It was yet another Friday of grilling under a beautiful sky with only a few clouds in it. The guests were all happy, the bits were flowing in, the stage was in use, and there was a purple alicorn speeding towards me from above. "I wonder what Twilight wants this time?"

The princess of friendship slowed her descent just in time to make her landing a gentle one in front of the grill. "Yang, I have an important question for you."

"Yes, I can make a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich here," I immediately answered.

"What? No, that's not it. You've been here all week, right?"

"As the kitchen staff and spa sisters can attest to." I sighed as a possibility came to mind. "Are there any nobles involved?"

"Yes, along with charges of arson and foalnapping against you. There was an orphanage set on fire yesterday, and reported sightings of you fleeing the scene with everypony from the orphanage."

"What?" The discussions around the patio had died down, and the performers put a pause to their act. "Well, when's the court date?"

"Sunday, my courtroom, if they find substantial evidence. Just so you know, there are guards on the way from Canterlot to check your property for the missing ponies. They already have a search warrant."

"Of all the days for Gilda to be off," I muttered. "What do you need me to do?"

"As long as you stay in sight of multiple witnesses here, you'll be fine."

"The usual then. I can do that."

"Good. I have to go now." With a flash of magic, she teleported away.

Half an hour later, a guard captain came up to me. "Miss Xiao Long?"

I flipped a patty and looked at the pony. "That's me."

The captain held up a scroll. "I'm Captain Looking Glass, and we have a search warrant for the Carne Den."

"Just don't bother the guests too much, okay?"

"I can't promise anything." Looking Glass gave a sharp whistle and I heard a number of sets of hooves going through the dining area. "While my team investigates, I'm going to be staying with you. You may carry on as usual."

"Thank you."

In the confusion, the orders came to a stop. About five minutes after the search began, all the grill orders were done and I was just waiting with the captain, not talking. A minute later, one of the other guards came up to us. "We found something," he reported.

"Miss Xiao Long?" The captain asked.

"Just a moment." I quickly turned the grill off before following the ponies through the building. As we passed the kitchen staff, I shrugged and gave them an uncertain look, letting them know that I didn't know what was going on either.

"In here," the guard said when we got to the shed.

I curiously opened the door to the shed and saw something I did not expect: a large group of foals and a few mares standing over them. One pegasus filly that caught my eye for a moment was dressed up in what looked like my combat outfit, but that paled compared to the fact that there were a bunch of ponies in my shed. "Uhh. . ." I had no explanation.

"Miss Xiao Long, you are under arrest," the captain firmly said. "If you come with us peacefully, we won't have to put the shackles on you."

"I. . . I. . ." I felt a twitch in my eye as the message sunk in, but I couldn't bring myself out of the stupor. "HOW?"

It turned out that there was a dungeon underneath Twilight's castle, and even with my uniform on, I could feel a chill seeping into me. Fortunately, the castle's owner was coming with us. "Twilight?"

"Not now, Yang," she politely dismissed.

I didn't say anything until I was in my cell. For what it was, it was actually pretty nice. There was even a private bathroom. Instead of checking it out, I went straight to the bed and wrapped myself up in the provided blanket. "Can you turn the temperature up, please?"

"I'll see what I can do. But remember this, Yang: I'm not doing this as a friend, or out of kindness. Officially. I'm doing this to help ensure your health and wellbeing. Doesn't mean the castle will actually listen to me, though."

"Thanks." As Twilight left, I lay down and used some of my magic to heat up the bed under me. As much as I wanted to just move and do stuff, the chilly air was of greater concern to me.

Some minutes later, Twilight returned with a bag of some kind in her magic. "The castle actually listened to me for once on the temperature. Anyways, I brought you an extra blanket and pillow." She floated the bag's well made contents through the bars and tossed them roughly at me.

"Health and wellbeing, right?" I quickly set about getting comfortable with the new items.

"And no other reason. I trust you to behave." Without another word, Twilight left the dungeon.

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling with a sigh. "Well, what to do, what to do?" With nothing else to do, and decreasing motivation to exercise with the extra warmth, I simply let my mind wander.

Twilight opened the door while I was doing some exercise. "Yang, the trial's in a few hours. . . What are you doing?"

"Bench pressing the bed," I explained as I set it down and got to my feet. "It wasn't secured to anything, and I got bored."

"Hmm. . . I'll have to get them secured at some point. Thanks for pointing that out." With a flash of her horn, the cell door was unlocked and opened up. "Anyways, there's someone I brought here who can help you with your defense. His name's Stoney Mason, and he's good at high profile cases like this one. You'll have some time to talk with him." I continued following Twilight until she pointed me into an office where a suited earth pony stallion was waiting with some folders.

I sat down across from the stallion at the desk. "Stoney Mason, I presume?"

"Yes," he said. "I want to apologize for not being able to see you sooner. It's a long train ride from Los Pegasus and it was on very short notice."

"Thanks, anyways. Let's get down to business."

"Of course." He pulled some papers out from a folder and looked it over. "First, there are multiple eyewitness reports of you at the scene, with your bike, pulling a closed wagon away from the burning orphanage on Wednesday night."

I held up a hand to stop him. "Hold on a moment. Where was this orphanage?"

"Baltimare."

"I've never been there. In fact, I've been in Ponyville all week, Mr. Mason."

"So one of these accounts is false." He shuffled a few more papers around for me to see. "Other evidence that's been found against you includes the orphans and their caretakers in your shed, and the closed wagon in the woods nearby, broken and burned, with traces of magic that matches your signature."

"I. . . They're going all out against me now." The evidence was piling up, and it did not look good for me.

I sat in court with Stoney Mason, and not far from us was Lady Gold Leaf, who looked like she'd been in a fight with something, sitting with her own attorney. "PLEASE let this be the last time I have to deal with these fools."

There was a sizeable audience, split into three sections. The largest one, by far, was made up of press and an audience. The next largest section contained a number of witnesses, including a number of my employees, the orphans and their caretakers, and a number of ponies I didn't recognize, some of which were already putting on the tears. The last section was a box for the Canterlot nobles. The rest of them were there, along with Celestia and Luna.

I also noticed that the pleasant smell of apples that was present in an earlier trial was absent.

The ambient chatter died down when Twilight took her spot on the throne and began the court session. "The case of the accusations of arson and mass foalnapping against Yang Xiao Long is now is session. Everyone, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" Everyone involved in the proceedings, including myself, swore we would only tell the truth. "Prosecution, you may begin."

The stallion with Gold Leaf stood up and started walking around, levitating a folder and pulling out papers as he spoke. "Princess Sparkle, we have plenty of evidence pointing to Miss Xiao Long being the perpetrator of these. . . Heinous crimes, as you are aware."

"Please present the evidence for the court." Twilight's tone left no room for argument.

"Of course, your Highness." The stallion cleared his throat before starting. "First off, we have identified the magic signature of the fire as belonging to Yang Xiao Long. We are absolutely certain of this thanks to a match we found in official documentation from a case related to an earlier arson in Appleloosa."

"Wait, when did I. . . Oh, right," I thought as he continued, remembering when I let Twilight look at my fire magic.

"We also have her magic signature on a burned and broken closed wagon found in the woods near her home and business, the Carne Den. From what we've been able to determine, this wagon was the same one used in the foalnapping, according to multiple eyewitnesses, including the ticket ponies from the Baltimare, Canterlot, and Ponyville train stations."

"That is a lot of witnesses," Twilight agreed. "You may present them."

The next half hour was full of testimonies, including multiple accounts of Gold Leaf fighting me, and they painted a picture of me leaving on Tuesday night with Bumblebee and a map, which was found at the site of the orphanage. Every time I wanted to stand up and object, Stoney put a firm hoof on my shoulder to stop me, I took some deep breaths, and forced myself to stay calm.

Finally, it was time for Mr. Mason to present my side. "Your Highness, my client could not have done any of those acts. Not only does she not seem inclined to do such a thing, based on what little time I've had with her, but there are also many witnesses from Ponyville that can attest to her being in town all week, including the time that she was supposedly in Baltimare."

Another half hour was spent with my employees, local food providers, and the spa sisters all attesting that I was indeed in Ponyville all week, doing all the normal things I normally do. Business, running laps around town, a relaxing spa session, nothing out of the ordinary.

"This is all. . . Very interesting," Twilight said. "Both stories are credible, and based on the evidence, they both check out."

"If I may, your Highness?" The prosecutor asked.

"Go ahead."

"Yang Xiao Long has connections with changelings, and has two under her employ, Aegir and Honey Suckle. It is not outside the realm of possibility that she could have connections with other changelings through them, and simply paid one off with enough bits to fill in for her while she went off to commit the foalnapping and arson. She certainly has enough bits to do that, and with how busy the Carne Den usually is, the kitchen staff she's usually with would be too busy to notice any small discrepancies in her behavior." There were murmurs in the crowd as they talked the idea over with each other. "The changeling, by now, is likely long gone."

I turned to Mr. Mason. "What do we do?" I asked him, panicking. "I never did any of that stuff."

"I think I can get to the bottom of this, Miss Xiao Long," he assured me before standing up. "Your Highness, I would like to ask a few more questions of the prosecution's witnesses, if I may."

"You may."

"Thank you, your Highness."

Mr. Mason asked the caretakers more about what they saw me do, and they gave a consistent story about me knocking them out with one punch each.

The foals also gave similar stories, all of them short and simple, though the pegasus filly dressed like me was a lot more reluctant with her story, like she didn't want to believe it herself.

The train station attendants gave similar stories of me leaving Ponyville with Bumblebee, and the closed wagon was only present on the way back, after the fire and foalnapping.

I was almost at my wit's end when Lady Gold Leaf was giving her testimony of the fight. "-and she refused to let the foals go, so I decided to fight her. She expanded her bracelets into gauntlets and started punching. I dodged, then she started using other moves, getting a few good slaps on my face. After I recovered, I used my telekinesis to grab her gauntlets and make her hit herself to disorient her before running away."

"Your Highness, that is physically impossible!" I shouted as I stood up, catching everyone's attention.

"How can you say that?" Lady Gold Leaf demanded. "You. Were. There."

"Yang, would you care to explain yourself?" It was brief, but I caught a hint of a smile on Twilight's face.

"Of course." I took the Ember Celica off and lightly held them out, deciding to put on a bit of a show. "Lady Gold Leaf, these gauntlets have no enchantments on them. If you can levitate them over to you, I will submit and go to prison for however long Princess Twilight deems appropriate to the full extent of the law."

"Really?" Lady Gold Leaf asked. "You're really going to do that? Just give yourself up if I can take your bracelet gauntlet things?"

"Miss Xiao Long, I advise you redact your claim now," Mr. Mason said.

I turned to my attorney and gave him a "shh" before looking Lady Gold Leaf in the eye. "You did it before. Do it again."

"Very well, then." Lady Gold Leaf's horn lit up and she looked like she was expecting the Ember Celica to just float over easily. A few seconds later, her expression turned to confusion, and her horn's glow intensified a bit. After nearly a minute, the glow started to fade, and a worried look came over her face. "Uhh. . ." She turned to her fellow nobles and I saw her mouth out "help me?"

As the chatter started up again, I put the weapons back on. "These things are totally immune to magic," I explained over the din of the crowd. "It is impossible, as we just saw, for them to be levitated. Lady Gold Leaf, it's your turn."

Twilight looked down at the noble. "Do you wish to clarify?"

"M-Maybe I grabbed her arm instead! It was a fight, after all, and in a fight you don't remember everything."

"You seemed to recall everything else from the fight pretty clearly, and metal feels very different in a telekinetic hold than flesh does."

"It does?" I briefly wondered.

"Lady Gold Leaf, your testimony has a very big hole in it now. Do you want to explain this mistake?"

"I. . . I. . ." The noble stammered.

"I declare a thirty minute recess. Defense, prosecution, please do not interact with each other during that time. I will not risk letting either party get in a fight with the other."

"I think we're in the clear now," I told Mr. Mason. "What about you?"

"I was afraid you would be locked up forever when you pulled that stunt," he admitted. "If I'd have known that earlier, I could have pointed it out, but I don't think it would have had quite the impact your plan did."

"Who said it was a plan?"

"Fair enough. Now, while proving your innocence is good enough, I'd like to find out who actually did this as well."

I thought for a bit before saying, "I think I have an idea."

Thirty minutes later, we were back. "Court is back in session," Twilight announced as the last of the audience finished filing in. "Prosecution, I hope you have an adequate answer ready."

The prosecutor said, "Your Highness. . . We do not."

"Defense, what about you?"

Mr. Mason stood up. "My client's innocence may have been proven, but I would like to get to the bottom of this case and find out who actually committed this crime. If it pleases you, I have a theory."

"You may present your theory. Without interruption." She levelled a brief glare at everyone likely to interrupt him.

"Thank you, your Highness." Mr. Mason started idly pacing around as he started explaining. "It likely is true that the caretakers and orphans did see Miss Xiao Long, whom we've just confirmed could not have been there, based on the evidence that her unique gauntlets are immune to magic. So, I propose that, instead of it being Miss Xiao Long who did this, it was actually a changeling disguised as her who did the foalnapping, and staged a fight with Lady Gold Leaf.

"I believe this is the timeline: a pair of changelings made their way to Ponyville, turned into a copy of Miss Xiao Long and a shell resembling her bike over a regular bicycle, and took the late night train from Ponyville to Canterlot, then to Baltimare. On Thursday, they bought a closed wagon, met up with Lady Gold Leaf, and started waiting somewhere.

"At night, while the caretakers were together making supper, the changeling disguised as Miss Xiao Long came in and knocked them all out before taking them to the wagon. After that, it would be simple enough to do the same to the foals, and put them in the wagon, then close it and leave while the orphanage, thankfully devoid of occupants, was set on fire with magic that copied Yang's signature.

"As the orphanage was burning, Lady Gold Leaf and the changeling disguised as Yang staged a fight, where Lady Gold Leaf did get injured, though deliberately. Leaving everyone else behind, the two changelings went back to the train station, and took the route back to Ponyville with their unconscious cargo. Once back, long after the Carne Den was closed and Miss Xiao Long was asleep, they unlocked her shed, put the orphans and their caretakers in there, and locked it back up. After that, all they had to do was inform the appropriate authorities while the changelings scurried off somewhere."

Twilight considered the proposed theory for a minute before asking a question. "How would Yang's magic signature have been obtained, though?"

Mr. Mason did not hesitate to answer. "Not long after her brief stay in Appleloosa, a house, purchased and set to be turned into an orphanage, was set on fire, and her magical signature was obtained in short order. As with all investigations, it was documented and stored. It stands to reason that someone with the proper authority, skills, and motivation could have entered, memorized it, and used it to set the orphanage ablaze with the corresponding signature. My client believes that it was Lady Gold Leaf herself who did all this, and paid off the changelings in question, a feat that's well within the realm of possibility. As for where the changelings are, they could be anywhere by now."

"So you're suggesting that their accusation is the very thing they're guilty of?" The scent of apples started filling the courtroom.

"Yes, your highness."

Twilight turned to the prosecution. "Your defense?"

"I. . . We. . ." The prosecutor started struggling to say something under the effects of honesty, but otherwise was able to resist saying anything.

Lady Gold Leaf wasn't able to put up the same degree of resistance he did. "How could this plan have failed?!" Right after she practically shrieked it out, she covered her mouth with a shocked expression. "H-how. . ."

Twilight started lecturing her. "I had hoped you, a distinguished noble, would have had some degree of respect and honor befitting the title. I was hoping that this could be solved without having to use the honesty effects. Unfortunately, at this point, I can't even say I'm disappointed or surprised. I'm going to ask you a few questions, I want you to answer, and you will be honest. Until all my questions are answered, nobody leaves, so let's make it fast."

"Is it wrong that I want some popcorn?" I quietly asked Mr. Mason. The response I got was a shrug.

"Did you plan this out to frame Yang Xiao Long and put her in prison?"

"I would have settled for prison, but I was hoping for execution," Lady Gold Leaf said, going on autopilot while her attorney had already accepted defeat and the audience gave a collective gasp.

"Did you plan this alone?"

"No, I did not." Instead of giving names, she lit her horn and dragged over half of the nobles out of their seats and onto the floor one by one. "They all helped me with this plan in one way or another."

"Shut up, Gold Leaf!" Blueblood shouted at her.

"Quiet, Blueblood," Twilight commanded before returning to Gold Leaf. "So, who was it that found the documents with Yang's magic signature?"

"I did it," Gold Leaf answered. "I was the one who set the orphanage on fire after helping foalnap everypony from inside, and I used Yang Xiao Long's magic signature."

"Was the fire in Appleloosa deliberately timed with Yang's presence there or was that a coincidence?"

"It was a coincidence that we spun into our plans."

"Does it have any relation to the other mysterious arsons that have happened?"

"Yes. I was the one who did them, too." I suppressed a giggle at the fact that while I had the fire powers, she was the firebug.

"Did you hire any changelings to help you?"

"Two, and it was just as Mr. Mason had speculated. I don't know where they are now."

"Hmm. . . And how, exactly, did you get into Ponyville to destroy and set the closed wagon on fire without being seen, and how did you get out?"

"I hid in a separate part of the wagon on the way in, and used a few color alteration spells I learned from the changelings on myself after the shift change at the station."

Twilight let out an irritated growl. "By the power vested in me as a Princess, I will now hand out your sentences. Lady Gold Leaf, you are going to prison for life, your title and power will be stripped, and all your assets will be liquidated, with the proceeds going to fund the rebuilding of the Baltimare orphanage that you burned down, with any excess funds going towards charity. As for your co-conspirators, you all will also contribute to the funds, and you will have your titles and legislative powers stripped too. None of you, and nobody until after your great grandfoals, will have that kind of legislative power either. I will not let this kind of toxicity perpetrate any longer."

Blueblood was quick to his hooves with a rebuttal. "You don't have that kind of authority!"

"You really think that, Blueblood? You really think I don't have that kind of authority? News flash: As a Princess, I have the exact same authority as Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. I just don't exercise that authority very often.

"We're done here. If you all cooperate, things will go smoothly." With a gavel-like slam of a hoof, Twilight officially closed the case. A pair of guards came up to Gold Leaf and arrested her. The audience started talking and the media looked eager to start asking more questions. Celestia and Luna looked a bit frustrated as they left their seats, and most of the remaining nobles next to them started inching away from them.

I was walking towards Twilight when I got knocked over by a ballistic high speed filly dressed like me. "I knew it couldn't have been you!" She proclaimed as she hugged me.

I gently stroked the filly's mane after I quickly recovered. "Yeah, I knew it couldn't have been me either."

"Sunny Breeze, leave Miss Xiao Long alone," one of the caretakers ordered.

I held up a hand. "No, no, it's fine. Let her spend some time with her hero." An idea came to mind. "In fact, how about you let her spend the day with me?"

"Hmm, I suppose that's alright. But if I find one hair from her mane out of place-" I quickly ruffled Sunny's mane at that comment, causing the filly to giggle. "Just make sure she's back here by sunset."

"Then I'll make sure that the day. Will last. Forever!" Celestia overdramatically said when she came over. "Just kidding. I hope you both have fun."

The first thing I did with Sunny Breeze, after I changed to my combat outfit to match hers, was take her for a ride around town on the real Bumblebee. She clung to me like a backpack, and based on the sounds she was making, she was having a blast. I didn't make any jumps, but I did pull off a few drifts for her.

For a late lunch, we went back to my place. She didn't want any meat, so I respected her choice and whipped up some salads for us. They were good, but I planned on having meat later on.

One thing I was vehemently against doing, even with Sunny giving me weapons grade puppy eyes, was rough housing with her. With the sheer size difference between us, and the raw strength I had, even without a semblance boost, it would take only one slip on my part, and it wouldn't end well for either of us.

The rest of the day was spent walking and talking. She told me about her time at the orphanage, which she'd only been at for two months after her father died, and I told her about my adventures. Her opinion of the nobles went sour pretty quickly, and I had to clarify a few times that Fancy and Fleur were the good ones, not simply because they helped with the Carne Den, but because they were good ponies.

Finally, close to sunset, I brought Sunny back to the castle with one last ride on Bumblebee. The caretakers were in the throne room, discussing something that sounded important with Twilight when we walked in. The one that had reluctantly given me permission to spend the day with Sunny looked her over before giving me a nod and taking her to be with the other foals, somewhere else in the castle.

After saying bye to everyone there, I went back home, made a steak for myself, and relaxed. At least, I was able to relax until an unexpected guest teleported in. “That was an excellent court session,” Discord said. “Things got really chaotic at the end there.”

I gave him a sideways glance. “Thanks, I guess?”

“No no no, thank you, Yang. I’m going to have so much fun watching those nobles try to exert any kind of influence at all after this. Who’d have thought that a bit of honesty could work in my favor so well?"

"Well, go on and enjoy yourself. I'm just going to get back to my normalish life."

Discord patted my shoulder. “I wish you luck in that endeavor. Just remember who lives here in Ponyville~” With a snap, he teleported away. It didn’t take long for me to remember that Discord did live in Ponyville, and so did Pinkie Pie. Normalcy wasn’t just thrown out the window, but it also fell down a loop of stairs before landing on an ice rink with a ten out of ten on posture, form, and costume.

Author's Notes:

The story's not ending, not by a long shot. The nobles and their attempts on Yang, however, are done.