With the trial over and Blaze back in his cell, Celestia stopped by Blueblood’s cell to see if he had decided on his attorney.

As soon as he saw her, Blueblood opened his mouth “I will be representing myself. It would only be a waste of my money to hire an attorney.”

Shocked, Celestia just looked at him for a moment. Is he serious? He just doesn’t get it, does he? Oh well, I’m not going to force him. “Are you sure of this?”

He nodded

“Very Well. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” With that, she walked away.

She met up with Cadance, Shining Armor and Twilight’s parents. “He has decided to represent himself.”

They just stared at her for a moment before shaking their heads.

Cadance looked at Celestia “Everything is proceeding smoothly. There is only one problem that has come up, so far.”

“What’s that?” Celestia asked

“It seems that word of our arrival and what happened last night has gotten out.” Shining Armor began “Now, there are thousands of ponies that want to be present tomorrow.”

Celestia stared “Thousands?”

He nodded “Many of them are arriving in Canterlot, as we speak. The problem this has caused is that there is no location large enough to hold them all and still have the trial.”

Celestia smiled “That’s alright, I’ll think of something. If that’s the only problem we have, we’re in good shape.”

At that point, they all looked to the side to see Ice Blossom walking up. “Princess Cadance, everything has been taken care of and is ready for tomorrow. There has also been a suggestion of a location for the trial.”

Cadance smiled “Very good, thank you. What was the suggestion?”

“Canterlot Park” Ice Blossom replied “It’s the largest place available, even if it is outside. However, it is still not large enough to accommodate everypony that is coming.”

Celestia tilted her head thoughtfully “I suppose I could cast a spell to temporarily enlarge the park. However, I can only keep it that large for a little over a day. Then, it will go back to its normal size.”

“That’s perfect, Princess Celestia, thank you. I will tell everypony about this and we will get everything ready as soon as the park is expanded.” Ice Blossom replied

Celestia nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. Her horn lit up with its usual golden color, but it was much brighter than usual. After a couple of minutes, she stopped and let out a sigh. “There, it’s done. Around midnight tomorrow, the spell will end.”

“Thank you, Princess. That’s plenty of time. We will go get everything ready.” Ice Blossom paused “Oh, and we have decided that we will not return for court until the day after tomorrow. Have a good night, your highnesses and I will see you in the morning.” With that said, she walked over to a group of ponies to start organizing the location set up.

Celestia, Cadance, Shining Armor, Twilight Velvet and Night Light went back to her room and walked in. They were surprised when Artemis and Twilight raised their heads and looked at them.

Celestia just stared “How did you-?”

Twilight giggled slightly “I’m the Element of Magic, remember? My Element gives me some protection from most spells, no matter how powerful they are. Yours did make me fall asleep for a couple of hours, but then my natural resistance to spells kicked in and I woke up. I decided to let Artemis sleep for a while longer. At least, until I got hungry. We did sleep through lunch, after all. That’s when I woke him up but we decided to wait for you.”

Artemis got off his sister’s bed and stretched before moving off to the side to allow Twilight to do the same. After she finished stretching, they walked over to meet their family at the door.

They walked back out and headed towards the dining room, Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang falling into step behind them.

Apple Crunch was waiting for them. “Welcome, your highnesses. I have already prepared Fettuccine Alfredo with Fresh Garden Peas for dinner. For dessert, I have prepared-“

Please, not cake. Twilight and Artemis thought

“One apple pie and one cherry pie.” Apple Crunch finished

They both sighed in relief, causing everypony to look at them.

Twilight looked up “We’re just glad it’s not cake.” She paused and looked at Apple Crunch “Don’t get me wrong, cake is delicious. However, after the attack last night, our magic was so weak that we needed to eat Pinkie’s Triple Chocolate, Strawberry Frosted cupcakes to help us recover.”

Artemis looked over at Celestia “I ate three of them and Twilight had to eat four. I’m pretty sure that neither of us wants to even look at cake for a week. They did help us recover but,” he shuddered “it was way too much sugar.”

Twilight nodded

Everypony, even Celestia, just stared at them for a moment.

Apple Crunch shuddered as well, just imagining having to eat that much sugar. “I completely understand. Prince Artemis and Princess Twilight, I just changed my mind. Dessert for the two of you, is now going to be a bowl of fresh fruit.”

Everypony laughed as they went to the table and sat down as the chefs brought in dinner.

Dinner was fairly quiet as everypony was content to let Artemis and Twilight eat in silence.

As the meal ended, the two of them stood and headed for the door. They realized, suddenly, that they were no longer moving. Surprised, they looked at Celestia to see that she had them in her levitation spell.

“Oh no, you two are not going off on your own tonight. Did you forget that you owe me a sleepover?” she asked them

Twilight stared at her “You said you wanted that next week.” She pouted “I was going to bring the girls and have Pinkie really give us a sleepover.”

Celestia stared at her for a moment before she smiled “I am now expecting exactly that when you return next week. I’ve heard enough about Pinkie’s parties that I know it will be fun.”

She gave Twilight a look. “However, Little Sister, last night I could have lost both you and my brother. I let you go back to Ponyville because I am the one that asked Pinkie to throw that party and I didn’t want you to miss it.” She brought them to her side and put a wing over each of them. “Tonight, I’m not letting either of you out of my sight.”

“Aww, that’s not fair, Aunt Celestia.” Cadance whined “I was going to have them stay with me and Shiny tonight. She’s my little sister, too!”

Twilight Velvet nodded “And I was going to insist that both of my children, and their partners, spend the night with us.”

Celestia paused, thought a moment and nodded with a smile. “Well, my room’s big enough for all of us. We’ll have a family sleepover tonight.”

They all paused, shocked, before grinning and nodding.

Twilight looked over at Artemis “I guess we don’t have a choice.”

He shrugged “Not really. When my sister gets like this, it’s generally best to just go along with it.”

At that, everypony laughed, except for Celestia. She was too busy blushing.

Artemis looked at Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang. “We’ll see the two of you in the morning. Get some rest.”

They both looked offended “Your Highness, your protection-“started Silver Shadow. He cut was cut off by the sound of Twilight laughing. He looked at her, confused. “My princess?”

“We will be spending the night with Celestia, Cadance, and Shining Armor. Plus my parents.” She shook her head, still laughing “Do you really think anypony would be dumb enough to attack us?”

Midnight Fang laughed as well “Not likely, my princess.”

They both bowed “Have a good night, your highnesses.”

With that, the royal family returned to Celestia’s personal chambers. Everypony looked at Celestia.

She shook her head “This is not the fun sleepover. Tonight, I just want cuddle time with my family.”

Twilight and Artemis looked at each other before climbing onto Celestia’s bed and cuddling together in the middle of it. Artemis lit his horn and levitated Celestia to his free side, while Twilight did the same and brought Cadance to hers. Cadance smiled and pulled Shining Armor to her other side. Twilight Velvet snuggled next to her son and Night Light snuggled next to his wife.

Celestia and Artemis didn’t even get up to lower the sun and raise the moon. They just raised their heads, lit their horns and preformed their celestial duty.

Everypony lay like that, until they fell asleep.

The next morning, Celestia and Artemis woke up at the same time, each to the call of their respective celestial bodies. Artemis lowered the moon and stars before Celestia rose the sun.

Artemis was content to snuggle back against Twilight and lay there a while longer.

Celestia, however, stood and lit her horn. The light woke the rest of the sleeping ponies.

“Really, sister?” Artemis asked as he watched everyone wake up.

Twilight giggled as she opened her eyes. “I told you. She always does this whenever somepony spends the night in her room. Why do you think I don’t do it very often?” She yawned and nuzzled him “That’s why she had to put the sleeping spell on those pillows any time she wanted me to spend the night in here.”

Celestia blushed “It’s no fun being the only one awake. Besides, I like having company for breakfast.”

“Ugh, then go back to sleep after you raise the sun and eat breakfast later.” Cadance groaned as she buried her face into Shining Armor’s neck, trying to block out the light. “Some of us like to sleep in.”

“Point taken, should we rest for a while?” Celestia asked

“No, we’re up now.” Cadance answered, while everypony else nodded.

They were walking towards the dining room when a thought occurred to Twilight. “Cadance?” she asked “Where is Flurry?”

“The Crystal Empire. As soon as we got Aunt Celestia’s letter, we arranged for a couple of guards and castle staff to take care of her.” Cadance replied “Don’t worry, we’ll bring her next time.”

In the dining room, they found the table piled high with pancakes and waffles. Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang were waiting for them.

“Good morning, your highnesses. Today is a big one, so we had to make sure you were all well fed.” They turned to find Apple Crunch standing in the doorway.

Artemis and Twilight, reminded of the events scheduled for the day, shivered and cuddled closer to each other.

Celestia shot Apple Crunch a look and nuzzled her brother “Shh, it’s OK. Nopony is going to hurt you, little brother.”

“I’m not worried about getting hurt, sister. I don’t want to go back to the moon.”

“And I don’t want to be forced to send him there.” Twilight said as she shivered again.

Cadance hugged her “That won’t happen, Twilight.”

“You don’t know that.” was her quiet reply

There wasn’t much more that anypony could say. The rest of the words they had planned to comfort them with died in their throats. Everypony just decided to eat breakfast.

After they had eaten, and tried to convince Artemis and Twilight to eat, they walked out of the castle. As soon as they got to the park, Celestia had them stop. “I don’t want the two of you in the “courtroom” at first. I need you two to wait here until after Blueblood enters.”

“Why is that, sister?” asked Artemis, confused

“I’m pretty sure he thinks that you are dead, Artemis. I want the court, and everypony else, to see his reaction when he finds out that you are not.”

Suddenly, Celestia wasn’t sure who was laughing the loudest. She just stared as Artemis, Twilight and Cadance collapsed to the ground, laughing.

“Oh good, they made it.”

Twilight, still laughing, looked up to find that Celestia was looking out into the crowd. “Who made it?” she asked

Celestia looked back down at her and smiled. “Your friends and Spike, of course. I couldn’t let them miss this.”

Cadance looked up, back the way they came, and stood up “Shiny, let’s go. We need to get into the audience. Now.”

They followed her gaze and immediately understood. Blueblood was coming. With a quick teleportation spell, Celestia was suddenly standing in the front of the “courtroom” next to the judge. She looked back in time to see Twilight cast a camouflage spell. She smiled as Twilight and Artemis disappeared.

Blueblood was confident as he was led out of his cell on the day of the trial. Everything will be the set way it should be, soon. My plans were flawless, they always are.

He was a bit surprised as he was led, not into the castle, but out into Canterlot. He paused for a second before he laughed. Aunt Celestia set it up as a public trial? That’s great! Now everypony will know what I have done and why I have done it! They will force her to give me my title back and maybe even put me in power!

Soon, he arrived at a courtroom that had been set up out in the middle of the park. He saw how many ponies were already gathered and smiled. It looks like most of Equestria is here.

He was not that far off, everypony that was able to travel to Canterlot on short notice was here. Word of Blueblood’s actions had quickly spread throughout Equestria. Nopony wanted to miss what was already being called “the Trial of the Century”.

His smile turned to a grin as he looked to the front, near the judge, and saw Celestia standing there. She’s by herself, my plan must have worked. He walked the seat that had been provided in the spot marked “Defendant” and sat down.

He looked over to the spot provided for the prosecution and only saw one lawyer. This will be easier than I thought.

He then looked behind the prosecutor and into the audience. He was surprised to see that the rulers of the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadance and her husband, Shining Armor were present. They were sitting in the front row, right behind the prosecutor. Next to them was a pair of unicorns that he felt that he should recognize, but did not. They must not be important, then.

Behind them, in the second row sat a small dragon and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Good. They are all present so they can banish Uncle Artemis as soon as I’m proven right. Wait, where is the Commoner Princess? She’d better show up, she’s not getting out of this!

The judge, an earth pony stallion, raised his voice, catching the attention of the ponies present. “This is a bit unusual, considering the level of severity of the charges, but the citizens of Equestria have requested that this trial be a public one because of the ponies involved.”

Blueblood smiled and nodded, happy with this arrangement.

“I am Straight Arrow. While, I usually do not judge public trials, I simply couldn’t not preside over this particular one.” He paused to take a sip of water.

“If everypony is ready, Princess Celestia, Crimson Justice and Blueblood, I’d like to begin.”

The three of them nodded. The court reporter nodded as well and began taking notes.

“The defendant, Blueblood, stands accused of the following charges: Treason, Conspiracy against the Crown, and Masterminding the Attempted Assassination of Artemis, Prince of the Night and Steward of the Moon.”

Blueblood’s head shot up as his smile disappeared. “Attempted?!”

“Indeed”

Everypony turned at the voice, watching as Artemis and Twilight walked up from the back of the “courtroom” to stand next to Celestia.

“As you can see, Nephew, the attempt was unsuccessful.”

Blueblood’s face flushed with anger as he shouted “How could you have survived?! Blaze has never failed to me! His technique for removing the magic from a pony is flawless!”

He paused as he saw Artemis smile at Twilight. “You! You had something to do with this, didn’t you, Commoner Princess?!”

Celestia noticed Cadance and Shining Armor, along with Twilight Velvet and Night Light, bristle at that comment. She sent them a look, telling them that they needed to calm down.

Straight Arrow spoke up, before Twilight could answer. “I take it, by that statement, that you do not dispute the charges filed against you, Blueblood?”

Blueblood turned to Straight Arrow “I will not dispute the charges against me. Instead, I will reveal to the court, and Equestria, why what I have done is the correct course of action. Why the course of action that I have tried to set into motion needs to be completed.”

Everypony just stared at him.

Straight Arrow, clearly incredulous, nodded. “You will have your chance later. First, your actions must be laid out before the court and Equestria. Do you have any objections?”

Blueblood shook his head “No, Your Honor.” He sat down and patiently waited for his chance.

“Very Well” Straight Arrow said, before turning to Crimson Justice. “The prosecution has the floor. Please, call your first witness.”

Crimson Justice stepped forward “Thank you, Your Honor. However, in light of the many unusual aspects of this trial, I would like to take an equally unusual approach to the handling of my witnesses.”

Straight Arrow looked at him “Please, explain your request.”

Crimson Justice looked at the three alicorns standing at the front, not far from Straight Arrow. “The three witnesses I am prepared to call are standing right in front of us, our Prince and Princesses of Equestria. However, instead of calling and questioning each one individually, I would like to question them as a group. Merely directing questions as needed. This is because, in order to follow the series of events properly, I may be required to constantly have to switch back and forth between them.”

Straight Arrow paused “An unorthodox request. However, I agree that it will be the best way to question your witnesses, in this particular case. You have permission to proceed.”

Crimson Justice nodded “Thank you, Your Honor. I call to the stand Artemis, Prince of the Night and Steward of the Moon; Celestia, Princess of the Day and Steward of the Sun; and Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Element of Magic.”

The three alicorns stepped forward, but Crimson Justice shook his head. “Please remain where you are, Your Highnesses. I would like to begin my questioning now, if that is alright with the three of you.”

Celestia, Artemis and Twilight sat down and nodded.

“Prince Artemis, I would like to begin with the events of Monday night.”

Artemis winced but nodded

“I understand that these events are not easy for you to talk about, so I will attempt to make this quick. Please describe the events that led up to your re-possession, brief though it was, by Night-Terror Knight.”

Twilight exchanged glances with Celestia and moved to Artemis’ other side, placing him between the two of them, before nuzzling him. Celestia moved closer to her brother and nuzzled him as well. The two princesses then looked over at Crimson Justice, daring him to object.

He smiled “I have no problem with your actions, Your Highnesses. That is one of the reasons I wanted to question the three of you as a group.”

Artemis took a deep breath “The cause of the events of Monday night actually began some three months prior. At that time, ponies did not come to my night court. That changed, one night, when Blueblood came to me with a request that I authorize amendments to a couple of fairly old and obscure laws. He began doing this every night, with other nobles joining him. From time to time, events arose that required the attention of at least one of the ruling figures of Equestria. However, I was not allowed to tend to these events, despite my position. Instead, I was told that I was merely there to pass messages to my sister and not a “real prince”. It was demanded of me that I inform my sister and have her deal with the issues. This continued for approximately two months.”

“I can only assume it was noticed that this no longer bothered me, because the ponies coming to my court each night started coming with complaints about my night sky.” Artemis paused “You can understand how much this did bother me. The moon and night sky are mine to control and I take great pride in my work with them.”

“Monday night, Blueblood came to my Night Court with something that wasn’t even a request, but a demand.”

Crimson Justice stared “What was the demand, Your Highness?”

Artemis glared at Blueblood but answered “That I immediately give control of my moon and night sky over to my sister and renounce my title as Prince of Equestria, on the grounds that I “am not a real prince”.” He paused, looking back at Crimson Justice “That is the last thing I remember. The next thing I saw was Twilight Sparkle sitting in front of me.”

Crimson Justice looked at Twilight “Next, I would like to question Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 26 Estimated time remaining: 33 Hours, 18 Minutes