Part III, Chapter 15 - Defense's Arguments - Part IV
Raspberry Mint sat patiently as her teacher finished the lesson before everypony went to have their lunches. She was eager to get to lunch because she was hoping to meet Plea Bargain, Thorax's attorney for his trial. She hoped meeting the stallion would give her a chance to help the changeling who tried to do a good deed and was being punished for it, thus bringing the old idiom to life. If the little filly's words could sway the jury and set Thorax free, then she wanted to give them.
Finally, the bell for lunch rang and everypony filed out of the classroom. For most, they went to the cafeteria to get whatever lunch was being served that day; today's meal was veggie lasagna with garlic bread and a tiramisu dessert cake. Raspberry's mother insisted on her foal taking a classic brown bag lunch, consisting of a apple and daisy sandwich, baby carrots, and a small bottle of chocolate milk. The one benefit about bringing her own lunch was that Raspberry could take her lunch and eat outside at the picnic tables in the schoolyard.
The schoolyard itself was fairly simple. There was a play fort, complete with climbing ladder and slide, a teeter totter, a carousel, sandbox, and horseshoe throwing pit. Of course, throwing actual horseshoes was a dangerous game for young foals, so the school substituted weighted foam rings instead, which actually required more skill to play with.
At the far end of the school yard were the picnic tables, six in total. Sitting at one of the tables was one of the school's teacher aides. She was a pegasus mare that was still attending college for a teaching degree. Currently, she was reading a Daring Do novel and picking at her own lunch: a delicious green salad with cherry tomatoes and red onions, drizzled in a black raspberry vinaigrette.
Raspberry took her seat at the table and began to sort out her lunch. As she did so, she kept looking around to see if she would spot Plea Bargain approaching. She had no idea whether or not he would show, but she really hoped he would. If the papers were accurate, then she had very little time left to be able to get her testimony in to be able to offer any help to Thorax.
The filly took a moment then and there to consider the relative absurdity of the situation. Equestria had been rather violently introduced to changelings several years ago, and the first impression wasn't good. Since then, everypony felt as though they had to question their loved ones when they adopted new styles or discovered new interests. For the average pony, the changelings had stolen something from them, and it wasn't the love in their hearts; it was the peace of mind they had in their daily lives.
Thus came the absurd situation the filly found herself in; a changeling was going to go to prison, and she wanted to help him stay out of it.
The clip clopping of hooves caught Raspberry's attention. She turned to look in the direction of the sound and was met with the presence of Plea Bargain. He wore a nice shirt and suit jacket, along with a silk tie that she thought was quite pretty. He had a light pair of saddle bags on his back, which were most likely his necessary materials for the trial. He was about to walk up and greet the filly when the mare took notice of him and became suspicious.
"May I help you?" she asked Plea, her voice indicating her intentions if he gave a wrong answer.
Plea proceeded to produce a paper from his saddle bags and offered it to the mare. "This filly contacted me with this letter," he explained, "and she asked to meet with me today during her lunch break."
The pegasus mare looked suspiciously at him for a moment, then down at the letter, and then to Raspberry herself. "Do you know this stallion?" she asked her.
"Yes," Raspberry replied, "this is Mister Plea Bargain. He's the pony that is helping Mister Thorax to try and get out of jail."
The pegasus looked at the stallion, and upon looking him over, had a look of recognition. "I thought you looked familiar," she commented, then asked, "Why do you want to talk to Raspberry?"
Plea fixed his tie as he answered. "Miss Raspberry here would like to testify, but her mother won't let her. So I thought that perhaps I could get a few answers, and possibly some new leads that might help my client with his case."
"You mean that changeling?" she asked in a matter of fact way.
"I wouldn't put it so bluntly," he commented, "but yes, that is who I am representing."
The mare continues to eye Plea with suspicion. "How come you don't have a subpoena or something?"
"Because Raspberry said that she wished to meet with me" Plea answered as he again offered the letter. "Take a look."
The mare took the paper and looked it over. "You wrote this?" she asked Raspberry as she showed her the paper. The filly nodded.
"Okay then" she responded as she gave the paper back to Plea, her eyes giving him a stern look. "My eyes and ears will be on you, pal," she said in a threatening tone, "so you better not be pulling something. Also, this filly doesn't have a long lunch, so don't distract her too much from eating." With that, the mare went back to her book and salad.
"Thank you, miss...?" Plea paused as he realized the mare hadn't said her name.
She looked at him and simply replied "Viridian Sky."
"Thank you, Miss Sky" Plea finished as he took his seat across from Raspberry at the table she was sitting at. "You don't have a long lunch," he said to Raspberry, "but neither do I. So, I'm just going to keep it simple. I'll ask questions, and you just give me yes and no answers, okay?"
Raspberry gave a nod of understanding as she chewed a bite of her sandwich.
"Good. Now, to begin, you were cornered in an alleyway on your way home from school, correct?"
"Yes."
"Now, this wasn't done by a group of three changelings, right?"
"Yes."
Plea closed his eyes and smiled, knowing now for sure that the story the stallions told him was fabricated. "Who did have you cornered?"
"It was three stallions" Raspberry answered. "Two were unicorns, and one was an earth pony."
"Were any of them crystal ponies?" Plea asked her.
"The one unicorn" she replied. "He was green and had dice for his cutie mark."
"Finally," Plea thought to himself, "a smoking cannon!"
"Did you hear any of the stallions mention any names?" he asked her next.
"No."
"Can you describe the other unicorn and earth pony?"
Raspberry then proceeded to give a description of the other two ponies, with both matching the two stallions that had testified in court. For Plea, it was the news he'd been hoping to hear. The biggest problem now would be getting the jury to believe her story; State had already planted the suggestion in the jury's mind that some of the ponies Thorax had interacted with could be under some kind of mind control spell.
"There's a lot of things that I would like to go over," Plea told Raspberry, "but your lunch is almost over, and I have to start making my way back to the courthouse. I want to get your full story without interruption, so please let me have your home address so I can visit you tonight."
Raspberry looked uneasy. "I'm not sure I can do that."
Plea looked at her confused, but then remembered the letter. "Your mom is afraid of those stallions, right?"
Raspberry just nodded.
Plea had something in mind that he would have to present to the guard. "Raspberry, there's a thing the guards can do that might help put your mother at ease. I could actually make a request that they post a guard outside your home AND have one at the hospital to keep both you and your father safe. I could even have it done before I speak with your mother."
Raspberry gave his suggestion a thought, and then nodded. "She probably won't be happy to see you" she told Plea.
"Well, I gotta do my job," he told her, "and that means putting together a case to convince the jury that Thorax is innocent. Thorax didn't do anything wrong, did he?"
"No."
"Well, if a pony didn't do something wrong, then they shouldn't be punished for it, right?"
Raspberry nodded.
"Then we gotta make sure the jury knows it too. Now, let me have your address, and I'll be by as soon as I can this evening."
Raspberry gave the stallion her address and he tucked it away in his saddlebags. He gave the filly a smile and told her to have a good rest of her day. Once he was gone, Viridian looked over at the filly. "Did that changeling really save you?" she asked.
"Yes," Raspberry answered, "and nopony wants to believe him."
"Changelings lie" Viridian pointed out. "How do you know he isn't playing some kind of trick on you to try and get out of going to jail?"
Raspberry looked at Viridian upset, then said something the mare hadn't considered before. "Ponies lie to get things too." Her point made, Raspberry finished her lunch and went back inside. Viridian had been caught off guard by the foal's reply and hadn't been able to form a proper retort. She quietly finished her own lunch and headed back inside shortly after the filly.
Thorax was back inside the courtroom, shackled into place and seated at the defendant's table. State Evidence was sitting at the other table, her two "lackeys", as Plea had put it, rifling through paperwork in an effort to prepare for what Thorax assumed would be the calling of the expert witnesses.
Plea had explained the purpose of the expert witnesses to him before. They didn't witness the actual crime take place, but they were only required to give testimony on matters relating to the crime based on the evidence before them, and in the instance of the forensic pony, give reports on studies that they had conducted on the collected physical evidence. According to Plea, these ponies would be the best chance for him to get an innocent verdict, as their conclusions were based on actual facts instead of opinion and hearsay.
The doors to the courtroom opened and Thorax turned to see Plea walking up towards the defense table. He could see the stallion had a smile on his face.
"So, how did it go?" Thorax asked Plea.
The stallion looked at him as his grin grew wider. "Terrifically" he replied. "I didn't have enough time to get the whole story from her, but what she said matches with your claims and my suspicions. The three stallions that gave testimony earlier are the real culprits, and she never saw any other changelings besides you."
"I have her home address, so I plan on paying her a visit tonight, where I can hopefully convince her mother to let her take the witness stand."
"I thought that her mother said that Raspberry was too traumatized to recall the story" Thorax pointed out.
Plea shook his head. "More like she's likely been intimidated by the three stallions to not allow Raspberry to testify. Remember the letter I showed you? Bad stallions will hurt me and my daddy? I think we know who the bad stallions are."
Thorax looked at Plea glumly. While he agreed that getting Raspberry to testify would be a big help to his case, there was also the fact of the things that State Evidence had said during her questioning of previous ponies.
"What about all the changeling mind control spell stuff?" Thorax asked Plea. "Surely they'll be skeptical of the filly's story because of that."
Plea smile faltered slightly, but it was still there. "That's gonna be a tough nut to crack," he admitted, "but if I can get Raspberry to testify, I might be able to get a unicorn to do a clearing spell on her before she takes the stand."
"Clearing spell?" Thorax said with confusion.
Plea nodded. "It's a spell which clears out any spells currently being used on a pony, provided the enchantments aren't too powerful. Fortunately, most mind control spells are relatively low powered, as they mostly use suggestion to get the affected pony to act the way the spell caster wants."
"Only really powerful ones can be used to force the target pony to think the way the caster wants, and even then, those can cause harm to a pony under their effect. Remember the stories about Captain Shining Armor's headaches during the wedding? They were likely the result of the powerful mind control spell that was cast on him, as well as a side effect of your ex-queen draining his love."
Thorax gave a positive affirmation that he understood, but he didn't actually have very much confidence as far as the testimony that Raspberry could provide. Plea could see that Thorax wasn't feeling very confident about the state of the trial, so he put a hoof on the changeling's withers to provide reassurance.
"Don't worry" he told Thorax. "I have a plan to stretch today out so that we will have to reconvene tomorrow. That way, I have some time to talk to Raspberry's mom and convince her to let Raspberry testify. I'll make it work out. I promise."
“Besides, the witness we are calling today should help put all of that stuff to rest.”
Thorax wanted to be as confident as Plea felt, but he still had his doubts. Before he could voice any of them, the bailiff announced the arrival of the princess and judge. Once the judge was seated, he called the court back to order.
"We are reconvened" Iron Gavel announced. "The defense may call their next witness."
Plea looked over his papers and called on a name that the caught the princess's interest.
"The defense calls Mage Night Diving as an expert witness in regards to the magic and spell aspects of this trial."
The court room doors opened to allow a blue unicorn mare to walk inside. She approached the seat beside the judge and took her place in it. Once she was sworn in, Plea began his questioning.
PB - Please state your name for the record, ma'am.
ND - Recruit Night Divining. Member of the 3rd Mage Corps of the Royal Guard.
PB - Is recruit a guard rank?
ND - It is. It's the first one after the pledge rank.
PB - And pledge rank is the first official rank?
ND - It's the first designation anypony joining the royal guard receives.
PB - How long have you been in the royal guard?
ND - I've been active with the guard for nearly a year now.
PB - What did you do before joining the royal guard?
ND - I studied spellcraft and received my doctorate in that field.
PB - Have you used your doctorate since you've gotten it?
ND - I use aspects of it in my current assignments. I hope to use all of it provided I am promoted into the Research Division of the Mage Corps.
PB - What needs to happen for you to get moved there?
ND - I have to serve another six months, but I also need to be the rank of corporal at least.
PB - We've strayed a little from the matter at hoof. Are you familiar with my client?
ND - I am.
PB - Have you met him before?
ND - I don't remember if I have or not, which usually means that I haven't met the pony before.
PB - How are you familiar with him?
ND - The guard detachment here was made aware of his presence and the fact that he was permitted to be here. We were also made aware of his being allowed to leave the palace about a month or so ago.
PB - What was your opinion of both decisions?
ND - I wasn't exactly in favor of the first decision, mostly because of the negative experiences I had while in Canterlot during the invasion.
PB - Were you attacked during the invasion?
ND - I was, but I wasn't harmed. Changelings aren't particularly strong against magic spells. At least, the ones I faced weren't.
PB - Okay. What about the second decision? What was your opinion of that?
ND - I wasn't as opposed as the first time, though I did feel some caution was advised.
PB - What changed your mind about my client between the princesses first decision about my client staying here and the second where he would be allowed to roam free through the empire?
ND - I had observed his interactions with other ponies, and he's demonstrated to me that he does want to be here on peaceful terms with us.
PB - So his actions have shown you he's trustworthy and that has altered your perception of him?
ND - Yes, they have.
PB - Okay. Now, about your field of expertise, which field of spellcraft do you specialize in?
ND - My major area of expertise is mental magic.
PB - Could you elaborate on what that field is? Perhaps some specific examples?
ND - Mental magic covers all magic that affects a pony's mind. Things such as memory manipulation or outright mind control are topics that fall into that category.
PB - So you would understand a great deal about mind control then?
ND - I do.
PB - Now, how difficult would it be to place a pony under mind control?
ND - It is rather difficult. The magic is very complicated, and wouldn't be something done instantaneously. A sloppy attempt would either fail or cause harm to the targeted individual.
PB - So nothing can just be cast in heat of the moment situations?
ND - No. It would be ill-advised.
PB - What do you think would be the shortest but safest amount of time for a caster to successfully place a mind control spell on a target?
ND - I wouldn't think a caster could do it that way any faster than say nearly two hours.
PB - Not exactly a short amount of time. Why would that take so long?
ND - A lot of it would be getting the target into a relaxed enough state to be susceptible to the effects of the spell. A lot of times, the enchantments would be done when the subject was asleep.
PB - I see. Do you suspect that's how the changeling queen was able to get the prince with her spell?
ND - My guess is that that is exactly how she got the prince under her spell.
PB - I see. Now, are there any spells or charms that could be applied more quickly and have a similar effect?
ND - There are some, but they still take at least a half hour to apply correctly.
PB - What is the faster mental magic to apply safely?
ND - The quickest to safely and successfully cast is a spell that is meant to temporarily alter a target's senses. For example, making them think they saw something they didn't.
PB - And how quickly could that be done?
ND - Depending on the target's mental faculties, it can be as quick as a few seconds, or as long as a few minutes. Admittedly, the longer casting has only happened in testing labs, at least according to documented cases.
PB - Do you think it's possible for a more gifted magic user to be able to cast that kind of spell more quickly than an average unicorn? Say, Princess Twilight Sparkle, for instance?
ND - Well, a more adept magic user could cut down the time on casting the spell, but that speed only comes with practice. If a skilled pony cast that spell regularly, they could probably cut down on the time it takes to perform is to practically cast it instantaneously, and in about a minute's time for ones that aren't as susceptible to mental magic.
PB - Fascinating. So, based on what you've told us, do you believe that my client is able to perform any kind of magic like that?
ND - Being honest, I don't believe he is capable of such magic.
PB - And what evidence do you have to support your claim?
ND - The fact that your client has been wearing a magic suppression ring since the first day he was allowed to stay here.
PB - And what if that ring had been removed? Do you believe he would be able to perform that kind of magic then?
ND - I suppose it would be possible, but I still doubt he would be able to.
PB - And what reason do you have to believe that?
ND - Aside from the few levitation spells that he is allowed to use, I haven't seem him attempt anything besides those, and I know that he is capable of other spells besides those.
PB - Oh? Would you elaborate on what kinds of spells he could use besides levitation while not being hindered by the suppression ring?
ND - Horn illumination, for one, though there is a limiter built into it to keep him from using it as a blinding flash. Another would be an orienteering spell that would allow him to find north, but that would only be useful if he made an attempt to escape from the empire.
PB - Do you think he would attempt an escape?
ND - I don't believe so. From what I've heard, just being in our custody would amount to receiving some form of severe punishment from the changeling queen.
PB - Okay. So, to summarize, you don't think that my client has the ability to alter the minds of ponies with magic, regardless of the fact he is wearing a suppression ring or not?
ND - No, I don't believe that he is capable of doing such a thing.
PB - Thank you. I have no further questions.
Plea walks back towards the defendant's table and sits down. Thorax looks at him suspiciously. "I know I'm not an expert on law and how testimony works," he begins, "but it sounds an awful lot like you're getting the witnesses to say things that would help State Evidence more than us."
Plea turns and gives him a smile. "Then it's a good thing that they're also saying things that countermand those remarks and help out our case."
Thorax isn't given the time to properly respond as the judge tells State that she can cross examine the witness.
SE - Miss Divining, I know that the day is getting late, so I will only ask you a few important questions. First, how much experience do you have dealing with changelings in general?
ND - I've been interacting with them in some capacity since about six months after I began my service.
SE - And what have you learned about them in that time?
ND - In regards to them in general, a fair bit. The scientists that have been studying them have found they actually share a fair bit in common with us, physiologically speaking.
SE - Physiologically speaking? Could you give us some examples?
ND - Despite the holes in the legs, their internal skeletal structure is near identical to ponies. The bones are hollow the same way pegasi bones are. Their blood is nearly identical to ours. All of the ones we've found fit into the O type, so barring any research that would prove it to be harmful to ponies, changelings could theoretically donate blood to ponies.
SE - Interesting. What about their magic in general? Has it been discovered how they steal love away from us?
ND - At current, not much is known about how they drain love from us. The only things known for certain is that it weakens the pony being affected and causing different symptoms that range from headaches to going into a catatonic state. Besides that, we do know for certain that it is a kind of magic. It's possible that changelings could have their own separate school of magic.
SE - So, Miss Divining, you're telling me that we don't know much at current about the magical capabilities of changelings?
ND - At current, yes.
SE - So they could be more adept at different forms of magic than what most unicorns are capable of?
ND - Theoretically, yes.
SE - And mental magic could be one of these? Even to the point where the average one of these creatures could be considered to be as competent as a pony that would be considered excelling?
ND - As I said before in my previous testimony, mental magic is a difficult and dangerous type to perform. Changelings are not excluded from that. While we don't know the extent of their abilities or the magic involved in them, we do know that they demonstrate aptitudes comparable to ponies.
SE - And how do you know this?
ND - Some of the prisoners held in Canterlot have been more cooperative than others. They've taken magic tests that would be given to a pony about to graduate from standard schooling, and their results were similar to average pony scores.
SE - I see. And there is no way for them to simply be "playing dumb?"
ND - I suppose their is that possibility, but the scientists that observed the testing didn't seem to think so.
SE - What made them think that?
ND - The prisoners were heard gloating to one another about their scores.
SE - I see. I have nothing further.
State Evidence returned to her table. As she did, Thorax took notice of Plea smiling fairly wide. "Was that good?" he asked his lawyer.
"I don't think that went quite how she wanted it to" Plea tells Thorax. "She was probably hoping for the expert witness to give her a viewpoint to bolster her case, but she didn't really have much to give her that she couldn't otherwise debunk."
"Plus, the bit about changelings gloating about their test scores was a little amusing to me."
The topic made Thorax think back to his training days and how the other drones would boast about their scores in things such as prey capture and cocooning. Unfortunately for Thorax, he never got very high marks in those kinds of things.
Before the judge could tell Plea to call his next witness, a bailiff entered the courtroom and asked to approach the bench. In his muzzle was a note. The judge granted the request and took the offered note. After reading it, he addressed the court.
"A personal matter regarding family has come up and I will be unable to conduct on this trial again until next Monday. This court is adjourned until that time."
The judge bangs his gavel and dismisses the court. Almost immediately, State Evidence stands up. "Your honor, I must insist we continue with this trial until it is concluded."
"I understand your desire to expedite these proceedings," he tells her, "but this is a matter I cannot ignore. We will reconvene on Monday. Use the extra time to prepare for future cross-examinations and your closing statement. Now, court is dismissed and I must attend to these affairs immediately."
The judge didn't listen to State's protest as he walked back into his office. As this was going on, Plea gathered his things and looked at Thorax.
"I'm going to Raspberry's address right now" he told the changeling. "With any luck, by the time Monday rolls around, that filly will be on the stand and ready to give her side of the story."
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I must say, I can’t blame Plea for his ecstaticity in this situation.
Things are looking up at last!! The changeling mentions were interesting as well, especially the gloating bit
The goons are going to make their moves. Plea better tell Shining a white lie that the witnesses and victim wil be targeted and he personally assigns the guards himself. The goddam moron
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The guards for witnesses are separate from the crystal guard. They're part of the judicial system and don't answer to Shining Armor. Of course, if he wanted, he could make a request of the court, since he is a prince, but it would look bad for him to deny protection to a child that was witness to a crime, or in this particular instance, the victim.
11379078
He should make it clear to the judge he want on the clock guard patrols. No going on smoke breaks without someone else to cover them or some stuff. Bribery is a thing and these ponies seem willing to look the other way out of prejudice. So guards might not be enough if they're willing to help strongarm witnesses.
Yeah, but as I commented in the past, you can only claim that's the case so to call true information false so many times before even the general public start questioning whether or not that's the best excuse they've got to cover for it. And State's already pushing her luck with that.
Besides, if Thorax could really do the whole mind control thing, don't you think he'd have mind controlled his own way out of this already?
Keep challenging the assumption there is any at all, for one thing. It won't hold up to scrutiny if you keep pointing out instances where the logic for it seems to fail...particularly once you have the filly's testimony in hoof. That testimony will change the playing field for this whole case, no matter what State and company try to do to salvage it at this point.
And besides, it's not just the filly--the other end of this crime ring is still in the process of getting unraveled, remember, and sooner or later it's going to wind its way back to the Crystal Empire, and then that'll effectively be two testimonies in Thorax's favor.
I still don't see how the mind control argument can even hold up as it is anyway--this is Equestria, they have ways to test/check for this stuff. Get an expert in here to check it over and say yay or nay on the matter. More than one even, if you have to. State can't claim they're ALL also tainted by mind control or don't actually know anything about their own field of expertise, as that'd just start to look too convenient for her side of things (not to mention a little desperate).
See, that's exactly what I'm talking about, and Plea inadvertently raises another point about that--we already know changeling mind control can be broken by an opposing spell of sufficient power and, irony of ironies, Shining Armor himself is proof of that.
Pfft, oh ye of so little faith. Since when were you such a fatalist, Thorax? It certainly wasn't fatalist thought that got you to leave your hive and ultimately brought you out here to the Crystal Empire in search of friends and a peaceful existence between changelings and ponies, nor what kept you there so to keep trying, even after the Crystal Empire's less-than-warm welcomes of your presence. You nearly even died for this cause already! You still had faith it'll pull through eventually enough to stick with it then, do try and keep doing so now.
If he wanted to, don't you think he'd already have bailed on all of this after that mess with Feather at the latest?
I already know where State's going with this--she's going to effectively ask "well, how do you know changelings can't still do all that anyway, because changeling?" as that's basically the only card she has to play on this matter. And as I keep saying, the more she plays that card, the less effective it becomes, because she gives the court more and more opportunities to recognize that's the only card she's got to play, and that she doesn't really have an argument to back it up, let alone real facts.
And I'm not sure this card is even going to work in her favor for this witness, but we'll see.
*sing-song* Told yoooouuuu!
I am unimpressed, State. At least try to come up with a more impactful argument than just ineffectively repeating the same one again and again and hope nobody ever thinks to question it.
Shh, you hear that?
That's the sound of your "argument" crashing and burning, State. I warned you repeating it endlessly was only going to guarantee you finding instances where it would be shot down.
Can Rainbow Dash fly fast?
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Not only that, he wouldn't really have a motive to not want the filly protected in this case. Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't already insisted both the filly and family be under guard since the supposed changeling attack he thinks took place.
Good chapter!
That's suspicious. That's suspicious, right?