Replica
Chapter 14: Interrogation
Previous ChapterWhen news reached him that a Changeling had been spotted in Canterlot, he wanted to scoff. A Changeling hasn't been seen in the open for decades, they wouldn't show themselves all willy-nilly.
But just to be safe, he sent one of the guards under him to search and ask about, figure out what was really going on.
"He calls himself Looper, a weird-looking fella, but otherwise, just another pony," The guard reported to him, the young Pegasus not understanding the depth of what was happening.
If a Changeling was showing himself in the open, then it was obvious that there was some big scheme afoot, a conspiracy like never before! Why would a Changeling, who were all so secretive and slimy, just walk out in the open with no disguise?! Something was going on, and luckily for Fry Oats, he had both the authority and the legal right to arrest the Changeling and bring him in for questioning.
"But he hasn't committed any crimes!" That same guard he sent to learn about him exclaimed as he dragged the Changeling into an interrogation room.
"It doesn't matter if he did or not, According to the official Royal Guard rule book, In the chapter on dealing with foreign threats, section 12 subsection 4 addendum C, Any confirmation of a person being a changeling is to be apprehended and brought for questioning. I apprehended the Changeling, and now we're bringing him to questioning," Fry Oats explained to the Guard.
"But- But that rule was written nine hundred years ago! Nopony has used it in centuries!"
"And?" Fry questioned, "Are you questioning the rule book? It was written for a reason, And besides, if they didn't want us to follow it, they would have updated the law."
Fry Oats didn't blame the younger guard, he's new, he hasn't read the rule book front to back like he has, and he doesn't know how these Changelings act.
They hoard wealth and yet beg for food, they topple empires yet cannot keep a nation to themselves, they speak of truths while their faces are hidden behind the skin of another, they are natural-born liars and cheats, who deceive as easily as they breathe. It is in their very nature to lie and scheme and be the slimy little insect that they appear as, they are a plague whose only goal is to infect the people with their sickness and spread the misery that they all live in, and it is only Rightful, Just, Harmony Loving Ponies like himself who can save Equestria from their evil workings.
Flash Sentry was still young, so Fry Oats wouldn't blame him for questioning the sound logic of his superior.
And besides, This Looper was a slimy changeling, how hard could it possibly be to get a confession for a crime out of him? He already looks like a monster, it wouldn't be hard to convince everypony else he already is one.
"Minuette! Minuette please open up!" Moon Dancer stood outside of a two-story building in the residential district of Canterlot, her hoof banging on the door quickly as she called for the pony who lives inside.
"Wait a moment, I'll be down in a second!" She heard her friend call from the second floor.
Moon Dancer fidgeted with her hooves, her eyes darting around in a panic, her body standing close to the wall of the house, as if the little shade that now covered her could hide her from the rest of the world.
"Who is- Oh Moonie, come in," Minuette smiled at her as she opened the door, inviting her into her home, "What did you need to talk about? Do you need advice on how to deal with your new boyfriend? If so, you came to the right mare!"
"Looper was just arrested despite not doing anything, The guards knocked him out in broad daylight, I think I'm starting to have a panic attack and I don't know what to do I need help oh my gosh I don't know I-" Moon Dancer opened her mouth and started talking, her breath running out quickly as she fanned herself with her front legs, acting as if blowing air at her face was going to calm her down.
"They did what?!" Minuette exclaimed, dropping the teapot she was levitating with her magic as she quickly turned to focus on her friend, "They can't do that! Looper is a citizen now, unless the police caught him actively committing a crime, they need a warrant to do anything to him, especially arresting him!" Minuette pulled a chair out from beneath her dinner table and sat Moon Dancer on it, "Did you catch the name of the cop? You know my firm deals with cases like these, You can't imagine the amount of Griffons we get coming to us after getting profiled and charged for looking at somepony funny."
"It wasn't a cop..." Moon Dancer whispered as her breath started to calm down.
"Wha- Then who was it?! If some person gets arrested, it's by the cops, Unless it's a bureaucratic investigation or a tax issue, then the Cops are the ones who can do it!"
"It was the Royal Guard..."
"...No." Minuette shook her head and started walking around her kitchen, "Moonie, the Royal Guard can't arrest anyone, period. They're not cops, they can't just take someone away and arrest them." Minuette scowled, "The Royal Guard can only get involved in matters of National security, anything relating directly to the Crown, and the protection of Crown's assets. Unless Looper was planning to bring harm, physical or financial, to the Equestrian Crown, then they cannot arrest him, they do not have the authority to do so."
"...But that's what happened..." Moon Dancer spoke slowly, her mind still trying to process the events that happened just minutes prior, "They said they came for an Inspection of the house and entered my home, They started opening cabinets and all that,, and they said they need to interrogate any Changelings..."
"..." Minuette turned away from Moon Dancer and entered another room, Moon Dancer could hear the sounds of pages turning and leather book covers being opened and closed, "AHA! HERE IT IS!"
"Here what is?"
"Never mind that, follow me!" Minuette walked out of the room, grabbed Moon Dancer by the leg, and dragged her outside, A saddle bag filled with several books laid on her back as she left her house, locked the door behind her, and started walking in the direction of Canterlot Castle.
"Wha- Minuette, what's going on?!"
"What's going on?" Minuette repeated the question, "Moonie, we're going to do something that is going to change the entire fucking lawbook of this nation,"
"Wha-"
"We are getting Looper out of there, and then I am going to convince Princess Celestia to manually go over several centuries' worth of outdated laws that are still in place, and she is going to change them, because the outcome of not doing so is going to make the Crown look so incredibly bad~" Minuette spoke, a jump in her step and a smile on her face, "This is a Scandal of such humongous proportions, My firm is going to make so much bank~ I could finally buy that Carriage I always wanted!"
"Minuette! I still don't understand what's going on!" Moon Dancer cried out as she followed her friend.
"Get with the flow, Moonie! You can't just bring up a major scandal like this to a pony like me and not expect me to do something about it!" Minuette turned on her heels in order to look Moon Dancer in the face, "I already sent a letter to my boss, I know he's going to be salivating about this opportunity more than I am," Minuette's face was so close to Moon Dancer's, she could feel the breath from her nose, "All I need to say is this, Looper is going to be fine, Clockwork and Co are going to represent him all the way through!"
"Just speak already~ You stupid bug! Where are the other Changelings?! What's your purpose here?! How long have you been in Equestria?!" Fry Oats was losing his patience as he glared at the Changeling on the other side of the interrogation table.
"I already told you, Lieutenant, I wish to speak to a Lawyer~" The Changeling spoke in that aggravating overseas accent of his, the hissing undertone only making Fry Oats want to slam his hoof into his smug face.
"And I'm telling you, You're not getting a lawyer until you answer my questions~" Fry Oats tried his best to smile at the Changeling, even though he was running out of patience at his constant asking for a legal representative.
He was an Alien, he didn't deserve to be represented by an Honest Harmony Loving Pony, He should just answer the questions and be done with it.
"And I already told you several times," Fry Oats wanted to slam that smug face into the table, "Lawyer~"
"LIEUTENANT FRY OATS!" Whatever Fry was planning on doing to Looper would have to wait as he stood up, turned to look at the door behind him, and saluted the short blue Pony that walked through.
"PRINCESS LUNA!" Fry yelled as he saluted the new royal, hiding his frown at needing to place respect onto a Pony who prior to only a bit over a month ago was stricken from all historical texts. She was not a real Princess, she hadn't ruled this land the same way Celestia had, and yet here he was saluting her and bowing to her and licking the ground she walked upon as if she deserved any of it.
"YOU ARE TO LET THIS PONY GO!" Luna's voice was powerful, magically echoing around with a booming volume, "WE HAVE BEEN TOLD HE HAS COMMITTED NO CRIMES, YOU ARE TO RELEASE HIM THIS INSTANT!"
"With all due respect, your Highness, this Changeling has been legally arrested under-" Fry's excuse was cut off as another Pony walked into the room, a Unicorn Mare with a blue coat and the Cutie Mark of an hourglass.
"No, he was not!" The Unicorn pointed at him, "Under the Racial Equality Act of 924, All none pony races living in Equestria are to go through the same legal proceedings as all other Ponies and Citizens, and to use a person's race, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation as a basis for the arrest is Illegal! Arresting Looper based on Section 12 of the Royal Guard Rule Book is in direct violation of the Racial Equality Act, which by basis of being newer, legally supersedes Section 12, Which means you cannot legally arrest Looper for being a Changeling." She explained, breathing heavily in excitement as her eyes locked onto Fry's own, "Do you have any proof of Laws being broken by Looper that would fit your legal authority of action?"
"...According to Section 12 of-"
"As I already pointed out, That rule does not exist thanks to the Racial Equality Act, Which legally supersedes it, Now I ask again, do you have proof of Crimes being committed by my Client?"
"..."
"I thought so~" The Unicorn smiled at Fry before she lowered her head to the Princess, "Thank you for hearing us out, Your Highness,"
"DO NOT THINK MUCH OF IT, WORKER OF LAWS!" Luna's voice boomed as she unlocked the cuffs around Looper's legs, "BE FREE, CITIZEN OF OURS!"
"Many thanks, your Highness~" Fry Oats could almost feel an aneurysm coming as he watched Looper bow his head deeply to the Princess, almost as if he was getting ready to kiss her ass like the Bug that he was.
"NO NEED TO THANK US, CITIZEN! WE ARE SIMPLY DOING OUR DUTIES AS PRINCESS!"
Fry wished he could have slammed the Changeling's head into the table before the small Alicorn got here.
While his face was smiling, thankful to the Princess and to Moon Dancer's friend, Inside, Looper was ecstatic.
"HAHAHAHA! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID YOU IDIOT?! I Now have a perfect defense against any accusations thrown at me by the Royal Guard, and you gave it to me on a silver platter~ How Stupid do you have to be?! HAHAHA!"
Looper hid his feelings deep inside himself as he Hugged Moon Dacner outside the castle, comforting her as she told him how worried she was, as He thanked Minuette for standing up for him and getting him out of that interrogation room, and as he spoke to journalists who wanted to ask questions about what happened, Looper hid his feelings through it all.
"Oh, you stupid little Idiot... You don't even know what you've done~"
And as his plans for the future started forming in his mind, Looper wanted so badly to laugh, at the humor and absurdity of it all, but he bit it down.
And if anybody could be said to be the perfect example of keeping their feelings secret, it was Looper.
"Oh, you are all just so... Pitiful~"
Author's Note
Who expected Looper to be saved by Season 1 Luna, and everyone favorite Pervert: Minuette!

Who would have guessed that this perv was a successful Lawyer?
Don't worry about Fry Oats, This isn't the last we'll be seeing of the "I'm totally not Racist, I just think Equestria should be for Ponies only, and all these Griffon, Minotaur, and Changelings, are stealing all our jobs!" Royal Guard Lieutenant.
Thanks for waiting~ As some of you might know, I'm taking a Hiatus from Trash of the Royal Castle so I can work on my other stories, Hope you enjoyed this chapter~
See you soon~ :)
