//------------------------------// // Resolved // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// "Afraid…?" Payne asked, jittering in disbelief. "AFRAID?!! You're KING SOMBRA! You seized the throne of the CRYSTAL EMPIRE! You ENSLAVED all the crystal ponies, you're a conquerer, a tyrant, a-" "My name is Sam," the defendant said, his voice shy but clear. "I did terrible things as King Sombra. But, through the kindness… and love, of others, I've been given a second chance. I was afraid of… becoming what I was again. I was a king of shadows and they showed me light. I was afraid that if…" his voice trembled. "That if I was king again, that King Sombra would come back. I love Flash Sentry… I didn't want to go back to the darkness again." Phoenix placed a comforting hand on Sam's shoulder. Lightning followed, then Spike, Firedancer, Blast Fuse and Blast Powder, finally forcing Dan to conceit a comforting pinkie finger on Sam's opposite shoulder. The dark-blue stallion blushed, closed his eyes and began to purr. For a few moments, they all shared a feeling of warmth. Even the Judge, who had somehow stepped down from the bench without anypony realizing he was there. Lightning Claw and Blast Fuse, hovering above the group to snuggle Sam, were the first to notice the bearded one. "Uh…" Lightning muttered. Phoenix opened his eyes, saw the additional shadow on the ground and followed it to a pair of beach sandals. "Uh… Judge?" "Mmmmm," the judge hummed contently, a hand on Sam's mane. "I do love moments like this." "I, err, uh… ummm…" "Yes, Mr. Wright?" Phoenix was going to say something, remark on how weird it was to see the judge not behind his platform but decided against it. Instead, he said, "Uhmm… nice sandals." "Oh-ho, thank you, Mr. Wright," Judge said delightedly. "They're actually a gift from Mr. Gant." The lawyer nodded. "I feel less comfortable knowing that now." Sam hugged the closest thing to him, which just so happened to be Dan, tightly. "Thank you… all of you… f-for accepting me." Dan groaned but didn't protest. Sometimes, these moments were necessary. None of them argued with that, though one pony in the courtroom didn't join in. "Touching," Payne remarked. "I'm sure that anypony, any creature for any pathetic dimension could commit any crime and no matter how heinous it was, they'd find "forgiveness" and "acceptance" here. Accepted fools, all of you," he said, sleeking back his mane yet again. "Maybe you should try understanding others, Payne," Wright said. "It might help you win cases if you show your clients a little sympathy." "Not against Nicky," Dan said, patting his friend on the back. "But hey, another lawyer might show up in Equestria and then you might stand a chance in court against a human." "Heh, right…" Phoenix agreed, thinking. (Aaaaand there's the image of Edgeworth riding a pony again.) "Ha! Who knew they'd crossover Steel Samurai and the Pink Princess again?! This is amazing! WHEEEEEEEEE!!!" And then, the image in Phoenix's head panned over to show Apollo Justice riding a unicorn. "I know, right?! And they're making a sequel where the Steel Samurai and the Pink Princess meet the Jammin' Ninja and Blue Badger! Just wait until Nick hears about this!" The image continued panning finally to show Dan in the background preparing to strangle both attorneys while Phoenix desperately tried to stop him. (Maybe I can have Twilight summon the best therapist ever to Equestria… because I think I'm going to need one.) Payne smirked. "Is that so? Perhaps I should consider moving to Earth- oh wait, I forgot," he smiled villainously, "that's not going to be an option very soon." "It's already not an option for you," Dan said, folding his arms. "Because there's no one on Earth that'd summon you unless they wanted to know what a talking yellow snow pony looks like." Payne's smile quickly turned to a glare at the statement. "Seriously Payney, there isn't a person on Earth desperate enough to hire you," Dan continued. "Ya look like urine, ya smell like urine and I don't want to know what's keeping your combover standing but I bet it's not-" Phoenix covered Dan's mouth before he could say any more. "We get it, he's disgusting and bald. Uh… no offense, Judge." "None taken," the judge said, sitting back at his bench. "At any rate, with this new evidence, it does appear to cast the trial in a whole new light, in more than one way," he said, looking to Sam. "King Som-err, King Sam-" "Just Sam," the defendant said, smiling thankfully. "Oh, sorry. Mr. Sam," the Judge said clearly, "I hereby find you: NOT GUILTY The judge banged his gavel, making it official. The courtroom erupted into cheers and elation. Writhe N. Payne slammed his hoof on the desk but it was drowned out by the applause. The prosecuting pony made his way out the side door, eager to be away from the celebration. Phoenix Wright, Sam and Dan triumphantly led their party out of the courtroom, happy that the right verdict had been reached once again. "Thank you… for defending me, Mr. Wright," Sam said. "Don't mention it. And call me Phoenix," he said, smiling. "That was a pretty cool trial," Firedancer remarked. "I think… maybe I might try to be an attorney." Phoenix smiled at the young stallion. "You definitely have a knack for noticing details." Firedancer looked down at the statement. "I only notice the obvious stuff…" "Hey, every detail's important," Phoenix said, kneeling down to him. "It might seem obvious to you… and to a lot of ponies, sometimes. But sometimes, we need the obvious stuff to be pointed out to us so we see how it all fits in the bigger picture." The fire-maned stallion thought for a moment, then nodded. His power might make things burn but he was learning he could light things up in his own way if he focused enough. This was the beginning of Firedancer's career as a defense attorney. "Speaking of obvious," Dan said. He looked up at the Steel Palace looming in the distance. "I think it's time we took care of that bigger picture." Dark clouds still hung overhead, the only light filtering from directly above the palace itself. Since Sam had been exonerated though, a bit of the magic of the Crystal Empire appeared to be returning. Color filled a few of the streets and crystalline translucence returned to the architecture, taking place of the drab metallic sheen. "We can blow it up!!" Blast Powder and Blast Fuse exclaimed, hopping in unison. "Hahaha," Dan chuckled. "I love these mares! They volunteer to blow things up for me. I'm taking both of you back to Ponyville with me." "Yayyyyy~!" the sisters mew-applauded. They immediately hovered over to Phoenix Wright in an incredibly cartoony fashion, like there was any other kind. "This means we'll be seeing a lot more of each other, Pheeny!" Fuse said. "A lot more!" Powder agreed. "Uh… great," Phoenix said nervously. "Do you like cardboard boxes, Pheeny?" Fuse asked. "I uh, I guess?" "Mmmm, good," Powder remarked. "Wh-why is that good?" the lawyer nervously asked. The two sisters gave each other a mischievous glance before answering in unison, "Because we want to get shipped with YOU!" Phoenix started sweating. "Uh-uh-bu-but…" "Ha!" Lightning laughed. "Looks like you're screwed, Wright." "Uh-umm, uh-" the lawyer stammered. "OBJECTION!" The two gray mares slid right up next to him, one on each side. "Over-" "Ruled." They both glomped him, tackling him to the ground and snuggling him cutely. The only thing that would've made it better for them is if Rainbow Dash had been there. Phoenix could've gone either way, which the same could be said of Blast Powder and Blast Fuse, but in a different way than Phoenix. "Well… I guess that makes you king again," Lightning said to Sam. "Shining and Cadence are already imprisoned for trying to break the Crystal Heart. I guess the most Vice could do with either of them is extend their sentences." "That's not going to happen," Dan said. "We're going to that tower right now and we're going to take that whackjob down." Sam looked down. "I… I don't think I'll be able to help you. I'm not a king, not really. I'm afraid that if I… I try to use my magic…" Dan patted him on the shoulder. "It's all right, Sammy. I don't want anybody's help anyway." "You don't?" "Nope," Dan faced the tower. "This is between me and Frankensteed up there. It always has been. He wanted this to be me versus him, that's what he's gonna get," he declared, cracking his knuckles. Lightning thought about something in that instant. "You… you didn't trust Vice from the beginning, did you? Back then, in Cloudsdale… did you know?" Dan rose an eyebrow. "Did I know he was a genocidal maniac who wanted me to help him destroy a whole planet? No, I didn't," he admitted. "I didn't trust him the moment I saw him. If he was any different, maybe, I might've thought otherwise but then he started talking like he knew me already. He said we both wanted to make Equestria a better place in different ways, talked about me like he knew where I came from." "Because he knew you were from Earth?" "I remember how I was before I came to Equestria," Dan continued. "If you asked me then how I would've made Earth better, there's only one answer I would've given you. But it's not the right one. I… was a bit cynical, I guess, back in California," he sighed. "I understand now, a second chance, a real second chance isn't just burning everything down, destroying everything you've built and starting from scratch. It means starting right where you're at and just moving in the right direction. Sometimes, with a few new friends to go with you." He rubbed Lightning's mane, the first sign of voluntary acceptance he'd shown to the pony since meeting him. "But we like destroying things!" Blast Fuse and Blast Powder whined, still pinning Phoenix to the ground. "That's fine," Dan said, grinning. "I do, too. Believe me. You just have to make sure the important stuff's still standing when you're done!" "Very well-said, Dan," Sam said. "But how are you going to get Vice Grip to surrender?" Dan turned to him. "I'm going to leave him like he left me: broken, lost and missing friends. As in, I'm going to break every bone in his body, he's going to lose a lot of blood and when I'm done, he's going to be missing friends. Mostly teeth. And probably organs." "Ah," Sam said, shivering. "A-again, very well-said." "All right," Dan announced to the others, "I'm taking Nicky and the Boom Boom Sisters to go blow up Hitler-pony in the Evil Palace of Fear. Who wants to come with me?" "How are we gonna get there?" Firedancer asked. "Give me five minutes and a roll of duct tape," Dan said, turning back to the Steel Palace. His eyes narrowed. "Let's go have fun storming the castle."