Phoenix Flight: Ace Attorney: Welcome to Turnabout!

by Magic Step

Meet the Chief

“…and then I went straight from the apartment complex to the carriage and so I didn’t even see the slightest hint of anything out of the ordinary,” the salespony said, wringing his hooves emphatically.

Phoenix Flight, attorney-at-law, squirmed in his seat, trying not to bump into any of the large cardboard boxes piled up on top of the sofa. Everything about this pony was squirmy and it was making his skin feel squirmy too. “So you expect me to believe you didn’t notice the murder at all?”

“Yes, but let’s not talk about me. Let’s talk about you.” The salespony reached over and grabbed a strange wand-like object with gears on the side. “I’ve received some test versions of new technology guaranteed to make it easier than ever to be an earth pony in Canterlot.”

“That’s nice for you, but I’m not an earth pony…” Phoenix tugged the collar of his blue suit.

“Really?” The salespony set his toy down and hopped off his seat, walking over to take a look at Phoenix like personal space wasn’t a thing. He even poked Phoenix in the side. “Ah, I do seem to detect something fluffy under that tacky jacket.”

“Says the guy in purple and green with gold buttons?” Phoenix asked.

“How gauche,” the salespony said. “I’m offering to help and you insult me. Now, I have a device that can make wing holes in any jacket-”

“That’s fine,” Phoenix said. “I like it this way.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why, just to hover a few inches, you’d have to strip naked, and in Canterlot that’s even-”

“I can’t fly.”

“Oh.” The salespony finally stopped talking for two seconds. “How did it happen?”

“Please don’t make me answer that!” Phoenix half-whined.

“But your cutie mark is a bird,” the salespony said, gesturing to the rising red phoenix silhouette stamped on his yellow flank. “How do you perform your destined talent without wings?”

Just say something like ‘It doesn’t symbolize what you think it does so mind your own business,’ Phoenix. Normal ponies say things like that all the time when strangers ask questions that are too personal.

But every second of silence hurt a little.

“I don’t perform my talent. I’m worse than blank.” The whole sad story spilled out before Phoenix could stop himself.

The salespony clucked his tongue. “Such a pity. But I have a device that-”

“No! No, you don’t!” Phoenix flipped his notebook closed and stuck it back in his jacket pocket. “There’s nothing you can do and there’s nothing anyone can do. I don’t need or want your sympathy. You’re just scum and I’ll see you in court.”

With that, Phoenix Flight bolted out of the box-filled living room out into the fifth floor hallway of the apartment building. He thought he could hear the salespony saying something but he didn’t want to hear it.

In the stairwell, Phoenix Flight glanced out the window, studying the open sky above the crowded Canterlot skyline. It had been well over a decade since the childhood accident that left him permanently flightless, but it still hurt.

Well, no point thinking about it. He had a new job that didn’t require wings or any shred of his old talent. Sometimes he could almost pretend he wasn’t destined to fail as a lawyer.

The salespony’s apartment complex was only a few blocks away from Faerie Law Offices where Phoenix worked. Celestia was lowering the sun and soon the new princess would take over; Phoenix still wasn’t used to the thought of there being two princesses, especially since Princess Luna had only just started making public appearances again.

Mystic Faerie somehow managed to afford the whole first floor of the office complex it was located in, though considering the Faerie family pretty much owned an entire Canterlot colony higher in the mountains, that wasn’t that surprising. The first room upon entering was the lobby, with two leather couches forming an L around a glass coffee table topped with a bowl of rocks. Against one wall was Phoenix’s desk, from which he organized case notes for Mystic Faerie and greeted clients new and old. To one side was a table with a coffee machine and occasionally other things. The other thing right now was a tray of ring-shaped sugar cookies sprinkled with colored sugar; the mare arranging them was a dusty grey-brown with a plum mane done up in a topknot that complemented the purple kimono she always wore. It was a little tight on her; most clothes were, being made for ponies of average weight. Plumpness was almost unheard of amongst unicorns, particularly Canterlot unicorns, but Faerie Dust was one of the rare few unicorns who consumed more calories than was burned doing daily magic.

“Oh, Nick!” Faerie Dust said, turning around when Phoenix entered. “How’d it go?”

“Hi Dusty. It went pretty well. Trying a new recipe?”

“Well, I wanted to play around with food coloring and sugar at any rate,” Faerie Dust said. “But I’m not the interesting part. Let’s talk about you.” She levitated a red cookie into the air and guided it near Phoenix’s mouth. “It matches your eyes. Want?”

“Oh, I’m really not hungry…”

“You never are, but I need to know how good these are, okay? So pretty please, for me?” Dust pleaded, pouting and tilting her head slightly in the way that only mares seemed capable of.

“Fliiiiiight!” a voice bellowed.

Phoenix and Faerie Dust both cried out in shock.

“S-s-sis! Didn’t hear you!” Faerie Dust stammered.

Mystic Faerie’s annoyed expression relaxed slightly as she stood at the door to her office. She was a color reverse of her younger sister, with a lavender coat and a rich brownie-like mane that she wore straight. Her outfits were black and white almost exclusively, except for brown boots on her hind hooves and a green-tinted yin-shaped charm around her neck. “I’m not mad at you, sis.” No comment on Phoenix. “I’m glad that you stopped by and—cookies again? Really? You just baked a batch yesterday. Please don’t tell me you ate all of them already.”

“Um… I gave most of them to our servants…” Faerie Dust stared at the floor.

“Oh… well,” Mystic huffed a little. “Glad you’re learning how to exercise self-control. I hate seeing you unhealthy…”

“I don’t think you should talk about your sister’s weight in front of me…” Phoenix said.

“Oh, Flight! Yes! My office.” Mystic Faerie telekinetically latched onto Phoenix Flight’s shoulders and dragged him in physically, like Phoenix’s legs didn’t work either.

Mystic Faerie’s office was lit by the huge window most of the time; even at night there was a streetlamp right outside, so she rarely bothered to turn the overhead lamp on. The back wall had two bookshelves crammed with legal books, each with about a dozen bookmarks in them. Mystic’s desk was covered with several piles of papers, but each was so squarely stacked that it didn’t even look messy. Sitting in one corner was the office mascot Charley, a decorative house plant with a tall narrow woody stem and puffballs of spiky leaves.

As soon as she shut the door, her face became grim again. “Phoenix. I've done so many good things for you; I've paid your way through law school; I've given you a place to stay, covered medical bills, and now you have an opportunity to train under one of the most prestigious lawyers in Canterlot, and all I asked in return was one little favor. Do you remember what it is?”

"To work for you and you only without pay until my debts are cleared?" Phoenix asked.

"...That was more of an obligation than a favor," Mystic said. "A basic principle of Alternate-Compensation Contracts is service without monetary reimbursement."

Phoenix wondered if he'd ever get used to all the long words involved in legalese.

"I mean, what was the rule I told you?"

“Your sister is off limits,” Phoenix said, staring at the floor. “B-b-but it’s not like we were flirting. She’s just nice and I’m just nice and I’m not trying anything really…”

“Phoenix. Answer me.” Mystic Faerie telekinetically tilted Phoenix’s chin up. “Do you have feelings for my sister?”

Phoenix froze. The minor muscles that still worked in his wings started twitching, and his heart felt like it was being squeezed by small pythons.

“I… I don’t kn-n-n…”

It wasn’t even a lie. But he knew he was only saying it to mislead her.

And because of that, the thought of finishing the sentence, the thought that he might cause a pony to have false notions, made him ill all over. His skin felt hot but his muscles shivered, and he felt like he was going to throw up.

There was nothing for it. One way or another this was going to hurt.

Phoenix took a deep breath and words came spilling out of his mouth like water from a broken faucet. “I think she’s cute but I know she doesn’t like me the way I do and that hurts but I still feel happy whenever I’m around her and please please please let me stop talking!”

The nausea vanished, only to be replaced by a feeling of dread like ice in his stomach. Mystic Faerie’s telekinetic grip slid down from his chin to around his throat and he tensed, expecting an attack. Her eyes gleamed with fury and her lips began to part in a snarl.

Then, with a pained sigh, she dispelled the magic. “Don’t give me those puppy eyes…”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Phoenix wove over to sit in the cushioned chair by Mystic’s desk.

“Okay, okay, you can’t help your feelings. It was wrong of me to ask.” Mystic Faerie caused all the papers on her desk to levitate into the air and rotate like a Ferris wheel before setting them down again in a similar orientation. “Just don’t get too familiar, okay?”

“It’s a little late for that,” Phoenix muttered.

Mystic evidently decided to pretend that she didn’t hear him. “So… anyway. What did you learn today?”

Phoenix shuddered. “That salespony was a complete slimeball; I doubt you needed my powers to learn that. He insists he didn’t see anything, but if you can convince the judge to get him on the stand he’ll fall apart easily enough.”

“That’s invaluable; thank you.” Mystic Faerie finished filling out one paper and slid it into her saddlebag. “It’s going to be an interesting day tomorrow.”

“You’ll do great,” Phoenix said. “You always do.”

“Thanks; I try.” Mystic Faerie headed out of the office. “Dusty, ready to head home?”

“Sleepover at Adorabelle’s house,” Faerie Dust said. “You forgot?”

“…Right. Well, don’t let her keep you up. See you in court?”

“Of course, sis.” Faerie Dust followed her sister out. “Bye Nick! See you tomorrow!”

“…you have a nickname for him?” Mystic Faerie asked as the office door swung shut. Her violet telekinesis surrounded the doorknob and twisted the lock to secure the office.

And like that, Phoenix’s workplace became his home. As part of every Alternate-Compensation Contract, the benefactor was required to give their worker suitable living quarters. Sometimes an apartment was provided, or a room in the benefactor's house, but in Phoenix's case Mystic Faerie had let him sleep in her office. It was a far nicer arrangement than any other house he’d lived in before, even if he had to go to the gym upstairs to use their shower. It wasn’t like his other apartment had had running water either.

First things first, he headed to the small ‘kitchen’ in the back. It had a small fridge, a microwave, and a blender, the latter of which made his life a lot easier. He pulled open the fridge; two vials of clear medicine and one bottle of medicinal chocolate syrup. Pills and powders came out of the cabinet. Most of it went in the blender; he swallowed a few pills as he mixed up his symptom suppressing cocktail. Even as an adult, he still didn’t have his head wrapped around all the complications his wing injury created. From the few times he chose buying food over buying medicine back in the days when he’d had barely any money, he did know that without taking these, he would faint, or hurt all over. He might even catch fire; one of the complications was that wings were normally supposed to be a conduit for the magic emanated by equine souls, and without an outlet, built up magic might randomly do something explosive. He’d never ever missed a dose after that terrifying news.

When the blender’s job was done, he poured the few ounces of liquid into a glass and drank it as fast as he could; its chocolate-cherry flavor wasn’t unpleasant, but nothing could hide the gritty texture. He used to dilute it with milk, but that just meant he had more to drink. Better to get it over with.

That taken care of, he trotted back into the main lobby and carefully took off his blue suit and red tie, folding them carefully and setting them aside. They were the nicest clothes he owned… in fact the only clothes he owned. Fortunately they came from a posh store that put self-cleaning spells on their garments, otherwise he’d be stuck. Only tourists and poor ponies walked around naked in Canterlot.

Then he pulled a legal book out of his small collection and curled up on the couch with it, ready for a quiet evening.

An hour later his quiet evening was broken by the door being thrown open.

“Augh!” Phoenix jumped onto the arm of the couch and perched there like an oversized cat.

“Sorry!” Faerie Dust said, bowing hastily. “I didn’t think I’d scare you that badly!”

“Oh, hi Dusty,” Phoenix said, his cheeks turning red. He jumped off onto the floor. “Is Adorabelle with you?”

Faerie Dust pursed her lips sulkily, tears in her eyes. “Adorabelle ran off to a far away city to solve a murder and completely forgot about our sleepover.”

“Oh. I’m sorry…” Phoenix said.

“Judge Sterling Scales said I was welcome to stay in their house anyway since there’s no getting in Kurain Village this late at night. But it’s not time for bed yet; I want to do something fun to make it up to myself. Want some donuts?”

“Whu- me?” Phoenix blinked.

Faerie Dust giggled. “Yes, you. You’re my other friend, right?”

Phoenix chewed his lower lip. “I’m not a fan of donuts…”

“Pish,” Dust scoffed. “Everyone loves Pony Joe’s donuts and I’m sure you will too. Anyway, I don’t want to go alone.” Faerie Dust’s brilliant violet eyes softened into a formidable begging stare. “Please?”

“Okay, okay,” Phoenix sighed. “Just need to get my jacket back on…”

“You don’t need to hide your wings,” Faerie Dust said.

“Oh, yes I do. I’m sick of ponies telling me how pretty they are,” Phoenix grumbled, looking at his useless appendages. His wings gradiated from light orange near the base to deep red at the tip. It looked spectacular unless you got close enough to realize that the reddest feathers were dry and stiff and shriveled and everything feathers should not be. “It’s like if you had a black eye and everyone kept saying how shiny it looked. Except worse. That, and trying to hold my wings shut all the way with just muscle strength hurts because the only working muscles are the weakest; the jacket holds them shut for me.”

“Oh. I didn’t know.” Faerie Dust levitated Phoenix’s jacket into the air. “Can I do it for you just because it’s quicker?”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Phoenix said. “I can dress myself…”

Faerie Dust dropped the garments back in place with a sad sigh. “I’m just full of good ideas today…” she muttered, looking down at the floor.

Phoenix dressed himself and sighed. “I don’t mean to sound harsh. It’s an annoying side effect of needing to be so honest all the time. I’m not mad, I promise.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Faerie Dust says, her smile returning instantly. “Ready for donuts now?”

“Whatever makes you happy,” Phoenix said.

He followed Faerie Dust out into the bright lights of the big city.

Author's Note:

In case it's not already obvious, this is a very loose adaptation. Phoenix Flight is not Phoenix Wright except a pony, nor are any of the others identical to their counterparts; they're all their own characters.
So Mystic Faerie's attitude is not supposed to mean that I don't like Mia.
Relatedly, "original mysteries" doesn't mean that the mysteries won't occasionally have similar settings, characters, and elements from the games, but I will try to make the solutions, both to minor details and the final criminal, somewhat original.

Comments

[I need a new name tbh]

This’ll be really interesting. Can’t wait to see more.

OBJECTION!

[HolyCross9]

OBJECTION!

[Ri2]

Wait, what was that about house slaves?

[Mirror Star]

I think I'll see where this goes for now.

[HB_DS2013]

Of COURSE this is an alternate universe. I guess there are some constants, after all.

[Magic Step]

8562621
I've revised this chapter and I'm going to be fixing the rest of the story over the course of the next week, give or take. Thanks for your feedback.

[Peace4All]

I was joking when I typed 'Ace Attorney MLP crossover' on google.
And now I'm grinning like a little girl at Christmas. Yay, you.