//------------------------------// // Case 02: Apple Turnabout (Day 0) // Story: Twilight Sparkle: Ace Attorney // by NonAlcoholicMartini //------------------------------// The next morning, Twilight had awoken, still shaken from last nights events. She sulked into the kitchen for her breakfeast, as always ready and prepared by her roommate. A melancholy silence settled over the room while they ate. Twilight didn't mind, she felt too exhausted to talk right now anyway. She ate painfully slow, not even caring that she would be late for work. Does it even matter if she went? Thinking about it made Twilight even sadder. She decided to just stay home for the day. When Twilight then moved to the living room couch, she noticed something very balant and peculiar. So peculiar infact she wondered how she didn't notice it earlier when she woke up. "Uh... Trixie?" "Yes, Twilight?" "Why is there a child sitting on our couch?" There was indeed a girl, maybe in her late teens, sitting on their couch. Her hair a brilliant red, she wore a pair of dungarees with a lime green shirt underneath and a seemingly old stetson hat on her head. Trixie, dish towel in hand, stood in the doorframe from kitchen to living room. "That's Apple Bloom, she's Big Macintosh's younger sister." "Ah." Twilight blinked at the girl. "And who's that?" "Big Mac was... arrested last night. I'm taking care of Apple Bloom until he gets out." "Oh..." Twilight looked at her hands guiltily. So this girl's brother was the suspect for Luna's death? "Wait, until he gets out?" "Mah brother's no murderer! He couldn't hurt a fly!" Apple Bloom jumped up, stomping on the cussions of the couch with her foot. Her roommate came in and sat her back down. "We requested the-... The currently most successful defense attorney to defend him." "Yeah! And he's gonna get Big Mac outta there!" "Ah, alright." Twilight didn't know how to feel about this. Perhaps she would just need to get a picture of the situation herself to get better judgment later today. - "Oh my god, they were right." Twilight thought as she now sat across the supposed murderer, only a wall of glas between them. "So... she was already... you know, gone when you arrived?" "Eeyup." Macintosh was not a man of many words, that much seemed true. Yet, Twilight had been able to have a full conversation with him anyways. "Your sister is hanging out in our apartment right now, she seems to be a uh... a determined young woman!" Twilight tried her best not to sound condecending. A proud smile formed on Big Macintosh's lips. "Eeyup!" "My roommate told me you hired the best defense attorney in town!" Mac's smile fell. "Nope..." "What? Why? What happend?" Twilight asked, surprised. "Denied..." "Oh..." Twilight nervously fiddled with her fingers. "Did you ask-" "Everyone." Twilight sunk into the chair out of embaressment. "That's not... good." She thought over the situation. Her mentor, who she looked up to, is gone now and no one would hold her hand if she was going to go through with the plan she had conducted in her mind. "What about me? I'm a lawyer too." Big Mac looked at her, a questioning look on his face. "You?" Twilight hesitated, this man is clearly innocent from her point of view. And if Luna's real killer really is somewhere out there then Twilight herself would make sure they were behind bars instead. "Yes, me." She said, newfound determination filling her body. Macintosh paused and asked again. "You?" "Yes!" Twilight jumped to her feet. "Look, if everyone else denied then you really don't have a choice here, do you?" "Eh... nope." "See?" Big Mac rubbed the back of his neck. She was right, he really didn't have another option. "Fine." He sighed, defeated. "Great!" Twilight put both hands on her hips. "Then it's settled, I'll be your attorney for the trial. When is it?" "Tomorrow." "TOMORROW?!" Twilight gaped, was it really that early? She took a deep breath and attempted to compose herself. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow's good. Yes, tomorrow's great. I should probably go get everything ready then. For tomorrow. Because tomorrow's the trial. Tomorrow." With that she hurriedly shuffled out of the detention center. Walking slower, way slower than usual Twilight made her way to the now empty law firm where she once worked- or still worked. Yes, she still worked here. The attorney's badge proves it. Well it proves she's an attorney at least. Twilight sighed. She didn't want to go inside. For a moment, her hand lingered on the door handle. She wondered if the quiet, shaky breaths she heard were her own or someone elses who was passing by, wondering why Twilight just stood there. She closed her eyes and opened the door, entering the foyer. One look around told her not much has changed in here, yet she felt uneasy just standing in the room. She proceeded to the office, the scene of the crime. Her breath halted when she noticed the outline of a person taped to the wall just underneath the window. Blood still present in several areas around where the body once was. The crime scene was untouched safe for the body that had been moved, of course. Twilight had been in her office so many times, but she could feel from now on going in here would be a much different experience. She tore her gaze away from the window, she knew what was out there already anyway. Her eyes landed on the potted plant next to the desk. "Oh, hi Phyllis." Twilight greeted the plant. Luna would always greet Phyllis whenever she would check in to work and after some time Twilight just picked up the habit. Phyllis was family. And Phyllis was probably also thirsty right now. As she poured the poor plant water she remembered that she had forgotten to get any information about the case. Like the autopsy report. Heck, she forgot to bring her briefcase entirly! What did she expect to find here anyway? A hidden piece of evidence the police overlooked? Twilight sighed deeply, putting away the water bottle and walking over to the desk. What had her mentor been working on that night anyway? ... "Huh." Twilight thought. "Just an old case file." The AT-4 incident. Twilight had never heard of it. It seemed fairly recent too according to the time stamp. Cursiousity took over when Twilight read the names of the involved. One of them stuck out to her like a sore thumb. "Trixie Lulamoon?", she read. That can't be right. Trixie surely would've told her if she got in trouble. Still, Twilight's interest was peaked and she wasn't about to stop. "Hey, what are you doing!?" Twilight stood corrected. Her head snapped up to see who called her. "Oh, it's you!" The person turned out to be the man from last night. Twilight couldn't remember his name but he was nice, she recalled. "What are you doing here?" "I- uh... I was investigating the crime scene!" She puffed out her chest and tried to look confident. The man stepped aside and motioned to the door. "Well I'm very sorry to tell you that you can't, I'll have to ask you to leave." "But I'm the defense attorney! Shouldn't I be able to take a look at the crime scene? Especially if said crime scene is my workspace?" Twilight retorted, crossing her arms. The detective shook his head. "You aren't allowed to investigate on your own without permission. I'm sorry, miss." Twilight released a breath she didn't know she was holding and conceded, there wasn't much use in arguing with this man. "Fine." She left without another word, back home to regenerate for a few hours. Thoughts of her friend not leaving her head. Was this case connected to the incident? How did Trixie fit into this? What was she not telling her? Is something burning? "Trixie?!" Twilight shouted when she entered their appartment. Trixie and Apple Bloom were busy fanning smoke out of the window with two dish towels. "We're okay, the microwave exploded! No biggie!" Twilight sighed in relief, at least they were alright. Soon they all sat quietly, eating slightly burned microwave Pizza at the dining table while the smell of smoke still lingered in the air. "I visited Mister Macintosh earlier." Twilight struck up conversation. "Oh?" "You visited mah brother? Is he okay?" Twilight nodded her head at Apple Bloom's question. "He seemed alright, he's a really nice man!", she set her burnt pizza slice down. "Which is why I have taken up defending him." "WHAT?!" Trixie nearly choked, which almost gave her a heart attack. She recovered quickly and continued. "Why? We already called someone! The trial is tomorrow, you don't know jack about this case! Shimmer is gonna crush you!" Apple Bloom chewed on her Pizza and quietly sunk into her chair. "Well, your big shot defense attorney denied! And so did everyone else!" "Everyone?" Apple Bloom whimpered. "No one wanted to defend mah brother? Twilight shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Trixie, if I hadn't taken that young man's case, no one would've! I want- no, I NEED to find out who really murdered Luna because it clearly wasn't him!" Trixie stayed silent for a moment, contemplating life. Then, she sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry for yelling." She set aside her cutlery and leaned her chin on her fist. "You still don't know anything about this case tho, do you?" Twilight shook her head. "The leading detective of the case and I are old friends, we can get information from her down at the station." She tried her best to give Twilight a smile, tho it was clear that she was still in doubt. "Cool, does that mean I can go visit Big Mac?!" Apple Bloom beamed when Twilight and Trixie nodded at her. With a cheer she dashed off to the door and grabbed her jacket. "Twilight?" The defense attorney turned to her friend. "Yeah?" Trixie looked at her friend, concerned. "Are you sure you can handle this?" Twilight gave her friend a confident, goofy grin. "Of course I can."