//------------------------------// // Lawyer Up // Story: Metal Ringing // by 1000Fights //------------------------------// The dungeons of Canterlot castle were one of the worst places to be sent. On the outside, the castle, as the city, was a shining white with gold rimming edges. High spires of ivory that seemed to dominate the sky and looked as if gods had made their residence there. Underneath it all however, deep in the bowels of the city, was the darkest and most depressing places to venture. The moss covered walls and the stink of human waste permeated off of that. Criminals were a rarity in this nation, but when they were caught, and tried for such things as rape and murder, the cells were the loneliest and most incredibly dehumanizing place to be thrown into. There was only two or three guards on duty, but they were armed, and well trained. More than one individual was able to escape, and with each escape, came more and more security measures. Steel doors with enchanted runes on them to negate any magic that was used to open them or used inside the cell in general, along with window bars that would send a painful electrocution to the one who would dare try to pry the bars out. A Canterlot cell was near to inescapable. The only way out was a key. A key that was specially made for each hand crafted lock. No two locks were alike, and the keys themselves were complex and next to impossible to duplicate. Every angle and every shape of the teeth was unique, and no one, but the guards on post, were allowed to know what they looked like. They were also kept in a little box under the desk of the warden that could only be opened by a pass phrase that must be spoken by the warden's vocal chords, or it will not open. As stated, security was tight around there. Ignatius knew nothing of any of this and was concerned when he saw the cells. Most were abandoned, or had what was left of the scum that was thrown in there. If a prisoner died, they would leave them chained to the wall and hoped they didn't have a zombie to deal with later. Skeletons weren't much of a menace, but zombies, zombies were scary. The Marine Sergeant was hauled through the long corridor that was the cell block. The stink of death and feces was far too much to bare. Ignatius dry heaved whatever air he had in his stomach as his feet scraped the ground. The party reached the cell that was the farthest back away from the warden's post. One of the guards opened the door to the cell with the fabled key as the other tossed Ignatius inside. His head hit the ground with a thud as the door screeched closed. The tumblers clanged loudly and they set back in their grooves to lock the cell tight. The single window gave Ignatius enough light to see that his cell was empty, and relatively clean. A rusty bucket for waste stood up in the far corner, and a bed made of straw and a few animal pelts for blanketing and insulation was on the opposite corner. Ignatius' first thought wasn't to sit and think. His mind didn't work that way. He was a man of action and results. He left the thinking to the people like his brother. His first instinct was to grab the bars. The statement from before rang true. Ignatius' whole body was electrified and he hit the ground in a heap. He struggled to figure out what had just happened, and he found it difficult to think straight. After a minute or so in recovery on his stomach, he was able to stand up and run shoulder first into the door. The steel didn't even dent as Ignatius' strong deltoid hit it at full speed. He fell back to his original spot on the floor and went through the same recovery process. He looked around the cell for any weak spots, and found only things that would make his escape that much harder. The corners were reinforced with iron bands and parts of the floor were recently laid with fresh concrete. The cleanliness of the final product was too clean for it to be old. Ignatius just sat on his bed and heaved a sigh. He just sat there thinking just what a load of bullshit that this all was. He had saved a woman from being raped. A guard woman. He had done the right thing. The GOOD thing to do would have been to alert other guards, but he figured that the guards he killed were the guards he would have to report the incident to, so that was useless. He could have just let her been raped and then told Princess Celestia later, but then that woman would have to live with, or commit suicide from, the memories that followed from such events. NO! He had done the right thing by taking action, and it wasn't like he was going to be violent. He gave the man two chances to stop, and he just came at him still. That man, and his cohorts, needed to be stopped, and if they had to die, Ignatius cared little. He did the right thing and that's what happened. If that bitch in white didn't approve, well then fuck her. Fuck her in every hole twice with a dick the size of Twisted Horn's horns. Ignatius actually got a bit of erosion out of picturing the princess naked . . . screaming . . . bloody. He loved the idea of seeing all that and more done to the heartless witch. Within a play through of the atrocious acts he was fully erect. However, one thing came across his head that turned his stiff log into a limp lump. He had been rather rude, and in fact, downright hostile towards the princess ever since he arrived. She had opened up her castle to strangers and offered them clothing and armor. Even though he had been placed in a situation that was foreign, he could have acted a lot better than he did. This was Equestria after all. The land that, as an Airman, he had dreamt about and seen all the happy and well living ponies. What human being got the chance to come to a place like this. Keep in mind that it wasn't inhabited by the fabled equines, but it was still the same magical place that he fell in love with. Even as a Marine he thought back on it. After the war in Iran, he was brought back to a side of his humanity after finding the show again and re-learning everything he had forgotten after his experience that made him into the Wolf. Ignatius sat on the cold hard ground and got to thinking. Maybe he did deserve to sit and rot in this cell. After everything he had done, he thought maybe the only fitting place to have him meet his end was in the land he secretly adored. And all because he was too stubborn and hard headed to see something as good as this for what it really was. Aquinas had read the situation like a book when they appeared here. They could be having the time of their lives, and here he was, sitting in a jail cell. Ignatius blew out a long sigh, and steadied himself before rising to his feet and doing some light stretching. As he cracked his back and stretched his triceps, he heard someone talking. Not in a hushed tone, as to keep a secret meeting secret, but it was casual. As if the one talking was speaking to a friend. The Marine Sergeant's curiosity peaked and he made his way over to the solid steel door and put his ear next to the opened, sliding window. The voice grew a little louder. "Oh yessss. They will pay. They will suffer." said the voice. "It aaallll will come together. The ones will beg for mercy. They will plead for forgiveness, but they will not receive. They will not be rested until revenge has been taken. They will know suffering! YES! SUFFERING! DEATH! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" "Hey, buddy." Ignatius shot. "What's with the crazy shit?" Ignatius' tone was rather interrogative. The warrior was expecting a pale faced man with a long, grey, scraggly bearded man who looked malnourished. With eyes that looked like they would roll out at any time. Someone who was on the verge of death. However, that is not what he saw. A man with not only a healthy complexion, but a healthy glow to his eyes. He was also clean, and shaven. His hair was still a solid black. Ignatius' curiosity peaked at this and moved a little closer to the window. Both individuals could see the other. The Marine gave his usual deadpan stare, while the other man gave an inviting smile. "Can I help you?" the prisoner asked in a sincere tone. "Yah." Ignatius said in a huffed tone. "Who are you talking to?" "Is anyone else down here?" the man asked. "I don't think so." Ignatius said as he looked to his right to see the cells that looked, from where he was standing, to be relatively empty. "Then, I am talking to you." the man's smile was still inviting, but it loomed with a cloud of heavy danger. Ignatius, above all else, should know people like that. He was one of them. So to see it now, to be on the other side of the grin, was rather scary, and nothing scared the Sergeant. Now that was just because he was the most dangerous thing in the area at any given time. This man however, gave Ignatius a cold chill that he could only guess that his victims have felt when he looked upon them. This whole jail experience was getting to him. "Who are you speaking about? Who are 'they'?" Ignatius' tone turned rather interrogative again. Though it was harsher this time around, the man in the other cell seemed to just completely ignore it. As if he could see through Ignatius' expressionless mask and see that he was rather afraid. "You will come to know them." he said. His even vocalizations were just creepy. "One day I will speak to you again, and I will offer my hand, and you will take it. You will take it and you will be shown you a power that you can only dream of." "Why don't you show me some of that power now?" Ignatius said with a huff. His curiosity was masked by his macho. "No. Just remember that they will suffer. They will suffer." The man retreated back into the cell. His footsteps made no sound as he went back into the darkest portion of the holding container. "Hey! Hey! Come back, I still got more questions!" Ignatius cried out for the man and he was met with silence. Dead silence. The Marine threw up a middle finger; went back into the cell; and just sat there on his bed. It had gotten rather cold during the small exchange. All he could do now was wait. Wait for his brother to save him. Again. ______________________________________________________________________________ Aquinas stepped inside of the large and ornate throne room. Princess Celestia was rather pleased to see him. So much so, that she even expressed it. "Aquinas." she beamed. "So good to see you." Aquinas' stomach churned as he looked around the room. A certain Marine was nowhere to be found. He looked back to the monarch who sat rather comfortably. "Um . . . it's good to see you as well, Princess." He bowed. "Um . . . where is my brother?" his inquiry was met with a steely gaze from the princess. Her expression turned sour, and her lips pursed. "Your brother" The princess hissed. The Ensign winced at that. "is taking residence in the dungeons, and I have the key to his cell." She drew out the key and dangled it. "This is why I summoned you. I have locked your brother away, and it's up to you to get him out." "You mean I have to try and get the key from you?" Aquinas asked with more than a load of curiosity. "You will have to earn it." Celestia said with a straight face. "And how will I earn it?" Aquinas' instinctual male brain kicked in and sent a flash through his head. Though he would love to entertain such ideas, his stomach told him that something more dense hung in the air. "You will have to convince me that your brother should be set free. He has made open threats; insulted me; and killed my royal guards. I think that this is more than enough to constitute execution, but because of you, I will only hold him in the cell till his death naturally comes. However, I am willing to hear why I should set him loose." Celestia replaced the key back in her sleeve and sat comfortably in her seat. "I think that as a man of the law, I believe you are the best person available to defend your brother." Aquinas was rather worried. Actually, worried would be as good a description as calling an elephant a small, furry kitten. He was downright terrified. He read no sense of joking in her tone, and he already knew that there was some tension between his brother and Celestia, and the fact that he now made himself an enemy to someone of great power did not make this easy. In fact, it made things ten times harder because he knew nothing of Equestrian law. He was a Naval defense attorney back in America, but that meant next to nothing here. He had to buy time. He had to get a case ready. "Your Majesty." he said. "If I could request a day to prepare my case." "I will allow this." the monarch replied coolly. "At this time tomorrow, you and your brother will be here in my throne room and you will have a chance to defend him." "Did my brother say anything in his defense prior to my arrival?" "No. I didn't give him the chance to speak. I chose to just have him tossed in the dungeon because I didn't want to hear any lies he would try to weave." Princess Celestia's word were drowning with venom. Aquinas' face screwed up. "You just hauled him off to jail? Just like that?" "Yes." The princess said easily. "Like I said. I didn't want to hear his lies." Aquinas blew a heavy sigh. He knew the legends of Equestria, and believed that the Celestia told there was merciful, but what he saw now made him rather fearful at this point. The beloved ruler of Equestria was treating his brother like a traitor. Ignatius, he knew, was not the easiest person to deal with, but that didn't mean he deserved to be locked up. Aquinas spoke again. "I will be back tomorrow with my case. Good day to you, Princess." Aquinas stepped past the closed doors to the throne room, and took in a deep breath, and let it out saying in a hushed tone, "Oh, shit." ______________________________________________________________________________ "Fuck off, asshole!" Ignatius said as the snickering in the adjacent cell continued. "I'm tired of your shit!" "But it's all just so funny!" said the man in the cell. The laughter that started up again was more than annoying to the Sergeant than the initial banter. "You know." Ignatius said. "If you really can show me so much power, why don't you display some for me? You know, give me some incentive to grasp your hand quicker when you offer it." "Oh-ho-ho!" the man chuckled. "If I did, you would never believe me." Ignatius' face screwed up. "What kind of fucked up logic is that?" "If I really showed you, would you believe such a thing could exist, or would be looking at it as a mind game? A ploy to make me look that way, when all the while, I am really doing it." "I don't know." Ignatius said truthfully. "I probably wouldn't." "You see. I must retain my ability for now in order for you to understand later." "Or maybe, you're just full of shit!" Ignatius accused. "One day. Ha ha ha. One day." The man's voice trailed off and the only sound that was heard was that of a distant door being opened. Heavy footsteps and metal sounded in the deep. A torch's light flickered in the rhythm of the cadenced footsteps. Ignatius got up from his seat and looked out the slot and saw the two guards that tossed him in flanking his brother. "Fina-fucking-lly!" Ignatius cried out. "What the fuck took you so long?" Aquinas went up to the door and kicked it with a heavy leg. The impact of his foot was enough to knock Ignatius form the door and land him on the seat of his pants. "You really fucked up this time!" Aquinas shouted. "You really fucking did! Not only have you made yourself an enemy of the state, you also are possibly dragging my ass into this too." Ignatius went back up to the door from his sitting position and looked his brother in the face. "I know, and I'm sorry." he said humbly. "So what's going to happen? Am I being set free?" "I have a day to come up with a case to prove that you are innocent, but I can't do that, unless you tell the honest truth. I want to know what happened in that hallway." Aquinas' tone was interrogative and stern. Ignatius blew out a sigh and began his story from where he was wondering around the castle. He explained, with as much detail as possible, what was said and what he had done to the guards. Aquinas felt a spark of pride in the prowess that his brother had with a blade. His story also gave him a destination to go to. The deceased were already cleaned up, and on their way to the mortician, but the victim however, would be on her way to the doctors in order to receive treatment. That was where he would go next. "Thank you, Ignatius." Aquinas said. "I will do everything in my ability for you. Just stay out of trouble." "I will." Ignatius said defensively. "It's not like I'm going anywhere anyway." Aquinas stepped off in a hurry with the armed guard to the exit. He didn't have time to waste. "Hear that, jackass?!" Ignatius boasted. "My brother is a damn good lawyer and he's going to get me out of here. So, fuck you and your power display! HA!" Aquinas was able to hear his brothers words as he stepped with the full metal guards. "Do you know who he is talking to?" one of the guards asked the Ensign. "I would think that he is talking to the guy in the cell across from him." Aquinas said innocently. "But, sir" the other guard interjected. "There is no one else down here except for him." Aquinas shot the guard a look of confusion. "Are you sure?" "We know everyone that comes down here. He is the only one in the cells." Aquinas quickened his pace to a jogging. For the coldest of shivers exploded up and down his spine. He had to hurry if he going to get his brother out of there. ______________________________________________________________________________ Bright Flower woke up with a pain in her head like no other. Not to mention the fact that the a torch's light was staring into her eyes. That just made things worse. However, she was rather comfortable underneath the soft blankets and laying on an equally, if not more comfortable, bed. She tried to rise from her back, but was stopped by a large hand with a navy blue crystal embedded in it. She looked up to see a man dressed in a blue coat. He took a seat on her bed. Bright's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates and her breathing became labored. Not only was she weak from what had happened to her, but now she was face to face with a man that easily outweighed her, by her estimate, by ninety pounds. "Be calm." the man said. "You are in no danger." His words were slightly comforting, though the girl was still rather frightened. "My name in Aquinas. I come here on behalf of Princess Celestia. I need to ask you some questions that pertain to what happened a few hours ago." "I-I-I . . ." she stammered. She retreated slightly under the covers. Aquinas put out a hand to calm her. "Take a breath and steady yourself. You only need to answer my questions to the best of your abilities." Bright Flower came back from her meager hiding place and took that breath. "I will try." Her voice was shaky, and intimidated. "Good." Aquinas said with a smile. "In your own words, can you tell me what happened?" The woman took another deep breath and tried to calm herself down. "I was on patrol." she began. "I had taken the same corridors that I have been for the past three months that I was assigned." She took another breath. "I came around one of the corridors to find that there were six guards loitering in the hallway. I was about to inquire why they were there, but then one of them grabbed me. They started cracking jokes, and looking at me with hungry eyes. I was caught so off guard that, I couldn't scream, I couldn't fight, I just . . ." Two tears came streaking down her face. "I-I-I just felt so helpless." Bright Flower began to sob in her hands. Aquinas put a hand on her outside shoulder. "It's okay. This isn't your fault. You are the victim here. Please, go on. I only need little bit more of the situation. The part where the guards ended up dead." The female guard wiped her eyes and her nose with the back of her shaky hand. Some salty eye water and snot got on her maroon crystal. "I didn't do that." she said shakily. "I know," Aquinas said. "but please, try to tell me what happened." "All I remember is a man in leather armor being able to kill all six men. It all happened so fast, I fainted from fear." "So, a man in leather armor killed those men?" Aquinas asked, though he already knew the answer. "Yes. He wore a simple leather cuirass, and other pieces of armor of the same material." "Could you tell me some distinguishing features?" "Um . . . from what I can remember, he had short cut, dark, brown hair, he was rather tall, I'd say a little over six feet, and he was carrying a single dagger." "Is that all?" "No." Bright paused for a moment, some color had returned to her pale face when she went through the memory. "He had these eyes. Blue in color, but they seemed to have something behind them. Like a small light. It made it seem as if he saved me, not because he enjoyed battle, but because he knew I needed help." She gave a small smile. "If you find this man, can you tell him that he has my thanks for saving my life?" "I will. Thank you for your help." Aquinas stood up from the bed and walked to the door. He gave one final look back. "Do get some rest." His comforting smile brought as much comfort as he intended to the woman. With seeing her smile grow just a bit, he left her. ______________________________________________________________________________ "Are you sure I'll need all this?" Aquinas' arms were complaining at the weight that a certain purple haired female was putting on them. Twilight stacked as many books as possible in the heavy man's hands as she possibly could. "Absolutely." Twilight pressed. "You will need to read all these books if you are to help Ignatius." Aquinas blew a long sigh and started off toward the reading table. His legs shook under the weight of the heavy mound of tomes. His muscles breathed a sigh of relief when they were relieved of the weight. However, the table creaked in protest as it tried its legs to take the pile. Aquinas sat down in a comfortable chair and opened the first book. Equestrian Law Book 1 of 23. Aquinas knew that trying to memorize every law pertaining to his cause would take too many hours, and he was running out of time. So instead, Aquinas devised a plan. He flipped through the pages until the cases and laws that he needed showed up. It would take him all night, and a good part of tomorrow, but he would have his case. He would win, and all in the most unorthodox of ways.