Phoenix Flight: Ace Attorney: Welcome to Turnabout!

by Magic Step

Workplace Drama

Phoenix and Dusty parted ways after that, he heading back to the law offices and she toward the edge of the city for the tram to Kurain village. The sun was starting to set and there was a bronzy calm glow over all of Canterlot. On the way, Phoenix tried to prepare a speech sure to earn Mystic Faerie’s forgiveness, but the closer he got to the office, the surer he was that his behavior was inexcusable. What kind of worker could just ignore his boss’s commands for the whole day and expect to not get fired?

But… but he was here to be a good lawyer, right? Mystic Faerie’s mission statement was all about defending the weak and the underdogs. And he’d done that, right? So she’d probably be happy, right?

Tail between his legs, ears folded against his head, Phoenix nosed open the door to Mystic Faerie’s office.

It was empty. Nopony in sight. There was nothing unusual about the room.

It took Phoenix about thirty seconds to realize why it was in fact unusual that the office was normal.

The window was fixed completely now. Had she just been lying about how hard it would be to replace? But Phoenix would have sensed her lying, wouldn’t he…? Or was that too small a lie for him to detect?

Or was Mystic just a habitual liar and so one more lie wouldn’t be noticeable…?

Phoenix combed his memory to try and puzzle it out, then finally shrugged it off. Maybe a new window fixing spell had been invented since Mystic’s last home repair. She wouldn’t just make him do stupid chores for nothing, would she….?

Then he spotted a note written in Mystic Faerie’s beautiful script on weird, parchment-like paper:

Phoenix,

If you come back to the office and find this note, I’m out looking for you and very worried. Please burn this note to let me know you’re safe and that I can stop looking.

~Mystic Faerie

Now Phoenix felt even worse than before. He was sure he was a horrible pony. He took the note to the kitchen, and after a few minutes of rummaging and hating himself, he found a match and lit the corner of the note on fire. It burned with the pink light of Mystic’s aura and the smoke curled to one side instead of straight up. He dropped it in the sink so that it wouldn’t burn anything down.

Well… he could at least clean the office while he waited. Make up a little for his deviance.

Fifteen minutes later, Mystic Faerie appeared in the lobby in a burst of pink light. Phoenix was in the middle of cleaning the toilet.

“You did that yesterday,” Mystic Faerie said, somehow deciding that was the most important thing to mention, before continuing, “Phoenix, where were you!? I didn’t give you anything to do that should have kept you away all day like that!”

“I was… I was…” Phoenix lowered his ears. “I just wanted to visit the trial, and Light wanted to switch lawyers at the last minute, and I was there, so…”

“…Light…?” Mystic Faerie said.

“Twilight Sky.”

Mystic just stared at him blankly.

“But it worked out great!” Phoenix let the toilet brush clatter to the floor as he gestured along with his story. “I cross examined the witness just like you taught me and managed to draw out important details. It was incredible! And I got AJ-”

“AJ?” Mystic looked a little bewildered.

“The witness. I got her to remember something that blew the case wide open and I got an extension and now Shocking Snap will be taking the stand tomorrow and I finally have a chance to corner her after so many years!” Phoenix had somehow gone from feeling horrible to feeling elated. Maybe he should see a doctor about these mood swings.

“You defended a client without my permission?” Mystic Faerie said.

“Subordinates need permission to take cases…?” Phoenix cocked his head.

“Yes, of course they do!” Mystic Faerie said. “You have other duties you can’t just brush off, a-and I might think I should handle the case, and-”

“You handle every case, Mystic!” Phoenix half-whined. “And on the rare occasion there’s a case you can’t take because you’re too busy you always recommend somepony else besides me!”

“Because… because you’re just a rookie and I need to be with you when you start,” Mystic said. “The client needs to be kept safe first and foremost and I can’t in good conscience recommend someone that-”

“That you think will lose,” Phoenix finished coldly.

Mystic Faerie inhaled slowly, then exhaled. “Yes. That’s it.”

She wasn’t lying.

Phoenix felt his heart sink and his ears lower. “Why did you even spend so much money to get me to work in your office if you don’t think I’m a good lawyer, then?”

Mystic maintained a poker face, but to Phoenix’s senses she was squirming, panicking.

And then it dawned on Phoenix.

“Because I have magic powers,” Phoenix said, swiveling his ears upright again. “Because I can tell you who’s lying and who isn’t so you can build your case.” He started shaking. “This never was about me and my career and my goals. You didn’t do any of this to help me. It was just about you this whole time, wasn’t it?”

“You don’t need to make me sound so selfish…” Mystic Faerie said.

“Were you ever planning on letting me work in court!?” Phoenix shouted. “Or did you just want to keep me as your dependant lackey forever?”

“I would’ve let you defend clients! …If you’d been able,” Mystic shouted back. Then, softer, “But Phoenix, be honest with yourself. You passed the bar by cramming and forgot most of it after. You don’t know how to build a solid case; you just randomly guess that a liar will reveal their lie and that if you poke it, you can build a wild theory about what happened. You faint when you’re stressed and cry when you’re yelled at like now.” She reached over and swiped some tears off Phoenix’s cheek. “Can you imagine what would happen if you broke down like this in court? The judge would never believe your competence and no one would take you seriously. Believe me, Phoenix, if you had any potential at all, I’d work with you, but it’s just becoming more and more obvious what I guess I should have known from the start.” She sighed and pointed to Phoenix’s flanks. “You can’t fight destiny.”

Phoenix instinctively turned to look, even though he knew what he’d see. A useless, dead mark, branding him forever as something that could have been, but never would be.

He shut his eyes to shut out that bright red bird, but it felt like it was burned into his retinas. He couldn’t look at Mystic Faerie. “So it’s… all been for nothing then?” he choked out. “It’s all just been one giant lie? I'm just going to stay here at the bottom, helping you with menial chores, for the rest of my life?”

“Don’t talk like that.” Phoenix felt something on his chin; he opened his eyes to see Mystic guiding his head back around to look at her. She smiled sweetly at him. “You really have been a huge help to me,” she continued. “We make a great team. There's honor in even the smallest things.”

Phoenix didn't find Mystic's enthusiasm infectious. He felt dead inside. Being Mystic's assistant had felt fun and exciting as long as he'd thought it was temporary, a step on the path to a fulfilling career. But doing this for the rest of his life...?

“Wait.” Phoenix backed out of Mystic Faerie’s grip. “Where does this leave Twilight Sky?”

Mystic’s smile faltered. “I… I guess I can go over the case notes one more time…”

“Why?” Phoenix said. “I’m already the attorney for it.”

“Do you really want that?” Mystic Faerie said, concern in her voice. “I mean, if you’re right and he’s innocent… do you really want to mess up his chances of being found innocent? Especially with Shocking Snap involved…?”

Phoenix had felt so close, so confident about his chances. But this conversation was convincing him that he shouldn’t have been confident. He wasn’t sure which impression was right any more…

“I… I’m already the attorney for it,” he repeated. “I promised Twilight Sky I’d save him and I promised Cinder I’d see she got justice-”

“Cinder?” Mystic Faerie said. “The victim?”

Oh dear. Phoenix could see Mystic deducing it. To talk with the victim he’d have to have been near a channeller and the only channeller who would have been messing with the crime scene was…

“Phoenix!!” Mystic lunged at him and seized him with telekinesis and pulled him over to face her. "I told you I don't know how many times and still you never listen to me you weak, pathetic, useless, talentless, naïve, stupid-"

She punctuated each insult by shaking Phoenix back and forth, but he had a hard time following it, because he was struggling for oxygen. His lungs were screaming; his mouth was open but no sound was coming out. He flailed and clawed at his neck, but Mystic Faerie hadn't believed him the last time he'd made that motion.

"My sister is a Faerie, do you understand!? She doesn't need a leech like you who can offer her nothing in return, nothing!"
Mystic didn't seem to be loosening her grip. Instead the pressure slid slowly from the front and back of his neck to the sides.

Something shifted. Lightheadedness flooded Phoenix’s brain, and Mystic’s rant grew muffled. The world went dark.

***

When Phoenix woke up, he was lying on his side on the office couch. His hind legs were elevated on a pile of cushions; Mystic was folding one of them. He still felt dizzy, so he didn't attempt to move. "Wh-what happened?"

"Oh! Phoenix! You're up! I'm so glad!" Mystic Faerie seemed rattled. "H-hey, can I get you anything? Water, juice, um... leftover cookies?"

Phoenix couldn't think straight for a minute. He just stared blankly into space. How had things shifted so fast?

"Well... that was a learning experience, wasn't it?" Mystic laughed weakly. "Guess you have really sensitive nerves or something. Your blood pressure just abruptly dropped and I... I was so scared that I..." She shook herself. "N-nevermind. About that juice..."

"J-just ice water," Phoenix said. "With a straw please..."

"Coming right up!" Mystic dashed to the kitchen.

Phoenix's thoughts lined up as soon as she was gone. Mystic hadn't just been hurting him; she had almost accidentally killed him.

Phoenix felt like he had enough ice in his chest to make his own ice water.

Between his medical condition and his crazy life, this wasn't the first time Phoenix had been forced to contemplate his own mortality. This wasn't even the first time he'd found his life in danger from someone he'd thought was kind. But this had been an accident. Hadn't it? Or had Mystic only just barely stopped herself from making a horrible mistake?

No, how could he think that? She wasn't a monster...

But then he remembered her blind rage as she screamed at him and shook her, and he felt terrified all over again.

"Got your water," Mystic Faerie said, levitating a glass in front of his face, with the straw at perfect drinking level. Phoenix took a small sip, then gingerly lifted his head to make swallowing easier; it made his head swim.

"So..." Mystic chewed on her lower lip. She didn't seem to know what to say.

Then Phoenix understood. Under Celestia's reforms, if a worker under an Alternate Compensation Contract was ever physically assaulted by their benefactor, the worker could walk away debt free, leaving the benefactor in the hole as far as money was concerned and also probably with an assault charge.

All it took was one impulsive move from Mystic Faerie, and now the tables were completely turned. Now Phoenix had the power to set the terms of their relationship. Or did he...?

If Phoenix terminated his contract with Mystic, he would have a law degree that he'd earned for free and some mediocre work experience, but he wouldn't have a bit to his name, never mind a home or a job. He didn't want to start back where he'd started, on the streets of Canterlot, And what about his medical expenses?

"I really lost it," Mystic said, hanging her head. "I never should have done that. I... I'm sorry." She swallowed. "What are you going to do...?"

What would even happen to him if he tried to say no now?

Phoenix took another sip of water to calm his nerves. "How about we just talk about Twilight Sky's case?" He'd leave the long-term arrangements of their relationship for later.

Mystic Faerie sighed. "Well... if you leave I have no authority over what you take or don't..."

"I... I don't want to leave, though."

"I don't want to have an associate that will keep a mistake like this hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles," Mystic Faerie said. "If you want to stay, I never want to hear about this ever again. If you insist on telling anypony, get it over with. Report me."

"I..." Phoenix swallowed. "I don't want to take your money. I don't want to stop living here. I don't want you to be in jail. But if I'm going to stay I want help pursuing my goals, not just to help you with menial things or with my special powers."

"I... I certainly can try," Mystic said. Her expression seemed sour. "No promises or anything."

"I don't want to make you do all the work for me; if it's not meant to be then... then I don't know what I'd do."

“Well, if you go into the trial as lead defense, but I have to feed you all your ideas, but you’re the one who goes on record as the attorney who won the case, that's not fair to me, you, or your potential future clients," Mystic said.

"Are you offering to help me or not?" Phoenix said. "Stop playing mind games."

"Well. Even if Twilight Sky is just a hobo off the streets, I suppose everyone in Equestria is entitled to a competent defense... so for this case, I'm willing to be your silent partner. But never, ever do this again, understand? If you want to continue to work here, fine; you can be my silent partner in court. But no more scooping up unpromising cases behind my back. Okay?"

Phoenix nodded. "Thank you." He finished his glass of ice water before he got up the nerve to ask the other thing on his mind. "Um... what about Dusty?"

Mystic looked grim. "Don't press me. Nothing is more important to me than seeing my sister live a healthy, happy, successful life. She's a starry eyed teenager who doesn't know what's best for her. I would do anything to see that she marries in her station. If I catch you confusing her again I don't care if I end up on a star for her."

Phoenix shivered. Gosh, he hoped that was hyperbole...

"But yes, I acknowledge that you two inhabit the same space many times a day for completely innocent reasons," Mystic continued. "Just... try to limit contact with her while I'm not watching, okay?"

"I understand." Phoenix pulled himself carefully into a sitting position, but his dizziness seemed to have passed. "Thank you for finally listening to me." Oh dang. That was a little too honest...

If his honestly annoyed Mystic, she didn't show it. "Well. Take it easy and get lots of sleep; we have a court date tomorrow."

Author's Note:

I'm not sure this chapter was a good idea since it's not exactly plot advancement....
Something important will happen next week, I promise.

This chapter was very heavily edited in October of 2018. Apologies to both my commenters that this is no longer a heartwarming scene; I decided to make this arc travel a very different direction and hopefully it makes the next chapter less abrupt.

Comments

[Fluffy-Boi]

I liked it. It aired out some hidden thoughts and tension. Those two needed that.

[HolyCross9]

You know, despite all the hiccups between Phoenix and Mystic's discussion in this chapter, I'm very glad that they could work things out in the end. Plus that hug at the end was the cherry on top!