Wha… where am I? was all Twilight could initially think as she awoke in an unfamiliar place, shivering from an uncharacteristic chill in her body. Blinking, she pulled herself up and found herself… in a courtroom. Not the one she was familiar with from Rainbow Dash’s trial and the two subsequent ones she assisted Phoenix in, but one that was… darker and firegem-lit, like something out of ancient times. She heard indistinct voices and saw shadowy shapes around her in the low light, but couldn’t recognize any of them. What’s going on…? She tried to light her horn, only to be restrained with a sharp stab of pain as a sharp rap sounded from the direction of the judge’s bench.
“Order! Order!” a dangerously familiar female voice called out, its owner hidden in the shadows by its dark coat. “This court will come to order!” she further announced with an evil grin, showing two rows of white pointed teeth that glowed bright in the moonlight, causing her guts to clench when she recognized the gleam of the judge’s helm, her midnight-purple coat, oversized wings and very long horn.
It was then she further realized she was restrained, a collar around her neck similar to the one Trixie wore in her trial and she was bound in place, confined to the defendant’s chair to the right of the defense bench… at which sat nopony. “Wh-what’s happening?” she cast about in panic, looking for her friends—for if the being sitting on the judge’s chair was somehow there and real, the only chance to defeat her was to activate the Elements of Harmony. “Where am I?”
“Isn’t it obvious, Twilight Sparkle?” Nightmare Moon asked her, the lights coming up just enough to illuminate the large and evil alicorn further, confirming her identity to Twilight’s sinking heart. A knot of fear quickly grew in her as she realized that Shining Armor and Delta Strike were also there, flanking the judge’s bench and dressed as bailiffs. They glared at her with angry, disapproving expressions, their uniforms altered to be darker and more ominous, marking them as servants of the Nightmare herself. “You are on trial. And your precious Elements won’t save you this time!” she leered.
“You’re wrong!” Twilight replied immediately, trying to work up courage and finding little, fear clutching at her heart as she beheld the terrifying creature, one she’d only barely stood up to before. “Wh-when my friends arrive, we’ll…”
Nightmare cut her off with a cackle. “Your friends are here, little Twilight…” she nodded behind her. “For all the good it does you!”
“Wh-what?” she spun and beheld… Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and even Fluttershy there, all gazing down on her with disgusted looks, forelegs crossed. Pinkie’s hair was flat, her eyes harsh, while Rarity simply stuck her nose up in the air at an angle, affecting an air of disdainful revulsion as beside her, Fluttershy simply turned her back. Only Applejack and Rainbow Dash would meet her eyes, and it was to shake their heads reproachfully.
“G-girls… pl-please…” she begged them, tears welling in her eyes. “W-we have to…”
“Halfta what?” Applejack challenged. “After what y’ did to him? Ya ain’t our friend no more. Far as Ah’m concerned, she can do whatever she wants with ya!”
“And how!” Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out. “How could we have ever liked a perverted egghead like you?”
“I’m never throwing a party for you again!” Pinkie Pie announced. “Not after hurting Feenie!”
“H-how could you, Twilight? H-how could you do that to Mister Phoenix…?” Fluttershy began to cry while Rarity simply harrumphed and gave Twilight the silent treatment, turning her gaze on her former friend just long enough for her icy stare and manner to chill Twilight’s heart further.
“You are no longer my student, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia announced from one row higher, sitting among the other spectators; Spike, Trixie and even her parents were among them. “I did not teach you such selfish misuse of your magic. Banishment is too good for such crimes, but our long association means I must recuse myself from the bench. So it is The Nightmare that will judge you instead,” her eyes narrowed.
“Thank you, former sister. You are as gracious as you are wise. For recalling us to sit in judgement, we almost forgive your banishment of us,” Nightmare Moon closed her eyes and grinned. “Now where were we… ah yes!” she announced theatrically, materializing a scroll written on dark parchment, bearing her seal. “The charges against Twilight Sparkle are as follows: multiple counts of misuse of magic, illegal influence of minds, imposing physical transformation against one’s will, repeated invasions of privacy, violations of the sanctity of self and most grave of all…” she paused as if to savor the moment, “rape and deliberate injury of a stallion.”
“Wh-what?” Twilight recoiled.
The alicorn’s grin got wider. “And these charges carry a hefty penalty, and I have such an interesting range of punishments to choose from. Should it be exile from Equestria? Or perhaps removal of the horn? A millennium of imprisonment might suffice… perchance even banishment to the moon, where you wouldst become my servant and plaything,” she grinned lasciviously, causing Twilight’s fear to deepen. “But then again, you might convince me to be merciful… simply by admitting your guilt.”
“No! Throw the book at her!” an angry Spike demanded from the stands. “The ones she always made me organize!”
“I knew you were bad for Nick, Sparkle!” Maya added from beside him. “But after this, you won’t hurt him ever again!”
“Wh-where’s my lawyer?” a reeling Twilight looked around frantically, seeing again the empty defense bench. “Where’s Phoenix?”
She cackled again, and this time her laughter was shared by everypony in the audience. “He would not defend you. And you can hardly blame him,” Nightmare Moon leaned partway over the bench to stare down at Twilight in triumph. “For what you did, there is no defense, Twilight Sparkle. And knowing that, nopony would take your case. But fear not. Your precious Phoenix is here…” she said as she nodded to her left. Twilight followed her eyes to see…
Phoenix Wright standing at the prosecutor’s bench!
Twilight jaw dropped and heart sank. “Ph-Phoenix?” she called to him. This c-can’t be happening…
His only response was a cold stare and crossed arms as Nightmare Moon spoke again. “Is the prosecution ready?” she asked him.
Phoenix waited a beat before answering “The prosecution has never been more ready,” he replied at length, his new prosecutor badge gleaming bright even in the low light of the room.
“Then by all means, give your opening statement,” Nightmare Moon invited.
“Ph-Phoenix… pl-please…” she called to him again through tears, but this time, he wouldn’t even look at her. Am I really… abandoned…? She began to cry.
* * * * *
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Phoenix acknowledged, his stance strangely reversed in that he kept his left hand on his hip, not his right. “As this court is only too aware, I first encountered Twilight Sparkle nearly four months ago, when she summoned me to Equestria to defend her friend.”
“And this summoning… was it willful?” Nightmare Moon asked as if she already knew the answer.
“It… was… not…” Phoenix grated out, briefly glaring at Twilight, causing her to cringe. “She pulled me into Equestria against my will and forced me to defend her friend!”
“B-But… I was just doing what I was told!” Twilight protested. “A-and I didn’t force you!”
Nightmare Moon’s silver-armored hoof came down like a gavel with a sharp rap. “The defendant will be silent while the opening statement is in progress,” she ordered. Her horn flared briefly, and suddenly Twilight couldn’t talk, her mouth moving uselessly. “She will have a chance to testify later. In the meantime… proceed, Prosecutor Wright.” She took particular glee, some part of Twilight noticed, in saying his new title.
“With pleasure, Your Honor,” Phoenix picked right back up where he left off and proceeded to recite the full litany of her sins and times she’d use magic; not just against his will, but the will of others.
Tagging him with a tracing spell after he’d been attacked. The scrying spell she’d used on Trixie. Repeated attempts to entice him with her pink aura, even his very first night in Equestria as they investigated the clearing where the murder took place. On and on the list went, each instance weighing heavily on her conscience anew, until finally…
“And I don’t think I need tell this court what she did to me just hours ago!” he slammed his hands down on his rail hard. “Transforming me against my will! Forcing me to take her in such an unnatural way!” his face contorted in disgust, his reaction all the more sharpened as Twilight felt, to her horror, her aura going pink again at the memory, visible even despite her restraint collar, which prevented magical casting but not expressions of mood. “And just look at her! She liked it!” he pointed an accusing finger at her, to expressions of revulsion and derision from the stands.
Still unable to speak, she shook her head violently even as she impossibly felt her excitement rising again to the levels it had earlier that night, her magic suddenly straining hard at the restraint collar.
“Indeed,” Nightmare Moon grinned evilly like she recognized what was happening. “And it would appear she still does. Is something wrong, Miss Sparkle? You seem… discomfited…” she asked almost lazily.
Twilight sensed what was going to happen, what her magic was about to do… but could not stop it. Her power burst free, shattering her collar and chains as it began tugging Phoenix towards her. She tried to stop it, but suddenly her desires for him were impossibly all-consuming and her mating magic again acted of its own accord, ripping his blue suit and undergarments right off him before imposing the same transformation as before, leaving his altered equipment even bigger than before.
“NO!” she shrieked, unable to defeat her own urges or control her aura as she felt herself being dragged back towards him. “Not here… not in front of everypony!” she pleaded with her own power, but it did not obey, seemingly answering only to her basest desires and not to her conscious will. Within seconds, they were performing the same unnatural act as before, bringing tears to her eyes again as she sensed her undeniable enjoyment of it, sensed the disgust of all watching…
And worse, their eyes on her only increased her enjoyment and passions further, causing her aura to intensify its efforts even more, leaving no doubt to her or anyone else of her guilt. “Such a public display, Twilight Sparkle…” Nightmare Moon needled her as she watched the obscene act almost lazily, Twilight hearing each of her words keenly despite what she was experiencing, each one causing a fresh wave of weakness within her. “One would almost think that you enjoy being watched…” the evil alicorn twisted her knife deeper, Twilight’s insides now all but afire with pleasure.
F-fire…? She suddenly blinked, then realized what was also rising within her… elemental powers surging along with her out-of-control mating magic. “No! No! NOOOOOOO!” she shrieked but it was too late. She exploded into her fire form as she reached climax, immolating Phoenix, who staggered back, ensheathed in flame, and finally keeled over, seemingly dead.
“Well, then. It would appear Phoenix Wright was correct to fear your lack of control, Twilight Sparkle,” Nightmare Moon noted with a grin as Twilight sobbed over his body, her powers having betrayed her for the final time. “Your guilt is now all but proven, but formalities must still be observed. As the trial cannot proceed without a prosecutor…” her horn flared and enveloped Phoenix’s body, remaking him. “How fitting that he is named Phoenix!” When she finished, a now-furious Phoenix had been reborn from his own ashes like his namesake… and completely transformed. Instead of his blue suit, the flames fused into an identical red one, while his hair went from black to fiery, his eyes glowing the same red that hers did in her fire form.
He now looked like a demon of vengeance, ready to drag Twilight down to Tartarus where she increasingly believed she belonged. Her vision started to go dark as the demonic Phoenix began to accuse her again, but she no longer heard him. All she could hear were her own sobs of despair as she knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that she could not be with Phoenix, that neither her magic nor her own magic-driven desires could be trusted. That she had hurt him and she could not take it back, and it had cost her everything. She felt like she was drowning in an ocean of inky blackness, icy tendrils reaching into her, clawing at her very soul… and she didn’t care. It doesn’t matter anymore… after what I did… just let it end…
And then, abruptly, a presence broke through the din, a pair of glowing, cat-slitted eyes drawing her like a moth to a flame; she instinctively migrated to the only possible source of warmth in her cold and hurting soul. It does not have to end, Twilight Sparkle… Nightmare Moon’s voice sounded clearly in her head. You can still have all that you desire. Your mate… your friends… they can be with you again… she promised.
R-really? She called to it, barely daring to hope even as some part of her recoiled, sensing dark magic and evil intent. You can undo what I did to him? I can be with him again? She called out with her thoughts in a foal-like voice.
Indeed, the voice whispered seductively. All you need to do is accept your guilt and your punishment. All you need do… is surrender to me… the voice of The Nightmare cooed softly to her. All you need do… is join with me. And all will be made right…
But… I… this isn’t real… this isn’t right… part of her still recognized, even then. Deep in her being, she sensed she was in danger, but lost in despair, she felt herself drifting inexorably closer to the voice, to its dark embrace and the promise of absolution it offered.
Join with me, Twilight… the voice of Nightmare Moon invited again. Join with me, and all is forgiven. Join with me, and the love of Phoenix Wright will be yours forever… it promised her as the darkness began to swallow her whole.
Twilight didn’t know how long she had been there… how long it had been since the darkness had consumed her. She could barely recall what had led her there to begin with, aside from one fact: she had hurt Phoenix gravely, and he was suffering for it. Nothing matters now… not after that.
A flicker of blue light pierced the veil of darkness that had settled around Twilight. She barely looked at it, consumed as she was by her turmoil. But when the light flared brightly, shattering the darkness around her, Twilight looked up… to see that things had changed.
Gone was the demonic version of Phoenix. Indeed, the entire gallery now stood empty, where it had been full of shadows before. And standing directly in front of Twilight was a human woman that she remembered seeing once before, if only via spirit channeling… though she didn’t have a pair of white-feathered wings sprouting from her back then, flared like a shield before her.
“M-Mia Fey?” she called out.
“It’s all right, Twilight. I’m here. I will not let her harm you,” she called back, her voice and the light somehow radiating off her breaking through, at least partially lifting the darkness that was now enveloping her, though she felt its tendrils clinging cloyingly to mind and spirit.
“Harm me? Who…?” her thought processes felt very sluggish, focusing with difficulty on the apparition before her. “Nightmare… Moon?” she recognized again, a faint buzzing sound coming from behind her that part of her insisted was from Phoenix. But… he hates me… now everypony does… she realized in renewed despair. I hurt him… I hurt everypony…
She was only vaguely aware of the confrontation in front of her, finding it very hard to process their words. Finally, the two suddenly split off to go to separate sides of the room. Mia took her place at the defense bench, and Nightmare Moon at the prosecutor’s table where Phoenix had earlier been. But… that couldn’t have been Phoenix… part of her insisted. This isn’t… real…
Her train of thought was interrupted as she heard another, all too familiar voice. “Wha? What is this place? And why is Trixie here…?”
That’s all I need, Twilight thought miserably. Another reminder of somepony I’ve failed…
* * * * *
Trixie glanced around in confusion. The last thing she remembered clearly was going to sleep in her wagon, near Appleloosa. Now she appeared to be in a courtroom, albeit one far darker and more ominous in appearance than the one she was familiar with in Ponyville. She took a good look around, examining everything she could.
“Let’s see… a winged human woman who seems vaguely familiar at the defense bench…” She cataloged, then glanced at the prosecutor’s bench, only slightly startled at who was there. “… Nightmare Moon as the prosecutor, and…” Leaning over, she was able to make out a familiar lavender unicorn at the defendant’s chair. “Twilight Sparkle as the defendant?” She broke out in a huge grin. “Clearly, Trixie is having a dream. A weird, yet wonderful dream.” She stood up and raised a chin, putting a hoof on her chest.
“But what are dreams, if not reflections of what is in our hearts… Your Honor?” Nightmare Moon asked her with a smile, putting particular emphasis on her last two words. “What purpose do dreams serve, if not to fulfill our deepest desires and wishes?”
Trixie blinked at the form of address, watching as a stairway suddenly formed in front of her, leading up to judge’s bench… “Hm… so Trixie is to pass judgement on Twilight Sparkle?” She grinned almost giddily. “Even if this is but a dream, it is a chance Trixie cannot refuse! But as judge, I will need some appropriate attire…” As she spoke, a purple robe with her trademark stars shimmered into existence around her body, covering more than her cape usually did, and a gavel appeared in her hoof. “Much better. Now then, let’s do this properly, shall we? For if I am to find her guilty, I intend to savor every moment!” She rapped the gavel on the bench, delighting in the sharp sound it made. “Court is now in session for the trial of Twilight Sparkle! Are the defense and the prosecution prepared?” she lounged back in her chair, almost leisurely.
“The prosecution has been prepared, Your Honor,” Nightmare Moon said with a grin. “And has a veritable mountain of evidence to present.”
“You’re trying to stack the deck, Nightmare. But I don’t care.” The winged human woman closed her eyes and crossed her arms. “The defense is likewise prepared, Your Honor. And fully intends to prove the defendant innocent… not just to you, but to her,” the human woman said as she looked back up and nodded at Twilight, a stern and determined look on her face.
Instead of responding with snark, Trixie stared at Mia for a moment. “You remind Trixie of somepony she really doesn’t like,” she noted, eyes narrowing before brightening again. “But that will just make ruling against you all the more fun! Very well, then,” the showmare nodded. “Prosecutor Moon, will you be so kind as to outline for Trixie the case against Miss Sparkle…?”
* * * * *
“That… ungrateful…” Phoenix bit off his last word as he watched a very gleeful Trixie ascend the offered stairwell to the judge’s bench and take her seat, immediately materializing herself a robe and gavel. “Trixie will never give Twilight a fair verdict!”
“So The Nightmare thinks. ‘Tis why she summoned her.” Even Luna sounded startled and strangely troubled; she immediately dimmed the portal they were looking through when Trixie appeared even though Phoenix could still see the darkened courtroom clearly. “She hath nary an intention of playing fair, Phoenix Wright. She never did,” Luna all but snarled. “We learned from bitter experience that she knoweth only too well how to use a pony’s fears and desires against them.”
“But there’s gotta be something we can do!” he told her in frustration, feeling helpless. He knew Mia could certainly defend Twilight, but… dammit, I can’t just stand out here and do NOTHING! “Is there any way you could get me inside there, Princess? If I can just reach Twilight, maybe I can snap her out of it…”
“Perchance there is…” Luna told him cautiously, then closed her eyes and concentrated, flaring her horn briefly. But whatever she did, nothing changed and the moon princess did not explain her spell. “But have faith, Phoenix Wright. Methinks that using Trixie as judge shalt not work as well as she thinks…” Luna set her jaw. “In truth… we have been watching Trixie Lulamoon for some time. And we do not believe she is the pony that the Nightmare and others think her to be.”
Phoenix looked at her. “What do you mean?”
Abruptly, the Nightmare looked out at them and laughed. “So you have designs on her too, my former host? Be warned you are not the only one,” the disguised alicorn cackled, startling them both. “Not that I blame you. Her power makes her an excellent prize.”
“If she is the prize thou claimeth, then why hast thou not tried to possess her thyself?” Luna challenged, recovering quickly. “Methinks thou wouldst have found her a far easier capture than Twilight Sparkle!”
“Call it professional courtesy.” The Nightmare closed her eyes and smiled. “And she is not as powerful or valuable to me as the Element of Magic herself…”
Trixie looked annoyed, rapping her gavel. “What is this? Who are you talking to?” she demanded to know, making Phoenix realize that whatever Luna had done, they could see in but Trixie could not see out… though apparently the Nightmare still could. “Trixie asked you a question: what are the charges against Twilight Sparkle?” she repeated, somewhat more annoyed that her dream was somehow not fully under her control. “The sooner Trixie hears them, the sooner we reach the guilty verdict!”
“My sincerest apologies, Your Honor. I shall now detail them forthwith…” the Nightmare bowed low, but never losing her grin. “In short, Twilight Sparkle stands accused of a multitude of different crimes, all quite serious. Among them are misuse of magic, illegal and unethical influence of minds, imposing physical transformation against one’s will, repeated invasions of privacy and most grave of all…” she repeated her earlier statement almost word for word, “the repeated rape and deliberate injury of a stallion.”
Trixie looked surprised, then grinned. “Oh really? This should be good…” she leaned forward eagerly as Mia listened dispassionately, her arms still crossed and eyes closed as Phoenix knew she often did when she was concentrating. “By all means, tell me more! So just who did she force herself on?”
Nightmare Moon smiled as Twilight slumped. “The human named Phoenix Wright.”
Mia spoke up for the first time in the trial. “The charge of rape is invalid as Phoenix Wright consented to every encounter! And the defense requests he be called as a witness to confirm this!” she pointed across the floor, and Phoenix quickly appreciated what she was trying to do—get him inside the barrier where he could be seen and heard by Twilight.
“The word of Phoenix Wright cannot be trusted, given Twilight’s magical influence on him,” the Nightmare responded quickly. “He is human and therefore has no defense against magic. He has no idea what her mating aura might have done to him, or even if his choices were actually his own.” She looked right out at Phoenix as she spoke, grinning like she knew his fears firsthand, making his guts clench.
“Do not listen to her, Phoenix Wright,” Luna told him. “She will allow Twilight to feel thy doubt and fears, which she would then use against her. Be assured she is lying, as she so oft does. We can see into thy heart as easily as she… and know the truth just as much as she.”
In contrast to Phoenix’s uncertainty, Trixie’s expression morphed from one of glee to distaste. “She rutted him?” the showmare asked in disbelief. “And more than once?”
“I believe there is an objection before Your Honor,” Mia pointed out patiently, her eyes still closed. “We need a ruling.”
Trixie looked over at Mia. “You know, you even sound like her…” she noted, giving the human woman a sideways, suspicious stare. “But whatever. I don’t care about that. Trixie will not accept suspect testimony from a weakling human that could be easily influenced by Equestrian magic. Further, Phoenix Wright is a lawyer and thus, an accomplished liar, willing to say or do anything to save a friend or client… as he so richly proved in the trial of Rainbow Dash when he falsely accused Fluttershy,” she all but sneered. “So either way, his word is worthless. Objection overruled!” She brought a gavel down hard. “Wow. That does feel good…”
“A wise decision, Your Honor,” the Nightmare grinned, and even a frustrated Phoenix had to admit that given the circumstances and his past record, it was the correct one as the spirit-turned-alicorn continued. “And I’m certain you will have more opportunity to give them. May I proceed?”
“In a moment, Prosecutor Moon,” Trixie replied with a matching grin, unable to resist a dig at Twilight. “So what’s wrong, Snarkle? No stallion would give your flank a second look? Were you just that hard up for male company that you had to force yourself on a human? Or do you just have a thing for hairless apes with no magic?”
“The defense requests that Your Honor refrain from insulting my client,” Mia asked evenly as Twilight slumped further in her seat, tears welling in her eyes once more.
Trixie gave her another look. “Every time I look at or hear you, I see and hear her…” she all but hissed. “Trixie doesn’t know who you are, or why my mind would have come up with you. But this is my dream and I’ll say or do whatever I please!”
“Unfortunately, it is not, Your Honor,” Mia said, looking up to lock eyes with Trixie for the first time. “Since we have not been formally introduced, allow me to do so now: my name is Mia Fey. I am Phoenix Wright’s mentor, and the older sibling of Maya Fey, whom I believe you already met,” she grinned.
“You’re her sister?” Trixie’s jaw dropped open, then she examined her more closely. “Yes, Trixie supposes there is a resemblance… although from what we know of human beauty standards, she obviously got the short end of the stick as far as looks are concerned.”
For the first time Mia’s eyes narrowed, but she otherwise ignored the slight. “The point, Your Honor, is that this is no mere dream. The stakes here are only too real, and you must put aside any personal enmity towards me or my client to render a proper verdict. If you do not, then not just Twilight but all Equestria—and even Earth itself—may regret it.”
“Don’t listen to her, Your Honor,” The Nightmare grinned again. ‘Tis your dream after all, so by all means have as much fun with it as you like,” she suggested evenly.
“Don’t worry, Trixie fully intends to make the most of this opportunity!” her eyes flashed, glowing blue for a just a moment. “For all the defeats and humiliations Snarkle and Mister Wrong visited upon Trixie, there is nothing you could tell me that could convince her to not return a guilty verdict!” she leaned over the bench to glare at Mia. “Now then, Prosecutor Moon… elaborate on the charges you have laid against Twilight Sparkle.”
“With greatest pleasure, Your Honor…” she grinned. “Then let us start by calling a witness to her innumerable crimes. Namely, my former prosecutor, and the defendant’s now-former plaything…” She flared her horn and the pile of shards beside her suddenly stirred again. A wind whipped through the room, chilling Twilight to the bone as it took shape, within seconds gaining the form once more of a red-suited, fire-haired Phoenix Wright, one that even startled Trixie.
“The defense calls Phoenix Wright to the stand.” The Nightmare announced with a smile.
“It should be perfectly obvious to Your Honor that is NOT Phoenix Wright! And even if it was, the prosecution just said that the testimony of Phoenix Wright cannot be trusted. She cannot have it both ways, Your Honor!”
“This Phoenix Wright is one of Twilight Sparkle’s own creation. The inevitable result of her magical meddling and injuries to him, turning him into someone unrecognizable to all. One who has every reason to hate her… and abandon her.” she recited slowly, evoking a stifled sob from Twilight and allowing one the Nightmare’s tendrils to sink another inch into her. ”And one who has every reason to tell the truth about what transpired.”
Trixie stared at the demonic version of Phoenix for a moment, then rubbed her eyes. “That’s it. No more spiced pinecones from Burro food carts before bedtime,” she muttered to herself. “But fine, Trixie will go with it. By all means, Trixie would love hearing from the mouth of Phoenix Wright himself how much he hates her. Objection Overruled!” she banged her gavel again, then lounged back in her seat with a look of lazy anticipation.
Mia didn’t give up. “Your Honor, you are dishonoring your bench, and yourself… to say nothing of the help Twilight Sparkle and Phoenix Wright gave you in your own trial.”
“What does that have to do with this?” Trixie demanded to know, though her sharp tone of voice told Phoenix that Mia had touched a raw nerve. “She didn’t help me, she humiliated me! Again!” she started trembling.
“If memory serves, she saved you from a certain guilty verdict at the hooves of a corrupt judge, and then later fought hard along with Phoenix Wright to defend you, winning a verdict that spared you any jail time. So tell me, Trixie Lulamoon… are you okay with being as unfairly biased against Twilight Sparkle as Fair Verdict was against you?” Mia retorted, her arms crossed and staring pointedly.
Trixie flinched at that, her expression dropping, and watching from outside, Phoenix was likewise stunned—but Maya never channeled her in Equestria! How does she know about that? Was she watching me from the afterlife the whole time…?
“What? How did you… but… I… this is different!” the showmare sputtered, shaking her head sharply. “Fair Verdict was bribed and unfairly biased against me just because of what I am!” she further added, Phoenix instantly noting she had slipped back into first-person speech from the still-sore emotional point of her trial.
“Whereas you’re biased against Twilight Sparkle out of little more than simple spite, bribed with a promise of petty vengeance for supposed slights that were in large part of your own making—a point I believe your own grandfather made to you?” Mia replied, causing Trixie to flinch even more sharply, now staring at the human woman agape. “Under any normal circumstance, you would not even be allowed to stand in this courtroom, let alone sit at the bench. However, as this is assuredly not a normal circumstance and I cannot request your recusal, I must ask that whatever issues you have with my client, you save them for the waking world.”
She paused for a moment to let a speechless Trixie process her words. “If you will not do so for the sake of my client, then at least do so for the sake of your grandfather, who begged you to let go of your hate and hurt.” her voice softened. “He may not be here as I am, but be assured Shadowmoon is watching you right now, Trixie. Do not disappoint him as you have so often in the past.”
“Don’t listen to her!” The Nightmare hissed. “Nothing here is real except what you wish to be. And if you wish Twilight to be found guilty… it is in your power to make happen! Simply declare it, and it shall be!”
Mia didn’t let up, continuing to address a badly wavering Trixie. “Besides that, I’m surprised you would take what Nightmare Moon says at face value, given her reputation as a liar.”
Nightmare Moon was scowling at Mia now. “A liar, am I? You don’t know the first thing about me, spirit!”
“I know that you are a demon of dreams and possessor of souls. I know that you once enthralled Princess Luna, promising her the adoration and respect of her subjects. I know you promised her that she would be as beloved as her sister,” Mia recited, causing the Nightmare’s eyes to go wide, Luna nodding her agreement from outside the barrier in bitter memory. “And yet, what happened? Luna was, and still is to this day, viewed with fear and suspicion amongst the ponies of Equestria because of what you did. So what else can I call you but a liar?”
The Nightmare gave her a sneer. “So I am being accused of serial lying by a defense attorney? Lies are your stock in trade!”
Both Mia and Nightmare Moon looked up at Trixie at the shout. The unicorn took a deep breath, rubbing her head with a hoof. “The defense… has made a valid point,” she said with obvious reluctance, to the Nightmare’s visible shock. “Just to be clear, Mia Fey… I do not like you or even understand how you could know these things about me. I have no idea how my subconscious mind came up with you, but you remind me too much of an old enemy and thus far I find you just as manipulative as she is!” she all but hissed, then sat back and rubbed her eyes again.
“And yet… even if this is but a dream… were I to declare Twilight Sparkle ‘guilty’ based purely on my own personal feelings… then I would be no better than Fair Verdict,” she admitted grudgingly. And though I am many things, I will not sink to her level!” With that, she seemed to take new resolution as sat back in her chair, her voice much calmer than before. “Make no mistake—I still don’t believe this is real, or that my grandfather is somehow watching this. But out of respect for his memory and a simple desire to see proper justice done, I will try to judge Twilight Sparkle based on the evidence and testimony presented.”
“Thank you Your Honor,” Mia nodded in satisfaction while The Nightmare fumed.
“You are making a mistake, Trixie Lulamoon,” she turned her ire on the mare magician for the first time, baring her teeth again in anything but a pleasant grin. “Pray you do not give me cause to make you regret it.”
Trixie gave her an odd look. “I’ll take my chances.” She then regarded both sides, her eyes narrowing. “Now then… we are here to confirm or disprove the guilt of Twilight Sparkle in regards to the charges laid by Prosecutor Moon. And if Trixie is to be a real judge, then she must act as one. And that means any more threats against the bench or pointless attacks on the character of either the defense or prosecution will be met with a steep penalty… and I remind you both that whether this is a dream or not, I have the power to make it happen.” Her eyes flashed blue in emphasis, the air around her chilling sharply. “Is Trixie clear?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Nightmare Moon grated. “Though it will make little difference,” she said with a hiss, directing a cat-eyed glare at Mia.
“Crystal clear, Your Honor,” Mia replied with the barest hint of a smile, then turned her attention across the darkened courtroom pit, only the light of a moon illuminating the space between them. “The playing field is now level, Nightmare. So I’m afraid you won’t win this case by cheating.”
“We shall see, Mia Fey…” abruptly her smile returned. “We did ask for a true battle of wits. And we grant that thus far, you are providing one.”
“Enough!” Trixie called out, rapping her gavel and suddenly sitting up a little straighter in her seat. “Now call your first witness, Prosecutor Moon… whatever he is,” she frowned at the Red Phoenix.
“As you wish,” she acknowledged, as Red Phoenix walked to the witness stand, hair aflame and eyes aglow.
* * * * *
Outside of the Nightmare’s barrier, Luna smiled at a gobsmacked Phoenix.
“I don’t believe it…” he told her. “She actually got Trixie to be fair!”
“‘Tis true, thy mentor is quite clever… but e’en her efforts would not have worked had Trixie lacked all conscience or heart.” The moon princess nodded in great satisfaction. “We told thee that there was more to Trixie Lulamoon than met the eye, Phoenix Wright. And thus, the Nightmare has made her first miscalculation. One of the major pieces on her side of the board has been removed, and we sense that she had staked much of this trial on Trixie’s bias. Now she must win legitimately and can only do so by making a solid case against Twilight Sparkle. One even she will believe.“
Phoenix nodded dumbly, barely daring to hope that Mia could yet pull off the impossible… and wanting with every fiber of his being to help. “But what is that thing?” He pointed at his doppelganger. “Twilight has to know that’s not me!”
“We regret that in some ways, it is thee, Phoenix Wright,” she shook her head. “‘Tis best described as a dark version of thee, given form and voice by The Nightmare’s magic. ‘Tis not corporeal and cannot exist outside her realm, but she has imbued it with thy memories and select emotions, likely taken from you during dreams,” she explained. “And ‘twould seem the emotions she selected were thy feelings of anger and betrayal thou felt earlier towards thy mate…”
Phoenix slumped. Great… so that thing is all my fears and anger I felt earlier towards Twilight… meaning I’m partially responsible for making him… “I have to get in there…” he told her again, every second he spent outside agony, unable to reach Twilight. “I have to take that thing’s place!”
“Be patient, Phoenix Wright…” Luna promised him. “We have already summoned help…”
“State your name and occupation,” Nightmare addressed her star witness.
“Phoenix Wright. Or rather, what’s left of him,” he all but snarled, his voice that of Phoenix but darker and angrier, a reverberating echo accompanying it “As for my occupation, I was a defense attorney. But now, betrayed and lied to for a second time, I will never defend again! I am now incapable of love or trust, and it’s all thanks to her!” he pointed an accusing finger at Twilight, who slumped again
“Truly a tragic tale,” the Nightmare said almost mournfully. “And just what did she do to turn you into such a fallen creature?”
“Where do I begin?” his eyes flashed, glowing brighter.
—— Witness Testimony ——
Betrayal and Broken PromisesTwilight Sparkle is a selfish mare who ruins every life she touches, to whom friendship is just an opportunity to exploit. She lied to me and tried to seduce me repeatedly, even going back to my first night in Equestria, unable to take no for an answer. She used her magic to force me to love her, then make love to her, making me feel and do things I would never have otherwise! She used magic on me without telling me, and then in her most egregious act and violation of magical law, she transformed me against my will, trying to turn me into her dream stallion! She is a menace to all males of any species, and thus neither she nor her power can be trusted!
The testimony was delivered with great outrage and vehemence, each word heard keenly by Twilight, a fresh stab into her-already battered psyche.
“Dammit, don’t listen to him, Twilight! That’s not ME!” Phoenix yelled uselessly from outside the magical barrier, even as he felt part of his own fears re-emerge. But… what if he’s right? What if her magic did all this to me, even without her knowing…?
Mia glanced out at Phoenix like she could see him as well, and frowned. “Your Honor, the defense moves to strike this witness testimony. It is nothing more than insults and unsubstantiated allegations. The prosecution has not yet produced one shred of evidence to back such outlandish claims!”
“Sworn witness testimony is always given the benefit of the doubt, Mia Fey. If you feel my witness is lying, feel free to prove it in cross-examination. That’s what it’s for,” The Nightmare responded instantly.
Trixie closed her eyes for a moment; she looked to Phoenix to be grappling with her own internal struggle. “Trixie cannot strike testimony simply because the defense doesn’t like it, Mia Fey. But by the same token… as much as Trixie wants to believe this witness and find Twilight guilty of these crimes on the spot… she cannot do so with unsupported allegations, particularly coming from a highly questionable source. The defense is correct that accusations mean nothing without evidence, Prosecutor Moon. I cannot convict with witness testimony alone.”
“Oh, I have plenty of evidence to present, Your Honor,” Nightmare closed her eyes and smiled. “I am simply saving it for opportune moments. And I would not dream of denying my esteemed opponent her right to cross-examine my witness.” She gave a mocking bow across the floor to Mia. “The floor is yours, counselor.”
“And so is he,” Mia said, pulling back a lock of her hair and fixing her gaze on the faux Phoenix Wright.
—— Cross-Examination ——
Twilight Sparkle is a selfish mare who ruins every life she touches, to whom friendship is just an opportunity to exploit.
“Twilight Sparkle is a beloved friend of six mares and many other ponies, each of whom the defense would be happy to call as character witnesses.”
“Their testimony is irrelevant to the issues at hoof, Your Honor. My witness may be engaging in some understandable exaggeration given his experiences with the defendant, but should this become a battle of character witnesses, I can call everyone from neglected former schoolmates to threatened griffins to Your Honor herself!”
Trixie grimaced. “Trixie will not allow this trial to turn into a high school popularity contest! Trixie will decide this case based on evidence, and she reminds the prosecution that thus far she has presented none!”
The Nightmare’s grin only got wider. “I ask for Your Honor’s indulgence for now. Be assured I will present another witness and much accompanying evidence later.”
Mia smiled as well. “If she isn’t willing to present evidence now, that line of testimony should be struck, Your Honor.”
“So ordered,” Trixie rapped her gavel and the line magically erased itself from the trial transcript. “So what did she do to you, witness…?”
She lied to me and tried to seduce me repeatedly, even going back to my first night in Equestria, unable to take no for an answer.
“When did she lie to you?” Mia asked.
Red Phoenix made a derisive sound. “Try my very first night in Equestria, when she said she summoned me by accident!” he answered immediately and with great contempt. “Never mind that ridiculous garbage about using an ‘identity spell’ to learn my name!”
“And did she later explain those lies?” Mia challenged, her tone making clear she already knew the answer, leaving Phoenix wondering again how she knew all that had transpired in Equestria. It’s as if she was there…
The red-suited copy of Phoenix rolled his eyes and snorted. “By claiming Princess Celestia ordered her to make them, yes.”
“And what was her purpose in making them?” Mia followed up.
“Supposedly, to force me to defend her friend.”
“So she did it for others? Funny, I thought you said she was selfish,” Mia chuckled.
“That testimony was struck, Your Honor,” The Nightmare quickly pointed out.
“Withdrawn,” Mia answered before Trixie could rule, then turned her attention back to the Phoenix doppelganger, closing her eyes and grinning. “So by your own testimony… my client’s choice was between defying her mentor or saving her friend by gaining her competent defense counsel?”
Red Phoenix audibly hissed. “She didn’t need me! She could have gotten any Equestrian lawyer to defend Rainbow Dash!!” He slammed his fists down on the rail in direct imitation of the real Phoenix.
“Really. Because I know for a fact she tried a dozen different lawyers before Phoenix, and all declined due to the unheard-of charge of murder.”
“And just how does the defense counsel ‘know this for a fact’?” The Nightmare asked the question Phoenix wanted to.
Instead of answering, Mia looked across the pit and smirked. “I can have my client name each of those dozen attorneys, whom we can then call to testify to the truth of my statement. I’m sure we’ll find at least a few of them asleep, and thus available to be summoned to this realm. But do you really want to waste this court’s time on such a pointless tangent, prosecutor? Or will you just be a good little Nightmare and accept my claim’s veracity?” she needled.
Nightmare lowered her head, her cat-eyes narrowing in anger. “If it means moving on from your equally pointless nitpicks and on to more fertile grounds… the prosecution accepts the defense’s claim and withdraws its objection.”
“Trixie can certainly see how you were Phoenix’s Wright’s mentor!” a facehoofing showmare added from the bench, suddenly wondering just what kind of dream she was having that was giving her flashbacks to Phoenix Wright’s cross-examinations in Rainbow Dash’s trial. “Let Trixie end this line of questioning by saying that since the prosecution concedes the point, this court will not require evidence and accepts that Twilight Sparkle lied—in this one instance—because she was ordered to by the Princess. Now move on!” she ordered Mia, increasingly impatient.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Mia agreed. “Now what was that you were saying, witness…?”
She tried to seduce me repeatedly, even going back to my first night in Equestria, unable to take no for an answer!
“So exactly how did she try to seduce you?” Mia visibly rolled her eyes.
“Do I really have to hear this?” Trixie grimaced.
“He made a claim, so I am allowed to challenge it, Your Honor,” Mia grinned while outside the barrier, Phoenix flushed.
“If you want to humiliate your own client, feel free, counselor,” The Nightmare grinned again as a shoulder-slumped Twilight looked like she wanted to hide.
Mia flicked her but a glance, sparing a more concerned one for Twilight. “Answer the question, witness.”
“Suit yourself, Chief. You even have to ask? By letting her aura go pink around me. By letting her magic go to work on me! She just couldn’t control herself, and that alone makes her a menace to any male she faces!”
“So she directly requested sex while he was in Equestria?” Mia challenged, tapping her fingers on her arm.
Red Phoenix looked triumphant. “Yes. Once. She used her aura on me and everything.”
“And you gave in?” Mia pinned him with a probing stare.
For the first time, he hesitated. “Well… no,” he admitted.
“And did she accept your answer?”
“Yes…” he finally admitted. “But that doesn’t mean…”
Mia looked very smug as she pointed at him. ”But it does mean it. By your own statement, my client was ‘unable to take no for an answer’. Yet you just admitted that she did accept an answer of no the one time she directly offered herself. So how can you claim she ‘couldn’t control herself’ when she in fact respected your wishes?”
The Nightmare tried to head off the damage as she saw Twilight’s head come up slightly as she sensed the truth of Mia’s argument herself. “The defense is trying to focus all this court’s attention on a single incident, Your Honor, as if that nullifies all the others that came after.”
“So is the prosecution suggesting he was raped later?” Mia folded her arms again.
“The prosecution is saying the defendant was working on her victim, even then—or rather, her aura was,” The Nightmare leered at Twilight. “That she was a very patient predator, using it to mold him into her lover.”
“Her mating aura is involuntary!” Mia pointed a finger across the pit at the apparition-turned-alicorn. “When aroused, a unicorn cannot restrain it any more than their breathing! You can’t accuse her of willful rape based on that!”
“I most certainly can, because involuntary or not, she knew its effects!” The Nightmare quickly countered. “She knew he would be much more vulnerable than the average pony to them, lacking as humans are any form of innate magical defense! And she also knew those effects would be cumulative over time with repeated exposures, making him gradually more amenable to her advances! I would be more than happy to call my own expert witnesses to confirm such facts… or would you just be a good little angel and admit my claim’s veracity?” she retaliated as tears began to stream down Twilight’s cheeks.
“That does not prove her motive or establish a pattern of wilful manipulation—particularly when two of the instances were spontaneous!” Mia pointed across the floor.
Trixie’s gavel came down hard again, silencing the back and forth. “Allow me to cut this short by pointing out that whether this claim of willful rape or influence is plausible rests on one simple question: Witness! Did Twilight Sparkle inform you of a mating aura’s effects?” she asked directly.
“Not right away,” he sneered, turning to glare at the object of his hate. “She did later, making some excuse about ‘being a fact of pony life she didn’t think about it at the time’.”
“How convenient,” Nightmare stated simply as Trixie frowned and even Mia grimaced. “And how many times did she show you her pink aura while you were in Equestria?”
“Three! Including once on the very first night!” he pointed an accusing finger at Twilight again, who cringed. “We were investigating the crime scene, and she went pink right in the middle of it! She wanted to have me right then and there!”
“Well. So much for putting the needs of her friends first!” Nightmare noted idly, sinking her fangs into Twilight further.
“Withdrawn,” The Nightmare said easily, though Phoenix knew the damage was done as Twilight slumped further and Trixie’s troubled look got more pronounced.
“You don’t waste time, do you Sparkle?” she finally said at some length, rubbing her head again with a hoof. “Just kindly spare me the salacious details…”
“And what were the circumstances behind that particular incident?” Mia quickly interjected. “Did she just do so out of the blue? Or did something set her off?”
The Nightmare frowned while the red-suited mockery of Mia’s former subordinate hesitated again. “I… might have brushed her horn while wondering about magic.”
Mia smirked. “‘Might have’?”
He looked angry, but gave his grudging reply. “She lit up the clearing with her horn and I asked her about magic, pointing at her horn. She jerked back from it and her aura turned pink then, okay?”
There was a loud thump sound as Trixie’s head met her bench. “And you’re trying to pin that incident on her?” she deadpanned, pulling herself back up. “Unicorn horns are an erogenous zone, you red-suited reprobate! Since you seem as dimwitted as you did the first day of Rainbow Trash’s trial, allow me to spell it out: Horns are very sensitive to physical contact, especially while magic is being channeled in any way! In fact, one of the dirtiest tricks you can pull on a unicorn is to rub their horn while they’re charging a spell. That always produces a reaction!” She rubbed her head as if in memory. “Trixie had to learn that herself once… though she very much got even for it later…” she closed her eyes and grinned.
“I didn’t know that at the time!” protested the red-clad mockery.
“Ignorance of the facts is no defense in this instance, witness!” Trixie retorted. “Knowingly or not, you provoked that reaction from Sparkle! This incident was of your own doing!”
Too true, Mia noted. “I thank Your Honor for putting it so succinctly and ask her to spare us her personal experiences. And what of the other incidents, Witness?”
“Your Honor, allow me to spare this court more interminable nitpicking on this point by saying the prosecution concedes there was no rape in the three incidents mentioned,” Nightmare Moon interjected. “The rapes in question took place later, enabled in large part by repeated exposures by Miss Sparkle’s mating magic.”
“How much later?” Mia asked, crossing her arms and allowing herself a smug grin. If she claims it was months later on earth like I expect, I can just say that was more than enough time for any magical effects to have dissipated. Even Trixie would have to admit the truth of that…
The Nightmare waited a beat before answering, then grinned broadly, showing her teeth. “Mere days, counselor,” she announced evenly, her next words flooring Mia, Phoenix, and even Luna herself. “The night before Sonata Tarot’s trial, she forced herself on him as he slept…”
To be continued…
