-
"Where are they?" Jinx wondered.
The alchemist fidgeted in his seat. The courtroom was surprisingly empty, considering the magnitude of the case. Every so often a pony or two would walk into the courtroom through the large mahogany doors in the back, but most of them were jury ponies and took their seats in the wooden booth towards the front. That didn't stop Jinx from putting himself as far into the corner as possible with only the presence of a certain energetic green handypony for company.
"Calm down, Jinx." Shen grinned. "Everything's going to be okay."
"How can you say that?"
"Easy!" Shen bounced. "Everything's going to be okay! Everything's going to be okay! Everything's going to be okay! Come on, you try it!"
"No, I mean, what makes you so sure we're going to win this?"
"Come on, Mr. Grumpy Pants! We're the good guys! We're supposed to win!"
"I wish I had your optimism..." Jinx mumbled.
The doors flew open once more. This time, Twilight Sparkle and Spike stepped through the doors.
...followed by a maelstrom of books floating in midair.
"Jeez, Twi." Shen laughed. He inclined his head, getting a great view of the ceiling and the top of towering stack of books. "Did you bring the whole library with you?"
"Actually, yes." Spike confirmed, causing Jinx and Shen's eyes to widen dramatically.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures, boys." Twilight said. She released the spell and let the books fall, releasing a slight tremor. "Besides, a book I read said that in order to be a lawyer, you have to know pretty much everything, so I thought 'why not bring every book I have just to be safe?'"
"And I thought Shen went overboard..." Jinx breathed.
"I'll take that, as a compliment." Shen snickered, then frowned. “Where’s Firebrand? You’d think he’d be here.”
“I dunno.” Spike shuddered, hopping off of Twilight's back. “After today, I’d think he’d want to give us some space for a while. You know, cool off.”
“Oh, that would explain what I saw earlier." Prowler said as he walked in. "I do believe when I last saw him, he was eating with a rather pretty blue mare with odd purple robes. Looked like he was having a good time too. I would too if I scored a date with a girl like that."
“Trixie?” Twilight thought. "Why would Firebrand-”
"What?!" Jinx fumed. “That jerk blew off coming to this trial to go on a date with TRIXIE?"
"Calm down, Jinx. Shouting will get you removed from the courtroom.” Prowler tutted. “Besides, I'm sure Firebrand has a very good reason for what he's doing.”
"What could a date with "The Great and Powerful Trixie" possibly accomplish?" Jinx snapped.
“I...” Prowler paused. His eye shifted around the courtroom, as if he were searching for an answer.
"So anyways, Prowls," Shen stepped in, his voice higher than normal. "Did you find anything?
“Very little.” Prowler said, silently grateful for Shen's interruption. "We did find evidence that will aid the Cloudsdale Police Department in capturing Aqua's former friends, but aside from that, not much else.”
"Anything we can use?” Twilight asked.
“All rise for the entrance of the honorable judge, Swift Justice.”
All the heads in the room turned towards the front of the courtroom. An orange maned pegasus garbed in black robes fluttered over to the center stand. Once she landed in her seat, she pulled out a pair of large bifocal glasses and proceeded to set them on her white muzzle.
“Darn.” Prowler said. “We should get to our seats.”
Twilight gave a quiet hiss. Every opportunity to help Aqua Jet kept getting ripped from her. She had absolutely no time to set up anything concrete, and the rate at which she was losing things meant it would be that much harder to prove Aqua Jet innocent. She gave a heavy sigh and walked over with Shen and Aqua to her seat.
Twilight pulled up a book titled "Lawyers For Dummies" and flipped to the etiquette section. Her eyes scanned the pages, absorbing as much information as she could with the few precious seconds she had.
“Aqua Jet stands accused of smuggling illegal goods into Equestria.” The judge read. “Defense, how does the defendant plea?”
Twilight stood up. “The defendant pleads not guilty, your honor.”
"Well, that's a flat-out lie, technically." Shen snarked to himself.
"It is now time for your opening statements please." Swift Justice announced. "Defense, you may begin."
“Yes, your Honor.” Twilight stated. With dignity rivaling that of Prowler, Twilight stood up and strode over to the jury stands. A bead of sweat dropped off her brow and disappeared into her fur.
"It begins."
“Aqua Jet." Twilight dictated, her voice unwavering and clear. "A pony most of the people in the room are aware of. He is a local weather pony for Ponyville, and manager of the coastal weather. Additionally, recent chosen bearer of the Element of Honesty. Now this pony stands accused of a crime of accessory to smuggling, which he has confessed to. Anypony could obviously see this would land him an instant guilty verdict."
Aqua Jet rubbed his ear with a hoof. “She’s on my side, right?” He whispered.
"Wait for it." Shen grinned. “Twilight did a little... research on our jury members.”
Aqua Jet raised an eyebrow. His interest piqued, he turned his attention back to Twilight’s performance.
“Now let me ask you," Twilight continued, "How many ponies here would describe Aqua Jet as a pony who deserves to go to prison? A pony whose dependability makes you trust your life to him if you’re in danger, has always done his job to the best of his ability, and recently helped saved the world?”
Twilight studied the jury, looking for her specific targets. Logically, Aqua Jet was guilty, so the only course of action to take was appeal to the jury's emotions. That is, the emotions of ponies which Aqua Jet’s actions have affected. She made sure to make clear eye contact with each special member as she continued her speech.
“Furthermore, punishing Aqua Jet would do more harm than good. Firstly, someone will have to fill in his job for altering local weather and managing the weather of the nearby beachfront. Now, I do not think lowly of my fellow pony, but I do not believe there is a pony greater suited to the task than he, as I do not believe there is a single pony in here that would doubt his proficiency.”
Twilight made strong efforts to not smile. She spied several jury members nervously rubbing their hooves and looking down. It was a strong indication that they were taking her words into consideration, and when they would convene later to discuss the verdict, they would vouch for Aqua. Feeling she was on a roll, she continued her case.
"The most important thing to consider is Aqua Jet is an Element of Harmony. If disaster would befall Equestria again, and we would need to utilize the Elements of Harmony, we would be unable to defend Equestria from such a threat. Aqua Jet may have confessed to the crime, but we intend to prove that it is not his fault that this happened, and sending him to prison would do more harm than good.”
Twilight's head bowed. "Thank you." Her eye drifted upwards. Several of the ponies in the jury looked as if they were in deep thought. She had certainly gotten through to them with her words, and the evidence hadn't even been presented yet.
“Prosecution, you may make your opening statement." The judge recited.
Prowler sighed and pushed his glasses further back onto his muzzle. He glanced over to Twilight, who gave a subtle nod. The officer stood up and turned to the jury.
“Aqua Jet is guilty.” Prowler stated without emphasis, “And I’m going to try and prove it.”
Prowler sat back down in his chair and folded his front legs on the table, signaling that’s all he wanted to say. The judge raised an eyebrow at the stallion, but decided asking why wasn't worth the time.
"Very well, then," she stated. “Prosecution, you may now make your case.”
“Yes, your Honor.” Prowler replied. Prowler stood up from the desk and turned to the jury. “At 0200 hours on this Thursday morning, the Ponyville Security Station received an anonymous tip, detailing the transport of illegal goods across the borders from Dragon Territory to Equestria. This is a textbook example of smuggling."
"Anonymous, huh?" Shen sneered. "Convenient."
"We dispatched a small team of police officers, led by me, to the described location. Once we arrived, the defendant was found holding one of the crates containing the contraband items. He was promptly arrested and brought in for questioning, where he confessed to contributing to this endeavor. Prosecution rests."
A wave of muffled whispers spread through the crowd, most sounding shocked or confused.
“Prosecution, you may call your first witness.” The judge said.
“Yes, your Honor. Prosecution calls the defendant, Aqua Jet, to the stand.” Prowler said, looking over at the defense.
A guard wearing a black police uniform walked over to the defense table. Aqua Jet stood up on cue and walked over, putting up no resistance as he was escorted to the stand.
“Raise your left hoof.” The guard said.
“Ugh, when is this stupid ceremonial junk gonna be over and done with?” Shenanigans whispered.
“It’s a time-honored tradition, Shen.” Twilight tutted. “Please be patient.”
“In the presence of the creators," the guard recited, "do you solemnly swear to speak the truth, all of the truth, and nothing but the truth?”
“But I’m BORED.” Shen whined.
“You’re the one who wanted to serve as defense along with me, Shen.” Twilight reminded. “It’s your own fault.” Shenanigans had no answer to that, but felt the need to give another moan. He slumped his head in his right hoof and began drawing invisible figures on the desk with the other hoof.
“Yes, sir.” Aqua Jet replied to the guard.
The guard took out a key and moved towards Aqua Jet’s bindings. Metal cuffs and shackles rattled as they hit the ground. While the guard picked up the cuffs and resigned to the corner of the room, Aqua Jet to the opportunity to recline in the stand. Oddly, he found the position comfy. He decided the ground was more interesting than the courtroom and didn’t notice Prowler getting up from his seat.
“Aqua Jet.” Prowler said, as he adjusted his glasses. “Is it true that you were at the beach that night?”
“Uh huh.” Aqua replied, not looking up.
“And you helped smugglers accomplish their task of illegally smuggling goods into Equestria?”
“Yeah.”
Prowler turned towards the jury. “Prosecution rests,” he stated, then sat down and said nothing else. A few murmurs swept through the jury, audible phrases being "guilty" and "why are we even here?"
“Your honor, Defense would like to examine the witness.” Twilight stated.
"Granted,” Swift Justice confirmed.
Twilight approached the stand. Aqua Jet gave a small glance, but then resumed staring at the floor.
“Aqua Jet, was helping these criminals something you planned?" Twilight asked.
Aqua Jet's eyes radiated confusion. “No... I didn’t plan it at all.”
“So you just randomly decided on the spur of the moment, that you wanted to throw your life away and smuggle illegal goods into the country?"
“What? No." Aqua Jet insisted, annoyance creeping into his voice. "I didn’t even know I was doing it.”
“You didn’t know? Please, elaborate.”
“I didn’t know they were wanted criminals. I figured they were just old friends that needed a little help moving or something, and I didn’t suspect anything.”
“You knew them?" Twilight repeated.
"Yeah, we were childhood friends. They asked for help, and I gave it, even though I didn't know what it was."
"So, here's what I've gathered from our little exchange. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that..." Twilight turned away from Aqua Jet and gave a stern look at the jury. "These criminals played the kindness of your heart and abused your trust, then ditched you the moment things went south for them, and made you look like the guilty one?"
That gave the entire courtroom pause. The records ponies typed furiously on their typewriters, making sure to get each word verbatim.
"Well..." Aqua paused. "When you put it that way... yeah." A small smile appeared on Aqua's face. "Yeah, they pretty much did that."
Twilight turned towards the judge and said, “No further questions at this time.” Twilight sat down with a smug grin; she had the jury wrapped around her hoof. She felt it was a little cheap and manipulative to appeal to their emotions like that, and basically ask them to ignore the logic of the situation, but Twilight was willing to cross that line to help her friends.
"Prosecution, would you like to examine the defendant again?" The judge said.
Twilight looked up. The case was theirs, Aqua Jet would be innocent, and all Prowler had to do was say-
"Yes." Prowler said.
"No-ye-wait, what?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What is Prowler doing? We already have the jury on our side; what else does he need to say?"
"Aqua, answer me truthfully." Prowler questioned. "Would these criminals have succeeded if not for you?"
Aqua Jet's smile disappeared. "Well... no."
"WHAT IS HE DOING?!" Twilight panicked.
"So these criminals got away, succeeded in smuggling almost half a ton worth of illegal goods into Equestria, because of your naïveté and carelessness."
"Y-yeah." Aqua Jet stammered, shrinking back into his seat.
"STOP IT, PROWLER!" Twilight screamed into her head, vainly hoping Prowler could hear her. "STOP IT! YOU'RE RUINING EVERYTHING!"
"And furthermore," Prowler continued, "You realize that your actions, whether direct or indirect, still resulted in criminals escaping capture and the-"
"Defense would like to re-examine the witness!" Shen cried.
Before the judge could reply, Shenanigans burst from his seat and leapt towards the stand. Prowler tried to protest, but he could barely utter a syllable before he was promptly shoved out of the way.
"Where were you on the night of the 21st?" Shen accused.
Aqua Jet blinked. "I... could swear I just-"
"What are you not telling us, beach boy?" Shen interrupted. "Tell us why you aren't telling us the things you're not telling us!"
"What?"
"Answer the question!" Shenanigans shouted as he pounded Aqua's booth multiple times. "Do I need to remind you that you are under oath?!"
"Which question do you want me to answer?"
"I want you to answer the question that you are avoiding to answer the question to!"
"Defense!" Swift Justice screamed and thrust her gavel in Shen's direction. "You are out of order!"
"No, you're out of order!" Shenanigans shouted back, "He's out of order! She's out of order! This courtroom is out of order! The vending machine in the lobby is out of order!!!"
"ORDER IN THE COURT!" The judges voice boomed, silencing Shenanigans' dramatic interruption. "Defense, you will cease your childish antics before I hold you in contempt of court!"
Shenanigans froze and meeped. "...yes, your honor." A slight wobbly shiver could be seen in his step as he made his way back to his seat.
"What was that about, Shen?!" Twilight hissed under her hoof.
"I had to do something!" Shen insisted. "Prowler was on a roll with his arguments and I had to disrupt his flow!"
"You couldn't have done that with a bit more tact?"
"Well, I panicked!" Shen whined. "It seemed like a good idea at the time!"
"Now, since I trust there will be no more interruptions," the judge said as she straightened out her robes. "Does the prosecution wish to continue the cross examination?
"No, your honor..." Prowler stated. "I... believe I lost my train of thought."
"Very well." The judge said. "Defense, do you have any more questions?"
"That's our cue!" Shen whispered.
"You're not going back up there, Shen!" Twilight commanded. "I don't want you getting us a penalty!"
"Defense," the judge repeated, lacing her voice with venom. "Do you have any more questions?"
"Okay, fine, but do something!" Shen informed. "The judge looks ready to kill!"
"Your honor..." Twilight started. Thoughts flooded her mind about the present state of affairs. What could she ask? She already gambled everything on the jury, which was now rendered kaput. She had no other evidence disclosed to her other than Aqua Jet's testimony which was milked dry.
"N-no further questions, your Honor." Twilight cringed, the words almost wounding her as they left her mouth.
"Very well." Swift Justice stood up and addressed the entire court. "Since neither side has evidence they wish to present and neither feels the need to question the other, we can move on. Has the jury reached a verdict?"
“Umm, your honor?” Shen said. “I-"
"You will stand up when addressing me, Defense!" The judge snapped.
Shen gulped audibly and shot himself to attention. "Your honor, I respectfully request w-we take a short recess for lunch?”
“It is four in the afternoon.” The judge deadpanned, with fifty layers of searing hatred concealed underneath her tone.
“Well, yeah... but... T-that doesn’t mean all of us ate!” Shen noted, desperately hoping his troll logic would save him.
“You know, he’s right, I am kind of hungry.” A large pegasus in the jury stated.
"See? We can't have them making sound judgments on an empty stomach!" Shen inwardly cheered and ran with it. “You don't want us to have a mistrial do you? We need to take a food break! And need I remind you about the vending machines that are out of order?"
"We're doomed..." Twilight moaned in her head as it impacted against the desk.
The judge's mask never moved, except her piercing gaze remained locked onto Shen's sweating face. Shen's forced grin widened as the fiery stare he received from the judge got narrower and narrower. For a moment, he was afraid he signed his own arrest warrant.
"Sustained." The judge stated, and smacked the podium with her gavel. “Court is adjourned for one hour for lunch. However, in the meantime the jury will discuss their ruling on the case of Aqua Jet's smuggling.”
The audience dispersed into a disorganized gaggle as the ponies herded themselves out of the courtroom.
Aqua Jet didn't look up as a security guard replaced his cuffs and harness. Without resistance, Aqua Jet let himself be led out of the room, trying to avoid eye contact with anypony.
Prowler forced himself to look away from the pathetic display. The sound of a door shutting let him know he could look again. When he opened his eyes, a very irate purple unicorn was staring him down.
“What in the hay was that, Prowler?" Twilight snapped. "Were you trying to get Aqua Jet a guilty verdict?”
“Excuse me?" Prowler shot back, his chin high. "I was assigned a job, and I'm going to do it to the best of my ability; that's what a professional does. It's not my fault you couldn't keep up.”
“We're supposed to be helping Aqua, not trying to get him a worse sentence!”
“And did it ever occur to you that the judge can remove me and reassign a different prosecution if he doesn't think I'm performing adequately? If I didn't fight back she would more than likely replace me with a lawyer less inclined to our cause? Did you ever think about that?”
Twilight didn't answer.
"I suspected as much." Prowler smirked, letting the feeling of winning a battle of principle wash over him. "The situation requires tact and conduct, something you should be happy I'm here to provide."
"So, Mr. Professional,'" Twilight quoted. "Has your 'tact' and 'conduct' gotten us any closer to saving Aqua Jet?"
Prowler's smile vanished. “Well..." Prowler said, resisting every urge to stammer. "Technically no... But-"
"And that by doing what you did, all our work up until now have been for naught because you felt the need to 'be professional?'"
"You don't understand! I can't just be a bad attorney! I've already explained to you why!"
"So what? Our original purpose was to help Aqua Jet, but all you've done is make things worse!"
"It's not like I was given any choice in the matter." Prowler countered. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it your idea that I be prosecution?"
"It was actually the Princesses' idea." Spike piped.
"Oh, thank you, Spike, now I remember." Prowler mocked. "That makes it all the better! Royal Orders compelling my nature to get my friend convicted! Quite the pleasant situation I'm in! I've been forced between a rock and a hard place, and none of you are making this any easier for me!"
"STOP IT! PLEASE!" Jinx shouted, stepping in between Twilight and Prowler. "Guys, we shouldn't be fighting right now. Aqua's still depending on us. Shen was able to get us an hour lunch break. Don't you think we could use that hour for something useful?"
Twilight wanted to retort about Jinx's earlier scuff with Firebrand, but she held her tongue.
"Jinx is right." Spike added. "And I don't know about you guys, but I know I can't work on an empty stomach and I haven't eaten since breakfast. Why don't we just go get some food? I'm sure the answer will come to us after we get some something to eat."
Twilight grunted, still wanting to continue the argument. Eventually, she surrendered and walked to the door. The rest of the group soon followed suit and the courtroom was thus empty of ponies.
-
"There has to be something!"
Hard paperback books flew in the air and landed on the other side of the room. Papers danced and hovered above the ground as a purple pegasus dashed from bookcase to bookcase.
"Something! Anything! This office has to have something!"
Prowler tore through book after book, document after document. He finally settled on a singular book and flew over to his desk. His bloodshot eyes sped through the pages, scanning every letter and sentence.
“There's just too much to look through..." Prowler sighed, defeated. "If I knew what to look for I might have a chance, but there's nothing! NOTHING! I CAN'T HELP HIM!!!" Prowler threw the book against the wall, bending the spine out of shape.
"What do I do?!" Prowler screamed to himself. "I know Aqua Jet is guilty, and in order to maintain justice he will have to be punished. I'm a police officer; my loyalty to the law should be unwavering. But he's my friend! How am I call myself the Element of Loyalty if I knowingly send my loving friend off to prison? The poor sap doesn't deserve prison! Argh!" Prowler threw his hooves up in the air and buried his face in them. Prowler's breathing intensified. His eyes bulged out of their sockets and his teeth ground together. "Why does this have to happen? Why does fate feel the need to make my life miserable? Why does friendship have to make things so dang complicated?!?!"
Wooden creaking echoed from Prowler's constant back-and-forth rocking. His wings involuntarily flared and created a storm of paperwork from the contents of his front desk. He looked up at the floating pieces of paper, and buried his face in his hooves.
Frustration. Guilt. Desperation. These emotions continued to eat at his mind, and would not leave until they consumed all of it.
"What do I do... It's loyalty to my friends... Or loyalty to the law..."
"My friend... the law..."
"My friend..."
The door creaked.
Prowler's eyes snapped open. "Intruder!"
Steel rang as Prowler flung a concealed blade towards the door. The room resounded with a thick "twang!" as the knife embedded itself into its target and became a wobbling blur.
Prowler's eyes widened in horror. The knife stuck a meager two centimeters above the chocolate maned colt that stood frozen in the doorway.
"Oh, Snicker!" Prowler gasped. "I'm so sorry! That was an accident! I acted on impulse! I didn't mean to-"
"That was so freaking cool!" Snicker cried. "How'd you do that, Prowler!?"
Prowler gave a poker-faced grin, and swore he would thoroughly punish himself later for his reckless act. He pushed his glasses further back onto his muzzle and flew over to his earth pony brother.
"So..." Prowler started. "Any... particular reason you dropped by, brother?"
"I'm going to hang out with Kindle and Spark." Snicker moaned as if reciting a repeated mantra. "You told me to tell you about that every time I leave the house."
"Ah, yes. Very good. Thank you for letting me know." Prowler said. His eye drifted down to Snicker's hoof. He smiled once he noticed a small blue book lay wrapped in his leg. "Ah, I see you still have your birthday present. Enjoying it?"
"Yes." Snicker chirped, putting on a wide grin.
Prowler sighed. He didn't need to be the Element of Honesty to figure out that Snicker was lying through his teeth. However, he took some solace in the fact that Snicker was lying to keep him happy. "Oh well, I suppose I'll have get you something better for your birthday next year, maybe I'll let you do the picking." Prowler said. "Is that satisfactory?"
"Okay." Snicker said as he hooved the book into Prowler's before trotting away. Snicker took one more look at the knife embedded in the wall and grinned before closing the door.
"Imbecile..." Prowler spat to himself. "What else am I going to screw up today?" A small sigh escaped his mouth as he regarding the book. A tiny bookmark stuck out of it. Curiosity overtook Prowler and he opened the pages.
"Didn't even get past the fourth page." Prowler whined playfully. "He barely even tried to read this thing! I wouldn't say this book is so boring as to warrant quitting that soon. After all, the really interesting stuff happens right... here..."
Prowler paused. A small blurb of text caught his eye, so he adjusted his glasses and took a closer look. Prowler's eyes moved back and forth across the page, his brow furrowing with every passing second.
Suddenly, he darted towards the bookshelf again and pulled out a single volume. He quickly flipped towards the center of the book and skimmed the pages. His eyes halted. A single passage, a single sentence, that this case hinged on
He read it once.
He read it twice.
He read it a total of fifteen times.
Then...
He gently placed the book back on the shelf, shaking his head in disappointment.
"Well, it seems I have no choice... I'm so sorry..."
-
"We will now continue where we left off." Judge Swift Justice said as she moved in her seat. "Does the Prosection have any more claims?"
Prowler inhaled and exhaled deeply.
"Nothing, your Honor."
"Very well." Swift replied. She turned towards Twilight Sparkle and Shenanigans and said, "Does the Defense have any more questions?"
Twilight wanted to say yes. Oh, Celestia she wanted to say yes. She could say the one thing that would release Aqua Jet, put this whole mess behind them and pretend it never happened.
"No, your Honor..." she mumbled, utterly destroyed. "There's nothing more we can do." "We lost..."
“Now, has the jury reached a conclusio-”
“Your honor?” Shen said, standing up. “I respectfully request a we take a short recess for afternoon tea?”
“Request denied.”
“Thanks a lot.” Shen deadpanned, sitting down and giving Twilight a shrug.
“Since nothing has changed from the hour, other than all of us eating," the judge put malicious emphasis on that last phrase, "Will the jury please give their verdict?”
A pony stood up from the jury, holding the piece of paper stating Aqua Jet's fate. Every pony in the room stood with bated breath to hear what to say.
"We, the people of Ponyville, find the defendant Aqua Jet...”
“Guilty,” the pony finished, “Of the crime of accessory to smuggling.”
"No. No. No! This isn't supposed to happen!" Shenanigans insisted under his breath. "It can't end like this! We're the good guys! We're supposed to win!"
"I'm afraid the good guys don't always win in real life, Shen." Twilight mumbled, utterly drained. "We tried..."
Prowler approached Aqua Jet's stand, both of their faces completely devoid of emotion.
"I want you to know that I don't hate you, Prowler..." Aqua Jet said. "You were just doing your job."
“Aqua Jet," Prowler replied sadly, "You know that even though you’re my friend, it doesn’t exempt you from the law.”
“Yeah, I know...” Aqua Jet gritted.
“And you know that for the sake of justice, the punishment for your crime has to be paid.”
“I know...”
“However...”
Aqua Jet looked up, confusion written on his face.
“For the sake of our friendship...” Prowler inhaled. “I will be serving your punishment for you.”