//------------------------------// // Part 6 - The Trial Begins // Story: Phoenix Wright - Turnabout Storm! // by Firesight //------------------------------// Ponyville District Court Courtroom No.1 June 10th, 10:00AM Twilight and Phoenix entered the courtroom to find the spectator galley filled with ponies of all different colors and kinds—unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi—but the latter had no time to gawk as The Judge rapped his gavel repeatedly, signaling the start of the trial. “Court is now in session, are both sides ready?” The Judge asked the ritual question. “The GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie was born ready!” the showmare boasted, looking supremely confident behind her bench. “The Defense is ready, Your Honor,” Phoenix replied automatically to the familiar voice. Either due to lack of sleep or the simple unexpectedness of it, he was a bit slow on the uptake, his common sense only kicking in upon realizing the person—a human, not pony—presiding over the trial was none other than the very Judge he argued cases in front of back home! “YOUR HONOR?!??!?!” he shouted, belatedly recognizing the bearded old man behind the bench. The Judge blinked in his own surprise. “Mister Wright! Fancy meeting you here!” he said, recognizing in turn the most famous—and occasionally most infamous—defense attorney from his court back on Earth. “You know him, Phoenix? That’s great!” Twilight said delightedly from the co-counsel’s position beside him. Far from being delighted himself, Phoenix was completely confused. “B-but I thought… how is he…? WHAT’S GOING ON HERE!?” the dumbfounded defense attorney finally demanded to know. “Last night while you were in bed, the Princess contacted me about complications,” Twilight explained. “Complications?!” Phoenix repeated, turning towards her. She nodded. “Originally, Princess Celestia was going to preside as Judge. But the Equestrian High Council was concerned that she could not remain unbiased.” “Fine, but… what’s he doing here?!” Phoenix pointed to The Judge. Her eyes went evasive again for just a moment. “Well, you see… I just thought that since we have a human Defense Attorney, I’d get a human judge as well. So I summoned ‘The Greatest Human Judge’, and he’s a really nice guy! He took the whole thing a lot better than you did,” she told him, giving him a knowing grin. “I would have told you that I summoned him last night, but I didn’t want to wake you.” Phoenix stared at her with his jaw agape. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he finally replied in disbelief, remembering his own often less-than-encouraging experiences with The Judge. Are you sure you didn’t summon ‘The Ficklest Judge Ever’, Twilight? he asked her with his thoughts. Oh, well. As weird as this is, he seems to always give fair verdicts. Guess I shouldn’t be complaining. “But isn’t this princess the ruler of your country? Can’t she just say ‘Too bad, I’m doing it anyway’?” “Princess Celestia is our all-powerful ruler, yes. But every political decision must go by the Equestrian High Council First,” Twilight explained to Phoenix. “They represent the different tribes, provinces, and cities of Equestria, and attempt to act in the best interests of both their constituencies and Equestria itself. Apparently, a point of order was raised about the Princess presiding over a trial involving one of her favorite subjects, and in the end, they wouldn’t allow her to preside as judge,” she said regretfully. Phoenix let out a sigh. He could certainly understand the ruling—judges on his world had to recuse themselves from cases involving people they knew or otherwise had a conflict of interest in. But still, how is Rainbow Dash one of this Princess’s ‘favorite subjects’? Does she have a thing for obnoxious rainbow-maned mares? He inwardly snarked, then decided he didn’t want to know. “Guess that’s democracy for you.” “Aren’t these ponies just remarkable, Mister Wright? They have shown me nothing but the greatest of hospitality!” The Judge said, to some approving hoofclops from the audience. “All they’ve done for me is make fun of my hair,” Phoenix muttered to an equal number of equine snickers. “Enough with this idle chit-chat, Trixie has a trial to win!” the impatient showmare broke in. “Oh! That’s correct; we have a trial underway. We’ll have to catch up later, Mister Wright,” The Judge said, getting down to business. “Back to the matter at hand, then. I expect you are aware by now of the workings of Equestria?” he asked his fellow human. “Eh… the workings?” Phoenix repeated, putting a hand on his chin in a pondering expression. The Judge nodded. “You see, this world operates far differently from our own,” he began. “Twilight Sparkle here showed me a bit of magic, but I figured it’s otherwise almost exactly like our world. Just with talking ponies?” Phoenix offered with a slightly nervous smile. The Judge shook his head, “Oh, no! Mister Wright! There are many amazing things these ponies can do that are a far cry from the workings of our world!” “This is why you should have studied!” Twilight scolded from beside him, suddenly looking peeved. “Oh. Um… my apologies, then. Could you be so kind as to tell me about these differences, Your Honor?” he asked The Judge sheepishly, putting a hand behind his head and running his fingers through his spiky hair. “Very well, Mister Wright. I guess the first thing you should know is—” The cry went up from Trixie. “He isn’t owed any help or information, Your Honor! It’s not our fault this bumbling buffoon didn’t do any research! We shouldn’t be holding up the trial because of his stupidity and negligence!” the unicorn prosecutor protested, leaning her head over her rail. “HEY!” Phoenix shouted, his anger at her instantly rekindled. The Judge considered that for a moment before nodding. “I’m sorry, Mister Wright, but the prosecution is correct. You should have studied Equestria before jumping into this case,” he agreed with an apologetic note. With that, Twilight gave Phoenix a lethal glare. “Err—uh... I’m sorry?” Phoenix offered her weakly, already sweating through his suit. Twilight sighed, struggling to keep both her temper and her attendant anger over Phoenix’s overconfidence in check. “I’ll try to keep you informed if we encounter anything that may work differently from your world,” she promised. “Alright, thank you.” Phoenix was relieved, though he sensed he wasn’t out of the woods yet. “The trial will now commence!” The Judge announced with another rap of his gavel. “Good! For this drabble has wasted enough of Trixie’s time!” she said, now wearing a very irritated expression. Phoenix ground his teeth again. That third-person thing is really starting to get on my nerves! “Very well. The prosecution may give its opening statement,” The Judge invited, giving Trixie permission to talk first. “About time!” The showmare sneered. “The GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie would like to start off by saying that the Defense has no chance of winning this. Zero. Zilch. None! Nada!” she proclaimed arrogantly, raising her nose a little higher with each spoken synonym. Phoenix stared at her in disbelief. “What kind of opening statement is that?!” Trixie ignored him, acting like he was beneath her notice, keeping her nose in the air and voice disdainful. “In fact, Trixie finds it insulting she is not given a proper attorney to wage a battle of legal wits with. Instead, she is forced to deal with a pathetic primate who can’t be bothered to do even the most basic of defense attorney diligence,” she continued, insulting Phoenix before the entire courtroom to his face. “What’s your problem?!” he demanded to know, infuriated anew by her attitude. For once, The Judge showed at least a little sympathy for him. “Please refrain from personal attacks on the defense, Ms. Trixie. Can you please just get on with stating your case?” The Judge asked politely but emphatically. Phoenix had never been so glad that The Judge was there to shut her up. There HAS to be a rule in the prosecutor handbook to be as unpleasant as possible! he growled to himself, thinking that if attitude alone were the deciding factor, Trixie would do well in the courtrooms of his own world. Then again, being arrogant and insulting doesn’t automatically make you a good attorney! he knew from past experience while somewhere back on Earth, a prosecutor named Winston Payne sneezed hard. “Hmph! Very well—Trixie shall DAZZLE and ENLIGHTEN you all on the events that transpired that fateful night!” she proclaimed bombastically, causing Phoenix and half the audience to roll their eyes, several wishing they’d thought to bring a crate or two of tomatoes with them. “On June 8th, at around the 20th hour, ‘Ace Swift’, the famous pegasus athlete, was murdered in the Everfree Forest. Unfortunately, we don’t know why he was in such a unlikely location, but the Ponyville police force found his body there. And with the evidence they found paired with an eyewitness account, they were able to identify and apprehend his killer: Rainbow Dash!” Trixie announced, pointing a hoof at Rainbow herself as she stood and glared back at her from the defendant box. The entire courtroom of ponies started to talk under their breath, whispering their opinions back and forth to each other. “I see. Can you please share with the court the evidence that points to Ms. Dash’s guilt?” The Judge requested. “Certainly!” Trixie said happily, flaring her horn to levitate up her first piece of evidence. “This is it, Phoenix!” Twilight said, her stomach in knots. “We’ll finally have some light shed on what exactly happened!” Phoenix agreed, leaning forward over his bench with his hands on the rail, eager to learn more. “Ace Swift was electrocuted and killed instantly as detailed in this autopsy report,” Trixie declared, her light blue magical aura floating identical envelopes to The Judge and defense bench. “Electrocuted? That is a peculiar way to die,” The Judge noted, opening the envelope as Phoenix and Twilight did the same with their copy: This raised several questions in Phoenix’s mind. “Electrocution? But how? The crime scene was in a clearing. I saw no electronic devices or anything of that nature,” he observed as he quickly scanned the autopsy report for the few pertinent facts, suddenly wondering how he was going to recharge his cellphone given Equestria’s apparent lack of them. Then again, I kind of doubt they have cell towers or satellites for me to make a call with anyway, he mused, wondering what his phone company would charge for an out-of-network call from Equestria. “Let Trixie finish, you dunce!” the unicorn prosecutor interrupted. Phoenix let out a fresh growl of frustration over her treatment of him as she continued. “There was also a fresh and rather sizable burn mark on the back of the victim’s neck. Unfortunately, we couldn’t determine the cause of it.” A burn mark? Hmm… Phoenix thought as he scratched his chin, his mind turning. “That wasn’t the cause of death, though. It was the electrocution that did him in. The investigators found decisive evidence pointing to Rainbow Trash as the assailant in this crime,” Trixie announced with a gleeful grin on her face. “And what was that?” The Judge asked. “We believe that a storm cloud found hovering directly above the crime scene was the murder weapon,” Trixie announced matter-of-factly. Phoenix voiced his first objection of the trial in dramatic fashion with a raised arm and pointed finger, announcing his protest of the evidence in a loud, clear voice. “A STORM CLOUD?! You call THAT decisive?! How could you place blame on my client for THAT?!” he demanded to know, , emphatically slamming the rail with his hands and certain he’d won the case right then and there. “Unless you are honestly suggesting Rainbow Dash can move clouds around and make them shoot lightning at will?” he mocked Trixie with his hands on his hips and a triumphant grin, certain he had the upper hand, only to realize the entire courtroom was staring at him in stunned silence… A silence that stretched for many awkward and uncomfortable seconds. Why is everyone looking at me like that? he wanted to know, his triumphant smile starting to falter. “Oh, Mister Wright…” Twilight had buried her face in her hoof, looking very embarrassed and disappointed to him. He turned to her in some confusion. “What’s her problem, Twilight? She can’t honestly think someone can control the weather. It’s ludicrous!” Phoenix insisted in perfect earnestness. Trixie responded before his acting co-counsel could. “You have to be the biggest imbecile Trixie has ever laid eyes on!” she proclaimed. “But… but... what did I say?” Phoenix asked, still not comprehending. “Mister Wright? Controlling the weather is a pegasus job here in Equestria. It’s sort of what they do,” The Judge explained, sounding very embarrassed for him. “Er… um… what?” Phoenix stammered, suddenly feeling beads of sweat rolling down his face and neck. “They schedule and control the weather, Phoenix. When it rains, snows, or even the wind blows… that is all pegasus doing. They’ve even got a factory that produces clouds and all other aspects of weather in their home city of Cloudsdale, ” Twilight informed him unhappily, her words causing Phoenix’s heart to sink into the floor. “Oh, sorry. My mistake.” He laughed it off nervously; his hand behind his head again. “Trixie knew you were incompetent, but this? HA! This will be a walk in the park!” the showmare prosecutor again boasted, and this time, Phoenix couldn’t work up much anger at her, knowing her ridicule was well-deserved. “You have spent enough time in my courtroom to know that ill-thought objections earn an immediate penalty, Mister Wright!” The Judge announced with a sharp rap of his gavel, imposing a mild form of sanction that would later result in a fine; if he accrued enough penalties over time he’d end up kicked off the case or, if his offenses were egregious enough, found in contempt of court or referred to a judicial misconduct board for more severe punishment. “The Defense will refrain from any more such ignorant outbursts or they will be reprimanded!” The Judge further announced, driving the knife deeper. “Maybe you should have—oh, I don’t know. Studied?!” Twilight piled on, all but hissing out the word, giving him another very angry and accusing look. “I said I was sorry!” he cringed; sure the bookish unicorn wouldn’t even remotely think of him as an intellectual now. “Continuing…” Trixie grinned, looking to all present like she was thoroughly enjoying herself. “It is common knowledge among weather workers that when a pegasus triggers a cloud to release lightning, the first bolt will always strike directly under it. As the victim’s body was discovered directly under the storm cloud in question, we can safely conclude it was the first bolt that killed him. And as for who triggered it? This particular storm cloud bore hoof markings of the rainbow-colored loser currently sitting in the defendant’s chair,” Trixie announced with a triumphant look at Twilight. An incensed Rainbow Dash stood up out of the defendant’s seat, fed up with the unending insults. “I’ll show you who’s a loser, you two-bit fraud!” she announced, flaring her wings, ready to attack Trixie again right in the middle of the courtroom. The entire courtroom went into an uproar at that. “ORDER!! ORDER IN THE COURT, I SAY!!” The Judge pounded his gavel repeatedly to silence the room. “The Defendant will remain seated for the duration of the trial!” he further directed, motioning to two unicorn bailiffs to restrain the hot-blooded pegasus mare, the pair holding her down with magic while they put wing and hoof restraints on her. “This is a disaster.” Twilight facehoofed again as she spoke. “Speak for yourself, Sparkle. Trixie believes everything is going swimmingly!” the showmare all but preened before turning back to The Judge. “So in summary, Your Honor… we know the manner of death and the murder weapon, and have hard proof the latter was in the defendant’s possession. As such, Trixie believes this is a very open-and-shut case,” she proclaimed, looking immensely smug and satisfied with herself. “As do I. There aren’t many ways to be electrocuted in the middle of the forest,” The Judge agreed, nodding thoughtfully. “Well, there was that one incident when I was camping with the bug zapper. I accidentally walked into it and it nearly fried my beard off!” he reminisced. I never saw The Judge as an outdoorsman, Phoenix noted idly, trying to use the observation to refocus his flustered and scattered thoughts. “I’d like to ask some questions!” he announced, slamming his hands on the rail in an attempt to sound authoritative. “Fine then, Mister Wrong. Ask away!” Trixie invited, giving him a contemptuous smirk. “It’s Wright!” he corrected the showmare, wanting to beat her worse than ever but knowing there was a long road to get there… and worse, there was now a large, self-dug hole to climb out of first. “First off, how were the police notified of the murder? It was in the middle of the forest, right? Who reported it?” he wanted to know. Trixie shrugged. “It was quite peculiar, actually,” she began in a mysterious tone, leaving Phoenix itching to know more. Maybe the pony who reported it had a connection to the crime? Guess I’m about to find out! he decided, hoping that his ignorance of Equestria wouldn’t trip him up yet again.