After a bit of asking around, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity found themselves in front of a very ominous looking courthouse near the center of town.
"Well, if somepony committed a crime, this would be one of the best places to find them," Twilight mumbled. They walked in, and were led to the main courtroom. It was already mostly filled of commoners wanting to see the trial at hand. The jury had notepads out and were writing some things down while watching the three ponies behind the defendant's stand fidget nervously. The judge sat on her high-rising chair and pedestal looked rather bored, resting one hoof under her chin. A guard stood up and told everyone to sit down, as the trial was about to begin.
"May the defendants rise?" The judge said lazily, brandishing her gavel.
Wicked, Pinkie, and Applejack stood up and gave the truth oath.
The judge straightened up. "Now, this is the first time in a while we've had a trial on this offense, so lets go over the law." She motioned to the scribe below her.
The scribe cleared his throat before stating "The law of the forbidden fruit, which has been in our city for well over a century, states that any who possess, trade, consume, speak of, or bear anything resembling the forbidden fruit is to be arrested and charged with ten months hard labor, two years in prison, a fine of three-hundred bits, or a combination of the three, as decided by the jury." He sat back down.
Both trios of ponies gasped.
"Three hundred bits? Where could we possibly get that much money?" Rarity whispered to her companions before being shushed by a nearby spectator.
The judge looked over the three defendants. "Very well. What have these three done specifically, in defiance of this law?"
A lawyer pony from the plaintiff’s stand spoke up. "It is believed that the tan defendant, known as..." he stopped himself, remembering about the ban of naming the fruit. "a
Are we allowed to say the name of the forbidden fruit in court, to explain the evidence?" He asked.
"It is alright to speak of the name of the fruit under the conditions of a courtroom." The judge pony replied.
"Ok, then the tan defendant, who gave her name as Applejack-" he waited for the gasps to subside. "-has not only a name bearing the fruit, but also has three of them on each side of her flank, as is her cutie mark." Her cloak had been removed before the case began, so everyone in the room could clearly see Applejack's red apples.
The lawyer turned to Wicked. "This defendant, known as Wicked Betrayal, was heard by two patrolling guards saying the first defendant's name in public, although refusing at the time to know her."
"And what of the pink mare?" The judge asked, taking a bit more interest.
The lawyer shrugged. "Apparently, she's a friend of Wicked and...Applejack, so she said as many words that contained the word 'apple' that she could think of on her way here." He pulled out a few pieces of paper. "It appears she knew almost every word in the dictionary. Would you like to hear the list?"
The judge shook her head. "I don't think that will be necessary." She looked at the three defendants. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"
Wicked spoke up. "Not guilty! I did nothing wrong!" He broke down sobbing. "I'm too young to go to jail!"
"Quit yer whinin', "Applejack pushed him back. "We are guilty as charged, Ma'am. I work with my family on an apple farm in Ponyville, which explains my name and cutie mark. We are deeply sorry for breaking your law." She thought for a moment before adding, "Forgive me for asking, but what brought about this law in the first place? It seems a little extreme to me, banning the entirety of a certain type of fruit."
Both the jury and the spectators began conversing to one another about this,only to be silenced by the loud thump of the judges gavel against the pedestal,
“Simmer down now, everypony!” She hollered as she hammered the gavel. Then she looked down at the defendant ponies.
"You have not heard the history of the law?" She bent over her podium and whispered something to the bailiff, who nodded before turning to the group.
"As a pony who upholds the laws here in Miniapple-Less, the honor has been given to me to tell the story of The Forbidden Fruit." The uniformed stallion pulled out a small book and flipped through until he found the right page.
"The mare couldn't believe her eyes. Her lover was actually a changeling! Nonetheless, she still held deep feelings for her, and-"
"Ah-hem!"
The bailiff looked up, startled. "What, was my grammar off? I've been working on it for a while, and this chapter was a little tricky-"
The judge face-hoofed. "No, no, no. The OTHER 'Forbidden Fruit' story. You know, the one about the origin of the name of the city? The reason behind why we have a rule against apples, and why we're all here?"
Distraught, the pony asked "So, they aren't asking for a read-through of my fan fiction?" After letting this fully sink in, then began blushing profusely, putting the booklet back into his pocket and pulling a much larger volume from behind one of the tables. When he found the page he wanted, he opened his mouth to begin, then decided to first show it to the judge in order to make sure he had the right one this time. She rolled her eyes and reassured him that if he was reading it from the 'Laws of the Land', then he was in the right book.
The bailiff cleared his throat, then began to read from the large book.
"During the first few weeks of the early establishment of a small unnamed town, the governor took a break from his work and took a trot through the surrounding forest. He came across a tree with apples, though they were smaller than those he'd heard of. He had never eaten apples before, and thought now would be a good time to try one, as he was getting a little hungry from his walk. So he picked one and bit into it. The taste was not even remotely what he expected, as it was very sour. So sour, in fact, that he later recorded that his mouth had dried out so much he could only drink the wettest of liquids for the next three weeks. In order to prevent others from having the same fate, he banned apples from the town, and named the town Miniapple-Less as a reminder to everypony that it was a small apple in particular that caused him so much discomfort."
He closed the book with a loud thump. "And that is why we have the law of the Forbidden Fruit. Though, for the record, I do believe my story would've been less depressing."
Applejack was nearly falling out of her seat in a fit of laughter.
"Now miss, I do not want to have you thrown in jail for disruption of court. Now quit laughing this instant." The judge said sternly, rapping her gavel against the podium again.
With a little difficulty, Applejack was able to control her laughter before speaking. "Yer Honor, I believe I've discovered a major misunderstandin' with yer Gov'ner's experience. Ya see, it's come to my reasoning that he stumbled upon a CRAB-apple tree. Crabapples are a smaller variety of apple that is known for its sour taste, and he may've grabbed one that was still ripening, so got blasted a bit more than the usual ripe crabapple. Most varieties are actually quite sweet and juicy."
She opened her pack, which for some reason the court allowed the ponies to keep, and brought out a pair of red apples, much to the distaste of the rest of the courtroom (minus the other seven ponies who actually have had apples before).
These are some Red Delicious apples, grown straight on my family's farm. If any of you simply tried them, you'll know that these are actually quite delicious, and will absolutely not leave her mouths drier than sand in a desert." She took a bite of one, exaggerating her chewing so others could see the apple chunks and juices sloshing around her not-dry mouth.
The bailiff stepped forward to detain her, but was stopped by the judge grabbing the sleeve of his uniform.
"Bring one here," she said to Applejack, "If somepony is to see if this is just a trick of a criminal or a genuine breakthrough in our law, there Is no one else in this courtroom that is more trusted than the judge herself."
She waited for any disagreement from the crowd, who were now too anxious to care who was going to do it, as long as it was done.
She bit into the apple.
She chewed slowly, and her eyes began to light up. She took more bites, and before everypony knew it, the apple was gone.
The judge smiled. "That, was one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted. Except, the last few bites were a bit hard and chewy."
Applejack smirked. "That would be the core of the apple. Most people don't eat that part, because there isn't much flavor there and the seeds are too hard to chew."
"Ah, that makes sense." the judge directed her attention to the rest of the courtroom. "If I may, I think that it is about time we update our law books. Perhaps better discuss, and even examine every part of a law BEFORE it goes into effect, so as to avoid something like this happening in the future."
She turned back to the defendants. "Well, by court error, I believe you three are clear to walk. However, Applejack, I think some of our town produce merchants may want to how've a talk with you about some business?"
"It would be my pleasure, yer Honor."
"Wonderful. Case dismissed." She slammed the gavel down again. "Alright, I'm in a good mood, bring in the next case straightaway."
~S~
As the six companions walked through the rows of seats out of he courtroom, Twilight couldn't help but think out loud.
"Wait, didn't the filly at the cafe said something about a possible hanging? That wasn't one of the penalties for breaking the apple law..."
They all stop in their tracks when they heard the plaintiff lawyer pony proclaim "This next case deals with a couple of Pegasi who have broken the Law of the Clock Tower..."
As he spoke, a rainbow-maned mare and dark colored stallion were led into the defendant's stand.