Mere days after the Changeling attack on Canterlot, Ponyville police make their first arrest on the basis of suspected changeling status. With no known way to prove or disprove changeling status, presumption of innocence conflicts with public safety.
Mere days after the Changeling attack on Canterlot, along with the new public knowledge that Changelings even exist, Ponyville police make their first arrest on the basis of suspected changeling status. While Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's burst of magic at their wedding may have briefly exposed many changelings, this has proven to be a magical feat not easily repeated. It quickly becomes apparent that nopony is aware of any easily replicable method of forcibly reverting a Changeling's shapeshifting.
There is thus no way to easily prove Changeling status- or lack thereof. This comes with a few major problems, the most significant of which is difficult to answer. How is it possible to balance the Equestrian court system's legal presumption of innocence with public safety?
Rating information: While there will be no explicit sex scenes, there are going to be some plot points which will mention sex as a topic, which is the reason I'm rating the story as teen. It will be done in a way that relates to the main theme of the story, so it hopefully won't be too prurient. If somebody paused before clicking the story due to the 'sex' tag, it thus shouldn't dissuade them. Similarly, if somebody found the story while searching based on that tag, it's probably not what they were looking for. (Although I would still appreciate their readership if somebody in the second category decided to check it out anyways).
Innocent until proven guilty. The mare in the magically ensconced cell was innocent of being a changeling, until the legal system found otherwise. Mayor Mare internally emphasized this fundamental fact, keeping it at the forefront of her thoughts. The laws enabling temporary detention under suspicion of being a changeling were new. Public knowledge of changelings even existing was mere days old. Presumed innocence, however, was a cornerstone of civilization which would never change- not so long as a Princess so benevolent as Celestia (and now Luna, the mayor still had to remind herself) reigned.
Ponyville’s police force was on edge after the attack on the capitol just a few days ago. The officers were fully aware their town was in the path where the invading insects had been scattered. The expulsion of the changelings from Canterlot had certainly been necessary, but the towns in the perimeter of that particular debris field had entered a state of paranoia. Fear, Mayor Mare knew, led to mistakes. This was potentially nothing more than a case of an overzealous hunt, representing a panicked herd of ponies at the verge of trampling an innocent in their wake.
It was also entirely possible that Mayor Mare was staring at a changeling.
Upon hearing the urgent news that her town’s first arrest on the basis of suspected changeling status had been made, Ponyville’s mayor felt this was the sort of sensitive matter she should be directly involved in. Mayor Mare arrived at the town’s jail so as to see the prisoner for herself, and immediately asked to speak with the officers who had apprehended the accused mare. Unfortunately, those two policemares were still filling out paperwork related to the incident at the police station.
The three officers currently guarding the jail knew only the most basic aspects of the case. Eyewitness accounts, from three civilians and the two policemares, formed the evidentiary basis justifying the arrest. These five observers all claimed the individual had been caught moving in ways hideously unnatural for a pony. One of the testimonies was from Lyra Heartstrings, famous throughout town for her own casual contortions. When somepony like her attested to the equine impossibility of certain movements, it was hard to dismiss as a panicked exaggeration.
Looking into the cell, Mayor Mare studied the earth pony locked within. Her cutie mark depicted a stylized foreleg in the midst of twirling around. It seemed like a typical mark for a professional dancer, albeit not one the mayor had personally seen before. If the prisoner was indeed a changeling, it might be a mark which didn’t actually exist on anypony.
The mare’s coloration was harder to determine, given the rippling swirls of multi-hued magical energy which shielded the cell. This barrier, crafted by unicorn police officers as per guidelines recently mailed to law enforcement across Equestria, hopefully prevented any sort of transmission of changeling magic. Still, there were times the rainbow of lightly swirling magical energy shifted to translucency, during which the prisoner’s palette could be observed. With a chestnut brown coat of fur, and a jade green tail and mane, it was an aesthetic combination that seemed reminiscent of a tree.
The changeling- no, only the ACCUSED changeling- finally noticed the mayor’s scrutinizing gaze. She started saying something- with body language indicating desperation- but the magical shield was apparently soundproof. Mayor Mare glanced to her own flank, looking at the scroll which comprised her cutie mark. That imagery may have been what proved her capacity for bureaucracy- but it was decisions such as the one she was about to make which demonstrated her strength as MAYOR.
“Why haven’t I heard anything about her meeting with a lawyer yet?”
The policestallion nearest to the mayor paused. “The documents the police received went into depth on changelings’ known abilities, and how to proceed based on them. Shining Armor was hypnotized by a Changeling to unknowingly work for her. The instructions we got said that we should avoid leaving anypony unprotected from a suspected changeling’s magic, so as to avoid that. I don’t think anypony even mentioned how that would work with rules about defense lawyers and stuff.”
“That’s completely unacceptable. I assume you have some method to push objects such as food and water through the shield?” Mayor Mare asked.
“Of course! We weren’t going to let a prisoner go hungry,” the guard stated. The town leader took note of both his indignant tone and the shock on the faces of the other officers in the jail, and felt a sense of relief. At least she could be reassured that not all of the rules of law had been thrown out the window in this case.
“Then I assume pieces of paper and writing utensils could also be pushed through, and a line of communication opened that way between her and a defense attorney,” Mayor Mare stated. As realization visibly dawned on the faces of the police officers who heard her, the experienced officeholder continued. “I want to write her a message myself, as soon as possible, reassuring her that I will be monitoring the situation to prevent any further civil rights violations from occurring.”
Seeing the police officers wince at the indirect rebuke, the mayor’s serious expression softened. “I’m not angry at anypony, as I understand you were just following safety guidelines which were hastily written by somepony else who was trying their best to get necessary information out quickly. The capitol was attacked just a few days ago by an enemy we hadn’t even known existed before then, and nopony is entirely sure how to handle it.”
The monologue reached its most important part. Mayor Mare hoped her years of practiced oratory were enough to prevent future misconduct without crossing the line into alienating the police force. “I know you’re just trying to protect everypony to the best of your marks’ abilities, and you’re doing so in exactly the way you’ve been instructed. I’m exactly the same way- just with a mark that is different from yours. Right now, I’m doing my best to work with you to offer a different sort of protection to everypony, to the best of my own mark’s ability. If there are any other ways the new guidance might conflict with civil rights, I won’t blame anypony, and will be happy to work with you to find solutions.”
Her speech finished, the Ponyville mayor hid the anxiety bubbling beneath her now-smiling exterior. As much as she hadn’t been lying about understanding the reasons for what had happened, it didn’t stop the situation from being disturbing. How many other towns had received the same guidance as her own- but lacked an individual such as herself to properly consider civil rights?
The two policemares who made the arrest should still be at the station. As such, Mayor Mare knew exactly where she would be heading next.
“Ah! There you are, mayor! I didn’t find you at the town hall, and when I was asked, was told you had headed to the jail. It looks like you just finished what you were doing there, so it’s perfect timing!” Golden Harvest’s excited voice rang clearly through the air, and Mayor Mare carefully suppressed a frown.
It was entirely possible the mayor hadn’t known where she would be heading next, after all.
Smiling cordially, Mayor Mare turned to face Golden Harvest, scrutinizing the pony who had just indicated she had been actively seeking her out to an extent unusual for a politically inactive citizen. As much as the mayor could fantasize that the search was for reasons easily enough dealt with- perhaps even a personal matter she could brush aside- she knew better than to hope too hard for such luck.
“Miss Harvest, I hadn’t expected this. Is there anything I can do for you as mayor?” The words betrayed no hint of negative emotion, leaving the politician with a certain level of satisfaction at her honed abilities.
“Yes! I went to the local weather bureau, as did a few other farmers, and the bureau couldn’t help, but maybe you can. I know the search for the Changelings is important, but if the rain is limited only to the farms, it shouldn’t be a problem, I think. You can cut the red tape for at least that much, right?” Golden Harvest in her pleas seemed oblivious to the headache her words heralded for her addressee.
“Changes?” Mayor Mare repeated. Quickly composing herself, the experienced politician responded to Golden Harvest’s supplication. “I was unaware that there was any major issue going on with the weather services in Ponyville. I’ll go to their office with you right now, so perhaps you could fill me in on the trot?”
Being mayor often meant juggling a variety of tasks, and hoping none of the balls were dropped. The veritable cannonballs being added looked set to include at least three ever-dreaded ones. Namely, an exigent matter, hastily crafted- yet still intransigent- documents, and negotiating up a chain of beleaguered bureaucrats (many of whom likely received as little warning of the problem as she herself had). By contrast, the investigation into the potential Changeling was still ongoing, and watching for immediate updates on the minutiae of the case would likely have no impact beyond wasting precious time. Those balls she was juggling for that case (hopefully) had yet to even reach halfway up the apogee of their arc since they had been launched- much less to have started their perilous plummet to potential failure.
Which of the two duties to prioritize seemed obvious.
After speaking first with Golden Harvest, and next with local weather management, Mayor Mare felt she had gained an understanding of yet another Changeling related problem her town faced. The Changelings expelled from Canterlot by Cadance and Shining Armor’s combined magic were known to be in the general area. To assist law enforcements’ efforts to espy the enemy, orders had been issued to weatherponies in Canterlot’s neighboring towns to excise rain from weather plans until further notice. The given rationale was to avoid washing away potential Changeling tracks which multiple fugitive apprehension units were studiously searching for.
(Rainbow Dash had also mentioned there was an initiative underway to utilize police dogs who were recently trained, using Changeling corpses left after the battle, to (hopefully) recognize Changeling scent. After revealing this plan, Rainbow Dash immediately began repining this was information she wasn’t supposed to have divulged. This part of the search teams’ strategy was apparently meant to stay classified so that the Changelings wouldn’t get the idea to conceal their natural sillage. Mayor Mare had responded to the pegasus’ panic by promising not to tell anypony about the slipup, at which point Rainbow Dash calmed down).
When she had received a form letter informing her, as a generic Ponyville resident, of changes to the upcoming weather schedule, Mayor Mare gave the letter minimal attention. The town’s leader was too preoccupied with issues she had thought more pressing than a presumably ordinary meteorological adjustment. Ponyville’s farmers, by contrast, paid much closer attention, being highly concerned with the times at which the rain slaked the thirst of their crops.
If the projected lack of rainfall came to pass, most of the town’s upcoming harvests would die from drought. The weather team’s reliability meant few fields in Ponyville were hydrated via irrigation systems, with such technology limited to farms with particularly water-intensive plants. Ironically enough, this meant the thirstiest crops were the ones least in danger of drought.
The town’s farmers- of whom Golden Harvest was only one- devised a compromise in which they asked for the rain to fall only on their fields. The core goal of the plan was to minimize the risk of erasing Changeling tracks, yet still prevent a predicament of parched plants. When pleading with the local weatherponies, the farmers even bargained down, seemingly in an attempt to prove their reasonableness. In their attempted haggling, the horticultural herd even accepted rainfall avoiding the fringes of their acres, with the weather team’s focus carefully contained to only fall on well-trod agricultural areas. As much as Rainbow Dash was sympathetic towards the farmers’ plight, the written instructions her department had been given were clear, and allowed for no exception. If in acting as Ponyville’s weather coordinator, she followed the presented plan, Rainbow Dash would be working in direct opposition to the orders given by the federal government.
Fortunately, Ponyville was close to Canterlot, giving Mayor Mare the opportunity to negotiate with the relevant bureaucrats in Canterlot and hopefully cajole them into accepting the farmers’ compromise. Mulling over the dilemma described to her, the politician had already imagined a potential plan which would leave all involved parties happy. Perhaps she could convince the officials directing the effort to arrange for the specialist squads hunting Changelings to search the farms prior to the sequestered showers. If coordinated properly, the farmers could water their crops as was necessary, yet the risk of such weather aiding any sort of Changeling escape would be erased, which was also necessary.
Unfortunately, it was already mid-afternoon, and the amount of time it would take to complete any negotiations would certainly extend past the point at which the last train of the day traveled from Canterlot to Ponyville. Prior to leaving for the capitol, Mayor Mare would thus need to alert the other employees at the town hall that she would be absent overnight, as well as wrap up any immediate issues in Ponyville.
The most prominent of those issues was the suspected Changeling.
—---------------------------------
“I don’t think she was a Changeling! I ran away because I was scared when the police officers attacked her while screaming about Changelings!” Sweetie Belle insisted.
Apparently the foal who had been witnessed with the suspect was Sweetie Belle- and after the police had called her in for questioning, the filly had given a somewhat different story than what anypony expected. Mayor Mare, after settling her affairs at the town hall, had visited the police station to check on the Changeling case, where she was ambushed by Sweetie Belle, silently shadowed by her mother.
“I mean, have you ever seen that cutie mark Limber Tracts had before? So I was asking about it! You haven’t, right?” Sweetie Belle asked. The foal’s approach to explaining the relevant events to Mayor Mare was about as meandering as one would expect from a child her age, the addressed adult mused. The suspect- probably the Limber Tracts being referred to- bore a cutie mark which the mayor had assumed indicated some manner of dancing talent.
“I can’t say I’ve seen that particular cutie mark before, no,” Mayor Mare responded to Sweetie Belle.
“Well, apparently it’s a mark for physical flexibility! I was curious why she had it and Lyra didn’t, and told her about some of the stuff Lyra could do and asked her what she could do better. Because I was thinking about telling the other Crusaders about the cool new cutie mark opportunity I had found out about, and wanted to know just what it could do. So she then started showing me, and then while she was doing that cool stuff, the policemares were calling her Changeling and attacking her. I was scared by them and ran away, but I wasn’t scared of Limber like the people here were telling me I was at first,” Sweetie Belle explained.
Mayor Mare paused as she absorbed that information. The reason the accused had been detained was because she moved in a manner supposedly impossible for a pony, to the point even Lyra was shocked. Yet Sweetie Belle’s story voided the astonishing aspect of the described scene- meaning there was now a lack of any sort of credible evidence to truly indicate the arrested individual was a Changeling.
“I appreciate your telling us about this, Sweetie Belle,” the mayor stated upon seeing the filly continue to stare expectantly at the adult who surely would fix the situation, because that’s what grown-ups could do. “Have you officially given a statement to the police yet?”
“I just did! Right now, and once before you came in!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed with exasperation.
“Sweetie, the mayor was asking if you had said those things while a police officer was writing it down,” Cookie Crumbles gently explained to her daughter. Looking up from her foal to face the mayor, Sweetie Belle’s mother switched to a more matter of fact tone. “No, my daughter hasn’t given the police a statement yet, but it should be done soon enough.”
“Thank you for taking the time out of your day to help the police with this,” Mayor Mare responded. “I have some other matters to deal with which will have me visiting Canterlot today and staying the night, so I can’t give this matter as much personal attention as I would like. However, it should hopefully be cleared up soon, in part thanks to your help here.”
Ending the interaction by exchanging pleasantries, Mayor Mare soon enough found herself in the office of the police chief Lightning Law, engaged in a private discussion with the grizzled and grey pegasus mare. All other information about what had preceded the case aligned with Sweetie Belle’s description. Under normal circumstances, if prosecutorial evidence against somepony was proved to be this flimsy, the detained would be released without charges. What rendered the situation abnormal was the recent federal directive which provided instructions on handling anypony arrested for suspected Changeling status. With Mayor Mare’s talent for parsing the paperwork of bureaucracy, proven by the scroll on her flank, Lightning Law held faint hope that the mayor could work around an apparently inflexible order.
“Unfortunately, the instructions are clear in stating that somepony the police arrest specifically under suspicion of being a Changeling should be held until a ‘specialized investigator’ arrives,” Mayor Mare grumbled. Not having to hide her irritation and exhaustion during this particular conversation was somewhat of a relief, after the long day the mayor had endured so far. She and the police chief had a close enough relationship to negate any need to put on a politician’s mask in such a private meeting.
“I still don’t get what kind of investigator we’re waiting for. What kind of bureaucracy are we going to have to go through here?” Chief Lightning Law asked.
“I… actually don’t know,” Mayor Mare admitted.
The police chief paused, and then sighed. “Well, I guess I couldn’t realistically expect any other answer,” she muttered. “On the trip to Canterlot, if you’re able to at least find out who these specialized investigators are and what the process is going to be, that would be great.”
“Of course,” Mayor Mare responded. “I’ll definitely do that.”
—-----------------------------------------------
Upon boarding the train to Canterlot, Mayor Mare walked down the aisle to find a secluded seat in which she could pore over documents relevant to the negotiations she would soon initiate. The bureaucrat came to a sudden halt as she saw an unexpected passenger, gazing at his own assorted papers.
“Mayor City Care?” Mayor Mare questioned.
The chestnut brown earth pony stallion brought bright blue eyes up through the bangs of his rusty orange mane, appearing similarly surprised to see Ponyville’s mayor. While ‘city’ was in his name, City Care’s town was actually smaller than Mayor Mare’s (though he was born in Canterlot before his parents’ reassignment). He hailed from a politically inclined family (albeit a non-noble one), and as such, was far better connected than what might be expected from the mayor of such a small settlement as Saddlevale.
“Mayor Mare! I wasn’t expecting to share the train car with you. What’s the reason for your trip to Canterlot?” City Care asked.
“Various issues relating to instructions about how to handle Changelings,” the Mayor responded. “As for your reason?”
City Care smiled ruefully. “Exactly the same thing. Want to talk about it?”