//------------------------------// // Part III, Chapter 4 - Meeting with Counsel // Story: Fitting In Is Hard To Do // by origami //------------------------------// Thorax stood there for a moment looking at Plea Bargain's hoof. The stallion was a unicorn, his coat bluish grey and mane and tail white with grey streaks in it. The suit coat he wore covered up his cutie mark, but he felt safe in the assumption that it had to do with either being a lawyer or coming up with laws. The changeling reached out his hoof and bumped it against the stallion's, who recoiled a tiny bit at the contact. "Well", the stallion said a tad awkwardly,"Why don't we sit down and discuss your situation?" "Okay" replied Thorax, who took a seat at the metal table. Plea Bargain took his seat after Thorax. Once seated, he used his magic and levitated a large yellow notepad onto the table, along with a rather expensive looking fountain pen. "Now", Plea began,"my job as your defender is to help prepare your defense in the upcoming case against you. The best way for me to do that would be to first hear your side of the story, so if you would please, recall it in as much detail as you can." "Okay" Thorax said as he took a calming breath. He was about to start when the cell door opened and Brass walked in. Upon seeing the changeling, the mare made a beeline for him and brought him into as tight of a hug as she could. "You have no idea how badly I wanted to do that yesterday" she told him. Thorax struggled a bit against her hold, the grip just a bit too tight for his liking. "I think I have some idea" he managed to finally squeak out. A cough caught both Brass and Thorax's attention. Plea was sitting there gesturing at his notepad. "May we continue, please?" he asked the pair. "Oh, sorry!", Brass apologized,"I forgot you were coming to meet Thorax today." "Even though you were led to the counselor's visitation room?" Plea said with a raised eyebrow and slight smirk. "Okay, fine!", Brass relented,"I was that excited to see Thorax I didn't pay attention to where the guard brought me." "Just like back in grade school", Plea said with a smirk,"You enjoyed those adventure novels so much that it's a wonder you didn't dent your head running into door frames as a filly." Thorax looked at the two ponies in confusion, before Brass took notice and offered an explanation. "Thorax, Plea Bargain is a cousin of mine. He lives in Canterlot usually, but elected to move here for the chance at being one of the first ponies to set up a law practice here." "Oh" Thorax responded, unsure of what to make about the information. "Anyways", Plea continued,"before the interruption, you were about to recall the story of what happened to you?" "Right" Thorax responded, preparing himself with a short breath. "It started yesterday morning. I was convinced by Brass to leave the Crystal Palace and meet ponies, since the princess introduced me a week ago. We were in the market when ponies surrounded me and started accusing me of different things." "What kinds of things did they accuse you of?" Plea asked as he wrote down Thorax's story. "Well, the first one was brainwashing Princess Cadance", Thorax told Plea,"Then there was other stuff. Not feeling sorry about Canterlot, feeding on the ponies in the empire, spying on the royal family in preparation for another invasion." "Is any of that true?" Pleas asked him. "Of course not!" Thorax said defensively. Plea raised a hoof to calm him. "I meant no disrespect towards you", Plea told Thorax,"I'm just trying to get all of the details. Now, what happened after these accusations?" Thorax continued with the story. "Brass came to my defense, but I was so overwhelmed by all the ponies yelling at me, I took off to get away from the crowd." "I landed in an empty street a minute or so later and calmed myself down. I realized then that I had left Brass to deal with the mob of ponies and felt guilty about it. I was about to go back and try to help her, but then I heard a noise coming from a nearby alleyway." "There was a filly in the alley, and she was being accosted by two stallions." Plea raised a hoof to stop Thorax. "Let's talk about the two stallions you saw for a minute", Plea interjected,"Can you describe them to me?" "Yeah", Thorax agreed,"One was a unicorn, and the other was an earth pony." "Can you be a little more descriptive?", Plea prodded,"Coat color? Cutie mark?" "The unicorn had a cutie mark that looked like some sort of a whip", Thorax added,"like a cat of nine tails but with WAY more tassels, and the earth pony had a sledgehammer for his." "The whip sounds like a type of flog", Plea noted as he jotted down the descriptions. "But what about coat and mane color?" "The unicorn had a whitish grey coat and charcoal mane and tail", Thorax answered,"and the earth pony was a bright red with dark brown mane and tail." Thorax paused for a second and then added "Their eyes! The unicorn was a bright green, and the other was blue, like the ocean!" Plea wrote the descriptions down. "Okay, now that we have the descriptions, please tell me what happened next." Thorax continued his story. "I saw the two harassing the filly and I decided to intervene; I knew what it was like to be bullied and felt I should help, and I guess a part of me thought that the ponies seeing a changeling might scare them off. Except, it didn't scare them off. The earth pony made a move to charge at me, but I dodged it. He hit into a dumpster and got stunned for a moment." "I faced down the unicorn and told him to leave the filly alone. He made some kind of comment about minding my own business, and then I got hit with a stunning spell from behind." "There was another unicorn?" Plea asked. "I think so", Thorax answered,"I got knocked to the ground and was trying to recover, but one of the ponies kicked me in the back of the head and knocked me out." "So, you were standing up for the filly, but you were hit with a stunning spell and then got knocked out", Plea summarized,"What happened after you regained consciousness?" "After I came to", Thorax continued,"I noticed something in my mouth and spat it out. I looked at it and realized it was hair that came from the filly's mane or tail." "I tried to get up to move, but something struck me in the back and knocked me down. I looked around and saw all the guards and ponies glaring at me." "I also could feel their anger and hate too; I was wearing a suppression ring on my horn, which was keeping me from sensing emotions, but somepony took it off and destroyed it." "Do you have any idea who might have done that?" Plea asked. "I think it was one of the unicorns" Thorax replied. "I saw a third pony standing with the other two after I was pinned down. He was a crystal pony unicorn. Green coat with darker green mane and tail. His eyes were an amber color and his cutie mark was a pair of crystal dice." "A guard then approached me and put restraints on me and told me I was under arrest for trying to foalnap the filly, and then they brought me here." Plea finished writing down the story and read it back. "So, you were out with Brass Polish, got surrounded and verbally harassed by ponies, got overwhelmed and ran away, collected yourself, remembered Brass standing up for you and were about to return to her, but then overheard the stallions harassing the filly. You attempted to intervene, but were knocked out. After you came to, you had the filly's hair in your mouth, and the guards arrested you. That pretty much the whole story?" "Yeah", Thorax said with a nod,"pretty much." "Well, what do you make of it?" Brass asked Plea, curious of the stallion's opinion on the matter. Plea looked at both Brass and Thorax with a somber expression. "I'll be honest", he began,"It doesn't look good." "What do you mean?" Brass asked him, now with a more worried tone in her voice. "Brass", Plea addressed his cousin,"The story that Thorax just gave me, while I'm sure you believe it to be true, already looks rather suspect, and it'll look even more so to a prosecutor." "What do you mean?" she asked incredulously. Plea then made his point. "A changeling, a creature with a bad reputation amongst the ponies of Equestria, just happens to come across a filly being harassed by two much older stallions and decides to be a good samaritan and help?" Brass wanted to retort what he said, but he held up his hoof. "Brass, I'm not going to say that Thorax is either guilty or not guilty, but the fact is that, as much as I can try to lobby for considerations to make this as fair and impartial a trial as possible, there's gonna be ponies on the jury that will hold a prejudice against changelings, and will be chomping at the bit to put one in a jail cell." "The story he gave me will get picked apart like a manticore going after a rabbit. He says he came across two stallions harassing a filly in an alleyway? How do we know they weren't older siblings of the filly just acting like siblings are known to do?" "What about the ring he was wearing coming off? How do we even know if one of them did it? All the forensic ponies I've ever talked to said that it's hard to obtain a magic signature from one of those things because of the nature of the enchantments on them messing with the signature being left behind." "And, let's not forget the story of the other stallions. All three are in consensus that a trio of changelings were attempting to abduct the filly, and two got away while Thorax here was left behind after they knocked him out. Even if it's not a true story, a jury would believe it for three reasons: It fits the narrative about changelings in their mind, it's coming from more than one pony, and ponies are more than likely not going to paint other ponies as the bad guys in a story where another creature can be blamed." Brass wanted to argue back against Plea's points, but she had none. Thorax, who had remained quiet this whole time, spoke up. "What about making them testify under a truth sensing spell?" Plea looked at Thorax for a moment before snorting. "Oh, I wish it could be that simple!" Thorax looked confused for a moment, and then felt a hoof on his shoulder. He looked to see Brass looking back at him with sympathetic eyes. "I wish we could", she said to him,"but the Crystal Council hasn't approved the use of those spells in a court of law." "Crystal Council?" Thorax said with confusion. "Yes" Plea said, then went on to explain. "It's a council of crystal ponies, elected by the citizens of the empire, who serve as a system of checks and balances for the monarch's power. It was created a long time ago, but abolished during King Sombra's reign. When the empire returned, it was reinstated." "In regards to your suggestion, the council refused allowing the use of the spell in courtrooms on several grounds. Firstly is the fact that it is restricted to members of the royal guard, and isn't allowed to be examined or practiced by the average pony. Since they can't examine or perform it to personally verify its safety, the council won't allow its use." "While that one could be overcome in due time, there's another sticking point that is keeping the spell's use out of the courts: The judicial amendments to the Crystal Empire's constitution. One of the amendments has a clause that allows a pony who is testifying in court to avoid implicating themselves in a crime while giving testimony. A truth sensing spell could force them to reveal their involvement in a crime and jeopardize that protection." "Then how come the princess used it when she investigated the attack against me in the palace?" Thorax countered. Plea just gave a shrug. "That I can't say", the stallion answered,"As I said, the guard are the only ponies authorized to use those spells, so maybe the case that involved your attack was handled like a court martial instead of a normal criminal trial." "Wait a minute", Brass interrupted,"Feather Duster and Elbow Grease are civilian ponies! How could they be tried in a court martial? They aren't even guards!" "Again, I'm not sure", Plea answered,"Making a guess, the guard may have been given permission to prosecute them alongside the guards being court-martialed, if that is what actually happened." Thorax's hopes sunk a great deal after hearing that his idea wasn't feasible. With everything he had heard so far, it was sounding more and more like he should be prepared to spend the rest of his life in a dungeon. Brass, however, wasn't deterred. "There has to be some kind of defense we can establish for him, Plea", she said to her cousin,"Don't you have any ideas?" Plea let out a breath and looked at her. "I don't know what I can do that could make for a legitimate defense, but I will do what I can." Removing the notepad from the table, Plea then brought up a smaller pad. "I'll need to interview all of the ponies involved in this case, which includes the stallions accusing you as well as the filly who was the target of the attempted foalnapping to begin with. Until I can interview them and come up with a better strategy, the best idea I have for the moment is to establishing your good character through ponies willing to testify on your behalf. To that end, do you know any ponies who would be willing to put in a good word for you?" Thorax thought it over and came up with a list. "Well, Brass would definitely speak well of me, as well as Sunburst. Then there's Bicarb and Bar Keeper, though they haven't known me as long as Brass has. Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer would also be willing to put in a good word for me too. Oh, and Twilight's assistant Spike." Plea wrote down the list. "You mentioned Princess Twilight Sparkle as a good character witness. Do you think the other element bearers would speak on your behalf as well?" "I kinda doubt it", Thorax admitted,"I only met them one time, and while they didn't openly treat me with malice, I don't think I made a good enough impression that they would vouch for me." Thorax hung his head for a moment, but then thought of something. "Princess Celestia and Luna! They'd speak well of me!" Upon hearing this, Plea and Brass both looked nervously. "What?" Thorax asked innocently. Plea let out a breath. "The constitution doesn't allow the princesses to participate in any judicial cases besides those brought against them. King Sombra had a very heavy hoof in the outcomes of several major cases during his rise to power, and the Crystal Ponies put that law into place in an effort to prevent such things from happening again." "Besides that, the princesses also tend not to give testimony in cases; They fear that their opinions would too heavily influence the proceedings and could cause an otherwise guilty pony to be found innocent and not face their deserved punishment." "Then what about Twilight?", Thorax interjected,"She's a princess too!" "She is", Plea admitted,"but her title is fairly new, so she hasn't really had the time to get the kind of weight behind her name like Princess Celestia and Luna do. She's a national hero, and her testimony will go a long way to helping you establish your good character, but her words won't have the same kind of effect as the two ponies that control the celestial bodies and rule over the entire nation." The changeling deflated upon hearing that. Plea elected to continue speaking. "Character witnesses are part of one strategy I have. The other would be to try and find a way to get the case tossed out." "Tossed out?" Thorax parroted in confusion. Plea gave a nod. "To get it thrown out, I would have to prove to the courts beyond any measure of doubt that the case against you is bogus and prosecuting you would be a miscarriage of justice. To do that, I'd have to get access to all of the evidence, thoroughly examine it, speak to the witnesses and present an irrefutable claim that the case against you is not sound." "Do you think you could do it?" Brass asked Plea. "Possibly", he answered,"I have to examine the evidence the guard has collected so far. Once I've examined it, I'll have a better idea of what I might be able to argue to get the case thrown out." "Now, Thorax, I have a simple question I'd like to ask you. Have you ever had experience dealing with the Equestrian courts whatsoever?" "No", Thorax replied to Plea's question,"I've never had anything to do with any courts." "Good" Plea responded as he jotted the info down. "That will help a little bit." "How will that help?" Thorax asked. "Ponies tend to judge a pony, or in your case changeling, more unfairly if the pony in question has been convicted or accused of a crime before. Of course, the fact you haven't been convicted might not even have any effect on their opinions." "So, since you've never been through an Equestrian Court before, I'll go over the procedures here and now so you'll have an idea of what to expect." "I thought this trial was happening in the Crystal Empire?", Thorax asked in confusion,"Why are we talking about Equestrian courts?" "The trial is being held in the Crystal Empire", answered Plea,"but the legal system here is modeled after the one in Equestria, with a few differences here and there, so what we're going over would, for the most part, be the same as if this happened in a city such as Manehattan or Baltimare." Plea produced a pamphlet and presented it to Thorax. On the paper was a flowchart with different labels, which Plea pointed out as he explained. "The very first thing we'll be dealing with is the arraignment. That's a very simple part of the trial. It's basically when you're officially accused of the crime in question, and you'll be asked to declare whether you're guilty or not guilty of the crime. Alternately, you could plead no contest, which means you're not saying that you're guilty, but you'll accept whatever punishment they would give you if you would plead guilty. Sometimes the accused choose to do this to avoid having a long, drawn-out and rather expensive trial they don't believe they have any chance of winning." A hoof pressed hard into Thorax, who turned to see Brass glaring at him. "You are not guilty, Thorax!", she seethed,"So don't even think about pleading guilty or no contest!" Thorax gulped as he turned to look back at Plea, who continued his explanations. "Since we've decided that you're going to be pleading not guilty, the judge presiding over the case will set a date for the pretrial process. This is when witnesses give their first testimonies and evidence is presented to the judge, who decides if the case holds water and a trial should be held. This is the part where I would present the evidence to try and get the case thrown out." "Should it not be thrown out, which is fairly likely, the next process will be jury selection. That's when the courts, prosecution, and the defendants select ponies to sit on a jury to hear the witness testimony and evidence." "After that, the main trial begins. It starts with opening arguments, the prosecution presenting their witnesses and evidence, then we present our witnesses and evidence, the closing statements are given, and then the judge instructs the jury on the verdict process." "The jury will then retire to private chambers and deliberate the case amongst themselves until they reach a unanimous verdict. When they do, they'll come back in and present it to the court. Depending on what that verdict is, the judge will either release you, if you're found not guilt, or, in the instance you're convicted, establish a date for sentencing, and on that date, will decide what punishment you should receive." "That's a lot of information" Thorax remarked, honestly overwhelmed by everything he'd just been told. Plea nodded. "It is a lot, but we'll have to take things one step at a time." The stallion looked and noticed a guard gesturing to him, an indication that their time for the day was up. "Well, this has most definitely been interesting, but I must go now. I'll get in touch with you again after I've had a chance to see evidence and interview witnesses. Once I've done that, we can discuss the trial strategy in more detail." The stallion stood up and walked over to the door. Thorax then thought of something. "How do I get in touch with you if I have any further questions?" Plea thought about that for a moment, then produced a card from his pocket and floated it to Thorax. "This is the address for my office. I have one of those new phones, and the guards have one here at the station as well. I'll make arrangements so that you can contact me if necessary." "Okay", Thorax responded,"but what about your payment? I don't have a whole lot of bits to my name." "Don't worry about that", Plea said with a small smile,"I'm taking your case pro-bono." Thorax looked at the stallion, confused. Brass filled Thorax in. "That means he's going to be handling your case for free." The revelation made Thorax stutter in disbelief. He tried to ask why, but Plea beat him to the punch. "I'm doing this as a favor to my cousin. It also doesn't hurt that, should I successfully defend you, I'll be able to attract more clients to my practice. After all, what pony wouldn't want a lawyer able to get a changeling off the hook?"