After a quick lunch involving whatever they could buy from the vending machines and several trips to the water fountain, the group filed back into the courtroom for round two.
The judge returned to the bench just as the rest of the jury reached their seats. "Er-hem, court is now back in session! *gavel bang* Is the defense ready to proceed?"
(I wonder if I'll be able to suggest a recess that actually gets approved next time.) "Yes, your-" Phoenix stopped. The sight of the judge usually intimidated him but there was something else about the bearded bald man's appearance that struck him this time. "Um… your honor?"
"Yes, Mr. Wright?"
He pointed to his chin. "There seems to be, uh…"
"Oh!" The judge understood. "Is there something caught in my beard?"
Phoenix nodded. "Yes, uh, your honor."
"Looks like half a buffet," the prosecutor said with a chuckle.
"Oh, uh, thank you, Mr. Wright," the judge said, taking a moment to wipe his beard with a cloth. "Seems I got a little too attached to the tomato sauce from that beet lover's pizza! The whiskers seem to love it almost as much as I do!"
Phoenix's jaw dropped in confusion. "But… the pizzas were sabotaged!"
"Yeah…" Dan said, also perplexed. "I threw 'em back at the delivery guy, Vinny. And then they exploded or something. Brings a whole new meaning to the term "hand-tossed delivery."
The defense attorney face palmed hard. "But the pizzas blew up!"
"That they did!" the judge exclaimed. "And the flavor was quite explosive as well!"
Phoenix shook his head. "But if the pizzas exploded, how did you…?"
"Hmm? What is your question, Mr. Wright?"
He held his head for a frustrated moment. "Never mind… just, never mind. Can I do my cross examination now?"
"Mm-mm," the judge said, chewing, "by all means, proceed."
Phoenix decided to ignore the fact the judge was eating leftover food plucked from his own beard. "All right… Mr. Firedancer, can we go over your testimonial again?"
"Um…" Firedancer paused. "Does that mean I have to repeat everything again?"
Phoenix face palmed again. "Yes, yes it does."
"Oh…" Firedancer said. He took a deep breath. "Okay, then:
It was a bit after seven, actually. I was-"
"HOLD IT!" Phoenix shouted. "How did you know it was after seven?"
Firedancer waved up a hoof. "I haz a watch!"
"I… see," Phoenix said. "So, you checked the time, first?"
"Yus," Firedancer replied. "But not on my watch."
"How did you check the time, then?"
Firedancer held up his cell phone. "On my phone!"
"Wait a minute," Dan said, "Why would you check the time on your phone when you're wearing a watch?"
Firedancer shrugged. "I dunno."
"It defeats the whole purpose of wearing a watch!"
The fire pony looked at his wrist. "But I like this watch."
"Is it a James Bond watch?"
"Who's James Bond?"
Dan face desked. "I hate… all of you… so much…"
Phoenix bit his lip. (I guess Dan's a bit shaken, if not stirred.)
"So, you left for the food court after seven," the judge's voice prompted the witness to continue.
"I was on my way to get some dinner in the food court after having finished up my patro-"
"HOLD IT!" Phoenix stopped him again.
"Does he have to yell like that every time?" Sambra asked.
"Yes. Yes, he does," Dan answered.
"You said you were on your way to get dinner," Phoenix said. "At the food court, yes?"
"Uh huh," Firedancer nodded. "On the first floor. I was gonna get some pizza from Sbarro's."
"Mmm. Pizza," the judge remarked, mouth watering.
"That's… not really important," Phoenix said.
Payne smirked. "And his exact meal schedule is?"
Phoenix gritted his teeth but didn't respond. (I'm about to wipe that smug look off your face, ear wax.) "So, the food court was still open, then?"
"Umm…" Firedancer thought for a moment. "Yeah, definitely. I mean, the restaurants don't all close at the same time but the ones closer to the entrance were open."
"Your honor, I'd like this to be amended to the testimony," Phoenix said.
"Very well. This fact is to be amended to the witness's testimony," the judge declared.
It was a bit after seven, actually. I was on my way to get some dinner in the food court after finishing up my patrol. The food court was still open so I took the elevator down to-."
(There it is.) "OBJECTION!" Phoenix shouted. "You just testified that the food court was open."
"Um, yes?" Firedancer said.
"And you saw Sombra at the entrance while the food court was still open, yes?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Mrm-hrmm," Payne cleared his throat. "I'm not sure where the defense thinks he's going with this… unless he's attempting to claim King Sombra was there to dine and mistook the Crystal Heart for ripe fruit."
"Not hardly," Phoenix said.
"King Sombra admitted he was there to break the Crystal Heart," the prosecutor said. "He wasn't there to eat."
"That's true," Phoenix admitted. "But the witness's testimony also proves he wasn't there trespassing!"
"What?!"
"Firedancer just testified that the food court was still open when he saw King Sombra!" Phoenix declared. "Which means that the whole mall was still open or at least the first floor entrance!"
Payne recoiled in shock. "Freaking oversights…" he muttered, teeth gritted.
"Hmm," the judge murmured. "This does seem to bring that charge into question. But then, why did the prosecution assume the defendant was trespassing at the time?"
"Ob-Objection!" Payne raised a trembling hoof. "C-clearly my witness forgot that the mall was closed. Being a security guard, he was still allowed to be inside but was unaware that the mall was no longer open and that any unauthorized ponies would be considered trespassers."
"OBJECTION!" Phoenix countered. He looked right at Payne and smiled. "You would make that claim, wouldn't you?"
Payne adjusted his hair, attempting to regain his composure. "Seeing as ho-how I did, I would say that's quite clear. Should we call you Mr. Obvious now, Mr. Wright?"
Phoenix chuckled. "Which would make you Mr. Oblivious, wouldn't it?"
"Geh!"
Wright put his hands on his hips, his traditional pose of sheer confidence. "Because you were certainly oblivious to the fact you submitted evidence that contradicted your own opening statement!"
"Gah!"
"TAKE THAT!"
The judge looked puzzled for a moment. "This… is the hours of operation?"
"Submitted by the prosecution at the start of the trial, your honor," Phoenix said. "You'll notice that it indicates the mall closes at seven o'clock-"
"Exactly, so it doesn't contradict a thing I or the witness said!" Payne said, slicking his sweaty partial-mane back.
"You didn't let me finish," Phoenix grinned. "At seven o'clock… on weekdays."
"WEEKDAYS?!!" Payne frantically looked over the hours of operation directory. "But Sombra was arrested-"
"On a Saturday," Phoenix confidently stated. "While the mall was open for extended weekend hours. It didn't close until ten."
Dan grinned and leaned over to the audience. "Because the story's only really updated on Saturdays, right folks?"
"But… that's not right!" Payne said. He grabbed his head with his hooves and frustratedly pounded on his desk. "How can something that convenient possibly be evidence?!"
"The prosecutor didn't realize the mall had extended hours on the weekends," Phoenix continued. "Therefore, he made the additional charge of trespassing based on a false assumption."
"I see," the judge said. "Based on this new evidence, I believe that charge can be dropped, even if Mr. Sambra admitted to it."
"Yes!" Phoenix allowed himself a victorious fist pump. (That's one charge dropped. Only a few more to go.)
"Haha!" Dan jumped out of his seat. "Overlooked that little detail, didn't you? Just like anypony who works with Vice Grip, all you're doing is talking out of the wrong side of your plot!"
Lightning gave Dan a stiff-lipped glare.
"Hey, you're not working for Grippy any more so that wasn't directed towards you," Dan clarified.
Lightning responded by licking Dan's face.
"GAAAHH! I just washed my face after the pizza!!"
Payne glared at the entire defense team. "Why are you all celebrating? You've yet to prove he didn't break the Crystal Heart!"
"But we will," Phoenix said confidently.
"Grrr… all right, then," Payne said. "To testify to the composition of the Crystal Heart's debris, the prosecution calls to the stand two explosive experts who examined the scene of the crime- Blast Fuse and Blast Powder!"
"Umm," Phoenix raised his hand. "I'm still cross examining your first witness. Or did you want me to cross examine all three of them at the same time?"
Dan laughed. "We could save you some time and have the judge just declare Sammy innocent right here and now. But then, we wouldn't know who really broke the Crystal Heart, would we?"
Payne growled again. "The one who broke the Crystal Heart is right here! He already admitted to it!"
"You did or were you referring to Sambra?" Phoenix asked.
The question left Payne steamingly frustrated again.
"Not a details guy, is he?" Dan asked.