• Member Since 28th Sep, 2012
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Firesight


I'm an IT Brony who writes stories based on a show for 8-year old girls whose content is meant for anything but 8-year old girls.

More Blog Posts678

  • 6 days
    C&C update and teaser

    The new chapter is closing on 11k words, and it might well be up over 15k when all is said and done. Too far past that, and I’ll have to think about breaking it up again. I’ve gotten close to finishing the first and last (fourth) sections, with the second section at 70% done and the third, about 30%. But the third is in some ways the most crucial, given that’s where you’re going to learn what’s

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    4 comments · 132 views
  • 2 weeks
    Signal boost for AJA's update to Equestria Mystery Dungeon

    Still stuck at home for at least one more week for his long convalescence from surgery, AJ_Aficionado updated his M-rated crossover fiction Equestria Mystery Dungeon for the first time in two years:

    [Adult story embed hidden]

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    1 comments · 59 views
  • 2 weeks
    Just another manic Monday...

    Wish it were Sunday. That’s my fun day.

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    2 comments · 148 views
  • 3 weeks
    As a thank-you to Feathered Hearts readers...

    For all the love and support I’ve gotten the last couple weeks over my blog posts on the story, I’ve decided it’s only fair to reward everyone with a new C&C chapter, which I will be starting this week. It will be sharing creative space with the next chapter of Midnight Rising, which I’m in the middle of writing as we speak, but I’ll aim to have a completed C&C draft out in three weeks,

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    6 comments · 176 views
  • 3 weeks
    Revamped Midnight Rising chapter launches tonight

    Sorry for the delay. Was waiting for final prereads to come in, and I’ve been sick this past week with what might have been the norovirus due to symptoms I’d rather not mention.

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    2 comments · 103 views
Apr
12th
2018

A Question for Turnabout Storm readers... · 6:33pm Apr 12th, 2018

With the M-rated Lawyer and The Unicorn side story/follow-on now finished, would there be interest in a T-rated version of the 12-chapter trial that occurs in the middle of it? Called "The Heart's Turnabout", it settles the question once and for all of whether what Twilight and Phoenix feel for each other is real. The premise is that following a fight with Phoenix, Twilight is the victim of an attempted dreamtime possession by The Nightmare, the same entity that once possessed Princess Luna and turned her into Nightmare Moon. Though mostly R and occasionally M-rated, it's very well-written and wouldn't need much sanitizing to make it for more general audiences.

You'll get a dreamtime trial with an angelic Mia Fey defending Twilight, The Nightmare prosecuting, and Trixie Lulamoon presiding in front of an audience of spirits harmed by The Nightmare over her long existence. Twilight stands accused of illegal magical manipulation of Phoenix, forcing him to fall in love with her/make love to her and transforming him against his will. If she's convinced of her own guilt, she will surrender to The Nightmare as the only possible option to make her love for Phoenix real, and both worlds will suffer as Nightmare Twilight rises.

If you need a preview, here you go. This starts with Princess Luna giving a sleeping Phoenix a tour of his past and memories through her power of dreams, beginning by replaying his own murder trial some six years earlier, where he learned the truth about Dahlia Hawthorne and what she did to him. They had just reached the point that Dhalia stood revealed, when...


Before Phoenix could think or say anything else, there was a crack of a fist meeting flesh. Both Luna and Phoenix spun to see that Mia had left the defense bench and punched Dahlia in the face as she stood on the witness stand. Her visage shattered like glass, revealing a decidedly ugly countenance underneath for a moment before she simply faded away, leaving Mia pouting slightly. “It’s just not as satisfying when I know she’s not real,” she complained, shaking out her fist, “but I’m not about to have Maya channel me just to visit the prison for that purpose.”

Phoenix started. That hadn’t happened in the actual trial, and the way she spoke… “Ch-chief?”

Luna bowed low like she recognized the newcomer for what she was. “Greetings and welcome to our realm, fair spirit. We are not oft graced with the presence of the departed.”

“Greetings to you, Princess Luna,” Mia bowed back, momentarily ignoring her gaping protege. “I am Mia Fey, Phoenix’s former lawyer and mentor. I see you have done well by Phoenix, for which I thank you.”

“’Tis our pleasure,” she bowed her head again. “Though there is more we wish to show thy former student.”

“And there is more he needs to see. But I thought he might appreciate the presence of a friend.” She turned to Phoenix, crossing her arms and smiling as she usually did.

“But… how…?” Phoenix didn’t understand why he was so continually surprised even after all he’d already been through.

“The boundaries between the worlds weaken during dreams, Phoenix… particularly, it seems, in the presence of a potent magic user who can travel freely between them,” she said with a nod at Luna, who smiled. “Enough for me to appear to you now. And given what you’re going through, I thought you might like my company.”

“I do, but…” he trailed off and shook his head, not knowing how to explain the evening’s events. “What happened with Twilight… it’s off the rails, Mia. Everything just feels so wrong now…” he sat down in the empty defendant’s chair and clutched his head. How am I supposed to tell her about… THAT?

In response, she knelt before him and clasped his hands in her own. “I know what happened, Phoenix,” she told him, making him cringe even though there was nothing but sympathy in her eyes. “And I can guess what you’re feeling even without this little dog-and-pony show… no offense, princess.”

“Though ’tis hard for us to take thy meaning… none taken,” the lunar regent replied easily. “As a friend of Phoenix Wright, thou art more than welcome to accompany us on this journey.”

“Thank you. I believe I shall,” she said, then turned her attention back to Phoenix. “You know, you and Maya have been keeping me quite busy today,” she smiled wanly.

He perked up at that. “Maya? What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing you need to worry about right now,” she said shortly. “She’s in good hooves. And as endearing as it is that you always try to put the needs of others before you, this is one time you need to focus on yourself first, Phoenix,” she said, almost grimly. “So tell me, Phoenix... what was the first piece of legal advice I ever gave you? The morning before Larry’s trial?”

“Before Larry’s trial?” Still overwhelmed, it took Phoenix a moment to remember what she was talking about. “You told me to… trust in my client,” he finally recalled. “And I’ve always tried.”

She nodded. “Yes. And that remains valid advice both inside the courtroom and out. For in this trial, your client… is your very heart, Phoenix.” She placed a palm against his chest. “But right now you do not trust it. And unless you do, this is one case you cannot win.”

His hand involuntarily went to hers. “How am I supposed to trust it when I don’t know if what it’s telling me is true?” He asked her, sitting down heavily in the defendant’s chair of the now-empty courtroom. “I get how Dahlia hurt me now. Makes more sense from what you said before about how I never looked at any woman the same after. But Twilight…” he shook his head, not even knowing how to voice what he was thinking. “This has just gotten so… messy…”

“Phoenix… take it from someone who’s been there. Every relationship is messy in one sense or another,” Mia noted, making Luna nod in agreement. “Every relationship requires sacrifice and for both sides meet halfway. This one is no different, though it does require extra work for the distances and differences involved. Yet for all that, you two were doing quite well, from what I could see. Are you really going to let one little revelation ruin it?”

“A revelation that this may not be real? Just like before?” Phoenix answered bitterly.

Not like before,” Mia stood and crossed her arms again, taking a pose that Phoenix had seen before when she was examining a recalcitrant witness in court. “Unless you’re seriously going to claim that Twilight doesn’t love you and was just manipulating you to unknown ends. I know you’re hurting, but you’re smarter than that, Phoenix.”

Phoenix grimaced, her rebuke carrying as much weight in the dream world as it had in the waking one. “I know she didn’t mean it, but still… it happened. And it scares me, Mia. I have no defense against magic. I can’t detect it, I can’t stop it, and I don’t know what it’s doing to me. What she’s doing to me. So how do I know this is real? How do I know… her magic hasn’t affected me, making me love her?” His fears spilled out uncontrollably.

“Thou giveth thy mate’s magic too much credit, Phoenix Wright,” Luna spoke up again. “Take it from one who learned the hard way—magic cannot make thee act against thy heart. Cannot make others love thee no matter how powerful the spells thou may cast.” She closed her eyes in bitter memory for a moment. “It can increase one’s desires or bring hidden ones to the forefront. It can heighten sensation and pleasure. It can even produce a false feeling of infatuation for another, but not one that would last outside their presence. For just as transformative magic is only temporary, the body returning to its natural state after a time, the mind, too, will resist intrusion and being influenced in unnatural ways. ’Twas it truly her influence on thee, ‘twould leave thee soon after she did.”

“And did it, Phoenix?” Maya immediately picked up the thread. “Did your feelings for her evaporate after you left Equestria? Or when she left here after her previous visits?”

“No…” he admitted. “But…”

“But what…?” Mia challenged again. “This isn’t like you, Phoenix. Instead of defending your client—which is your own feelings for Twilight—you’re acting like a prosecutor, looking for reasons to doubt and convict them. Why?” she said in a tone that suggested to Phoenix that she already knew the answer.

He knew it as well, but still had a hard time voicing it. “Because it wasn’t… by my choice… “ he grated out. “Because I didn’t ask for that! And she promised me she wouldn’t use magic on me without permission! Promised me!”

“A promise she did not willingly break, Phoenix Wright,” Luna spoke up again. “She was as surprised as thee… and feels very guilty for it, as thou shalt soon see.”

“Phoenix… that girl has gone to great lengths to accommodate you. Far more than most human women ever would,” Mia crossed her arms and shook her head reproachfully. “She has met you more than halfway, by coming to Earth and taking human form. She’s bent over backwards for you, all so she can be with you. She loves you and would never willingly hurt you. Are you seriously going to claim differently?”

Phoenix fumbled for his response for a moment, sensing the truth in her words. “I want this to be real, Mia,” he admitted. “I really and truly do. But I’m terrified now it isn’t, and what happened… is just a symptom of that,” he groped through his myriad fears and anxieties for the answer. “I’m afraid that if I commit to this and then it turns out later that it was all a lie… just like before…” he couldn’t quite keep the tears from his eyes. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not fair to her, I’m just so scared right now…” he shivered, pained at his own admission.

Mia’s expression softened. “And thus we now reach the crux of the case, Phoenix,” she noted with a glance at Luna. “What are you scared of? Her magic? Or just the truth?” she suggested. “What have I always told you about the truth?”

“To seek it and everything would be fine,” he recited automatically. “But it’s not as easy when it’s for myself…”

“Seeking truth in matters of the heart is never easy, Phoenix Wright,” Luna agreed, “but ’tis no less necessary for it. And the truth thou seeketh… can be found in the dreams of Twilight Sparkle,” she promised. “Or rather, the nightmares she now suffers. We have not intervened there yet, because we feel ’tis important that thou beholdeth them and see her fears for thyself. Normally we would be less direct about such matters, but time is short and she needs our aid as well. So please, follow us,” she ignited her horn and produced a new doorway, this one in Twilight’s lavender coat color with her cutie mark emblazoned across the front.

As she moved to open the door, however, a midnight-blue shield appeared, causing her magic to backlash. With a yelp, Luna backed off, rubbing her slightly singed horn tenderly. Mia and Phoenix blinked. “Um, I take it that’s not a normal reaction?” he asked hesitantly.

“Nay, ’tis not,” Luna answered, frowning. “To be rejected from e’en entering a pony’s dream… it should not be possible for me… unless…” she focused her magic again, and the door transformed into a window. All three of them looked inside.

What they saw was another courtroom, although the style and coloring indicated it was an Equestrian court. Twilight sat in the defendant’s chair, her head hung low, looking completely beaten down. A demonic red-suited form of Phoenix himself stood at the prosecutor’s bench, hair afire, eyes enraged and pointing an accusing finger at her, before which she cowered and sobbed. But worse, there appeared to be no counterpart at the defense bench; no one to speak for or defend her. The gallery was filled with mostly indistinct shapes, although there were a few known faces among the crowd, Twilight’s friends among them, all wearing expressions of disgust and distrust.

But it was the pony sitting at the judge’s bench that caught the trio’s attention. She was no indistinct shadow. She was an alicorn, that much was evident to Phoenix by the way her wings were mantled slightly and her long horn held high. Her coat was obsidian in color, and she was clad in severe cyan armor that gleamed in the low light. Her mouth was twisted in a vicious grin, allowing the three to see the fangs that protruded from her gums. Her eyes were not those of a pony, but more like a cat, being a near-solid mass of turquoise with a slitted pupil.

Abruptly, she looked up. “Ah, welcome, my former host…” she grinned malevolently at them, showing two rows of sharp teeth. “I have been expecting you. By all means, enjoy the show, and know that once this trial is over… her soul will belong to me!”

Luna trembled with barely-suppressed rage as she beheld the dark alicorn in Twilight’s nightmare. “How dare thee…” she growled. “How dare thee invade the dreams of one of our saviors!”

“Who is that?” Mia asked, not having studied Equestrian history as Phoenix had.

Phoenix swallowed hard. “Nightmare Moon…” he recognized, both from Twilight’s stories and his own research. But she was Princess Luna! How can she be… HERE?

“’Tis the foul demon that once possessed us!” Luna answered their questions, her expression one of pure hate as she tried and failed again to break through. “We mentioned before that there were evil spirits in Equestria that sought to take advantage of souls in turmoil? ’Tis certain The Nightmare is amongst the worst,” she spat out. “She came to us one night long ago whilst we lamented the fact that nopony appreciated us or our night, whispering the seeds of madness to us. Offered us the chance to help make ponies love us and see us for what we were… if we would but join with it. And in our weakness and sorrow, we agreed… and lost ourselves in rage and hate, nearly destroying all Equestria in our efforts to supplant our sister.”

“But didn’t the Elements of Harmony get rid of her?” asked Phoenix, increasingly desperate to reach Twilight as Mia studied the apparition and frowned.

Again, Luna shook her head. “The Elements, whilst powerful, cannot actually end another being’s life… e’en that of a foul spirit like The Nightmare. She was removed from us, not erased, dispatched to wander the ether… but ’twould seem she hath returned and chosen her next host!” She looked at the apparition with an expression of pure hate.

“Indeed. And I have you to thank for it, Phoenix Wright,” Nightmare Moon turned her attention on the human lawyer. “Rage and hate are our favorite emotions, but fear and guilt will do as well… and afraid of losing her stallion, her soul is now filled with them, giving me purchase within her. She is now convinced that she has hurt her beloved Phoenix grievously, that she broke her promise and that she deserves to be abandoned by both him and her friends for it. And once her certainty in her own guilt is total, all I need do is promise her you, and her soul belongs to me!” she laughed gleefully again. “’Tis such wonderful irony that the one who defeated me will now become my next host, wouldn’t you agree my dear Lulu? And in controlling the Element of Magic, I not only gain her power but ensure that the Elements themselves can never be used against me again!”

“NO!” Phoenix called out, pounding on the magical barrier with both fists, his earlier doubts and fears forgotten in the face of Twilight’s danger.

“Can’t you break through it?” Mia asked, the only one keeping a clear head at that moment. “And how did she hide from you?”

“Having held us in thrall for so long, she knows our power and how to counter it, including how to conceal herself from it. She was but a creature of dreams to begin with, so ’tis within her power to dreamwalk as well,” Luna’s jaw set. “Using all our power, we could break through… but she already has her claws in Twilight’s mind and spirit. To remove her forcibly wouldst irreparably damage both,” the moon princess explained in frustration. “The only way to remove her without the Elements of Harmony… is for young Twilight Sparkle to expel her of her own volition. But we fear she now lacks the will and conviction to do so,” she shook her head. “Do not blame thyself, Phoenix Wright. ’Tis our fault for not intervening sooner; for trying to save her nightmares for thee to witness. We fear we can give her no aid at this juncture.”

“But there has to be something we can do!” Phoenix pleaded, suddenly deathly afraid of losing her, now cursing himself. Mia was right… NONE of this was worth worrying about… this IS my fault! “TWILIGHT!” he called to her, desperately pounding on the barrier, trying to break through.

“She cannot hear you, Phoenix Wright,” the creature that had taken the form of Nightmare Moon cackled anew. “All she hears is your earlier accusations, each a stab through her heart. As long as you remain the source of her anguish, you cannot enter! But fear not. I am a Nightmare of my word. I’ve promised her you, Phoenix Wright. Your forgiveness and love forever.”

“Thy promises are tainted!” Luna shouted, her horn aglow as she again tried and failed to break down the barrier without hurting Twilight. “They lead only to heartache and suffering for many!”

“And you would know, my former host. The war we started was so delicious and fun,” she mocked. “Perhaps I’ll use Twilight Sparkle to start a new one, as she will soon be mine! For there is nothing any of you can do to stop me!” she proclaimed in evil glee.

“I beg to differ. Perhaps they can’t…” Mia stepped right through the barrier, surprising Luna and Phoenix. “But I can.”

Nightmare Moon looked momentarily startled, then smiled. “So… the fact that you can pass through my magic with no ill effects can only mean that you are not among the living. That you are what humans call an ‘angel’; an ascended spirit able to travel freely and not beholden to the rules of this realm,” she gave Mia a mocking bow. “Be that as it may, you still have no power to stop this, spirit. You can only observe as I claim this creature, body and soul.”

Mia gave the larger alicorn her most steely glare. “You’re wrong,” she said, then suddenly sprouted a pair of large, white-feathered wings from her back, flaring them like a pegasus. She rose several feet off the virtual floor and then unleashed a wave of mystic energy, a product of her own Kurain training and angelic power enhanced by the sheer strength of her spirit. It drove back the demons around them, causing the evil Phoenix to shatter like glass and the Nightmare’s aura itself to recede from Twilight…

But only partially, narrow tendrils of dark magic still embedded within her. “Impressive,” the apparition disguised as Nightmare Moon granted. “We did not think that a mere human spirit could check us.”

“The human spirit is something you will never understand,” Mia planted herself between The Nightmare and Twilight, who stirred.

The Nightmare laughed out loud. “Spare me such ridiculous sentiment. Humans are so very easy to manipulate,” she proclaimed with a glance up at Phoenix, who shivered at her gaze. “I have done so for sheer amusement in the past. But there is little point in me possessing them when they have so little power.”

The hold over her weakened, Twilight opened her eyes and raised her head weakly, focusing on the tall human woman before her. “M-Mia Fey?” she recognized dimly, her voice dull.

“It’s all right, Twilight. I’m here,” she called back to her. “I will not let her harm you.”

“Harm me? Who…?” she acted drugged and unaware of her surroundings, unable to hear Phoenix calling frantically to her, focusing with difficulty on the apparition before her. “Nightmare… Moon?”

“Well, then. ’Twould seem we have a standoff, Mia Fey,” The Nightmare called her opponent by name for the first time after hearing it from Twilight. “I cannot claim my new host with you here, but nor can you protect her forever. And I can wait an eternity if needs be.”

“As can I,” Mia answered evenly, crossing her arms and not moving. “Heaven and earth will get along just fine without me. It’s not like I have any other place to be.”

“Very well, then…” Nightmare stalked down from the Judge’s bench and went nose to nose with the human woman, flaring her own wings and showing her teeth, trying to intimidate her, though Phoenix knew from past experience how well that usually went. “And how do you suggest we resolve this impasse, spirit?”

Mia grinned, showing her own teeth. “By trial, of course,” she suggested evenly, and then went to the defense bench. “You were conducting one when we arrived, however unfairly. And if she is to be tried for her supposed crimes, she requires an attorney. For the soul of Twilight Sparkle… I will defend her!” she pointed a finger at Nightmare Moon. “I will convince her of her own innocence, and then she will expel you herself!”

Far from being cowed, Nightmare Moon’s grin got wider. “A trial for Twilight? A real one with her very soul at stake? How interesting!” Her slitted eyes glittered. “A battle of wits with a worthy foe is something I relish but so rarely receive, Mia Fey! But let us be clear on the stakes: Should she be found guilty, she will then belong to me. And since you have destroyed my prosecutor, it would seem I should step into the role myself,” she nodded, taking her place behind the prosecutor’s bench. “But a trial also requires a judge… and who best to sit in judgement of Twilight Sparkle?” the alicorn apparition wondered aloud, though Phoenix had the distinct impression she already knew, but was simply milking the moment for all it was worth.

“Ah! I know the perfect pony for the job!” she announced gleefully, and then her horn glowed. A portal opened up in the floor as a new, seemingly sleeping equine figure was pulled in. As the glow that surrounded her faded to reveal her unicorn horn, ice-blue coat and frosty mane with a moon-and-wand cutie mark, Phoenix’s guts clenched as she opened her violet eyes and looked around in some confusion.

“What is this place? And why is Trixie here…?”


If there's enough interest, I'll release this on the third anniversary of the TAS finale (April 27th). Up to you, folks. Or if you don't want to wait, you can access the adult version starting with Part 17: The Sum of All Fears (M-rated story so I can't link) through my stories page. Just be warned it's mostly R-rated but will occasionally cross over into X.

Comments ( 11 )

I'd be down for it

Just as long as you leave the original versions of the chapters in TLATU.

Having already read it, I don't see much reason for reading a T rated version of it but it does sound pretty cool. But will there be more Judge Trixie? I really enjoyed that twist and it was so well characterized that she can see what our funny judge goes through on a daily basis. Maybe even a Judge x Trixie mentorship!

I probably won't read it again just to read a less M rated one, but it was a fantastic trial!

I by myself would not read a T rated version. If, however unnecessary revision is your fetish then by all means then do.

I wouldn't mind a T-rated version of this. I believe I didn't enjoy it very much when I read it years ago, but that was partly my own fault for not noticing that it hadn't been written by Regios and being disappointed when it seemed to put more focus on sex scenes than on simply telling another story in the same style as Turnabout Storm. I'd be willing to give it another shot if someone made a version that was a little less, well, porn-y.

By that, do you mean by writing in the time frame of Trials & Tribulations? Or just taking a chapter out of the original story and putting it in a T-setting?

4838741

That’s one yea vote...

4838764

Don’t worry. They will remain untouched.

4838766

Thanks! Some new Trixie content? Perhaps. If nothing else, she will reappear in the TLaTU sequel.

4839040

I don’t expect that those who enjoyed the original would read a T-rated version; I’m just trying to find out if those who wouldn’t read the original might be interested in one.

4839085

I see. That’s two yea votes, but I still need more before I do this.

4839331

The latter. I’d take the twelve chapters of the trial in TLaTU and turn them into a T-rated version suitable for more general audiences. I wouldn’t change the original versions in TLaTU, nor would this be an alternate version of the trial. Just a more sanitized one.

4839879
Meh, honestly, it's rather pointless. I mean, everyone has already read it. I really don't know what it will change other than it being cleaner. But if you'd like to, that's fine.

4839894

At this point, I’m leaning against it since the general reaction seems to be meh.

4839895
Well, with everyone having read it already, it's kinda not worth it.

Some people have a Mature filter on, and thus would not have seen the original trial. I say do it.

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