//------------------------------// // Day 2: The Trial Part 1: The Chaotic Prosecutor // Story: Twilight Sparkle, Ace Attorney: The Royal Turnabout // by Animegx43 //------------------------------// October 10, 9:50 AM Canterlot District Court Defendant Lobby It was the big day. Twilight Sparkle spent most of the night before studying and preparing for it. She had only a few minutes left to do some last second studying to prepare for Rarity's trial. However, with so little evidence to work with, she couldn't actually prepare a good case for her friend. Nonetheless, she was determined to see it to the end. "I'm Twilight Sparkle and I'm fine!" Twilight said as she looked at a book. Then, after closing her eyes and taking a deep breath... "I'M TWILIGHT SPARKLE AND I'M FINE!" After opening her eyes, Twilight realized that she had actually shouted in Spike's face, who she didn't realize was even with her. "Why do I have the feeling that you aren't fine?" Spike asked. "Actually, I think your right." Twilight answered. "I've been nervous since night. I think it took me hours of trying before I could even fall asleep." "You might be over thinking this, Twilight. If Rarity is innocent, we'll be fine." "But we have so little to work with. As it currently stands, Rarity might be found guilty. I really don't know what to do." Not only did Twilight more nervous, she got scared. The more she thought about it, the more she less confident she was in the case. In fact, the only thing she was confident in was that she was going to fail. "Twilight, weren't you the one who said she could do this because you saved Equestria a million times before?" Spike asked. "You went against all odds all those times before, but now that Rarity is in trouble, you won't fight back? Come on, I bet you'd be able to get the real attacker free too!" Thanks to Spike, Twilight was able to remember that everypony had confidence in her abilities, and she knew that if everypony else believed in her, she should too. "I think I've studied enough. Come on, Spike. Let's save Rarity!" Twilight said with a smile. But I'll still admit it, it's easier said than done. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 10, 10:00 AM Canterlot District Court Courtroom 1 Twilight and Spike entered the large room and settled in at the defense bench which was directly across from the prosecution bench. As they entered, they saw that the Canterlot locals were sitting at the gallery seats up on an upper floor to give them a view of the entire courtroom. Lastly, there was very tall desk ahead of the defense and prosecution benches where the judge sat, who was a chestnut colored stallion. "Court is now in session. Is everyone ready?" The judge asked. "The defense is ready your honor." Twilight answered. After taking a good look at the judge though, she thought he looked familiar. "I've seen you before. Aren't you from Ponyville?" "Hey, he is!" Spike said. "You call yourself the Doctor or something, right?" "Aahh, Twilight Sparkle. You're the defense? Fancy that." The Doctor said. "Yes, Princess Celestia needed someone she could trust, so she asked me act as the judge for this case. Look! She gave me a gavel and everything!" Isn't this guy a friend of Ponyville's mail courier? How does he knows the princess so well? Maybe I need to get out more. Twilight thought to herself, but then she thought of something more important. "Hey, if you're the judge, then who's the prosecutor?" "That would be me!" A mysterious voice said. Out of nowhere, a fanfare began to play throughout the courtroom. From the entrance, a red carpet began to roll out as a drumroll played. There was an awful lot of build up for the prosecution's entrance, but it left everypony in the court more confused than impressed. After the carpet reached to the front of the judge's seat, the other end of the carpet began to pull itself into the room. At some point, the red carpet had clearly transformed into a tongue which was sucked up into a strange creature's mouth. At that moment, everypony realized that a tall and slender being was standing in the court. Much to everypony's surprise, Discord, the lord of chaos, was in the courtroom. "Ta-daa!" Discord said as he bowed. "Discord, go home. Now's a bad day to deal with you." Twilight said. OBJECTION! When Discord shouted his objection, he was standing at the prosecution bench with no explanation on when he got there. "I can't go home. I'm the persecutor...I mean, prosecutor." "W-WHAT!? You?" Twilight asked. Oh, right. I remember hearing that Celestia had a problem finding lawyers for both sides of the case. But why hire Discord? The entire court went into an uproar after hearing Discord's claim as nopony could believe it. "Order! Order in the court!" The Doctor said as he banged his gavel, which was followed by a snicker. "Oh my, I can't believe I just said that! In any case, if the prosecution is ready, please make your opening statement." "Very well then." Discord said as he took a deep breath. "Hello ponies of the court. I am Discord, the master, king, and dare I say god of chaos! I am the most powerful being in this entire land, far greater than that of Celestia, so please feel free to bow down to me and--" OBJECTION! Twilight was not at all pleased with Discord. "What kind of opening statement is this? It has nothing to do with the case!" Discord wagged his finger at Twilight before responding. "My dear Twilight Sparkle, the purpose of the opening statement is to allow the prosecution to state facts without any arguments." You're saying that you being arrogant can't be argued?Twilight thought. "I have to agree with the defence." The Doctor said. "Discord, can you please focus on the case at hand?" "Don't you mean at hoof?" Discord said, which made the Doctor snicker. "Don't need to. I've got somepony who has to come in and explain all of that to court. Isn't this great? I basically get paid for letting others do my dirty work!" "Discord, all three of us are doing this as a favour to Princess Celestia." The Doctor explained. "In any case, bring this pony in. I'm still clueless about why Miss Rarity is here Today." Finally, I'm going to get some real answers. Twilight thought. While Discord was unhappy by the fact that he wasn't getting paid, he decided to continue anyway. "Fine. I'm calling in the one in charge of this case, Commission Star Cestus." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shortly after, the small red stallion, Star Cestus, walked into the courtroom and slowly walked to the witness stand. He looked very nervous and stared at the audience more than the judge. "Witness, please tell us your name and job." Discord ordered. Cestus didn't answer since he still felt uncomfortable with where he was. Seeing the high classed ponies of Canterlot staring down at him was a lot of pressure for him. "That can't be the same guy who you fought Yesterday, Twilight." Spike said. "He certainly left his comfort zone." Twilight admitted. "Witness, please state your name!" The Doctor requested. "I'm Star Cestus. I'm the chief commissioner of Canterlot's police force. Since attempted regicide is such a serious offence, I'm leading the investigation." Cestus answered, but the tone in his voice made it clear he didn't feel confident. "Now now, Red, I know you hate pretty much everypony in this room, but I'm not a fan of these money bags either." Discord said to Cestus to calm him down. "Remember what I said, if anypony tries to bother you, I'll turn them into an eggplant! Or if it's Twilight over there, a tempura." Something tells me a hospital could never save me from that. Twilight thought with great discomfort. "Haha! Yeah, I guess you're right!" Cestus said in a much perkier tone. "These fat cats ain't got nothing on me with you by my side!" "Very good then. Please explain to us all the details of this crime." The Doctor said. Twilight and Spike were careful to hear every word Cestus had to say, for this was the information they had waited to hear since the day before. "The crime scene took place on the fifth floor of the Gilded Horseshoe, the hotel Princess Blueblood was staying at. The prince was unconscious on the ground after taking a hit to the head by a blunt object. The medical team concluded that he had been taken out by a single blow to left temple." "A single hit to the head? And from a mare no less?" The Doctor asked. "We believe the weapon used was this gold bar. It's 18 karats, so the shape is preserved quite well." "The weapon? The court accept this as important evidence!" Since the court accepted gold bar as evidence, Twilight decided to keep it into consideration as well. "Red! If I recall, you arrested Rarity as the prime suspect." Discord said. "Why did you do that?" "We arrested her because she was the only other pony at the crime scene at the time. After gathering up more evidence afterwards, there was enough solid evidence to build a case." "Commissioner, can you please testify about this evidence?" The Doctor asked. This was it. After hearing the testimony, Twilight would finally get to ask some important questions. The only downside was that since everything she would hear would be brand new information, she would have to come up with questions on the fly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --Testimony: Solid evidence-- "When I walked in the hotel room, the first thing I saw was Miss Rarity and the victim, the latter on the ground of course. After she saw me, she fainted and was down for about half-an hour. The gold bar was also there in front of her. We later concluded that the gold bar belonged to the Rarity. Since the prince almost died from a blunt object when Rarity had a blunt object, we put two and two together. --End of testimony-- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hmm. So you arrested her because she was a suspect, but now you're certain she was the attacker?" The Doctor asked. "Well personally, I don't think she did it, but the evidence is right there." "Very well then. Miss Sparkle, you may now Cross-examine the witness." "Cross-examine?" Spike asked. "It just means I can ask Cestus some questions now." Twilight answered. I sure hope I can ask the right ones. Now that I'm taking the stage, I may get as nervous as Cestus was. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --Cross-examination-- "When I walked in the hotel room, the first thing I saw was Miss Rarity and the victim, the latter on the ground of course." HOLD IT! "You arrived when Rarity was still there? How did you get there so fast?" Twilight asked. "Actually, I was given an anonymous tip a head of time." Cestus answered. "I received a letter when I was patrolling the streets. Since the hotel was closer to me than the station, I went straight there to investigate." Somepony knew Blueblood would get attacked? That just raises further questions. "After she saw me, she fainted and was down for about half-an hour." HOLD IT!! "I think I already know why, but why did she faint?" Twilight asked. "If you tried to kill somepony and somepony else comes along to catch you in the act, wouldn't you have been surprised?" Cestus asked in return. "I guess you have a point there. Okay, continue." "The gold bar was also there in front of her. We later concluded that the gold bar belonged to the Rarity." HOLD IT!! "Rarity isn't all that rich. What makes you think that gold is hers? And why do you think it's the weapon anyway?" "We searched the entire room. That gold bar is the only item that's heavy and solid enough to do the damage that was done. We also did some forensics at the station and found hoof marks on it, which belonged to Rarity. We also found two samples of magic residue on it. We aren't sure where the first sample came from, but we know the other belongs to Rarity." "Magic residue?" Spike asked. "When we unicorns use our magic, it often leaves behind a small bit left on what it was used on." Twilight explained. "It means Rarity used her magic to move the gold bar." "This is clearly important Evidence." The Doctor said. "The court will accept the forensics report as evidence." And so, the court accepted the new evidence, with Twilight getting a copy of the report. With so much DNA found on the weapon, Twilight's case began to go from bad to worse. She did get curious about who the other magic sample came from. "Since the prince almost died from a blunt object when Rarity had a blunt object, we put two and two together." HOLD IT!! "What do you mean?" "Well, its common sense. She was there, Blueblood was there, and the gold bar was there. Even a child could figure out what happened." I have to admit, that does make sense. But I can't believe it because I know Rarity didn't attack the Prince. But why was she there at all? As there was no other questions Twilight could ask, the Doctor decided to end the cross-examination, banging his gavel to make it official. Twilight could tell he had fun banging it. "So the defendant was at the crime scene with the weapon, which belonged to her, while still at the crime scene? It does seem like an open and shut case." The Doctor said. "It can't end like this. I need to think of something." Twilight said quietly. "This all seems weird. How did this whole thing could happen at all?" Spike asked. An epiphany struck Twilight when Spike asked his question. After finally getting an idea, Twilight slammed her front hooves on the table and grabbed everypony's attention. "I'd like to hear another testimony!" Twilight stated. "Another one? What more is there to say?" The Doctor asked. "With all the evidence in place, I'd like to hear the theory about how this attack occurred. If the act is impossible to do, then we can't blame Rarity!" "How can it be impossible?" Cestus asked. "All you would have to do is walk in, and then POW!" "It seems the commissioner does have a theory then." The Doctor said. "Will you please explain how you think the defendant committed the crime?" Yes! Another testimony. I flopped on the last one, but maybe I can find a hole to poke through this time Twilight though with confidence. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --Testimony: How she committed the crime.-- "Well, it seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? This seems like such a simple crime, so it would've been done in a simple way. Miss Rarity would just walk in and nail the prince in the head. I find this to be an open and shut case." --End of testimony-- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Short, but easy enough to understand." The Doctor said. "The prosecution has been quiet for a while now. Discord, do you have anything to add?" "I've got nothing." Discord said as he laid back in a chair, caring very little about the trial. "I barely have to do anything. This case is as good as over!" Of course he wouldn't take this serious. At least I won't have to worry about him putting up a fight. Twilight thought. "Very well then. The defense may start the cross-examination." The Doctor said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --Cross-examination-- "Well, it seems pretty obvious, doesn't it?" HOLD IT!! "No, it doesn't seem obvious." Twilight said. "Are you saying if you walked in the room with a dead body in it, the other pony you see wouldn't be suspicious?" Cestus asked. Much to Twilight's embarrassment, she couldn't give an answer without making an idiot of herself, so she stayed quiet. "The defense will refrain from asking obvious questions." The Doctor said. "Please continue." "This seems like such a simple crime, so it would've been done in a simple way. Miss Rarity would just walk in and nail the prince in the head." HOLD IT!! "So you think Rarity walked into the room and attacked?" "That's how it would seem." Cestus answered. "That's why I think this is so simple. She would just open the door, grab the prince's attention, and whack him in the face." Aha! I've actually got evidence to suggest otherwise. Twilight thought with confidence. "Your honor, can I have that last part added to the testimony?" "Hmm...very well then. Commissioner, please revise your testimony." "She would just open the door, walk in, and attack." OBJECTION! Nopony thought that Twilight would've found a contradiction in such a short testimony, but sure enough, she found one. "So you honestly believe that Rarity walked through the door and attacked Prince Blueblood?" Twilight asked. "No, I think she took a cannon and blasted the door down." Cestus said sarcastically. "Of course she opened the door." "I'm sorry, but that's not possible! To open a door, you would surely need to use a key. When I investigate the crime scenem I found this key in the room, and I'm pretty sure this belonged to the prince!" Twilight explained as she showed the hotel's key to the court. "How can Rarity go in the room if she couldn't open the door?" Cestus got startled at the idea Twilight brought up, for it would've been impossible for anypony to open a locked door. He began to stutter as he nervously tried to think of an explanation. OBJECTION! "Twilight, come now." Discord said after finally speaking up. "Whether or not the door was locked makes no difference. Somepony clearly got into the room and attacked the prince." "But if the door was locked, then how did this crime happen at all?" Twilight asked. "You brought it up, so why don't you give us a reason?" Why am I doing everything? Are you even the prosecution? Twilight asked herself. "Fine. I'll not only explain how the attacker got in, I'll show you!" TAKE THAT! Twilight then presented to the court several large pieces of glass. Most ponies in the court, even the Doctor, were confused by the evidence, but Discord was unfazed by it. "Miss Sparkle, could you please explain this?" The Doctor asked. "This glass was found by the broken window in the hotel room. This means that window was broken from the outside, and the only way that could be possible is if the attacker broke in the room from outside." "So you're saying that Rarity got inside the hotel room by breaking through the window?" Discord asked. "That's exactly what I'm saying!" The entire courtroom became silent at that point. Nopony moved, nopony uttered a sound, and nopony knew what to make of what happened. For the longest while, Twilight had a proud look on her face from when she figured out how the attacker got in, but it became awkward after fully realizing that she made things look worse for Rarity. Did I seriously just fall for that? Twilight asked herself. "Oh...Twilight." Spike said in disbelief. "Miss Sparkle, it seems you're not entirely confident in your own case." The Doctor said. After finally being talked to after the silence, Twilight had to give a quick response to prevent looking like an idiot a second time. "Eh...no, I'm confident. I'm...just not as prepared as I thought I was." "I was expecting to just waltz in and win, so I'm a little under-prepared myself." Discord confessed. After thinking about the predicament the defense and prosecution were in, the Doctor came to a conclusion. "As I feel it's still too early to make a verdict, I'm going to call for a ten minute recess to allow you both to re-examine your cases before we continue." After banging his gavel and giggling at the thought of doing it, the Doctor got up and left the courtroom for the break. Discord snapped his fingers and teleported out of the room, but Twilight didn't leave as quickly. She was still in disbelief that fell for Discord's trick. The confidence she had at the start of the trial was slipping away from her.