I found myself in a dream, crying in a corner. It was a plain corner. No furniture, no decor, no trim, no color. Just a bit of floor and two walls taking up my whole field of sight. “It didn’t have to end that way. It didn’t have to end that way. Why did I even do that?”

I heard hooves splashing through shallow water behind me, but paid them no mind, even as they got closer. I couldn’t even bring myself to care as I felt Luna reading my recent memories. “Oh my,” she said as she finished reading. “I had no idea you could do that, though I do understand the circumstances.”

“It’s still not right.”

“No, it isn’t. The best thing you can do right now though is learn from it and prepare for a trial under Twilight.”

“Mmhg.”

Luna sighed and sat down, her side against my back. “If it’s any consolation, this will likely be a simple open and close trial you’ll have to attend. Garble has already spilled the name of the noble that hired him and the dogs: Sir Classical Tune.”

I collected myself a little bit. “One of them?”

Luna sighed. “Yes, one of them. The destruction they caused was surprisingly minimal. A few doors, some windows, and a single gouge in the town hall’s siding, all of it easily repairable. Nobody got hurt, except them when they fought you.”

I suddenly remembered something. “What happened to Rainbow?”

“She’s in the hospital with a split hoof. It’ll be some time before she’s allowed to leave. I don’t think that will stop her from trying, though.”

I broke the moment of silence that followed. “Luna, I know that what I did was right, and I have done it before, but taking those dogs’ lives. . . I don’t like it.”

“I would be concerned if you did like it, or even felt indifferent. Taking one life is no small matter, let alone the number that you have. But if you hadn’t fought them-”

“They would have turned Ponyville upside down looking for me. Why are the nobles still after me anyways?”

“That, I wish I could understand. You only shot down their bills one time, and there have been multiple sessions since then where they could have brought them back up. I’ve even spoken with Discord to see if he’s had some kind of influence over them, but he’s just sitting back to see what they do on their own.”

A fresh sigh floated out of me. “So, when’s the trial?”

“Tomorrow morning. That will give everyone time to recover a bit.”

“That sounds good.” I relaxed a bit more and the floor started feeling softer, more like my bed. “Hey, Luna?”

“Yes, Yang?”

“Thanks. For all the counseling. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

“You’re welcome,” Luna responded in a softer voice. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I showed up at Twilight’s court the next morning wearing some casual clothes, nothing fancy. Garble was there, leg, wings, and part of his tail set in casts. Just looking at them and how he flinched away when I showed up made me wince at what I’d done.

Celestia, Luna, and the noble that I presumed was Classical Tune were there as well, though he didn’t look pleased. A faint scent of apples filled the room, and it looked like he was already nervously sweating. There was an audience as well, chatting amongst themselves. It looked like most of Ponyville was there, though I didn’t see Rainbow Dash.

Shortly after I took my spot, Twilight took her throne, Spike following her, ready to make notes. “Alright everyone, let’s get this over with. Court is now in session.” A set of scrolls floated up to Twilight as the crowd quieted down. “According to the notes I obtained in the wake of the incident from the citizens in town, 22 armed diamond dogs and a dragon, Garble, who is present, came into town around 5:00 PM. Despite their intimidating looks and behavior, they did nothing to anyone, though there was minor property damage throughout the town. Mostly broken doors and windows. Around 5:30, Yang Xiao Long was attacked in town. Yang, will you give the court a short summary of the fight from your perspective?”

“Of course.” I went up to the steps and faced the audience. “When I arrived in town, I was almost immediately set upon by a group of dogs, and one of them called out to the rest. I distracted them and the next group that arrived with some smokescreens before all of them were there. I tried to scare them out of town, but they didn’t run, so I had to fight. And” -My voice caught as I remembered the sights of the battle- “I would up putting all of them down. The biggest one, Bruticus, was joined by Garble towards the end and they tag teamed me. After Bruticus was done for, I broke Garble’s tail, leg, and wings before passing out.”

A moment of silence fell over the court after I finished. “Thank you, Yang. You may step down.” I simply bowed my head for a moment before going back to my spot. “Now, Garble, yesterday, while you were getting treated at the hospital, I came to talk with you. Would you kindly tell the court what you told the officer? You don’t have to come up.”

Garble decided to cut straight to the point. “A pony with some guards came up to me about two weeks ago and asked me to kill Yang. He showed me a pile of treasure, told me to hire some of the diamond dogs from outside Ponyville, and said that he wanted her dead body before we would be paid. So I did. He gave them armor and swords and I lead the attack.”

“And who bought out your services?”

“He said his name was Classical Tune. Unicorn.” He turned to the noble in question. “When I get back to the dragon lands, I am going to tell EVERYONE not to do anything for a pony. Especially a unicorn like you.”

“Well I never. . .” Classical Tune started before collecting himself and calming down a bit.

Twilight took control of the courtroom. “Garble, do you regret everything you’ve done since being hired?”

“Yeah, I do regret it,” Garble answered, clearly upset. “No hoard is worth getting hurt like this.”

“Because you can’t guard it or get more when you’re like that?” Spike chimed in.

“Exactly!”

“Ahem!” Twilight put a pause to the conversation before it could escalate. “Thank you. Sir Classical Tune, what do you have to say to these allegations?”

Classical Tune walked up to the front of the steps, shaking like a leaf. “I didn. . . I. . . I. . .”

“Speak the truth, and so you shall be free,” I thought to myself as I saw the noble try to deny the claims.

After a couple minutes, he broke down. “Yes! I did ask Garble to do all that! I offered him all my treasure and every quality gem for the diamond dogs in exchange for Yang being killed! I crafted the offer so he would kill off the dogs to get the gems! I even had plans to kill him once it was done so I could keep everything! And I planned the whole thing myself.”

I had seen men cry before. I had seen the biggest and toughest guys weeping their hearts out at a funeral. The stallion in front of everyone was crying on the floor like a kid whose newest toy was broken.

As he was sobbing, a dark gray earth pony mare with a simple, yet classy black mane and tail and a pink bow on a white collar strode up to him. “Father. . .”

Classical Tune stopped crying for a moment and looked up at the mare. “Octavia?”

Octavia lifted him up and into a sitting position by his collar. “I really want to smack you right now. But I won’t. You’ve told me how much I dishonor the family name by being an earth pony. You’ve cast me out for that and for who my marefriend is. But tell me, which one of us has done worse to the name?”

“Well, I. . . I. . .”

Classical Tune looked like he was about ready to break down again when Twilight spoke. “Octavia, please return to the audience. As much as I’d like to see how that would play out, we are dealing with a different matter right now.”

Octavia looked between Twilight and Classical Tune. “We will talk later, father.” She turned around and strode back to the audience.

“Well, now that that’s settled, I will hand down judgement now. Sir Classical Tune, you are to cover all of the repair and cleanup bills for Ponyville yourself. For your international actions, degrading an already rocky relation with the dragons, all of the treasure and gems you offered will be siezed and used for new negotiations with the dragons. As for your nobility status, I’ll let Celestia and Luna decide on that. Celestia, Luna, do either of you object to this?”

“I do not object,” Celestia said.

“Nor do I,” Luna followed up.

“As for you, Garble, it looks like you’ve been through enough already. All I can do is recommend that you rest and heal in Ponyville before going back. You and Yang are free to go. Court is adjourned.”

As the audience dissipated, I walked over to Garble. “Do you want something?” He asked with a growl.

I took a breath before answering. “I just want to say I’m sorry for hurting you like I did. I know it doesn’t fix anything, but I was just. . . Upset at what was happening. And I also experienced some. . . Unpleasant stuff recently, so it just compounded.”

“Hmmmm. . . . I’ll let the dragons know about you too.”

“Alright.” There was a pause as I considered an idea. “Look, I don’t think an apology is enough, so how about you come to the Carne Den later this afternoon? I’ll cook something for you, okay?”

“. . . I’ll stay for that.”

“Thank you. Anyways, I have to go now. I’ll see you later.” After a quick handshake, I went back out to the reception area and found the unicorn mare who had been hired as a secretary there. “May I have my box back?”

“Sure.” She floated the box over to my hands, and I accepted it. “Next time you’re here, please don’t bring something like this. Not that I can stop you, but. . .”

“But?”

“It just smelled so good.”

“Yeah, it does. Thanks, anyways.”

“Of course.”

I knocked on a door at the hospital. “Yeah, come in,” came a bored and tired voice from the other side.

I entered and saw Rainbow in the bed, rear leg heavily bandaged up. “Hey, Rainbow. Thanks for your effort in the fight yesterday.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“. . . So, I made something for you to try and make your stay a bit better.” Rainbow perked up when I gave her the box.

She opened it and a smile lit her face up. “A double bacon cheeseburger with extra cheese sauce and all the toppings except onions!?”

“I even put some fries on the burger for you. Right between the patties.”

“You’re the best, Yang!” Rainbow picked up her burger and began tearing into it. “It’s not the same as it would be at your place, but it’s still really good.”

“I do try.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yeah, I don’t try.”

“Anyways, that’s actually all I came here for. I’m feeling a bit frustrated at some stuff right now, so I’m going to go run it off.”

Rainbow took another bite of the burger. “Yeh, okey.” After some quick chewing and swallowing, she asked, “Anything happen at the trial?”

“Sir Classical Tune confessed to the crime and a mare named Octavia, apparently his daughter, pointed out some big hypocrisy of his and their family name. I think things are going to start changing in Canterlot.”

Author's Notes:

And so it begins.

If someone gave me the name Classical Tune, which I do believe happened, I don't remember who it was.