Phoenix Wright - Turnabout Storm!

by Firesight

Part 23 - Unexpected Turn of Events

Fluttershy and Phoenix had just reached a narrow side trail when they both heard something—or somepony—coming quickly up the path, just out of sight around a trail bend. “Do I hear galloping?” the latter asked as the distinct four-beat gait noise got louder.

“It’s not me,” Fluttershy stated, stopping beside Phoenix, her ears swiveling to focus on the noise.

“It’s getting closer!” Phoenix swallowed, still on edge.

“I can see somepony coming this way,” Fluttershy announced, stepping in front of him protectively and soon Phoenix could see indistinct movement behind the brush that hid the bend as well.

What if it’s the one who attacked me? I REALLY hope I don’t have to fight a pony! Phoenix tensed and clenched his fists, readying to meet a charge. As the galloping pony came into sudden view, Fluttershy was surprised and Phoenix was stunned as her identity was revealed to be…

TWILIGHT!

The unicorn mare skidded to a stop in front of them, her eyes wide as saucers as she beheld him, the saddlebags she was carrying flying right off her back from the sudden stop. “Fluttershy? Ph-Phoenix?!” she recognized the pair in shock, breathing hard like she’d ran the whole way there.

Phoenix felt his legs go weak at the sight of her. “Uh... heya,” was all he managed to say, giving her a weak wave.

She didn’t answer except to pant and stare dumbly at the two of them, leaving it to Phoenix to finally break the awkward silence. “Twilight, please listen. I know you probably hate me after what I did today, but I can explain.” He bowed his head to her as Fluttershy stepped in front of him protectively again, flaring her wings and speaking directly to her friend.

“Mister Phoenix was only trying to help Rainbow, Twilight. He never meant to hurt me or anypony else,” she defended him.

Twilight’s eyes locked with those of Phoenix for a second, just long enough for him to see the jumble of emotions there; anger, confusion and relief all present at once. “Let’s go back to the library; I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay in this forest,” Twilight suggested between breaths, picking the saddlebags back up with her magic and placing them on her back.

“Yeah, I agree,” Phoenix said dryly, thinking he was going to forever be seeing the Timberwolves in his nightmares. The three of them immediately left the woods, Fluttershy behind Phoenix and Twilight in the lead, the two mares bracketing him like bodyguards as they escorted him out.

Despite Twilight’s desire to return to the library immediately, they stopped by Fluttershy’s cottage at her own insistence so she could treat Phoenix’s wounds.

Once she had him inside, Fluttershy clucked over him like a mother hen, giving him an ice pack for his head and an herbal balm which she mixed into a cup of surprisingly good tea. While she ministered him, Twilight sat silently a respectful distance away, giving Phoenix an occasional concerned look or glower, quickly averting her eyes whenever he turned towards her.

It was only when Phoenix idly mentioned that he wished he had more of the medication he’d taken earlier that she got alarmed, searched her saddlebags and pulled out the pill bottle Sonata had given him.

Though confused as to why she had it, he confirmed he had taken two of the pills. Twilight was aghast at that, telling him it was not ‘aspirin’ but a heavy prescription painkiller that had a stiff dose of magic attached. It worked almost instantly but also had side effects ranging from excessive mellowness to impaired decision-making, and she wasn’t at all happy he had taken it without consulting a doctor—or her.

Phoenix gave her a goofy grin but was inwardly chagrined. It’s just been one bad choice after another today. Wait—did taking that stuff affect my decision to go into the forest? he belatedly wondered, remembering how mellow he’d felt immediately after popping the pills, having few qualms about having Pinkie’s head in his lap. And does that mean Sonata gave it to me for that reason?

His immediate injuries taken care of, he stepped outside at Twilight’s request, sitting on the porch sipping his tea while she spoke to Fluttershy alone. To his surprise, a dozen or more of Fluttershy’s animals approached him, everything from birds to bunnies peering at their human visitor curiously. A couple of the more adventurous ones even came up to him; a squirrel going so far as to sit on his knee. Enchanted, he gently rubbed and scratched its ears, wishing he had something to offer them, though he noticed a white-furred rabbit off to the side giving him a decidedly dirty look.

Ten minutes later, Twilight and Fluttershy emerged onto the front porch; Fluttershy giving him a reassuring smile while Twilight still seemed uncertain. The former gave him a small care basket full of her garden-grown vegetables and herbs, instructing him to take the latter with tea later on. He thanked her, apologizing again and telling her truthfully he thought she was the most kind, beautiful and wonderful creature he’d ever met. She blushed at his compliments, rearing up and opening her forelegs as if to embrace him, flaring her wings for balance. Delighted, he got on his knees to return the hug, his left hand caressing the area beneath her right wing while his right ran gently but reverently through the gloriously soft feathers of her left.

He didn’t see her eyes widen in surprise but heard her sudden, shuddering breath. “EEP!” she gasped and pulled away from him, her wings suddenly going stiff as boards. Fluttershy stared at him wide-eyed, her yellow cheeks flushed as pink as her hair, then ran back inside her cottage and slammed the door, leaving Phoenix taken aback and bewildered.

“What? What did I—?” he looked at Twilight for an explanation, but she was likewise blushing, looking at him in a mixture of anger, embarrassment and… jealousy?

“Let’s just go to the library before you get into any more trouble, okay?” she suggested with very strained patience, leading him on a very silent and awkward walk back into town.

Arriving at her library home, Twilight sat Phoenix down on the lounge sofa and gave him a brief overview of pegasus anatomy, emphasizing how sensitive their wings and flight muscles were, and that they were not to be touched “without express permission!” Reading between the lines, Phoenix was horrified to realize that by running his hands over them, he had in effect felt Fluttershy up!

Profusely apologizing, he played a hunch and asked Twilight if the same held true for unicorn horns, remembering her reaction to him almost touching it in the clearing the previous night.

The sudden flush of her cheeks answered for her; she looked away in renewed anger and embarrassment as a pink glow briefly enveloped her horn. That sparked another set of memories; he recalled how her horn aura had gone pink at least twice after he had nearly touched it, and how she was acting somewhat flustered around him afterwards and several times that morning before and during the trial.

With that, his eyes widened in sudden realization. Wait—does that mean that Twilight…? he couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought; the two dropping the subject in mutual discomfort.

Composing herself, Twilight slid him her saddlebags, telling him she and Pinkie had caught his assailant as he had tried to flee the forest and they had recovered his possessions and evidence then. He was very relieved to have the Magatama back, returning it to its customary place in his inner jacket pocket, not noticing Twilight eying it suspiciously as he did so.

Finally, the moment he had been both praying for and dreading arrived. Taking in a slow breath and exhaling, he began, “Twilight—what I did to Fluttershy this morning was awful and unforgivable. I already apologized to her, so let me do so to you as well: I’m so very sorry!” Phoenix told her, proceeding to explain his reasons and rationale for accusing Fluttershy, detailing everything that was going through his head at the time.

He wrung his hands together while he spoke, slumping in his chair as Twilight listened silently, never interrupting. She remained sitting down on a rug in the center of the room but looking away from him, keeping her ears instead of her eyes trained on him as he continued.

Ten minutes later, he had reached the end of his story and apology. “So… that’s why I did it. I know it wasn’t fair to Fluttershy, and I hated myself for it—I still do. But if I had just sat there and done nothing? Rainbow Dash would have been found guilty right there on the spot,” he concluded, feeling numb. “Again, I’m sorry, Twilight. It should never have come to that. And it probably wouldn’t have if I’d actually taken your advice and studied.”

“I see,” Twilight finally spoke, still looking away, her voice very measured, betraying no emotion.

Phoenix took a deep breath, uncertain whether she had accepted his explanation or not. “So—do you still want to replace me as Rainbow’s attorney?” he asked her directly, deciding to force the issue.

Twilight’s head shot up. “H-how did you—?”

“Fluttershy told me,” Phoenix said simply, leaning forward on the couch. “Look—I can’t complain if you do. I certainly deserve it after this morning. But I have to warn you: Trixie is one tough prosecutor,” he told her. “I underestimated her badly and let her get to me. Despite all my experience, she managed to trump everything I threw at her. In fact, she could have shot down my feather theory right then and there if she wanted to,” he told her grimly.

“She could? But how?”

“Easily. She could have pointed out how completely improbable it was that a large feather remained stuck to Fluttershy while she was flying all over the place trying to frame Rainbow Dash, yet she somehow never noticed it, and it didn’t fall off in flight,” he knew, shaking his head slowly. “It was an obvious objection, yet Trixie didn’t make it. If she had, Rainbow would now be in solitary awaiting sentencing.”

“Wh—What?!” Twilight looked back at him in shock while standing up abruptly.

“That’s the kind of pony Trixie is, Twilight. From what she said, the only reason she let me do that was to hurt you—to see you suffer while another one of your friends was imprisoned,” he reasoned grimly. “She’s going to go all-out tomorrow; doubly so if she’s going directly against you. So if you’d like to take over the defense, I have to warn you about that,” Phoenix informed her with a very level look.

Twilight looked visibly confused, sitting back heavily on her haunches and looking down at the floor. “I… I don’t know what I should do,” she admitted, her eyes glistening.

He felt a pang of sympathy for her, resisting the urge to go over and comfort her—definitely not a good idea at that moment, he knew. “Twilight—if you really want to defend Rainbow Dash yourself, I’ll step aside. But at least allow me to do one more thing for you first,” Phoenix offered, opening his palms to her.

Twilight looked up at him in surprise, blinking back tears. “You still want to help me? Even after I brought you here against your will? Even after nearly dying? Even after I was going to petition the Equestrian Judicial Board to fire you?” she recited in disbelief.

He nodded, standing up straight as he answered, clasping his hands in front of him and suppressing a shiver at the memory of his close call with the Timberwolves. “I’ll do everything I can to help someone who is being accused of a crime they didn’t commit, whether that’s as the defense attorney, co-counsel, or just sitting in the gallery and offering moral support,” he told her fervently. “I know for a fact Rainbow Dash is innocent of murder. And I also met a pony who knows a lot more about Ace than she’s letting on.”

Twilight nodded slowly at that. “Actually, I do too,” she began, an odd undertone in her voice. “Phoenix, tell me—that green gemstone thing you mixed in the evidence before the trial this morning? That wasn’t a good-luck charm, was it?” she asked, giving him a slightly askance look.

“Why do you ask?” Phoenix responded curiously, his hand going to his chin.

She watched him carefully out of the corner of her eye as she said her next words. “Let’s just say I’ve been seeing a lot of locks today.”

Phoenix gaped, stumbling backwards and nearly losing his balance. “Ngh! locks and… chains?” he suggested weakly, feeling suddenly faint and leaning on a bookshelf for support.

Her head shot up. “See, I knew you knew!” Twilight rounded on him. “Out with it, Phoenix! What was that thing and what did it do to me?!” she demanded to know, approaching him in manner he could only describe as menacing, her head lowered and horn pointed at him.

Phoenix took an involuntary step backwards and held up his hands, suddenly feeling like he was looking down the barrel of a loaded gun. “Okay! Okay! I’ll be honest. Because if I’m not… I bet you’ll see them around me!” He gulped, going to his inner jacket pocket with a shaking hand.

“I’m listening!” Twilight sat down in front of him as Phoenix took out his relic, the tone of her voice telling him in no uncertain terms to make his explanation a good one.

Gathering himself, he held the comma-shaped gemstone in his palm and knelt down before the shorter unicorn mare to show her.

“You see, it’s called a ‘Magatama’,” he told her, choosing his words with care. “It’s a tool I use to see if people are hiding deep secrets from me. But don’t get me wrong! I only use it when I’m investigating crimes,” he quickly added. Besides, it doesn’t seem to work when I’m playing poker.

“‘Deep secrets’?” Twilight repeated, giving it—and him—a sideways look.

He nodded. “Think of it as kind of a mystical lie detector. If someone’s lying or otherwise hiding the answer to a question, psychic barriers called ‘psyche-locks’ will appear in front of them, visible only to the Magatama’s owner. They’re a spiritual representation of a lie the Magatama enables its wielder to see. The more locks and chains that surround someone, the deeper and closer held their secret,” he explained, waiting for Twilight to finish processing his statement before continuing.

“Understand, the presence of psyche-locks don’t tell you exactly what a person is hiding or lying about; only that they are lying about something, or otherwise not telling you everything. In order to get at their secret, you have to break the locks using proof and evidence. If you can do so, then chances are the person—or in this case, the pony—will spill the beans.”

“Interesting…” Twilight trailed off, nodding to herself as if something suddenly made sense to her, studying the artifact curiously.

’Interesting’? I thought she’d be mad! Phoenix mused, infinitely relieved she wasn’t.

“What about black locks?” she asked him abruptly.

That caught Phoenix’s attention. “Black locks? What do you mean?” he asked her back, hand on his chin again.

“There were—” Twilight stopped in mid-sentence as Phoenix raised an eyebrow. “Never mind. It’s not important right now. So, do you know how that thing’s power got transferred to me?”

He shook his head, relieved she had accepted his explanation so readily. Then again, what choice did she have when she didn’t see psyche-locks materialize around him? “Not a clue, sorry. The Magatama was a gift from a good friend, and I don’t really know how it works. At a guess, it probably reacted to your magic somehow when you first picked it up,” he theorized.

“Yeah…” Her horn flared as Twilight cautiously picked the Magatama up a second time, turning it over and probing it gently with her magic. It glowed a weak green within her violet aura, but didn’t flash like it had that morning. “Hmm… I’m sure I can figure out how it works later, but the question can wait for now. However I got its power, I need it to help Rainbow Dash,” Twilight decided, floating it back to him.

He nodded, standing back up and returning the relic to his inner jacket pocket. Huh. Sounds like she encountered a few lying witnesses of her own today! “Okay. But truth telling is two-way street.” Phoenix decided it was his turn to get some answers. “Now it’s your turn, Twilight. Since I told the truth and apologized, I expect the same from you.”

“What?” Twilight said, tilting her head up at him. “Why do I have to apologize?”

He crossed his arms, taking on a more stern expression. “Because you’re not a very good liar, Twilight Sparkle. Even without the Magatama, I could tell that you bringing me here from my own world last night was no accident. You summoned me here on purpose, didn’t you?” Phoenix confronted her.

Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked away in very telling guilt. She appeared to Phoenix as if she was fumbling for a denial for a moment, only to go downcast, sitting back in defeat on her haunches as she realized there was no point. “I’m that bad at lying, huh?” she asked, her voice wan.

“Yeah, you’re about as thin as tissue paper,” he told her bluntly but not meanly. “I mean, come on—an ‘identification spell’? I know you have magic here and all, but that sounds like something a third-grader came up with. Even as ignorant about magic as I still am, I didn’t need the Magatama to know that isn’t a real spell.”

Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment at that. “I was told not to say anything. But I suppose I owe you an explanation,” she decided, taking a deep breath as if to steel herself. “Just… please understand that it wasn’t my idea, Phoenix. The truth is that Princess Celestia herself told me to summon you and then play dumb,” she confessed, looking forlorn.

Phoenix studied her, knowing she was telling the truth when no psyche-locks appeared; her cheeks seemed to flush a little deeper under his scrutiny. “So you knowing my name, and having that badge prepared…?”

She gave a jerky nod. “Yeah. It all came from the Princess. The summon spell I used only requires a description unique to the individual, like ‘Phoenix Wright, attorney-at-law’ or ‘Phoenix Wright’s favorite Judge’. That’s how I summoned His Honor here. A description like ‘best defense attorney’ wouldn’t work anyway because that’s a completely subjective determination for a spell that requires exact information to cast.

“But all that said, I swear, Phoenix—I had no idea you were going to be a human from another world!” she insisted, turning her conflicted purple eyes back on him. “If I did, I would have had appropriate food and accommodations ready for you.”

My ‘favorite’ Judge? More like my ONLY! Phoenix thought a little derisively, wondering why he always seemed to get assigned the same one, then deflated a bit. That’s a huge bummer, though. So I’m NOT the greatest defense attorney in the universe? Darn! I was starting to like that title! he thought in dismay, but also reflecting that he would have had to give the title right back after his poor performance that morning. “But how does your Princess even know me?” he wondered, scratching his chin again.

“I’m a bit sketchy on that detail as well.” Twilight gave him a slightly exasperated look, which Phoenix took to be directed at the princess, not him. “I found it really odd how she knew so much about you, and how she was boasting about how good you were. Yet, when I summoned you, you acted like you’d never seen a pony in your life before me,” she recalled. “So somehow, she knows of you even though you’ve clearly never met her.”

“You’re right.” Phoenix leaned back against a bookshelf and crossed his arms again, having yet another mystery added to his list. So how DOES this Princess character know me? I think I’d like to have a chat with Her Highness about this! he thought, idly fingering the attorney badge that had apparently come from her. If nothing else, I’d love to tell her what I think of THIS thing!

“Well, I certainly don’t like the fact I was being deceived by you. But I thank you for telling me the truth, Twilight,” Phoenix said to her in relief, grateful there were finally no more secrets between them.

“I apologize, Phoenix. I was just doing what the Princess told me to.” Twilight closed her purple eyes and bowed her head in contrition. “I’m not just her subject, but her personal student, and either way, I can’t disobey her. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel really bad for lying.”

He couldn’t help but grin at that, having to catch himself from putting a reassuring hand on her withers, not sure she’d appreciate the gesture at that moment. So she’s the personal student of this world’s ruler? Wow. She does seem genuinely sorry about it. Guess she felt caught between a rock and a hard place with regards to her instructions. If I want her forgiveness, I shouldn’t hold it against her. So maybe I should just change the subject? “It’s all right. You were just doing what you were told, and she clearly withheld information from you. Looks like we’ve all been guilty of that today,” he noted somewhat ruefully.

“Thank you,” she said gratefully, an awkward silence falling between the two again. Sensing her discomfort, he went back over to the sofa and started looking through her saddlebags, seeing what she had collected over the past day.

“Hmm… so by the amount of evidence you found, it looks like you had a pretty fruitful investigation…” His voice trailed off and eyes widened when he found a piece of torn paper. “AH!!!”

Twilight started. “What’s the matter?”

“THE OTHER HALF OF THE LETTER!!” Phoenix shouted, holding it in a shaking hand.

“The other half of the letter…?” she repeated, then her eyes widened and she took a stalking pose, staring at him from a crouch, her forelegs splayed wide on the floor and hindquarters raised like a cat getting ready to pounce. “WAIT, YOU HAVE IT!!??” she shouted back.

He nodded quickly. “Yeah, I found it with Pinkie Pie today!” Phoenix dug through the saddlebag containing his evidence until he found the matching piece he was looking for. He gave Twilight his half and let her take hold of it, connecting the two pieces together with her magic as she read it:

Full Resignation Letter:

This is my letter stating my permanent Leave of Absence. After the Equestrian 500 is over, I can no longer work with you. We made quite the team, but I can’t live with the guilt any longer. I can’t keep helping you ruin other lives. It saddens me beyond belief that we must part ways, but I must say farewell. Goodbye Ace; may our paths cross in the future.

Twilight looked up when she was finished, finding Phoenix silent and seemingly deep in thought.

“Someone was quitting their job?” Twilight asked him.

“Yeah. And I think I know who,” Phoenix informed her, nodding slowly to himself.

“Who?” she prompted. “There’s no signature on this.”

Phoenix began to answer, only to stop and shake his head. “I’ll tell you once I confirm my suspicion. There’s a certain pony I have to talk to first. You said you had someone to talk to as well, right? Well, in light of this letter, I do too. So maybe we should go our separate ways again.”

For a moment, he thought Twilight was going to object, but after some visible consideration and asking where he was going, she relented. “You’re right. I need to interrogate your assailant at Ponyville Detention Center, and visiting hours will be over soon. Come straight back here once you’re done though. You were attacked, after all,” she reminded him, her voice mild but betraying some concern for him.

“You have my word,” Phoenix promised, kneeling briefly and bowing his head before her, missing both her blush and the quick glow of her horn while his back was turned. Pausing only to splash water on his face and put his abused suit as much to rights as he could, he left Twilight’s library treehouse home to head for the place—and pony—he was certain his answers lay.