Ice picked her jaw up off the floor and flicked her tail once as the shock of what Colonel Stetson had said began to wear off. An explosion of words suddenly came to her. She laid her ears back and erupted, lashing her tail the whole time.

“Are you kidding me? After all the trouble I went through to get you out of here as soon as possible? And now you tell me you want to stay?” she shouted.

None of the humans responded. Looking at her as if they were waiting for her to calm down. She turned abruptly, paced a few times, high-stepping angrily. There were plenty more words ready to explode from her mouth. What kind of game were these humans trying to play with her? She took a deep breath, forcing the raging inferno back down to a slow burn. She turned around and looked at them again.

“Alright, what did you do?”

“Ma’am?” Colonel Stetson asked with a look of confusion on his face.

“People generally don’t ask for asylum in a foreign country unless they’re on the run from the law in their own country. Are you deserters or something? What did you do?”

“We’re uh … accused of killing an allied Afghan militia commander. But we’re innocent.”

“All of you are innocent?”

“Yes. We can all vouch for each other because we were all together on the day when the murder is supposed to have happened.”

Or you could all be covering for each other, Ice thought but didn’t say. Instead, she said, “But if you came here seeking asylum, why didn’t you ask right away? Why go through this whole song and dance of a navigation and radio system failure?” The raging fire inside of her was down to a slow burn and was speaking calmly now.

“The navigation error was true. We were planning to go to Ecuador to seek asylum.”

“But the story about the nav system and radio failure was false, wasn’t it. You sabotaged your own radio before you landed because you wanted a legitimate excuse for not answering radio calls. You knew your own AWACS planes could track you if you answered the radio calls.” She said it as an accusation, not a question.

Stetson nodded. “In our nervousness to get away, we accidentally tuned into the wrong TACAN frequency. That’s how we ended up flying into the Crystal Empire. Before we landed, we intentionally shorted out the fuse for the radio and nav system to make our story look legitimate.”

She nodded slightly, the puzzle she’d been trying to solve starting to come together.

“And what you dropped from the aircraft wasn’t trash was it. I had suspected narcotics. That you were drug trafficking. But it wasn’t drugs either, was it?”

Stetson shook his head. “No, ma’am. It was two portable aviation radios. Again, to make our story more believable about why we couldn’t respond to the radio calls.”

“There’s one thing I still don’t understand, though. Once you’d landed and been captured, why not ask for asylum then? Why wait until now?”

“Because we’d hoped you would simply send us on our way like you originally intended to do. If we bought fuel from you, we would have had enough to follow our original plan and fly to Ecuador and ask for asylum there. No uh … No offense intended, but because of what happened twenty years ago, and because the relationship between Equestria and the United States still isn’t exactly friendly, we didn’t think The Crystal Empire, or any other pony nation for that matter, would be amenable to our asylum request.”

“I see.” She could hardly blame them for that, given the truth was that she was not at all open to their asylum request. But an elated thrill also arose inside of her. She might actually be able to charge the humans with murder! Screw the drug charge she’d been hoping to get them on. Screw even the espionage charge. If she could get them on murder … She forced that thought back down into whatever dark corner of her mind it had come from. Not that she wanted to force it down. Not at all. She wanted to revel in it. To swim in it like it was a cool lake on these hot late spring days. But no matter how much she wanted to punish them, no matter how much she hated them, she had to be fair to them. She had to keep the scales carried by the Ponies of Justice balanced.

She gathered her thoughts, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She had to explain to them what would happen next.

“Alright … Here’s what’s gonna happen. First, you each need to sign a request for asylum document. This document basically just states that you are requesting asylum in the Crystal Empire, and that you are doing so of your own free will without coercion or duress. Once those documents have been signed, it will start the process. Our treaty with the United States requires that I notify the U.S. Marine Corps of your request for asylum. After that, the U.S. Department of Justice will make an extradition request, informing us you are wanted on criminal charges, and asking us to extradite you to the United States to face those charges. The Crystal Empire does not have an extradition agreement with the United States because it’s our policy not to sign extradition agreements with nations that have a death penalty. However, that does not mean you won’t be extradited. It just means that we consider each extradition request individually. One of our non-negotiable requirements for extradition to death penalty nations is a guarantee that prosecutors will not seek the death penalty. The United States is well aware of this, so their first extradition request will almost certainly offer that guarantee. Any questions so far?”

She waited for a few seconds. None of the humans said anything.

“There are several questions that we consider when deciding whether or not to extradite you. The first, is whether the crime you are accused of would be a crime under the Uniform Code of Pony Justice or under Crystal Empire law, although in this case I think we can say that yes, it most definitely is. The second question is whether we believe the evidence against you is strong enough to make it reasonable for the case to proceed to a criminal trial. The third question is whether we believe you can receive a fair trial under the criminal justice laws of the country requesting extradition. The fourth question is whether we believe you will receive humane treatment in prison during the trial process and in the event that you are convicted. Any questions?”

Again, she waited a few seconds, but, none of the humans said anything.

“Now even if we deny extradition based on one of the above criteria, that does not mean you are off the hook. We could decide that we don’t think you will get a fair trial if we extradite, but that the evidence against you is sufficiently strong that the case should be prosecuted. In that case, we can try you under the Uniform Code of Pony Justice. And if convicted, you can be sentenced to serve a punishment in the Crystal Empire.” That was what she was really hoping for. That she’d be able to prosecute them here. Make them serve time in a Crystal Empire dungeon. “Any questions?”

“What is this Uniform Code of Pony Justice?” Colonel Stetson asked.

“It’s a uniform set of criminal justice laws and trial proceedings adopted by the four pony nations of Equestria, the Crystal Empire, Saddle Arabia, and Germaney. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, King Haakim, and King Rheinisches have all agreed to be bound by it. A ruling made by a representative of the law under the Uniform Code of Pony Justice is legally binding in all four member nations. There are local laws as well that are not covered under the uniform code. However, murder most certainly is covered under the code. So if you were to be tried here, you would be tried under the Uniform Code of Pony Justice. Any other questions?”

None of the humans responded.

“Alright. Then if you are sure you want to do this, I’ll go get the asylum forms.”

“We’re sure,” Colonel Stetson responded.

She nodded and turned, making her way out of the dungeon and up the stairs again. Cadance would be in bed by now. But informing her could wait until tomorrow morning. And so for the third time that night, she walked to her office building, passed underneath the watchful gaze of the Ponies of Justice, and made her way inside the building towards a row of filing cabinets. It had been so long since she’d dealt with an asylum request that she had to stop and think which cabinet to look in. She opened one of the drawers and removed the forms she needed, stashing them in her saddlebag. She stopped in her office to leave the forms the humans had already signed on her desk. Then she left, stepped outside, passed under the Ponies of Justice again, and made her way back to the palace and down towards the dungeon.

“You are busy tonight,” one of the Crystal Guards at the dungeon entrance remarked.

“I never knew one group of prisoners could be so much trouble,” she said.

The guard raised an eyebrow, but didn’t ask any questions. He would know that she couldn’t give any more information if she was dealing with an ongoing case. He opened the door for her, and she made her way down the stairs and back to the human prisoners. She passed the forms and pens for signing them through the bars.

“Again, these are the asylum request forms,” she explained. “Basically, they just state that you are requesting asylum in the Crystal Empire, that you are making the request of your own free will, and that the request is being made without coercion or duress. It’s important to realize that these forms are not a guarantee of asylum. Just a request for asylum. Obviously, you will not be granted asylum if we determine that you have committed this crime. In that case, you will either be extradited, or imprisoned here in the Crystal Empire.”

The human prisoners read over the forms, and each one signed them before slipping them back to her through the bars. She took them each in turn and placed them back in her saddle bag.

“Alright. Given the magnitude of the crime you are accused of, and the fact that you are a flight risk, you are going to have to remain in the dungeon for the duration of the investigation. You’ll be allowed two hours of recreational time outside every day in a fenced courtyard under guard supervision. One hour in the morning, and one hour in the afternoon. If the weather is bad, the recreational time will be in an indoor gym instead. As you’ve probably figured out by now, the dungeon only serves vegetarian meals. The chefs cannot serve meat, but if any of you have any other special dietary requirements or food allergies, please notify one of the guards. You are also entitled to medical care, both physical and psychiatric if you need it. As far as your behavior in the dungeon … Well, you are all military. So just act like you normally would and you’ll be fine. Make your bunks, clean up after yourselves, and follow the orders of the guards. Any questions?”

Colonel Stetson looked at his companions for a moment before returning his attention to her.

“No questions.”

“Then tomorrow, I’ll contact the Marine Corps and inform them of your asylum request. I’m sure General Faulkner has already gone home for the day … If you need to talk to me, the dungeon guards can page me. I’m available twenty-fours a day for emergency requests.”

“Thank you,” Stetson responded.

“It’s my job,” she said, not hesitating this time. She wouldn’t be caught off guard by his feigned courtesy twice. Then, she turned around, left the dungeon, and then left the palace. She started back to her office, but then stopped.

“Screw it,” she said to no one in particular, then turned and started on her way home instead. Between the case with Rover and the case with the humans, she’d been working very long hours. She had no prisoners she needed to visit tonight, and there was nothing else she could do on this case tonight anyway. And besides, she’d have to go into work very early tomorrow to catch General Faulkner before he left, and stay late the next morning because she wanted to catch Rover before he was released so that she could see him off properly. That and she expected she was going to be getting very busy very soon, arguing back and forth with human JAG officers about why the prisoners should or should not be extradited. She might as well save her energy … and her sanity, and take the rest of the night and most of the day tomorrow off.

Upon arriving home, she went to her freezer, pulled out a bag of frozen hay fries, took a bag of alfalfa noodles from a cupboard, then set a pot of water on the stove. As she waited for it to boil, she went to her bookshelf, looking for something to read before bed. Several Daring Do books were stacked carelessly on one of the shelves, collecting layers of dust from years of disuse. Why had she even brought those books with her to the Crystal Empire? She should have thrown them away while moving out of her apartment in Canterlot. When she had been a teenager, and during her years in Bat Team Alpha, she had loved the series, eagerly devouring each new book within a day of it being published, and then dreading the long wait until the next book in the series would come out. But that was before her injury. Now, she hated the series. Couldn’t even stand to look at it on her shelf. She laid her ears back, her eyes boring holes into the books as if they were some kind of living enemy provoking her. As if she could burn through them simply by staring at them They glared back at her, mocking her with their adventure themed covers and spines. Why oh why hadn’t she gotten rid of those books?

In a sudden rage, she put her forehoof on the shelf, sweeping it across, catching all the Daring Do Books and sending them tumbling to the floor. She kicked them roughly, sending them flying towards the other side of the room, landing in various states of disarray on the floor, some laying limply open, their bones broken. She lashed out again, sending the ones she had missed the first time to join the others. She cantered across the room, trampling over the books as if they were a spitting cobra she was trying to kill. Covers split down the middle with explosive pops, spines snapped in half with a crack! crack! crack! sound. Pages screamed out as they were rended from their binding. But she was numb to their cries. She kicked again, punting the carnage into the fireplace. Breathing heavily, her heart thumping, she picked up a long match in her mouth, striking it against the stone hearth before tossing it in. The loose paper caught quickly, igniting the pages that were still in the bindings. Flesh peeled and burned away, curling up as it blackened. There was a blinding white flash at the bunker, briefly lighting up the area as if it were daylight. An earsplitting boom pierced the night sky and a large stack of flame rose from the building, billowing into the night sky like a fire dragon emerging from a volcano. Smoke poured from the bunker, the smell of burning skin assaulting her nostrils as flames gushed from the mutilated and charred bodies. The shrill beep! beep! beep! beep! of the battle stations klaxon pierced her ears as the humans inside the bunker finally realized, too late, that they were under attack. What was left of the bunker that had survived the initial explosion was on fire now. Flames roared into the sky, illuminating the black night with an orange glow of vengeance. Many of the human soldiers rushed out and finally started to mount a disorganized defense as they tried to make sense of what had just happened to them. A bright flash shot from the shoulder-fired RPG one of the human soldiers was carrying, The crack of an explosion split the night next to her. A searing pain ripped through her left wing joint.

And then, she came crashing back into her apartment, the images of battle disappearing as suddenly as if a unicorn had teleported them away. But the loud beep! beep! beep! beep! continued to assault her ears, and the surrounding air was muddled with haze. She coughed, the smoke burning and stinging her lungs. Gradually, like coming out of a fog, it dawned on her: The beeping was her smoke detector. She’d forgotten to open the damper on the chimney. She grabbed the poker off its stand and thrust it in the fireplace, catching the damper lever and pushing it up. The smoke that had been pouring out into the room now begin to rush up the chimney. She replaced the poker and cantered over to the side wall, going up on her hind legs, grabbing the window with both forehooves and throwing it open.

Gradually, the room began to clear as the smoke drifted up the chimney and rolled out of the open window like fog rolling over a valley. The smoke alarm ceased its attack on her ears, and all was quiet except for the gentle breeze outside.

She stood with her muzzle at the window for at least a minute, breathing heavily and gulping in the fresh air, adrenaline still charging through her veins like a herd of stampeding mustangs. She coughed as smoke still burned her throat. Her eyes watered with a stinging sensation. The mustangs slowed from a full gallop to a canter, then to a trot, and finally, to a slow walk before coming to a stop. Her breathing slowed to normal and she realized she was shivering. She looked down, finding her fur soaked with sweat.

She took her forehooves off the windowsill, coming back down to all fours and turning away from the window. The Daring Do books in the fireplace had burned down to ash. Smoldering, glowing embers were all that remained of the fire. The remains of the books made quiet crackling sounds. The gray ash remains of a page broke loose and drifted up towards the chimney with the smoke, disappearing inside of it.

She turned back to the window, pulling it closed again now that the smoke was clear. Any thought of finding something to read or eating dinner had been completely erased from her mind. Now, she just wanted to go to bed. To surrender to sleep and deaden the thought of what had just happened.

Back in her kitchen, she found the pan on the stove boiling away rapidly, sizzling and hissing as water boiled over the sides and spilled onto glowing orange heating element underneath. She turned the stove off, letting the water stop boiling before taking the pan and dumping it down the drain, a cloud of steam rising from it like smoke rising from a burning bunker. She shuttered at the thought, dropped the pan in the sink, didn’t bother with putting the frozen hay fries back in the freezer, and left the kitchen. She’d clean up tomorrow.

She went into her bedroom, climbed into the bed, and lie down, staring up at her ceiling. It was painted black. The ceiling in her old Canterlot apartment had once been dotted with all the star formations visible in Equestria’s night sky. But that was long ago. She had painted that one black too for the same reasons she never looked up at the sky anymore. The reason why she couldn’t stand the Daring Do books – synonymous with adventure and featuring a pegasus … a pegasus with wings – anymore. Why she tried to avoid looking at her back and sides, the area where her wings used to be, every time she looked in the mirror. Why she had not wanted to take the case with the humans. That was how she coped. By avoiding anything that reminded her of what her life had been before that fateful day. Avoiding anything that reminded her of what she’d lost. She’d spent the past twenty years picking up the pieces of her shattered psyche, carefully pasting them all back together until she could live something that resembled a normal life. The paste had held, but it was still fragile.

But then, those damn humans had to fly into the Crystal Empire and land themselves in the dungeon. The humans with their hammers and chisels and pickaxes. Poking, hammering, and chipping away at the fragile pieces of her psyche. Prying the broken shards away, bit by bit. Methodically taking apart what she had spent the last twenty years trying to piece back together.

She closed her eyes, wishing she could shut out her thoughts as easily as she could shut out the images of the outside world. She said a quick prayer to Luna, praying that the Goddess of the Night would shield her sleep and prevent any dreams from tormenting her. She fell into a restless sleep and awoke several times throughout the next several hours. Finally, she fell into a deeper sleep. She did not have any dreams that night.

When she awoke sometime later, she climbed out of bed and walked over to her window. The dark purple curtains allowed no light at all into her room. She was glad alcohol was illegal in the Crystal Empire, otherwise she’d be massively hungover this morning after that flashback last night.

She parted the window curtains with a forehoof. The magic street lamps lining the crystal walkways beneath her were already starting to come on. She must have slept all night and through most of the day! Oh well, she deserved it, she reasoned. She’d need the rest for what would be coming her way. And besides, she’d had a rough night last night.

She went to her dresser, combed out her long mane and tail, wincing as the brush plowed through several snarls and tangles in her mane, a result of her restless night. Perhaps she should cut it short again? No. She couldn’t stand short manes anymore. They reminded her of too much of what she wanted to forget. She finished with the comb then stepped into the shower, feeling uneasy that her routine had been disturbed and she had to do everything earlier than normal tonight. But at least she could do it in the same order. When she’d finished with her shower, she went to the kitchen, boiled some water, and had a quick breakfast of instant oatmeal and coffee. Then, she grabbed the saddlebag with the signed asylum request forms she’d brought home yesterday, stepped outside, and made her way to her office. The air was hot and felt heavy and wet. A warm breeze gusted from the west, hissing through the leaves in the trees. As usual, she did not look up, but the lack of building shadows and strong reflections told her the sky was overcast. Perhaps they’d finally get the storm she was hoping for. Hopefully it would break this Luna cursed heatwave.

She’d lost track of how far she had walked over the last two days, and how many trips she’d made back and forth between her office and the palace. For a moment, she wished she were a unicorn and could teleport between her house, the palace, and her office. But at least she was getting a leg workout, which was good. Since losing her wings, she’d had to learn to live like an earth pony. But because she didn’t have the natural strength of an earth pony, it took more effort for her to keep in earth pony like shape than it did for an actual earth pony. She turned, climbed the stairs, passed under the gaze of the Ponies of Justice, and went into the building, making her way to her office.

She sat on her haunches behind her desk and glanced over the papers scattered on the surface. So far, she’d simply been letting the documents about this case accumulate on her desk. It had made sense, since she’d thought this was going to be an open and shut case. She opened her filing cabinet and took out an empty folder, labeling it and collecting the papers inside of it. She suspected that folder was gonna be bulging at the seams by the time this case was over. Once she’d cleaned off her desk, she took off her saddlebag, removed the newly signed asylum requests from it, and added them to the folder before closing it and placing it back into the drawer. She kicked the drawer closed with a foreleg, sending it slamming shut with far more force than was necessary. The entire cabinet rocked in protest, threatening to tip itself over before it stabilized. She turned on her computer display and began to type.

% ptalk gfaulkner::usmc.us.mil

Ponytalk v 5.8, Connecting to usmc.us.mil . . . . . . . .

Connection established … U.S. Marine Corps, General Faulkner

Ice Moon: You there?

General Faulkner: Yes. Didn’t expect to hear from you again. Is something wrong?

Ice Moon: Change of plans. Your boys have requested asylum. I’m sure you know what for.

There was a long pause. She almost wished this were video chat, or at least an audio chat. She smiled to herself, imaging the string of obscenities that were probably coming out of the General’s mouth right now. She’d have gladly put up with having to talk to a human to hear it. Another minute passed with no response. Had the connection been severed? No, a few seconds later, his words flowed onto the screen.

General Faulkner: … Whatever they told you about being falsely accused of murder is a lie. They are guilty.

Ice Moon: That’s not for you to decide. At this point, you need to turn this matter over to JAG and they need to make a formal extradition request, which may or may not be granted.

General Faulkner: They are guilty of the crime they are accused of. The three MARSOC marines weren’t even supposed to be on that plane. They were fleeing the country because they knew there were gonna get caught. The court martial is practically a formality. Surely we can dispense with the red tape and just follow the original plan?

Ice Moon: Perhaps, General, if you’d been more forthcoming with information the first time I contacted you, I might be more willing to take your word for it. But instead, you chose to play games with me, hoping I’d get them out of pony world without ever finding out. So excuse me if I don’t trust your word any further than I can piss.

For a few seconds, there was no response. Ice wished she could see the General’s face.

Connection closed.

%

It was General Faulkner who had closed the connection.

“Rage quit? Really?”  Ice said to herself with a smile and chuckle, imagining what his face must look like. There probably wasn’t enough Xanax in the entire world to calm the unfortunate general down right now.

Of course, the truth was, she wouldn’t have taken his word for it even if he had been more forthcoming with information. That would have been a gross dereliction of her duties as an officer of justice. But the fact that he’d tried to pull one over on her had really irked her. She hadn’t been able to resist the urge to shove it in his face and rub her hoof on it about the fact that his little attempt at deceiving her had failed.

The thoughts she had pushed back down into the dark corner of her mind began to burrow their way to the surface again. If she had anything to say about it, they would not be extradited. She wanted to try this case herself. To convict them of murder. To see them spend the rest of their lives in a Crystal Empire dungeon. The case she hadn’t wanted to take had turned out to be like a gift from Luna herself. I have to be fair she reminded herself again. But she was being fair, wasn’t she? After all, it’s not like she was planning to frame them, or falsify evidence to make them look guilty. She wouldn’t have to. The evidence was there to convict them. She just had to dig it up. Maybe finesse it a little bit. She had no doubt of their guilt. They were humans. Murder was instinctual for them. As instinctual as a newborn foal’s desire for its dam’s teat. Murder was in the blood of humans. And besides, if nothing else, they were guilty of forcing her to remember what she had worked so hard to try to forget. Of invading her fragile psyche. Of chipping away and trying to take apart everything she’d spent the last twenty years trying so hard to piece back together. If nothing else, they deserved to be punished for that.

Outside the window, the hot, muggy weather continued. Moths circled and danced around under the light posts near the Ponies of Justice, attracted to their iridescent blue glow. Occasionally, one landed on one of the glowing magical orbs, crawling around a bit before flapping its wings, and circling underneath it again. The light reflected off their wings, causing the insects to glow like large fireflies. Lightning ripped through the clouds in the distance, illuminating the western sky like a unicorn fireworks show and hailing the approach of a late spring thunderstorm. A distant rumble of thunder echoed off the buildings, and a chill west wind rustled through the trees, picking up strength and interrupting the stillness of the peaceful night. The crickets chirped loudly, singing of the approaching squall. A rabbit skittered out from under one of the Ponies of Justice, hopping its way to shelter as the bass drum rumble of the thunder grew closer. A bat swooped down under the light, snapping up one of the moths in its jaws. The bat flapped its wings, banking and gliding over to one of the Ponies of Justice before folding its wings and settling gently on one of the pans of the balance scale where it began chomping down its meal, its eyes trained on the window in Ice’s office, staring through it as if it were staring at projector screen showing a movie. The weight of the bat unbalanced the scale, swinging the pan sharply towards the ground. But Ice was not looking out the window and did not see the effect of the bat’s weight on the scale. The air grew colder, lightning slashed through the sky, a crack of thunder split the air, and heavy rain drops began to fall. The bat finished its meal, spread its wings, and flew off into the night, its silhouette passing briefly in front of the pale half Moon shining through the clouds. Moments later, heavy clouds slid over the Moon, snuffing out its light. The bat was lost to the darkness. Next Chapter: V Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 57 Minutes