When the hour was up everyone took their places in the courtroom to continue. Getting a nod from judge Mercy, Pierce stood.
“I would like to call the orphanage operator, Placeholder, to the stand.”
Hearing her name the mare, an older mauve colored unicorn, made her way to the witness box. When she was seated Pierce began.
“Miss Holder, you run the orphanage where Scootaloo lived correct?”
Placeholder nodded. “Yes, going on thirty years now.”
Pierce began pacing before the jury box as he continued. “And in all that time have you always done your best for the fillies and colts there?”
Another nod. “I believe I have, yes.”
Pierce stopped and pointed at Lightning. “And have you ever seen this....mare enter the orphanage to adopt a filly, namely the filly scootaloo?”
The aged mare shook her head. “No,”
Pierce grinned. “And do you think a worthy, responsible parent would simply take a filly and fake the paperwork?”
Berry stood quickly. “Objection. He’s leading the witness.”
Pierce turned to the judge. “Your honor I’m merely asking a question that reflects on the actions that were taken by Miss Lightning.”
Mercy nodded. “Overruled Mrs. Punch. Please answer the question Miss Placeholder.”
Placeholder shook her head. “No I don’t think a responsible parent would have done what this mare did.”
Pierce made his way back to his table. “No further questions.”
Berry stood and straightened her tie. “Miss Placeholder, you said that you’ve done your best to provide for the fillies and colts under your care?”
Placeholder smiled. “Yes, I try to make sure they’re taken care of.”
Berry sood on her hind legs and picked up a paper from her table. “Then can you explain this statement given by one Scootaloo. “The caretakers of the orphanage never had time for us. They gave us food and a place to sleep but for everything else we were on our own. I was miserable there.”
Placeholder sighed. “I’m only one pony. I can’t watch the children twenty four seven. I just have to trust that my employees are doing their job. I’ve not had any complaints from the children so why should I worry?”
Berry rose a brow. “Why should you worry? Isn’t it your job to worry for those under your care? For all intents and purpose, you are their mother. That these actions happened under your watch should say something about your mode of operation.”
Placeholder shook her head. “The paperwork, though fake, was all in order. I had no idea that Scootaloo had been foalnapped.”
Berry chuckled. “The paperwork was in order. So you mean to say that as long as it looks like it’s right then you shouldn’t check? Shouldn’t worry that one of your charges was taken and is possibly in danger?”
Placeholder stuttered. “Well I.... You see it’s not...... Um...”
Berry waved a hoof dismissively and returned to her seat. “No further questions.”
Mercy turned to Placeholder. “You may step down.”
As Placeholder walked away Mercy turned her attention to Pierce. “Do you have any more witnesses?”
Pierce nodded. “I do. I’d like to call Dr. Bones to the stand.”
Dr. Bones, a young cream colored earth pony mare took her place at the witness box.
“Dr. would you please tell the court what your profession is?”
Bones nodded. “Yes. I am a cultural anthropologist. I study cultures both domestic and foreign to collect data on what affects them for a given location.”
Nodding, Pierce continued his questioning. “Dr. can you tell us what culture most resembles the changelings?”
Bones nodded. “From what I can tell, the changeling society is very much like the Zebrican Ohm-Selia culture. Very war like and ruled by a single figurehead that is followed without question.”
“Anything further Doctor?” Pierce said with a raised brow.
Bones shook her head. “Other than what I’ve said, no. I would need further interaction with changelings to say more.”
Pierce nodded and went back to his table while Mercy looked to Berry.
“Any questions Mrs. Punch?”
Berry stood. “Dr. Bones, are you an expert on changelings?”
Bones shook her head. “No.”
Berry nodded. “So do you think it’s possible that while the changelings show some traits relating to this Zebrican culture, they could also be very similar to ours?”
Bones nodded. “It’s not an unreasonable consideration. I simply don’t have enough experience to say for certain either way.”
Berry glanced at Pierce and smirked. “Nothing further.”
Mercy nodded. “The witness may step down.” As Bones left Mercy turned back to Berry. “Your next witness.”
Berry stood. “I call Twilight Sparkle to the stand.”
Twilight was led in by two bailiffs that were carrying saddlebags and a chart stand while Twilight carried several books in her magic. After the bailiffs set up the stand and set the saddlebags by the witness box Twilight took her seat.
Pierce chuckled. “Your honor I still fail to see why a librarian is considered to be the most knowledgeable source on changelings. Or if she’s even qualified to study them.”
Mercy quirked a brow and looked to Twilight. “I’d wondered that myself.”
Twilight smiled. “Oh that’s easy to explain. I’ve been named the Archmage of Ponyville, and as such any research and discoveries I make are completely valid. I’ve got the paperwork right here.”
Twilight levitated a scroll to Mercy. After looking over the paper she gave it to Justice, who sat beside her. Receiving a nod from Justice Mercy returned the scroll.
“Well everything seems in order but what exactly is it you’re going to show us Miss Sparkle?”
Berry gestured for Twilight to begin and the unicorn began to do one of the things she did best. Lecture.
“Well you see, after Princess Celestia put me in charge of organizing the changelings integration with us in this area I took it upon myself to learn more about them. By chance I met Shiv, now Quicksilver, who agreed to be my research assistant slash test subject. From her I’ve learned much about changelings and their workings.”
Berry nodded. “So tell us Twilight, what do your findings tell you about the changelings? Are they as Dr. Bones said or are they different?”
“The changelings are aggressive in nature, that’s true but that‘s the only part that Dr. Bones was correct in. You see, changelings are an evolution of a species of pony called breezies thought to have disappeared long ago.”
Twilight levitated an illustration of a breezy onto her stand. “The Breezies were insect like in that they had butterfly wings and antennae so it’s easy to see where the changelings got that attribute from. The changeling magic and need to feed on emotions was an adaptation that was developed to survive after the first rule of Discord.
Twilight now showed an old map highlighting the vast Everfree Forest. ”The chaos that he wrought on the Breezies portion of Equestria, now called the Everfree Forest, caused all natural food sources to be destroyed, thus leaving nothing for the breezies to live on. With no other means in their harsh new environment the breezies empathic magic turned into the mode by which they now feed on emotion.”
Pierce scoffed. “And how do you know that you’re right about all this?”
Twilight levitated several charts, graphs and maps into the air. “I simply asked Quicksilver about the movements of the changelings as they went from area to area in search of emotions and then overlapped the areas with the last known location of the breezies. As you can see, all the areas that were used by changelings are within a reasonable distance to the Everfree. Even the hive that was destroyed not to long ago wasn’t more than 100 miles from it. And given that the Everfree is roughly at the center of equestria it’s not unbelievable.”
Pierce shook his head. “Even so, how can you be sure that the changelings are in fact these long lost breezies?”
Twilight searched through one of her saddlebags and brought out a small vile of yellow crystals.
“These are sun shards, a type of crystal that was refined by breezies as a power source. The crystals only reacted to their magic and are virtually useless to other ponies.”
Twilight levitated the vile over to the table where Lightning and Quicksilver sat and dumped the crystals onto it. The crystals immediately started to glow faintly.
“Even though they’ve evolved the changelings still hold the same magical signature of their breezy ancestors.” Twilight said with a smile.
Pierced rolled his eyes. “That still doesn’t tell us if the changelings are harmless or not.”
Twilight shrugged. “Is any creature truly harmless. In my experience I’ve seen individuals, both pony and non, that have been a danger to others. Just look at the Crystal Empire. Their greatest enemy was their own king.”
Pierce sighed and slumped in his seat. “Nothing further.”
Berry grinned and sat in her seat. “I’ve nothing further either your honor.”
Mercy dismissed Twilight and Pierce called his next witness.
After several more witnesses from both sides the trial was quickly coming to an end. Mercy asked for final witnesses and Berry stood.
“I have one final witness. I call Scootaloo to the stand.”
Scootaloo trotted into the courtroom and sat in the witness box with a slightly anxious look on her face.
Berry smiled. “ Feeling a bit nervous Scootaloo?”
The filly nodded. “Kinda.’
Berry chuckled. “Well just tell the truth and you’ll have nothing to worry about. Now can you tell us why you’re here?”
Scootaloo nodded. “I wanted to stand up for my parents.”
“They must mean a lot to you.”
Scootaloo smiled. “Yeah, they’re great.”
Berry chuckled again. “I’m sure they are. Could you explain how you met your first parent, Lightning?”
“Well I was out in the apple orchards outside town. I was alone cuz my friends were doing stuff with their families and then Lighting just came out of nowhere. I was kinda scared at first cuz I was at the wedding when the invasion happened but Lightning only wanted to know why I was alone and sad.”
Berry rose a brow. “Why were you sad?”
Scootaloos ears dropped. “I was upset because I didn’t have a family. When I told Lightning about being alone she offered to be my mom if I gave her emotions so I did.’
“Lightning didn’t force you to be with her?”
Scootaloo shook her head quickly. “No, I wanted her to be my mom. I wanted to have what my friends had. A real family.”
Berry turned to Pierce with a smirk. “Your witness.”
Taking Berrys position by the witness box Pierce began. “Scootaloo, you think of Lighting and Quicksilver as your parents right?”
Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah. The only ones I’ve ever had.”
“Are you sure those feelings are yours or are they what your “parents” want you to feel?”
Scootaloo tilted her head. “Huh?”
Pierce shrugged. “How can you be sure that they’ve not used their magic on you?”
“Are these glowing?’ Scootaloo asked while pointing at her eyes.
Pierce rose a brow. “No.”
Scootaloo folded her forelegs and smiled. “Then I’m not brainwashed. Changeling magic makes your eyes glow green.”
Berry stood. “That’s been proven your honor. It’s a side effect of changeling manipulation.”
Pierce sighed. “Nothing further your honor.”
With a nod Mercy dismissed Scootaloo. “Seeing as we’ve heard from all the witnesses I think it’s time to make a decision. The prosecution and defence will now give their final statements before the jury decides.”
Pierce stood and faced the jury. “My fellow ponies, you are faced with a decision that will impact our society for years to come. This case isn’t just about the foalnapping of one innocent filly. It’s about the safety of other fillies and colts like her. It’s about the safety of our way of life. The act committed by these changelings shows that they can’t be trusted. They will always pose a threat. So I ask you, find these changelings guilty and save us from what is sure to be a mistake of trying to civilize a race that can’t be civilized.”
When Pierce took his seat Berry stood. “My colleague, Mr. Pierce, spins a very convincing story. He would have you believe that all changelings are vicious, untrustworthy, and that we should not try to live beside them. But he is only trying to distract you from what’s really important. The fact is, my clients took in and are caring for a filly. A filly that only wanted a family and for the first time in her life has one. Now I’ll admit that the means by which Lighting came to be a parent of Scootaloo aren't fully in the law but should we punish her so harshly for it? You want her to be responsible for what she did? Fine, make her pay a fine for falsifying papers. But don’t let Mr. Pierce twist this case into something that condemns all changelings.”
Berry took a paper from her table and began reading. “Let it be known that in this, our sovereign land of Equestria, that all are welcome. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, take heart that you shall be known as family. Let harmony reign, for we shall embrace you with love and tolerance.”
Focusing on the jury again, Berry continued in a firm voice. “That was the opening to the Tribe Unification treaty written over one thousand years ago. Those words, written by our founders, were meant to be an example for the generations to come. I don’t have to tell you the story of how our nation came to be, nor do I need to remind you the other nations with which we are allied. We have griffons, minotaurs, we even have good relations with the diamond dogs. Why should we turn our backs on the changelings? Whatever you decide remember this. Equestria wasn’t built by one race, one species. It was built and is great because it was built by many.”
After Berry took her seat, the jury filed into the deliberation room.
Berry sighed. “All we can do now is wait. And hope that these ponies don’t give into xenophobic tendencies.”
Quicksilver chuckled. “Well considering how easy you ponies get scared we might as well pack our bags.”
Berry rolled her eyes and turned to Lighting. “A real ray of sunshine ya got there.”
Lighting grinned. “Isn’t she though?”
Berry shook her head. “Seriously though I hope we come out on top.”
Lighting rose a brow. “You’re really worried? It looked like everything was in our favor.”
Berry sighed. “Sometimes juries aren't the smartest bunch out there. Just sit back and wait.”
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