begin,” he said, stoically. “Lord Ember has told me to escort you, the prisoner, and Princess Twilight to the courtroom at once.”

Spike nodded and turned around. “I guess this is it.”

Twilight put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “We’ll be alright, Spike.”

“She’s right, Spike,” Starlight agreed. “If anyone can pull this off, it’s you two.”

“Go get’em, sugarcube,” said Applejack, proudly.

“You can do it,” stated Fluttershy.

“I want to see Garble crying after you expose him,” stated Rainbow.

“I’ll prepare the party and confetti for when you win!” shouted Pinkie, jubilly.

Spike and Twilight smiled warmly at their friends.

“Good luck, you two,” said Luna.

“We have complete faith in both of you,” said Celestia.

Spike nodeed and his eyes drifted to the collar of his jacket. He looked at his attorney’s badge and gripped it for a moment.

This is it, he thought to himself. My first, and last, case as a defense attorney.

Spike, Twilight, and Rarity were lead down the hall by the guard. They both looked at each other, but said nothing as they walked. Spike could feel his heart race as he took each step closer. Twilight took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Rarity tried not to shake nervously and kept a brave face on her. They eventually reached a large set of metal double doors, where two more guards were waitings. The doors groaned as they guards pushed them open and allowed the trio into the room.

The room was spacious, with the ceiling reaching up very high to the point they couldn’t see where it ended. Around the room were stands circling around the room that were filled to the brim with many dragons talking and whispering to one another. On the opposite side of the room was a large square platform overlooking the entire room. In the center of the room on a golden chair was Ember, dressed in her battle armor and holding the Bloodstone Scepter, with a stoic look on her. Behind her were six dragons in brown robes and hoods sitting in chairs.

Spike felt a tap and turned to see Twilight urging him to go down the stairs. As they all walked down, the drake heard the whispers get louder.

“That’s them! The lawyers!”

“What’s that dragon thinking defending a pony? Has he no honor for our Dragon Lord?”

“That unicorn doesn’t deserve a trial! She deserves to burn!”

Spike took a few deep breaths. This is for Rarity and Ember. Got to stay focused.

When they reached the bottom, the floor was most bare except for a single stone stand in the middle, and two large tables on each side of the room near the high walls of the audience stand.

“The defense goes to the stand on the right.”

Spike and Twilight turned around to see the guard was behind them.

Twilight smiled a little. “Um, thanks.”

They walked over to the bench while Rarity was escorted by the guard to a chair to sit in and be watched by the dragon. Spike looked all around in awe and ignored some of the comments about him, Rarity, and Twilight. His eyes fell on Ember and stared at her. She looked very briefly at him and nodded curtly before looking over the rest of the room.

The crowd continued to mutter and talk with each other. Ember stood up and raised the Bloodstone Scepter. She brought it down, making a loud bang and instantly silencing the entire room.

Spike leaned over to Twilight. “That was cool.”

“Quiet,” she whispered.

Ember stepped forward and looked around. “Court is now in session for the trial of Rarity. Are both sides ready?”

“The defense is ready, your Lordship,” said Spike.

Twilight tapped on Spike’s shoulder. “Look over on the other side, Spike.”

The drake looked over and saw the bench was empty. “That’s strange. Where’s the prosecutor?”

“I have no idea,” replied the alicorn. “It’s time for court, and he’s nowhere to be found.”

Spike shrugged. “Maybe he lost his nerve?”

The metal doors opened again. “Sorry I’m late. Had a few things to take care of before coming in.”

Spike and Twilight gasped as they saw a dragon descend the stairs. The entire room seemed equally shocked. The dragon walked over to the prosecution table and stood there.

“It can’t be,” whispered Twilight.

“I don’t believe it,” said Spike.

It was Master Ash.

“My apologies, everyone,” he said. “There were some final preparations to take care of before coming in.”

“M–Master Ash?” asked a shocked Twilight. “What’re you doing here?”

The dragon smiled softly. “Your confusion is natural, Princess Twilight. What I’m doing is what I need to do to ensure justice prevails.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” inquired Spike.

“I’ve decided that to make sure the truth is shown to us, that I take the case as prosecutor,” he said.

“Objection!” yelled Twilight. She looked at Ember. “I thought the Dragon Council was supposed to serve as the jury! What’s Master Ash doing here then?”

Ember closed her eyes and bowed her head. “That may be true, but Master Ash is the most qualified prosecutor available.”

“But I don’t understand,” said Spike. “I thought he was just head of the Dragon Council.”

“That’s correct,” said Ash. “Before my time of being chosen as head of the Council, I served in the courtroom as a prosecutor for many years. While it’s true I retired shortly after joining the Dragon Council, I vowed to return to court if I’m needed again. The knowledge I have of this case and the facts before me put me in a perfect position to serve as lead prosecutor in this case.”

The room filled with chattering again. Ember raised the scepter and slammed it against the ground three times.

“Order!” she barked. She looked down at Ash. “Well, Master, are you ready?”

The black dragon lowered his head and his face darkened. “Not yet,” he said, coldly. “Princess Twilight, Mr. the Dragon, I hope you’re both ready for this. Show me what you got!”

Twilight and Spike both gulped.

Master Ash took a deep breath for a moment, and then flexed. “AAARRRGGGHHH!” He roared.

Twilight and Spike gasped as the brown robes around Ash ripped apart around his body. Beneath it was shiny, silver armor with gold trimming around it, and a large sword in a silver sheath. Ash rose his head up and had a confident smile on his face. He reached underneath and held up a steel barbute helmet.

He put the helmet on and said, “The prosecution is ready, your Lordship.”

The room filled with the dragons talking and whispering again.

“It’s him! The Silver Knight!”

“I never thought I’d see him back in court again!”

“Go get those lawyers, Master!”

Twilight, looking worried, glanced at Spike. “Looks like this prosecutor is the real deal.”

Spike looked just as concerned and slouched a little. “I got a bad feeling he’s going to be a ‘real’ pain.”

Ash smirked. “Ah, it’s just like how I remember it. It’s like I never even left the courtroom at all.” He looked at Twilight and Spike and scowled. “Too bad my return has me going against two greenhorns. I was hoping for something a little more challenging.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “What did you say!?”

“Don’t take it so personal, Princess Twilight,” warned Ash. “I’m just doing what is best for the Dragon Lands, and ensuring justice is served.”

“Does that include insulting us?” inquired Spike.

Ash rolled his eyes. “Take it easy. I’ve read up on both you and your princess, and from what I’ve seen, you both just very recently became attorneys. I commend you and your princess for doing such a noble thing when other ponies would run away in fear. It’s brave, but very foolish of you two.”

Spike smiled confidently. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I think we’ll see who the bigger fool is after this trial.”

Ash laughed and shook his head. “Strong words, Mr. the Dragon, but I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you and the princess. This isn’t Equestria. There’s no magic of friendship here to help you. Nopony is coming to save you two should you fail. Starting to feel a little scared yet?”

Spike and Twilight narrowed their eyes.

“They can do it!” shouted Pinkie.

Everyone looked up to see the party mare holding up a sign saying GO TWILIGHT AND SPIKE! on it. The others looked away with embarrassed looks on them.

“Don’t underestimate what Twilight and Spike can and can’t do!” she yelled. “We’ll be throwing a big party to celebrate when they win and free Rarity!”

Ash chuckled softly and looked at Spike. “Your friends definitely are interesting to say the least.”

He glanced at Pinkie and scowled. “However, should your pink friend keep disrupting the court, she’ll be having a party of one in her own little jail cell!” he boomed.

“Eep!” Pinkie yelped and ducked under her chair.

Spike nervously tugged on his shirt collar. Scary.

Twilight gave Spike a glare. “Come on, Spike, stay focused!”

Ember banged the scepter on the ground. “Master Ash, your opening statement please.”

Ash bowed and said, “As you wish, my Lord.”

He took a deep breath, and let out a blast of black fire from his mouth. A scroll dropped from the fire, and the dragon grabbed it. He opened the scroll and his eyes darted across it.

“On July 16th, an unspeakable crime was committed against dragons everywhere,” he said while reading. “Dragon Lord Ember was on a diplomatic mission to strengthen the new relationship between us and the ponies of Equestria.”

He slammed a metal gauntlet on the table. “However, one pony refused to accept such peace between the two kingdoms, and attacked our Dragon Lord.” Ash pointed a metal finger. “The defendant, Miss Rarity, had the audacity to attack Lord Ember. The prosecution intends to prove her guilt beyond a doubt.” He sighed and crossed his arms. “However, things have changed and some things need to be cleared up.”

Ember looked at Ash. “Master, explain yourself.”

Ash smirked. “Thanks to information provided by Lord Ember herself, it seems we may’ve been lead away from the truth.”

The crowd muttered amongst themselves. Ember brought the scepter down three times.

“Order! Master Ash,” Ember said with a bit of hesitation in her voice, “tell us what you mean by this.”

The black dragon shook his head. “Forgive me, my Lord, but have you already forgotten what you told me and Princess Celestia? Or are you saying you made it all up?”

Ember flinched a little. “N–no!” she quickly said. “Continue by all means.”

“Thank you.” Ash looked at Spike and Twilight. “If it’s fine with the defense, I’d like for the accused herself to testify. I want to know if what Lord Ember is saying is true.”

Twilight and Spike huddled next to each other.

“What do you think?” asked Twilight. “Should we let him do this?”

Spike thought for a minute before slowly nodding his head. “It’s the only thing we can do. I’m curious as to what Ember told Master Ash. Whatever it is must be something big if Master Ash is being forced to look at the case again. Maybe it’ll help us out.”

“I hope you’re right, Spike.” Twilight looked at Master Ash. “The defense has no objections. Please proceed, Master.”

The drake smiled a little. “Thank you, princess. You’ve made this a lot easier.”

Spike narrowed his eyes. What’s that supposed to mean?

Ash slammed his fist on the table. “Miss Rarity, take the stand at once!”

Rarity was escorted by the guard up to the witness stand, and tried to keep her legs from shaking in fear. Almost immediately, the courtroom filled with jeers and boos from the various dragons as they all looked at Rarity with hatred burning in their eyes.

“That’s her! Let’s burn her ass!”

“Yeah! What’re we doing here at some trial!? We know she did it!”

“How can Lord Ember even allow this to happen? How can she side with a stupid pony like this? She’s probably trying to go easy on her!”

“DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!” chanted the crowd.

Rarity whimpered and lowered herself as the insults and boos got only stronger.

Ember pounded the scepter three times and stepped forward. “ORDER! ORDER IN THE COURT!” she bellowed. “IF THERE’S NO ORDER, I WILL FORCE THE AUDIENCE OUT OF HERE!”

Several guards flew up and pointed their spears at the unruly crowd. It took a couple minutes to get the crowd silenced, and some lead out of the room.

Ember was livid. “For those of you think about letting this happen, I want you all to see and know the truth about what happened to me! If you think I’m doing this to ‘go easy on her’, I promise I won’t go easy on the next dragon who decides to disrupt the court like this!”

Some in the crowd muttered to themselves, but things soon quitted down again.

Spike couldn’t help but whistle in awe. “Man, I sometimes forget how tough Ember is. She just took control back like that.”

Ember took a few deep breaths. “Now then,” she said calmly, “proceed, Master Ash.”

Ash nodded and turned to the stand. “Miss Rarity, you’re a promising fashion designer in Equestria. You’ve got a few shops set up from what I’ve read about you, and you’re known for your heroism in saving your country from several disasters.”

“That’s right,” said Rarity. “But what does this have to do with–”

“Quiet,” scolded Ash. He tapped his gauntlet fingers on the table. “There’s something though that I’ve come across recently thanks to Lord Ember herself. Something about your own love life.”

Spike and Twilight looked alarmed.

“Did he just say…” began Spike.

“...her love life?” finished Twilight.

Rarity blushed in embarrassment. “W–what?”

“Don’t try to hide it,” warned Ash. “Lord Ember filled me in on what she claims was the ‘truth’ about your fight. It appears that it wasn’t over the fact that you hated our Dragon Lord, but rather something more personal between someone in this courtroom.”

Spike held his breath in anticipation.

“A love triangle between you, Lord Ember,” Ash smirked as he looked over, “and our upstart lawyer, Mr. Spike the Dragon.”

Spike looked shocked and couldn’t think of anything to say.

Twilight slammed a hand against the table. “Lord Ember, you told him?”

The dragoness looked down and nodded. “It was the only way Master Ash would listen to reason. I told him the truth about Haytona Beach, and I wanted every dragon here to know as well.”

The room filled with chattering amongst the dragons in the audience.

“Lord Ember in a feud over that dragon lawyer? That’s ridiculous!”

“I don’t know. I think he looks pretty cute.”

“How can our Dragon Lord be caught up in something as stupid as love? Dragons don’t do love!”

“Which brings us back to you, Miss Rarity,” said Ash. “I need you to tell us something very important about this revelation.”

“What?” she asked.

“First, I want you to tell me what exactly happened that day that lead up to this.”

Rarity nodded. “Spike and I were walking on a quiet part of the beach, and he wanted to go for a swim. I watched him swim out, but suddenly the waves overcame him and he started to drown. I went out and saved Spike, but then Lord Ember appeared, and well...you know the rest.”

“Not exactly,” said Ash. “There’s something critical here that’s become a contradiction.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Miss Rarity, you know the full truth of the matter here. So, let me ask you this; which one of you struck first?”

The crowd gasped and Rarity froze up.

Spike leaned over to Twilight. “What’s he trying to do?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Be ready, Spike. He could have something up that armor of his.”

“I’ll ask again,” repeated Ash. “Who struck first?”

“Why are you asking me?” wondered Rarity. “I thought you said I was the one who attacked Ember.”

“Just answer the question,” he demanded.

“Objection!” yelled Spike as he pointed. “Master Ash, if she doesn’t want to answer your question, she doesn’t have to!”

“Hmph!” scoffed Ash. “I’m surprised at you, Mr. the Dragon. I’m pursuing the truth, and yet you’re willing to turn a blind eye to it? You call yourself a lawyer? You wouldn’t even be fit to be the janitor of this courtroom.”

Spike growled softly.

“Let’s see where this goes,” suggested Twilight. “Come to think of it, we never found out who really struck first.”

“A wise choice, princess.” Ash looked at Rarity, and slammed a hand down on the table. “Now talk!”

Rarity shivered in fear. “Well...if you must know. It was...it was…” She slowly raised a finger up and looked away. “Lord Ember.”

The crowd gasped in shock again. Immediately, every dragon talked to one another and some fainted.

“How dare she accuse our Dragon Lord of such a thing!?”

“The nerve of that pony! She can’t take responsibility for her actions!”

Ember pounded the scepter. “Enough! That’s enough!” she bellowed. The court slowly quieted down again and Ember could feel her heart racing. She took a deep breath and said, “What Rarity says is true. On the day of the incident, I was the one who hit first; not Rarity.”

Ash smirked. “So it’s true what Lord Ember said after all. Here I was thinking it was just an attempt to try to save the defendant.”

Spike leaned forward. “Okay, so you got your question answered. What does this change?”

Ash rolled his eyes. “Must I point out the obvious all the time? Miss Rarity can actually get a more lenient sentence; maybe even freedom.”

Spike’s heart nearly stopped. “What?”

“You heard me right. Miss Rarity wasn’t the one who started that brawl. Lord Ember decided to after letting her feelings get the best of her. So, how about an offer?”

“An offer?” asked Twilight. “For what?”

“If you accept that Lord Ember instigated and started the fight, then I’ll be willing to go easy on Miss Rarity. At the very most, I can argue for a permanent ban from the Dragon Lands.”

Twilight opened her mouth, but Spike quickly said, “But what about Ember? What will happen to her?”

Ash crossed his arms. “Hard to say for sure. Such an act like this is unbecoming for our Dragon Lord. A love dispute or not, such behavior can’t be overlooked. We’ll deal with her later, but the important thing is Miss Rarity would receive a more lenient sentence.” He held out a metal claw. “How about it?”

Twilight and Spike huddled. “Spike, you know we can’t do this,” she said.

The drake nodded. “I know. As tempting as it is, we know the truth. If Master Ash wants it so badly, we’ll give it to him.” He glanced up at Ember, who seemed a bit worried. “Even ignoring that, who knows what’ll happen to Ember. I won’t let anything happen to her, Twilight.”

The princess nodded, and turned to Ash. “Sorry, Master, but your so called ‘truth’ isn’t as good as you think it is.”

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

Spike shook his head. “There’s more to this, and you know it. We’re prepared to show you otherwise.”

Ash’s face darkened as he leaned forward. “So be it. I tried to be fair to you and let you both take an easy way out before being humiliated. You’re going to learn, really fast, how over your heads the two of you are.”

Spike couldn’t help but shiver a little.

Ash looked at Ember. “My Lord, I’d like to call my witness to the stand.”

Ember nodded. “Very well, Master Ash.” She looked up at a guard. “Bailiff, bring in the witness!”

Twilight glared. “This is going to get tough, Spike. Be ready for anything.”

Spike just nodded and took a few deep breaths.

A few minutes later, the doors opened again, and Garble walked in with a confident smile on him. Unlike the others, Garble made a sloppy effort to look presentable in court. The only major difference Spike could notice was he put on a clean pair of blue jeans and a new leather jacket in contrast to the tattered one he wore yesterday.

Ash scowled in disapproval as his grandson took the stand. “Will the witness please state his name and occupation for the record?”

Garble tilted his head back. “Garble’s the name! As for occupation,” he pointed to himself, “you’re future Dragon Lord!”

The courtroom bursted in applause and loud cheers. Some dragons whistles loudly and some screamed in delight.

“It’s him! The hero of the Dragon Lands!”

“We’re behind you all the way, Garble!”

“All hail Lord Garble!”

“GARBLE! GARBLE! GARBLE!” The room chanted.

The drake waved his hands and didn’t bother hiding the smug smile on him. “Whoa! Take it easy, everybody! There’s plenty of me to go around!”

Spike looked on in disgust. I never thought I’d see the day where I meet someone more egotistical than Blueblood, but here we are.

Ash slammed his gauntlet on the table, which instantly silenced the courtroom. Even Garble gulped a little bit in fear from the sound.

“Garble!” he bellowed. “This is a court of law! Show some respect here!”

Garble scoffed. “Whatever.”

Ash took a deep breath and said, “Garble, you know exactly why you’re here. For your sake, boy, your testimony better be as solid as you claim it is.”

“Fine, but I got one thing to say,” he looked over, “to our dragon lawyer here.”

Spike glared. “What is it?”

Garble smirked. “You must think you’re so clever thinking you can try to save your precious pony friend. Let’s see how good you really are, or if you and your case will be burnt to a crisp by the old man.”

Ember banged the scepter. “The witness will refrain from making such remarks to the defense!”

Ash nodded. “She’s right, boy. You’re here to testify and tell the truth; not taunt the defense.”

Garble rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll do it.” He looked at Spike again. “Let the game begin, pony lover.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Get ready, Spike,” she warned. “This is going to get tough.”

“Now tell us what you know,” ordered Ash.

“With pleasure,” said the red drake. He cleared his throat and said, “I was following Lord Ember to make sure she was safe while in Equestria.”

“I noticed her and Rarity were looking angry at one another, and ready to fight.”

“I watched Ember on the beach the entire time until she left when she noticed Rarity and Spike walking off together.”

Garble shrugged. “There you go. A short, simple explanation as to what happened. Nothing more than that.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” said Spike. “But one thing I have to ask is this. I know you don’t like Ember at all; so why go this far then?”

Garble scoffed. “I may not like her, but I was protecting her for the good of the Dragon Lands. Nothing wrong with that, right?”

“I think there’s a lot wrong with what you just said,” replied the drake.

“If you’re so sure, then proceed with your cross examination,” said Ash.

Spike froze. “Cross examination?”

“You do know what that is, right?” asked Ash, with a sinister smile on his face. “Or in your reckless attempt to save your friend, you forgot one of the most important aspects of court?”

“O–of course not!” said Spike, hesitantly. I just need to jog my memory.

Twilight sighed. “I told you to read that book again before we left.”

“I do remember it!” he protested. “I just kind of lost my nerve for a moment.”

The alicorn shook her head. “Well, Spike? Do you really feel comfortable taking the lead from here?”

Spike nodded. “You bet, Twilight.” He looked over at Ash and put on a confident smile. “I’ll show you, Master! I’m not some rookie!”

Ash smirked. “Heh! You’re quite the confident greenhorn; even with that slight quiver in your voice.”

Spike gulped a little.

“Alright then, rookie,” said Ash. “Let’s see what you got.”

“I think you’re in luck,” whispered Twilight. “I noticed something odd with Garble’s testimony.”

“Same here,” said Spike. “He’s already made a big mistake, and I’ll show everyone here what it is.”

Ember slammed the scepter. “Mr. the Dragon, your cross examination please!”

Spike nodded. “Garble, go over what you said again.”

“Fine, but just this once,” he said. “I was following Lord Ember to make sure she was safe while in Equestria.”

“I noticed her and Rarity were looking angry at one another, and ready to fight.”

“I watched Ember on the beach the entire time until she left when she noticed Rarity and Spike walking off together.”

Spike smirked. Gotcha. He pointed and shouted, “Objection!”

Everyone immediately looked at the drake.

“Garble, are you sure about that last statement you made?”

“Of course I am,” he said. “Lord Ember never left the beach at all. The only time I saw her move was to follow you and Rarity to the other side of the beach.”

Spike shook his head. “Sorry to break it to you, Garble, but Ember didn’t just follow me and Rarity. She went somewhere else.”

Garble raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Spike held up a piece of parchment. “This is the statement Lord Ember made in regards to what happened recently. She included something interesting during her visit to Haytona Beach.” He leaned forward and banged the table. “She was approached by another pony!”

Garble flinched. “Ack!”

Spike glared. “Garble, if you were really were watching Ember the entire time, then you should’ve noticed that key detail! How do you explain that?”

Garble tugged on his shirt collar. “Um...well…”

Spike crossed his arms and grinned. Bingo! This should help turn the case around!

“Tsk, tsk, tsk!”

Spike raised an eyebrow and looked over at an amused Ash.

“I certainly hope the defense isn’t seriously thinking this should help them turn this case around,” he said with a smug smile.

Spike’s smile waned. “What did you say?”

Ash chuckled and held up a parchment paper. “This is the copy of that statement Lord Ember provided me with. I looked over everything she said and even asked her myself before coming into court. If you’re really thinking this will turn the tide to your favor, I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”

Spike grimaced. “But...but how did you get that?”

Twilight smiled sheepishly. “Um, I may have forgotten to tell you that Ember did promise she’d give a copy to the prosecution.”

Spike groaned. “Now you tell me.”

Ash scoffed. “What amateurs! It seems the defense has a hard time staying on the same page with one another. If this is the best defense Equestria can muster, then this will be easier then I thought.”

Spike gritted his teeth. This guy is really starting to get on my nerves.

Twilight glared. “Don’t you think though something like this is worth looking into? Garble said he watched Ember the entire time, so why didn’t he mention it before?”

Ash bit his lip. “I’ll admit, such a key point is unusual for Garble to not mention.”

“Hey, it was just some pony coming up to talk to her,” said Garble. “I didn’t really think it was that important. Besides, it’s not like he ended up hurting her or something.”

“But it’s still a crucial piece in this case!” argued Twilight.

Ember slammed the scepter against the ground. “The defense has a point. Garble owes the court an explanation about this.”

Garble grumbled to himself.

“Answer her, Garble!” ordered Ash.

The drake groaned. “Fine, I did end up following her when she was approached by that guy. The only reason I didn’t include it in my testimony was because nothing happened.”

“I doubt her talking to some reporter is ‘nothing’ to ignore,” said Spike.

“We’ll determine if that’s true or not,” vowed Ember. “Now testify about spying on me and the reporter, Garble.”

“And make sure you tell everything you know,” said Ash. “You know how much I despise lying in court. Understand?”

Garble rolled his eyes. “Take it easy, old–

“Understand?” he asked again, forcefully.

Garble froze up and quickly nodded.

“Looks like the only thing Garble fears is his own grandpa,” said Spike. “Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”

Garble tugged on his collar. “Alright, where was I? Oh, yeah! After Lord Ember was asked to follow some pony, I decided to follow behind them.”

“I kept myself far enough away to hear their conversation. The guy wanted to know about the visit for his paper.”

“After a little bit of talking, Lord Ember lost her patience and decided to leave the reporter by himself.”

“I saw the reporter leave shortly after that.”

“There. Happy now, Spike?” inquired Garble.

Spike shook his head. “Not by a long shot.”

Twilight smirked. “Spike, you know what to do, right?”

“I’ve got this,” he answered. “Garble, re–”

“Yeah, yeah,” he interrupted. “You don’t have to keep asking me to do this. I know what you want.”

“After Lord Ember was asked to follow some pony, I decided to follow behind them.”

“I kept myself far enough away to hear their conversation. The guy wanted to know about the visit for his paper.”

“After a little bit of talking, Lord Ember lost her patience and decided to leave the reporter by himself.”

“I saw the reporter leave shortly after that.”

“Hold it!” yelled Spike. “Why did you watch the reporter leave? I thought your goal was to keep an eye on Ember.”

“That reporter looked angry,” answered Garble. “He was getting a good story for his paper, and then she left him hanging. I was afraid he would try to do something against her.”

“In a crowd of ponies though?” inquired Spike. “He’d be attracting way too much attention.”

Garble frowned. “Um…”

“Objection!” bellowed Ash. “It sounds more like the boy was watching out for her lordship. In the heat of passion, others will disregard who’s watching them and decide to do something rash without thinking it out.” He smirked. “You’re going to have to do better than this, you know?”

“Then let me ask something,” suggested Spike. “If Garble was watching that pony, what did he do after Ember left?”

“That’s irrelevant and you know it,” scolded Ash. “He wasn’t the one involved in the altercation; it was Lord Ember and Miss Rarity. That reporter has nothing to do with this.”

Spike slammed his hands against the table. “It’s very important we know everything though about what happened! Even something that you may think is ‘irrelevant’ may turn out to be important, Master!”

Ash gritted his teeth. “Fine,” he seethed. “Do what you will, but this will be a waste of time!” He looked at Garble. “Tell us what happened after the reporter left.”

“Fine,” he spat. “He just walked off and I watched him for a couple minutes, but nothing else happened.”

Spike smirked again. “Objection!” he barked. “That’s twice now you’ve tripped up, Garble.”

“What!?” he said in surprise.

“You said nothing happened to the reporter, right?” inquired Spike.

“Yeah, and I stand by it!”

Spike shook his head. “Then you should be aware of this!” He held up a newspaper. “This is an article about an attack at Haytona Beach. An attack on a newspaper reporter.”

Ash glared. “What’s this?”

“Garble, you said you watched the reporter leave! If that’s the case, why didn’t you see him being attacked?”

Garble panted a little. “I–I didn’t watch him for very long!” he shot back. “I wanted to get back to Ember as soon as possible!”

“Objection!” yelled Twilight. “Garble, you said you watched him for a couple minutes. That should’ve been enough time for you to notice something!”

“Objection!” bellowed Ash. “My Lord, this is irrelevant to the case at hand! What happened to that reporter doesn’t matter.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Master,” said Ember. “Objection overruled.”

“Even if it was connected, which it isn’t by the way, tell me something,” he slammed his gauntlet on the table. “What proof do you have of such a thing!?”

Spike froze up, and looked at Twilight. “I’ve got nothing.”

The alicorn smiled. “I got this, Spike. The answer’s pretty obvious when you look at another piece of evidence.”

“Let’s have it, Princess Twilight!” snapped Ash. “What evidence do you have to connect these two cases?”

Twilight laid down the parchment. “This is our proof!” she declared.

Ash raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“This is the statement Lord Ember made earlier,” said Twilight. “I want you to take a look at the names of the reporter on both her statement, and in the paper.” She levitated the paper over to Ash, who snatched it out of the air.

His eyes went back and forth between both papers. His eyes widen in shock. “What in Tartarus is this!?” he demanded. “This can’t be!”

“I think the prosecution sees the problem here,” said Twilight.

“Well I’m glad somebody knows what’s going on because I don’t!” complained Garble.

Spike grinned. “Let me ask you this then, Garble. You were close enough to hear the interview, so what was the name of the pony who talked to Ember?”

Garble looked flummoxed. “What!?”

“You heard me. What’s his name?”

“This is insane! I don’t have to answer that!”

“Just tell us, Garble!” ordered Spike. “Because this will determine where this case goes!”

Garble wiped his forehead. “Um...well...it was...it was…” He gulped.

Come on, Garble! Spill it! thought Spike.

“Front Page!” blurted out the drake. “It was Front Page! I’m sure of it!”

The room fell silent. Ash dropped the paper and gripped a piece of his armor tightly.

Garble looked around. “What!?” he bellowed. “What’s the problem!?”

Spike smirked. “The problem lies with the name of the reporter you gave us. According to the newspaper, the reporter’s real name is Printer Press; not Front Page. How do you explain this?”

“Um…”

“Objection!” barked Ash. “Perhaps he misheard him. He probably said something along the lines of ‘I’m going to put your name on the front page’.”

“Objection!” Spike shot back. “Why don’t we ask Lord Ember herself?” He looked up at the dragoness. “What was the name of that guy?”

“Front Page,” she replied. “And not only can I confirm it, but another dragon can to.”

Ash looked shocked. “You don’t mean…”

Ember nodded. “That’s right. Matches can confirm it too. He was near me when that guy came up to me.”

“Ack!” Ash stumbled back as his armor unexpectedly was bashed by some force. “What does this all mean?”

“I’ll explain,” offered Spike. “Based on the two names alone, we can determine one thing.” He leaned forward on the table. “The real reporter never made it to the interview!”

The courtroom started chattering and gasping in awe.

Ember banged the staff three times. “Order! Order in the court!” She looked at Spike. “Mr. the Dragon, are you trying to imply that Garble had something to do with the attack on Printer Press and the fake reporter?”

Spike nodded. “The possibility is there and can’t be ignored.” He slammed the table. “Well, Garble? What do you have to say now?”

Garble looked down with hatred shaking inside him and smoke billowing from his nostrils. “You...I...You see…”

“OBJECTION!”

Everyone gasped as they looked at Ash, smiling confidently.

“Heh,” he chuckled. “Ha, ha, ha!” He slapped his hand against the table. “You tell a good story, Spike, but that’s all you got.”

“What do you mean?” he wondered. “Garble’s clearly hiding something.”

“Tsk, tsk, Mr. the Dragon,” warned the elder dragon. “You’ve weaved for all of us a good story, but you lack the most important thing in court; decisive evidence.”

Garble stood up, albeit still shaking a bit, and glared. “That’s right! Let’s see some evidence there, pony lover!”

Spike slouched over and gulped. “Well, now that you say that…”

Ash banged his gauntlet against the table. “Evidence is everything here in court, Mr. the Dragon. Without it you have nothing; you are nothing without it.”

Garble recompossed himself and flashed a smug smile. “You tell them, old man!” He looked at Spike. “Nice try, you pathetic excuse of a lawyer. Trying to get me involved with something I had no part in.”

“Objection!” yelled Twilight. “But this can’t be ignored! Garble’s story has too many inconsistencies, and he even got the name of the reporter wrong! We demand more testimony from him!”

“Objection!” barked Ash. “What more do you need from him? You can only press him for so long before you run out of options. Any more of your questioning would be a waste of the court’s time, and I won’t tolerate it.”

Twilight froze and shrunk back a little. “What do we do now?” she whispered to Spike.

“I’m trying to think,” answered the drake. “We’re on the right path, but we need to think of something else.”

“How? Master Ash won’t let us question Garble about being in Haytona Beach.”

Spike rubbed his chin, and then something clicked in his head. “Wait a minute. Maybe we don’t have to ask Garble about just being at Haytona Beach.”

Twilight tilted her head. “I don’t get it.”

“Just watch.” Spike turned back and slammed his hands on the table. “Master Ash, you’ve made a good point. We can’t just keep questioning Garble about this.”

Ash raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Where are you going with this?”

“I have an idea,” suggested the drake. “The defense would like to question Garble on his whereabouts before the Haytona Beach incident.”

Garble looked shocked. “My whereabouts? Give me a break! We don’t need to know that! What matters only is what happened at the beach!”

Twilight shook her head. “No, we need to know everything about your movements. We need to determine if you were truly looking out for Lord Ember, or had some other motive.”

“You can’t do this!” Garble looked at Ash. “Come on already! Tell them this is a waste of time!”

“Objection!” Spike pointed at Garble. “I wouldn’t call it a waste of time! I’m sure even Master Ash has figured it out.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“You said earlier that you did this for the good of the Dragon Lands, right? If that’s the case and you were so concerned, why didn’t you ever tell the Dragon Council about this?”

Garble snorted in frustration. “I was going to tell them...eventually.”

Spike shook his head. “Lord Ember, we have reason to believe Garble knows far more than he’s letting on. We demand testimony about what he was doing in Equestria during his so called ‘mission’!”

Garble banged his hand on the stand. “You can’t do this!”

Ember brought the scepter down. “That’s enough! The court’s opinion is this. While the defense has established the possibility of Garble being involved with the fake reporter, they have no direct evidence to prove their claim. However, as I’ve discussed with Master Ash two days ago, Garble’s actions before the Haytona incident needs to be looked at. Especially considering his track record and how he didn’t fill the council in on what he was doing.”

“Hey, I resent–”

“Be quiet, Garble!” ordered Ember. “As I was saying, I do believe we need some more information before consulting with the jury for a verdict. As such, this court will go into a twenty minute recess for both sides to prepare. Before I do so though, I do have one thing to suggest to you, Master Ash.”

“Yes, my Lord?” he inquired.

“I’d advise you encourage Garble here to tell the truth,” she said. “And I would also advise you to start reconsidering your position in this case if you want the truth.”

Ash bowed. “As you wish, Lord Ember.”

Garble growled softly.

Spike wiped his forehead. We made it, for now.

“Court will now adjourn for twenty minutes!” Ember banged the scepter against the ground, and the room started clearing out.

Author's Notes:

This chapter would've been out sooner, but my prereader/editor has been busy as of late. Still, I'm glad I can finally get this chapter out and finally get the last couple of parts of this story out. Depending on how much I do for the next chapter, the trial could take another one or two parts.

I did try to do a Phoenix Wright-esque vibe to the trial. I know it may not be the best, but I figured I'd have a little fun and try to do something similar to it. Hope you all enjoy regardless!