//------------------------------// // // Story: Phoenix Flight: Ace Attorney: Welcome to Turnabout! // by Magic Step //------------------------------// The office of Tender Lender had a normal enough exterior, except for the tiger-striped sign. Ornate gold and bright colors were visible through the window, which was in need of a wash. Phoenix pushed his way inside. The interior wasn’t much like a normal loan office. The carpet was synthetic tiger pelt, the couches were midnight black velvet, the desk was faux gold, and there was a punching bag hanging up in one corner. “Hey, little nephew,” said the huge orange pegasus sitting behind the desk. Faerie Dust stared with interest at Phoenix’s uncle’s hair; it was the exact same back-spiked hairdo as Phoenix’s, though colored in black. “I can tell you’re related.” She giggled. “Oh, Tiger Fury, Faerie Dust, meet… each… other…” Phoenix said awkwardly. “Hello, uncle of Nick,” Faerie Dust said. “Hey, nice girl youse got,” Tiger Fury winked. “I mean… she’s not mine…” Phoenix Flight stammered. “The décor is so… elaborate…” Faerie Dust said. “I just grab whatever I like the best and hope it looks good when I throw it all together.” Tiger Fury shrugged, gesturing for them to sit down. “Tea?” “Can’t have caffeine; too hyper already,” Faerie Dust said, parroting her sister’s admonitions. “Cocoa, then?” Tiger Fury offered. Faerie Dust’s face lit up. “Yes please! Marshmallows if you have any!” “’Course.” Tiger Fury flew up through a hole in the ceiling to the second floor. “…Does he have stairs?” Faerie Dust asked. “That’s his living quarters, so no,” Phoenix Flight said. “Clients have no reason to be there.” “Does he live alone?” Faerie Dust asked. “Unfortunately no, but the Don’s out.” Faerie Dust tilted her head to the side. “Who?” “Don’t speak of the devil,” Tiger Fury called down from somewhere on the upper floor. Phoenix made a lip-zipping motion. “He’s right. Sorry.” Faerie Dust’s face grew pouty; Phoenix knew how she hated not being told things. “Cocoa coming down,” Tiger Fury called, gently descending from the ceiling with three hot cups on a tray. “Thanks.” Faerie Dust’s annoyance was forgotten as she tried to fish out marshmallows with her tongue. “So, Phoenix, got anything to pay on youse’s student loan?” Tiger Fury asked. Phoenix winced. “I, um, haven’t had any cases of my own yet and my salary for just helping Mystic around is used up for food and things…” “Look, it’s no big deal,” Tiger Fury said. “Youse can pay whenever; youse family.” “I didn’t know you had family in Las Pegasus,” Faerie Dust said, probably placing Tiger Fury’s accent. “Well, not anymore I don’t,” Phoenix said. “Now that Tiger’s moved here.” Tiger Fury nodded. “Las Pegasus was getting too hot if youse know what I mean.” “What… what did you do in Las Pegasus…?” Faerie Dust asked, looking worried. Her fear wasn’t unjustified; Las Pegasus well deserved its reputation as a corrupt crime-ridden Tartarushole. “Protection,” Tiger Fury said. “P-protection racket?” Faerie Dust cried, the cup shaking in her hooves. “From other mobs,” Phoenix said quickly. “Not from himself. Uncle, you’ve got to realize that means something different in most places…” “Sorry,” Tiger Fury said, rubbing his spikey mane with one hoof. It always sprung back into the exact same manestyle. “So. Um.” Faerie Dust took a long sip of cocoa. “Th-this is abrupt I guess, but, um… do you know about slavery in Las Pegasus?” “Yes. Sold some in my time,” Tiger Fury said casually. Faerie Dust choked on her cocoa. “Hey, youse have slaves, little miss faerie,” Tiger Fury said. “It’s different. They live there. They’re family. Not that I’m happy about that either, but selling them around like animals…” “In Las Pegasus and most of Equestria slavery is more like paying them seven year’s wages in advance,” Tiger Fury says. Faerie Dust stared into her cup. “I guess I never knew… I just… I just hate all of it but there’s no good way to end it, is there?” “Not as far as Manehattan is concerned,” Tiger Fury said. “Youse gotta understand; a lot of ponies like having that kinda fallback, like an emergency source of cash for medical emergencies or mob trouble. And loan sharks like havin’ security, and as long as slavery is legal anypony can get security.” He reached over and gently punched Phoenix in the shoulder. “Well, not this one. If I put him up for market I’d get like a nickel for him tops.” Phoenix laughed weakly. “That’s not a nice thing to say…” Faerie Dust said. “It was supposed to be reassuring…” Tiger Fury said. “For complicated tax reasons I usually have to put down that the lender is willing to be sold as a slave if they can’t pay their debt but I only used that privilege a hoofful of times in my career… Don’t look at me like that, missy.” “It still feels all wrong…” Faerie Dust nervously sipped some cocoa. “Let’s talk about things that aren’t slavery. So where do you like better, Canterlot or Las Pegasus?” Tiger Fury sighed. “I’m not going to pretend Las Pegasus is a great place. There’s more pain and corruption there than a pretty girl like youse can comprehend. And yet… I felt needed there. Like I could make a difference. Here I just hand out money…” The conversation lulled. “Hi, nephew.” It was everyone’s turn to jump at the strange new feminine voice. A black unicorn mare slid soundlessly from the shadow of a desk where she physically couldn’t have been hiding. Her mane was black, with a half ponytail in the back and bangs in the front partially obscuring her wine-red eyes. Her outfit was a navy blue sailor suit with a red tie and matching skirt; her cutie mark was a purple vial with smoke curling out of it forming both a heart and a skull and crossbones. “D-D-Donna!” Tiger Fury stammered. “I didn’t realize you would be back so soon.” “Nothing… interesting to watch…” Donna said, languidly brushing her bangs with one forehoof. “And who is… this… female?” “Sh-she’s with me,” Phoenix said. “Oh… touching…” Donna smirked. “Glad to see… you can still… find love… after… well… her…” Faerie Dust stood up. “How dare you!?” “Dusty, no!” Phoenix said, standing up and zipping between the two mares. “D-Dusty didn’t mean any disrespect; she’s just a child and doesn’t know what she’s saying-” “Am not and do to!” Faerie Dust tried to weave around Phoenix. Ignoring her, Phoenix continued pleading to Donna, “Please don’t torture her with your deadly poisons….” “Try it and my grandmother will kick you back to Las Pegasus!” Faerie Dust said. “Maybe… she will…” Donna said. “Of course… you’d still… be dead… hee… hee… hee…” She turned aside, stared at the ground, and chuckled darkly to herself. Phoenix practically rammed Faerie Dust out the door. This was made easier by the fact that she didn’t seem that resistant. When they were safely on the street outside, they both stopped to recover. “She was scary…” Faerie Dust said. “Who was she anyway? Did she call you nephew?” “That was Tiger Fury’s wife and subordinate on paper, Belladonna Shadowvial,” Phoenix said. The two started walking back the way they came, on their way to the law offices. “Wife? Why did he marry a meanie like her?” Faerie Dust said. For a while Phoenix considered how to answer. “There’s… a third kind of slavery, besides the inherited and bondslaves,” Phoenix said. “It’s harder to get a handle on, but it’s about… when two families want to form alliances, they marry their kids off. You know?” “Um… I think so,” Faerie Dust said. “But that was a long time ago, right?” “I have no idea how often it happens today. Apparently it’s kind of a thing in Las Pegasus.” Phoenix kicked an acorn down the street. “Of course it’s legal there because nothing’s illegal there, but here there’s a variation. When the kids are underage, their parent or guardian has the right to sign off on their marriage, so the parents can kind of sell the rights to marry their child. Though to keep it impossible to prosecute, they’ll make the price something intangible, like an alliance.” “But why would the kids go along with it?” Faerie Dust ground an acorn under one hoof. “Depends. Sometimes it’s because they’re scared to do anything but obey.” Phoenix looked over his shoulder. “And I know in Tiger Fury’s case it’s a matter of business. He wants to sell protection, but nopony will believe he can protect them if he’s too scared to marry a cute little filly in a sailor suit.” “A cute little filly in a sailor suit who’s descended from a line of infamous assassins?” Faerie Dust asked. “Even then.” They walked in silence for a while after that. “…Phoenix?” Faerie Dust asked. “Yes?” “What you said… about being sold into marriage… was that… was that the story behind her?” Phoenix stopped cold. The wind blew, wrapping itself around him like forelegs wrapped around him in an embrace, promising to never ever let go…. “No.” Phoenix kicked another acorn. “That was just my own stupidity.” They didn’t say anything more after that. Walking along, cold and silent. Phoenix struggled to forget, but the memories, painful as they were, were some of the sweetest he’d even known… Before he knew it, they were only a block from the law offices. Phoenix stopped. “Look… maybe we should… not go to the office together…?” “This isn’t fair; we’re both adults,” Faerie Dust said. “You shouldn’t have to do whatever my sister makes you; you’re not her slave.” Phoenix rolled an acorn under his hoof. “I’m a talentless pony and a pegasus who can’t fly. She’s a famous attorney with high profile cases. Many ponies would pay for the opportunity to work for her, but she chose me. I owe her everything.” He sighed. “And I don’t like making her unhappy, but I don’t want you to be unhappy either and I don’t know what to do and sometimes I think it’d be better if we never met.” “Don’t say that,” Faerie Dust said, reaching over to touch his shoulder. “Only sometimes…” Phoenix said, lamely attempting to recover. “Hang on a minute. You’re not an adult.” Faerie Dust stuck her tongue out. “I’m eighteen. It’s not my fault my granny said I’m too immature to be legally considered an adult.” “That’s kind of a weird concept to me, that a guardian would want to keep their children legally dependant longer,” Phoenix said. “My mom kicked me out as soon as I turned fourteen and she was allowed to call me an adult. Not because I was mature or anything; she just wanted to stop paying my medical bills…” “I’m so sorry,” Faerie Dust muttered. “Don’t be; leaving was better than staying.” The two stood awkwardly on the sidewalk for a moment. “Maybe I should go…” Phoenix said. “Mmm-hmm…” Faerie Dust said. The rest of the day was menial chores around the office. When Mystic Faerie left for the night, Phoenix tried to persuade her to not lock the door, but she just shook her head and sighed and told him horror stories about burglars and slavers until Phoenix withdrew his request. His last thoughts before going to sleep that night were wishes that he could stop being such a doormat.