Fluttershy’s Cottage
June 10th, 2:50PM
Jogging at as fast a pace as his dress slacks would allow, Phoenix finally caught up with Pinkie Pie at the fence in front of Fluttershy’s home five minutes later. Along the way, he noted the cloud that he had been studying earlier was now raining over the southwest part of Ponyville; he could feel a cool, moisture-laden breeze coming from that direction. He could make out a few distant but colorful pegasus ponies flitting about the cloud, shaping and pushing it as they saw fit, too.
Wow—so they really DO control the weather! he marveled, taking a minute to catch his breath and watch the pegasi work.
Arriving at the country cottage, Phoenix was puzzled to find it unattended except for the penned animals in the backyard. I expected there to be police here looking into that feather, he thought as he turned to Pinkie Pie, who was idly but happily sniffing the well-tended flowerbeds that surrounded the house. “Why did you want to come here again?” he asked her slightly breathlessly, thinking he could forgo his usual jogs and gym workouts and just chase Pinkie for exercise.
“So you can have your meeting with my friend, and so something strange can happen!” she reminded him with a cheery smile.
Phoenix gave her a look, his irritation starting to grow again. “But there’s nobody but us here, Pinkie Pie!” He gestured with both hands to the open yard and cottage before returning his gaze towards his equine companion. “And the only strange thing I see is the fact you brought me here for no reason!” he told her, annoyed at being pulled on a wild goose chase.
“Wait for it…” she instructed him.
“Wait for wha—”
“Hey! YOU!”
Phoenix froze when he heard an extremely familiar voice and accent, quickly spinning around to see who was calling him. “Huh?”
“What in tarnation do you think yer’ doin’?” His jaw dropped yet again when he saw another impossibly familiar person from his own world, this one an excitable young woman with an orange afro, green jacket and a white bandana who went by the name of Lotta Hart.
“No-no-no-no-NO! NOT YOU!” Phoenix yelled, stumbling backwards and nearly falling over in shock. A loudmouth with a short temper, Lotta Hart was a tabloid photographer and wannabe photojournalist who had an incredibly annoying knack of being in the wrong place at the right time, and whose pictures had been at the center of several of his cases, causing him no end of grief. Alternating between shameless gold-digging and only occasionally being helpful, Phoenix generally avoided her like the plague.
“Sorry, have we met?” Lotta asked, her voice even more caustic than usual, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. “Pretty sure I’d’ve remembered seeing some sorry-flanked human defense attorney ‘fore today!”
“Huh?” His vision swam again, and just as Mia had turned into Sonata, Lotta turned into an unsmiling freckle-cheeked orange earth pony mare wearing a Stetson cowboy hat. “You got some serious horse apples showing yer face ‘round these parts, Phoenix Wright! Why, Ah oughta knock you upside the head for what you did in court today!” she declared while glaring at Phoenix, her accent sounding uncannily like Lotta’s.
“O-oh, you’re not—” he stammered in relief, picking himself back up off the ground. It’s weird, though—she doesn’t really look like Lotta, but she sure sounds like her! he thought, trying to come up with an apology for his overreaction.
She didn’t give him a chance. “Not forgiving you? Well, now, guess yer finally right ‘bout something! So tell me, Mister fancy-pants-who-doesn’t-study-and-lies-through-his-teeth lawyer—where do you get off accusing sweet-and-innocent-with-a-heart-o’-gold Fluttershy like that?” she berated him in her country-twanged accent, anger flashing through her brilliant green eyes. “Anypony who’s met her even once knows she don’t have a mean bone in her body!”
Phoenix was getting nervous. He’d gotten plenty of dirty looks, but no pony had actually confronted him over Fluttershy before now. “Accusing Fluttershy? Well, uh, I know how it looks, but you see, I had to or—”
“Ferget it.” She cut him off with a wave of her hoof. “Ah already know why you did it!”
Phoenix was flustered. “But you just said—”
“You were just tryin’ to buy Rainbow another day, weren’t ya?” she stated with surety, making him instantly raise his initial estimation of her by several notches. “Ah ain’t no lawyer, but it was obvious enough. Hay, Ah reckon that’s the only reason the entire town didn’t wanna dump you in the Everfree afterwards!"
Phoenix could only manage a weak nod, brushing himself off. “Well, yeah. Believe me, the last thing I wanted to do was go and accuse Fluttershy. But if I hadn’t… Rainbow Dash would be awaiting sentencing and looking forward to a really bad suntan right now,” he offered up a weak joke.
“Ah know that! But lyin’ is still lyin’!” she said, pinning Phoenix with a soul-piercing glare. “Always causes a lot more trouble than it solves!”
He swallowed hard at the look she was giving him; despite his larger size she had the build of a workhorse, one strong enough to do some serious damage to him if she wanted to. And that was to say nothing of the massive russet-colored earth pony stallion standing next to her and regarding him with a mixture of curiosity and disdain, eyeing him over the haystalk in his mouth. “It’s what’s called a white lie—the ones that are for good intentions?” Phoenix offered, giving the pair a nervous look.
The country mare was unimpressed. “Oh, really? Well, Ah’m pretty sure Fluttershy didn’t appreciate yer ‘white lie’, Phoenix Wright,” she snapped back, making him feel ashamed and guilty over accusing her yet again. “You really think throwin’ another pony in jail just to cover up yer own sorry-flanked per-formance is okay?”
Her anger and pointed words made Phoenix cringe anew; whoever she was, she clearly had no qualms about being brutally blunt. “Ah… look, I’m really sorry I did that to her, okay? Believe me, I didn’t want to. It wasn’t even really a lie; I just proposed the possibility of questioning Fluttershy’s alibi,” he rationalized, trying to make himself feel better more than the mare scolding him.
“Ali-bi?” The orange earth pony tried to repeat the unfamiliar word while tilting her head over, only to shake it as if to clear it. “Hey! Stop using yer fancy silver-tongue lawyer speak to confuse me!” she ordered Phoenix, looking even more annoyed with him.
He held his hands up in placation. “Look, I know I screwed up, but I swear I’m going to make everything right tomorrow. By the way, you’re Apple Bloom’s sister, right?” Phoenix observed.
Her eyeridges shot up in surprise. “Huh? How‘d you know that?” she asked, tilting her head at him once more.
“Take a wild guess, pard’ner,” Phoenix mimicked her Middle Tennessee accent—-he’d heard it often enough from Lotta to be able to. Or given the similarities in place names here to those back on Earth, should that be ‘Tenneighsee’…?
Understanding dawned on her. “Oh, right, the accent. Is it really that noticeable?” she asked with a wan grin, only to be caught short. “Hey! Are you makin’ fun of the way Ah speak?” she asked angrily, taking another step towards him. “You think that just because Ah like my countryisms, Ah ain’t smart? Well, you listen and you listen good, Phoenix Wright! Ah can talk all fancy if you like, but it ain’t me! As far as Ah’m concerned, mah speech ain’t broke, and it don’t need fixing!”
His eyes widened at that. “N-no, of course not! It just reminds me a lot of somebody I know back home,” Phoenix assured her, rubbing his hand behind his head while deciding it would be best to change the subject. “I swear I wasn’t trying to offend you; I was just making an observation. It’s what I do as a lawyer. But who is this with you?” he turned his attention to the large red earth pony stallion with a sandy blonde mane standing beside her. He was wearing a yoke and pulling a cart loaded with what looked like a disassembled market stand and several baskets of produce—apples, carrots, celery stalks, colorful flowers too… he cataloged.
“I’m Big Macintosh. Her brother,” the stallion said in a very deep, slow, but suave tone of a voice that Phoenix immediately thought would have the local ladies swooning over him if he were human.
Wonder if it’s the same for the mares here? Bet he has schoolteachers and storekeepers falling for him all the time! Phoenix was surprised to find himself feeling somewhat envious. “Oh, I see! So, you’re siblings,” he had already guessed, noting the similarity in their accents and cutie marks; the orange mare had three small red apples adorning her flank while the red stallion had a single large green apple that looked like it had been cut in half.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied in a very languid drawl.
“He ain’t any more happy about what you did to Fluttershy than me! So you’d better make everythin’ right tomorrow, Phoenix Wright! Or as Celestia’s mah witness, Ah will smack you upside the head, you hear?” the mare threatened, taking another step towards him.
Phoenix held up his hands defensively, afraid she wasn’t going to wait that long. “Loud and clear! Don’t worry; me and Pinkie Pie here found some evidence that’s definitely going to come in handy!”
“Yep-yep! That’s right, Applejack!” Pinkie confirmed, telling Phoenix the name of the orange earth pony as she stepped in front of him almost protectively. “I’m helping him investigate! It’s a lot of fun, too!”
“That reminds me—why weren’t you at the trial today, Pinkie Pie?” Applejack asked her. “Between you, me and Rarity, reckon Ah’m the only one who showed up!”
“I was making donuts!” Pinkie replied brightly, just as before.
The country mare fell silent waiting for Pinkie to say something more, but she didn’t. “That’s it?” Applejack finally said in disappointment, having—much like Phoenix when he was told—expected an explanation just slightly more profound.
“Yup!” Pinkie confirmed, never losing her grin.
“Dagnabit! You gotta have a better excuse than that!” Applejack sighed, shaking her head over Pinkie’s air-headedness as Phoenix nodded in agreement.
“Oh? Okay! I made an extra, extra big batch!” Pinkie said with an extra, extra bright smile. “Well, okay, I wasn’t just making donuts. I was making everything from cupcakes to coffee and was also helping the Cakes run Sugarcube Corner!”
“So what does that have to do with—” Applejack wasn’t placated.
“Everything, silly! The Cakes are trying to use the extra race business to make enough money to finish their new nursery, and that means they need all the help they can get! First I had to help take care of the early morning crowd, who were all construction workers and just about cleaned us out, so we had to make extra batches of everything! And then it all settled down until we had this huge rush of mid-morning customers who were reporters and other out-of-town ponies who kept asking ‘I’m not from here, just here to watch the race coming up, so what’s good to eat here?’ but how do you answer that? I mean everything we make at the Sugarcube Corner is good, so I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a silly question, but here’s a few samples!’ which was fine until I ran out of samples because I’m pretty sure some of the ponies were just trying to get a free donut or cookie out of me.
“So then I had to stop giving out samples and some of the ponies were all up in hooves about that, and then Mr. Cake needed me to remake a bunch of cinnamon rolls and other sweets that kind of smelled like charcoal because he forgot about them in the oven, and Mrs. Cake was dealing with a grumpy griffon customer complaining about the coffee being too weak, and Mrs. Cake wasn’t in a good mood because of her morning sickness, and at one point she got a little nauseous and I had to help her into the bathroom while Mr. Cake took over the front, and oh my gosh you should have seen how bad it was when she got sick all over the bathroom—”
Applejack grimaced and to Phoenix’s relief, cut Pinkie off from going into unnecessary and unwelcome details with a hoof to her lips. “So to make a long story really short—you had a buncha extra customers and catering orders ‘cause of the race and had to stay to help the Cakes serve ‘em all so they could make enough bits to build a nursery?” Pinkie nodded once behind Applejack’s hoof. “Well, alright. Reckon that’s a good enough reason,” she finally conceded, pulling her hoof back. “Ah’d be lyin’ if Ah said having the race in town hadn’t been good business fer us, too. So where the hay was Rarity, then?”
“We just came from her shop. As it turned out, she kind of, uh… got trapped at the post office,” Phoenix offered on her behalf.
“The Post Office? Seriously?” The country mare made a face, then drew herself up straight and tall. “Well, that just goes to show ya’ll that Applejack is the most dependable pony there is! Always there rain or shine! Ah even got a trophy to prove it! Right, Big Mac?” she asked, crossing her left front hoof over her right in what looked to Phoenix a very proud pose.
“Eeyup!” Big Mac confirmed, observing and listening but not otherwise contributing much to the conversation.
A trophy for being dependable? Phoenix got a little depressed at that. I wish I had a trophy. I never even got one when I was in Little League! he reminisced, thinking that the plaque he got for perfect attendance in grade school didn’t count. “So, I know you’re Apple Bloom’s older sister, but I don’t know anything about you besides that,” Phoenix noted, having only heard her name, not her background.
The orange earth pony mare grinned and drew herself up tall. “Name’s Applejack! Proud owner and manager of Sweet Apple Acres!” she announced as proudly and nobly as she could, raising a hoof to tilt her Stetson hat to him in greeting; Phoenix all but swore he could hear a fiddle in the background playing a catchy country tune.
“Sweet Apple Acres?” Phoenix repeated, wondering if all the place names in Ponyville were so self-descriptive.
“Oh, right. You ain’t from around these parts, are ya? It’s a farm full of apple orchards run by the Apple family ten minutes due south of here,” Applejack said, nodding in the direction of the farm to Phoenix’s left, where the rain was still falling. “Though as you can see from the cart, we grow other crops too. Ponies can’t survive on apples alone, after all!”
With a name like Applejack, I guess she was set up at birth to be put in that business! Phoenix thought, taking a liking to the orange earth pony despite her initial hostility. She was proud and plainspoken, seemed honest to the core, and he found her directness very refreshing—being a lawyer, it was all too often a rarity in the people he worked with or represented. “So, you’re friends with Rainbow Dash too, huh?”
“Sure am! Ah’m not here to talk about that though. Don’t suppose y’all seen that little sister of mine?” Applejack asked them both.
Phoenix shook his head. “Not since the trial, sorry. Last time I saw Apple Bloom was when she was on the stand today.”
“Sorry, AJ, but I haven’t seen her either since I’ve been working in the kitchen or with Feenie all day—oh! Except when I was asleep. Then I was with General Cake and Major Muffin!” Pinkie declared.
A glance towards Applejack told him that she didn’t know what Pinkie Pie was talking about any more than he did. “Major… Muffin?” he had to ask, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
Pinkie nodded eagerly. “Exactamundo! I had this dream where I was commanding a battalion of sweets fighting off an army of salads, asparagus and broccoli! It was like Nutrition versus Sweets! I didn’t know which side to enlist on at first, but I ended up going to the tasty side! It was a grueling war; many gumdrops and chocolate chips lost their lives… but we triumphed in the end!” Pinkie detailed her dream, which just about turned Phoenix’s mind to mush.
You know, Freud would have a field day with Pinkie Pie! he decided, thinking the legendary father of psychoanalysis could have written entire books on the quirky earth pony mare... or would have quit his field in frustration and disgust to become a bicycle salesman instead. “So, why are you looking for Apple Bloom?” Phoenix asked Applejack, deciding to return to a saner conversation.
The farmer mare gave him an annoyed look, though this time he could tell it wasn’t directed at him. “Because she ran off even though she’s supposed to be servin’ her grounding! You know, after going in that dark and dangerous forest so late?” she clarified, waiting for Phoenix to nod in understanding. “But reckon that little troublemaker bolted soon as she was excused from the witness stand! She was supposed to wait fer me!” Applejack shook her head in anger, then she looked up at him almost thoughtfully. “Oh, and by the way? Before Ah forget, Ah really do have to thank ya there, Phoenix Wright,” she said, suddenly favoring him with a smile.
He gave her a wary look. “Thank me? Weren’t you just threatening to ‘Knock me upside the head’ just a minute ago?’ he wondered if he should be reminding her.
“Yeah. And Ah still wanna do that. But Ah gotta thank you for getting mah little sister to tell the truth on that there witness stand this morning,” Applejack explained.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed with a firm nod and smile.
You sure have an extensive vocabulary there, Big Macintosh! Phoenix noted while glancing again at Applejack’s larger, yet far less talkative, brother, idly wondering if they’d let him have an apple or carrot off the cart he was pulling—the sweets and coffee he’d had for lunch had been filling, just not that nutritious.
“Ah don’t know if Twilight told ya, but Ah represent the ‘Element of Honesty’, and Ah would like to see mah kin follow suit, if ya know what Ah mean.”
“Uh… I’m sorry, but I really don’t. What do you mean by ’Element of Honesty’?” Phoenix tilted his head at her as she had earlier done to him.
“She’s an Element of Harmony, Feenie! So am I! My element is Laughter; it’s like the best one ever!” Pinkie chimed in. “What’s the matter? Do you want an Element too, Feenie? I’m sure we can think of one for you!”
“Huh?” She had completely lost him again. “What’s an Element of Harmony?”
“Uh, sugarcube? Ah really don’t think it works like that,” Applejack offered on his behalf, but Pinkie had already taken the idea and was running with it.
“Hmmmm… now what Element could you be…?” Pinkie studied him closely, a pink hoof on her chin. “Oh! OH! OH! I got it!” she pronked once with each interjection, and then offered him a military-style salute with her hoof. “Phoenix Wright, with his nifty do, represents the spirit of—” she paused for dramatic effect, and Phoenix could faintly hear the distant sound of the band back in the town plaza doing a drum roll—“HAIR GEL!!”
Phoenix’s face flushed again, and he gave the pink mare a slight scowl. No comment.
Sensing his irritation, Applejack cleared her throat and changed the subject back to her sister. “Well, uh… that aside, Ol’ Beardy came by the farm escorted by Mayor Mare and told me n’ Big Mac that he saw Apple Bloom with Twilight,” she remembered.
“’Ol’ Beardy’?” Phoenix grinned when it clicked who she was referring to, thinking he’d have to remember that one. “Oh, you must mean The Judge.” Wonder what he’s doing wandering around this place? Knowing how easily distracted or amused he can be, he’s probably having the time of his life here!
“Yeah. Him,” Applejack replied with a nod. “Reckon I weren’t that happy with him either after this morning, but now that I met him? I take it back. Nice feller, but Ah sure wouldn’t want his job. Can’t help but wonder what Apple Bloom is doin’ with Twilight, though,” Applejack mused, sitting back on her haunches for a moment.
Phoenix could only grimace at Twilight’s mention. “Yeah, that’s a good question. And I wish I could tell you, but Twilight doesn’t want anything to do with me now. Last I saw of her, she was slamming a door in my face,” he told her a little sadly, crossing his arms and leaning back against a fencepost. “She left me behind at the courthouse and didn’t look back.”
To his surprise, the country mare gave him a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry. Twi’s got a temper, but she’ll get over it… after she figures out what you were trying to do and has some time to cool off first, anyway,” Applejack assured him, then stood back up and stalked towards him, her eyes narrowing. “That is, if you honestly intend on setting things right… right?” she emphasized her last word by poking a hoof into his midsection, just above his belt.
Phoenix flinched hard, wincing as she found the spot that Twilight had poked him the night before, worsening the bruise there further. Thank God she didn’t aim a few inches LOWER! “Of course I’ll set things right!” he promised her, resisting the urge to rub his abused belly, putting on a goofy grin. “My name is Phoenix Wright, after all!”
Back in the court plaza, another rimshot played as the troupe began their next show.
His expression dropped as Applejack gave him a disgusted look. “That… wasn’t… funny…” she informed him with a scowl; Big Macintosh rolled his eyes behind her as well.
“Yeah, Feenie, you really need to have more variety!” Pinkie added apologetically.
Am I the ONLY one in this entire world who thinks that joke is funny? he asked himself in frustration, thinking that if he ever had to leave his law practice, stand-up comedy probably wasn’t the way to go. Could probably make a living as a poker player, though!
Applejack stepped back from Phoenix as if to study him, seemingly scrutinizing him from head to toe. “You know, Phoenix Wright? Ah might wanna smack you, but reckon Ah’ll be rooting for you tomorrow anyway. You’re Rainbow’s only hope right now, and Ah’d hate to see her get banished,” she told him, looking very sad for a moment. “Rainbow’s hot-headed and can be a real pain in the flank sometimes, but that don’t make her a murderer. Ain’t no way she’d ever do what Trixie says, and you gotta make them see that!”
He nodded, drawing himself up straighter at the knowledge that not just his client, but plenty of other ponies were counting on him now. “I promise I will, Applejack. I know for a fact that Rainbow didn’t kill anyone, and no matter what, I’ll prove it to The Judge and everyone in that entire courtroom!” Phoenix swore to her.
Applejack studied him, then gave him a smile and an approving nod. “You know what? Ah fancy mahself a good judge of character, and when you say it? Ah believe it. Well then, Phoenix Wright… maybe you ain’t as bad as Ah made ya out to be!”
“Thanks,” he told her, starting to hope that maybe he could win folks back over. “I swear I’m a much better person and lawyer than I showed this morning, and I’ll prove it in court tomorrow. But actually—while you’re here, I’d like to confirm something, Applejack. Mind if I ask you a question?” Phoenix asked, going to a new topic.
“Shoot, pard’ner,” she said expectantly.
“About Apple Bloom—did she really arrive home when she said she did?” he asked, hoping for any bit of contradiction to Apple Bloom’s testimony so he’d be able to challenge Trixie’s timeline again.
To his disappointment, she nodded. “Yep! Ten after nine, that’s when she got home. She got a scoldin’ from Granny, Big Mac and me fer goin’ into that forest so late,” Applejack said with a glance to her older brother, who nodded and even looked slightly upset for a second.
Phoenix raised a brow at that, glancing again at the quiet earth pony stallion. A scolding? From HIM? What did he do; ‘Eeyup’ her into submission?
“Why'd ya ask?” Applejack said, pulling his attention back to her.
He sighed and rubbed his head, starting to pace slowly in front of Fluttershy’s yard. “I was hoping to find a new way to attack Trixie’s version of events, but it doesn’t look like that’s it. Still, that’s not the only thing bugging me about all this. That second lightning bolt has been plaguing my mind. How is it both your sister and Fluttershy didn’t hear or see it?” he wondered aloud while shaking his head in frustration.
Applejack nodded slowly at that. “Ah was thinking when you brought it up this morning that maybe that Ace Pegasus fella got hit in midair, but that makes one of yer, uh, ‘contra-fiction’ doohickeys…” she trailed off uncertainly.
“Think you mean ‘contradiction’ there, sis,” Big Macintosh surprised Phoenix by correcting her before he could.
She nodded. “Yeah! One of those! From what Twi and Trixie said, it couldn’t have hit him because o’ that suit.”
Phoenix nodded in agreement, taking Mia’s trademark crossed-arms-with-hand-on-chin pose. “I was thinking the same thing, but Rainbow Dash said that was pretty much impossible when I spoke to her in the detention center after the trial. She says that suit makes you completely invulnerable to lightning while in the air.”
“Not to mention it would have made a sound and left a mark if it hit him on the ground when he was vulnerable… ugh!!!” Applejack shook her head to clear it. “All this thinking ‘bout contradictions and storm clouds makes mah head hurt! Ah’m an apple farmer, not a lawyer or weather mare!” she told him, taking her hat off and rubbing her forehead with a hoof for a moment, showing a mane of flowing blonde hair tied off at the end with a single red ribbon. Phoenix was surprised how much her appearance changed by removing the hat, instantly turning the country mare from a workhorse into something far more feminine.
His eyes widened when he realized where his thoughts had gone. Okay, I really HAVE been in this world too long! he decided, appalled that he was starting to notice mares in such a way, half-thinking that he should visit a strip club back home just to purge his thoughts of ponies. FOCUS, Phoenix! “I couldn’t hold a match to the prosecution today, but things will be different tomorrow once I’ve had a chance to conduct a real investigation, to say nothing of having a much better grasp of the rules of this world,” he reassured the cowpony—was that even a word?—of the upcoming return to the trial. “I didn’t study before, but you can bet I will now!”
Putting her Stetson back on, she stared at him for a few seconds before nodding, apparently satisfied with the determination she saw in his face. “I’m gonna hold you to that, Phoenix Wright. And while yer at it, how ‘bout you show that stuck-up attention horse a thing or two?”
“’Attention horse’?” Phoenix tilted his head.
“You know—that no-good, blue snake-in-the-grass!” Applejack elaborated, which only confused Phoenix further.
Seeing he was still not following her, she went on. “She wears that tacky hat an’ cape? All ‘bout the fancy light shows and talking herself up without a single bit o’ shame?”
Then it clicked. “Oh! You mean Trixie!” he realized, thinking that ‘attention horse’ was a little too close to a certain other term, which as far as he was concerned, fit the mare magician just fine!
“Yeah. Her,” Applejack confirmed his guess with a scowl on her freckled face. “Ah can’t stand her! Ah was biting mah tongue every time she opened that big blue muzzle o’ hers in the trial today!” she told him, stomping a forehoof hard enough that Phoenix could feel vibrations through the ground.
His lips tightened at that. “You and me both, believe me. Then again, that hardly seems unusual. I’ve noticed Trixie has that effect on a lot of ponies in these parts,” Phoenix noted dryly, remembering how many times during the trial he wanted to stuff something in her big blue muzzle to shut her up.
“With good reason! Trixie’s a grade-A example of what lying will lead to! Her fibbing and boasting caused that big ol’ Ursa to come a-stompin’ through Ponyville,” she told him. “If it hadn’t been for Twi, it could’ve wiped out the whole town!”
“Rainbow told me a bit about that,” he vaguely recalled from before the trial, scratching his chin and wondering what the full story entailed. “Something about Twilight cleaning up a mess she made?”
Applejack’s answer was an angry equine snort. “Reckon that’s one way to put it. You know, she’s just doing this whole thing because she’s all salty with me, Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow.”
That caught Phoenix short. “Wait a minute—I knew she had a grudge against Twilight, but why you and the other two?” he asked curiously.
“That ain’t no mystery. Last time Trixie was in Ponyville, she was showing off and bragging like she was the bee’s knees. So the others n’ Ah called Trixie out on her hooey!” she told him. “Turns out we were right—she wasn’t ‘great or powerful’ after all; all she had to her name was a bunch of bombast and a few cheap parlor tricks. Twi ended up proving that!” Applejack remembered with a grin.
She went on to tell Phoenix the full story of how two impressionable young colts named Snips and Snails had lured a monster called an Ursa Minor out of its cave in the Everfree Forest, leading it all the way back to Ponyville just so they could see Trixie defeat it like she claimed she could in her shows. To the surprise of nopony except Snips and Snails, she could not, but fortunately Twilight could, saving the town and sending an exposed and humiliated Trixie on her way minus her reputation and wagon, which the Ursa destroyed during its rampage through Ponyville.
Ah still reckon Twi should’ve given Snips and Snails more punishment than a magical mustache, though! Applejack mused as she finished the tale.
Phoenix was wearing a broad grin by the time the story ended, wishing he’d been there to see the showmare be shown up. He was also starting to understand how powerful Twilight truly was if she could pull off such a feat. Special girl, that one. She’ll make some stallion real lucky someday! he mused with a hint of sadness, his smile vanishing as he silently hoped again for a chance to make amends with her. If anything, she seemed to be a genuinely wonderful mare, and he hated the idea of not having a chance to fix things with her. And should I be worried that there are apparently town-destroying monsters living in the woods…?
Applejack’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. “So to make a long story short, Trixie’s insulting and insufferable, and none of us like her! So when she got on the stand in the trial today, Ah told Apple Bloom to call Trixie out if she gave her a hard time.”
His grin instantly returned. “Oh, so you’re responsible for that!” he recognized in delight, lifting up a closed fist and bumping it with her hoof in respect and gratitude.
“Guilty as charged!” Applejack admitted proudly, standing up straighter and puffing her chest out a bit as she returned the gesture, hitting his knuckles with her hoof hard enough to sting him a bit.
Phoenix gave a little chuckle, suppressing the urge to wince—her hooves felt like solid rock, unlike Twilight and Rarity’s slightly yielding ones. “As much as she was abusing me in there, it was fun watching Trixie get verbally served by a child. Certainly brightened up my day!”
“Ah know, right?” Applejack agreed with a satisfied grin.
“Still, I have to ask, though—isn’t Trixie a performer? I mean, isn’t she supposed to show off and exaggerate her own abilities?” he mused. “I don’t think the ‘Middling and Mediocre Trixie’ would really attract a crowd. Not defending her or anything, as there were plenty of times I wanted to smack her upside the head this morning,” Phoenix hastened to add through narrowed eyes. He ground his teeth as he remembered her behavior before and during the trial, finding himself suddenly entertaining an image of himself riding Big Macintosh to run her down like a rodeo steer, hogtying the infuriating showmare with her own cape and silencing her insults with a gag made from her own pointed hat.
Applejack shook her head. “Naw, you don’t understand. Remember how she was calling you ‘Mister Not Right’ today? It was like that, only on a stage. And in front of the entire town, not just a courtroom,” Applejack tried an analogy.
Phoenix shrugged. “Actually she was calling me ‘Mister Wrong’. You know, because it’s the opposite of ‘right’ and—”
“Same difference!” Applejack cut him off with a wave of her hoof, not wanting any more headaches. “The point is, it was every bit as unbearable, except she was doing it to everypony, not just you!” she explained, and Phoenix nodded in understanding.
“And that’s why Ah want you to do your best, Phoenix Wright! You want Twilight and the rest of the townponies to forgive you? Then show Trixie what you’re made of! Prove Rainbow innocent and rub it right in that smug, snotty show-off face of hers!” Applejack ordered him, giving the cart a sharp kick with her back hoof. To his surprise, a pair of apples launched themselves right out of their basket and arced lazily into his hands.
He had no idea how she’d done it, but at that moment didn’t care. “Deal!” Phoenix immediately agreed, crunching loudly into one of the ripe, red fruits, his eyes widening as the crisp, sweet taste hit his tongue—just like the other food he’d tried since he’d been in Ponyville, it was easily the best apple he’d ever eaten.
Applejack smiled at his reaction, deciding the human lawyer couldn’t be that bad if he appreciated her family’s apples. “Let’s shake on it!” she offered.
“Okay!” Phoenix said, putting the other apple in his pocket and raising his right fist, only to pull it back when Applejack spit on her hoof and offered it to him.
“Well? Go on,” she offered her dripping hoof.
Phoenix crossed his arms. “I’m not touching that hoof.”
“Why not?” Applejack asked in an insulted tone.
“Because there’s spit all over it,” Phoenix said it straight, letting his distaste be heard.
Applejack scowled, lowering her hoof. “You’re just as prissy as Rarity! Don’t want to get your fancy-pants lawyer hooves dirty, eh?”
Phoenix sighed. “Sorry, but I prefer to avoid touching things that have been in other’s mouths. I think we can conclude this agreement with a nod.”
She rolled her green eyes but nodded regardless, sealing the deal. “Pfft… fine, then. Have it yer way, Phoenix Wright. Reckon Ah best be moseying on now, then! Still gotta find that lil’ sis of mine. Ah’m going to go check Twilight’s place now—may as well stay away from the farm until the rain’s done, anyway,” she decided aloud with a glance up at the sky. “Listen—if you two do see Apple Bloom, can y’all tell her to head on home? Never mind her grounding, Ah don’t want her out and about with murders happening and all. She’s with Twi’ though, so reckon Ah shouldn’t be worried,” Applejack mused.
“Yeah, we’ll be sure to if we see her,” Phoenix promised, and Pinkie nodded as well.
“Thanks, y’all!” Oh, and uh… remind me t’ give ya that knock upside the head when I’m not so busy, Phoenix Wright. Later!” she said with a tip of her Stetson hat, turning on her heel to leave.
What a pleasant way to say goodbye to someone, Phoenix said to himself as he watched them go, not sure he’d be looking forward to their next encounter. “Goodbye, Applejack. It was good to meet you. You too, Big Macintosh.”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac bade him farewell, then headed off along with Applejack, pulling the cart behind him and leaving Phoenix alone with Pinkie Pie once more.
“So, still think my Pinkie Sense is ridiculous, Feenie?” She wore a smug look. “We met someone here, just like I said we would!”
“Pure coincidence,” Phoenix insisted as he passed her the other apple. “And by the way, nothing weird happened!” Well, unless you count me ogling AJ for a second there!
In yet another seeming impossibility he was coming to associate with his new earth pony friend, she tossed it into the air with her hoof and ate it in a single bite. “Nothing yet, Feenie! But just as soon as—oh! Here it comes; here it comes!” Pinkie turned excited again, looking up at the sky.
“Huh?” Phoenix saw nothing out of place when he looked up as well. But then—
“Ehem!” Pinkie coughed.
“What’s coming?” he asked her to clarify, still looking up, not seeing anything except a couple pegasi still shuttling pieces of cloud around.
“I coughed!” Pinkie replied.
He didn’t know what to say to that. “Okay, and?”
“That means a previous prediction is about to come true!” Pinkie proclaimed.
Phoenix rolled his eyes. “Pinkie Pie, come off it already! I’m not going to accept you can predict things based off of—”
At that moment, HIS CELLPHONE RANG!
“What? What?!” Phoenix went pale, automatically going for his left pants pocket.
“Oooo… what’s that, Feenie? I’ve never seen one of those thingies before! That’s a catchy tune!” Pinkie said with a huge smile as he pulled his early 2000s-era cellphone free, grooving to the Steel Samurai theme song he used as a ringtone.
Phoenix pulled his phone out and held it in a shaking hand. “B-but that’s impossible! How can someone be calling me?” he asked, more than a little freaked.
“Calling you? So what do you do with that thing, anyway?” Pinkie asked curiously.
He stared at it like it might bite him. “I guess I just answer it,” Phoenix said, deciding it was the only thing he really could do. I really hope trans-dimensional calls don’t hurt my phone bill! he forced some humor in his thoughts as he warily hit the answer button. “H-hello?”
“Phoenix Wright?” an unfamiliar male voice asked over the speaker.
“Yes, that’s me,” a very leery Phoenix replied, immediately getting a response back. “Who is this?”
“A concerned friend,” came the answer.
“A concerned friend?” Phoenix repeated the voice’s claim so Pinkie would hear.
“A friend? Tell them I say hello!” Pinkie requested, but Phoenix ignored her.
“Tell me, how and why are you calling me?” he demanded to know.
The voice on the other end avoided his question after a brief pause. “Not important right now. What is important is that I can help you.”
“Help me? How?” Phoenix asked.
“I know what really happened to Ace Swift that night. And I have decisive evidence that can clear your client,” the voice announced.
“What? Are you serious?” Phoenix’s eyes widened, his hand gripping the cellphone tighter.
“Yes. I want you to meet me at the clearing where the crime took place,” the voice instructed. “Go immediately, and I will pass you the evidence when you arrive.”
He nodded eagerly. “Alright, I’ll be right there! Pinkie, we have to—”
“Alone!” the voice added sharply before he could complete his sentence.
“Huh?” Phoenix turned instantly suspicious.
“We must meet alone, Phoenix Wright. There’s no other way I can see you,” the voice warned.
“Why?” Phoenix asked, but the voice remained silent. “I might get lost or attacked by a forest creature if I go there alone,” he protested.
“I don’t want to be revealed to anyone but you. So do you want my help or not?” the voice remained firm.
Great. Now what? Phoenix wondered, feeling like he was between a rock and a hard place: either let Pinkie come with him and risk not getting the information he needed, or come alone and risk getting lost or killed by the various creatures living in the forest—or by his mysterious caller, who might or might not be on the level.
Turning it over in his head, he reached his decision. “Okay, okay! I’ll go alone,” Phoenix agreed reluctantly, reasoning that for the sake of Rainbow Dash, he had to take the chance, and that going to the clearing during the day was far safer than at night.
“Good. I’ll be waiting for you. You made the right choice, Phoenix Wright!” The voice promised.
He didn’t feel that reassured. “Tell me though—who is this?”
“All will be explained when I see you,” the voice promised before hanging up.
“Who were you talking to, Feenie?” Pinkie asked as Phoenix returned the phone to his pants pocket, lost in thought.
This seems more than a bit shady. Someone wants to meet me alone in the forest clearing where the murder took place? He said he wanted to help me, but how was he calling me, anyway? I don’t know what they use for communication, but I’m pretty sure Equestria doesn’t have cellphone towers! he thought to himself, looking for explanations but only coming up with more questions.
“Feenie?” Pinkie nudged him, a hint of worry in her voice.
He shook his head, unable to look at her. “Pinkie? I’m sorry, but there’s something I have to go do alone.”
“Huh?” She tilted her head.
“Whoever that was, he said he had evidence that would prove Rainbow Dash innocent, but he’ll only give it to me if I come alone to the forest clearing to meet him.”
She didn’t look any happier about that than he was. “Alone? In there? That sounds kinda suspicious, Feenie,” she noted in some wariness, echoing his own thoughts. He had nearly reached the conclusion that she was surprisingly sensible at times, until—“WAIT, I KNOW WHO THAT WAS!” Pinkie shouted.
“Really? Who?” Phoenix asked in surprise, thinking she’d overheard the phone conversation and belatedly recognized the voice.
“Yes! It was WOB NIAR! Don’t go, Feenie! Dash’s evil twin is planning to do something nasty!” Pinkie shivered in fear.
His hopes sank along with his shoulders. “Pinkie, there is no Wob Niar! Besides, this person was male, and they said they wanted to help me,” he told her, exasperated anew. “I’m not convinced, but for Rainbow’s sake, I have to take the chance.”
She looked up at him for a moment, before nodding. “Alright, Feenie! If you think it’s for the best, I’ll wait for you by the entrance,” she promised, escorting him down the path as far as where the woods began.
Poised at the forest’s edge, Phoenix found the entrance staring at him like a gaping maw, ready to swallow him whole should he go inside. “I’ll be right back out; the pathway more or less leads to that clearing, and the sun’s still out. I shouldn’t have trouble navigating myself through,” he reasoned, as much to fight his own fears as to reassure Pinkie, resting a hand on her withers, trying to take some strength from her presence.
She nuzzled his side. “Please be careful, Feenie. It’s dangerous in there, even during the day,” she warned him in genuine concern. “Yell, and I’ll come running!”
He swallowed, really not wanting to go in there by himself. “Okay, I’ll be right back. Promise,” Phoenix said, giving the back of her ears a parting scratch. Mustering up his courage, he took off at a brisk walk down the path into the woods, his mind full of worry and doubt.
Everfree Forest Clearing
June 10th, 3:10 PM
Despite nearly getting lost on the way—he swore the bushes and grasses had somehow filled in since his last visit, doing their best to hide the path—Phoenix finally reached the clearing where the crime took place, skirting a patch of strange blue ivy-like vines and flowers by the entrance that made him uneasy for some reason. Surveying the scene, he noted that other than a few fresh hoofprints from the police investigative team, nothing had been disturbed since his last visit—the tape outline of where the body was found was still there, as was the scuffed-up area of ground to the left.
“Hello? I’m here!” he called out from the entrance, but no one answered. Walking to the center of the clearing, he looked over the strange and nearly dark forest that surrounded him; the eerie and foreboding atmosphere of the place hardly lessened by it being daytime and the unfamiliar calls of alien birds and bugs not helping.
So where is this mysterious ‘friend’ of mine? He said he’d be waiting for me! Phoenix remembered, his mind starting to wander and wonder—who was his enigmatic informant? “It’s me, Phoenix Wright! You said you wanted to help me!” he called out once more, but only silence answered him.
Is this someone’s idea of a prank? Phoenix was starting to get frustrated; wondering if he was being played for a fool. Hey, I know! I’ll just hit the redial button on my phone! he had the sudden inspiration, pulling it back out of his left pants pocket to do so. But when he clicked it on, he heard no dial tone; only an annoying beep with an accompanying “No Connection Point” message on his phone display.
What? Th-then how was he able to call me earlier? he protested mentally, unable to come up with a reasonable explanation for such an anomaly. “Maybe all these trees are just interfering with the signal,” he suggested to himself without really believing it, falling silent as the wind suddenly picked up, bringing with it a chilling breeze that sent a shiver down his spine.
He bit his lip at that. Even in the daytime, the forest was undeniably spooky, playing on his fears and phobias anew, but he sucked it up as best he could, determined to do it for Rainbow Dash’s sake. Still, he couldn’t stay there forever, and after twenty minutes of waiting, he was getting antsy. I’ll wait five more minutes, then I’m leaving. This is getting creepy! he finally decided as the hair on his neck stood on end, finding himself jumping at every little sound he heard, missing Twilight’s protective presence, horn and magic more than ever.
Unbeknownst to him as he stood in the middle of the clearing, a dark shadow was carefully circling around him, slowly creeping up behind him. At first it was sneaking, moving cautiously hoof by hoof. Then, it began walking. Then trotting. And then it ran towards Phoenix in a full gallop as it broke into the clearing, its hoofed feet touching the ground with impossible lightness, leaving no track or noise until—
WHAM!!!!
“Ugh!” was all Phoenix managed as he was knocked out cold by a blow to the back of his head, only barely aware of himself falling, hitting the ground hard by the tape outline of Ace Swift’s body.