//------------------------------//
// Episode One: The First Turnabout 
// Story: Rainbow Dash: Ace Attorney 
// by Muleicous 
//------------------------------//


The First Turnabout!

I was running through a field of clouds, chasing after a huge red bird. I felt the wind in my wings, the sound of clouds as then flew past my ears, and even the heat from the tail of my prey. As I closed in, my hooves aching to touch this strange animal, for some reason it turned and began to... Shout loudly into my ear... Almost like... Oh buck me!

***

“Oh buck me!” Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs, she had set her alarm to wake her up an hour ago. Now she, the fastest pegasus in Equestria, was running late for her first case. The chief was going to kill her! Dashie flew through her small apartment, skipping the shower was a must. She’d make up for it with a nice clean blue suit and some extra perfume, the court wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. The pegasus grabbed a quick bagel from her toaster, hopping that the pure starch would be enough to get her through the day... However, when she looked at the clock on her wall she knew she’d probably burn the thing off just flying to the court house, considering how the trial was going to start in about 30 minutes and the court was nearly 45 minutes away.
Suddenly, Dash’s phone went off. A familiar music filled her ears as she picked up the small, plastic box. “Rainbow Dash, Ace Attorney here...”
“Dash!” Cheerilee’s voice shouted from the phone, “Where are you?! You said you’ld be here by six, and it’s nearly six thirty! Not to mention, your client’s going completely insane! She keeps yelling how she wants to die, and that she want’s to plead guilty... It’s a bit sad.”
Rainbow sighed as she ran out the door, “Put Lyra on chief, I’ll try and talk her down. I’m on my way now.” The sound of the phone exchanging hooves erupted over the speaker until Lyra Heartstring’s voice finally blared into Dash’s ear.
“Rain, dude, I’m dead! Get here and tell them I’m guilty! I’m not afraid to die!” the minty green unicorn shouted into the mouth piece. Lyra had been Rainbow Dash’s friend since kindergarten, and back then their school had a motto: “If it sounds fishy, it’s tugging at Heartstrings.” Lyra always had the worst of luck, but most of the time it wasn’t her fault or she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. This time, however, took the cake. Lyra’s ex-girlfriend, some mare called Cindy Stones, was found murdered in her apartment, and Lyra was the main and only suspect. A colt named See Sahwit had picked him out of a line up after reporting that he found the body, but Rainbow believed that Lyra wouldn’t hurt a fly (or couldn’t, depending on who you talk to). 

Before Dashie knew it, she was at the steps of the court house. The azure mare took a couple of deep breaths and stepped through the doors slowly, hopping that her first case would’nt be her last.

***

Rainbow, Cheerilee, and Lyra took their seats on the defense desk, waiting for the judge to enter Court Room 0993. Across from them sat a green colt in a purple suit, who Dash recognized as See Sahwit from the paper she had read three days prior, and a shy looking yellow pegasus with long pink hair in a plain grey suit.
“Hey chief,” Rainbow whispered to Miss Cheerilee, “who’s the yellow mare in the ugly suit.”
“Rainbow, don’t be rude,” the dark pink mare scolded her employee, “that’s Fluttershy. You should know her, I’ve told you about The Rookie Killer before.”
“Th...The Rookie Killer...” Dash gulped, her boss had told her about a mare that jumped on little mistakes made my new attorneys, even making some of those newer lawyers give up the ghost completely and set out to be librarians. But... could this scared looking yellow pegasus mare be as ruthless as Cheerilee made her out to be?
With out warning, the chamber door flew open and a tall white alicorn in black robes, with a rainbow mane trotted to the judge’s podium. “Court is in session,” Judgelestia called out, “all rise so that we may being. Is the prosecution ready Miss Shy?”
Fluttershy stood and nodded before saying, in a very soft voice, “The prosecution is ready ma’am...” The pink maned mare then pulled a pair of extremely thick glasses from her silky looking mane, and placed them on her face. This completely hid her eyes from anypony who was more then a foot away from her.
“Very good,” the judge nodded to the be-speckled mare, “Is the defense ready Miss Dash?”
Rainbow Dash stood, her eyes wide as she tried to force a smile out, “The defense is r...ready sir... I MEAN MA’AM!” 
Judgelestia sighed and looked at the azure pegasus, “Miss Dash, I see this is your first case. It that true?”
“Y...yes ma’am...”
“Are you sure you’re ready for this then?” the white alicorn asked, “You seem quiet nervous.”
“I...um...I...”
“Your honor,” Cheerilee stood and addressed the judge, “Miss Dash just needs a small amount of time to prepare. Maybe a few pretrial question would help her nerves ma’am?”
Judgelestia furrowed her brow, but then nodded in agreement, “Very good idea Miss Cheerilee. Now, Miss Dash, I assume you know the name of your client and the victim?”
“Yes ma’am,” Dash smiled a bit softer, “Lyra Heartstrings and Cindy Stones.”
“Correct, now could you tell me what the murder weapon was?”
“W...weapon?” Dash stammered, this wasn’t good... The blue pegasus’ mind was drawing a blank as she turned to her boss and whispered, “I have no clue what she’s talking about chief...”
“For Luna’s sake Dash...” Cheerilee rubbed her front hooves against her temples and frowned. Then the dark pink mare handed a folder to her apprentice. “This is the court record Dash, you should find all the information you need here... For Spitfire’s love you should know this already...”
The blue pegasus blushed as she opened the folder, searching through the profiles of the prosecution, the defense, and even the judge until she finally found the pages on the murder weapon.
“Any day now Miss Dash.” Judgelestia sighed, her gavel levitating above her podium.
“The um... The murder weapon,” Rainbow Dash began as she pulled out a picture of a small statue of a pony sitting in deep thought, “it a small recreation of the piece of classic pony art, The Plotter. This recreation also happens to be a clock.”
“Indeed...” the judge yawed, shaking her head to keep awake, “Right, Miss Shy if you could call your witness.”
“Y...yes your honor,” Fluttershy took a stack of papers in her hooves and straightened them out. “The prosecution would like to call Lyra Heartstrings to the stand.”
“Oh no...” Rainbow sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Cheerilee asked as she watched their client walk out to the stand.
“Well... Lyra can be a bit... What’s the word?”
“Crazy?”
“Excitable...”

***

“Miss Heartstrings...”
“I DIDN’T DO IT!” Lyra called out, interrupting Fluttershy’s question.
The court audience started to stammer and call out and clap, that is until the judge slammed her gavel against the hard wood of her podium.
“Order in the court!” Judgelestia called out, “Miss Strings, if you don’t wish to be in contempt of court I would suggest that you let the prosecutor finish her questioning.”
Lyra, huge tears swelling up in her eyes, answered, “Y...yes judge.”
“Now... Miss Heartstrings?” Fluttershy continued, “Isn’t it true that Miss Stones had dumped you earlier in the month?”
“What?! NO!” Lyra yelled, “I... We where taking a break.”
“You mean she...”
“SHE DIDN’T DUMP ME!... She just want returning my calls... Or seeing me... Ever...”
“OBJECTION!” Rainbow Dash called out, “Your honor, what does this have to do with the murder?”
“Motive, Miss Dash.” Fluttershy said plainly, “You client took this statue, the statue that he made for her ex-girlfriend, and hit her until she bled out and died! Then, during the blackout mentioned in people’s evidence 002, Mr. Sawhit found Miss Stone’s body while trying to sell newspapers!”
Again, the court erupted, and again the judge banged her gavel. Already this case was looking like a lost cause, but as Lyra left the stand and See Sahwit took his place on it the sky seemed to brighten.
“Now Mr. Sawhit,” Fluttershy began, “tell the court, in your own words, exactly what happened.”
“Ah, yes... well...” Sawhit said, his voice a bit shaky, “I was out and about, selling my papers. When I came across an open door, the door of the victim’s apartment,  I opened it more and found her on the floor.”
“And when was this?”
“One PM, I remember because I saw it on the news broadcast on TV.”
“Wait a second...” Dash said to herself before slamming her hooves on the defense desk, “HOLD IT! Your honor, there’s a flaw in Mr. Sawhit’s story... And it’s that, according to the evidence given, it was impossible for him to have ‘seen’ the time on the television.”
“Wha...What?!” Sawhit shouted, biting his cheek. “Oh... oh right... The blackout... I meant that I heard the time. Yes yes, the clock... The Plotter’s a clock yes? It says the time correct?”
Rainbow sighed and nodded, “That’s true...” Rainbow Dash stroked her chin and shook her head, then it struck her... just like that statue struck Cindy Stones. “What time did you say it was when you found the body Mr. Sawhit?”
“What? Are you deaf? I said it was one PM.” the purple suited colt chuckled to himself.
“Really, because... according to the court records the autopsy proved that the murder took place between 10 and 11 AM!” the new attorney smiled as the stuck up colt gasped and shuttered. 
“Your Honor!” Fluttershy called out, “My witness could easily be mistaken, after all he was in shock at the time from finding a dead pony.” Suddenly, the yellow mare’s elbow hit The Plotter clock’s head.
“I BELIEVE IT IS 12:15 PM” the clock called, and Cheerilee gasped.
“Your Honor!” The dark piny pony shouted, “The clock is three hours off! It’s 9:15 according to the court room’s clock!” The chief pointed to the small wall clock above her head, “It supports Dash’s theory about the crime.”
“What no!” Sawhit yelled, growling in rage, “Th...here’s no way, I fixed that thing after I bashed that slut in the head! ... Oh buck I said that out loud didn’t I?”
“That’s all I needed to hear Mr. Sawhit.” Judgelestia said, “Miss Dash... I’m happy to say you preformed well in your first case, but you should be careful. If it weren’t for you employer you mite’ve lost this case... So I rule in favor of the defendant, Miss Hydra Heartstrings...”
“It’s Lyra.” the minty green unicorn said.
“... Consider this the official ruling of  NOT GUILTY.”

***

	
From the attorney’s journal of Rainbow Dash, A.A.
 
Well... It turns out that Sawhit was just some common thief. He used the lie about selling paper’s go get into pony’s houses and apartments. The strange thing is that, after the trial, Fluttershy came up to us and offered to buy us dinner to celebrate our winning. Apparently Miss Shy’s a good loser... And not half bad looking either. Lyra had thought the same thing about the chief, and gave her a copy of  The Plotter statue to keep as a memento of the case... She didn’t even thank me for defending her.

It wouldn’t be till a few weeks later that I realized how important that statue was... And how much bad luck it would bring about....

The End... Of Episode One.