Part 44 - Turnabout Lost
Ponyville District Court
Courtroom #2
June 11th, 11:26 AM
Twilight reeled as the psyche-locks that surrounded Gilda shattered all at once; the griffon eagless seemingly breaking them herself by sheer force of will.
It was clearly a painful process to Gilda and wasn’t much easier on Twilight; she was left shaky from the overload of mystical energy and emotion the breaking locks had released, leaning on the rail for support while on the other side of the courtroom, Trixie was nursing a headache, rubbing her forehead with her hoof and wearing a confused expression, trying to figure out what had just hit her.
“I give up,” Gilda said at length in a defeated voice, still slumped over the front of the witness stand and visibly trembling. “I did it.”
“Don’t even try to deny it!” an unaffected Phoenix warned her, only to blink when her words registered. “Wait, what?”
“I m-moved the body,” Gilda admitted in a very weak and broken tone.
“I knew it,” Phoenix nodded in grim satisfaction while The Judge’s jaw fell open.
“Ms. Behertz! You mean… you’re confessing?”
“Yeah,” Gilda confirmed, trying to pick herself back up and dry her tears as she started to tell her story—the real one this time, a still-shaky Twilight presumed, pouring herself a glass of water and taking a hasty gulp.
“When Ponyville came up on the delivery schedule a couple weeks back, I decided it was finally time to go see Dash again. S-so I volunteered to make the shipment,” she began, slowly regaining her composure. “That the delivery coincided with the Equestrian 500 cinched it. I really did want to enter the race—with Dash! I thought m-maybe we could be friends again if we raced together, so I asked to make the delivery and then take a week’s leave.
“But as the day arrived and I got closer to Ponyville… I got more and more reluctant. You have to understand—it’s really hard for someone like me to apologize.”
Rainbow’s jaw fell open, staring at Gilda in surprise.
“When I flew in that night from Hoofington, I heard voices coming from a clearing, and one was familiar—Dash’s. So I went in to take a look but backed off when I saw she was arguing with some stallion. I couldn’t make out most of it, but the guy pony sounded like he was threatening her.
"I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I hid in that tree, trying to remain out of sight and pick up on what they were saying,” she continued. “I thought maybe I could swoop in and save the day if he tried to attack her, but I never got the chance before she triggered the lightning and zoomed off. I heard the boom and then the stallion screamed, but… in fear, not pain! I never thought Dash actually hit him with that lightning bolt, honest!” she hastened to add.
“After the lightning struck, I flew off after Dash to ask her what that whole thing was about, but before I got very far… the strap on my satchel came loose and I dropped my delivery bag,” she admitted, her shoulders slumping again. “When I couldn’t find it, I went back to the clearing. Figured I could at least tell that pony that if he was messing with Dash, he was messing with me, but when I got there? I found him lying there... dead in the dirt,” she remembered with a shudder. “I was just going to ignore the whole thing a-and leave it be, but…”
Her eyes flashed in anger for a moment before reverting back to sadness. “B-but then… memories of Dash dumping me started surfacing. They made me so angry I couldn’t see straight, and all I could think was—I’d make her pay for rejecting me! For dumping me like I meant nothing to her after all those good times we shared!” she explained, anger and sorrow lacing her words in equal measure.
“Oh, come on! So you tried to frame her for murder? That’s clearly overreacting!” An unsympathetic Phoenix replied.
Instead of lashing out, Gilda only deflated again. “You’re right. It is,” she agreed to Phoenix’s great surprise, her reaction finally convincing him she was being sincere. “I overreacted. All I could think of at that moment was that I wanted to hurt her like I’d been hurt,” she recalled. “I remembered how she chose her new friends over me! How all those stupid ponies she’d just met were more important to her than someone she’d known for twelve years!” she hissed, her talons coiling tightly for a moment against the edge of the podium while her tail flicked in clear agitation.
“So while I was standing there staring at the body, I convinced myself that she needed to be punished! Even convinced myself she deserved to be banished for banishing me from her life!" she went on. “I’d show her how it felt! I’d show her what it was like to be betrayed and have your best friend turn on you!” she repeated in a shrill but quavering voice, her eyes turning angry for just a moment before she returned to her despondent and downcast state again. “I knew it was a horrible thing I was doing. I knew how wrong it was. But all this anger and hate took hold of me and wouldn’t let go. And I just felt trapped. Locked in,” she described, causing Twilight to blink, finally feeling steady on her hooves again.
“And so… I moved the body, and the rest is history. I even set things up with the consulate so that my testimony would be limited. I thought revenge would make me feel better, and all this time, I kept waiting for it to happen. Kept waiting for that sweet feeling of payback to kick in, but…” she trailed off, all her headfeathers wilting again. “But it never did. And all I feel now… is empty. Lost and alone," she finished, her eyes glistening.
“Revenge is never the answer,” Twilight spoke up from Phoenix’s right, her eyes sad as she beheld the broken shell of Gilda before her, having felt for herself all the anger and anguish that was wound up in her psyche-locks. “Ultimately, it doesn’t take your pain away. It just makes it even worse,” she noted with a pointed look at Trixie, who didn’t respond except for a slight grunt.
Gilda gave Twilight a nod of acknowledgment before continuing, “I know that now. I just wish I’d known it before. You may all think I’m only confessing because I was caught,” she added, seeing the unconvinced faces in the gallery around her. “But in truth, I think I wanted to be. It’s actually kind of a relief. I just can’t do this anymore.”
“Gilda…” Rainbow called out forlornly to her old friend.
Gilda perked up at the sound of Rainbow’s voice. “But you know what? Maybe the real reason I got so angry—” Gilda paused long enough to raise her eyes to meet Rainbow’s. “—was because I missed my best and most irreplaceable friend. And now look at me. I’m doing a really crappy job of winning her back!” She managed a weak chuckle.
Rainbow could only stare back, sad and speechless.
“I’m sorry I lied. I’m sorry I moved the body. If I could take it all back, I would. I don’t know how that stallion died, but… Dash didn’t kill him!” she insisted, raising her voice to make sure the entire gallery heard her clearly. “Blue boy’s right that I didn’t see the first bolt hit, but the fact I found his body so far away from the cloud proves it couldn’t have struck him!” she said, turning fractionally towards the defense rail to address Phoenix, who nodded.
“And you can confirm that you were the last one on the scene of the crime?” Phoenix asked, far more gently than before. “You’re sure there wasn’t anyone else there?”
“I am,” she nodded. “Remember that I can see in the dark, and I also have a good sense of smell. There was no one else in or near that clearing when I left, pony or otherwise.”
Despite her assertion and the certainty that the case was now all but won, Phoenix was still puzzled. That’s strange. How did the stick get in the water under that bridge if Gilda didn’t move it? I don’t think she’s lying about that, he wondered idly. Guess it doesn’t matter, though.
For once, The Judge reached the right conclusion without Phoenix having to spell it out for him. “It seems this was all just a misunderstanding, then. The defendant couldn’t have killed the victim with the first lightning bolt if his body wasn’t originally lying under the storm cloud!”
Phoenix nodded his agreement. “We can probably come to the conclusion that if the first bolt didn’t kill him, it had to have been the second, somehow, despite the lightning-proof suit,” he noted. “A fluke bolt must have hit him in one of the exposed spots. Highly improbable, I agree. But in this case, the only possible explanation,” he concluded with a glance at Twilight, who nodded her agreement.
Gilda spoke up again. “That’s probably what happened. Even though I didn’t see or hear a second bolt,” she noted in turn. “But if he was electrocuted, that’s the only explanation—another bolt must have done him in.”
The Judge’s expression turned severe again. “Be that as it may, Ms. Behertz, you have committed perjury and mail fraud, and you tampered with the crime scene in an attempt to frame the defendant, all of which are serious crimes in and of themselves.”
“I know,” Gilda said with a sad expression, all pretense of defiance gone. “Believe me, Your Honor, you can’t hate me any more than I hate myself right now. So I’ll accept any punishment you give me.”
“She told the truth, though. She only did it because of what I did to her,” Rainbow spoke up for the first time on Gilda’s behalf, causing the latter to smile in gratitude. “So you’ll go easy on her… won’t you, Your Honor?” she asked, a pleading note in her voice.
The Judge hesitated before replying. “That will not be my decision to make, Ms. Dash. I can only order her remanded and have charges pressed; her punishment will be at the discretion of the Equestrian Judge who presides at her trial.”
Gilda stood up straight again and smiled, some of her old cockiness back. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about me, Dash! No wimpy little jail cell can get me down!” she told her old friend, managing a weak boast. Rainbow smiled sadly at that.
With that, Twilight turned to Phoenix, concern in her eyes. “How long do you think she’ll get?”
Phoenix considered that. “If it was my world? First time offense; guilty plea to three felonies... it could be anywhere from a few weeks to several months,” he answered back. “I’m sorry, but there are a lot of variables involved, from the attitude of the judge and the quality of the defense attorney to how well she presents herself at trial. So I can’t really give you a straight answer.” Seeing Twilight deflate, Phoenix half-thought of offering his services to Gilda to see if he could get her a reduced sentence. She clearly wasn’t in her right mind. And it’d be an excuse to stick around Equestria a little longer, too!
As a quartet of bailiffs approached to take her into custody, Gilda stood up straighter and addressed Rainbow again. “Good luck, Dash. I just know you’ll kick some serious flank in the Equestrian 500!” She grinned. “Sorry I won’t get to race with you.”
Rainbow gave her old friend another sad smile. “I’ll visit you and tell you how it went.”
Gilda smiled back. “I’d like that,” she said before looking up to The Judge. “Your Honor? Before you have me arrested, there is one more thing I really gotta say. If I’m allowed?” she qualified, some actual respect in her voice for the first time.
“Yes, witness. You may!” The Judge replied; for a moment Phoenix swore he heard sniffling.
Well, His Honor is nothing if not sentimental! he thought with a grin.
“Thank you,” Gilda acknowledged, and abruptly, her entire demeanor changed. She rounded on Phoenix, wings flaring in anger and eyes flashing, pinning the startled human lawyer with her most ferocious glare. “YOU BETTER NOT BE IN MY LINE OF SIGHT WHEN I GET OUT, BLUE BOY!!!!” she yelled, making an obscene gesture with a middle talon that an aback Phoenix never dreamed existed in Equestria.
“BECAUSE IF YOU ARE, YOUR FLANK IS BUCKING TOAST! I’LL TEAR YOU INTO SMITHEREENS AND THEN TEAR YOUR SMITHEREENS INTO SMITHEREENS FOR DOING THIS TO ME!” she promised him as the bailiffs quickly collared her, slapped griffon-quality restraints on her wings and legs and then began to drag her away. “DON’T EVER LET ME SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN, BLUE BOY!!!! YOU GOT THAT????” she warned him with another upraised middle talon as a burly earth pony bailiff hauled her out the door.
Well, that certainly killed the sad mood, was all a stunned Phoenix could think, deciding that perhaps volunteering to represent Gilda wouldn’t be the smartest move for his career or continued good health.
Once the eagless had been removed and the gallery had settled back down, The Judge called for order with a bang of his gavel and cleared his throat. “There are a few unanswered questions in this case, not the least of which is how the stick got from the clearing to the park. But on the question of the innocence of the defendant, I believe I can safely hand down my verdict.”
“The first bolt of lightning could not have killed Ace Swift,” Phoenix reminded him. “Gilda’s confession and a slew of supporting evidence, from the original location of the metal stick, to the scuffed up area of ground well away from where the first bolt hit, confirms this.”
Though the verdict wasn’t actually in yet, Twilight could barely contain herself. “You did it, Phoenix! We won!” she said, beaming at him in happiness and pride.
Phoenix felt himself starting to relax, reflecting back on the previous two days of trial and all the mistakes and missteps he’d made along the way. “All’s well that ends well, I guess.” He grinned back briefly. I kept my promise, Twilight! he told her with his thoughts, standing up straight and facing The Judge to receive his hard-won verdict.
“On the charge of murdering Ace Swift, this court finds the defendant, Rainbow Dash, Not—”
The cry rang out, Phoenix and Twilight looking up in surprise to see a long-silent Trixie now standing up straight and tall, wearing her smugly confident expression once more. “Forgot about Trixie, I see,” the showmare said, closing her eyes and touching her hoof to her chest.
The Judge looked at her in confusion, as did most of the court. “Ms. Trixie, what’s the matter?” he asked.
“It’s just that you were about to make a fatal mistake there, Your Honor,” Trixie told him easily. “Rainbow Trash is guilty. She did kill Ace!” she further announced, to disbelieving noises from the gallery.
Came the greatest disbelieving noise of all. “You don’t know when to quit, do you? We just had a confession that says otherwise, Trixie!” Phoenix reminded her, this time to murmurs of assent from the audience.
“Yeah!” Twilight spoke up, anger in her voice. Black locks or no, enough is enough! “He was found dead in the dirt far away from and nowhere near the cloud! How could the first bolt have killed him if his body was lying thirty feet from where it hit?”
The Judge nodded in agreement. “I must concur with the defense here, Ms. Trixie. You based your entire theory of the crime on the first lightning bolt striking the victim. The evidence and actual location of the body disproves that.”
“And in that case, it had to have been the second bolt, which Rainbow Dash had no control over!” Phoenix piled on, wondering when Trixie would finally give up the ghost. Even Franziska knew when she was beat!
To his surprise and disgust, Trixie just laughed. “It’s so rich sitting here watching you both labor under the pitiful delusion you won,” she told him, her smug look in full force. “You’ve had your little moment of triumph, Mister Wrong, but now it is Trixie’s turn! So watch in awe and amazement as The GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie takes your precious little turnabout… crushes it into dust… and casts it to the wind!” the mare magician announced grandly like she was advertising the next act in her show.
Phoenix couldn’t help but feel a shiver go down his spine, suddenly getting a very bad feeling about what was coming next.
“To start with, let’s chat about this ‘second bolt’,” Trixie began, levitating a sheet of scroll paper before her with her light blue aura. “As Trixie promised yesterday, she had a talk with the weather managers in Cloudsdale about the Cloud Ballistics report,” she told the court before turning her gaze back to Phoenix, her mouth crooking upwards into a knowing and unpleasant grin. “Remember the second bolt not making a sound?”
“Yeah?” Phoenix said warily, uncertain what she was up to. Doesn’t matter—she can’t bridge the thirty-foot gap between the body and where the first bolt hit!
“When Trixie asked the weather managers what phenomenon could cause a bolt to be recorded by ballistics but be neither heard nor seen, she was told it was most likely an anomaly known as a ‘dud bolt’,” she announced, causing some of the weather-savvy pegasi in the gallery to look at her in surprise.
“For the benefit of the non-winged ponies and primates present, a dud bolt is the result of a lightning bolt never leaving its parent cloud, in effect striking inside the cloud. As everyone but Mister Wrong knows, lightning makes sounds based off vibrations from striking something solid,” she reminded the court. “But if the bolt strikes something intangible, like the cloud itself? There won’t be any noise at all!
“Since it doesn’t hit anything solid attached to the ground, there is no boom. And since it never completes a circuit, there is no ‘return stroke’ and thus, only a very muted flash as well,” she related what she had learned. “And that, Your Honor, is the only explanation as to why Trixie’s witnesses neither heard nor saw the second bolt!”
“And this is relevant... how?” Phoenix challenged.
“Need you even ask, Mister Wrong?” Trixie triumphantly stated. “The point is that the second bolt could not have killed him, no matter how badly you may wish it! And if the second bolt didn’t kill him, all that leaves is the first—fired by Rainbow Trash!”
Phoenix stared at her in disbelief. “That makes no sense, Trixie! We’ve already established the first bolt didn’t kill him, and now you’re saying the second bolt couldn’t have either?” he asked derisively. “If the first bolt didn’t kill him, it had to have been the second bolt!”
“Yeah, Trixie!” Twilight stomped her hoof, starting to get incensed again. “It’s either one or the other, and everything points to it being the second bolt!”
Her anger only rose further as Trixie gave her another mocking laugh. “Oh, spare the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie your twaddle, Twilight Sparkle. It’s in fact quite simple what happened!” she announced, stepping out from behind the prosecutor’s stall, her horn flaring to life as she walked to the middle of the courtroom pit. “Allow the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie to enlighten and dazzle you all!” she said grandly as a scene materialized around her, showing the forest clearing, a cloud, and two pony figures in what Phoenix could only describe as a three-dimensional wire-frame diagram, the outline of each element lit up like glowing neon in different colors—green for the vegetation, blue for Rainbow Dash, orange for Ace and white for the cloud.
“To begin with, let’s review the established facts in this case,” she said as the scene slowly rotated around her, giving The Judge and everypony in the courtroom a look at it from all angles. “First, Rainbow Trash was in the forest clearing at the time of the murder. Second, we now have witness testimony that she was seen in the company of the victim, and third: that she did set the first bolt off—please note not even Mister Wrong has bothered to dispute that!”
“Yes, she did,” Phoenix admitted—it's the truth, so there's no point in denying it! “But you heard Gilda—the victim wasn’t struck! The purpose of the lightning was to scare him, not to kill him!”
“Trixie begs to differ!” she announced with a hoof over her chest as she froze the scene at its current angle, with the east side of the virtual clearing facing The Judge. “As you yourself pointed out, Mister Wrong, if she couldn’t see the scene, how would she know whether or not he was struck?”
“Because she later found the body a long distance from where the first bolt hit!” he quickly countered with a pointed finger.
“Which proves nothing, Mister Wrong!” Trixie grinned, showing her teeth. “As any pegasus who works with weather can attest, lightning has quite a kick! When Rainbow Trash nailed the victim with the first bolt, the force of the impact and sheer amount of electricity sent him flying!” she theorized, animating the magical image to show a blue-outlined Rainbow Dash flying up to buck the white-framed cloud, which responded with a jagged yellow-hued bolt that struck Ace in the back of the neck and sent him hurtling through the air to land in the dirt patch. “He was thrown nearly thirty feet and landed in the dirt pile he was found in, dead even before he hit the ground! And that, Mister Wrong, is that!”
It was a very compelling demonstration, forcing Twilight to reluctantly admit that the mare magician did put on a very good show. Illusions were Trixie’s forte, Twilight knew, and producing a large, three-dimensional simulation that animated multiple elements took no small amount of skill or practice. Have to give her credit, she’s really improved her abilities a lot since the last time I saw her!
Phoenix’s jaw fell open as he watched the vivid spectacle. “B-but… you don’t have any…” he began to stammer, a trickle of sweat under his collar marking his realization that what she was saying was only too plausible and fit the facts at hand, as her well-designed display illustrated quite clearly.
“Proof? Trixie doesn’t need any proof!” she immediately countered, turning to face The Judge, the scene freeze-framed around her. “Trixie simply asks this court and all listening: what makes more sense? That the victim was somehow slain by a random second lightning bolt that no less than three witnesses neither heard nor saw? That slew him despite his natural pegasus resistance to weather and a lightning-proof racesuit?” she asked plainly.
“Or that he was instead killed by a deliberately aimed first bolt and thrown a short distance from the impact?” she added, repeating the murder simulation as she did so, and Phoenix cringed when he heard sounds of grudging agreement coming from the gallery. “There should be no doubt in anypony’s mind as to the answer!”
The Judge nodded thoughtfully at that, clearly swayed by her logic and the magical display. “I believe… it would be the latter,” he conceded.
“I would also remind the court there were no burn scars indicating lightning touched down around that dirt nap of his!” she went on, making orange flames appear around where the first bolt had hit, the mare magician twisting the knife deeper with every word she spoke. “Even that mangy griffon wouldn’t have been able to hide something like that just by scraping some dirt around! Thus, the evidence is clear: there was no lightning strike at the original location of the body, Your Honor!” she concluded.
“N-no!” Phoenix stammered again, sensing the case impossibly slipping away from him. I can’t lose this! I CAN’T! he reminded himself, groping for a way out, now understanding why Trixie had been so quiet during his interrogation of Gilda—It WAS just a sideshow to her! he ruefully realized. All that time she’d been waiting for it to be over with so she could take control of the case back and win it on her own terms!
“There’s another problem!” he found his voice again, trying to get his head back in the game. “How would Rainbow Dash have been able to aim the bolt at one of the exposed spots on the suit? It was dark, remember?”
“Ha!” the showmare laughed. “Trixie knew you might try going for that one!”
“And it’s your job as prosecutor to explain it!” he reminded her. I am not losing to her! I am NOT!
“As you wish, Mister Wrong!” Trixie said, levitating another piece of scroll paper off her table that contained the latest transcripts. “With the new information Gilda gave us, it becomes quite easy! We now know that Rainbow Trash in fact spoke with the victim for a period of time.”
“That doesn’t answer my question!” Phoenix countered, starting to get annoyed again.
She gave him another of her infuriatingly smug looks. “Did you forget already, Mister Wrong? Rainbow Trash was participating in the Equestrian 500, same as the victim.”
Phoenix blinked at the seemingly nonsensical statement. “So what?”
“So, she has a racing suit of her own! We found it—among a few other things—when we searched her home after the murder!” she noted with a leering grin at Rainbow that caused her to flush in anger and embarrassment. “The point is, there are no cosmetic differences between the male and female designs, other than size! Therefore, Rainbow Trash would know exactly where the exposed areas are judging by where he was standing when she spoke with him!” she reasoned, replaying her simulation again with the added feature of showing the two glowing ponies circling each other and the blue one slowly and subtly backing the orange one into position.
“All she had to do was maneuver him to a pre-marked spot on the ground that was directly under the cloud, then make a minor adjustment to the cloud position as she triggered it based on where she sensed the exposed spot was—an easy enough feat for Ponyville’s longtime weather team captain!”
“She wouldn’t have been able to see any ‘pre-marked spot’, Trixie!” Phoenix immediately pointed out.
“Trixie didn’t say it was a visual mark, Mister Wrong—it could have been a simple pile of leaves or twigs that would crunch underhoof when he stepped on them, letting her know he was in position by sound!” she asserted.
“But there was no evidence of any such thing at the site of the first bolt!” Phoenix tried again, remembering finding nothing but soot there.
“Nor would there be—the leaves and twigs would have been burned up or blown away from the impact site by the sheer force of the strike!” the mare magician immediately retorted. “Any other nitpicks for Trixie to shoot down, Mister Wrong?” She nodded in satisfaction as Phoenix fell silent.
“Once he was in position, it became a simple matter of flying up to trigger the bolt and… BOOM!” she finished with a flourish and close-up illusion of a lightning bolt hitting Ace with a loud CRACK!, sending him flying towards the dirt mound again as Phoenix could only stare slack-jawed, feeling the case slipping away.
With that, her horn glow ceased and the illusion faded. “You see? All your objections, all your investigation, all your effort to extract a confession out of Gilda… and it still made no difference! Game, set, and match, Mister Wrong!” Trixie announced, returning to her stall and sitting back on her haunches with a very triumphant and satisfied smile.
“I… b-but… what-if…” Phoenix struggled for a way out, not immediately seeing one. Her logic was impeccable; her demonstration undeniably compelling. Worse, she seemed to have covered all the bases, letting him have his moment in the sun with Gilda; even letting him think he’d won before she ripped the rug out from under him.
“You’re right!” The Judge exclaimed, his eyes wide. “Ms. Behertz’ confession hasn’t really changed anything! Ms. Trixie’s theory of the lightning bolt’s impact sending him flying that far makes the most sense!”
“Of course it does! Because that’s what happened!” Trixie replied in a proud pose as if it was self-evident. With that, Phoenix realized that she wasn’t just saying it—Trixie really did believe Rainbow had committed the murder, and was all the more driven as a prosecutor for it. “Now, then—no more delays! Trixie requests the correct verdict now, Your Honor!” she demanded with a glare at Phoenix, daring him to try something.
Phoenix’s racing mind finally came up with a counter. Ah! I GOT IT! he thought in relief. This isn’t over yet, Trixie! We’re just back at square one, and back to my original plan! “Wait! I know another suspect!” he announced, remembering the strategy he had shared with Twilight before the trial.
“No! Not this time, Wrong!” Trixie told him angrily. “Trixie is not going to let you blindly accuse again! Trixie has had her fun, but she now wants her victory! So if you please, Your Honor?”
To Phoenix’s horror, The Judge nodded in agreement. “Your accusation of Miss Fluttershy yesterday proved to be fruitless and well off-base, Mister Wright, resulting in an innocent and rather fragile pony spending half an afternoon in jail. The only reason I spared you a contempt citation for it is that you were at least correct that the feather turned out to be significant. Nonetheless, I will not allow you to accuse anyone else without solid evidence, and that means you’re going to have to produce far more than a feather this time!” he warned, his hand tightening on his gavel, ready to bring it down on Phoenix quickly and harshly if he did not.
“But I do have solid evidence!” Phoenix insisted. “Perhaps this court hasn’t heard, but a pegasus named Cruise Control attacked me in the forest yesterday and tried to steal my evidence! Why would he do that if not to cover up his own guilt?” he asked, hearing a sharp intake of breath and rather unfriendly hiss in the gallery behind him.
Was that Lenora? he suddenly wondered, but kept his attention in front of him.
“Cruise Control?” Trixie gave Phoenix a disbelieving look, her mouth falling open for a moment before twisting into a lopsided grin. “He’s your new suspect?”
“Yeah. Is there a problem with that, Trixie?” he challenged her.
“Sorry to disappoint you, Mister Wrong, but there are in fact several!” she informed him, though she didn’t sound sorry to him at all.
“And they are…?”
Trixie’s smile only got broader. “One: so what if he attacked you for your evidence? There were any number of reasons he might have done so, and assuming it was to cover up his involvement in the murder is merely that—an assumption!” she told him easily. “And regardless, he’s been arrested for it and you got all your worthless evidence back. For all the good it did you!”
Phoenix looked at her in disbelief. “Oh, come on! What other reason would he have to—”
“Two: He’s refusing to talk. He hasn’t said a word to anypony, not even his lawyer, since his arrest!” Trixie went on, speaking right over him.
“He spoke to me!” Twilight insisted.
“Says you, Twilight!” Trixie snarled dismissively. “But his trial is tomorrow, and if it makes you feel better, Trixie will personally prosecute him… to make sure your coltfriend’s assailant is punished!” she leered mockingly, causing both Phoenix and Twilight to flush. “In any event, he’s being completely uncooperative and for that reason, he can’t be called to the stand.”
“That isn’t your decision to make!” Phoenix told her, addressing her but appealing to The Judge.
Before he could speak up, Trixie went on. “And three: I can prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that Cruise Control did not commit the murder!”
Phoenix gave her a disbelieving look. “And you can do that—how?” he asked her, increasingly flustered.
She gave him a gleeful grin. “Because, Mister Wrong—he was the anonymous tip Trixie spoke of yesterday!” she announced in a loud voice, causing an undercurrent of surprised noises to float down from the gallery.
“So what? He still could have done it!” Phoenix immediately countered, already aware of that fact from his case review with Twilight before the trial. “He clearly had advanced knowledge of the meeting between my client and the victim, and he had to have gone after my evidence for a reason—covering up his involvement in the murder is the most likely one! He’s a pegasus; he could have flown to the clearing after the police didn’t take his tip seriously and found a way to kill the victim with the second bolt!
“I can also prove he had a severe grudge against Ace Swift! He therefore had both motive and opportunity, and could very easily have been the murderer!” he insisted, relieved to see a thoughtful expression from The Judge and a few nods of agreement from the gallery—offset by the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly standing on end as he heard a low leonine growl and sensed a very angry set of griffon eyes boring into him, glowering from the stands behind him. I don’t know what Lenora’s so mad at me about, but I can’t worry about that now!
Trixie stared at him like he’d gone mad. “Not only is that incredibly illogical and stupid—why would he report a murder he was about to commit?—but it’s impossible as well!” the mare magician informed him. “Sorry to disappoint you, Mister Wrong, but Cruise Control has an airtight alibi!”
“And what’s that?” Phoenix demanded to know.
She waited a beat before answering, closing her eyes and smiling while visibly savoring the moment. “Because, Mister Wrong, between 8:30 and 9:00 PM that night… Cruise Control was at the police station, reporting the crime. He therefore could not have been present to fire the second bolt! Or the first, for that matter.”
“Wh… WHAT?” both Phoenix and Twilight exclaimed in horror.
The former could only watch helplessly as Trixie tore up his trump card. “You heard me, Mister Wrong! Even if Cruise Control left for the forest immediately after departing the station, the victim would have been long dead by the time he arrived!”
“That can’t be!” Phoenix continued to insist, feeling his case crumbling to pieces around him. “You said he reported it before the crime!”
“He did,” Trixie confirmed with a smirk. “But then he stuck around the station until nine o’clock ranting and raving. If you don’t believe me, many of the police on duty that night can testify to this, and if it pleases this court? Trixie would be more than happy to call them as witnesses!”
“But… but Cruise Control had to have done it!” Twilight tried, remembering the five psyche-locks around him. What were they hiding if not his involvement in the murder? she asked herself desperately, cursing fate and Detention Center visiting hours for ending her interrogation of him prematurely and not allowing the five extra minutes she needed.
Trixie gave her rival a smirk. “Care to show some proof? Because Trixie knows for a fact you don’t have a shred of evidence that can place him at the scene of the crime, let alone prove that he could be in two places at once!” she taunted, causing Twilight to fall silent.
“What about the stick?” Phoenix tried again, sensing himself grasping at straws.
She gave him a disdainful look. “What about it, Mister Wrong?”
“How did it get from the crime scene to the stream in the park? Don’t you find that the least bit suspicious?” he asked, picking up a fresh sheet of transcript. “Gilda was the last one on the crime scene, and it was impossible for her to come into Ponyville without being seen by Fluttershy! Are you suggesting it grew legs and walked there?”
“Not this again!” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Fluttershy had a major contradiction in her testimony that you pointed out, Mister Wrong!” she reminded him, somewhat painfully. “For all any of us know, Gilda could have dumped the stick in the stream after moving the body—perhaps she accidentally touched it and was worried it could incriminate her—and Fluttershy missed seeing her just as she missed seeing Apple Bloom.”
“But why would Gilda do that? She already confessed to moving the body! Why would she not confess to moving the stick as well?” Phoenix challenged.
“Who cares? To quote the sole truth spoken by my former witness: it’s just a stupid piece of garbage!” she replied dismissively, mimicking Gilda’s intonations. “The last time Trixie checked, that stick isn’t the murder weapon! You’re still trying to turn garbage into gold, Mister Wrong. But I’m sorry to say, your precious ‘treasure’ is just simple trash!” she pronounced, turning his words back on him.
“But the fact that it was moved means there’s a possibility that someone else was on the crime scene!” he told The Judge as much as her.
Trixie made a tsk-tsking sound that very uncomfortably reminded Phoenix of Franziska von Karma. “You just confirmed with Gilda she was the last one there. She said she didn’t see anypony else, and insisted that her griffon senses would allow her to detect if anypony was there!” she reminded him.
“So first you say she could be lying, and now you insist she’s telling the truth?” Phoenix challenged with a pointed finger.
“So first you insist she’s telling the truth, and now you say she could be lying?” Trixie immediately retaliated with an identical tone and gesture. “First she lied to hurt Rainbow Trash, then after that pathetic display of repentance, she might well have lied to protect her!” the showmare suggested, causing Rainbow’s head to snap up, turning her ire and glare back on Trixie as she snorted and pulled angrily at her restraints again.
“I’m afraid I must agree, Mister Wright.” The Judge nodded reluctantly. “As touching as Ms. Behertz’s confession was, her earlier lies mean nothing she says can be trusted without direct evidence—evidence you clearly do not have,” he pronounced, cutting off Phoenix’s final faint thread of hope. “I am therefore forced to disregard her testimony and order her statements stricken from the court record.” He rapped his gavel to make the ruling official.
Trixie could barely contain her glee. “You heard him, Mister Wrong! It’s over! You have nothing left! Trixie WINS!” she exulted with a magic display of fireworks high above the courtroom pit.
Phoenix felt faint as the mare magician celebrated before a deathly silent gallery. “She’s… she’s right… I… I haven’t got anything,” he admitted out loud, starting to go weak in the knees. “She just keeps refuting all my objections… all my evidence… all my firepower...” he told himself in a dazed tone.
“No, Phoenix! You have to try! You said yourself Rainbow Dash was innocent!” Twilight reminded him, trying desperately to come up with a strategy of her own. Is there NOTHING we can do?
“I know, Twilight. But Trixie’s right—we haven’t got any evidence that links Cruise Control or anyone else to the murder that night,” Phoenix told her, mentally cursing himself for not checking on Cruise’s whereabouts during that time.
“What about the blackmailing? We still have that!” she suggested, flaring her horn to bring out the list of names and letter of resignation he’d found in Ace’s hotel room.
Her heart sank when Phoenix mournfully shook his head, not even looking at the as-yet unused pieces of evidence. “Even if I bring up the blackmailing, it won’t help a thing,” he told her regretfully. “It was only useful as a motive for Cruise. Since he didn’t do it, bringing it up now will only prove Ace was blackmailing Rainbow and give her an even stronger motive for the murder.” And if I even mention blackmail, Sonata will have me arrested on the spot, he knew. Though that wouldn’t have stopped him if he thought there was a chance it would help.
“I… I’m sorry, Twilight,” he apologized with a breaking voice; the knowledge that he had failed his client—that he had failed Twilight—far worse than any insult Trixie could fling his way. “Trixie’s right. It’s over. I couldn’t keep my promise. I couldn’t help your friend. Forgive me…” he begged her, his head and shoulders sagging, unable to look her in the eye. I… I lost… was all he could think of as he fell to his knees and slumped over the rail, head buried in his hands while in the courtroom audience, Applejack, Rarity and Spike all wore stunned and sorrowful expressions, unable to understand how the trial could have turned so sharply and so quickly.
“Order in the court!” The Judge called to silence the conversation from the defense bench and gallery. “I’ve heard enough. It is my judgment that the prosecution has supplied sufficient evidence and arguments to prove her case.”
“Your Honor! Trixie is starting to grow quite weary of Mister Wrong’s futile attempts to prolong the inevitable!” she told The Judge. “So deliver the verdict and convict the defendant! Now!” she demanded imperiously.
Though he flicked her a glance of annoyance, The Judge nodded in agreement. “Yes. I believe the time has come.”
“So how much does it sting, Twilight?” Trixie taunted. “To know you’re about to lose one of your precious friends forever and are completely powerless to stop it?”
For her part, Twilight felt nothing but numbness. But how? HOW? she asked herself over and over. I was so sure of the outcome! We did everything right today; everything possible to prepare… she remembered. All the investigation, all the evidence we found, all of Gilda’s lies and the effort to extract a confession from her… it wasn’t supposed to end like this! It CAN’T end like this! she told herself, tears welling in her eyes. How can this be HAPPENING?
“Oh! I know!” Trixie twisted her horn deeper. “How about you use your ‘fwiendship’ to save Rainbow Trash? That’ll work!” she mocked in baby talk, to angry noises from the gallery. “’Magic of Friendship’? Give me a bucking break!” she snorted. “There’s no magic in it—it’s just a word, nothing more, and it’s completely unnecessary. But you’ll know this all too well when you lose one of your friends in a few seconds!”
Twilight desperately blocked her out, tears now falling freely down her cheeks. “Please, Phoenix! Get up! He’s about to give Rainbow Dash a guilty verdict!” she begged him, reaching up to shake his shoulders, but Phoenix didn’t move from where he was slumped, head still buried forlornly in his hands.
“Well, then. Guess I was right all along—he wasn’t much use in the courtroom!” Trixie mocked, letting the rest of the implied and very ugly insult go unspoken. “But who knows? Maybe you’ll find other uses for him. Oh, and remember what you said about revenge not being the answer, Cry-light? I beg to differ!” Her eyes glittered gleefully. “Payback’s rich, and it’s a—”
“That will do, Ms. Trixie!” The Judge’s voice broke in angrily with a sharp rap of his gavel. “For the record, I do not approve of your personal attacks, or your personal motives in taking this case! In addition to the penalties you suffered, I am fining you two hundred bits for conduct unbecoming an officer of the court! Nevertheless… you have fulfilled your duties as prosecutor, and I will render judgment now,” he announced, drawing himself up straighter in his chair and grasping his gavel firmly. “With the evidence supplied by the prosecution…”
“But… but… I didn’t do it…” Rainbow insisted weakly, looking genuinely fearful for the first time.
“This court finds the defendant…”
“Phoenix, please!” a tearful Twilight tried one last time to rouse him from his stupor, to no avail.
“Rainbow Dash…”
In the gallery, Rarity sobbed openly as Spike tried to comfort her. Applejack removed her Stetson, pulling her two friends into an embrace and holding them tightly, unable to contain her own tears as The Judge said the final, fateful word:
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Now that we're nearing the end of the current content that was originally posted on youtube, how will you continue it? Will you go into hiatus or do you already know how it'll play out?
3114734
I just wanted to know, this is really good, and I have seen the videos, I just didn't know they were the originals, thanks for clarifying!
Ok, thanks!
I think perhaps you should put this on hiatus until Part 5 comes out. Once we know who did it and how it will play out you can continue.
Damn it damn it damn it! GET THE NEXT CHAPTER OUT NOAW!!!
3118648
3118808
Unfortunately, the story will have to go on hiatus after the next chapter, which ends part 4. We don't know how the story ends any more than you do. Speaking for myself, even if I did, I wouldn't dream of preempting the videos.
There *might* be one more bonus chapter to come after the final part 4 chapter, but past that... we're on hold until part 5 is released.
I am kind of bothered by the lightning having "kick". Not entirely sure here, but wouldn't electricity lack the kinetic impact to throw somebody, let alone thirty feet?
DAMNIT! NOW MY FAVORITE PONY HAS TO BURN? HOW DARE YOU?! Wait, lemme guess, there's a catch to this ending. I'll bet Celestia will arrive and refute the verdict due to the fact that Rainbow is one of the Elements of Harmony, therefore she cannot be sentenced to death because then the Elements will be useless, which is not in her best interests due to the Elements being central to Equestria's national security. Without the Elements of Harmony, who's to say Chrysalis won't try to attack again? Or what if Luna becomes NMM again? Both are improbable but still within the realm of possibility. Not to mention a lunar eclipse changing Luna into NMM was seen in the Season 4 storyboard. Solid evidence for the latter emergency scenario. Phoenix better take that evidence into account, and it most certainly is more solid than a simple feather. Trixie, you just got legally pwned by a human being, even if it isn't "Phoenix Wrong(Wright)".
Oh yes I have.
Really.
wWwwhaat?!!!!!!
No!~
Wait.
No!
WHAT?!
3118953 That's not going to happen. If you've seen the videos you would know that they have to get Sonata on the witness stand and Phoneix apparently has to prove that she somehow killed Ace Swift and framed Rainbow Dash. It's just like trying to incriminate Von Karma and and Damon Grant. There's something that proves they did but they believe they'd found a way to ensure it's not brought up.
And you're wrong about the Lunar Eclipse. To my knowledge the clip involving the transformation mentions no such thing. It's plain and simple a flash back.
3119045 STAUP!!!!
SPOILERS!!!
I look forward to pre-reading the next chapter.
3118927 A strong enough jolt of electricity can knock someone back from the source. There are videos out there of people using tazers on themselves (yes, really), and knocking themselves down. It's not hard to imagine that a bolt of lightning could, theoretically, knock someone thirty feet away from the strike zone. Although, given all the evidence in this case, it's pretty clear what actually happened. Stay tuned for the next chapter.
...WHAT?!
No. NO. NONONONO!
Something needs to happen to change the verdict or we might as well kiss Rainbow Dash's flank goodbye! Celestia, help us all!
~ Super-Brony12
WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
3120100>>3119900>>3119009>>3118953
You're right. Someone--or somepony--should really do something about this...
I think Trixie did it, but I haven't read enough to know.
3121008
You can either read the story, or watch the videos the story is based on to find out.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL347AD9B9E509804A
3118927
Lightning can indeed throw people around, as this guy can attest: http://hickory.wbtv.com/news/people/63485-man-struck-lightning-thrown-eight-feet. At close range, lightning can actually have a very strong concussive force from the shock wave in generates in the air. You're right that thirty feet would be a stretch, but this is Equestria, where different rules and physics apply.
3118927
Two factors: concussive force and muscular spams. First, when lightning strikes, it repels all the air out of the way- when he lighting ends, air rushes back into the empty space, and slams into each other, creating a powerful shockwave. This is what causes thunder. Also, if you are nearby, the force of the shockwave can knock you a significant distance away.
Second is that electricity passing through muscles causes them to spasm- this is why people hit with tasers are knocked down, hater muscles spasm and causes then to awkwardly stumble, hop or fall over.
Of course, the problem with this is that a spasm wouldn't throw you 30 feet, and as it's been established, equestrian lightning has no shockwave- thunder is caused by impacting with the ground. So in theory her point could be disproven that way. Problem is, he fact that it 'impacts' with anything at all suggests that unlike earth lightning, equestrian lightning has some sort of innate kinetic force. So we're back at square one.
I didn't like Trixie in the video version, but here...
MY GOD. Her victory speech here just makes me want to go Big Boss CQC on her.
3121828
Thank you for the explanation. I didn't know that lightning could displace air like that.
3123887
The editor thanks you... and thanks Raven again for giving him wide latitude to make changes and additions to the story. As such, you can also credit / blame him for the shipping angle.
You're right, there are places where it feels a little forced and could probably stand some changes. In all honesty, I didn't originally plan on adding it, it just kind of happened and snowballed and might have ended up a little haphazard for it, especially at the start. People seem to take it or leave it, but I'm glad it's not a deal-breaker for you.
Well... I´ll be damned... I haven’t had this kind of Cliffhanger since chapter 5 of Attack on Titan...
Well shit.
I can't wait for part five to come out so you can wright the next chapters!
3132364 I see what you did there...
3119045 There was no indication via the storyboard that it was a flashback. Luna was clearly talking to Twilight, although the only chance we'll get solid evidence is when season 4 comes out this winter/late fall.
3134806 Really? It's not a flashback? Then explain the "One Princess" line, after all if this is taking place in the present day Luna should be aware of Cadence. It's obviously a flashback, you just weren't paying attention to grab the obvious hints. But go ahead and look at the clip again if you don't believe me. See for yourself.
3121008 I don't think Trixie's guilty of the crime. She just took charge of the case because she wanted revenge. Sonata said she was originally going to prosecute the case. it's more likely she's involved somehow.
3136333
Actually I'm sure that Trixie did it. Why? Because she can form a storm cloud and use lightning. Being a unicorn, she can use telekinesis to move a cloud without being seen from a safe distance. Secondly, Trixie is a magician. A professional stage magician and magic user knows the dangers and precautions of their own tricks. Therefore, Trixie was lying when she said she learned about dud bolt from weather managers, because she already should know. She took the case to deflect suspicion from her and get revenge on Twilight.
3136360 But then what sort of motive would she have for killing Ace Swift? And more importantly unless she was wandering around in the Everfree Forest at the time of the crime she should have an aliby that proves she's innocent. All the clues seem to point to Sonata, the only question now is why she killed Ace Swift and how she did it without Rainbow Dash knowing or seeing?
3136381
She'd do it to frame Rainbow Dash, just so she could take the court case. The best revenge is taking away something important and letting your victim live with it.
She was unseen because of telekinesis. She could have easily been hidden in the shadows. From what I've seen, storm spells don't cause the exact same glow normal telekinesis does.
Watch Trixie's spell (sorry, it's Finnish)
3136394 But then how would she be able to teleport herself and Apple Bloom out of the Everfree Forest? After all that blinding flash that wasn't accompined by thunder implies teleportation was involved. And Trixie has not shown to be capable of such a feat. Plus how would she able to cover her tracks, Trixie seems like the type of criminal that would leave obvious clues due to being so cocky.
3136406
Perhaps Trixie can teleport at this point. Plus, alicorn amulet? I'm not a fan of this fic, I'm just stating a possible idea. It's just suspicious that Trixie didn't mention her own storm magic when talking about lightning. As a stage magician, she should know the dangers of her own tricks. As a unicorn learning the spell in the first place, she must have read about it in a book.
Trixie has made lightning before.
She should know the dangers of it.
She never brought it up until now.
Therefore, I think something is fishy about it.
3136424 She's been selective. Plus if she mentioned her own magical talent then the court would likely cast doubt on it unless someone else could verify Trixie's telling the truth. Therefore Trixie needed something that wouldn't seem fishy to incriminate Rainbow Dash, hence the "Dud Bolt" theroy.
3136429
Counterpoint: She could also be deflecting suspicion. Talking to the weather team gives her credibility. If she had mentioned her storm magic, the defense would have jumped on it. She doesn't want to talk about it.
3136434 All the same that doesn't answer the question about what the Pinkie Mark 4(Or 5). If it was important to the crime then why would Trixie leave it behind? If she was truly planning things out she wouldn't do it. Also how could she then secure the paper work to prosecute before Sonata?
3136504
*Shrug*
I'm not trying to solve it. That'd require hours of reading. I just noticed one detail that stuck out, plus the title of the fic in question. To me, it all turns to Trixie. It's just suspicious. Look, if you really want me to, I'll read the entireeeeee fic and try to solve it before the next update.
3136516 Or you could watch the videos this fic is based off of though they are long. And I hope Part 5 comes out before the end of the year. The suspense is killing me.
3136394 Hey voice is much cuter this way~
NO NOT GUILTY
3168238 Actually in the video fluttershy objects and she gives a discription of Sotana and leaves me at the cliff hanger so watch the videos ok
Trixie, I'm about to arrange a meeting between the interior of your esophagus and a live blender.
Do you need this? Seems a lot better than just using a screencap from Turnabout Storm.
i.imgur.com/befyPlV.png
Someone made a skin for osu! using graphics from Phoenix Wright games, and this sprite was used for its section-fail image. Feel free to use it, I don't care.
Oh yeah, and here's the Not Guilty sprite, just in case you need it later.
i.imgur.com/7Rvq8A2.png
*states dryly* Oh, no. It's over? I guess the next 17 chapters are filler. Well, that's it everypony. Game over, man. Game over.
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l44ow76cWv1qatput.gif
Well, it was a pretty weaksauce explanation during the first stage of the trial. Let's hear it, La Blue Mare.
This is a minor nitpick, but the wording as it pertains to U.S. law is "beyond a reasonable doubt." As in, 'we must reach the prescribed bar to warrant declaring a presumed innocent defendant of being guilty'. It's an important distinction to make because no human court can truly claim omniscience in matters of law; there is always the unknown. This does have the weird tendency to be corrupted as "beyond a shadow of a doubt", in television and popular culture. Now any objective analysis of the AA universe would conclude that the world is Japan with some english localization stapled on. The religion, culture, and law of the Japanese people are the foundation of the universe, so the wording of their burden of proof might be different; I really haven't a clue. However, given the AA universe, as presented in the videos, and this adaptation of them, assumes the world they inhabit is America, it's safe to assume the wording would be the same as it is in the U.S., and this is technically incorrect. Not a huge deal, but worth mentioning here.
You really should have asked about the stick earlier, Phoenix...
More menacing than Starlight Justice Warrior by a mile.
Well we lost that one, but we'll lick 'em tomorrow!
7007311
The Franny finger-waggle is nearly as lethal as AJ's eyebrow.
It really was.
Hopefully this fixes it. I did make some changes to the original video dialog here as well.
Yes, but Trixie is just making the point that she can remove any and all doubt regarding Cruise. That there's no 'reasonable doubt' with regards to him, there is ZERO doubt, for the reasons she's about to explain.
And now it's too late, seemingly proven to be irrelevant... sometimes the best laid plans of mares and men go for naught, Phoenix.
And at this point, seemingly less redeemable.
several earlier commenters said that they just about wanted to kill Trixie after reading that sequence... guess I did my work well!
I don't know... with the verdict already in, it would just about take a miracle to save them now. So with the verdict now handed down, however I am going to fill the remaining twenty chapters of this thing?
any body else hoping that twi snaps goes super sayan clears the court room in a sing leap and snaps trixies neck spits on her and says ''Hows that for the magic of friendship..... bitch" cause i would pay to freaking see that
WARP TAKE YOU TRIXIE, YOU NO GOOD EXCUSE OF A...
We seem to be experiencing technical difficulties... Sorry about that folks!
Additional word is additional.
9167388
This typo is fixed and brought to you by the Department of Redundancies Department.
Not saying much because it's based on the silly video game, but any sane judge forgets that the jurys exist in the courtrooms.