The Charges Are As Follows...
"...unlicensed usage of mental magic, using mental magic on subjects without their awareness, magical unbalancing of subjects via forced extraction of emotional essence, unlawful impersonation of a pony, falsification of medical records, falsification of civilian records, unregistered immigration, collaboration with an armed enemy force, utilization of Equestrian governmental property for own purposes, and... housing dangerous species without obtaining a permit, apparently."
Celestia put down the scroll, giving the accused a level, unreadable look. "How do you plead?"
"...Um... can I plead to each charge individually? I mean, that was a lot of things--"
Blueblood frowned. "Your honor, I feel I must object to that proposal. Over-complicating the issue allows the defendant more chances to personally adjust their sentencing via rhetoric."
"If I may, your honor?" Shining Armor cleared his throat. "The law is clear: When an individual is brought to court with ten or more charges against them, the situation is considered already complicated enough to warrant individual treatment of the charges."
"You are correct, captain Armor. Objection overruled."
The prince's frown grew thinner as he narrowed his eyes. A thrust and a parry before even the first plea. He'd expected as such, but there was a protocol, and he had to follow it... even if in this case, he'd prefer to throw the criminal in the dungeon and be done with it.
Celestia moved her quill up her scroll. "Alright... Unlicensed usage of mental magic. How do you plead?"
"Well..." The yellow-chitined criminal tapped her chin. "I... suppose I might have to plead guilty to that..."
That... was actually fairly surprising, to Blueblood. While it wasn't the worst crime, it was a fairly serious one; mental magic was a delicate form of casting with many potentially insanity-inducing side effects, which was why only ponies who had received years of higher education were allowed to touch it--and even then, usually only in order to research for medical specializations in the field. The fact that this criminal was willing to admit to the violation... well, he had to admit a smidgen of respect.
Just a smidgen, though, and only to himself.
"Might I ask who you used this mental magic on?" he requested. "A list of affected ponies would be very useful for record-keeping."
"Oh, I never used that magic on ponies. I only used it on my animal friends, when they were misbehaving." The criminal frowned. "And... well, that one time that I used it on those vampire fruit bats, but that was only because Twilight told me to...."
Blueblood's ears fell back. "So you never obtained a license, but you only used your magic on... beasts?"
"That is what she just said," Shining Armor confirmed. "Your honor, in light of the evidence, I believe this testimony could be considered reason for leniency?"
"I must object," Blueblood interjected. "The exact usage of the mental magic is still important--"
"OH!" The criminal smiled sheepishly. "There was also Discord that one time. I mean, I'm not sure it counts because he just shrugged it off, and Twilight was talking about using reformation spells on him anyway, but he... well, what I mean is, that counts, right?"
There was an awkward moment.
"...Fluttershy," Shining Armor ventured, "what exactly was the mental magic you used?"
"I call it the Stare. Basically, I look at one of my animal friends, and they become very, um, scared. To the point where they stop acting out and just focus on me."
"...I'm not entirely sure that's mental magic," Shining Armor pointed out. "A lot of animals view eye contact as a challenge."
"But... but I did something that affected their behavior! Doesn't that count?"
"I think that's just ordinary manipulation," Celestia mused. "And if we made manipulation illegal, I'd never get anything done. That said, we have no evidence one way or the other for the magical content of your 'stare.' As such, I feel that the sentence for this particular charge must be postponed pending a scientific study of the phenomena in question. Are there any objections?"
Blueblood's hooves ground into the desk in front of him. "...Unfortunately, I cannot think of any legal basis to object."
"The defense has no objections, your honor."
"Very well then. The charge of unlicensed usage of mental magic is hereby postponed to a later date. In light of this, the charge of using mental magic without the subject's awareness--"
"Not guilty!" Fluttershy quickly interjected. "My animal friends were always aware of when I used the Stare!"
"...the charge of using mental magic without the subject's awareness," Celestia repeated, "will also be postponed to a later trial pending scientific inquiry."
Tattered transperent wings drooped. "Oh.... I thought... I'm sorry..."
"The third charge, magical unbalancing of subjects via forced extraction of emotional essence, still remains something we must address." Celestia put the scroll down. "How do you plead?"
"Um." Fluttershy folded her ears back. "...is there a way to say 'guilty without meaning to do it?' Because I did feed off love, but only when it was directed at me, and I never forcefully took anything--"
"Your honor," Shining offered, "May I remind the accused that the charge is not whether or not emotion was forcefully extracted, but whether this resulted in mental imbalance of the subject?"
"You may."
"Then I do so."
Blueblood sighed, rubbing his temples. Technicalities, technicalities that he himself never abused, being brought up in trial again and again... was it too much to ask that once, just once, ponies would stop manipulating the law to break it?
"Um. In that case..." Fluttershy shook her head. "Not guilty, I think. While all my pony friends have had breakdowns, they were always the result of them failing in their special talent, not... not because I drained them of love. Which I never did," she quickly clarified. "I just took the love that they gave me of their own free will."
"Hmm. These psychological records do support that claim," Celestia mused. "Do you have anything to add, Blueblood?"
"It's been made perfectly clear that no charges based on mental magic are going to stick," the prince groused. "So I won't waste your time trying to make them."
"I... see. Well then. On the charge of unbalancing subjects via extraction of emotional essence, I decree Fluttershy not guilty." She looked at the scroll and sighed. "The next four charges seem to all be related. Impersonation of a pony, falsification of medical records, falsification of civilian records, and unregistered immigration. Would either the prosecution or the defense object to trying all these charges at once?"
"The prosecution has no objection," Blueblood replied with a nod.
"The defense has no objection," Shining Armor agreed.
"Very well then. Impersonation, false medical records, false civilian records, and unregistered immigration. How do you plead?
"Um... guilty except for the impersonation charge," Fluttershy managed. "The pony identity I constructed was not pre-existing."
"I have here a series of questions written by one Rainbow Dash," Blueblood stated, pulling out a small paper. "As she is the pony who has known you the longest, I would like you to confirm that you are in fact the same Fluttershy as she first met in Flight Camp."
"...O-okay...?"
"Question one." Blueblood looked down at the paper and schooled his face. "What is the difference between awesomeness, coolness, and radicalness."
"Objection!" Shining Armor pounded a hoof on his desk. "Those words are synonymous to a high degree, and--"
"Awesomeness is the presence of a pony in any situation, coolness is the impact of a pony's image in the minds of others, and radicalness is the adaptablity of a pony's presence or image to unusual circumstances. It is possible to be cool from a distance, but being awesome always requires being part of the situation or at least present, and the level of radicalness can only be determined in extreme situations--"
"Yes, thank you," Blueblood interrupted. "I'm actually rather surprised you've memorized this... thesis... second question: Why was I named Rainbow Dash. Remember, this is Rainbow writing this--"
"The Rainbow part of the name comes form her family's unique mane style," Fluttershy explained. "Dash... well, there are two stories. Either she was named after her grandmother Haberdasher, or she was named for how fast she, uh, was birthed."
The prince sighed. "Personally, I'd believe the Haberdasher story, but the birthing one is the one written down. Final question: On the day after the race, what happened in the cafeteria?"
"Um... well, Rainbow Dash swore me to secrecy, but if I really have to tell--"
"No, being sworn to secrecy is the correct answer." Blueblood put his list of questions down. "I have no objections to dropping the impersonation charge, your honor."
"Very well... I hereby decree that on the charge of impersonation, Fluttershy is not guilty. Which still leaves the falsification of medical records, civilian records, and the unregistered immigration."
Blueblood managed a small smile. Here, at least, he could extract the legal punishment. "So, miss Fluttershy. What documents did you falsify and how did you go about it?"
"Well..." The yellow criminal bit her lip. "I don't entirely remember, but I do have a file of the stuff that Pinkie helped me forge--"
"Pinkie?"
"Yes, Pinkie Pie. Um, full name Pinkimena Diane Pie..."
Blueblood sagged. "Does she have a pink coat?"
"...yes?"
"How pink?"
Fluttershy opened her mouth, paused, and then coughed. "I, uh, could shapeshift into her form, if that's alright with you..."
Blueblood nodded. "Probably easier in the long run..."
Fluttershy nodded back, concentrated, and burst into flame. When the green fire vanished, a pink mare with a pink mane and, thankfully, blue eyes was standing there.
The prince groaned, leaning back in his chair. "The pink menace strikes again..."
"Um... what?"
Celestia sighed. "Ever since the founding of Equestria, pink-coated ponies have had... an unusual talent for subverting and forging legal documents. Something to do with their coat color not being officially recognized in old unicorn laws... The point is, the involvement of a pink pony in this situation is going to force us to run through a lot of paperwork just to figure out if anything you submitted is actually illegal." She shook her head, writing something down. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to postpone those charges until after an investigation--"
"That's half the charges postponed already!" Blueblood protested.
"You were the one that drafted the Pink Protocol, Blueblood. Would you go back on it?"
"...no." Blueblood sighed. "I will, reluctantly, agree to the postponment, but I insist that none of the remaining charges are postponed!"
"The defense has no objections," Shining stated, giving Blueblood a smug grin.
"Can I drop this disguise?" asked the pink pony.
"That would be for the best," Celestia replied.
With a thankful smile, Fluttershy returned to her chitinous form.
"Now, then, the next charge is... collaberation with an armed enemy force. Blueblood, I'm afraid you're going to have to clarify this."
"The enemy in question is that of the army that invaded Canterlot during Shining Armor's wedding."
"I see. So, Fluttershy. Collaboration with Chrysalis. How do you plead?"
Fluttershy blinked. "Does it count if it was before Chrysalis revealed herself?"
"Only if you knew who she was."
"Oh. Then... Not guilty."
Blueblood frowned. "I have eye-witness reports of you commanding a group of enemy soldiers during the battle!"
"Objection! If they were disguised, there is no way to know they were enemies in the heat of the moment--!"
"The witnesses describe a large amount of ponies identical to this mare following the commands of this mare."
"And how do you know that the one commanding was not a hostile herself?"
"I..." Blueblood looked through his notes and frowned. "...hmm. Evidence is circumstantial. That's incredibly annoying, I'll have to report that to the legal team.... my objection is withdrawn, your honor."
"I see. I suppose that on the charge of collaboration, Fluttershy is decreed not guilty. The penultimate charge is... utilization of Equestrian Governmental property for her own purposes..." Celestia looked up. "Is this referring to the element of Kindness?"
"Yes, your honor."
"In what instance--Nightmare Moon." Celestia facehooved. "Alright, technically she was not granted permission in that case. However, due to the nature of the situation, I believe the Desperate Measures clause can be invoked. Furthermore, charging Fluttershy would require that the other bearers of Harmony also be charged, which could lead to serious problems. Do you have any objections?"
Blueblood was fuming. Five postponed charges. Three not-guiltys. And now a false charge?! The worst part was that it was all entirely legal.
"...No, your honor." He glowered at the criminal. "No objections."
"Very well then. Let's move on to the final charge: housing dangerous animals without a permit. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty."
Here, though, he had her. "Objection! According to these reports, you regularly provide shelter to a bear!"
Fluttershy gasped. "Harry's not dangerous at all! He's a very nice bear!"
"Bears are considered dangerous animals, though." Blueblood grinned as he produced more damning evidence. "In addition, your home has been sighted with snakes and badgers at the windows. While not nearly as dangerous as a bear, they are still not creatures that would be safe for an untrained pony to handle."
The criminal whimpered. "But... but they've never hurt me!"
"That is entirely besides the point. The law is clear in this regard: housing a dangerous animal is a threat both to the pony doing so and to any pony who lives or visits the house. Not to mention the homes in the surrounding town--!"
"I'm afraid that Blueblood is right," Celestia interrupted smoothly. "As such, you will have to be punished. Does the defense have any objection?"
Shining Armor sighed. "Nothing that would have legal standing. Welp, Twily's going to kill me."
"I'm sure she'll understand. Fluttershy Flutters, for housing dangerous animals without a permit, I sentence you to remedial education regarding zookeeping laws, as well as a fine of three thousand bits to be paid within two years."
Blueblood sighed as the gavel hit. It was actually better than nothing, all things considered. And there was always a chance to pin her later on all her potentially falsified paperwork...
As the bailiff escorted Fluttershy out of the room Shining Armor walked over to him. "You know, I'm actually rather surprised. You never made, you know the obvious accusation." He waved a hoof at his legs. "You know, with the holes and the chitin--I was almost certain you'd jump on that."
The prince gave him a haughty glare. "Why in the world would I do that? While I am sickened at the miscarriage of justice that has been performed here, there's no law against being a changeling."
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That was fun.
It's not often you see Blueblood portrayed as a stickler for proper proceedings.
Good show! I particularly liked this bit:
An excellent dénouement, in my view.
This was the best legal thriller about a changeling ever.
I just find it really weird that this is considered a "thriller".
An amusing court-house rebuttal to that story "Would It Matter If I Was?"
One of the most respectable Bluebloods I've ever seen. I also loved the distinction between coolness, awesomeness, and radicalness, and the perennial legal issues of ponies not recognized by the electromagnetic spectrum. Still, given her secret and alleged talent, I'm surprised Fluttershy never got that permit. Bit of an oversight by Pinkie there.
In any case, a wonderful bit of quick fun. Thank you for it, and good luck in the contest.
Well, that was entertaining
6716110
The prince pointed to his royal flanks. "See this? It's a compass, not a propaganda billboard."
Blueblood being a fair and responsible arbiter of law and order is the most unique portrayal of the character I've ever seen. I hope you continue to use this characterization in future stories, because everything in The Trial of Fluttershy Flutters was awesome, cool, and radical.
Bravi.
I like this.
It makes Blueblood a dick, but for all the right reasons.
And so, this is faved.
Because reasons other commentators have already given. :D
Isn't it kinda favoritism if the law says one thing but the hero turn a blind eye to Fluttershy? If the law is wrong or unreasonable, then bloody change it.
What's his beef with Fluttershy?
6717108 Well, the "desperate measures" thing probably covers it for all six of the Mane 6. On top of that, it'd probably be very questionable about whether the Elements were "stolen" given that Celestia probably set up those six ponies to take possession of them.
It might be questionable whether the Elements are Equestrian government property at all, in fact. They were left in an abandoned castle for a thousand years, at some point a case could probably be made that ownership had been relinquished and they were fair salvage. Daring Do probably gets off on that one all the time (assuming she's real and "Daring Don't" wasn't just a self-insert fanfic Rainbow Dash wrote in the Mane 6 journal that one time).
As Prince Blue Blood left the court room, he sneered, thinking of the captain's question.
Of course, Blue Blood had ensured there would be no laws against actually being a changeling--did Shining actually think the prince was stupid? Noling in their right mind would ever make a law against himself!
6717108 Would you care to clarify that statement?
6717108
Technically speaking, Fluttershy was declared not guilty on three charges, had two postponed until such a time as 'The Stare' could be registered as magical or not, three more postponed due to the involvement of a pink pony (which apparently complicates matters enough that it's a legit reason for postponment in Equestria), and one dropped thanks to extenuating circumstances on a national level. She was, however, sentenced to a fine and remedial education for one charge.
Holyshit! Featured on the day it was posted!!
Woot! Congrats, Masterweaver!
6717108 How did the heroes turn a blind eye to Fluttershy? She was put on trial, and each of the ten charges was addressed. Some were dismissed, some postponed due to lack of evidence, and one was upheld. All in strict accordance with Equestrian rules and procedure. Nothing in the story suggests that the laws are wrong.
Wow, a portrayal of Blueblood as a respectable pony who upholds law and order and is only the antagonist because here it's his job to be? As opposed to being a one-dimensional, over-the-top jerk and a caricature avatar for pony bigotry like he is in countless other stories, especially changeling ones?
Sign me up!
Everyone has already said it but I'll say it again, this Blublood is really well done. I never liked it when fanfics would take a character who was just a jerk and make them a complete monster. Obviously you do too but it's great you didn't just go in the other direction and make Blueblood a complete gentleman (gentlestallion?) with no explanation. Here he's jerkish but not unreasonable.
So, legal thriller, awesome zingers, a convenient distinction between awesomeness, coolness, and radicalness that I will totally keep on file, and a good Blueblood.
On the other hand, Blueblood being a prosecutor is a bit too situational for me to go all "HEADCANON ACCEPTED" and use that characterization for any work I ever do involving that character. No real fault of the story, though.
THUS BEGINS THE SPELLCHECK!
I believe you meant to say much
collaboration. You spelled it right all the other times.
THUS ENDS THE SPELLCHECK!
Good story.
Bluebood used "Petty Bureaucracy", it's super effective!
And if we made manipulation illegal, I'd never get anything done.
Masterweaver, please have my babies! Not the current one, as I am rather attached to her, but any new ones from now on.
My headcanon has always ben that Fluttershy's a changeling.
I can always count on Masterweaver for something a little different.
How lovely! You really convey their characters well in this spin on Blueblood. I cam see him raging at the bit at the Pink pony problem.
T'was a really cool read!
Well, that improved my mood a bit. Thanks, I needed that.
Just to add to what everyone else has already said, I quite like your portrayal of Blueblood- still comes off as kind of an arrogant jerk, but also a quite competent prosecutor. I like seeing him doing something rather than just showing up as a hate sink for fans. And probably enough references to the other Mane Six to get an idea of some of their reactions at least to this, that was good too. Combine that with a Fluttershy changeling fic and a courtroom setting makes for a particularly memorable fic, so, yay!
Gotta love technicalities when it helps us, and absolutely hate it when it helps the opposing side
I'm not fond of the pink pony provision. For on thing Fluttershy's documentation needs to date back to earlier than her adoption of a ground-based lifestyle.
Well, this was an entertaining read Masterweaver, thanks.
This was excellent. I seem to remember another story featuring blueblood being a bit of a swine, but also the greatest legal political mind in equestrian history. Can any one remember what is was called?
That last line was fuckin' awesome.
*sees story* Oh look a thing!
*Reading story* Hmm, this is pretty interesting. Different too.... i like this thing.
*reads last line* Hmm, minor respect for Blueblood budding.
*finishes reading story* Hmm, this was a nice thing.
Perhaps this is why Blueblood was a jerk in BTE. Always having to think the worst of ponies due to his prosecutor's job.
A man who sticks to his principles. Gotta respect that.
I like it when stories actually give Blueblood characterization outside of the absolutely hostile reaction the fandom had toward him for being rude to Rarity. Feels more realistic, and he, at least in his own mind, has very good reasons for what he's doing in this story.
It's so refreshing.
Certainly one of the many Bluebloods that I like. It's rare to have a Blueblood that doesn't act as public hate sink, and it's quite fresh when I see one that's quite well-written. Oh, and d'aww, Flutters.
This is a pretty well-written Blueblood. I like it.
6718165 ditto on the Blueblood case.
6717156
They're not. Celestia and Luna stole the Elements remember? No no no, they might have said they were only borrowing them but by registering them as the property of the Equestrian government they have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they had no intention of returning them.
First off, let me start by saying that i really liked the story. It was a very good piece of fanfiction in a legal setting
Now, purely for fun and in no seriousness I will make some random musings about the equestrian court system in general as presented in this fanfic from a legal point of view.
On the equestrian court system in general:
On the whole it seems competent and reasonable, always a treat when shown as such in fanfiction.
The only exceptions were:
The "Pink Protocol" which was a) simply insane and b) obviously a quite funny joke
The implied by contradiction rule that if less than 10 charges are brought against an individual they have to plead either guilty to all of them or innocent to all of them even when they are completely unrelated. This rule is at best silly. If the individual charges are still judged and sentenced separately then the law only serves to waste the courts time and resources processing crimes that the perpetrator are willing to confess.
If on the other hoof the accused can only be found either guilty on all counts or innocent on all counts, then the Equestrian justice system is horrifically terrible. As such i assume that it is the first case, since silly laws are indeed a "thing" however much one might wish otherwise
Finally whoever was in charge of the investigation seems rather incompetent what with not having discovered that a pink pony was involved, or what kind of "mind manipulation" was used beforehoof thus necessitating all those postponings, but that is a very minor nitpicky thing that probably made the story flow, much much better than it would have done otherwise.
6717156
On the subject of government property:
That the Elements have spent as long as they have in an ancient ruin is not good grounds for an argument towards them not being owned by the state of Equestria.
This is because being more than a thousand years old they would likely be owned by the state, due to the likely equestrian equivalent to the quite common laws about archaeological funds and other similar antiquities, even had they in fact been owned by somepony else originally.
On a sidenote: the argument about implied permission through manipulation is very clever, bravo!
*Alondro eye-narrows* I'll soon take care of that little legal oversight...
*later that day, after Celestia (who's also a cherngelerng... conveniently for Alondro's purposes) is deposed, along with Luna (also cherngelerng... also conveniently...), cherngelerngs are sent to live on crummy reservations... with the buffalo. And given blankets infested with Pony AIDS.
6717167 *Alondro runs around spraying everypony with RAID. The ponies who drop the ground twitching in agony are clearly CHERNGELERNGS!! Of course... since he sprays it in their faces...* THEY'RE EVERYPONY!!! IT'S TOO LATE!!!
6717228 Yes, but on technicalities that Blueblood himself never, ever, at least in this story, went with. *shrug and grin*
And if we made manipulation illegal, I'd never get anything done.
I'm actually rather surprised you've memorized this... thesis...
Oh man, I'm loving this by the sentence.
While I am sickened at the miscarriage of justice that has been performed here, there's no law against being a changeling.
Just wait until Trump is elect—oh wait, silly me. Immortal Matriarchy.
Very nice story, MW!
6718367
It's nearly 2016. Why do people still do this?
6718370