Part 50 - The Above-Average Apprentice
Ponyville District Court
Courtroom No. 2
Gallery
June 11th, 1:08 PM
The tension in the gallery was palpable as the trial—or what The Judge had termed the “post-verdict inquiry”—dragged on.
Through interrogation and demonstration, through yet another last-second reprieve thanks to Trixie(!) and through a virtuoso display of deduction by Phoenix, the foursome of Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike were slowly coming to understand the meaning of the phrase “the suspense is killing me,” not sure how much more of it they could take. For her part, Rarity reflected that the courtroom dramas she’d enjoyed reading in the past had nothing on the battle of wits and will she was seeing before her; convinced that watching the trial through so many highs and lows, close calls and last-second saves had aged her five years.
Still recovering from Trixie’s magical mischief, the group had only barely relaxed as Sonata was finally proven to be in the forest and admitted to the blackmail scheme. “Reckon we’re only halfway there,” Applejack observed, wondering aloud what Phoenix and Twilight would do next.
They got an answer quickly when a surprised Spike burped fire not once, but twice. The scribe and his friends first thought the Princess was trying to contact Twilight, but the assumption was quickly dispelled as they saw the hastily-scrawled on piece of scroll paper and accompanying photograph of what appeared to be the interior page of a book. With that, the foursome realized it had come from Twilight herself, and the three mares gathered around Spike to read it along with him:
“Oh my,” was all Fluttershy could say as she finished reading. “This sounds important!”
“Indeed it does,” Rarity agreed. “If Mister Wright is correct, this could be the missing link that ties Sonata to the murder!”
“Well, y’all heard Twi! We gotta get Spike back to the library so he can get that book! Ah don’t suppose you can teleport, Rarity?” Applejack suggested in a low voice while the back-and-forth continued in the courtroom pit below.
“I regret I cannot.” The bleary-eyed fashionista shook her head, suddenly ruing the fact she hadn’t taken up Twilight on her longstanding offer to teach her and resolving to finally do so at the first opportunity. “But even if I could—you saw Twilight’s demonstration. Spike could be stranded there because I might not have enough power for a round trip!”
“Okay, then. Fluttershy?” Applejack tried next. “You can get there and back quick by air, can’t you?”
“Oh! Well, um, sure,” she began, only to shake her head. “But I’m not used to carrying anything heavier than a bunny. I don’t think I could go very fast carrying Spike,” she said apologetically. “And I don’t like going fast anyway,” she added in a tinnier voice, her head retreating behind her bangs for a moment.
“It’s alright, dear. You should go, Applejack! You’re the fastest of all of us, and carrying Spiky-Wikey will slow you down the least!” Rarity noted. “Go! Fluttershy and I will remain here to provide moral support!”
Applejack nodded and got out of her seat. “Alrighty then. Let’s do this!” She crouched down to let Spike climb on her back, waiting until he was set before rearing up and pinwheeling her front legs. “Time’s a-wasting, Spike! Now hold on tight!” she warned him just before leaping three rows of seats like they were hay bales at the Equestria Rodeo competition, causing the ponies sitting in them to duck.
It was all Spike could do to hold on as she erupted into a full gallop as soon as she hit the floor again, her hooves sliding along the tiled floor until they were at the exit. They burst out of the courtroom doors at all the country mare’s considerable speed and power, charging past startled security guards, down the stairs and out of the courthouse.
“Applejack? Slow down!” Spike pleaded as the plaza and other ponies passed by at terrifying speed.
“No can do, part’ner!” Applejack only picked up the pace more as her hooves met dirt and she sped up even further, the earth pony instinctively and unknowingly tapping into the earth itself for additional power. “We gotta get that book!” she proclaimed as she leapt the plaza fountain and then cut through the construction site by town hall, ponies in hard hats hurriedly leaping or flying out of her way. Spike got a brief glimpse of a gray unicorn stallion with dark glasses, red-and-blue mane and saddlebags full of blueprints just before they got thrown into the air by the sheer force of Applejack’s passing.
“Sorry!” she called back, but didn’t stop.
This is not going to END WELL!!! was all Spike could think as Applejack darted over and through various obstructions like she was on the obstacle course at the Iron Pony competition again, not slowing down as she approached the scaffolding the crew was using to build the race grandstands, making no effort to avoid or go around it.
“I can’t look!” Spike panicked as she charged ahead and lowered her head in preparation for a single, powerful leap, her jump somehow finding the seams in the structure just as a log on a crane swung by.
“Yee-HAW!!!” an exhilarated Applejack called out as the wooden support beam only barely missed them, while Spike’s reaction was to nearly die of fright, certain he was about to lose his breakfast if not his life as he clung desperately to her mane and neck.
Then abruptly, about thirty seconds later, they stopped as Applejack went skidding to a halt in a cloud of dust. “Spike? We’re here. You can open yer eyes now,” she said with a note of amusement, letting him slide off her back onto the front stoop of the library.
He landed hard on his butt, resisting the temptation to kiss the ground after his ordeal. I will never EVER complain about Twilight going too slow when I ride on her back AGAIN! he promised himself as he went for his key to open the front door, only to realize—“Oh no! I left my key in my pouch back at the courthouse!” His shoulders slumped, terrified that meant he would have to make the trip on Applejack’s back twice more.
“Then stand back!” Applejack ordered, facing away from the door and taking a pose like she was about to buck apples off a tree.
“AJ, what good is apple bucking going to—” Spike got his answer as the country mare’s hind hooves connected with the door at full power, knocking it right off its hinges and blasting it clean out of its frame. It landed halfway across the library hall, badly splintered as it settled on the living room rug.
“After you, Spike,” Applejack invited, motioning him in with a hoof.
“Uh… thanks,” the baby dragon said with a paw behind his head, wearing a sheepish look and hoping Twilight wouldn’t take too much out of his allowance for the door repairs. “Now let’s find that book! Wait here, AJ—this should only take a minute!” he promised, heading upstairs to a secondary library room while Applejack waited at the doorway below.
But one minute quickly turned into three and there was still no book or scribe. “Spike? What’s going on up there?” Applejack called after him, hearing an increasing racket coming from the room, deciding to go up and check on him after he didn’t respond.
When she entered, he found him tossing books off the shelves with increasing franticness. “No, no! NO! Where is it where is it WHERE IS IT?” he asked in frustration, running from shelf to shelf and section to section, half the room’s books now strewn haphazardly about the floor. “It’s not where it’s supposed to be! I forgot Twilight reorganized the books again!” he said, punctuating his statement by throwing a pile of them up into the air.
Dangnabit, Twilight, why’d you have to do that NOW of all weeks? “Well, how’d she order them this time?” Applejack asked impatiently. She’d been involved in a couple of Twilight’s grand book rearrangements, and had come to dread them nearly as much as her lectures.
“Uh… she said it was by subject, color, and number of words,” the baby dragon recalled. “But would subject mean magic, or spell, or enchantment…?” he wondered aloud, rubbing his hand behind his head. “Gah! Why can’t she just use the Donkey Decimal System like any other library?”
“Color and number o’ words?” Applejack wanted to facehoof. “Reckon ah really don’t know what goes through that filly’s head sometimes. So what are we looking fer now?” she asked, starting to pick through the books herself.
Spike blinked at that. “Uh… it’s a big cerulean-colored tome written in ancient unicorn runics…”
Applejack gave him a look. “Okay. Now in Equish, please?”
“It’s a big blue book with funny symbols on it!” he clarified in exasperation, rubbing his hand behind his scaled head. “And if it’s not here, it’d probably be in—oh, that’s right!” His eyes lit up. “She was trying to make it easier for readers to find stuff by talent or pony type. So she’d file it on the first level, under S for specific interest, then U for Unicorn!” he reasoned, sliding down the stair rail and then hurrying to the other side of the main room, examining a new series of shelves.
“Right. Makes perfect sense,” Applejack deadpanned. That filly can run a Winter Wrap Up like nopony’s business, but remind me NEVER to let her organize mah scrapbook or family reunions!she thought as she trotted behind him, watching as the scribe found a large section marked in Twilight’s hornwriting with a large cursive “S”, then searched the individual shelf blocks until he found “Su” in smaller script.
“Okay, so… it should be here! Next is color. It’s blue, and she went in reverse rainbow order this time! So red, orange, yellow, green…” he ticked off the shelves from bottom to top, finally pointing to the fifth one up from the floor, which contained a long row of blue books, leaving Spike at least grateful Twilight had scrapped her previous color-based scheme, which involved alphabetizing them by book color name—it’d been endlessly frustrating to him trying to find or file a book on the basis of whether the cover hue was more teal than turquoise. “Then number of words, so it’d be in the middle rack somewhere. Let me get the stepladder!” he headed over to the rail-mounted ladder a few shelves over.
“That ain’t a stepladder, Spike. It’s a ladder,” Applejack automatically corrected him—she’d gotten an hourlong lecture from Twilight the one time she’d called it by the wrong name. “And ferget it. Ah got it.” She stood up on her hind legs and swept all the books from the fifth shelf's middle rack onto the floor with her hoof, where they fell with a loud clatter.
“Well, that works too,” Spike admitted, hurrying back over while hoping Twilight didn’t also berate him for messing up her new book ordering scheme on top of destroying the front door and making a big mess in the upstairs room. “Now, where is it...?” he wondered, digging into the pile and immediately throwing aside any book that didn’t have unicorn hieroglyphs on the cover. “Maybe this one? Or this one?” He looked between two very similar books in his reptilian hands, and three more lying at his feet. “Agh! I don’t know which one it is!”
“Whaddaya mean you don’t know?” Applejack asked incredulously. “Just check the title!”
“I mean, I don’t read this language! Only Twilight does!” Spike explained. “I mean, I knew exactly where the book was before, but she only reorganized last week and I haven’t yet memorized where everything is now!”
Applejack couldn’t believe it. “Well, is there any other pony who does read it? ‘Cause we can’t bring all these books back to Twilight!”
“Um…” Spike visibly wracked his mind. “Nopony I can think of who we could immediately find! Everypony’s either at the trial or at work, and I don’t have direct lines to any of them like I do to Twilight!”
“Then contact her and tell her to teleport her filly flank back here!” Applejack ordered, wondering why it was always herself who had to be the sensible one and keep a cool head in a crisis.
To her frustration, Spike shot that idea down immediately. “She can’t teleport out with the magic dampening field up! She’d have to leave the courthouse first! And even then, I don’t think she’d be willing to leave Phoenix alone again after that stunt Trixie pulled!”
“Point taken,” Applejack grimaced. Twi’s dangerous enough when you mess with her friends; ain’t no tellin’ WHAT she’d do if you messed with her stallion! She shivered, knowing how lucky Trixie had been that Twilight didn’t retaliate on the spot. Tartarus ain’t got no fury! “Then send a message to the Princess! She’ll help!”
“She's at a diplomatic meeting in Germaneigh and might not be available!” Spike shook his head, sitting back and clutching his head before looking up suddenly, an inkling of an idea on his face. “Oh! Wait! Maybe there is somepony!” he abruptly remembered, hurriedly writing out a note on a piece of scroll and then igniting it in his breath. “I’ve got a direct line to her alchemy shop for Twilight’s lab experiments. Just hope she’s there!” he prayed out loud as the note vanished and his green flames were extinguished. “It’ll only take her a couple minutes to fly here if she is!”
“Spike, we don’t have time to—” Applejack started, but was cut off by a bright flash of light and popping sound overhead. She and Spike looked up in time to see two ponies materialize several feet above the center of the room, one tumbling awkwardly to the ground while the other barely caught herself with her flared wings, floating the last few inches to the floor.
“Five feet up? Really?” the latter, a blue pegasus mare with a two-tone mane of lighter and darker hues asked the former, an indigo-furred unicorn stallion with brown eyes and a fiery orange and yellow mane.
“B-best I could do…” the unicorn stallion replied in a shaky voice, visibly struggling to stay on his hooves. “It w-worked, didn’t it?”
“Chrome? Firesight?” Spike stared at them in disbelief, while Applejack was less restrained.
“Firesight, you crazy colt! You just had surgery! You shouldn’t even be out of bed, let alone teleporting!” she stomped her hoof, cracking the floor in exasperation and resisting the temptation to smack him with her stetson. Am I the ONLY pony with a lick o’ sense anymore?
“G-Good to see you too, AJ,” the fire-maned, indigo-furred unicorn replied with a shaky voice through gritted teeth, glowing wires visible inside his noticeably swollen mouth. “N-now if you’ll excuse me, I th-think I’m going to… p-pass out,” he announced just before he fell forward, barely caught by Applejack before he hit the floor face-first.
While she carefully gathered up the stallion’s limp form and carried him over to the nearest couch, Spike found himself alone with the owner of the Bannered Mare Inn and Alchemy Store, who was staring at him angrily over flared wings.
“Okay. You said it was an emergency, so we came immediately even though Firesight isn’t supposed to be using magic right now. He might have just hurt himself or set his recovery back! So what is it?” the pegasus alchemist and innkeeper demanded in an annoyed tone as she dropped the sent message at the scribe’s feet, the look on her face telling him to make his explanation a good one.
“Well…” Spike took a deep breath and began speaking so quickly Applejack thought he was channeling Pinkie Pie.
“It’s-a-long-story-but-the-short-of-it-is-that-Rainbow-was-found-guilty-but-then-Fluttershy-stopped-them-and-said-she-saw-this-strange-mare-with-a-golf-club-who-turned-out-to-be-a-unicorn-named-Sonata-and-she’s-on-the-stand-now-and-was-probably-in-the-woods-that-night-and-unless-we-can-convince-the-judge-she-may-have-done-it-Rainbow’s-about-to-be-banished-and-if-that-happens-because-I-couldn’t-find-this-book-I’ll-never-forgive-myself-and-”
“Whoa! Back up!” Chrome cut him off, holding up a hoof to stop him while she tried to catch up to all his words, her head lowered and eyes closed while she processed them. “You said ‘Sonata’ was on the stand? You mean Sonata Tarot? Grey unicorn mare? Eye cutie mark?”
“Yeah. You know her?” Applejack prompted, rejoining the pair.
“I attended magic school in Neigh Orleans with her.” Chrome nodded slowly. “She was a year behind me. Canterlot mare and a bit of a recluse. Good-looking and really smart, but kind of odd and kept mostly to herself outside of working on the school paper.” Sure, she was aloof and something of a loner, but I can’t see her as a murderer!
“Huh? So what was a pegasus like you doing at a unicorn magic school?” Applejack wanted to know.
“Studying alchemy. It shares roots with unicorn magic and uses the same runic language,” Chrome replied, an impatient note in her voice. “Now enough! I don’t like leaving the Inn during my alchemy shop’s business hours, especially with so many strangers in town for the race! So what’s the emergency? What do you want me to do?”
“We need to find this book!” Spike thrust Twilight’s note at her.
Chrome scanned it quickly, arching an eyeridge in response. “Not sure I get it, but fine,” she said, looking at the pile of blue books on the floor and quickly picking one out. “It’s this one.” She tapped one of the tomes on the ground with a hoof, dragging it out of the pile. “Advanced Incantations, Enchantments, and Alchemy for the Above-Average Apprentice. I’ve got my own copy for the alchemy sections.”
“Great! Thanks, Chrome! Let me get this back to Twilight now!” he said, making ready to hop back on Applejack’s back. “I’ll tell her you helped!”
“Wait.” Chrome stopped them with an upraised hoof. “If time is important and Rainbow’s fate is on the line, I’ll do you one better. Give it to me, and I’ll find that page for Twilight!”
“Nice of you to offer, but can’t you just dragonfire the book back to Twi, Spike?” Applejack asked.
“Not something that big over that distance. And not with the magical suppression field up in the courtroom; it’d just bounce back!” Spike knew, shaking his head. “I could maybe try it from inside the courthouse, but that’s about it.”
“Then I’ll fly it there,” Chrome offered. “I can have it there in under a minute—as soon as I find the spell, that is.”
Spike glanced at Applejack, who considered the offer and nodded. “Deal! Do it!” he invited, putting the book back down and stepping out of her light.
“Okay, let’s see…” Chrome knelt in front of the tome, opening it as she began to think out loud, holding the photograph in a hoof while she manipulated the pages with her wings. “Page header of this photograph says it’s in the sixth section, which is…” she trailed off as she located the table of contents. “Defensive magic and enchantments, page 394. Okay.”
She flipped the book forward with her wingtips, dexterously turning each page until she arrived at the start of the section. “Still, that’s nearly ninety pages to search! Wish whatever pony took this picture got the bottom of the page as well as the top. Would have been nice to see a page number!” she noted in some annoyance, beginning to flip individual pages forward, looking back and forth between the picture of the page and what was in the book. She did that for five pages before she shook her head in exasperation.
“Dammit, it’ll take too long this way! A snippet of page isn’t enough! We need some way to narrow this down or we could be here for half an hour!” she realized, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “Any idea what kind of spell we should be looking for?”
“Well, if it helps, Ace was done in by lightning, or so Trixie says. He was electrocuted,” Applejack added, proud that she didn’t stumble over the pronunciation of the previously unfamiliar word.
“Electrocuted? Wait…” Chrome blinked, turning back to the table of contents. She began scanning the list of spells in the section, moving her hoof down the page as she read.
Abruptly, her hoof stilled about two-thirds of the way down the list. “Maybe this one?” she wondered aloud as she turned to a specific page and held the page photograph against it; both Applejack and Spike didn’t have to read the text to see that it matched what was in the picture.
“That’s IT!” Chrome said, excited. “I’ve got it! Spike, give me your quill,” she requested, and the scribe swiftly passed it over. She took the feather pen in her muzzle and scrawled her own note on the scroll after Twilight’s message, inserted one end of it into the tome as a bookmark, and then flared her wings. “Hop on, Spike! And hold on to that book! Sorry, Applejack, but I can’t take you both,” she added apologetically.
“No problem! Ah’ll be right behind ya!” Applejack promised.
“Deal! And Firesight?” Chrome called back over to the couch. The unicorn stallion managed only a muffled groan in response. “Just rest. I’ll come back for you when I can, okay?”
“That’s fine,” he replied in a tired voice, giving her a weak wave. “Don’t think I’m going anywhere for a while. I’m just gonna nap now if that’s okay,” he managed to get out before his head lolled to the side, starting to snore softly.
“Okay, let’s go!” Spike said as he climbed on Chrome’s back, silently grateful he wasn’t riding Applejack again. At least this should be a more gentle ride, right?
“Careful of my wings, Spike. Hold on to my mane and neck, not my shoulders,” she admonished him, waiting for him to set himself. “Now off we go!” she announced, rocketing out of the library and beating her wings hard as Spike struggled to hold on to both the book and her mane at the same time.
Ponyville Courthouse
Courtroom No. 2
Security Checkpoint
June 11th, 1:21 PM
As she promised, it took the pegasus alchemist and innkeeper less than a minute to make the trip, even with Spike clinging to her, Applejack pounding pavement below her and not far behind.
The baby dragon quickly realized he’d miscalculated again as the return trip proved even more harrowing than the one there; Chrome swooping and banking to avoid buildings and other ponies in her zeal to take as direct and quick a flight path as possible. The scribe squeezed his eyes tight shut and whimpered softly as his stomach lurched with each sharp move she made, praying he didn’t fall off or drop the book.
He felt them go into a sudden descent and opened his eyes briefly only to wish he hadn’t, realizing that Chrome was diving for the open second-floor window of the courthouse lobby, her wings tucked in, making the air whistle by.
She shot through the opening and then flared her wings to brake herself, gliding to a stop at the base of the stairs leading to the courtroom galleries. When she had finally landed, Spike hopped off, stumbling slightly and wondering if he was about to lose not only his breakfast but his uneaten lunch.
What is this, make-Spike-sick-to-his-stomach-day? he couldn’t help but wonder as she touched down.
Eternally grateful to be on the ground again, he took a deep breath, trying to will his shaky legs to steady themselves. “Thanks, Chrome! I’ll take it from here!”
“You’re welcome,” she replied, turning to leave. “Give Twilight my regards!”
“Will do!” he promised as he rushed up the stairs to the courtroom. Almost there! he thought in accomplishment, only to be halted at the courtroom doors by a security guard.
“You can’t bring that in,” the uniformed unicorn bailiff told him with a nod to the heavy tome. “No magical items or artifacts allowed.”
Spike stared at him in disbelief. “It’s not an artifact, it’s just a book!”
“It’s clearly a spellbook and could have magical properties. I’m not going to repeat myself. It can’t go in!” he was informed.
“But I have to take it to Twilight!” Spike pleaded, still clutching the book and making shuffling motions with his feet like he wanted to run. “Twilight Sparkle! She’s the defense co-counsel and she requested I retrieve this!” he clarified upon realizing the guard was from out of town and didn’t know who he or Twilight was.
To his frustration, the bailiff was unmoved. “I don’t care who—”
“Now what’s the hold up?” Applejack arrived, barely winded even after two hard sprints, a hard hat somehow sitting on top of her Stetson.
“He won’t let me through!” Spike motioned to the unicorn stallion in front of him.
“And why not?” She gave him a cockeyed glance, tossing the hard hat aside. “This is evidence fer the trial!”
“So you say,” he countered, drawing himself up to his maximum height and trying to appear intimidating. “I’m not going to let you smuggle in contraband.”
With effort, Applejack held her temper in check, thinking she should send in Big Macintosh just to show the overbearing security stallion what intimidating really meant. “Look, partner, we don’t have time fer this! Just scan it and let us pass!”
He did so with an air of somepony who didn’t appreciate mere mortals telling him what to do. “There’s magical traces on it,” he sniffed. “That means you can’t take it in.”
Spike stared at him in disbelief. “Of course there are magical traces on it! Probably a hundred different unicorns have held it in their aura or tried spells out of it!”
“Okay. This ain’t about the book; yer just looking fer an excuse to be difficult!” Applejack accused as she stepped forward. “So mah next question is why? Are you a stickler for rules? Or do you just like throwing yer weight around?” she asked him like she was talking down to a recalcitrant colt.
“Me, Ah’m guessing it’s the latter. So Ah can’t help but wonder—is it ’cause yer apples are too small or ’cause yer helmet’s screwed too tight on yer swelled head?” she challenged the larger stallion, going nose to nose with him.
Narrowed eyes told her the insult had registered. “If you don’t leave immediately, I’ll have no choice but to detain you, ma’am,” he warned her, igniting his horn for emphasis.
Applejack didn’t back off an inch, tipping her hat so she could stealthily slip her lasso out of her Stetson. “We’re trying to save our friend. And that means we’re taking that book in… whether you want us to or not!”
Spike realized two things at that moment—that Applejack was about to do something extremely rash, and the resulting fracas might get them both detained and prevent him from delivering the book. He bit his lip as he looked down at the heavy tome in his reptilian paws, knowing he was going to sorely regret his next move. I have to get this to Twilight, and it’s the only way! he realized, steeling himself for something he knew was going to be very painful and unpleasant.
The baby dragon took as deep a breath as he could, held it for just a moment to heat it, and then exhaled, breathing massive amounts of green fire onto the book in his paws, trying to send the tome itself as a message to Twilight, hoping the distance was short enough to allow it—and that his dragonfire was strong enough to punch through the magical suppression field for her to receive it.
His actions did not go unnoticed. “Hey! What are you—” The guard tried to push past Applejack to stop Spike, but suddenly found himself on his back, hogtied and looking up in a daze at the ceiling lights.
“Do it, Spike!” Applejack told him while she held the shocked sentry down, pulling on the rope with her teeth to keep the bonds tight and the unicorn bailiff unable to focus enough to use his magic. Spike didn’t look up or acknowledge her, trying to concentrate on his task—sending a message or item via dragonfire had to be done in one breath; with something so big he prayed his lungs wouldn’t give out before the job was done.
Just when he thought he couldn’t exhale any more, the book disappeared out of his grasp in a puff of green smoke and dissipating flames. Exhausted, he collapsed to the floor, spent and gasping for air, only dimly aware of the approach of many hoofclops as other guards heard the commotion and came running. “What the buck’s going on here?” a strangely familiar voice demanded to know. “Whoa! Is that you, Spike?”
Spike stared up into the familiar face as the room spun around him, wondering if he was delirious or suffering from flame deprivation.
“Sh-Shining Armor?”
In the courtroom, Twilight’s horn activated involuntarily and, to her great surprise, an entire book materialized out of Spike’s dragonfire. It fell with a loud THUMP! onto the bench in front of her, stopping Phoenix’s ongoing interrogation of Sonata mid-sentence as everypony’s attention turned to Twilight.
“Mister Wright? What is—?” The Judge began to ask but Phoenix cut him off.
“A moment, Your Honor!” Phoenix pleaded, mentally begging Twilight to hurry as she quickly examined the book.
Twilight didn’t know why Spike had sent it to her that way—it must have taken up most of his dragonfire to do so, she reflected—and she was further surprised to see the tome had been bookmarked by the same piece of scroll paper she’d wrote her original instructions to Spike on. She opened it to the bookmarked page and scanned the appended message, passing it to Phoenix and making a mental note to thank Chrome personally as she studied the spell in question.
Twilight gave an audible gasp as she identified the incantation. Spike, you’re dining on gemstones tonight! she promised her scribe as she turned to Phoenix and gave him a very wide and triumphant grin.
He grinned back, taking her smile for the invitation it was. “Your Honor! New evidence has just been brought to the defense’s attention…”
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What an adventure for both Applejack and Spike. And that reveal with Shining Armor. Intresting, makes me wonder if perhaps he'd be included if there was ever a sequel. (Probably not since the original took so long to make, but you never know.)
Yay
Congrats on the surgery friend, and also making this story last past 50 chapters.
Damn it, I wish I'd come up with this... oh well. Adding this to the read later list.
3735796
I think Kipaji mentioned having an interest in making a sequel.
This is actually on youtube! watch pt 1 here
Sooo.... She turned to page three hundred and ninety-four? Snape would be proud.
Wonderful chapter. I liked seeing Spike and Applejack get a bigger part in the story that the vid never gave. I can't wait to see the rest of the trial goes through this story's version.
Another fun chapter! Glad to see you're on the mend!!
3736105 we know, this fic is a recreation of that
this pleases me
3736105 I'm watching part 5 on my phone right now.
3735796 The author of the original said she wasn't making a sequel. Hasn't stopped people from making their own sequels.
So, only unicorns can cast spells, but alchemy is free access.
3737894
Well, all alchemy is mixing magical ingredients in a proper manner, it requires no innate magical talent, just knowledge. In series, we've seen Zecora and the CMC do it.
View all
YO! DJ Sparro here to say: Conglaturations! No wait... Congratulations! Happy 50th Chapter! I enjoyed the OC's being put in! Did you actually have jaw surgery in real life Kipaji?
3740470
Thank you! And yes, I did. Some picture proof:
Here's me one month after surgery, holding the photo of me from before/what the surgeon thought I'd look like after (left and right halves of the picture):
scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q81/s720x720/1006286_553930387982255_1337699083_n.jpg
Here's the before and after x-rays:
Before surgery:
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Note the constricted airway. That's what gave me sleep apnea and made me dependent on a breathing machine for sleep.
One month after surgery:
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Note the widened airway and metal plates in my upper and lower jaw. No more machine and no help needed to sleep now!
Excellent new chapter! Glad that Applejack and Spike got an important role in the whole grand scheme of things.
And sorry to hear that you had to have surgery. I can kind of sympathize with you because while I have not had surgery on my jaw to fix a sleep apnea problem, I did have to have two wisdom teeth removed and all I could eat for over a couple of weeks was liquid and mushy food. It sucked.
It's good to hear from you guys again, can't wait for the next chapter, and a Happy New Year to you guys as well!
~ Super-Brony12
3741123 Well I am glad that it worked out for ya! Just remember not to teleport for a while!
3737821 Which kinda makes several contradictions and missing plot lines buuut, what ever works... hey, as long as there's no bad things in it, what could happen?
3738681 Chrome, (As seen in my tumblr RP's) Is an Alchemist. But in Skyrim (Which also was once my RP locaton is An Equinox, A breed of anthro-horses.) She's a Dragon Born... She was a DB in the first place, but due to some back story, she was banished and ended up in Equestria as a pony... traveled and learned Alchemy, (I based Alchemy in Full Metal Alchemist)... basically, She's a Hybrid and a Rare kind of Pegasi.
3735796 3736221 3741915
Glad you guys liked it! Honestly, was a little worried how well it would be received due to the OCs. Depending on how well they're handled, self-inserts like that can be considered a little gratuitous or egotistical.
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Thank you thank you!
3736139
Glad to see someone caught the reference.
3739767
Fixed.
3742625
No teleports, little telekenesis, nothing to eat except pureed hay and carrot juice... what's a unicorn to do????
It was the eating restrictions that really got to me. Those lasted 14 weeks and basically limited me to things that came from a blender. I lost 30 lbs over that time. Needed to lose some weight, but that was a little much...
3735999
Leo Archon and I are discussing collaborating on a sequel. We'll make an announcement when the time comes.
Wow, just finished reading the enitre story, and I can say that the expanded scenes and character interactions make this my preferred version between this and the videos. You really added depth to how Pheonix interacts with each of the other characters, and its the scenes that were added (Rarity, Applejack, and Spike preventing Sonata from fleeing, Pheonix's morning routine, and this chapter in particular) that really make this version stand above the original, all that is really missing in the awesome soundtrack that the movies included.
PS: the clear answer to Pheonix's situation is to remain in Equestria and form a heard with Twilight and Rarity. (I would read the hell out of a follow up story about that =P)
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Considering the high quality of the videos, that is very high compliment, thank you. :)
There *is* going to be a follow-up story, written by me. That's all I'll say on the subject for now.
Ladder/Stepladder joke.
I love you.
3742889 I'm firmly behind there wasn't any contradictions or missing plot lines. If you're talking about the black lock Trixie thing, I thought it was pretty obvious what it was with out shoving it in or face. Let's not forget, Kristoph's black locks were never unlocked either, but we all knew what he was hiding just through context.
3819683 Good point.. whelp, I rest my case...
3819683
I think she was referring to the danger of multiple independent sequels being written at once and contradicting each other?
3845454
Oh that makes sense though. I haven't really seen any fan sequels so far. There is one really good spiritual successor on FIMFiction called:
Twilight Sparkle, Ace Attorney: The Royal Turnabout
I've been following it for awhile and it's really good.
3823265
Don't remember where we got it. Just found the objection/hold it/take that graphics online somewhere and pulled them. Not sure we need the transparent sprites, but thanks for pointing them out.
And yes, you are correct--Phoenix Wright is based on the Japanese justice system, not the American one.
3872722 BOOYAH!!
3872722
The cast of CSI:Miami and I have a... Complicated relationship. It's best if I don't reference them for a while. I don't think they've forgiven me for the crayon incident quite yet.
Shining Armor? WHAT A TWIST!
Also, I have no problem with self inserts as long as it's done well, and here it was done well, they played a role, but it didn't overshadow the main plot, they have actual personalities and don't feel forced. Have a cookie. Also, I just noticed, you can't upvote or downvote your own comment. Weird, one would think i've have noticed this before, oh well.
Applejack kicks down a door! Yeah, baby!
They discovered the Killing Joke in the Everfree and are being killed with irony?
Hell yeah! I imagine little sparks of magic coming up from her hooves when they first make contact with the dirt.
And then Applejack was a badass!
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Fanciness? Learning!? These are qualities AJ does not need to be BUCKING AWESOME!!!
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Fimfiction, Y U No use Donkey Decimal System!?
Knowledge is not power. THIS IS POWER!!!
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Way to take one for the team, Firesight!
You're making AJ angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry...
Unicorn Master Race my aching flank!
And AJ has another trophy to add to the wall! I love this chapter so much! This is by far my favorite. Not necessarily for any of the individual scenes, my favorite scene comes in chapter 59, but this much AJ being awesome wasn't known until this came along. At least we got Somepony to Watch Over Me in the canon. Bless you, chapter 50!
7013937
Mostly, I just wanted to give Spike and AJ a real role in this, like I said in the author's notes. Well, that and the self-inserts...
Seriously, though, it came out quite well. Was meant to be kind of a 50th-chapter bonus feature, a reward for writers and readers alike.
Actually, The Killing Joke is coming soon... WB's got guts turning it into an animated movie given how it's one of the darkest storylines in the history of Batman.
Or leaving trails of fire in her wake?
"When this AJ hits 88mph, you're gonna see some serious shit..."
AJ as Supermare... now THAT would be a superhero movie I'd pay to watch!
Thanks, but I don't wish what I went through on anyone...
So first she's Supermare, and now she's the Hulk?
Hey, I'm going for force balance here!
Or I certainly am in Rise of Firefly, anyway...
Thanks!!!!
AJ being badass was somewhat incidental to the chapter, but to me it's a good little chapter that turned out quite well for what it was.
Well if the dream episode was anything to go by you can send stuff to Luna too.
10679739
True, but as this takes place not long after season 1, I'm saying Luna is still settling in right now and learning about the new era.