//------------------------------// // Part 51 - The Missing Link // Story: Phoenix Wright - Turnabout Storm! // by Firesight //------------------------------// Ponyville District Court Courtroom No. 2 June 11th, 1:09 PM Sonata began her next testimony as Applejack and Spike raced for the library; Phoenix and Twilight mentally urging them to hurry. Just need to keep this going long enough for them to get that book! the former knew, turning his attention back to the witness stand. —————— WITNESS TESTIMONY —————— — The Art of the Deal — There’s no point in hiding it. Ace and I were blackmailing Rainbow Dash. We ordered her to meet in the Everfree Forest to discuss the terms of keeping the pictures I snapped of her secret. I got there ten minutes before Ace and hid in some foliage at the edge of the clearing so I could watch the proceedings unseen. Both Rainbow Dash and Ace showed up at the appointed time and the negotiations began. To my surprise, Rainbow Dash refused our generous offer and flew up high, triggering a storm cloud she had apparently put there in foresight earlier in the day. I watched in horror as the lightning bolt hit Ace directly on the exposed back of his neck. The amount of electricity and force of the impact sent him flying a short distance, as the prosecution surmised. Not wanting to be Ms. Dash’s next victim, I fled the forest as fast as I could. Sonata concluded her statement by turning away from Phoenix and closing her eyes again; Phoenix couldn’t resist a smile as she gave her tell once more. Don’t ever play poker with me, Sonata—I’d clean you out every time! “That testimony is incomplete, Your Honor!” he pointed out quickly. “She still doesn’t explain why she took the golf club!” “Because I still deny touching that, Mister Wright. I only saw it on the crime scene,” she continued to insist, still looking away. Trixie pounced before Phoenix could. “You aren’t too smart, are you, Miss Eye-Butt? You were the last pony in there, and it was found outside the forest later!” she reminded her old rival, looking annoyed as she floated up a page of transcript. “Not to mention the fact you were seen leaving with it!” Phoenix piled on, picking up another transcript sheet of his own. “There’s no way Fluttershy could have seen the handle before that moment, other than when she saw you walking with it!” He pointed an accusing finger at her. “Then maybe she’s the one who took it out,” Sonata suggested in a mild tone, to some derisive noises from the gallery—it was with great satisfaction that Phoenix noted the ponies in the audience had turned on her and turned on her hard. “You said your pink accomplice lost the accursed thing in the forest a week ago. Fluttershy could have therefore witnessed her lose it—they appear to be friends and the forest is near her cottage, after all. Though she saw me going towards town, there is a large timeframe where she was alone, as you yourself pointed out yesterday,” she noted with a smirk before her expression went defiant, flattening her ears as she spoke. “But—” Phoenix started to stammer. “But nothing, Mister Wright. You have no proof either way and no way to tie me to that golf club other than what Miss Fluttershy claims she saw.” She paused long enough to let her point sink in, briefly turning away again. “I was simply in the forest to oversee our deal with Rainbow Dash, who I then witnessed kill Ace.” Phoenix resisted the urge to roll his eyes, though Twilight was far less restrained, giving him a look and doing exactly that. Who does she think she’s fooling? they shared the thought, Phoenix leaning over the rail as he prepared to challenge Sonata’s latest testimony, mentally rehearsing his cross-examination. But before he could begin, Twilight spoke up. “Uh, Phoenix? I don’t mean to interrupt you, but…” she trailed off uncertainly, her brow furrowed and tail twitching once. “But what?” he prompted, turning towards her. She hesitated briefly before speaking again. “It’s just that, well... something feels off about that testimony she just gave,” she offered tentatively, blushing slightly. He immediately gave her his full attention. “Something off? What is it?” “Well…” She sounded unsure as she shuffled her hooves and flushed deeper under his scrutiny. “I’m not sure I can put my hoof on it, but it feels like something she said doesn’t match up with what we learned at the trial yesterday,” she finished, her tone uncertain. What we learned at the trial yesterday? He blinked, quickly reviewing in his head the evidence they’d been shown then. —————— CROSS-EXAMINATION —————— There’s no point in hiding it. Ace and I were blackmailing Rainbow Dash. We ordered her to meet in the Everfree Forest to discuss the terms of keeping the pictures I snapped of her secret. “Why would you want to meet in the forest? Surely you know how dangerous it is in there?” he asked her, suppressing a shiver of fear at his still-vivid memories of the Timberwolf attack. “Ace and I preferred making these deals in such secluded locations. We couldn’t risk flies on the wall listening in,” she responded easily. “And as for the danger, Ace and I could take care of ourselves. If nothing else, Ace could escape by flight and myself by teleporting if we encountered an Ursa or something else we couldn’t deal with directly.” Phoenix considered her response and nodded, deciding it made sense. “So this is how you had your victims cooperate, then. You were able to find out their secrets using that talent of yours, and then you used that information to blackmail them, calling these private meetings to dictate terms,” he deduced, his words more statement than question. “At a guess, it’s also probably why Ace was really wearing that lightning-proof suit—not to prepare for the race, but to conceal his identity from onlookers. That way, anypony who saw him wouldn’t be able to recognize him afterwards, or if they did, he could just claim that someone else was dressed as him,” he concluded, somewhat grimly. “You, on the other hoof, could just naturally blend into the nighttime forest background with your dark mane and coat colors.” “That’s correct,” she confirmed with a nod. “And it had always worked up to that point. Well. Excepting two certain individuals who went against my terms! One being the defendant, and the other…” she trailed off as she glared at Phoenix. “Well. I’m sure you know who that is, don’t you, Phoenix Wright?” she concluded in a tone of disgust and anger before the corners of her mouth crooked upwards. “But no matter. Both of them are going to get their just desserts soon enough.” Phoenix set his jaw, knowing she was referring to his impending arrest on breaking and entering charges once the trial concluded. So be it! Like Trixie says, I’ll gladly trade a few nights in jail to see you put away for GOOD, Sonata! Trixie broke into his thoughts. “As much as Trixie would love to see Mister Wrong join her behind bars, we honestly don’t care how you cheat and manipulate, Miss Eye-Butt. Let’s just get back to what you saw in the forest!” She took on her haughty look. “After all, Trixie needs to establish your exact actions in order to properly prosecute you!” she noted with a very anticipatory and evil grin, her eyes glowing blue for a moment. Far from being intimidated, Sonata looked amused at that. “Cheat… and manipulate?” she echoed. “Oh, please, Lula. Do you really think you of all ponies have the right to judge me?” she asked; Trixie’s eyes narrowed at hearing her given name dropped. “Here’s an idea, Ms. Lulamoon: what do you say we all talk about you and your pitifully weak vendetta against Mister Wright’s marefriend?” She grinned back. Twilight instantly perked up while Trixie acted like she’d been slapped, flinching backwards and her eyes looking to Phoenix like they belonged to a bullied foal. “That’s right, Twilight. Her grudge against you stems far past the humiliation she suffered at your hooves. Isn’t that right… Miss Minor and Mediocre?” Sonata smirked at the showmare again. Trixie’s eyes went wide, her expression uncertain; for a moment both Phoenix and Twilight thought she would revert back to her cowed state. But this time, the mare magician was not so easily overcome; pride and anger overriding whatever past trauma Sonata was trying to make her remember. “Ha! Don’t even bother trying to pull that one again, lady! Trixie was a foal to let some blackmailing, limp-horned hussy like you get to her the first time!” She shook it off quickly and pinned the other unicorn with a stare, her eyes glowing blue again, betraying fire and ice all at the same time. “Make no mistake, Miss Eye-Butt—even if Trixie has to get you off the hook for Mister Wrong’s murder accusation, I’m still going to put you away for all your other crimes!” she promised, her eye glow diminishing and her smug grin returning as she said it. “Trixie hopes you enjoy stale hay and water, Sonata—because that’s all you’re going to be eating for a very long time!” she finished with a gleeful, malicious grin. “Put me away, will you?” Sonata turned to Trixie directly. “Then I’ll take great pleasure in revealing all your secrets, Trixie—your powers… your past… and your failures,” she suggested with a lowered head and knowing grin. Far from being cowed, Trixie’s expression went ice cold, as did the air around her. “Then do it, Sonata!” the mare magician challenged, the blue glow in her eyes returning and intensifying as she leaned back over the rail to glare. “I’ll survive it—I’ve survived far worse than you, you magically-impotent minx!” she all but hissed as the air around her froze up again; a cold breeze suddenly blowing through the courtroom and making Phoenix shiver, the ponies in the stands behind the showmare’s bench almost recoiling from the sudden chill. The bailiffs looked at Trixie nervously and Twilight watched warily as well, impressed by the other unicorn’s steadily increasing power and worried she would eventually have to intervene to keep Trixie’s surging elemental magic under control. “Enough!” The Judge brought his gavel down hard, breaking the spell, his breath visible in the air. “As far as I’m concerned, you will all be sent to jail once this trial is concluded; the only question is for how long and for what!” he all but shouted, causing the two mares to flinch. “You will both refrain from further personal attacks! And Ms. Trixie! You will keep your magic under control or be removed!” he further ordered, waiting until her eye glow had abated and cold air had dissipated. “Now, continue your testimony, Ms. Sonata!” “What are they talking about?” Phoenix asked Twilight, rubbing his suddenly goose-bumped arms through his suit sleeves. “And should we be worried about Trixie?” he couldn’t help but add, noting the fearful and nervous reaction of the gallery to her icy displays. Twilight’s eyes went sad and downcast  for a moment. “I’ll tell you later,” she offered, a little evasively. “For now, don’t worry about Trixie—I’ll deal with her if needs be. You’ve just got to focus on Sonata here,” she told him, her horn flaring to bathe him in warm air. “Right,” Phoenix said, letting the protective warmth of her aura soak into him, driving Trixie’s chill away. I got there ten minutes before Ace and hid in some foliage at the edge of the clearing so I could watch the proceedings unseen. Both Rainbow Dash and Ace showed up at the appointed time and the negotiations began. “And what exactly were these ‘negotiations’?” Phoenix wanted to know, watching her over another sip of coffee. Sonata gave him an annoyed look. “For her to drop out of the race, of course. What else?” she answered derisively. “Why ‘of course’?” Phoenix asked, genuinely curious as he set the cup back down. “Why didn’t you just tell her to lose like you did for other ponies? Why have her drop out completely?” “There were several reasons,” Sonata replied, pushing her glasses more firmly onto the bridge of her nose. “Because of her… performance at another event, it was clear she was far faster than Ace and could beat him in a race,” the gray mare pronounced blandly, causing Rainbow Dash to puff up her chest in pride. “But it wasn’t so much due to that as her arrogance and ego. If she were to participate in the Equestrian 500, there was a chance—a very good chance, I judged—that her competitive nature would kick in. That she would throw away all bets and try to win, even at the price of those pictures being exposed.” “You got that right, sister!” Rainbow Dash spoke up, standing tall and proud, her statement eliciting a series of appreciative hoofclops from the gallery and a warning look from Twilight. I’ve only known her for a day and a half, yet that really sounds like something Rainbow Dash would do! Phoenix was only too certain. “And then what happened?” To my surprise, Rainbow Dash refused our generous offer and flew up high, triggering a storm cloud she had apparently put there in foresight earlier in the day. “I’d like to ask you exactly what you witnessed here, Sonata,” he began, leaning on the rail. “Unlike Gilda, you actually saw this directly, correct?” She turned away again. “Every solitary detail is seared into my memory, Mister Wright. So, yes.” Lying again! Phoenix spotted. “I have one question, then: How?” he challenged, coming back to a point he had originally made in Rainbow’s defense. “How were you able to see all this in the pitch black of the forest? You’re not a griffon like Gilda, so you don’t have the ability to see in the dark! And I’m sure Rainbow Dash would have seen you if you were illuminating the area with your horn!” “That’s because I wasn’t, Mister Wright,” she stated authoritatively with a roll of her eyes, seemingly certain that she was on firm ground. “Do you really think I’d be so stupid as to give away my presence like that? The lightning itself lit up the area after she set it off. In that split-second I was able to see everything freeze-framed—the cloud, Ms. Dash bucking it, and…” she closed her eyes. “Ace being struck by lightning,” she finished, her voice going unsteady for a moment as she turned her head away. “But even without the flash, there was no need to. There is a night vision spell unicorns can perform. That was one of the spells I learned from the spellbook, if you’re interested. It enabled me to see the proceedings quite clearly.” Phoenix winced as she parried his latest attack effectively, looking to Twilight for confirmation. “She’s right. That book is where I first learned it from, too. It’s a more advanced spell and takes a while to master, but it doesn’t require much power when you do,” Twilight concurred. “I was actually using it when I was leading you to the clearing that first night. That’s how I didn’t get lost or run into things in the dark. It honestly didn’t occur to me you couldn’t see until… well, you said so,” She looked embarrassed, remembering how he’d kept bumping into her and blushing slightly at the thought. “That’s when I resorted to a much more basic illumination spell instead.” “Ha! Trixie didn’t need a book! She learned it on her own!” the showmare boasted, her hoof on her chest and chin in the air. “Would you care to share those details, Sonata?” Phoenix asked, ignoring Trixie and suppressing a mild flare of annoyance at Twilight. Might have saved me a lot of fear and embarrassment if you’d lit the way from the START! “As if I have a choice, Mister Wright?” Sonata rolled her eyes both at him and at Trixie. “After the negotiations went sour, Rainbow Dash flew up and bucked the storm cloud, triggering it,” she began. “As has been well-established, there are some exposed parts on that racing suit when the pegasus wearing it is grounded. I saw Ace look up, bewildered at what she was doing, and the bolt hit him directly on his neck,” she pronounced, turning away again. “As the prosecution theorized, the lightning’s impact hurtled his body a short distance.” “His neck, huh…” Phoenix pondered aloud while scratching his chin, his internal senses twitching. What was that Twilight said about part of Sonata’s testimony not matching up…? I watched in horror as the lightning bolt hit Ace directly on the exposed back of his neck. The amount of electricity and force of the impact sent him flying a short distance, as the prosecution surmised. Phoenix wasted no time as he finally spotted what Twilight had already sensed. “Looks like you saw things wrong here, Sonata,” he said mildly before lowering his head and putting his hands on his hips, showing his teeth in a triumphant grin. “Or far more likely, you’re lying through your teeth!” “What are you talking about, Mister Wright?” she asked, turning away disdainfully from him. “You’ve already proven me guilty of blackmail. I have no further reason to lie.” “Trixie agrees!” the showmare broke in. “Whatever Miss Eye-Butt’s other crimes, they are now exposed and she has no further reason to lie about what she saw!” she insisted, turning her icy glare on him. The showmare’s eyes glowed blue for just a moment again, the anger in them causing Phoenix to shiver. Not sure which I’d want to face less, Trixie’s ice or Twilight’s fire! “She does if she was in fact the one who committed the murder!” Phoenix quickly countered even as Twilight stood a little closer, as if to guard him, watching Trixie carefully. “What I’m talking about is not one, but two contradictions in her testimony!” He pointed at her. “Two contradictions?” The Judge asked, visibly confused. “Yes, Your Honor,” Phoenix nodded, sorting through his evidence stack. “Let’s start with the more minor one. You may recall that according to the autopsy report, there was a burn mark on the back of the victim’s neck?” he reminded The Judge as he pulled the report free. Trixie broke in before the grey unicorn mare could answer. “And just how is that a contradiction, Mister Wrong? Eye-butt’s testimony itself makes it clear: that must have been where the lightning struck his neck, leaving a burn behind!” she asserted, levitating her own copy of the autopsy report and peering it at it through squinting eyes that made Phoenix wonder if she was farsighted. “Not according to another little detail Sonata shared,” Phoenix countered, starting to scent victory. “The witness stated: ‘I saw Ace look up, bewildered at what she was doing and the bolt hit him directly on his neck,’ he recited from the latest sheet of transcript that had been floated to him by the unicorn stenographer. “You’re right!” Twilight spoke up, her eyes wide and tone excited. “It would have left a burn mark on the front of his neck if he was really facing the storm cloud and looking up!” “Exactly!” Phoenix replied triumphantly. “So it couldn’t have happened as she claims! Sonata! If you really watched these events transpire, then how did he come to acquire this scar?” Trixie gave a very heavy and annoyed sigh, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “Care to explain this, Four-Eyes?” she invited. “Trixie is getting very tired of Mister Wrong’s constant nitpicking.” Sonata’s eyes went evasive for just a moment. “I don’t know. Because like I said earlier…” Not wanting to be Ms. Dash’s next victim, I fled the forest as fast as I could. “I don’t think so!” Phoenix proclaimed with his hands back on his hips, noting her guilty reaction. “And now comes the second contradiction: you clearly didn’t leave the forest right away!” “And how would you know that?” Trixie asked in annoyance; Phoenix could feel cold air pouring off her and pooling on the floor around his feet. “Come on, Trixie! Don’t you remember what time Apple Bloom got out?” he asked the showmare, causing her to gasp and look away nervously. “9 PM! Courtesy of our friendly witness. So she remained in the woods for nearly twenty minutes after the lightning strike!” he reasoned. “Seeing how the lightning hit at 8:40 and Sonata teleported out at 9 PM, that leaves a very long time frame while she was still inside the forest!” Sonata didn’t reply, a fresh bead of sweat rolling down the side of her head despite the cold air that Trixie had left in the courtroom pit. “So I’ll ask again, Sonata!” Phoenix leaned forward, his pursuit picking up pace. “He couldn’t have gotten that burn from the lightning as you claimed! So where did it come from?” Sonata’s eyes momentarily darted around the courtroom before she caught herself. “That mark… isn’t from the lightning bolt,” she began in a strangely sad tone, but quickly regained her composure. “Now that I think about it, that mark must have been from the day before the incident. Ace was flying in a dangerous race inside Ifrit’s Volcano and must have picked up the burn from some embers,” she said, turning away from Phoenix yet once more. “You’re lying!” Phoenix couldn’t restrain himself as she gave her tell again. “Is she?” Trixie studied her old schoolmate for a moment; Phoenix had seen the showmare’s eyes narrow when Sonata had turned away this latest time, wondering if she’d finally picked up on the tell herself. “Well, that could explain it…” she said in a slightly wary tone as she picked up a cold-stiffened sheet of scroll paper, a note in her voice that suggested to him she was trying to convince herself as much as The Judge. “His schedule confirms he was indeed racing in that volcano the day before he came to Ponyville. If he picked up a burn there, it would still have been fresh. This is just stupid, though,” Trixie then voiced the thoughts The Judge, the gallery and Phoenix himself held. “Why would anypony with a sane mind feel the need to race in a volcano?” She crumbled up the scroll sheet in her aura and tossed it over her shoulder into a nearby trash can. “High risk, high reward.” Sonata shrugged. “And Ace was a bit of an adrenaline junkie. He loved a good rush.” The ends of Trixie’s mouth turned upwards. “Oh really? Well I guess you of all ponies would know, being his marefriend and all,” she suggested. “I wasn’t his marefriend!” Sonata shot back, a sudden edge to her voice. “Oh, please,” Trixie said in a taunting tone, recognizing she’d hit a nerve and deciding to press it. “The tabloids have been full of rumors about you two for years, and you shared the same hotel room. So were you two an item, or was Ace just that cheap?” she mocked. Sonata glared daggers at the other unicorn. “Unlike you, I maintain a professional detachment to my job and clients, Trixie. And besides, Ace had enough groupies; he didn’t need me.” Trixie’s smirk only got more pronounced. “Oh really? And what about that shopping list of yours? Wing and hoof hobbles sounds like something out of Fifty Grades of Hay!” she leered, causing Rarity—and many other mares—to blush hard in the gallery, the fashionista’s aura going momentarily pink to her great mortification. “So why did you choose the Everfree Forest for the meeting, Sonata? Was it for privacy? Or maybe you liked a little danger when you did it?” she suggested with a leering grin. “Guess you aren’t the cold fish we all thought you were at magic school!” she grinned, looking very pleased with herself. Sonata glared at her old school rival a moment more before she closed her eyes and smiled. “Well, Lula… I would think that given your ice magic incontinence, if anypony knew what it was to be frigid… it would be you!” she stated to Trixie’s jaw dropping open and stifled snickers from the gallery; even Phoenix couldn’t help but smile at the perfect retort. “And while we’re on the subject, just how did you land this prosecutor’s job, Trixie?” Sonata wondered aloud. “I know you’re not above bribery when it comes down to it. Or are the earnings from your magic show so meager you had to offer another form of payment?” she suggested in a mild tone, eyes closed and smiling as the audience erupted in laughter. On the other side of the courtroom pit, Trixie’s cheeks flushed hot even as the immediate area around her went very cold, a few snowflakes materializing out of the very air itself. Satisfied she’d gotten the better of the exchange, Sonata took up her previous line of thought. “Ace raced in the volcano for the sheer thrill of it and because the prize was a treasure known as the Flame Dragon Ruby. Very valuable. And very powerful—an enchanted gem that legend holds once belonged to the hoard of an elder dragon. One of three said to enhance the natural abilities of those who wield it once a certain magical ritual is performed.” “And I bet you two won that through cheating, huh?” Phoenix suggested over crossed arms, his voice dripping with contempt. Sonata was completely unrepentant. “Yes, we did. Problem?” she grinned, eyes closed again. “Once he had all three gems and had undergone the ritual, Ace wouldn’t have needed to cheat any more.” “Shut up, Wrong!” a still-angry Trixie snarled across the courtroom pit, though it looked like the wheels in her head were turning, her icy gaze falling on Twilight for a moment as she considered the information about the Flame Dragon Ruby. “She gave you a good explanation for the burn.” “Good, but uncorroborated. Do you have a doctor’s note or other medical report to confirm this injury?” Phoenix asked. Unless I miss my guess… “No. Because he didn’t like doctors,” Sonata replied, Phoenix concluding she was being truthful when she didn’t turn away again. “So it doesn’t really come as a surprise that he wouldn’t want to get it checked out.” “So you’re saying he had this burn mark on his neck before he arrived in Ponyville?” The Judge broke in. “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Sonata confirmed. “And that, Your Honor, is the whole truth of the matter. Mister Wright is simply doing what defense attorneys do best—trying to make hay out of irrelevant details!” she turned away as she said it. A new cry went up. Phoenix was silent. Trixie was silent. Sonata looked startled as the source of the cry stepped forward. “Miss… Sparkle?” The Judge looked at her in surprise. “Twilight?” Phoenix was just as startled. “You really shouldn’t be—” “There’s something wrong here!” Twilight stated in a loud, clear voice, speaking right over Phoenix. “What the witness just said is impossible. He couldn’t have had that burn mark before the incident!” “Uh, Twilight?” Phoenix broke in nervously, worried she was about to embarrass herself again. “I’m supposed to be the lawyer here…” “Listen to your coltfriend and stick to the books, Snarkle!” Trixie mocked. “He got that scar from his race in the volcano and there’s no way to prove otherwise!” She took on her haughty pose. “You’re wrong, Trixie!” Twilight slammed a purple hoof down on the bench in front of her, her eyes fierce and determined, shooting Phoenix a glance that told him not to stop her. “No, he didn’t get it from the race, and in fact, there is proof!” she claimed, her horn flaring to life as a picture floated out of her saddlebags. “A pony named Cruise Control gave this to me yesterday.” “Him,” Sonata said under her breath, looking away in surprise and worry. “It’s a photo of the victim entering the forest; the timestamp shows it was taken twenty minutes before the crime took place!” Twilight announced as she projected the picture into the courtroom pit for everypony to see. “And what about it?” Trixie said as Twilight floated her a copy of the picture, noting the timestamp on it. “So he entered the forest in enough time to reach the clearing for the meeting. So what?” “I’m not trying to prove he went in there!” Twilight countered in an annoyed tone as Phoenix listened warily, not yet sure what she was getting at. “Look close and you’ll see exactly what I’m trying to prove!” she declared, her horn glow intensifying as she manipulated the projected image to zoom in on the back of Ace’s neck. Phoenix’s eyes went wide and Trixie’s mouth dropped open as she saw what the rival unicorn was getting at, the showmare looking away and rubbing her teeth with a forehoof nervously. “You see it now, don’t you, Trixie?” Twilight said triumphantly. “In this picture, there’s no burn mark on the back of his neck! In fact, there’s not so much as a mane hair singed or out of place! He wasn’t burned by the volcano!” “Oh my! She’s right!” The Judge agreed, squinting at the picture that had just been floated him, picking up a magnifying glass to have a closer look, sounding just as impressed as Phoenix was. “I submit, Your Honor, that this therefore proves the victim acquired that scar only after this picture was taken, while he was still in the forest!” she concluded, holding her head high and letting her words sink in. When they had, she turned to Phoenix, going giddy. “Ohmygosh! Phoenix, did you see that? Did everypony see that? I objected and it was so exhilarating! This is so exciting! I found a flaw in her testimony! Do you think I sounded professional enough? Oh, wait until I tell the princess about this! I just know she’ll—” “Twilight! Relax!” Phoenix held up his hands in placation. Her purple eyes went wide. “Ah! Uh… heh-heh. S-sorry.” She looked embarrassed again, but didn’t lose her smile. “Guess I got a little carried away.” “Maybe a little,” Phoenix agreed, his hand on the back of his head. “But it’s alright. You did great! Thank you for catching that, Twilight!” He bowed his head in gratitude to her, just catching himself before he reached over to scratch between her ears. “I’ll take the reins from here. Sonata!” He slammed his hands down on the table. “As my co-counsel has pointed out—” he took great pains to say, crediting a beaming Twilight with a wave of his hand. “—he couldn’t have acquired that scar prior to entering the forest!” Still giddy, Twilight sensed another psyche-lock break as Phoenix waited for an answer from the visibly flustered Sonata; its dominant emotion, she was surprised to sense, was sadness. Deep and abiding sadness, she amended her own thought, her smile faltering a bit as she turned her mystical vision back off to shield herself from the feedback. Despite the front she’s putting up, whatever happened in the woods that night, she’s not at all proud of it. “It must have been… from the golf club,” Sonata offered, more tentatively, a suddenly sorrowful look in her eyes. “The golf club?” Trixie repeated in disbelief, looking ever more annoyed. “How could the golf club have given him the burn mark?” “I’d like to know the answer to that as well,” The Judge agreed. “Please testify as to that effect.” ——————— WITNESS TESTIMONY —————— — Feel The Burn — When Rainbow Dash set the cloud off, the lightning bolt forked, hitting the ground as well as Ace, attracted to the golf club lying there. When it hit, the bolt not only started a fire I had to put out, but heated the metal of the golf club up red-hot. Ace fell to the ground after he was struck down by the lightning, landing on the golf club neck-first and breaking it, burning his neck in the process. That’s how the burn scar got there. I moved the body aside and stick into the dirt pile to let it cool without burning anything else, and then put out the fire myself. Realizing there was nothing I could do for Ace except make sure his murderer was caught, I ran away from the crime scene but returned later when I realized I forgot to take the golf club. “So Fluttershy was right! You really did take the golf club!” Phoenix immediately pointed out, as much for Fluttershy’s sake as his case. “Yes. I did,” Sonata admitted with a reluctant air, a fresh burst of mystical energy telling Twilight yet another lock had broken—only five left! she realized, sensing it contained the emotion of not just fear, but stark terror. “Problem?” the grey mare asked again, wearing a sly smile. Trixie spoke up before Phoenix could. “Yes, there’s a problem! You were just denying earlier you even touched it, Four-Eyes!” she accused angrily. “That’s because admitting I took the club meant admitting I tampered with the crime scene,” she pointed out. “That would have me—and is going to have me—put away for quite some time.” “You got that right, Miss Eye-Butt!” Trixie looked very gleeful. “You’re racking up quite the rap sheet here. Trixie is going to enjoy your trial immensely!” “You’ll be enjoying it from the gallery,” Sonata retorted. “If you’re even there to enjoy it at all. You’re not the only legally adept pony in this room, Lula. Even assuming you’re out in time for my trial after serving your contempt citation, I’ll make quite sure you don’t prosecute. Not only at my trial, but ever again!” “Ha!” Trixie laughed. “And just how are you going to do that, Miss Eye-Butt?” Sonata smiled. “Need you even ask, Lula? I know plenty of things other ponies don’t want revealed, and I’ll trade my silence for a few favors—including the right to testify at your disbarment hearing,” she said, causing Trixie’s expression to drop. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll even plead myself down, pay the fine—I’m sure that that ruby will suffice for restitution—and get a reduced sentence in return for not divulging certain embarrassing information. In fact, if I play my cards right, I could be out in less time than you and Mister Wright are!” She grinned, her eyes closed as if to savor the thought. Phoenix sensed some bravado in her statement, but also some truth as well. No way she’d get off that lightly. But she could well manipulate the system and pull the strings of unrevealed puppets to be out in just a few months—with nothing more than a veritable slap on the wrist. That means I have to pin the murder charge on her to make sure it won’t happen! “Then why admit it now?” he asked over crossed arms. “We still didn’t have direct proof you took it!” “Because I’m already going to jail for my ‘victory methods’, Mister Wright,” she sniffed, turning her attention back on Phoenix. “So what’s a little longer to clear this outlandish murder accusation you’re trying to pin on me?” The Judge looked confused as well. “But I still don’t understand. Why would you carry this golf club out, Ms. Sonata?” “Because it could have incriminated me, Your Honor,” she said. “Metal is magically conductive and tends to retain traces of spells used on it quite readily. I used a levitation spell to move it aside, and that meant any unicorn forensic specialist would have picked up traces of my aura on it. That would have in turn put me on the scene of the crime. I couldn’t take that chance, so I brought the golf club out with me.” Okay. Focus, Phoenix! he ordered himself, sensing that despite Sonata’s continued efforts to insult and obfuscate, they were entering the home stretch. She’s constantly revising her story. She has to run out of excuses and explanations sooner or later. You just have to keep pressing her and she’ll break under the weight of her own lies! —————— CROSS-EXAMINATION —————— When Rainbow Dash set the cloud off, the lightning bolt forked, hitting the ground as well as Ace, attracted to the golf club lying there. “I apologize if the answer to this question is obvious to everyone except me, but… is that possible? Can lightning bolts from pegasus-created clouds fork to hit multiple points at once?” He had to know, looking around for answers. He was not heartened when Rainbow went downcast and gave him a slow nod of her head. “Yes and no,” Twilight answered him patiently, speaking loud enough for all to hear. “Yes, because they can fork into multiple ‘leaders’ same as a natural lightning strike, but no, because only one of those leaders gets to complete the circuit with the ground and receive the return stroke.” She projected a diagram of a lightning bolt into the air. “Sorry, Mister Wrong, but her testimony works. He was clearly hit by the initial leader but once inside him, the charge couldn’t penetrate his lighting-proof suit,” Trixie piled on, pleased that her careful study of how lightning worked the night before in order to discredit Phoenix’s theory had borne fruit. “So Eye-Butt’s testimony in fact makes clear what happened: as it was unable to complete the circuit through Ace, a second leader forked out from the main branch to target the ground instead, attracted to the metal golf club lying there. In such a circumstance, he would still have received a lethal shock while the golf club took the brunt of the bolt, and thus…” When it hit, the bolt not only started a fire I had to put out, but heated the metal of the golf club up red-hot. “How big was this fire?” Phoenix wondered, not immediately sure what else he could ask. “Big enough. You visited the crime scene, did you not?” Sonata asked him, turning away again. “I’m sure you saw the extent of the burned area. That’s how big it got before I put it out.” “The answer is in the police report right in front of you, if you’d bother to read it, Mister Wrong,” Trixie pointed out, sounding increasingly aggravated, a dusting of snow on the bench around her. “Turn to page five and you’ll see all significant dimensions marked on the map of the crime scene. The burned area was roughly circular and nearly six feet across.” “Then how did you manage to put it out?” Phoenix ignored Trixie except for the flushing of his cheeks against the chill in the air—if there was one thing he hated more than anything, it was having his ignorance or sloppiness pointed out. “You’re not a pegasus, so you couldn’t have manipulated the cloud to release rain. Is there some kind of fire extinguishing spell?” he suddenly wondered with a glance at Twilight, who bit her lip to keep from answering, not wanting to embarrass herself by launching into a tangent again. Sonata gave him a look. “I’m sure Miss Sparkle there knows some, but I don’t. In point of fact, I simply used Ace’s bag to beat it down.” She looked almost embarrassed by the admission. “That’s how it was burned.” Even though her answer rang true to him, Phoenix’s brow furrowed. “Wait a minute—if you took the golf club because you touched it with your aura, why did you leave the bag behind? Wouldn’t that incriminate you, too?” “Because the bag didn’t matter,” Sonata stated with a grin. “I’ve touched that bag a million times before, both physically and with my magic. As has Ace’s butler, his mane stylist, his accountant, his personal trainer, his masseuse, his last several marefriends… and even his mother when she packed his lunches,” she recited, eyes closed and smiling in amusement. “His mother packed his lunches?” Phoenix blinked in disbelief. “Just how old was he?” “Twenty-five,” Sonata answered after a brief pause, causing jaws to drop open throughout the courtroom. I’m… just going to pretend she didn’t answer that, Phoenix decided, doing his best not to facepalm. “The point, Mister Wright, is that there were many other ponies who touched his bag other than me,” Sonata continued. Abruptly, her expression turned angry again, ears laying flat and eyes narrowing. “And in any event, I wanted Rainbow Dash to pay for killing Ace, so I purposely left the pictures behind in the bag to make sure she would be incriminated… even if I couldn’t be the one to accuse her,” she finished with a smile, her ears rising again. “On that basis, it worked perfectly.” Phoenix watched her expression change, thinking he still couldn’t get a handle on her thought processes and how she seemed to run hot and cold. Angry one moment, smug and joking the next. You’d think she was on drugs or something… “So why did you feel the need to put it out?” Phoenix asked next, crossing his arms again. “You don’t exactly strike me as the environmentally conscious type!” “Drawing attention to the scene was my main concern,” Sonata replied. “If someone were to see the fire, it would attract other ponies. If there was a police or weather patrol pegasus flying overhead at just the wrong moment, for example, their eyes would be drawn to the fire and they could spot me quickly. But it seems it didn’t matter in the long run, as I was found out anyway.” Ace fell to the ground after he was struck down by the lightning, landing on the golf club neck-first and breaking it, burning his neck in the process. That’s how the burn scar got there. “You’re saying he fell on the golf club?” Phoenix prompted, letting a disbelieving note enter his voice. “I heard a metallic ringing sound and saw an eruption of sparks as he hit the ground. So I guess so.” She turned away and closed her eyes again. Trixie’s eyes narrowed in turn as she did so, making Phoenix think she had indeed picked up on Sonata’s tell herself. “And that’s how the burn got there?” she asked, almost warily. “Yes. As soon as Ms. Dash vacated the area, I hurried to the flaming area and tried to save Ace, yanking him out of the fire but… he was al-already dead.” She looked down and her lip quivered for a moment, her voice going shaky. “He was lying on top of the club, which I then removed and placed in the dirt area so I could put out the fire.” That would mean the body WASN’T hurtled by the lightning and Sonata was the one who moved both the stick and Ace to where Gilda found them! Phoenix realized with a look at Twilight, who, he noticed, kept glancing up at the gallery doors waiting for Spike and Applejack to return. They should have been back by now. But at the rate we’re rolling back Sonata’s lies, it’s possible we won’t need whatever’s in that book. And speaking of lies… He managed to keep the grin off his face. I moved the body aside and stick into the dirt pile to let it cool without burning anything else, and then put out the fire myself. Phoenix’s sudden shout caused Sonata to flinch. “Sorry, Sonata, but your explanation doesn’t add up!” He pointed at her as he spoke. Sonata actually looked perturbed. “W-why not?” she stammered, her eyes going wide and fearful for a moment. “You said the golf club was red hot when Ace hit it?” he reminded her, pulling the ruined metal rod back out. “Which given its current state, you should be able to plainly see,” she replied, regaining her composure. “I agree. It certainly looks like it was, as it’s now seared and warped beyond all recognition,” he noted as he rubbed the shaft with his thumb, watching small pieces of charred and warped metal flake off. “But that’s just it! If Ace was really lying in the fire and against a red-hot golf club, there’d be a lot more of his body—to say nothing of his racesuit—burnt than one small spot on the back of his neck!” he observed, causing gasps from the gallery. “Oh my! You are correct, Mister Wright!” The Judge’s eyes went wide. “Again with the pointless nitpicks," An impatient Trixie broke in. "Stop trying to turn molehills into mountains, Mister Wrong!” she ordered him, blue eyes glowing and a chill breeze blowing again as her agitation increased. “This is no molehill, Trixie! A lot of things don’t line up with these events if we take this into consideration!” Phoenix immediately fired back, watching as ponies began to retreat from Trixie’s presence in the first two gallery rows above her, visibly shivering. “If the victim was really lying in that fire as the witness asserts, then his burns should be far worse given how fast exposed flesh burns when in contact with red-hot metal! But instead, all we have is one small burn mark on the back of his neck!” Trixie was quick with her comeback. “Exposed flesh does burn quickly in the presence of red-hot metal, Mister Wrong—the key word being exposed. A lightning-proof racesuit has multiple protective enchantments on it and is also quite fire-resistant—it would have to be in order to be worn in a volcano race!” she pointed out. “If it can withstand lava spatters, it would take considerably longer than a few seconds lying against a heated metal rod to hurt it, let alone its wearer… except where the back of his neck was exposed!” Phoenix was stunned. I thought I had her! he mentally protested, but Trixie had shot him down yet again. “Was he wearing this suit in the volcano race?” he tried. “Yes, he was,” Sonata piped up, shooting a grateful look at Trixie. Phoenix frowned. “I thought that suit was standard issue for the Equestrian 500! So why was he using it for another race?” “For other racers, it is. But Ace had his own racesuit—a full wardrobe of them, in fact,” Sonata replied, starting to look more relaxed as she sensed Phoenix’s cross-examination faltering. “You’re allowed to wear your own suit as long as it meets race standards. He wore that particular one for the Ifrit Volcano Race.” “Can you prove it?” Phoenix challenged weakly, groping frantically for a new line of attack. Dammit—I was all ready to use the neck burn to prove Ace was still alive after the lightning hit! “There were many pictures of Ace taken both before and after the race, Mister Wrong,” Trixie spoke up, her eye glow abating. “So yes. In fact, Trixie herself noticed the Equestria Daily’s sports section ran a full-color picture of him crossing the finish line the next day, his suit none the worse for wear despite the high heat and burning embers he encountered. So, Miss Eye-Butt’s explanation in fact does work, as long as she moved him away from the golf club quickly enough… and she said she did!” “This court agrees with the prosecution. Objection overruled!” The Judge proclaimed with a sharp rap of his gavel. “Move on, Mister Wright.” Phoenix felt the case starting to slip away from him once more, realizing that without the still-absent book, he was out of evidence and down to the last piece of testimony again. If I don’t find something here… Realizing there was nothing I could do for Ace except make sure his murderer was caught, I ran away from the crime scene but returned later when I realized I forgot to take the golf club. “Why run away? Why not just teleport out?” Phoenix pressed her. “Why did you wait twenty minutes to leave the scene?” She looked nervous and frightened for a moment. “I… wasn’t exactly thinking clearly after what had just… after what I’d just witnessed,” she corrected herself mid-sentence, leaving Phoenix wondering what she was about to say. “All I could think of at that moment was to hide.” “So you put out the fire and moved Ace’s body, then hid, then came back for the stick, then teleported out, and all that took twenty minutes?” he recited. “That’s ridiculous!” “Come now, Mister Wrong. She’d just seen her client and coltfriend killed. Would you be thinking rationally after that?” Trixie asked, the smile back on her face as she sensed herself gaining the upper hoof again, the cold air around her starting to recede as she sensed victory and her emotions began to still. “He wasn’t my…” Sonata mumbled, far more subdued. “She apparently was thinking rationally, given she had enough cognizance to put out the fire and tried repeatedly to cover her tracks!” Phoenix pointed out. “Out of self-preservation, Mister Wright—because after witnessing your client kill Ace, I was afraid she might come after me if she found out I was involved with the blackmail scheme as well.” Sonata perked up again, addressing Phoenix and suppressing her turned-away tell before turning her attention to The Judge. “Your Honor—you called me in here because you wanted to know how the stick got out of the woods. Now you know. As this cross-examination is ended, I submit I have answered all questions to your satisfaction, and all the loose ends in the case, as you put them, are now tied up.” “Hmmm…” The Judge thought, closing his eyes. “She is correct, Mister Wright. She is neither a pegasus nor an elemental unicorn, and as such, I see no way she could have killed the victim. Further, I see no motive for her to do so.” “But she had opportunity, Your Honor!” Phoenix proclaimed. “That plus her repeated lies alone should warrant additional investigation! And I can give a motive as well!” “So can Trixie—perhaps she wanted that fire ruby for herself so she wouldn’t be such a weak and sorry excuse for a unicorn. See how easy and meaningless that is, Mister Wrong?” Trixie piped up, taking a simultaneous slap at Sonata and Phoenix. “But motive and opportunity is useless without means, Your Honor—and the witness has none. Mister Wrong has no alternate theory of the crime because he knows full well there is no way Miss Eye-Butt could have killed him—she couldn’t have used the cloud and there’s no spell she could cast that would electrocute him. Therefore, she cannot be the murderer, and Rainbow Trash is guilty!” “The prosecution is correct, Mister Wright,” The Judge concurred. “The case for murder rests on a stool of three legs—motive, meeting, and means. I will not withdraw my verdict against your client and order additional investigation of the witness without all three, and thus far… even assuming you can give a valid motive, you currently have only two,” he noted. “So now I ask directly: do you have a plausible theory of how the witness could have killed the victim via electrocution?” Phoenix felt a trickle of sweat running down the side of his neck as he sensed his case teetering on the brink once more. “We’re working on one…” he offered weakly with a glance at Twilight, who was biting her lip and casting repeated glances up into the gallery, as if trying to will her friend and scribe to appear. Applejack, Spike, where ARE you? We need that book NOW! she pleaded with her thoughts. “Mister Wrong can work on one all night if we let him. But there’s no point, Your Honor!” Trixie tried to cut off his last faint thread of hope again. “Trixie has said this before, and she will say it one final time: there is no way the witness could have electrocuted the victim!” “And that being the case, may we please end this interminable trial, Your Honor?” Sonata requested, starting to relax as well. “I will gladly submit myself to arrest and prosecution on blackmail charges, if it means dispelling this murder accusation… and seeing those two put away!” she said, her eyes going equal parts angry and hopeful as they shifted from Trixie to Phoenix. “I am inclined to agree with the witness and prosecution, Mister Wright,” The Judge announced. “You have established Ms. Sonata’s presence at the scene, and her complicity in a blackmail scheme involving the victim. But you have not provided any evidence of her involvement in the murder, or a theory as to how she could have killed him.” “But there are still major inconsistencies in her testimony!” Phoenix pointed out. “Her actions after the murder make no sense, and her explanation about him burning himself by falling on the stick doesn’t wash!” “Just more minor nitpicks,” Trixie waved him off, a fine mist of ice crystals surrounding her, glittering under the courtroom lights. “She was in a state of shock after seeing her lover killed and her actions may seem odd for it. She’s understandably shaky on the details, but the gist of her testimony is well-supported by the evidence, Your Honor!” the showmare insisted, Sonata visibly wincing at the renewed assertion about her and Ace. “This court concurs, Mister Wright,” The Judge nodded in agreement, causing Phoenix’s guts to clench. “You have uncovered much—far more than I would ever have imagined possible over the simple question of the stick. But in the end, though she is guilty of blackmail and evidence tampering, there is nothing here to suggest the witness murdered her own client,” he pronounced, as if passing sentence a second time. “And thus, we finally come to the end. This is such a glorious day for Trixie!” the showmare announced, closing her eyes and putting a hoof to her chest, exhaling a puff of frosty air happily. “Trixie has finally exacted her revenge on Twilight Snarkle… had a dangerous criminal banished… and put the eye-butt bimbo in her proper place! Can you say hat trick?” she asked, her wizard hat coming off her head in a poof of magic, reappearing upside-down in front of her with a rabbit poking its head out. “Your Honor, please! I beg the court’s indulgence, as several unanswered questions remain!” Phoenix stalled. Dammit, where the buck’s that BOOK? He found himself automatically using the equine invective in his thoughts. The Judge shook his head. “Unanswered questions are no longer enough, Mister Wright. We already answered the major one, and caught a blackmailer in the process. Unless you can produce an evidence-supported theory as to how the witness killed the victim here and now, this trial is over!” he promised, raising his gavel to end the proceedings for the final time… and seal Rainbow Dash’s fate. Before he could bring it down, Twilight’s horn flared to life and there was a sudden puff of green smoke and dragonfire in front of her, much as Phoenix had seen Spike vent before. Abruptly, a large blue book materialized out of the flames, falling with a loud THUMP! to the table in front of a startled Twilight, his earlier note to her slipped inside and seemingly bookmarking a page. Sonata’s eyes widened fractionally as she recognized the book. “Mister Wright? What is—?” The Judge began to ask, but Phoenix cut him off. “A moment, Your Honor!” he pleaded, mentally begging Twilight to hurry as she quickly scanned and then returned him the note, which contained a new annotation by a pony he didn’t know saying the marked page matched the one in his photograph. Thank you, whoever you are! he silently acknowledged their unknown benefactor, holding his breath while Twilight hurriedly studied the spell. Abruptly, she gasped and turned to him, her smile broad and eyes aglow. We’ve GOT her, Phoenix! he heard her thoughts clearly. Phoenix grinned back, taking her look for the invitation it was. “Your Honor! New evidence has been brought to the defense’s attention…!”