• Published 9th Jan 2021
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Fitting In Is Hard To Do - origami



Inspired by stories written by the Owtcast and Carapace. Follow Thorax on his journey to achieving his goal of befriending ponies in the Crystal Empire.

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Part III, Chapter 23 - Verdict

A/N - For the beginning portion of this chapter, it'll be jumping back and forth between italicized text and plain text. This is to reflect two different viewpoints that will merge into one.


Quick as a flash, a pegasus in crystal guard armor flew out of the main headquarters of the crystal guard and made a straight shot for the courthouse. In his possession was a very important piece of information relevant to the court case that has been the talk of the Crystal Empire for the past two weeks.

Thorax was led into the courtroom and shackled to the defendant's chair. Sitting beside him was his attorney, Plea Bargain. The stallion had several papers sitting on his desk beside him that the changeling had never seen before.

"What are those?" he asked his lawyer.

"Motions for appeal," Plea responds, "but I doubt they'll do much good. If the verdict comes back guilty, you lose your probationary citizenship and any legal protections that go along with it."

"And I get sent to the dungeons" Thorax finishes.

"Not necessarily" Plea tells him. "There is the possibility of a permanent banishment from the Crystal Empire. If that happens, then you could make a plea to the princesses in Equestria for asylum. The Crystal Empire has a responsibility to protect any and all asylum seekers, including ones that they would either refuse asylum or revoke it for one reason or another. It wouldn't look good if they allowed something bad to happen to another creature looking for sanctuary."

Thorax nodded his head. He understood politics a little bit. Having a bad public image usually made the pony affected want to perform "damage control" and made them a little less rigid when it came to agreements they would have previously found to be rather objectionable.

The courthouse was coming into view. The pegasus guard doubled his efforts and flew faster than he could ever recall doing before. He blew past another pegasus, who shouted rather unpleasant things at him for cutting off his flight path. After another minute, he was landing on the courthouse steps and rushing inside.

"Ma'am," the guard says to the clerk as he recovers his breath, "where is the changeling trial being held?"

"Courtroom five" she tells him. "You might still have time to see whether or not the jury will convict him."

The guard looks at the mare with shock and prepares to take off for the courtroom, but her commanding voice stops him.

"No flying in the courthouse!" she scolds, which causes the guard to drop down to the ground and rush off in the direction of the courtroom. The mare watches him with an annoyed expression.

"No running either!"

State Evidence and another set of lackeys come into the courtroom and take their seats. The audience chamber is packed to the gills with ponies that are all eager to see what the outcome of this trial will be. As Thorax looks around at them, he's surprised to see a familiar young filly sitting directly behind him.

"Raspberry?" he says in confusion.

The filly gives him a smile and leans in closer. "I might not get the chance to say it again, so I came to say thank you. You kept those stallions from taking me and doing who knows what with me. I'm safe now because of you. So, thank you."

Thorax can't help but smile. Even if things turned out for the worst, he could still feel good about the fact that he did the right thing, even if was going to get punished for it.

"All rise as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza enters the courtroom!"

The command from the bailiff causes all ponies to stand up at once. A door to the elevated audience area opens and Princess Cadance steps through. She walks calmly to the seat designated for her and sits down. As she scans the audience, she takes in sight of Thorax and adopts a small scowl, but then looks a bit surprised as she sees Raspberry Mint sitting behind him.

"Remain standing for the honorable Judge Iron Gavel!" the bailiff calls out, and the ponies turn to see the judge leaving his chambers and ascending the pulpit. Once he is in place, he directs his attention to the audience.

"Please be seated" the judge tells them all.

Everypony sits down and waits for the jury to exit their chambers. A few minutes later, and the twelve ponies come through a door and into the jury box, taking their seats and facing towards the judge.

Thorax looks at all of them and sees a great deal of uncertainty on their faces. Every now and then, a few of them look at each other, but then face away almost as quickly. A few look away immediately if they realize they've made eye contact.

The judge clears his throat and addresses the jury.

The guard has passed the first two courtrooms and can see the doors to courtroom five. He turns on the speed as he launches himself into the air and glides as fast as his wings will allow him.

"Foremare of the jury," the judge addresses a mare that stands up to face him, "you have been tasked with returning verdicts for the crimes the defendant has been accused of. Have you reached those verdicts?"

The mare gives a solemn nod. "Yes, your honor" she tells him. "We have reached unanimous verdict on all counts."

Before anypony can say anything else, the doors at the rear of the courtroom burst open. A crystal pony guard steps through and is panting in an effort to catch his breath.

The sudden interruption causes everypony in the courtroom to wonder what is going on, and the audience chamber is filled with a low roar. Judge Gavel loudly bangs his namesake as he orders the court to calm down.

"Guard," he addresses the new pony in the room, "you are interrupting a court in the process of delivering a verdict in a criminal trial."

"My apologies, your honor," he says to the judge, "but I have information that is pertinent to the trial. If I might be allowed to approach the bench, sir?"

The judge sits for a moment and considers the request. "This is rather unusual," he admits, "but if this information is as significant as you say, then I will need to hear it. Please approach the bench."

The guard gives a nod and calmly walks up to the pulpit. Once there, he reaches into his armor and gives the judge a scroll. As he does this, ponies in the courtroom begin to have quiet discussions.

With nopony paying attention to them, Peridot, Sledge and Flog all make a quick yet quiet exit from the courtroom, the last having a nervous look on his face as he does so.

Thorax, at first startled by the sudden interruption, now looks on in confusion. "What's going on?" he asks Plea.

"Don't know," the pony admits, "but you can be sure I'm going to find out."

Thorax accepts the pony's answer and returns his attention to the judge. After reading the paperwork, he then looks out into the audience chamber. "If I could have the ponies Heavy Hitter, Leather Whip and Velvet Dice please stand."

After a few seconds, nopony stands up. He calls out for them again, but receives no response. The judge then adopts a rather stern scowl. "I am halting these proceedings until further notice" he announces to the audience, then looks at the bailiff. "Bailiff, I want those three ponies found immediately."

The bailiff, who looks rather surprised, gives a nod and passes on instructions to some other ponies in the room, who quickly exit the courtroom.

"Your honor, I must demand an explanation as to why you are halting these proceedings."

The voice causes all the ponies in the courtroom to look up. Princess Cadance, whom had been content to watch the proceedings of the trial up to this point, directly addresses the judge as to the reasoning for his most recent actions.

"A matter regarding the proceedings has been brought to my attention" he tells her. "If you would like to know more, I will be more than happy to explain in my private chambers."

"Very well" she responds. "I shall meet you there."

The princess rises from her seat and exits the courtroom. The bailiff makes an attempt to call for ponies to rise as she leaves, but he can barely utter a syllable before she is gone.

"Bailiff, I shall be in my chambers" the judge tells the bailiff. "Please notify me immediately as soon as you find the three stallions."

The bailiff gives a nod in reply. "All rise as the honorable Judge Iron Gavel leaves the courtroom" he calls out as the judge steps down and leaves.

Ponies begin filing out and a pair of guards unshackle Thorax from his seat.

"I'm gonna get answers for you Thorax" Plea calls out to him. "Just sit tight and be patient."


"Peridot, what exactly is happening?"

Flog's question is ignored as the stallion fiddles with a magically locked window. They had managed to get into a small office, where they locked and barricaded the door. Soon enough, ponies would be looking for them, so any head start they could get would be beneficial.

Flog again prods the crystal pony for questions, but receives a stern glare from him as he continues working on the window.

"Something must've happened in Van Hoover" he finally answers. "Whatever it was, it's not good for us. Now, help me get this damn enchantment undone so we can get out of here!"

Suddenly, they hear the handle of the door being tried, and then a knocking against the door.

"Hello?" a female voice calls out.

All three stallions go quiet, Peridot dropping his magic on the window to avoid being detected. After a few seconds, they hear the door lock being undone and the door push into the barricade.

"What the?" the female voice calls out again, and then some straining is heard as the mare attempts to push into the room.

Peridot, losing patience, looks at the window and casts a very powerful spell. Instantly, the glass and frame explode, and a pony-sized hole exists where the window once was.

"What the hay is going on in there?!" the mare calls out again as she begins more frantically pushing against the door.

Peridot looks at Sledge and Flog. "Get out of here and go someplace. Make sure it's out of Equestria. Someplace like Griffinstone or Zebrica, just not Equestria and definitely not Van Hoover."

Sledge nods and jumps through the window. Flog is hesitant but follows after the earth pony.

As this happens, the bailiffs have caught up and are now forcing their way into the office.

"Whoever is in there, please tell us you're okay" one of them calls, not knowing who is in there.

Peridot looks at the window and then back to the door. The barricade has almost been pushed out of the way and a pony muzzle can be seen trying to look into the room. Making a quick decision, Peridot jumps through the window.

Once he's outside, he sees he has no chance.

Surrounding Peridot and his cohorts are members of both the Crystal Guard and the courthouse bailiffs. They're all a mix of unicorn and pegasi.

"Surrender yourselves now!" one of the guards calls. "Drop to your bellies and spread out your legs! Don't ignite your horns!"

Peridot looks at the guards and bailiffs around him. He looks at Sledge and Flog and gives a nod. Sledge returns it, but Flog does not. The crystal pony is too distracted to notice though.

Before anypony can react, Peridot conjures a nova spell and casts it, getting several guards and bailiffs with it and making them cry out in pain from the burns it gives them. Sledge quickly turns to the closest guard and bucks him hard in the muzzle, with a loud crunching sound cutting through the air, followed by the pony crying out in pain and holding their now bloody muzzle.

Sledge's attack is the only one he gets in before a stun spell strikes him in the chest and puts him down for the count.

A second spell is sent Peridot's way as he raises a shield to block it. However, the shield proves useless as several guards all fire stun spells simultaneously, overwhelming the unicorn and knocking him unconscious as well.

With his two cohorts knocked out, Flog does the only thing he can, and drops to the ground with his hooves spread.


"I would very much like an explanation as to why you have delayed the delivery of this verdict!" State Evidence says to Judge Gavel, clearly annoyed that the stallion has interrupted the proceedings of this court.

"Miss Evidence, I would much appreciate you not taking that tone of voice with me" he replies with a stern glare, causing the mare to back off, albeit only slightly. "As for why I have halted the proceedings, I have been given information from the police force in Van Hoover that relates to the trial, and I mean specifically relates to this trial."

State looks at him with an incredulous look. "What information?"

Before the judge can answer, a crystal guard immediately steps into the office and moves out of the way. Following immediately behind him is Princess Cadance, an annoyed expression on her face as she looks the judge square in the eyes.

The judge gives a bowing gesture, as does State Evidence, but the mare is completely ignored by the princess.

"I want to know why you have halted these proceedings!" Cadance demanded as she looked at the judge sitting in his chair.

"I'll explain," he tells her, "but if you would please have a seat, your highness?"

Cadance doesn't say anything, but takes a spot in the unoccupied chair across from the stallion. Said stallion then produces a bottle of dark amber liquid and two old fashioned glasses, pouring a measure of liquid into both of them and offering it to the mare.

"No thank you" she says as he places the drink in front of her.

"My apologies," he says to her, "but I think you may want that in the near future."

Cadance raises an eyebrow. "And exactly why is that?"

Judge Gavel then produces the paper that had been handed to him by the pegasus guard and gives it to the princess. The mare takes the paper in her magic and proceeds to read it:

To: Hon. Judge Iron Gavel, Crystal Empire
From: Detective Old Bill, Van Hoover Police Force
Re: Changeling trial

Judge Gavel,

I have recently received information that you have a changeling in your custody that answers to the name Thorax. I've also learned he's on trial currently for an attempt to abduct a filly. I must ask you to either postpone the trial or dismiss the charges against him. If you are confused by this request, then I shall give you an explanation.

The Van Hoover Police Force has recently received a tip from one of our informants about unusual telegraph messages that might be some form of code. Investigation into these has revealed a loan sharking operation which spans the entirety of Equestria and even stretches into the Crystal Empire itself. This operation is being led by a griffin criminal named Sharpclaw, but operating under the alias Mint Eagle.

During the investigation, we detained Sharpclaw's secretary, and after making a bargain with her, she informed us of many details, including a plot to abduct a filly from a pony borrowing money from Sharpclaw and hold them to force a greater sum of payment from this unfortunate mare.

This abduction would then have the blame placed upon the changeling, who to my understanding, had recently been permitted to stay in your empire on peaceful terms, which I must admit is rather shocking to hear.

In regards to the abduction, the ponies carrying it out were two unicorns and an earth pony. Their names are Peridot Gamble, Sledgehammer, and Flog. Peridot is a crystal unicorn, whose coat is similar to his namesake, and has a pair of dice for his cutie mark. Sledgehammer is a red earth pony with his namesake for a cutie mark. Flog is white with a cat of nine tails whip for a cutie mark. These stallions are known to operate under aliases. Peridot has went by the name Velvet Dice in the past, with Sledge known as Heavy Hitter and Flog as Leather Whip.

To summarize, I am asking you to postpone the trial or outright dismiss the charges against the changeling named Thorax due to the evidence that we have collected here in Van Hoover that exonerates him of wrongdoing.

-Detective Old Bill, VHPF

Cadance reads over the document again, not believing the words before her. "You halted these proceedings for this?!" she says in disbelief.

"I have" Gavel responds. "It is in due diligence of the law that, if new evidence comes to light in a trial, that it be reviewed by all parties and any relevant actions that need to be carried out be done before a verdict can be delivered, and going by the message before me, I would say that there is a fairly significant new piece of evidence for us to consider."

State looks at him now with confusion. "What new evidence?"

Before Cadance or the judge can respond, a knock sounds on the door to the judge's chambers.

"Come in" the judge calls out.

A bailiff pokes her head in through the door. "The three stallions have been located and brought into custody" she tells the judge.

"Good" he says to her. "I want them brought into my courtroom as soon as possible."

The mare looks at him with unease. "That's going to be a problem, sir."

Gavel raises a brow. "And why is that?"

The bailiff takes a breath. "The stallions have been taken to the booking office to be charged with assault against crystal guards and bailiffs here in the courthouse."

Cadance looks at the bailiff in shock. "They were resisting?"

State looks on in disbelief. Her witnesses were arrested for not only being uncooperative, but also for attacking guards?

The mare turns to see the princess and goes wide eyed. Immediately she steps fully into the office and bows. "My apologies, your highness! I didn't see you past the door."

"That's alright" Cadance replies dismissively. "You said they assaulted guards?"

"Y-Yes ma'am" the bailiff responds nervously. "According to reports, the trio attempted to make an escape out of an empty office window and were found by a guard patrolling outside. He raised an alarm and several guards and bailiffs rushed in to stop them."

"All told, four guards and one bailiff were injured. The guards received spell burns to their faces and hooves that were the result of a medium power nova spell, and the bailiff received a broken muzzle from a kick by the earth pony stallion."

Cadance now looked like she had seen a ghost, going as stark white as her pink coat would allow. Wordlessly, she stood up and walked outside. Her guard detachment was waiting patiently for her.

"I demand to be taken to the central processing office for the local prison" she told her guards, who looked at her with confusion. She turned to the squad commander. "Do you know the way?" she asks him.

The stallion blinks before regaining his composure. "Y-Yes, your highness" he stutters out. "P-Please follow us."

The princess leaves. State picks up the discarded paper left by Cadance. After reading it over, she looks at the judge with a pale expression.

"Guess you won't be getting a knife set after this, huh?" the judge says to her with a smirk.


Flog sat in his cell with a magic nullifying collar around his neck. Across from him sat Peridot and Sledge, both worse for wear. In truth, he was even sporting some scorch marks on his coat like the other two, but Sledge had received a very strong kick to one of his legs, making it difficult for him to walk.

Of course, that didn't impede his trip to the pokey in the slightest; the guards had dragged all three of them there rather harshly.

"Hey! White Unicorn!"

Flog looked up to see a guard looking straight at him.

"The princess would like to speak with you."

Flog looks at the guard with shock for a moment before he nodded and stood up. Before he could move, Peridot was on him, stumbling a little from the fatigue his spell had caused him.

"Not one word" the crystal pony said rather threateningly.

Flog only nodded as he was led out of the cell and towards the visitor's room. Who was waiting for him inside took him by total surprise.

Sitting at a table and surrounded by guards was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. She was wearing her regalia, but her mane looked a bit disheveled. "Sit down" she ordered him, to which he offered no resistance and sat down in the seat opposite her.

There was silence between the two for a few seconds before the princess spoke up.

"You gave your name as Leather Whip, but I know your true identity is a unicorn named Flog"

Her voice is cold and unfeeling. Flog tried not to react in fear, but her body language told him he had failed in that regard.

"According to information we received not long ago, you work for a griffin crime boss named Sharpclaw, who has been operating under an alias as Mint Eagle. You are an enforcer whose duty is to collect on debts owed to him, no matter what that entails."

Flog didn't like where this was going. The message the judge got earlier definitely told him that things went very badly in Van Hoover.

"I have it on good authority that you did not cause any harm to the guards or the bailiffs that apprehended you earlier," Cadance tells him, "and it is for that reason that I am speaking to you and you alone."

"I want the truth. No cover story, no refusing to speak to me. The absolute truth. If you do that, then I will pardon your crimes here in the Crystal Empire. If you don't, then I will have you charged with everything that I can legally have you charged with. You are part of a group of stallions who have caused harm to my subjects, and I do not take kindly to those sorts of actions. The only thing that will help you even the smallest bit is cooperating with the guards and myself."

"So, what I want to know is this: Did you plan with that green pony to frame that changeling for a foalnapping?"

Flog could only look into the princess's eyes with thinly veiled fear. He was certain she would find out everything sooner or later, but began to suspect that she knew already and just wanted to hear him say it. With a sigh, he comes clean.

"Peridot planned it with Sharpclaw" he finally says. "Sharp told us which filly to grab and said he had some contacts here to get the changeling to come to that alley. Peridot got a stun spell from an ex guards and hit the changeling with it, and then after Sledge knocked him out, he put some hairs from the filly's tail in his mouth to make it looked like he grabbed her."

Flog hadn't looked at the princess as he gave the confession, but dared a glance up after a few moments. To his surprise, he could see some tears forming in the corners of her eyes, and a look he was almost sure looked like remorse.

"The charges against you will be dismissed," she says in a strained voice, "but you will still be held here. Van Hoover wants you on several serious charges."

She then stands up and turns to leave. Before she does, she turns and looks at the guard.

"Inform Judge Iron Gavel of this confession" she tells the guard. "He has a trial to conclude."


Thorax once again found himself in the courtroom he had been in a few hours ago. Many questions were racing through his mind as he was led back and shackled to the defendant's table. Plea hadn't returned yet from wherever he had went, but State Evidence and her lackeys had returned and resumed their seats.

A bailiff stepped out and called for the audience's attention. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza will be unable to attend the rest of this trial. All rise for the honorable Judge Iron Gavel."

Everypony stood as the judge entered the courtroom and took his seat. After shuffling some papers, he looks up to see only Thorax sitting at the defense table.

"Where is your attorney?" he asks Thorax.

"I'm not sure, your honor" he tells the judge. "He said he was going to find out about the guard from earlier."

The doors at the rear of the courtroom open as Plea comes rushing in.

"I apologize for my lateness, your honor" he says to the judge.

The judge says as he waves a hoof and dismisses Plea to sit in his chair.

"Would the prosecution and defense please rise."

Both parties rise to their hooves. Thorax looks on nervously.

"The earlier disruption of this court was due to a message delivered to me by a member of the crystal guard. In this message, I was informed that the witnesses for the prosecution were wanted criminals in the city of Van Hoover for various crimes committed as enforcers for a griffin criminal named Sharpclaw, who was operating under the alias Mint Eagle."

"A part of their crimes was a conspiracy with Sharpclaw to carry out a foalnapping here in the Crystal Empire, with a changeling being designated as the party to receive blame for the crime."

Loud murmurs begin to sound in the audience as the judge delivers the last few sentences.

"Due to the evidence presented by members of the Van Hoover Police Force, and a confession made by one of the witnesses while in custody, I can say with confidence that the defense is a victim of incrimination by false testimony, and the charges against him are to be dropped immediately. He is free to go."

The courtroom explodes into a cacophony of various sounds in response to the decision. Plea turns to Thorax and wraps him into a tight hug. The changeling simply stands there in disbelief. "What just happened?" he asks Plea.

"You've been exonerated!" he tells the changeling with glee. "That means that you've been proven innocent! Irrefutably innocent!"

Thorax continues looking for a few moments before a wide grin slowly creeps across his face. A bailiff unshackles his hooves and he returns the hug to Plea. The two stallions hug tightly before a tapping on Thorax's shoulder gets his attention. As he turns, he smiles wider.

"Brass!"

The mare wraps her fore-hooves around the changeling and embraces him in a tight hug, with the changeling doing the same. They stay like this for a few moments before they separate.

"Come on" she says. "There's some ponies that would like to talk to you."

Thorax looks confused. "Really? Who?"

"Just follow me and I'll show you."

Thorax just gives a nod as he follows Brass and Plea outside.

As soon as he clears the doors, Thorax is bombarded with camera flashes and ponies shouting various questions at him. Before he can even try to respond, Plea steps forward and raises a hoof.

"Mares and stallions, please!" he calls out to the ponies surround the changeling. "My client has had one heck of a day and I think he would like to go home and process everything that has happened to him."

The ponies ignore Plea and continue to bombard Thorax with question after question. However, they do separate as the trio move forward.

Then, unexpectedly, Thorax feels something grab one of his legs. He looks down to see Raspberry looking up at him with a smile.

"I'm glad you won your case, Mister Thorax" she says to him.

He looks at her for a moment before he smiles back at her. "Me too."

Raspberry puts her head against his leg and proceeds to rub it back and forth. The gesture confuses the changeling. "What are you doing?" he asks her.

She looks up at him and replies, "I'm giving you love so you're not hungry."

The response earns several different responses from the crowd, and a mare that Thorax had never seen before steps forward.

"Raspberry, don't-"

The mare stops as Raspberry looks at her with a scowl before turning back to Thorax's leg. The mare looks at her in shock before looking at Thorax. The changeling just smiles and shakes his head, his free hoof gesturing towards the collar around his neck. The mare, who had looked at him with worry, seems to relax somewhat as she appears to get the message.

Thorax was against lying, but he understood enough about life to know that there was sometimes a time and a place for it. In this instance, letting Raspberry think she was feeding him was something he could live with. Why should he discourage her from wanting to help when it was something she was able to do?

"Oh, darn!" Plea says while smack a hoof to his face. "We forgot to let the guard undo your collar!"

Brass realizes the mistake as well. "Don't worry, Thorax" she tells him. "We'll get a bailiff to take that off of you right now."

"Hold it!"

The ponies surrounding Thorax quiet down immediately as two crystal guards approach him. Plea steps in front of Thorax in a defensive posture, as does Brass.

"What has my client been accused of now?!" Pleas asks the duo.

"There are no charges being brought against your client" the guard replies. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has asked to see the changeling immediately."

Author's Note:

YAY! CINNABUG IS A FREE BUG!

But... What does Princess Cadance want with him?

Well, we'll all find out in the next chapter, which will be the official conclusion to Part III, titled "Changing Minds, Changing Hearts".

And now for something special...

What is this?

It's a teaser for an official piece of artwork I'll be including in the next chapter of the story. I think you'll all appreciate it once you see it. Also, if you don't see this right away, then it's probably because of Derpibooru. If it doesn't show up by tomorrow, I'll find another way to get it in here.

Also, I originally planned to have the scene from the movie My Cousin Vinny where they celebrate winning the case embedded after the part where the judge dismisses the charges, but I can't seem to find a video of just that one scene anywhere online. Oh well, perhaps it will get posted one day and I can add it in at some point.

Another little fact - I put a reference to A Few Good Men in part of the story. Shouldn't be too hard to spot if you've seen the movie.

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