• Story: At Her Majesty's Pleasure (Update Part 3+3b)

    Source: Fuffesei

    [Normal]

    Author: PonyToast
    Description: Hotshot attorney Roan Steele faces the toughest case he's ever had as Princess Luna takes Princess Celestia to court for wrongful imprisonment.

    At Her Majesty's Pleasure Part 1
    At Her Majesty's Pleasure Part 2
    At Her Majesty's Pleasure Part 3 (New!)
    At Her Majesty's Pleasure Part 3b (New!)

    Additional Tags: Legal, drama, court, law, justice

    31 comments:

    1. I dunno. I'll keep reading to see where this is going but at the moment it looks like just a Tyrantlestia story without... anything interesting... or logical... at all.

      But, then again, I've been wrong about stories in the past...

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    2. @The_Owl
      We now SOOO need a picture of Roan Ace Attorney style

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    3. You can't handle the truth!!

      Filly, we live in a world that has a Sun and a Moon, and those celestia bodies have to be guarded by Princesses. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lyra? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Luna, and you curse me. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Luna's banishment, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at Pinkie Pie's parties, you want me on that throne, you need me on that throne. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a pony who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very moonlight that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you put on a saddle, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!!

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    4. It'll be a little tricky keeping Celestia in character in this one. Based on what we know of her in the show I would think she'd do whatever she could to arrange some sort of amicable settlement of whatever reasonable grievance her sister may have. And if Luna is to be a sympathetic character, which I'm assuming is the intent, her grievance would need to be reasonable. So there's going to have to be some very careful handling of their dispute to make sure it doesn't break my suspension of disbelief.

      That said, however, I'm absolutely loving this premise. The intro has been good so far and I really hope it works as well going forward. :)

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    5. @Flutterfan

      You, my good sir, win ALL the internets *slow clap*

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    6. Hmmm. If those thirty cases were all actual cases, there's gotta be some public record of which ones were won/lost/settled, right?

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    7. That WOULD be the case in real life so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it would be the same here. However a lot of cases are no where near as complex as people think and you can tell what happened just by knowing who it involved and what it was over. For instance if it was some random person vs a corporation of some sort over an injury they obtained while at one of their businesses (lets say gas station and the floors were wet without a wet floor sign having been put up so the person slipped and hurt themselves) almost 100% that that case would of been settled. The only really hard ones to determine would be individual vs. individual or corp. vs. corp in instances like the one with Vinyl since then at least the evidence and witness statements would have to be viewed.

      All that aside I enjoyed this, looking forward to seeing more, though I really get the feeling whatever Luna asks for outside of equal power is going to be very silly, like Celestia stole all her socks and she demands that they be returned.

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    8. Huh... Not a good impression on me I must say. Well written but... Luna kissing this OC set alarm bells ringing in my ears and this is a case (Pardon the pun) where Tyrant Celestia could very easily come off as completely ridiculous. The fact that Luna came back as Nightmare Moon is something that's going to have to be heavily detailed, you can't get past that with a hand wave, it will HAVE to be important. Also, this case has to do with events a thousand years ago, if Celestia IS a tyrant then she would have liquidated any documents that would incriminate her and if there are still some then they would be few and hard to locate and thus could be easily hand waved as not being true when Celestia's forged evidence says to the contrary. The problem with Tyrant Celestia stories is that if they involve the story of Luna's attempt for power as Nightmare Moon being untrue then there are so many canonical things in the show that state otherwise. And if Celestia is a tyrant in this and just got rid of Luna because she was in the way then why bother to set in motion the main six becoming the Elements of Harmony which would lead to Luna being returned to her other state... only to not get rid of her? Why even take her sister back? Why would Luna ask for forgiveness if she knew she was wronged? Why not simply send her back to the moon?

      Only way I can see this working out is if Luna is misinterpreting things and both sides have done some sort of error here, but if it isn't... then I'm afraid this will just go bust.

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    9. Okay, I am looking forward to seeing where this is going.

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    10. @Specter Von Baren

      You just explained my position way better than I ever could... thanks :)

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    11. Yeah, she is totally glossing over the whole "The night will last FOREVER!" thing she did a few months ago. That's okay if it's intentional and Luna is either lying or deceived, but it doesn't seem that way.

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    12. Bwa ha ha! Hilarious having him wake up with the word Objection already halfway out of his mouth. I can't imagine how hard his cases must have been getting to have to learn that as an instinct.

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    13. @musicssound

      A Harvard Law professor named Facher once said, "If you fall asleep at trial, make sure 'objection' if the first thing you shout when you wake up...and then think of a reason for the objection in the time it takes you to stand."

      -PonyToast

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    14. Okay. Chapter 2. I'm going to go for a play by play while reading this to point out errors or good points.

      Celestia's dialog when she confronts Luna about the dancer is very... stiff. Wooden, it doesn't sound like something a person would say. I also find it very hard to believe that Celestia wouldn't believe Luna at this point. They had no animosity towards each other until this, she has no reason to immediately believe rumors over her own sister, especially when they are so grave. This part did exactly what I was afraid it would, it rushed. Paraphrasing the SpoonyOne here, "You can't just shove this in my face and say, ACCEPT THIS! Because I can't" Ugh, you can't just say Celestia is a cold, jittery, overly suspicious person in a few scenes and expect readers to take it, it needs to be built up. And that Celestia would hurt the dancer like that for stupid rumors is just... stupid. Ugh... and the court thing..... once I finish this post I'm washing my hands of this fic.

      A short story that had a Tyrant Celestia and did it well was this one. http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/07/story-no-greater-power.html No Greater Power. It weaves Celestia's canon personality with one much more sinister. Or look at an infamous story, Cupcakes, it's a horror story yes, and needless to say, Pinkie acts very different but her insanity was done in a way that was still very Pinkie Pie, it was only her actions and motives that were changed.

      While I applaud originality with using Philomena as a villain, it isn't pulled off very well. And why is Steele buying all of this without questioning any of it? A lawyer is supposed to work for their client but that doesn't mean they don't question things in their own head. And you never explained why Luna was going on about, "The night shall last forever." or acting thoroughly evil. You didn't give a good enough reason for why Luna didn't outright say what was going on when she was turned back into her normal self. What better moment that in front of Celestia's subjects to call her out? If Celestia does nothing then she gets to say her piece, if Celestia does something then she gets incriminated. How are they supposed to prove any of this? There's no evidence! They got nothing! No eye witnesses, no documents, no political clout, no one to believe their plight. Ugh... no no no no no no no. I can't do this anymore. This fic is, no.

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    15. @Specter Von Baren

      I really don't think that we are hearing the entire story from Luna. Personally, I'm hoping that this story is just in the starting phases, and will develop those exact points further, with it driving the courtroom drama, rather than a simple open and shut "Tyrant Luna" story.

      I think the hints are already there - Luna herself never explicitly confirms that Celestia was the cause of the dancers accident.

      Basically, I'm hoping that this story makes full use of the Vorlon proverb: 'Understanding is a three edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth.'

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    16. @Sunspark

      The problem with that idea is the addition of Philomena being a Grimer Wormtongue. If it was just Celestia then it could be said that Luna was misinterpreting things but since the author felt it necessary to change a pet into a conniving "adviser"... It isn't a good sign to me. Adding more complexity from the outset makes it seem like everything is already laid on the table.

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    17. @Specter Grima Wormtongue.

      Humm, as this seems to be the start of a story, its really hard to say for sure at this point. Considering the amount of people having done a lot of silly things with Celestia and Luna. ALso remember, in ep 2 Celestia did ask Luna for forgivness as well, admitting that she was at lest in part to blaim for what happened. The details should end up being worked out as the case procedes. I will be watching this to see where it goes. Though I will admit, for the momant I am holding off rating this story.

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    18. I don't see why people have a hard time following Luna's story. How do you expect her to know why Celestia doubted her when they are different people? Luna spoke of what she saw and felt; there is no way for her to know the reasons of Celestia's mistrust in her. Therefore, the author cannot add it all into Luna's story without some serious faux pas in writing.

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    19. Soooo chapter 3 and Gavin didn't mention one word of the fact that Steele has no evidence outside of testimony from Luna. Luna being a princess has no weight in this because she is suing a princess so their words are at least equal if not better on Celestia's side.

      Why is he so confident? It makes no sense to be so confident when there's no evidence.

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    20. @Spector Von Baron

      I think the author is going a more Ace Attorney Style than Reality with this fic, which would explain the attorney not questioning, the cocky lawyers, and strange villains.

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    21. @MrTanokki

      No he isn't. Phoenix was always sweating buckets when he had no evidence for his cases. Going in after being contacted he could be hopeful but if the situation looked grim then he would end up reaching for anything he could get.

      http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/05/story-twilight-sparklemare-attorney.html

      This fic is like the Ace Attorney games.

      The fic here though? I have no idea how the author intends to do with this case. Ugh. And I just watched a Bird In The Hoof again today and Philomena being an avian Jafar has become even more preposterous to me.

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    22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    23. To be fair, and I am a law student here, NOT a lawyer, but I have seen cases where the case is opened by only eyewitness testimony, and other evidence is discovered later throughout the discovery process. That would also explain why Mustang seems to confident.

      I wanted this story to have a very "A civil Action"-like feel to it. There is not going to be black-and-white truth. There never is.

      -PonyToast

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    24. When can we expext another chapter?

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    25. I'm getting a bad feeling this fic might have been left to die... I'm a sad pony now...

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