Twilight nodded and shifted slightly to look at him, making sure she was still snuggled close to Artemis’ side.

Crimson Justice nodded as well “I would like you to discuss the events of Monday Night. You were in Ponyville, correct?”

“Yes” Twilight replied “I sensed that there was something wrong with Artemis. More specifically, with his magic. That worried me, so I cast a long-distance teleport to Canterlot.”

Crimson Justice paused, confused “What was it about his magic that you sensed?”

“I sensed it disappear.” Answered Twilight

“How were you able to sense that? Is it an ability that the Element of Magic grants you?” asked Crimson Justice, more curious than anything.

Twilight shook her head “A few months ago, I read about a spell that links the senses of one pony to the magic of another. This allows the pony who cast the spell to tell when the other one is in trouble. The spell that has been recorded in the history books does not work because it was written incorrectly. However, I was able to figure out what had been done wrong and fix it. At the moment, only an Alicorn can cast it because of the sheer volume of magic required.”

Crimson Justice stared at her “And you cast this spell on Prince Artemis?”

Twilight nodded “When he came to Ponyville last Nightmare Night, it was rather obvious that he was upset. However, he didn’t want to tell me, or anyone, about what was bothering him.” She paused to nuzzle Artemis “All of Equestria knows what happened the last time he got really upset and I didn’t want to risk that happening again.”

“I see” Crimson Justice said “Please, continue. What happened next?”

“I arrived in the throne room to find it in a state of chaos. Ponies were screaming and running everywhere. The only pony that wasn’t doing so, was Celestia. She was staring at the center of the room. I looked there myself and saw Night-Terror Knight. After ordering everypony to the sides of the room, I approached him. He tried to scare me away with a single attack. Instead, I dissipated the attack with a barrier and enclosed us both in my force field. This kept him from going anywhere as well as not allowing attacks to enter or leave. I took a few minutes to calm him with simple conversation. When I asked him if he could release Artemis, he did so without a struggle.”

“Amazing” said Crimson Justice “When did you find about the plot to remove Prince Artemis from power?”

“The next morning, before court. Artemis told Celestia and myself what he knew of the plot. He said that he had not done anything about it because he didn’t believe that it was anything he needed to be concerned about at the time he found out about it.”

Crimson Justice turned to Celestia “Princess Celestia, was this the point that you decided to have the joint court?”

Celestia nodded “I knew that several ponies would be in my court that day, to ask about the events of the night before. Blueblood is almost always in my court, for one reason or another, so I was sure he would be there as well.”

“Artemis told Twilight and myself that Blueblood had accidentally included his plans in a large stack of legal amendments that he had submitted to my brother’s court. As soon as she heard this, Twilight volunteered to go through the stack for two reasons. The first was to see if the amendments should be approved or not. The second was so that she could locate the plans that Artemis had found. She did both. As soon as she found the plans, she immediately gave the document to me.”

She turned to Straight Arrow, summoning the plans that Blueblood wrote. “I have the document here, if you would like to see it?”

Straight Arrow nodded “Of course. Please submit it as evidence to the court.”

She nodded and levitated the document over to him.

Crimson Justice cleared his throat “I would like to skip ahead to the attempt on Prince Artemis’ life that occurred two nights ago. Do you have any evidence of this?”

Celestia nodded and summoned the purple and dark blue spheres as well as the recorded interrogation of Blaze. “I would like the court, and ponies of Equestria, to see these. The spheres are the memories of Twilight and Artemis. They hold the record of the events of two nights ago, as seen through their eyes. This will be a lot easier and faster than having them explain it.”

She paused “They have been in my care since I received them two nights ago. As such, I can assure you that they have not been tampered with. I would like permission to play them for the court.”

Straight Arrow nodded “Permission granted. Please begin”

Celestia enlarged and played the purple sphere, showing everypony Twilight’s memories of the attack.

Next, she enlarged the dark blue one. “This is the same night, as seen through my brother’s eyes.”

When she got to the part with Artemis and Night, she paused it. “There is something that I must explain before I let it continue.” She paused to consider her words. “Four years ago, when Twilight and her friends defeated Night-Terror Knight, she saved my brother by protecting his soul. As a result, the Elements of Harmony were not able to separate the two. Instead, the Elements of Harmony purified both my brother and Night-Terror Knight. He has taken it upon himself to protect my brother. The voice you are about to hear is his.”

With that said, she resumed playing Artemis’ memory.

Then she pulled out the recording of the interrogation of Blaze. “If that is not sufficient, here is the interrogation and confession if the attacker, a pony named Blaze.”

She played the recording for everypony to hear and watch.

“Blaze was put on trial yesterday, has been convicted of Attempted Murder and has been sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.”

Crimson Justice turned to Straight Arrow “I pass my witnesses, Your Honor.”

Straight Arrow nodded “Blueblood, would you like to question the witnesses?”

Blueblood shook his head “They have already answered the questions I had, during their questioning.”

Straight Arrow nodded again “Very well. Stay where you are, but the floor is yours. If you have any evidence to prove that you acted legal manner, please present it now.

Blueblood cleared his throat “My actions were for the betterment of Equestria.” He looked at Artemis “It has been proven throughout history that my “Uncle” is a danger to the ponies around him and Equestria as a whole. He tried to bring about Eternal Night twice, a thousand years ago and nearly four years ago.” He paused “Equestria should be ruled by ponies in the royal blood line, not commoners that have been given power, simply because they have protected us a few times.”

Straight Arrow interrupted “Alright, stop there. Everything you just said was simply your opinion. I asked you to present any evidence you have. Do you have any evidence to present to the court?”

“What?” asked Blueblood “That is the evidence I am presenting! He did try to bring about Eternal Night! Twice! That has been proven! He is dangerous! As a descendant of Princess Platinum, I am the one that should be ruling Equestria!”

Straight Arrow sighed and turned to the three alicorns. “Princess Twilight? Can you silence him, please? Just don’t hurt him.”

Twilight nodded “Gladly”

She lit her horn and surrounded Blueblood’s muzzle with a beam of magenta magic. “This does not hurt him and will allow him to breathe. He just can’t open his mouth wide enough to talk until I remove the spell.” She paused “Is this alright, Your Honor?”

Straight Arrow nodded “That is perfect. Thank you, princess.”

He turned to Blueblood “The only thing that you said that could even remotely be considered evidence is the fact that Eternal Night has nearly been brought about twice in the history of Equestria. However, both times, that was not done by Prince Artemis. It was done by Night-Terror Knight. There is no longer the potential threat of another attempt due to the way that Princess Twilight used the Elements of Harmony. Prince Artemis’ Nightmare form does still exist, but he has obviously been purified. If he truly still wanted to cause harm to others, or be a danger to Equestria, he would have done so when he took control of Prince Artemis the other day.”

Straight Arrow shook his head “Prince Artemis has been back in Equestria for nearly four years and there has never been a problem. That is, until you angered him with the specific goal in mind of drawing out his Nightmare form. You succeeded at that and, even then, nopony was harmed. That tells me that he does not pose a danger to anypony or Equestria.”

He paused to get his thoughts back on track. “This is a trial, so I will get back to the legal matter at hoof. The actions described were completely unwarranted and, more importantly, illegal.”

He looked up at the ponies gathered “I will be making the final decision, but I will take your opinion into account. The charges that have been filed against Blueblood are as follows: Treason, Conspiracy against the Crown and Masterminding the Attempted Murder of Artemis, Prince of the Night.”

“How many of the ponies present believe that the defendant is not guilty? If you do, raise your hoof and only one hoof.”

He paused for an entire minute, looking around.

Nopony raised a hoof, the ones that agreed with Blueblood had been part of the plot and were in the Royal Dungeons.

Blueblood looked around in shock. What? Nopony at all? How can they not see that I am right?

Straight Arrow nodded “And who among the ponies of Equestria believe that Blueblood is guilty of the charged filed against him?”

Everypony in the “courtroom” raised a hoof. Except for Straight Arrow, Crimson Justice, Celestia, Artemis, Twilight, and Blueblood, of course. Straight Arrow turned to a Pegasus next to him. “Please take a count.” The mare nodded and took flight, hovering in the air as she counted. There were so many ponies that it took her a few minutes.

A few minutes later, she landed. “Three thousand, five hundred and six” she reported. Then she paused, head tilted in thought and smiled, as if she was amused at something. “Well,” she continued “Those are the numbers for adult votes. If you want a count of the foals and under aged ponies that tried to put in their votes, add two hundred and fifty-seven.”

Artemis stared in shock as he heard the number of ponies that believed that Blueblood was guilty. W-what?! That many ponies showed up to support me?! No, that can’t be it. They just don’t like what Blueblood did.

Celestia and Twilight noticed Artemis’ shock and nuzzled him.

Straight Arrow cleared his throat “Well, it’s obvious what the ponies of Equestria think. Fortunately, the law concurs.”

“The ponies and legal system of Equestria find Blueblood Guilty of Treason, Conspiracy against the Crown, and Masterminding the Attempted Assassination of Artemis, Prince of the Night” Straight Arrow paused “It’s unfortunate that there is no official charge for attempting to have a pony undeserving banished to the moon. If there was, I’d add it to the list.”

“The court sentences Blueblood to life in prison, no bail, and no possibility of parole. This sentence is due to both the charges that he is guilty of and the clear fact that he desires to cause harm or death to our prince.”

Everypony present cheered.

Well, except for Blueblood. He couldn’t speak because his muzzle was still bound in Twilight’s magic. However, he made his point clear as he glared at the trio of alicorns in front of him.

Artemis and Twilight weren’t cheering either. Artemis was in shock and Twilight was filled with relief that she wasn’t going to be forced to banish him. They both collapsed to the ground.

Celestia joined them and nuzzled Artemis “I told you, little brother. You’re not going anywhere.”

The foals present were happy because they saw that all of the grown-ups were cheering and happy. They were also confused and didn’t really know what was going on.

The little Pegasus colt that had snuggled up to Twilight a few days ago looked to the front of the courtroom. Seeing Twilight, Artemis and Celestia laying on the ground, he shouted “Let’s go ask Princess Twilight! She’ll tell us what happened!”

With that, there was a rush of all of the foals in hearing distance as they ran to Twilight, Artemis and Celestia.

They stopped in front of the trio of alicorns and looked up at Twilight.

She shook her head to clear it and smiled down at the little colt. “I remember you. I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name last time. Can you tell me, now, please?”

He grinned “Silver Spark! Mommy says it’s because she can see silver sparkling in my mane!” He jumped right into her hooves and settled down, snuggling up to her chest again. “They used too many big words.” He complained, looking up at her. “Can you tell us what happened?”

“Please?” asked the rest of the foals as one.

This caught the attention of the adults present. They all looked around, suddenly noticing that their foals were no longer under hoof. They looked to the front to see that their foals were all gathered around the prince and princesses and sighed in relief, knowing that nothing would harm their foals, so close to their prince and princesses. They quieted down to listen to what their foals were up to.

Twilight looked at Celestia and Artemis. Celestia smiled and they both nodded.

Twilight looked back down at the group of foals and nodded “I guess that’s true. You should know what happened. This is important to everypony.”

“YAY! Thank you, princess!” they all shouted as they sat or lay down in front of her.

The only other exception was the little earth pony filly that had asked to touch Artemis’ wings. She walked up to him and poked him in the chest again, causing him to look down at her.

“Hello, little one. What’s your name?” he asked

“Water Lilly” she blushed “Um, c-can I please-?”

He smiled and pulled her into his forehooves.

Her blush immediately disappeared as she smiled and nuzzled his chest before snuggling close to him.

Celestia and everypony, except Blueblood, smiled at this.

Twilight cleared her throat “How many of you know who Blueblood is?”

Water Lilly raised her hoof “Daddy told me that he used to be a prince but he is not one anymore because he did something mean to Prince Artemis.”

Twilight nodded “That’s right. He tried to force Celestia to banish Artemis back to the moon.”

The foals all gasped

“No Way!!! Why did he do that?” asked Silver Spark “That’s so mean!”

“Blueblood doesn’t think Artemis deserves to be a prince. He wants to be the Prince of Equestria himself, instead of Artemis.” Answered Twilight

“No! I don’t want Blueblood to be our prince!” shouted a little unicorn filly “He’s mean to us. Mommy and Daddy go to ask him for help sometimes, but he never does.”

“Prince Artemis helps us though!” said an earth pony colt “I had a really bad dream last week and he came to help me! He made the scary monster that was chasing me go away and let me have a dream about going to the beach! It was super fun!”

Twilight nuzzled Artemis before turning back to the foals. “Celestia and I found out about Blueblood’s plan and stopped it. We thought that was it and everything was fine, but we were wrong. Two nights ago, a pony came to Ponyville. He attacked us and tried to kill Artemis.”

The foals all gasped

Water Lilly snuggled deeper into Artemis’ chest. “Why did somepony do that?” she asked, with tears in her eyes.

Twilight leaned over to nuzzle her “The pony that attacked us told Celestia that Blueblood told him to do that if Artemis wanted to keep being a prince.” She paused “It’s OK, though. He’s locked up in the Royal Dungeons right now. He can’t hurt anypony.”

“Good!” replied Water Lilly

Silver Spark tapped Twilight’s chest with a hoof to get her attention. “But why are all the grown-ups so happy? They were shouting and everything.”

“Yeah! What happened?” asked the unicorn filly that had spoken earlier.

“This was a trial to see what punishment Blueblood was going to get. The judge and all of the grown-ups here have decided that he needs to go back to the Royal Dungeons and he’s never going to be allowed to leave.” Twilight answered “We don’t want him to try to hurt Artemis anymore.”

“YAY!!!”

Suddenly, they all stopped as a wave of dark blue magic swept over them. Twilight looked at Artemis to find that his horn was glowing and that the three of them, plus the foals, were now inside his barrier. She was about to ask what was going on when she noticed that he was looking, and glaring, over at Blueblood.

She followed his gaze to find that Blueblood was glaring at them and had lit his horn, in preparation of casting a spell.

Artemis, not knowing what Blueblood was up to, was not taking any chances. He had decided to put up a barrier around them and, more importantly, the foals.

Celestia spoke up “Guards! Take Blueblood back to his cell. Now. Twilight, as soon as he gets to the edge of your range, end your spell.”

Twilight nodded

A pair of Day Guards immediately stepped forward and escorted Blueblood away.

The little earth pony colt stared, wide eyed, for a moment before he shouted “I told you Prince Artemis helps us!”

Artemis released his barrier, now that the potential danger had passed. He heard the sound of hoofsteps and looked over to see Straight Arrow walking up to him.

“Thank you, Prince Artemis,” he said “for protecting my daughter.”

Artemis was confused until Water Lilly, still in his hooves, looked up.

“Daddy!” she squealed, jumping up to hug him. “Are you done working now?”

Straight Arrow shook his head as he returned her hug. “I’m sorry, honey. I still have a little bit of work left. I need you to be patient for a little while longer. Then, we can play.”

Water Lilly nodded and nuzzled her father. Then, she turned and walked back to Artemis. Not bothering to ask this time, she placed herself in his hooves again, reaching up as high as she could to nuzzle Artemis before snuggling back into his chest. “It’s OK, Daddy. I’ll stay with him until you’re done.”

Artemis stared down at her in shock.

“Prince Artemis?” Straight Arrow asked, causing him to look back up “Is that alright with you? If you have other plans, I can ask somepony else to watch my daughter.”

Artemis nodded before reaching down to return her nuzzle, causing her to giggle.

Twilight saw this and smiled “In fact, we’d be happy to watch all of the foals here while you finish and clean up.” She paused, glancing at Pinkie “I’m pretty sure I know somepony who has other plans for this space, as soon as you’re done.”

Everypony followed her gaze to find that Pinkie was practically bouncing in her seat with excitement and smiled. They had heard enough about the Element of Laughter to know what was coming next.

“Very well, your highnesses.” Straight Arrow said as he smiled and bowed “Thank you. We can focus on our work without worry. You have proven that our foals will be safe in your care.” Straight Arrow headed back to what had served as his bench for the trial and started the required paperwork. The other parents set about clearing the park, no longer worried about keeping their foals occupied.

Roughly twenty minutes later, the park was cleared of everything that even hinted that there had been a trial there at all.

Twilight put up a quick barrier around the three of them and the foals, looked over at Pinkie and nodded. Celestia looked at Twilight, confused, while Artemis just smiled.

Pinkie grinned, walked over to the middle to the park, pulled out her party cannon and yanked on the cord.

BOOM!

Suddenly, the park was decorated in shades of blue and silver. Dark blue streamers wound around all of the trees, lamp posts and benches. Silver streamers were draped through the tops of the trees. One nearby tree had a large piñata hanging from it. The piñata was in the shape of a circle that was colored like the night sky. There was a pink six-pointed star resting in the night sky and a silver crescent moon in front of that. Hanging from, or attached to, and/or in front of, other trees were other party games like pin the tail on the pony, tug-of-war, buckets of water balloons, and a set up for a game of Twister. Off to the side was a group of half a dozen tables, piled high with every kind of food you could think of. Opposite the food tables was a DJ booth. Pinkie bounced over, reached behind it, and pulled up the same unicorn mare that had been the DJ for the party in Ponyville. Falling over everypony, was silver and blue confetti, all in the shape of crescent moons.

Pinkie bounced back to the middle of the park. “NOW THAT ALL OF THE BORING, SERIOUS STUFF IS OUT OF THE WAY, LET’S PARTY!”

Celestia stared “What-?”

Artemis laughed “Don’t worry about it, sister.” He paused, looking at Twilight “What was it you told me the other day, Twilight? I believe it was “Don’t question it, it’s just going to hurt your head.” I now understand what you meant.”

Twilight laughed as well “I did question it when I first moved to Ponyville and it nearly drove me crazy. Now the girls and I have a saying for anytime Pinkie does anything weird or impossible to explain.”

Celestia looked at her “And that is?”

Twilight shrugged “Pinkie’s just being Pinkie”

Artemis nuzzled her “Given what I’ve seen over the past few days, that does seem appropriate.”

Twilight released her barrier and looked at the foals “Do not leave the park without your parents, OK?”

They all nodded “Yes, princess”

“What are you waiting for?” she asked “Go have fun!”

“YAY!!!” was all that the three alicorns could hear for a moment as the foals jumped up, bounced around for a moment, and ran over to where the games, and Pinkie, were.

Celestia, Artemis and Twilight looked up as Cadance, Shining Armor, Twilight Velvet and Night Light walked over and lay down, joining them for a family cuddle. After the stress of the day, they just wanted to relax for a few minutes.

However, that was more down time than Pinkie was willing to allow.

Next Chapter: Chapter 27 Estimated time remaining: 33 Hours, 3 Minutes