Part 14 - The Other Side of the Rainbow
Ponyville Detention Center
June 10th, 12:00 PM
It took Phoenix less than a minute to walk to the Detention Center, given the facility was just across the plaza that fronted the courthouse. The two white-furred male pegasus guards let him in with a minimum of hassle this time, though his ears flushed when he heard them snickering over his heart-shaped Equestrian Attorney Badge behind his back.
His embarrassment was only deepened as he was escorted down the hallway by two uniformed earth pony stallions to the partitioned meeting room where Rainbow Dash would be waiting for him. They looked very odd to him wearing just police uniform shirts and ties; it seemed to Phoenix that what they were wearing only drew attention to what they weren’t... and the human lawyer found himself wincing as their ambling movements drew attention to certain attributes their tails didn’t fully hide as they walked in front of him. Phoenix was relieved when they left him outside the meeting room and their hindquarters weren’t staring him in the face any longer.
Smoothing out his suit and re-cinching his tie, he took a deep breath before going in. I really hope she isn’t mad at me after what happened, Phoenix worried as he turned the doorknob, afraid Rainbow Dash would be just as upset over Fluttershy as Twilight was. But then…
He entered the meeting area only to find his client thrashing about, throwing a tantrum on the other side of the glass as he entered.
“No, no, no, no, no, no! no! NO! NO! NOOOOO!!!” she said over and over, kicking the walls behind the partition and wailing. She nearly startled Phoenix right out of his shoes when she abruptly spotted and stared at him, bug-eyed and giving him the longest face he’d ever seen.
“R-Rainbow Dash?!”
“Good luck talking to her, Mister Wright. She’s been like this ever since she got back,” one of his escorts said as he and his partner stepped back, leaving it to him with a smirk.
“I-I can’t bear to live anymore! Throw the book at me! L-let them send me to the sun! THERE’S NOTHING LEFT FOR ME IN EQUESTRIA!!!” Rainbow broke down and cried, completely beside herself.
“Rainbow Dash, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!!” Phoenix ordered. She must still be upset over those… uh… pictures, he guessed, grimacing at the memory of the images.
Rainbow blinked her watery, rose-colored eyes at him. “Easy for you to say, Nix! Now the Wonderbolts will never let me in! Even after I’m banished, Ponyville is gonna laugh at me forever!” She sat back and buried her head in her hooves, trying to hide her tears.
“They weren’t that… um… bad. R-really! I’m sure everyone will forget about them by tomorrow! I guarantee it!” Phoenix said, trying to calm her down even though he didn’t believe a word of it. Oh, who am I kidding? There’s no WAY anyone’s forgetting images like those! he thought, knowing for certain he’d never ever be able to forget.
“You… you think so?” Rainbow asked, still sniffling lightly.
He tried to give her a grin that was both wry and reassuring. “I know so! I’m always right; my name is Phoenix ‘Wright’ after all!”
Somewhere outside, a rimshot played.
Rainbow Dash gave him a glower and he could all but feel the guards rolling their eyes from behind him. “That… wasn’t… funny…” she replied in a low voice, completely unamused.
Phoenix shrank back at the look on her face. ACK! I thought it was!
“Still, thanks for at least trying to cheer me up. I appreciate it and you trying to defend me earlier, even if you did do a crummy job at both,” she told him sincerely, sitting on her haunches and favoring him with a weak smile.
“Gee, thanks,” Phoenix grumbled, but couldn’t muster up much more indignation than that.
“No problem. And by the way…” she added in a mild tone, giving him an askance look.
“Yes?”
Rainbow Dash abruptly flared her wings in anger, rearing up and slamming her hooves into the clear partition separating them, causing it to rattle hard and Phoenix to flinch back. “SO WHAT WAS WITH THAT TERRI-BAD PERFORMANCE IN COURT TODAY, NIX? WERE YOU TRYING TO GET ME SENT TO THE SUN? I DON’T KNOW SQUAT ABOUT LAW, BUT I’M PRETTY SURE I COULD’VE DONE A BETTER JOB DEFENDING MYSELF!” She blasted him in a full shout, causing the guards on her side of the glass to quickly check on what was happening.
“I-I… uh…” Phoenix could only stammer as Rainbow continued to berate him with scarcely less volume than before.
“HOW COULD YOU HAVE COME IN SO CLUELESS ABOUT EQUESTRIA, NIX? YOU EMBARRASSED YOURSELF AND ME! I DON’T EVEN LIKE STUDYING AND I AGREE YOU SHOULD HAVE! EVERY DEFENSE ATTORNEY MUST SUCK HORSE APPLES, IF YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE BEST ONE!” she went on angrily, causing Phoenix to cringe at the image that brought to mind, especially with the memory of two stallion hindquarters fresh in his head. “AFTER HOW INCREDIBLY AWFUL YOU WERE IN THERE, I SHOULD FIRE YOUR SORRY FLANK HERE AND NOW!”
Phoenix held his hands up in placation, resolving to wash his brain out with whatever alcohol Equestria offered the first chance he got. “Look, I know I screwed up, but don’t let me go, Rainbow! I promise I’ll make it up to you and Fluttershy tomorrow! I swear!”
To his surprise, Rainbow seemed to only get angrier at the mention of her friend, her face contorting into a snarl. “Fluttershy? HA! She got what she deserved! I’m 100% through with her after how she betrayed me like that!” she said dismissively.
Phoenix’s jaw fell open, but his shock quickly gave way to anger of his own. “Hey! It tore me up having to do that to her! It was the only way I could save you! Fluttershy didn’t betray you!” Phoenix insisted, now getting angry himself—how she could even think that of such a kind and adorable pony was beyond him.
But Rainbow wasn’t having it. “Oh, give me a break! She testified against me and just about buried me! So this is the thanks I get for all those times I stuck up for her sorry flank?”
“She was just telling the truth about what she saw, Rainbow. Which, as a witness, is exactly what she was supposed to do!” Phoenix said through clenched teeth, seething at his own client for thinking the worst of her friend.
She gave him a disbelieving look. “What do you mean, truth? You proved she was lying, Nix! She had to have been if she didn’t see Apple Bloom!” Rainbow argued, flaring her wings in anger again.
Phoenix bit his tongue before he said something he regretted, trying to force his thoughts back to the matter at hand. Or I guess I should just say ‘at hoof’ while I’m here? “I’m not sure why she didn’t see Apple Bloom, but there’s one thing I am sure about: she wasn’t lying when she said she saw you leave the forest, Rainbow Dash! You were there, weren’t you?” he challenged, making Rainbow fall silent for a bit, her eyes going evasive for just a moment before flashing with anger again.
“Whatever! After how bad you stunk up the courtroom, you’re fired, Nix! And as for Fluttershy, we are ex-friends as of now!” Rainbow Dash dismissed him with a wave of her hoof, leaving Phoenix wondering how Twilight could ever have called her loyal. “I mean, Fluttershy pretty much said: ‘Yup! Rainbow Dash did it!’” she mimicked Fluttershy’s voice for a moment, somehow making her mane style match as well. “She testified against me! And what kind of a friend does that?” she demanded to know, audibly grinding her teeth together.
With the possible exception of a former client named Matt Engarde, Phoenix had never wanted more to reach through a partition and throttle someone. “Rainbow Dash, for the last time, she was just telling the truth of what she saw! She swore an oath to do so, remember? She can’t lie in court!” he reminded her in strained patience, his anger sharpening his focus. “Which actually brings me to why I’m here.”
Rainbow gave him an odd look. “Huh? And why are you still here? I just fired you, remember?” she gave him a dismissive wave of her wing, throwing a glance over his shoulder to the guards behind him, who took their cue.
“I’m sorry, Mister Wright, but you heard her. If you’re no longer her counsel, you can’t stay.” A uniformed stallion stepped forward to escort him out, but he held up a hand to stop him.
“I understand, but give me just one minute to change her mind, please.” Phoenix covertly pulled out his Magatama, holding it hidden in his palm as he turned back to her. “You’re fully within your rights to dismiss me as your counsel, Rainbow. But before you do, I want the truth from you! I deserve plenty of blame for this morning, but so do you, Rainbow Dash! You lied through your teeth to me regarding your activities on the night of the murder! So before you fire me, I want to know what you were really doing near the scene of the crime!”
In Phoenix’s vision, the space around Rainbow Dash became dark as several rows of chains, guarded by three distinctive red psyche-locks, appeared in front of her.
Made visible to him alone by his Magatama, they were a manifestation of the secret she was hiding from him, and the number of locks indicated how hard it would be to make her give it up. “Ugh, I told you already, Nix—I was practicing for the race!” She stuck to her alibi, unaware of the phantom chains and locks surrounding her. “And since you’re no longer defending me, I don’t have to tell you squat!”
Phew! The Magatama still works after that weird incident this morning, Phoenix thought in relief despite her dismissal, flashing back to what had happened in the courtroom lobby before the trial.
As Twilight enveloped the Magatama with her magic to float it over, the gemstone artifact suddenly glowed a bright green within her violet aura.
“Huh?” was all Phoenix got out before the Magatama flashed a brilliant white. “WHAT THE—?” he stumbled backwards and went blind for a moment; when his vision cleared he was lying on the ground again, and so was Twilight a few feet away.
Phoenix was still unsettled by the memory; it had felt like a blow to the head when his Magatama had flashed. What was that all about, anyway? Ugh, forget about it, Phoenix! It still works, and right now that’s all that matters! he reminded himself, setting his sights on the three red psyche-locks before him.
Okay, there they are. Time to break ‘em! “Sorry, but I don’t believe you, my little pony. Not for a single, solitary second.” Phoenix crossed his arms. “You’re lying, and I’m going to prove it!”
Dash gave him a glare. “You’re a defense lawyer who doesn’t believe your own clients? That’s professional!” she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Just get out of here, Nix! I got nothing more to say to you!"
But Phoenix stood firm, ignoring her dig and dismissal. “Fine, but before I go, how about a little bet, Rainbow Dash?"
"A bet?" she repeated contemptuously.
"Yes, a bet. I’m going to guess what you were really doing near the crime scene that night, and you’re going to tell me if I’m right,” he declared. “And if I can guess right in the next five minutes, you retain me as your lawyer.”
She gave him an incredulous look, then smirked and waved the guards back. “Okay, I’ll humor you, Nix. You can have your five minutes, but I’m sticking to my story. And when your time’s up, you’re gone!” Rainbow Dash warned him.
At that moment, Phoenix decided he’d be able to wipe at least one smug look off one pony’s face that day, still smarting over how badly Trixie had beaten him. Worry about her tomorrow; worry about Rainbow Dash NOW! “I don’t think you were practicing at all. I think you were doing something far more important,” he claimed, watching her reaction carefully.
“Oh yeah? Like what?” she asked in annoyance, flaring her wings again.
“Like, oh I don’t know... like maybe meeting someone?” Phoenix guessed, making a show of scratching his chin thoughtfully.
Rainbow suddenly looked nervous. “Uh, well I-I… uh… I mean… who would I be meeting in the forest, especially at that hour of the evening? Nopony ever goes in there willingly, especially at night!” she correctly pointed out.
But Phoenix immediately turned her own argument back on her. “Oh, really? Then why were you practicing there if no one ever goes in there willingly?”
His then-former client’s eyes widened; she was starting to visibly sweat under his scrutiny. “U-uh… w-well…”
Sensing he was on the right track, Phoenix pressed harder. “I know for a fact there was someone else in the forest on the night of the murder.”
Shaking off her nerves, she challenged him directly. “Then put your money where your mouth is, Nix! Who do you think I was meeting?”
“Ace Swift!” Phoenix answered instantly, causing Rainbow to stiffen in shock. “The fact that your feathers were found all around the clearing proves you were there last night!” he pronounced with certainty, causing Rainbow’s jaw to fall open in disbelief, unable to do anything but gape at him.
“And who else was in the clearing last night? The victim, of course! You needed to be there to see him! You also told me ponies avoid going in there. So the fact that you did means he wanted to meet with you privately in a place where nobody could stumble across your meeting! And what better place to pick than the middle of a dangerous forest other ponies avoid?” he reasoned.
“Ahhh!! NOOO!!” Rainbow Dash screamed as one of the psyche-locks broke.
Though visibly flustered, Rainbow tried to recover. “I-I mean… ah, no, you’re wrong! H-he was just competition. Why would I want to meet him? I have better things I could be doing!” she groped for an excuse, trying to sound confident but failing badly, glancing up at the clock to see how many of his five minutes were left.
He raised an eyebrow. “Better things? Like what?”
Her gaze left his, clearly attempting to evade the suspicious look he was giving her; Phoenix could tell she was struggling mightily for an answer. “I don’t know. Napping? Something like that.”
Oh, please… Phoenix thought, rolling his eyes and thinking Rainbow Dash was one of the worst liars he’d ever met. “Well, maybe he had something you wanted,” he suggested, watching her carefully.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m saying that maybe he had something important to you, something you’d move heaven and earth for,” Phoenix elaborated.
She gave him a wary look. “I don’t know what ‘heaven’ is, but I’m a pretty self-satisfied pony, Nix. I’ve got everything I need… well, besides fortune and glory, and the only way I could get those is if I beat him. So what could he possibly have that I’d want?” she asked, starting to feel a bit more nervous about his insights.
“I’m glad you asked that, Rainbow Dash,” Phoenix grinned, showing her his teeth for a moment, belatedly realizing it might be considered a threatening gesture among the herbivorous ponies.
“Y-you are?” Rainbow said, tilting her head at him but otherwise unperturbed.
He nodded. “There is one thing that you absolutely needed that I know he had...” Phoenix said, reaching into his evidence bag.
“Yeah, well… I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Rainbow said carefully while looking at the ceiling, hoping he might give up if she played dumb long enough.
“The reason you went to go meet him is…” He mentally braced himself.
“THESE!” Phoenix pulled out the large manila envelope Trixie had given him, stuffed full of photographs.
Rainbow Dash’s mane and tail spiked upwards like she’d been shot through with lightning herself and her wing feathers splayed hard in fear. “AHHHH!! Put those away before anypony sees them! Please!” she begged him, recoiling from their presence.
But Phoenix didn’t immediately, even going so far to pull out one of the pictures and slam it on the front of the partition, image side facing her through the clear barrier. “Even now, your anxiety shows you absolutely didn’t want these pictures floating out and about!” he noted, keeping the photograph in front of her face.
Rainbow Dash shrank back from it, eyes wide, looking around in a panic to see if any of the guards were watching. “Yes, yes, yes, you’re right! I was meeting him about those! Can you please just put them away? Like, right now?!” she pleaded, all but cowering before the image Phoenix was holding up before her.
With her admission, the second lock shattered.
Phoenix put the photographs away, vowing to never look at them again if he could help it. “This brings us to the money question: why did Ace have these pictures?” he asked, his tone rhetorical.
“Who knows? He’s dead! What a bummer; guess we’ll never know!” Rainbow said with feigned nonchalance that would have fooled nopony, let alone an experienced attorney.
“I actually think I know why,” Phoenix said, having reached the conclusion on his walk over to the Detention Center, mentally kicking himself for not figuring it out the instant Trixie had presented the pictures. Then again, even if I did, it wouldn’t have helped—Trixie would’ve just said it was the smoking gun of Rainbow’s motive! “There’s only one possible reason he would have brought them to the clearing that night.”
“There is?” Dash said, scarcely able to believe he’d been able to figure out as much as he had.
“Yes, I can think of one reason why he’d want to meet you over these pictures.” Phoenix fell silent for a moment, leaving her in suspense. “He was blackmailing you, wasn’t he?”
Rainbow Dash seemed to deflate at the word, every one of her feathers drooping suddenly. “Blackmail…” she trailed off forlornly, her lip starting to quiver.
Phoenix nodded slowly to himself at her reaction, knowing he’d hit the bull’s-eye. “I’m willing to bet my attorney badge he wanted you to throw the Equestrian 500,” he told her, but Rainbow Dash remained silent as he continued his speculation, watching him out of the corner of her eye with a sad and defeated look on her face. “For a single racer to win every race is beyond belief, no matter how good he is! Twilight told me that some ponies suspected him of foul play for it, and this pretty much proves it.
“So this is how he was doing it, then—by blackmailing his competition! In your case, he was probably threatening to make these pictures public if you didn’t let him win the race?” Phoenix concluded, leaving her speechless, then checking his watch to find... four minutes and thirty seconds. Not bad!
Several more seconds passed before Rainbow spoke again. “Wow…” she said at length, now staring at Phoenix in utter awe, her rose-colored eyes fixed on him.
“Huh?”
For the first time since Phoenix had known her, Rainbow Dash let out a bright and friendly smile as if a great weight had been removed from her shoulders. “You win the bet, Nix. You’re still my lawyer and I take it all back. You’re really good!”
And with that, the final lock broke!
—— Unlock Successful ——
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Oh...did not expect that. Then again, that's what happens when you can't play any of the games due to lack of consoles
. I wish I did...oh well, I'll manage with what I know about Phoenix
. So...the dead pony was a bad pony...let the speculation and digging...BEGIN!
Great chapter dude. Hope to see you on the next chapter!
Ha I knew it
Someone needs to find a PW engine and make this for it!
I can see that you have less, or even no mistakes on these chapters. Good for you!
462208 live and learn my friend
461865
I'm currently working on remaking these in the Ace Attorney Online game creator.
It's the only one out there that has most of the features in the games.
Trying to get permission from the original project creator before announcing to the public though.
465804
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfJR6sAo0CU
466029
I have managed to get permission from PWaaMLPfim themselves.
Guess this means I need to work 20% harder now!
468197 SO wait, there might be a playable version of this on the internet? If yes, when it's done, do you have to download it or is it free to play?
Seriously, what is on those pictures!?!?
480703
probably her and Big Macintosh.
503065 No way Rainbow Dash and Big Mac wouldn't be doing anything like THAT unless they thought they were alone.
Lol this is too funny i need a brain bleach myself!!!
480703 her having a skeleton in a closet?
(yes i mean a skeleton in a closet not the idiom)
Must. See. Those. Pictures.
Achievement :Locksmith
"Nothing can be locked up for long"
You have managed to unlock Dash's secrets, but there's more to this mystery than meets the eye...
Second day in Equestria and he's already turned to the clopside. (Rimshot)
Well I thought it was! Sheesh. Everyone's a critic...
Refer to the 99% of Japanese criminal cases leading to conviction statistic mentioned earlier.
You almost killed her when you were foals! Lucky thing those butterflies caught her. Wait, what?
"Cause baby now we got bad blood. You know it used to be mad love..."
Terrible writing, Taylor. Just... terrible.
Oh right, the story.
In the forest at that hour.
Nopony ever goes there willingly.
But you're so pretty! Must you be so butch at all hours of the day? Apparently not, given these images soooo...
Lies...
You do realize "horseapples" refers to shit, right?
Horse droppings are spherical, leading to them being called "road apples" or "horse apples"
478885
There's My Little Investigations, which is a pony Ace Attorney game.
8702845
And here, they’re a slang term for balls. Saying you’ve got ‘horse apples’ is basically saying you’ve got a pair. Just go with it.