NaNoWriMo2015 Oneshot Colletction

“You four, come with us.” The works were not a request as the lead pony seemed to ignore the fact Habeas was in the room. No easy feat, considering the gigantic minotaur and his eye searing kilt.

“And you would be?” Habeas  asked, his tone a low, impossible to ignore rumble.

It was impossible for Neutral to ignore, at least. The ponies in suits seemed to be just fine with ignoring him, as they continued to look at Neutral and his pony companions without even seeming to bat an eye at the suddenly angry looking minotaur.

“You will come with us now,” the lead pony repeated.

“And who would you be?” Moonlight asked, seeming to decide that if they were going to ignore the large angry minotaur, they would be less likely to ignore the one they were focused on… as backwards as Neutral found that thought. The suited ignored her, his steel grey eyes never wavering as he glared at the quartet.

“My clients will not be leaving with you until you declare yourselves and you destination,” Habeas stated, his deep voice perfectly normal in volume and his expression flattening from its previously boisterous smile, as he lowered his head slightly. Somehow, Habeas going quieter managed to scare Neutral worse than any loud screaming, yelling or posturing could.

The suited ponies seemed to decide now was a good time to answer, Habeas, too, which confirmed the danger in Neutral’s mind. “You are not authorized to know that,” the lead pony said. “All you are authorized to know is that they are coming with us, and we have the authority to take them.”

“You are in a Police Guard station,” Habeas answered then, his voice still low and level. Still radiating ‘danger’. Yet, he hadn’t done a thing other than lower his voice and his head. “There is protocol to follow. I am also their lawyer. I have the same authorization as them. Now, who are you and where are you taking my clients?” he asked once more.

“You are not authorized to know either answer. None of you are,” the suited pony answered.

Habeas’ response was not something Neutral would have expected of him at this point in the least. “POLICE! I WANT AN OFFICER HERE NOW!” he bellowed with earth shaking volume. Volume enough to cause a couple of the ponies outside the doorway to flinch slightly. At least it proved the things weren’t golems. Neutral really didn’t want to deal with the possibility of golems.

There was no immediate response, be a moment later, a surprisingly well composed Police Guard trotted in, the insignia on his armour making him a Warrant Officer. “What can I do for you, Mr. Corpus.

“Just who are these ponies, and where are they taking my clients?” Habeas demanded, his voice still low and level. Unlike the yell, this seemed to actually shake the guard, though he quickly regained his composure.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Corpus, but nopony here is authorized to know that. Authorization comes straight from ESIS,” he explained, his voice containing no hint as to any undermined confidence. Neutral expected the minotaur to lose it. To actually have that sense of pure danger prove reality.

What he did not expect was for the minotaur’s terrifying glower to turn into a smile. It wasn’t a nice smile either, but the smile of a pony that just watched somepony slip up in their favour. The sort of smile Neutral would expect on a noblemare as she watched a rival crash and burn. It was not a smile that he would expect on the so far forthright and unsubtle bull. A smirk like that was something that bespoke of subtlety.

“Oh, if that’s the case, go right ahead,” Habeas said to the suited ponies. He turned to Moonlight, Neutral, Event, and Flux. “Don’t resist. Makes things easy for yourself, and remember what I said,” he told them.

Neutral nodded, trusting the lawyer was their best bet and hoping his trust wasn’t misplaced. He followed Moonlight and Flux, with Event beside him, as they walked out into the hall where they were quickly surrounded by the large number of suited ponies. “We strongly suggest you don’t try anything,” the leader recommended as they walked through the station, before falling silent. They were escorted to a carriage in an underground garage, and made to get in. The carriage was windowless, had no internal door handle, and the only light source was a dim thunderstone in the room. The stallions sat on the seats on one side, while the mares took the others.

The long, featureless ride to their destination was done in silence.

As soon as the suited ponies left the room with his clients, Habeas turned back to the Warrant Officer, who had a suspicious look on his face. “I’ve seen that smile a couple of times. What exactly did I just do?” he asked, a note of concern in his voice.

Habeas’ smile slowly went from smug, back to boisterous. “Why, my dear Guard, you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong! That’s the beauty of it!” he informed the Guard. “So, Warrant officer, I want a copy of the recording of everything that has happened in this room from the moment my clients stepped inside to now. I don’t want a clone. I’m not stupid, I want a copy, with the date and time of copy clearly stamped. An exact copy of the recording as it sits in the recorder right now.”

The warrant nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want a clone? That way you don’t need to worry about damaging the recording if the stone gets damaged,” the guard suggested.

“No,” Habeas stated firmly. “I want a copy. A clone can also be remotely cut off via its connection to your central record storage. I will not risk losing my clients to such a rookie mistake. Actually, make that copy up to the point in which we leave the room.”

The guard nodded. “Of course, Mr. Corpus. If you would follow me.”

“You are going to get me a copy, no?”  Habeas asked in a low tone

“Yes, we’ll get you a copy of the recordings,” the guard confirmed firmly.

“Thank you, Warrant!” the minotaur said, his tone whiplashing back to boisterous in an instant, following the guard out and down the hall.

The guard let Habeas to a small room in the basement of the Station, below the carriage garage, to a room full of monitors receiving video and audio feeds from around the station via magic. The guard quickly got Habeas a copy of the times he wanted, and stowed them on a thunderstone. A small crystal or gem that held a store of magic in it that could be shaped into a spell array. In this case, a combination of an audio-video illusion and a storage matrix.

Habeas smiled. “Thank you, Warrant. I think I’ll be on my way know,” he declared, turning and leaving the station with a smile on his face as he whistled happily.

While things might be hard, and the hardest was going to come, the Minotaur couldn’t help but feel optimistic about his clients’ chances. He had a recording that would make it impossible for the Secret Intelligence Service to deny taking, or at least authorizing the taking of, his clients, he knew where to get the best evidence to support their case, and if he could get them before the Princess, especially with the cases he was going to collect, then it wouldn’t just be Moonlight and her friends off the hook, that would mean Starlight had a fighting chance as well. Now, if only he could get in a room with her to discuss this little event and find out the entire story behind it, then he’d know how to defend her properly as well.

Something much easier thought than done, so Habeas just stuck it a little farther down his list of things he needed to get done. He’d start working on getting some time to speak with Starlight when he got back from Ponyville with the copies of the cases he needed.

Nodding firmly to himself, he resumed his walk to the train station, his smile broad and his tune never wavering.