In the little lull that followed, Book Thrower had managed to gather his wits enough to resume his duties. "Ahem... While I still don`t see the relevance of inquiry, it would indeed behoove us to do everything by the book in such a high-profile case." - he announced uneasily, - "With that in mind, I`m overruling the objection. Plaintiffs are to testify about the initial agreement with defendant."
Class Action fumed. "And I`d like to state for the record that this is an outrage." - she pronounced - "And since it came to that, mr. Act, I`d like you to know that I will personally drag you through the ethical conduct inquiry at the merest provocation." Blueblood merely mimed tipping his hat at her, infuriating the opposing lawyer even further. "Oh, there will be no need for that." - he opined gayly - "As I will now show, my inquiry is a very important part of the case. Speaking of which, will the plaintiffs please explain the circumstances of the initial meeting with the defendant?"
- Er...
- Quite...
- Well...
- You see...
- It happened just before the contest!
- Yes, indeed, we did not have time to put everything down on paper.
- Frankly speaking, your honor, we did not expect it to be necessary at the point...
- After all, if you can`t trust the Element of Honesty, then whom can you trust at all?
Blueblood grinned. It was not a nice grin. It was a grin that would make a shark envious, in fact. "So... let me get this straight. You did not have the time to write down an agreement, but you did have the time to build a machine?" - he asked. "I object, your honor!" - Class Action intervened - "My clients had clearly stated they had no reason to go beyond oral agreement. One that defendant later reneged on, despite her social stature which defence so readily flaunted, no less!"
Blueblood coughed and tapped the table before the judge could - "Actually, I`m pointing out the contradiction in the statements given by plaintiffs. In their initial statement, they claimed they were contacted to construct the cider machine. Now, they`re claiming the initial meeting was just before the contest. Am I to assume that plaintiffs constructed a machine on a moment`s notice?"
Class Action scoffed. "There is no contradiction here, your honor." - she proffered, - "The request to construct the machine have had been made by the letter, so the first time my clients met the defendant was, indeed, just prior to the contest. Given the reputation defendant has, they saw no need to commit the arrangement to paper, which enabled the breach of trust we`re suing for now to occur unimpeded."
"Can you present the letter in question, perchance?" - inquired the prince with a lazy smile. Lawyer mare shook her head with a sigh - "Unfortunately, said latter have had been used for kindling shortly after being received. My clients have to live quite frugally, your honor." Nodding, Blueblood pressed on - "In short, there is no evidence of this letter`s existence, aside from plaintiff testimony, correct?"
Class Action frowned, as she offered cautiously - "Not the letter itself, no. However, I`d like to point out to the court that my clients are not the residents of Ponyville. Yet, they arrived to the town along with already built cider machine. I can hardly see why they would arrive to the town with such a specialised equipment without a preexisting reason to think there would be a market for it."
Blueblood scoffed. "Oh, yes indeed. Arriving to the town founded by apple farmers in the middle of cider season... Hardly a reason to expect that local populace would be interested in cider machine, no?" - he retorted, shaking his head - "As it so happens, we have had inquired the mayors of nearby towns about possible sightings of the plaintiffs. Here, I`d like to present affidavits by the mayor of Appleloosa and Cherry Junction. Both confirm the plaintiffs had passed through their towns aboard a "self-propelling cider-making contraption", according to mayor of Appleloosa. Note the dates - a week, and three days prior to visit to Ponyville, respectively."
He levitated the affidavits to the judge, proffering - "Your honor, it is the opinion of defence that there was no preexisting agreement between my client and plaintiffs. Rather, plaintiffs were travelling from town to town, seeking the market for their cider machine. Furthermore, according to both affidavits, corroborated by several witnesses each, in both towns the machine had suffered numerous malfunctions during the demonstration of thereof, turning away the potential buyers due to inordinate amount of maintenance it required. Defence further posits that the contest has had been staged on the challenge of the plaintiffs, and was a last ditch effort to recoup the costs of constructing the machine."
"What does it have to do with the case in question, Mr. Act?" - inquired judge acerbically - "As I noted before, I can not see the point of this line of questioning. I strongly suggest you give an explanation as to how all this is relevant to the case, seeing as you went to great lengths to make these inquiries." Blueblood shrugged a little, giving judge a little bow - "Very well, your honor. This line of questioning, along with the affidavits I just presented to the court is meant to showcase the glaring contradiction in the testimony given by plaintiffs. According to them, they built machine on the order of my client - however, as we just established, there is no direct evidence suggesting such an order was indeed given. Instead, as the affidavits show, there is a strong circumstantial evidence that suggests otherwise. I have had just given our version of events, which insofar is not contradicted by anything aside from contested testimony by the plaintiffs."
Book Thrower harumphed. "Are there any objections or explanations of this discrepancy from plaintiffs?" - he inquired irritably. Flim and Flam exchanged worried glances. Then, they both tried to speak up in the same time.
- There is...
- That`s no...
- Er...
- Um...
One more exchange of glances, and Flim began again, clearing his throat to start off anew.
- We do apologise for the misunderstanding, your honor.
- The truth of the matter is, the letter in question have had been damaged by the rain.
- Which is a reason why we used it for kindling to begin with.
- While most of the message was legible, we could not make out the exact name of the town we were invited to.
- So, we rushed the order to accrue some spare time...
- During which we methodically checked the towns one by one to determine which one extended the invitation.
- Obviously enough, when we were given the offer to do the promotion...
- We assumed we arrived to the town we were originally meant to visit.
- On the way, we constantly refined and finetuned our machine...
- To ameliorate the problems that would be otherwise present due to rush job.
- Which is why our tests in Appleloosa and Cherry Junction, that were mistakingly assumed by the locals as the sale pitches, were so subpar.
- We were still ironing out the kinks in the machine.
- We do apologise for not telling the whole story from the beginning...
- But those minutae details just didn`t seem to be of any importance to the case in question.
"There. Are you satisfied now, mr. Act?" - inquired Book Thrower tartly, as he slammed the gavel again, for no particular reason other then to make his mounting irritation show - "I don`t see any problems with that explanation."
Blueblood quirked his brow. "Really, your honor?" - he asked, his voice with obviously dubious - "Well, I just have one last question for the plaintiffs, then. Let us assume that letter existed for the sake of the argument. If the letter was damaged to the point where you could not be certain which town it was sent from, what exactly reason do you have to ascribe it to my client?"
"Obviously enough, the name on the letter was legible." - interrupted Class Action before anypony else could say anything. Blueblood shook his head slowly. "If that were the case, then plaintiffs would not have a need to visit each town. It would be quicker and cheaper to simply write to each town`s mayor and inquire if they have a resident by that name in the town." - he retorted - "Even in case of abundantly popular or partially legible name, that would have had narrowed the scope of search drastically. Or perhaps you`d like to claim your clients have had failed to think about such an obvious solution?"
After a brief discussion with her clients, Class Action proposed - "According to my clients, the name was only partially legible, and since the first part of the name is word 'apple', they could not be certain if it was indeed a name or an indication of sender`s profession." Blueblood nodded - "In short, plaintiffs had no demonstrable reason to believe this supposed letter was in fact written by my client and nopony else."
Class Action raised her hoof to object, paused, then slowly lowered it. "I concede that point." - she finally offered, - "My clients were not certain whom their business partner was until the meeting in Ponyville. However, I would also like to point out that we`re not discussing the rights, nor obligation to buy the cider machine in question. We are discussing the promotional act that my clients were contracted to carry out after they arrived to Ponyville."
Blueblood nodded, - "Yes, indeed. The point of my cross-examination was to demonstrate there is no tangible reason to believe my client had any business relationship with plaintiffs whatsoever prior to their arrival to Ponyville." Class Action immediately jumped up with indignant - "I OBJECT! My clients have had just testified about that pre-existing business relationship!"
The prince in disguise allowed her to finish, then retorted calmly - "I do believe you`ve just conceded there is no tangible way to prove if your clients have received a letter specifically from my client, even if we assume said letter existed at all. As of now, I have no further question for plaintiffs and instead would like to have my own client testify to the events in case. Preemptively, I`d like to state that I have no objection to cross-examination by my opponent, but I will object to pointless badgering of my client."
He turned around, making a grand gesture with his hoof, - "Miss Applejack. Please, tell the court about the arrival of plaintiffs to Ponyville."
Remind me again why the judge doesn't just throw the case out on lack of evidence? Oh, yeah. The judge has been bribed right?
4770169
Not quite. Class Action had both paid his dues to actually do the visiting session in Ponyville and she had the time to persuade the judge that her position is ironclad, and any opposition from "local hicks" is going to be discontented grumbles at "those durn city slickers not bein` good sports `bout it".
So initially, Book Thrower walks into this assuming that it will take Class Action about an hour, tops, to stick the law to the locals. He expects the opposition to consist of mildly dishonest farmer, and, at worst, a rural solicitor. He initially assumes Blueblood`s alter ego persona to be such a solicitor, and reacts accordingly. This backfires, when Blueblood mentions that he is, in fact, presiding over a case that will have the attention of Celestia herself.
At this point, Book Thrower is, on one hand, very wary of making the wrong step. On other, he is quite displeased with the fact Blueblood forced him to overturn his decision - it`s a clear challenge to his authority as a judge, and throwing the case out at this point would be flat-out admitting he`s over his head. So now his caution and pride both demand he see the whole thing through as close to the book as possible - this is the only way for him to save face AND to reaffirm himself as a judge.
4770239
Then I have a question about the formatting. Why are you not starting a new paragraph when speakers change? Is there something wrong with the importation process?
4770255
No, I write this way. Russian notation. Take it or leave it.
Come on I think even the judge from ace attorney would have been able to tell the plaintiffs are jsut making up their testimony as they go along
After this trial is over I doubt the judge will be able to go over a case again when the details go to the public
This is getting good. I can't wait for the cross-examination.
4770278
Ah, and here`s the rub. Innocent until proven guilty, remember? Until Blueblood catches Flim and Flam giving an outright false testimony, one that either contradicts proven facts or their own words with no space for explanation...
Factually, I can envision an entirely legal way for Flim and Flam to end up in this mess. Here`s how it would work - they are telling the truth about receiving the letter, and they are telling truth about it being damaged by rain. The big thing, however, is that they did NOT arrive to town from where the letter originated from at all. By the time they got to Ponyville (a third town on their way), they were so eager to "finally arrive to the right one" that they began behaving as it they actually arrived to the town that ordered the machine. Obviously, that didn`t sat well with Applejack - and Flim and Flam, in turn, misinterpreted her dissatisfaction as an attempt to haggle them down. Tempers flared, and a challenge occurred - Applejack believing that Flim and Flam are out to take over her farm, while Flim and Flam were certain they`re simply proving to Applejack that their machine IS good enough to take over the cider production. Obviously, after how the things ended, neither Flim&Flam, nor Applejack had any time to sit down and actually discuss what went on - so it`s not entirely out of question for Flim&Flam to assume they were cheated. Letter invites them to build cider machine, then the customer disparages the quality of machine and challenges them to prove it`s capacity. When they do, customer seizes the produced cider and kicks Flim&Flam out, in essence hoodwinking Flim&Flam into making a whole lot of cider for free.
so the judge is a moron AND Corrupt since he is putting his pride ahead of the law and justice.
He needs to get disbarred.
He essentially requires one level of proof from the Apple's but requires no actual proof from Flim/Flam (beyond their ever changing word). Celestia needs to know about this guy ASAP.
4770640
Ah ah ah... Normally, threatening judge even with entirely legal things is more then enough to be held in contempt of the court.
Blueblood gets away with it specifically due to the fact that Celestia herself would be looking on this case in short order, and being the diarch, she can circumvent a whole lot of protections and checks that usually protects judges from any such attempts to be leaned on.
Besides, as I did mention before, he did NOT expect any of this to happen. Book Thrower came in Ponyville being certain that locals will offer something to the tune of "Them thar guldarn city slickers cain` take a joke, b`golly."
Wait till he actually hears and reacts to Applejack`s testimony before you pass any judgement on a judge, mmhm?
4770360 a clever idea, but with a minor flaw in the tail, if you will;
Given that the stock of cider had already been distributed to the general public at the conclusion of the contest, there is a sizable stock of witnesses both to the foul taste "not even worth one bit", and to others claiming so. unless the entire of Ponyville was in the pocket of the Apple family, a very broad and highly unlikely claim, the stock can be deemed unfit for equine consumption, and thus useless to the Apple family for resale, save possibly as cider vinegar after a period of storage, another unlikely situation as no businesspony worth their salt would waste storage space on a product that has such a slim likelihood of developing favourably (given its unusual and unknown method of processing in the FFBSSCS-6000, you see). even then, were the product of cider vinegar possible, it is equally possible the ponies who purchase it would recall the taste of that disastrous batch of cider. given the circumstances therefore, Flim and Flam seem even less and less likely to be telling the truth, and would be hard-pressed (hah!) to argue things in their favour. at least ,that's how I see it. an excellent idea though, I'm enjoying the legal to-and-fro greatly. I shall be waiting eagerly for what you write next!
4770697
I will try. I promise.
He has alot going against him. He approved a case with Zero actual evidence against the Bearer of the Element of Honesty and Multiple times savior of the world. That does not say much for his competency or morals ...
4770729
The problem is that only the last batch of machine cider was fouled due to Flim&Flam trying to speed up the production beyond machine capability. Prior to that, machine produced perfectly drinkable cider. Even subtracting the last few barrels, we`re still left with a bulk quantity of cider that actually WAS of direct profit to Apples.
Also, the notion of Apples having the whole town in pocket is not quite as ridiculous as it sounds at first. Apples founded Ponyville, and they are major landowners. Given their long and profitable business relationship with local mogul, Filthy Rich? It is NOT out of question that Apples indeed can call a lot of shots in Ponyville.
Flim and Flam did not know that much, of course, but it`s not a sure bet Class Action doesn`t. She would`ve done some research on the ponies she`s about to sue, no?
4770751
Civil disputes court differs from criminal court. There is no persecution to provide any kind of investigation into the matter on governmental behalf. Instead, both sides perform their own investigations to the best of their capability, and then duke it out in court with whatever they managed to obtain.
Per ce, no approval for this kind of case is necessary - anyone can sue anyone on similar grounds. The only reason why people don`t do this at every sneeze is the fact that the side that loses is saddled with all the expenses.
If someone is willing to eat the cost of suing, nothing bars them from doing so without any grounds or proof whatsoever. Sometimes, the threat of such a lawsuit is all that is necessary to coerce someone into concessions - even a clearly won lawsuit is still "they were taken to court" blemish on reputation, and for people who need to be spotless or keep low profile, it`s often more reasonable to pay off then to go to court, even if their victory there is a foregone conclusion.
4770779 ah, yes indeed, good points, a very well-covered argument, I must agree. that said though, it was not wise of Class Action to state that "Social stature of the defendant has no bearing on the case" if that is, indeed, the case. If their supposed wealth of land is somehow important to the case, then possibly her possession of the Element of Honesty might equally be a valid point in the case. Still, I'm only picking at straws now, well done sir.
4770868
I`m not sir.
Class Action insists that Applejack`s social stature has no bearing on the case to discourage the judge from going "welp, an element of Honesty surely can`t be sued".
On a side note, even if Applejack`s social stature in Ponyville could be reasonably blamed for some of the misfortunes Flim and Flam suffer, Class Action will be very loathe to resort to that, because social stature influence is VERY hard to prove. De facto, person in good standing with majority of rural town`s populace can get away with a whole lot more then just swindling some passing hucksters.
Frankly, if I were the judge, I`d probably come into Ponyville very disinclined to take the locals at the face value. You wouldn`t believe just how depraved "good ol` boys" can get.
4770849
There are many very good reasons i am not a lawyer.
If someone had tried that with me I would have had to something ... unfortunate .. to them.
4771511
And that attempt would be exactly what is necessary to pare you down like a peking duck. First an foremost, such "pointless" lawsuits are a provocation. Giving in to that provocation is unequivocally a losing strategy - it is not hard to turn the trivial or even fictional slight into a lawsuit that WILL be satisfied, if you give in to the provocation. Responses to the allegations tend to compound the case, and if the provocation is successful, it`s entirely possible to quietly drop the initial flimsy accusations in favor of quite more justified and tangibly proven "reactions".
Or to put it simply - it`s not particularly hard to, say, claim you stole something, wait until you react violently to that accusation, then take you to court for assault and battery, wholly ignoring the initial accusation of theft. As long as you can show that you could possibly suspect someone in "good faith", there`s no penalty for taking someone to court over that, other then the cost of proceedings. Libel law only kicks in if your target can somehow prove you were, without a shadow of doubt, aware that your accusation is false, yet went through with it anyway.
4771545
They can only take you to court if they can find the body.
I'm not saying that I would ever kill someone, cut up the body and feed the remains to parasprites but ...
4771724
Generally, people who would actually go through with lawsuits to entrap you so are prepared to deal with that technicality... as a rule of thumb, the solution is something along the lines of employing a considerable reserve of muscle to have you restrained after you make your intentions clear, but before you manage to carry them out.
Also, just for reference - it`s generally not a good idea to disappear someone who just tried to sue you. You`ll be the first under suspicion.
4775926
You can skip all the missing "the" nitpicks off the bat.
It`s not a problem I can fix permanently. To put it bluntly, I`d need a dedicated corrector to catch that. As far as things stand, each of those corrections, while likely grammatically correct, will never reoccur to me even if I were to encounter the same construction again.
Now, as for snob/snub thing - NO. I meant to write snob. Blueblood was not snubbed on anything. Putting it really bluntly - Blueblood did not like Oak Staff implying snobbishly that prince is merely a figurehead so incompetent as to be obviously bored with what was supposed to be his job.
Sigh-sign - yes, that was a genuine typo. Good catch.
I hope this continues to be updated because it is a good blueblood fic and I enjoy reading it.
4821157
I`ll try.
4822701 Yeah man but we all understand if life is getting in the way. To many people sound demanding when they want authors to update. I just kinda look at it likes this, "just because I have time to read it doesn't mean they have time to write it."
4827583
Oh, piffle. Since when did I gave a damn about any demands?
4827782 Well idk just didn't want you to feel obligated to this site. Some people did and its just like. Why?
4836147
Well, they`re bloody morons. It`s a hobby, not an oath-bound duty. Write when thy muse is tugging on thy flights of fancy, if thy wisheth for the best.
4838086 Yeah I'd have to agree. Anyways like I was saying earlier keep the update train rollin cause I'm really enjoying this story.
~Choo`choo
4838173
We`ll see. Now that I got my home computer fixed up, I just might.
Or I might have a binge of New Vegas on my nice big new screen. ^_^
4838214 Fallout: New Vegas right? And if so I have a friend who is named Boone, and so I tease him about being my companion from that game.
4838313
Yes. But I don`t take companions if I can help it. My style tends to focus on moving quietly, quickly, and shooting from places no one would expect.
4838339 Eh Boone is okay at that style. I mean he uses a sniper so he usually stays far away and shoots. Sometimes though he just kinda runs into the middle of it and its just like facepalm
4840820
Ok, let me rephrase this. I actively dislike having anyone tag along.
4844092 Cool, I was just putting it out there. I wasn't trying to convince you to go and get Boone as a companion lol. I can see why, I've played both styles close up and far away/sneaky. And definitely prefer the far away and sneaky. More challenging that way since I've noticed its kinda easy to just play warrior and shit.
Any Updates anytime soon?
5045128
No promises, sorry. I have plenty of time to snip around at work, but practically none to actually sit down and do some serious writing at home. Not giving up on stuff... but no bloody idea when I get around to continuing.
I just found this and would like to say that this is a very intriguing story. I love your characterization of Blueblood especially. You kept him as a jerk while still making him sympathetic which is difficult to do. Great work.
5541255
Actually, I find it easy. The way to make a sympathetic jerk is simply to present clear and obvious reasons as to WHY they would do what they did. As they say, to understand is to forgive.
And I just reached this chapter, I must say- you write very well and I wish this was more popular; it shows Blueblood in new light that there isn't alot of fanfics like that.
I shalt wait for next chapter with baited breath, til then!
-Morfonious
When is there gonna be an update
6328704
When the inspiration strikes.
Look... I understand. It`s been a while. But with all the shit that goes on in the country, I`m working for two, essentially. Frankly, by the time I get off work, I have no desire to write anything I`d want to show to anyone at all. Aside from possibly a shrink.
Gonna get some of the workers back in September. Not promising anything, though. Hell knows what`ll happen.