Part 43 - Unlocking a Sealed Heart
Ponyville District Court
Courtroom #2
June 11th, 11:08 AM
As Twilight was rushing back to the courtroom, Gilda began her final testimony:
—————— WITNESS TESTIMONY ——————
— He was a pegasus. You got a problem with that? —“I dropped my bag while chasing after Dash. The bag was more important, so I searched for it for about five or ten minutes or so… I forget. The point is, I couldn’t find it, so I gave up. Since I had nothing to deliver anymore, I flew back the way I came from and observed the clearing again. I saw that pegasus lying there, dead under the cloud, and… well, that’s how I knew he was a pegasus, a-and that’s how I knew he was hit by the lightning!”
When she finished, The Judge stroked his beard thoughtfully. “If this is true, it clears up all the inconsistencies in her previous statements,” he noted.
“Yeah. The reason I didn’t say any of this from the start is because I couldn’t tell anyone I lost the package,” Gilda further explained. “It’d cost me my job and ruin the trade negotiations along with the Griffon Express’s image.”
“It did anyway,” Phoenix heard a female voice—Lenora’s?—mutter in a disgusted tone above him. A disgust Phoenix now shared, for a very different reason.
No, Gilda—you lied from the start because you want to frame Rainbow Dash! he was only too certain. But how do I prove it?
“Phoenix!” a familiar and slightly breathless voice said from beside him. Startled, he turned to see Twilight at his side, standing in the co-counsel position, her chest heaving and panting like she’d been recently galloping.
“Oh! You’re back, Twilight! Did you find Fluttershy?” he wanted to know, relieved at her return and delighted at her timing. Just in time to witness my turnabout!
Her ears and tail slumped at his question; her purple eyes going downcast. “No. I couldn’t find her anywhere,” she admitted, praying Pinkie Pie would succeed where she had failed.
His heart went out to her at that. “Don’t worry. We’ll look for her together after the trial’s over, okay?” he promised, putting a reassuring hand on her withers while sparing his own moment of concern for Fluttershy.
Twilight managed a weak but grateful smile. “How are you holding up, anyway?” she wanted to know, slowly catching her breath.
He broke out into a broad grin. “Not too shabby! Especially when I have witnesses like this one!” Phoenix said with a nod towards Gilda. “She’s been lying through her teeth! Or beak, I should say.”
“Huh?” Twilight asked, turning her head in the direction of the witness stand where she beheld an impatient and sullen-looking Gilda.
As Phoenix watched, Twilight’s eyes widened and she reared up in shock, recoiling from the female griffon’s presence. In truth, Twilight was shocked, not just for recognizing Gilda…
But for seeing the veritable wall of red psyche-locks and thick tangle of chains that surrounded her.
Twilight swallowed hard at the implication, tearing her eyes away from the ominous sight. “Phoenix—there’s something you really need to know about that witness!” she told him quietly but urgently.
He nodded knowingly. “She bears a grudge against Rainbow Dash, doesn’t she?”
Twilight was surprised by that. “Long story short? Yes,” she confirmed, dropping her voice to a whisper. “And she’s got a slew of those psycho-locks around her!”
“I don’t doubt it,” Phoenix replied in an equally low voice. “I’ve caught her in one lie after another since she’s been here.”
“’Don’t doubt it’?” Twilight echoed, her brow furrowing. “Wait—you don’t see them?”
Phoenix reached inside his jacket to touch his Magatama, but saw nothing and shook his head. “I can’t explain why, but my Magatama doesn’t seem to work when I’m in court. Only when I’m investigating,” he told her, thinking that at times the gem seemed to have a mind of its own on when it would allow him to see psyche-locks and when it wouldn’t; there had even been occasions when it hadn’t been on his person, just hidden nearby but psyche-locks had still appeared around someone he was interrogating. “Which is actually fine with me. I don’t want to become dependent on it; I prefer to rely on my attorney instincts during a trial.”
Twilight only appeared more confused. “Then how did you know about Gilda’s grudge?”
Phoenix smiled grimly. “It’s obvious enough, from how Rainbow reacted when Gilda was brought in and the way Gilda keeps putting Rainbow down. I’m guessing they’re ex-friends who had a falling out?”
“You could say that.” Twilight grimaced, wishing she had time to tell him the whole story.
He nodded his understanding. “Well, it doesn’t matter. This is her last testimony anyway. Gilda’s caught in her own tangled web of lies right now—and she won’t get away with it!” he told Twilight, raising his voice so the entire courtroom could hear him.
Trixie’s only response was an impatient glare, while The Judge was less restrained. “Mister Wright! We are here to conduct a trial, not to socialize with your co-counsel or engage in pointless theatrics!” he reminded him. “And now, your cross-examination, if you please?”
Phoenix inwardly cringed at The Judge’s admonishing tone. “Yes, Your Honor,” he said quickly, turning his attention back to the witness stand.
—————— CROSS-EXAMINATION ——————
“I dropped my bag while chasing after Dash.”
“How did you lose your bag?” Phoenix asked immediately.
“Dash was going too fast and my strap came loose,” she explained. “I felt it slipping and grabbed for it, but I just missed it and it fell through the tree canopy into the woods.”
Phoenix considered that for a moment, scratching his chin again. “So in other words, you were too slow?”
Gilda gave an angry hiss at the insinuation. “Watch your mouth, Blue Boy! I’m not slow!”
Her remark made Phoenix smile inwardly. Thanks for telling me how to get under your fur, Gilda!
“The bag was more important, so I searched for it for about five or ten minutes or so… I forget.”
“The bag was more important than a murder?” Phoenix crossed his arms, unimpressed with her statement. “If you’d just witnessed a killing, I’d think searching for the bag could wait, don’t you?”
Gilda’s eyes went nervous again, but this time she came up with an explanation quickly. “Losing the package means losing my job. I figured as long as I reported Rainbow later, she’d still be caught.”
Good save, but you’re still lying! Phoenix knew but couldn’t prove. I’ll bet the reason you stopped to look is because you knew full well Rainbow hadn’t killed Ace at ALL!
“The point is… I couldn’t find it, so I gave up.”
“After searching for only five or ten minutes?” His brow furrowed as he rubbed his chin. “I’m confused. If finding that package was that important to the Griffon Express, and your job was on the line, why didn’t you search longer?” he wondered aloud.
“I got bored,” she replied perfunctorily with an impatient undertone.
“You got… bored?” Phoenix echoed, exchanging a disbelieving look with Twilight.
“Yes, bored! I didn’t want to waste my time looking around a musty old forest!” Gilda said, sounding like she was trying very hard to keep her voice even.
“We found that bag in a bush not far from the crime scene!” Twilight spoke up for the first time, trying not to be distracted by the emotions emanating from the red locks. They weren’t as intense as those she got from Trixie’s black ones but were still noticeable and disconcerting all the same; as she studied them, it struck her that each lock seemed to have its own particular emotion or motive.
That one’s jealousy. That one’s betrayal. And that one’s revenge! she cataloged with a shudder, shifting her gaze from one lock to the next. And that one is… grief? Pain of loss? she blinked in surprise before forcing her attention back to the matter at hoof. “I grant it wasn’t in plain sight, but with your griffon night vision, you could have found it if you just looked a little harder!” Twilight insisted with an annoyed expression on her face, less angry at Gilda than at the circumstances that had forced her and Apple Bloom into the Everfree the previous day… and nearly gotten Phoenix killed.
“W-well… I didn’t know that! Okay?” Gilda gave a non-answer.
Phoenix stood up straight and put his hands on his hips again, giving her a mocking grin. “You must be pretty—” he paused a beat “—slow, then.”
Gilda’s front talons reflexively coiled, digging hard enough into the wood of the witness stand to splinter it. “Shut up, shut up! SHUT UP!” she demanded with another wing flare and now-ineffective predatory stare of Phoenix, while from the defendant’s box, Rainbow Dash was doing her best not to break out in laughter, looking to Twilight like she wanted to toss out a few insults of her own.
“Stop provoking her and start cross-examining her!” a thoroughly irritated Trixie ordered, glaring at Phoenix again over her rail.
Twilight gave him an odd look of her own. “Phoenix, what are you doing? It seems like you’re taking a page out of Trixie’s playbook, putting Gilda down like that?”
“It’s actually a little trick I picked up at law school,” he explained, turning his head to face her. “Have you ever heard the saying, ‘Anger makes you stupid’?”
Twilight considered that for a moment. “Oh! I read something about that! You mean how when we’re angry or frustrated, the brain reverts to more primitive and impulsive responses?”
“Exactly!” Phoenix confirmed. Isn’t that what I said? “By keeping her riled up, our friend Gilda here is more likely to say the ‘wrong’ thing—if you catch my drift,” he added conspiratorially, giving Twilight a quick wink only she could see.
She gave him an equally conspiratorial smile back. “Read you loud and clear!” she said, turning her attention back to Gilda, noticing that Trixie was giving them another impatient glare as she and Phoenix had lapsed into another private conversation.
“Mister Wright?” The Judge prompted again. “These delays are getting tedious.”
Phoenix cleared his throat. “My apologies, Your Honor. I was just discussing with my co-counsel the… slowness of this witness,” he explained.
“I said shut UP!” Gilda snapped. “I’m NOT SLOW!!!!”
“Well, you clearly were if you couldn’t keep up with Dash,” Twilight noted sweetly to some muted snickers from the gallery.
“I said, stop calling me SLOW!” Gilda demanded, getting more and more agitated.
“Enough! Stop taunting the slowpoke and get back on topic!” Trixie ordered.
Gilda’s wings flared in rage. “I’M NOT A SLOWPOKE!” she shouted at Trixie.
The Judge’s gavel came down with a hard rap. “I agree with the prosecution. The fact that the witness is as slow as ketchup coming out of a bottle isn’t of concern to this court!” he said with a perfectly straight face, causing the audience to erupt in laughter.
“YYYEEEEAAARGGGHHH!!!” Gilda gave a roar of frustration and rage as the mockery hit her from all sides; Phoenix glanced at Rainbow Dash to see her wearing a gleeful grin as she watched her former friend get a richly deserved comeuppance. The eagless let out an aggressive snarl before exhaling slowly and, with a death glare directed towards Phoenix, continued.
“Since I had nothing to deliver anymore, I flew back the way I came from and observed the clearing again.”
“Why did you go back the way you came?” Phoenix wanted to know.
Gilda hesitated before speaking, still seething over the earlier exchange. “I didn’t want any ponies in Ponyville seeing me,” she said with a sour look.
Phoenix scratched his chin at that. “Because you lost the package?” Or because you didn’t want anyone to know you were at the site of the murder?
She slammed a taloned fist down in frustration. “Yes! Because I lost the stupid package! So sue me!” she answered, causing Phoenix to roll his eyes.
Oh, how I’d LOVE to do that! he thought as she went on.
“Look, I had to consult with the Kingdom Consulate before coming forward, so I headed for Canterlot immediately. I arrived not long after midnight,” she continued. “Unlike ponies, we griffons have the energy to fly for long periods of time, and we don’t have to risk taking breaks in the forest where you can get mauled to death by various monsters,” she explained like she was narrating a TV nature show back on Earth.
Phoenix felt a shiver go down his spine and a fresh trickle of sweat under his collar. Bringing up more bad memories from yesterday… he admitted to himself, taking out Rarity’s handkerchief to wipe his brow again, noticing Twilight giving him a concerned look as she sensed his sudden discomfort. She moved fractionally closer to him as a reminder of her presence and protection; he gave her a quick but grateful smile, taking a single deep breath before going on. “And that’s when you saw the victim?”
“Yes! Like I said in my testimony!” Gilda spat out, no small amount of annoyance in her voice.
“I saw that pegasus lying there, dead under the cloud… and well, that’s how I knew he was a pegasus, a-and that’s how I knew he was hit by the lightning!”
“You were able to identify the victim’s race?” Phoenix asked, knowing full well it was a weak line of questioning, but it was all he could immediately think of.
Gilda nodded. “When I went down to check on the pony, I saw he had wings and was wearing a race suit. I didn’t know who he was, but he wasn’t moving so I thought maybe he was dead.”
“And… uh…” Phoenix took on his goofy expression. “Was he?”
Gilda rolled her eyes but answered. “Yeah. There was even some smoke coming off him. And he smelled kinda burnt; like an overcooked flying boar spit-roast,” she noted, causing the herbivorous ponies in the gallery to recoil from the image. She smirked at the reaction. “Then again, I guess he was spit-roasted by that lightning bolt Dash hit him with!” she added, taking on her haughty pose for the first time since early in the session.
Phoenix leaned over the rail and gave the griffon female a steely glare to cover his own anxiety. Not good—everything in this testimony seems to be in order! he realized with a sinking heart, his thoughts racing. I know she’s lying and that Gilda is guilty of something besides mail theft and losing her delivery. But what? WHAT? he asked himself repeatedly, wracking his brain for the answer.
“Hey Phoenix? I just thought of something.” Twilight turned to him, speaking in a low voice. “If we can’t find a contradiction, maybe we can make one. We were both at the crime scene. So why don’t we try asking Gilda something about it and see if it matches up?”
Phoenix blinked. “Twilight, that’s brilliant!” he told her gratefully, already getting fresh ideas, reflecting that she had just come to his rescue much like Maya or Mia had done for him so often in the past. “Gilda!” he addressed her, slamming his palms down on the rail hard.
She gave him a disdainful look. “You know, smacking that desk with your hands isn’t intimidating in the slightest,” she informed him in an unimpressed tone, her remark eliciting some grudging chuckles from the gallery, even lessening Trixie’s frown a bit. “Didn’t they teach you that in lawyer school?” the corners of her beak crooked up. “Oh, that’s right, you probably didn’t go!”
Phoenix took on his goofy expression again. “Bear with me, it’s sort of my thing,” he offered, some of his thunder stolen. Clearing his throat, he started over. “Gilda—did you notice anything else about the crime scene while you were investigating the body?” he asked.
Her answer was quick. “No.”
The pair looked at each other for several seconds, each waiting for the other to continue, Gilda eventually raising a foreleg to scratch her chest with a bored expression. Finally, Phoenix vented his own frustration with her obstinacy. “Oh, COME ON!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “You had to have noticed SOMETHING!! You can see in the FREAKIN’ DARK!”
Gilda gave her own frustrated sound. “What’s your deal, anyway? Look, I didn’t see anything besides a stupid piece of trash!” she answered. “Kinda reminds me of someone when I think back to it!” she added with a sneer.
Phoenix was taken aback. “Are you calling the victim a piece of trash?” From everything I’ve learned, he pretty much was, but that’s beside the point!
She shot him a look. “Not him, you dweeb!” she corrected, rolling her pale yellow eyes. “Just some garbage lying on the ground!”
Phoenix rubbed his eyes. Where’s Franziska and her whip when you need them? “Your Honor—can you please have the witness amend this information about the garbage to her testimony?”
“Only you would pursue garbage, Mister Wrong,” Trixie noted, wearing a smile for the first time in a while.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, Trixie,” Phoenix replied easily. “Your Honor?” he prompted again.
The Judge considered his request. “I don’t really see the point. But I’ve seen you turn garbage into gold before, Mister Wright. So I’d like to see where this goes,” he decided. “Miss Gilda—please add this information about ‘the garbage’ to your testimony.”
Gilda gave out a heavy sigh. “Fine,” she agreed, though she didn’t sound too happy about it.
“There was an ugly piece of trash lying on the crime scene…”
“I’m very interested as to what this trash you saw was,” Phoenix said, speaking slowly.
Gilda gave him a disbelieving look. “It was trash. What more is there to say?” she asked, starting to look angry again.
“Can you give me a better description?” Phoenix pressed.
Gilda sighed and suddenly looked incredibly weary; her shoulders slumping. “Why do I have to do this again?” she asked nopony in particular. “It was just garbage! I barely paid any attention to it!” she insisted before rounding on Phoenix again, her wings flared and teeth bared. “I’m sure there’s a trash can somewhere in this courtroom if you really want to see what garbage looks like!”
Phoenix didn’t back down. “Just tell me what it looked like!”
She sat back heavily on her haunches, glaring at him from behind the witness stand. “Fine! If it makes you happy, it was some sort of stick!”
“A stick?” Phoenix’s brow furrowed, feeling a strong tug on his memory.
“Yes! A stick! Like I said, I didn’t pay much attention to it—I was more focused on the dead pegasus in front of me!”
“What did the stick look like? Was it a stick like a tree branch? Or something else?” Phoenix asked, getting a very strong tingling sensation on the back of his neck he had learned from past cases meant he was getting very close to something important.
Gilda, however, did not share his insight. “For the millionth time! I didn’t care about it! I barely glanced at it and hardly remember what it looks like! You’re lucky I even remembered it looks like a stick!” she said, now speaking quickly out of both frustration and anger. “If you were to show it to me, I might be able to identify it for you, but other than that—I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME!” she yelled with a fresh wing flare, looking on the verge of ripping out her own headfeathers in frustration.
Phoenix backed off for a moment, thinking. “Is this stick she saw… important?” Twilight asked him, a dubious note in her voice.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, still not sure why he was getting such a strong feeling about it. And then abruptly… it clicked. “Ah!”
He shouted authoritatively, going for his evidence bag.
“Oh, boy. A Mister Wrong objection time,” Trixie muttered under her breath.
Phoenix ignored her. “Gilda,” he began, pulling something free of the bag beneath the level of his rail. Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw what he was taking out, amazed he had made the connection and suddenly very happy she had decided not to toss the item he held back in the river where she had originally found it.
“What do you want now?” Gilda asked in a very weary tone, her pale yellow eyes heavily lidded like she was ready to fall asleep.
“You say you’d be able to identify this stick if I were to show it to you,” he reminded her, passing the item he held to Twilight.
Gilda gave him a funny look. “Yeah. And…?”
Phoenix nodded to Twilight, who raised the remains of Pinkie’s golf club into view with her magic. “Is this the stick you’re talking about?” he asked Gilda, pointing to the badly damaged metal shaft as Twilight floated it over to the witness stand.
Gilda stared at it in surprise as it hovered before her, her eyes going wide. “Uh… hey! Yeah! That’s it! That’s the one! I remember that ‘P’ at the top of it!” she confirmed to Phoenix’s immense satisfaction, a look of amazement on her face. But Gilda wasn’t done yet, leaning over and squinting at it. “Now that I see it again… this stick really annoys me for some reason.”
Phoenix didn’t know why it would annoy her, and at that moment didn’t care one bit. “This is it, huh?” he asked again, leaning forward over the rail. “Well, in that case, you’ve once again lied to us all, Gilda!” he announced to the entire court, pointing an accusing finger at the griffon eagless.
Gilda immediately started to sweat again. “Wh-what? B-but wh-what lie? I d-didn’t—” she started to stammer, but Phoenix cut her off before she could say any more.
“This stick wasn’t found on the scene of the crime, and according to what you’ve told us, you were the last one in that clearing!” he reminded her. “So that means you must have removed it and thrown it in the river at Ponyville Park where it was found!” he concluded, pointing at her again.
Trixie interjected. “Your claim alone is not enough, Mister Wrong. We need some proof that stick you possess was really on the scene!” she reminded him, speaking up for the first time in a while and leaving Phoenix wondering why she’d been so quiet.
Maybe she’s lying low after her close call with the contempt citation? he guessed, unable to shake the disquieting feeling that she was treating his interrogation of Gilda as a sideshow.
“Agreed,” The Judge concurred, a stern look on his face.
Phoenix was prepared for that. “I do have evidence this stick was in the clearing at some point, Your Honor,” he announced, going for his pocket and bringing out his digital camera. “Let’s take a fresh look at the scene of the crime.” He clicked through images until he found the panorama he was looking for.
He belatedly realized he didn’t have anything he could upload it to—his office desktop and printer were an entire dimension away, and Maya was the one who usually handled such technical matters anyway—but Twilight stepped in, using her magic to copy the image onto blank sheets of scroll paper to give to The Judge and Trixie, and then project the image into the air of the middle of the court like a hologram.
Phoenix couldn’t help but shake his head at her feat—even after all he’d seen from her, Twilight Sparkle still managed to constantly amaze him. She really is special, he was reminded again as he walked up to the projected image with the wooden pointer, stepping in front of it like he was giving a presentation at law school.
“In this area, with the dirt, there was a long linear imprint suggesting something had been lying there.” He motioned to a straight and narrow rut in the ground just below the scuffed-up area of dirt at the bottom left edge of the picture, well away from the tape outline of Ace Swift’s body. “I even took a picture of it the other night,” he said, clicking forward on his camera and showing Twilight the photo, who promptly switched to the close-up image of the imprint.
“If we were to measure the length and width of that imprint, I’m willing to bet my attorney badge it would match up exactly with the length of the stick!”
Trixie gave him a smug look; barely glancing at the pictures floated her. “Your attorney badge, Mister Wrong? I’ll take that bet!” she stated like she was eager and only too able to disprove his claim. “At Trixie’s direction, the investigation team was very thorough and measured that imprint in the ground!”
Phoenix held his breath. “And how long was it?”
“Thirty inches,” Trixie replied authoritatively with her eyes closed and hoof over her chest, taking visible pride in the fact that she could recite the number from memory.
Phoenix nodded, relaxing a bit—certainly in the ballpark! “Now let’s measure the stick,” he directed, picking it off his stand.
“Bailiff! Can you please measure the length of this stick?” The Judge requested.
There was a delay of several minutes as a tape measure was obtained from outside the courtroom. Phoenix held his breath again as a unicorn bailiff picked the stick up in his aura and rolled out the tape measure beside it, floating them both in midair for a side-by-side comparison.
“The length of the stick is—” he squinted momentarily, leaning in closer to confirm the measurement “—thirty inches.”
There was an immediate upsurge in whispered conversation from the gallery while, across the courtroom, Trixie’s jaw dropped open in shock. “No! This can’t be!” she said in disbelief, wearing a look of genuine worry for the first time.
Phoenix ignored her. “Why did you tamper with the crime scene by moving the stick, Gilda?” he asked with an upraised arm and pointed finger.
Despite the evidence before her, Gilda remained defiant. “I didn’t touch it!”
Trixie broke in before Phoenix could. “Witness, I can’t stand you any longer! You were warned and you lied again!”
Gilda’s head shot around to face the showmare. “But I didn’t touch that damned stick!” she said to the horror of the pony parents in the gallery, some of whom went to cover their foals’ ears.
Phoenix turned to see that Twilight was giving him an angry glare. “Hey! Don’t look at me! She’s the one who said it!” he pointed out while The Judge’s gavel came down hard.
“There will be no profanity in my courtroom, Ms. Behertz,” he admonished her. “And any more will result in a contempt citation,” he added when he saw Gilda grinding her teeth, looking for all the world like she wanted nothing more than to fire off a long string of invective in response.
“But I didn’t. Touch. That. Stick!” she insisted again through gritted teeth, hissing each word out in turn.
“It’s quite obvious you did touch it! You were the last one in there!” Trixie pointed out, no longer bothering to defend her.
Phoenix couldn’t help but grin briefly at that, remembering that the redemption of Miles Edgeworth as a prosecutor and a man began when he stopped reflexively siding with his witnesses and even began helping in cross-examinations when Phoenix proved they were lying—though in Trixie’s case, he was certain it was more to protect her own hide than to help him. Baby steps, Phoenix!
“I’m not lying! Why would I want to move a stupid piece of trash?” Gilda asked the entire courtroom derisively. “I swear, it was lying right next to the dead pegasus! I didn’t touch it! I didn’t have any reason to!” she continued to insist.
Twilight, Phoenix and even The Judge locked on instantly to the contradiction in her statement. So did most of the gallery, which suddenly fell dead silent in realization, the picture of the crime scene fresh in their heads. Phoenix stood up straighter and put his hands on his hips, a victorious grin on his face—I’ve got you NOW, Gilda!—while Trixie could only sputter across her rail.
“Y-you idiot!”
“Oh, get bent, you worthless pony!” Gilda told her off with a glare. “I should have never agreed to come here!”
“Oh yeah? Well, I should have never brought in some mixed-up freak-of-nature griffon to come testify!” she retaliated. “You’ve caused me nothing but grief!”
No, you shouldn’t have, and yes she has, but it’s your OWN fault, Trixie! Phoenix didn’t say. You were so eager to bury Rainbow Dash that you didn’t check Gilda’s story carefully, and now she’s undoing your entire CASE! he thought gleefully, but was eternally grateful that Trixie had brought Gilda in so he could tear her testimony apart—and very shortly, the mare magician’s entire theory of the crime.
“You know what, Gilda? For once, I actually believe you,” Phoenix added in a tone of mock placation.
“Ah, finally! Guess you aren’t as dumb as I thought!” Gilda sighed in relief, though was unable to resist another dig. “Still pretty dumb, though.”
“It was really lying right next to the victim,” he repeated slowly, noting that everyone else in the courtroom, pony or otherwise, seemed to know what he was getting at except Gilda.
“Yeah! Just like blue boy says; it was lying right there next to the pegasus!” she confirmed giddily, just happy to finally have some piece of her testimony accepted. “See? I didn’t touch it! Take that, Trixie!”
Trixie stared at her formerly star witness for a moment with a smoldering expression, the fire in her eyes offset by the cold air that was forming around her again; as Phoenix watched, the glass of water on her desk suddenly iced over with an audible crack. “That’s it! You’re on your own!” she announced, turning pointedly away from the scene.
“Yeah, well… who needs you, you lame and stupid pony?” Gilda fired back.
“But ‘blue boy’ here does have one little question, Gilda,” Phoenix announced in a very mild tone.
“Huh? Yeah?” she asked in a surprisingly calm voice. “Well, spit it out!”
Phoenix waited another beat before doing so, exchanging a knowing glance with an equally gleeful Twilight. “You just said it was lying next to the victim…” he began meaningfully, wondering if Gilda would finally see what everyone else in the courtroom already had.
Her blank stare told him she did not. “Let’s look back to this diagram of the forest,” he suggested, retrieving the pointer and going back to the mounted map of the crime scene. “We have evidence the stick was on the scene of the crime—right here, on this dirt landscape,” Phoenix said, marking the mound near the left edge of the map with a large X by dipping a quill in the red ink jar beside the diagram.
“Yeah? So what?” Gilda shrugged.
“But Gilda, the body was found here—under the cloud!” he informed her, dipping the quill in ink again and putting another X over the number 1 circle, well away from the dirt patch he’d put the first X over.
“You even said the victim was ‘lying there dead under the cloud’ in that testimony you gave earlier. I don’t have the exact distance, but those two spots are probably around thirty feet apart. So why would you say the stick was right beside the body?” he asked in a rhetorical tone.
Gilda began sweating profusely again, eyes going wide as she finally recognized her slip, muttering something unintelligible.
“That’s right, Gilda,” Phoenix confirmed, taking on a triumphant tone. “The stick and body should be quite a distance apart from each other!”
“I-I…” the griffon female stammered, her eyes darting about wildly.
At that moment, Phoenix knew exactly what she’d done and that he had her dead to rights. “So what’s your explanation for this? Let’s hear it, Gilda!” he invited, pointing at her again. “As the facts stand, it’s impossible for you to have seen the stick right next to the body!”
“I-I… uh…” was all she manage. “Trixie! HELP!”
“Oh? What’s that? You need help from this ‘lame and stupid’ pony?” Trixie openly sneered, speaking in a mild voice. “Too bad!” she abruptly snapped. “You’ve dug your own grave!”
Odd—she’s about to lose the case; you’d think she’d be more upset than that! Phoenix noted, but put it out of his head for the time being.
“Answer the question, witness!” The Judge ordered, gripping his gavel tightly and wearing a very angry expression.
Thwarted, Gilda tried. “It was… m-my mistake. It wasn’t next to the body. It was f-far away…” she offered in a shaky voice, knowing even as she said it that she wasn’t fooling anyone.
Phoenix was having none of it. “Don’t even try to backpedal! I know exactly what you did!” he warned her. And if I’m right, I’ve not only completely discredited Gilda’s testimony, I’ve just proved Rainbow Dash innocent!
The Judge’s eyebrows shot up. “You know what she did?”
“Yes, Your Honor!” Phoenix confirmed, carefully putting together the pieces in his head for the evidence chain he had to present. “There was something I couldn’t figure out when I visited the crime scene two nights ago,” he recalled, turning to Twilight to ask her to project the panorama of the clearing again. When she had done so, he picked up the wooden pointer and walked in front of the floating image, pointing to a spot at the left of the crime scene. “Look at the disturbance in the dirt next to the imprint of the stick,” he began.
“Oh!” understanding dawned on Twilight, zooming in on that section of the image to show the scuffed-up area of ground more clearly.
Phoenix gave her a quick nod of gratitude. “As you can see, there are some unnatural marks in the dirt that look like somebody had been kicking that area around. At first, I thought they could be signs of a struggle, but now I see I was mistaken—I now know exactly who did it, and why!”
The undercurrent of gallery conversation got louder as ponies in the audience began to reach the same conclusion he had; looking up, he saw Applejack and Rarity had already gotten it, nodding at him and wearing the same satisfied grin, now fully confident in the trial’s outcome. Beside Rarity, Spike looked like he hadn’t yet, but sat riveted, leaning far forward in his seat; a quick glance around the courtroom told Phoenix most of the ponies watching were as well.
TV court dramas ain’t got NOTHIN’ on me! He couldn’t help but grin.
Gilda didn’t respond, wearing an expression that was half-angry; half-fearful. “It was you, Gilda!” he proclaimed, pointing at her yet again.
As usual, The Judge was one of the last on the uptake. “But why would she kick around dirt?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Trixie rolled her eyes, looking impatient for the whole thing to be over.
In answer, Phoenix continued to press the griffon witness. “I believe you when you say you didn’t touch the stick, Gilda! But you touched something else, didn’t you?” he suggested in a rhetorical tone. “Or should I say—someone?”
“N-no!” she offered a weak denial, sweating through her feathers again, pale yellow eyes wide and darting.
“I don’t understand, Mister Wright. What else on the crime scene did she touch?” The Judge stroked his beard as he asked, still not seeing it.
Phoenix suppressed a sigh. “The answer’s right here, Your Honor!” He went back to the crime scene diagram and tapping the number one dot with his pointer before turning his attention back to Gilda. “She moved the body from the dirt patch to under the cloud!” he announced, causing The Judge’s eyes to go wide. “Didn’t you, Gilda?”
Gilda remained silent and hunkered down, now all but hiding behind the witness stand. She suddenly looked like a prey animal hiding from a predator, leaving Phoenix feeling immensely pleased at how hard he’d turned the tables on her. “Since dragging him there would leave an obvious trail, I imagine you just picked him up into the air and then dropped him into the burned area under the cloud. But then you noticed something: being able to see in the dark, you saw how the body left an imprint in the dirt, just like the stick did!” Phoenix suggested, taking great pleasure in the role reversal. “And that compromised your nasty little plot to set up Rainbow Dash!”
Gilda’s lip was quivering in emotion. “N-no! I…” she started to answer, only to trail off when she realized she had none.
Beside Phoenix, Twilight studied the red psyche-locks around Gilda, looking on them in some confusion. Phoenix is exposing her lies one by one, yet they’re NOT breaking? she didn’t understand, wondering if the presence of so many locks—five, by actual count—made it that much harder to break them, individually as well as collectively.
“So you scuffed up that area of ground with a broken branch or something to remove all traces of both your pawprints and the body lying there!” Phoenix deduced, unaware of Twilight’s worry, his voice and posture confident as he prepared to bring the case to a successful conclusion.
“No-no! H-he’s wrong! Right, everypony?! H-he’s wrong! I didn’t do that!” she pleaded in panic, looking around the courtroom gallery for support, but finding none in the disgusted and angry glares of the mostly-equine audience.
None more so than from Rainbow Dash herself, who could stay silent no longer. “Why? Why would you do this to me, Gilda?” she demanded to know in a voice that sounded hurt and betrayed, leaning as close to her former friend as her restraints would allow.
ACK! Rainbow, icsnay-on-the-outburst-ay! Phoenix silently pleaded, quickly speaking up to keep her from doing so again. “This witness may not be the murderer, but she still attempted to frame my client!” he told the court, addressing The Judge directly and trying to preempt any further outbursts.
Rainbow, however, was not so easily dissuaded, ignoring Phoenix and continuing to address Gilda. “This is low even for you! You put my life on the line just because I ditched you?” she asked her former friend in a mixture of shock and disgust. “What the bucking hay is the matter with you?” she demanded to know with a hard stomp of her hoof, ignoring the sharp rap of The Judge’s gavel.
“Trixie sees it was a big mistake bringing you here,” the mare magician added from her stall, her voice strangely calm.
She’s about to lose the case and she’s NOT losing her temper? Phoenix wondered. I know she does ice magic, but does she have ice WATER in her veins?
“The defendant will remain silent! Witness! Do you have anything to say in your defense to all these accusations?” The Judge asked, ready to bring down the hammer, both figurative and literal, on her.
Gilda ignored him, addressing Rainbow directly. “What ‘the bucking hay’ is the matter with me? What about you, Dash?” she fired back, pointing a talon at Rainbow. “We were best friends since flight school, and then you ditch me because of one bad visit?” she countered, leaning far over the stand to glare at her former friend.
“Order!” The Judge called, banging his gavel hard.
Rainbow’s rose-colored eyes narrowed. “Oh, so one ‘bad visit’ is what you’re calling it, now?” she asked, speaking right over The Judge and pointedly ignoring Phoenix’s frantic efforts to silence her with a sharp headshake and slashing motion with his fingers across his throat. “What about your stealing? Or all the insults to Pinkie Pie and the rest of my friends? Or nearly giving Granny Smith a heart attack? Or how badly you bullied Fluttershy…?” she trailed off, her eyes going wide as if she suddenly realized something.
“I said order!!!” The Judge repeated more loudly, hammering his gavel several more times.
“Pinkie Pie?” Gilda all but hissed out the name. “Yeah, I got pissed at her! I hadn’t seen you in a year, and she kept trying to butt in! I wanted to spend the day with you, not her!” she retorted, continuing to ignore the sharp and repeated rap of The Judge’s gavel. “And stealing? I swiped an apple—one apple! So bucking what? If you wanted me to pay the single bit it cost, I would have!” She threw her forelegs up in frustration.
“I will have ORDER!!!!!” The Judge demanded again with increasingly loud hits of his gavel, sounding more and more agitated. “Bailiffs! Restrain the witness! And Mister Wright! Control your client!” he ordered Phoenix.
Phoenix was about to interject himself when Twilight stopped him with a hoof to his hand as it rested on the rail. “Please, Your Honor!” she called out to be heard over the heated exchange, focusing her voice on The Judge. “They need this and there might be a confession at the end! So I respectfully request you allow their argument to proceed!” she implored him, her words causing the bailiffs to hesitate, looking to The Judge for guidance.
Nodding, Phoenix stepped back from the rail and watched, arms crossed over his chest as the back-and-forth continued. Although the decorum of his courtroom was compromised, The Judge ultimately decided that he’d seen—to say nothing of allowed—far worse over the years and acceded to Twilight’s request as well, waving back the bailiffs and reluctantly lowering his gavel. Somewhat to Twilight’s surprise, Trixie likewise made no objection; the showmare appeared mildly amused by the display and at least mildly interested in how the scene would play out.
“… and scaring and bullying? It’s nothing you haven’t done before! It’s nothing we hadn’t done together before!” Gilda continued, now oblivious to everything except Rainbow Dash. “Or does doing things like playing Nightmare Night pranks, hazing the freshwings at Junior Speedsters’ or swiping cakes and cooking rum out of the Cloudsdale bakery not count as scaring, stealing or bullying, Dash?” she asked pointedly and with a low leonine growl.
Rainbow’s cheeks flushed. “That was all in good fun and never mean-spirited!”
“Unlike playing a bunch of lame pranks on me at my own party?” Gilda asked derisively.
“’Lame’?” Rainbow sounded insulted. “Those weren’t all meant for you! And like you said, we played pranks like that on other ponies all the time! Were they ‘lame’ then? What’s the matter, Gilda? I thought you said you were ‘down with a good prank!’ Or is it just that you can dish it out but can’t take it?” she mocked her former friend.
Gilda glared at her. “Oh, so I’m just supposed to sit there and take it when you deliberately humiliate me in front of all your new buddies?” she snarled.
“Oh, so I’m just supposed to stand by and do nothing while you act like a jerk and treat my new friends like trash?” Rainbow Dash replied with a sneer, answering attitude for attitude. “If you don’t treat me, my town and my friends with respect, then you’re no friend of mine!” she stated emphatically with a stomp of her hoof, to appreciative hoofclops from the gallery.
“So it’s all about respect now, huh?” Gilda asked with a bitter laugh, leaning far over the podium to glare at her former friend. “Then tell me, Dash… was it respectful to make me a laughing stock in front of your new friends? To let me think Pinkie had committed the pranks? And then to just up and dump me without a second thought when I got mad?” she asked scornfully.
“Twelve years of friendship, all the good times we had together… and this is how you treat me?” Gilda asked, her voice growing shriller. “Friends don’t DO THAT to each other, Dash!” she shouted across the pit at Rainbow, causing her former friend to flinch sharply as her own words were used against her, Twilight and Phoenix nodding silently to themselves as they remembered Rainbow’s treatment of Fluttershy.
Never thought I’d be agreeing with GILDA! Twilight couldn’t help but think.
“And OLD friends don’t treat NEW friends like that, Gilda!” Rainbow quickly recovered, shouting back with equal volume.
Gilda’s eyes flashed as she remembered being told off with those very words many months earlier. “No, but old friends do give second chances!” she countered, cutting Rainbow off before she could answer. “You told me once you were all about loyalty, Dash! Well, I was your best and oldest friend! So why wasn’t I worth one? Why weren’t you loyal to me?” Gilda demanded to know with a slam of her fist on the witness stand, an audible tremor in her voice; looking past the phantom locks, Twilight was stunned to see a glimmering in the griffon’s pale gold eyes.
Wow. I never knew what happened upset her that much, Twilight thought, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt over it.
Rainbow reacted as if she’d been slapped hard, challenged on the very element that defined her. “Because you treated my new friends like crap!” she replied, reminding herself as much as Gilda. “They weren’t ‘cool’ enough for you, remember?” she sneered, her voice dripping with contempt.
Gilda stared at Rainbow with a quivering lip. “Fine, Rainbow. I admit I was a jerk. But maybe if you’d taken me aside and told me I was out of line, I’d’ve made the effort to change… for you!” she suggested in a strangely quiet voice. “After twelve years of friendship and for the sake of your precious ‘loyalty’… you owed me that much, at least!”
This time, it was Rainbow who looked flustered as it seemed to dawn on her that Gilda had a point. “Well, maybe if you’d come to me afterwards and said you were sorry, I would have!” she finally fired back.
“But that’s just IT!” the griffon all but screamed, rearing up to slam her fists down on the witness stand in frustration. “The only reason I asked to make this stupid delivery to Ponyville was so I could—!” Gilda stopped in mid-sentence and fell silent, staring blankly at her former friend as if she’d remembered something.
“Was so I could…” she tried again only to trail off, her eyes lowering.
“Was so I could...” every feather on her head suddenly seemed to wilt.
“W-was so I… so I could…” her head and shoulders began to slump; tears were welling in her eyes.
She repeated the four words like a broken record; her anger slowly receding into a solemn and saddened tone each time she repeated the phrase. Not just her voice, but her previously rough-and-tough demeanor was being replaced with a very heavy-hearted, even sorrowful one.
One everybody in the courtroom, pony or otherwise, would never have dreamed the griffon eagless was even capable of.
“Was so I could… apologize,” she finally admitted in a dull mutter, burying her head in her paws.
Rainbow Dash halted her verbal assault and looked at her former friend in surprise and confusion. The Gilda she knew never backed down in an argument—much like herself. The Gilda she knew always had to have the last word and be right, even when she knew she was wrong—much like herself. Griffons were a natural-born warrior race brimming with pride and fire, never ones to concede in a clash, be it verbal or physical—much like the pegasus race that was at once their greatest friends and fiercest rivals. And Gilda was no exception, Rainbow knew only too well; for the proud eagless to even suggest she might want to make amends was completely out of character for her.
It was so out of character, in fact, that Rainbow had a hard time accepting it. “’Apologize’?” Rainbow repeated, her eyes narrowing as her temper flared back to life. “Well, you’ve sure got a funny way of showing it!” She raised her voice again, wings flared in anger as far as they would go against the restraints that bound them. “So is this what you call an apology, Gilda? Getting me banished to the bucking SUN?” she asked in disbelief. “Is THAT what you bucking wanted?”
Gilda’s head shot back up. “NO!” she shouted back. “I just wanted you to know what it felt like to be betrayed! To have your best friend TURN ON YOU!” she shrieked in sorrow and pain; as her face came back into view, Phoenix and Twilight were shocked to see tears now streaming freely down her feathered cheeks.
Rainbow recoiled as Gilda’s words struck home. She looked away in pain of her own; it was several seconds before she could speak again. “Well… you did it, Gilda,” she told the eagless quietly before turning her gaze back on her, her eyes dry but voice far more subdued than before. “It really… bucking… hurts, and if that’s what I did to you? I’m sorry,” she finished with a bow of her head, murmurs coming up from the previously silent gallery as those who knew Rainbow understood how rare an apology from her was.
“You’re right—it was wrong of me to just up and dump you like that. For the sake of our friendship and for loyalty itself... you deserved better. I should have given you another chance,” she further admitted before raising her eyes back to meet her former friend’s. “There. You got what you wanted, Gilda. Are you happy now?” Rainbow asked in a very quiet voice.
A glance at Gilda told everyone in the courtroom she wasn’t. “I… I…” As the entire chamber watched, the eagless began to shake. Sitting back on her haunches, she clutched her head in both forepaws, squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, hissing sharply as she painfully dug into her temples with her talons.
Twilight’s eyes went wide as she saw glowing gold cracks appear in the red psyche-locks, spreading throughout them and the increasingly taut chains they guarded. Abruptly, the griffon female reared up and gave an eagle-like shriek of agony; Twilight flinched hard as instead of breaking singly, the locks and chains that surrounded Gilda shattered all at once, their disintegration releasing a wave of pent-up anguish and mystical power that registered on every unicorn in the courtroom; Twilight most of all.
Staggered by the energy and emotional surge, it was all she could do to remain standing as Gilda collapsed atop the witness stand, breathing raggedly.
“I give up,” the eagless announced in a beaten voice. “I did it...”
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Whoa! Harsh.
DUN DUN DUN
On my read later list. This will be fun.
WHAT A TWIST!
Darn right they don't Phoenix.
3060317 Don´t know what the dude said, but I did like the story :D
Don´t get discouraged by what other people can think of it.
HUZZAH!
I also noticed that none of the parents recoiled from the use of the word 'crap' but took 'damn' and 'bucking' pretty harshly
Good thing nobody said the word: Fiddlesticks
There would be a legal firestorm that would go all the way to Canterlot and back!
3071430
Thanks, but it wasn't so much that he disliked the story as the manner in which he expressed it.
3071449
By the point the word 'crap' came up, all the parents had already left. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...
And as for that *other* word, not even *I* would go there... *shudders*
3042165
Not at all... in truth, I like that quote and even considered adding it to this new chapter, but ultimately decided it would sound a little jarring and wasn't quite in character for Phoenix. Apologies.
I see Raven went for the red psyche-lock chapter. I think it works well, in my opinion.
Having pre-read the chapter, I can honestly say this: I hope part 5 comes out soon, or else this fic will be going on hiatus.
Oh wow. This...is quite the plot twist.
Makes me want to see the next chapters even more, good job!
~ Super-Brony12
3069201
You mean this...?
All I can say is... we'll see.
3071686
Yep. She made the safe call, I think. And unfortunately, you're right... only two more chapters before we hit the end of part 4. Unless someone has an idea for another bonus chapter, because I'm fresh out.
3071869 Maybe a sort of 'years later' chapter, where Hobo!Nick comes back to Equestria, at Princess Twilight's request. She just wants to catch up with him, and... maybe talk about her feelings...
3071919
[nods] Already in the works. I'm actually planning to write a post-Turnabout Storm Twilight/Phoenix series, but not until this story is finished (need to know how it ends first!). For now, I'm looking for something else within the confines of Turnabout Storm itself--another gap in the story, another untold part, something along those lines.
3071968 Maybe a scene where Lenora visits Cruise Control at the prison? Say, shortly before the second trial day begins?
3071812 Even more, I REALLY want the YT series of this to finish up!
3071980
As do we all...
3071974
You just gave me an idea along those lines. Thanks. We'll see if I have an opportunity to use it.
3071980
Indeed, for if it doesn't, then that means no more of this story. And that would make me very unhappy.
That was suspenseful!!!!!!
3071430 Heck yeah! Hater's Aint got Nothing on me!
3071686 S-sorry... I was on pressure and... well~ It just popped capped on my mind~ S-sorry if I didn;t use yours~
forgive me~ 
3071968 Suggestion? Another side character appearance ~ Ya know, talking about the current events along with some familiar faces chatting~ well, just a suggestion~
Update: PWaaMLPfim said on her youtube channel that the first twenty minutes of Turnabout Storm: Part 5 will be previewed this weekend at BronyCAN!
3080310
It's fine, Raven... you went with the consensus choice, as you should have.
3080327
That's a thought as well... we'll see where we are after the last two chapters of part 4 are released.
3114602
Appreciate it!
To answer your questions:
1) The videos are the originals. This is the novelization. And considering the length of this, it has indeed become a full-size novel.
2) Yes, we did.
Wanted to expand the story, and that seemed like an interesting and fun way to do it. Can't say it was originally planned, just kind of happened and we decided to go with it.
I would like to see Gilda return in S4 and for her and RD to make up and become friends again. This time maybe without Pinkie being third wheel all the time.^^;
“So in other words… you were too slow?”
I see what u did there. Seems like Phoenix stole a phrase from Sonic!
3475199
if that does happen, I personally would like to see it be just as difficult as it has been shown here, it cannot be a simple apology and suddenly everything's forgiven. Situations like that need a bit more involvement and emotion
... *THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE, STANDING OVATION, THE WHOLE SHEBANG!!!!!!!*
This was INCREDIBLE! You got a touching part from one of the best videos EVER and you made it 1,000,000,000 times more intense and awesome!!!! THANK YOU FOR REWRITING THIS!!! THANK YOU!!!
I actually teared out of one eye! You got something that was in the show, you showed TWO ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES of it, and turned it around so instead of a hero and an antagonist, you're left with two unfortunate VICTIMS!! THANK YOU, and ALL the people who greatly contributed to this GLORIOUS fanfiction!!
One, more time, everypony: THANK YOU!!!!!
I f*cking love this guy. Someone give a medal because that is f*cking funny!
Whoah, also, this was incredible, I've seen the Youtube series, I know how this ends, but honestly, I feel like this is better, it's still Turnabout Storm, but better, expanding on a few things, seeing things from different perspectives and then there's this. This is perfect. All. My. Yes.
I f*cking love this guy. Someone give a medal because that is f*cking funny!
Whoah, also, this was incredible, I've seen the Youtube series, I know how this ends, but honestly, I feel like this is better, it's still Turnabout Storm, but better, expanding on a few things, seeing things from different perspectives and then there's this. This is perfect. All. My. Yes.
Yup, Gilda was wrong, but rainbow dash didn't help either.
This whole thing, THIS ENTIRE THING LITERALLY MADE ME GO ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT AS THE TWO ONCE BEST FRIENDS ARGUE OVER THEIR ONCE GREAT FRIENDSHIP! It's just so heart-breaking and yet so terrifying to see this argument go like this! It enough to put almost any other awesome argument in the Phoenix Universe to shame! Gah, now I desperately want this animated like what they did in Dual Destinies! The game format of this would not do it Justice for all the emotions thrown by both Rainbow Dash and Gilda and it would be damn awesome for everyone to see! Someone make an animation of this, I'm begging of anyone here, Just do it!
a strange thing in that scene with Rainbow Dash and Gilda is that RD never says that she never intended to make Gilda look like a fool. It was just dumb luck that it played out like that.
a thing I do find annoying is the constant thing with foals. Why is it so bad they hear curses and all that over-protection is really annoying. As many adult stories they here have no respect for youngsters.
Curse that plot-convenient Ace Attorney magic!
The forest lacked guns, Nirvana, Doritos, Crystal Pepsi, or Final Fantasy 7, thus making it neither 'extreme' or 'hardcore' enough to warrant further attention.
You didn't pick it up from Law and Order: Criminal Intent? Jeez, I just used this joke a couple days ago. Didn't think I'd need it again so soon.
static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/literal_bersek_button_copy.jpg
Instant classic!
Could not have cared less.
Twilight loves her plot-specific magic! Pity the website updates have rendered the images too dark for non griffins to look at.
Really cool mental image of a glass shattering from insti-freeze. I like it!
Consider this an endorsement on the entire scene when I call it absolutely brilliant. I get a chill whenever I read it.
apollo-na-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/1419638372940/bro.jpg
I love this chapter so much!
7007147
Yeah. Seriously.
But at least I can use that inconsistency to my advantage here, just have it work or not work as I see fit. And if anyone complains, all I have to do is point at the canon games themselves.
And the trees were just too dweeby for her.
Heh. But no. I used to watch L&O religious, now hardly ever. I don't think I've ever seen a single CI episode.
Gilda is so easy to tease.
Instant classic!
Will fix.
That she does, even in the show. For here, however, it just makes sense to me she'd know these things, given her book knowledge. Memory recall and projection spells make sense to me, and would probably be widely used by Equestrian attorneys.
Sorry.
Those pictures come from video screencaps. I'll try and increase the contrast on them.
Thanks. I actually had that happen once, making the mistake of running a hot glass under cold water and it shattered in my hand. Lucky I wasn't cut by it.
Thank you! I'm very proud of this addition. Went for feels, and the feels came, though I also have to credit Leo and TheGoldCrow for contributing to it. They made it much better.
Thankies!!!!
Holy throne...
7103801
I will say however that one of my favorite parts has been the game like reactions of characters. Reacting as if struck, or Gilda's breakdown here reminiscent of the final big meltdown when the true culprit is forced to confess.
8705381
Thanks! This chapter contains one of my favorite added scenes--the Gilda/Rainbow confrontation, which I did think was keeping very much in spirit with Ace Attorney witness breakdowns. I can’t take full credit though--I had help on this chapter from Leo Archon and TheGoldCrow, both of whom contributed here.
You’ve reached the point where I finally took over writing this full time a few years back. Unfortunately, I couldn’t just go in and change stuff without Raven (the original author) doing it for me. But no longer. I look back at even this stuff that was entirely me and grimace now, seeing all the things to fix. At least that means I’ve improved in the past few years.
Damn. That was.... Wow
If only that confrontation scene was in the original TAS. Well done, all three of you.
9157787
Thanks!
I will pass along your well-wishes.