Ace Attorney: World Tour-naboutby TheLevelHeadedBronyChaptersPrologue Part Two: A Pony of a Different ColorPrologue Part Three: Cacophonous TonesInvestigation Part 1: Monte CelloPrologue Part 1: They must be trying to kill me...Prologue Part Two: A Pony of a Different Color ???????? ??????? "Are those it?" I hear a voice ask. "Yes. Is everything set?" I hear who I think is Mr Wright say. (Set? Set for what? Am I in a hospital? Is Athena OK?) "Yes, Phoenix, everything's all set for the big show." The same voice as earlier says. I think it's feminine. "Ug...My head..." "Good, just as I planned. This night's already going perfectly. I'll talk to you later, Twilight." "Let's see...'Synconized Wake-Up in a moving vehicle' , check!" I come to in a train car, with Athena besides me. "What was that?" "Yeah, boss, was that some sort of drug?" "No...that was a side effect of the Summoning Spell. Though I am shaving seconds off the regaining-conscious bit." I sit up to see where the voice is coming from, when I see...it..." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA" "Don't scream Apollo, it's just a train ca.......Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa!" Athena yells. "Are you sure they didn't hit their heads when they materialized?" a new masculine voice replies to....it..." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I yell when I see the source of the new voice. "They shouldn't have...but then again, Mr. Wright was quite like this the first time he came here." "Wait! Where's Mr Wright and Trucy?" Athena asks "Mr. Wright is still safe in your world with his daughter." "My world? What world is this then?!?" "This is Equestia...I'm Twilight Sparkle" "This has to be a dream..." SLAP! "Nope, not a dream" Athena says, rubbing her hand. "Wow, you have a hard head." (Why do I get the feeling she's been waiting to do that?) "Ok...so how did we get here, why are we here,and why is there a purple unicorn and a tiny dragon in front of me?" "Tiny?!? I'll show you, reindeer head!" (Can I not get through a fanfic without receiving one making-fun-of-hair joke?) "Spike! Don't make fun of the guests, especially the birthday pon...I mean person. Anyhoof, to answer your questions,one, I'm an alicorn.Notice the wings? Two, I told you, I used a summoning spell. As for why you're here, I was under the impression that you have two tickets to the concert?" "Wait, the concert's here?" Athena asks. "Not here, but at Canterlot?" Twilight "Canterlot. Really?" "What's wrong with the capital city of Equestria, buddy?" Spike rages. "Spike! They're new here. Cut them a little slack." "Sorry Twilight..." "Ok, so are there more ponies here?" I ask "Yes, along with bison, gryphons, chimeras, manticores, Cerberi, Orthri, cocatrices, etc." "So we are going to a concert?" I ask. "You ask a ton of quest-" "SPIKE!" Twilight says curtly. The dragon gets a sad look on his face "So how do you know Mr Wright?" Athena asks. "Mr. Wright saved one of my friend's lives about a year ago?" "A year ago? He didn't even have his attorney's badge back then." "Time works differently here...I found out that when I recently was contacted by him." A loud voice comes over the intercom. "Arriving at Canterlot Station" I take a look out the window, and I see a city carved into a mountain slowly coming into view. "I'll be accompanying you guys to the concert, having this being the first time you've been here. (Mr. Wright actually suprised me for once. Let's hope the rest of...Equestria...is as welcoming as Twilight.) Prologue Part Three: Cacophonous TonesPrologue Part Three: Discordant Tones "Ok, so there are three main types of ponies: Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies. Pretty self explanatory. There are also four alicorn princesses." Twilight explains as we walk through the streets of Canterlot. "Wait, you're a princess?" Athena asks "Yes...although I don't really have a domain, so I'm more involved with the everyday life. Since the station, Twilight's been trying to gives us the Sparknotes version of Equestria for Dummies. Though its a bit hard to pay attention with all the posh ponies giving us strange looks ans whispering to each other. I try to ignore them by staring around at the the city, with the castle looming overhead. "So is that where your...um....princess lives?" "Princesses. Princess Celestia who controls the rising of the sun, and Princess Luna who controls the rising of the moon." "So, tell us about this rocking band we've heard about. Mr Wright's kept us in the dark about the details." Athena says. Twilight's expression blanks for a second before she quickly recomposes herself. "Well, there's Concerto on the violin, of course, then there's Octavia Melody on the cello, Vinyl Scratch's usually mixing tracks and scratching records, Neon Lights's got vocals and guitar, and Frederic Horseshoepin plays piano." "So are they on a tour or something?" "Yeah, their manager's holding one last concert in Equestria before they head on tour to other countries" "Who's the manager?" "Hmm... I actually haven't gotta clue, but who cares about a manager anyway? (Even after knowing Twilight for twenty minutes, this seems a bit out of character for her/) We come upon a giant marble building that has hundreds of columns running around it. Red carpets sit upon the sidewalks leading to the entrance. "Here we are! This is the Tremelo Concert Hall." Twilight answers. June 20 Tremelo Concert Hall-Lobby We enter into the main lobby, which could be called the epitome of opulence. Crystal chandeliers, golden staircases, and ponies dressed in suits and dresses. "Wow...I wonder how many cases we'd have to take on to even afford a chandelier." Athena says aside to me (We'd probably work harder than Santa's elves.) We let the ushers scan our tickets, and we head into the Concert Hall. June 20 Tremelo Concert Hall-Concert Hall As expected by the genre of the concert, most of the ponies either don't wear any clothes or are wearing semi-formal attire. We take our seats, which take up a good portion of the front row. "Hey Athena, what time is it?" "It's currently 6:27...we still have thirty minutes until the concert." "Oh hey! There's Vinyl and Neon!" Twilight says excitedly. "You guys want to meet two of the band members?" "Sure, might as well do something for thirty minutes." We walk over to the two unicorns,who look to be involved in a heated discussion. "...I don't care Vinyl. He's the manager, so what he says goes." Neon says curtly. "Hey man! He can't think he's just going to come in willy-nilly and start firing people! If I get the chance, I'll make sure he knows that he can kiss my..." "Ohhh....Hey Twi...uh...sorry about you having to hear that..." Vinyl apologizes, slightly blushing. "You guys must be Mr. Wright's friends! I'm DJ-P0N3, a.k.a. Vinyl Scratch. I was the mixer for the band until a few minutes ago." "What happened?" Athena asks. "Ask Nylon Tights over there...the manager relayed his message through him." "My name's N...." Suddenly, a cell phone starts to ring. "Sorry, this will only take a sec..." Neon says. "Hello?...Actually, its pretty quiet out here. Vinyl's out here two btw...Yeah, kinda............What soun...??.........Yeah, I'll be there in a sec." "Who was that?" Vinyl asks "Frederic. Apparently he locked himself in his room accidentally. I'm gonna go unlock the door for him. I'll be right back." Neon turns and walks into the security station. "He must think Frederic's more important than our conversation...Don't get me wrong. Neon rocks, but sometimes he's so one-track minded." Vinyl says with a hint of annoyance. "So what are you going to do now, Vinyl?" "I'll probably stay for the performance so I can stare at them and make them feel uncomfortable." "That's not really nice..." "Yeah, well neither are they. Someone needs to do something about the manager, and the band won't stand up for me. They're afraid of him for some reason..." "Who's your manager?" "His name is...." Suddenly, Neon comes galloping back with a security guard in toe. "Princess, there's a situation. Our A/V guy's been knocked unconscious and he's bleeding! Come quick!" June 20 Tremelo Concert Hall-Security Office We all run after the security guard into the security office. He starts to frantically grab clipboards and starts to hand them to us. "What's taking so long?!?!" Neon asks "These people aren't cleared to go backstage...I need their names, hoofprints, date of birth...standard procedure" "Princess Twilight Sparkle commands you to override the procedure. Somepony's life is at stake!" Suddenly, the whole office is shrouded in darkness. "Of all the times to have a blackout! Someone find the fuse box, quick!" the guard shouts. I start feeling the wall in vain for the switch, with every fleeting moment a greater chance of something terrible happening to the A/V guy. "Found it!" Vinyl says. I hear a click and lights come flickering on. "Ok...manual override....ok! The door's open!" the guard assures. June 20 Tremelo Concert Hall-Performer's Area We clamor into the backstage hallway and before us lays a sky blue unicorn stained scarlet by his long main and a small pool of blood. "Oh Celestia!... Call that ambulance!" Twilight orders, The guard rushes back into security while Neon starts to feel the unicorn's neck, then waits. "He's still had a pulse..." "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEE!" "Tavi!!!" Vinyl yells. She gallops down the hall and we follow. Neon opens the second door on our left, and a tan earth pony walks out. "What happened?" Frederic asks concernedly "Frederic, it's Level, he's been hit on the head hard." "NEON!" Vinyl screams. We all run down to the end of the hallway, where we see what Vinyl is staring at. "AHH!" I breath. Even after all this time, I still can't get adjusted to seeing blood." On the floor of the dressing room in the far corner lies a brown earth stallion with a cocoa mane, practically swimming in a pool of blood from numerous abrasions on his back and one on his head. Beside him lies a pipe, covered in blood. A shivering gray earth mare clutches her cello. "No...I...I..." "Coming through!" We see the guard followed by an EMT entering from a back door along with several more guards. Two more go straight to load Level onto a stretcher. "Ahh...there's another...". The security guard exclaims, now seeing the limp earth pony. An EMT enters the crime scene. After feeling the victim's neck, he shakes his head. Two guards come forward. "Octavia Melody, you are under arrest for the murder of Concerto and the assault of Level Headed." One guard says while placing one handcuff on his hoof and the other on Octavia's Octavia shakes herself out of her stupor. "No! I never laid a hoof on him! Please, you have to believe me!" Octavia cries. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..." The the other guard recites as they lead Octavia out the door. "No...there's no way Tavi would do that..." Vinyl says softly. Investigation Part 1: Monte CelloA few more guards came shortly after to get a statement from each of us outside the now empty Concert Hall, but they mainly focused on the ponies in the band and the security guard. I saw Twilight talking to one of the guards before walking over to us. "I'm so sorry, you guys. I know you didn't want your birthday spent giving testimony for a murder, Apollo." "It's fine, Twilight. Any news?" I ask. "Yeah. If there is a silver lining in all of this, the A/V pony regained consciousness. He'll have a bandaged head, but he's perfectly fine otherwise." "Well that's good...Any details about the murder?" Athena asks. "They're pretty tight-lipped, even with me." "So what about...Octavia...was it? When is her trial?" I ask. "It's the day after tomorrow. The Equestrian Council, from what I was able to pry out of that guard, sees it as a pretty open-and-shut case. There were only four ponies backstage at the time besides the security guard. Two of them were hit on the head and one of them was locked in his room. Octavia seems to be the only one who could have committed the crime." "But will she get a lawyer?" Athena asks. "Yes, we guarantee a lawyer, but chances are she'll get a pro bono lawyer who will probably get her to plea bargain." "But that's not right. I don't think she did it! Her heart cried out to me when she was arrested." Athena says passionately. "What?" "Oh, I have a gift of detecting emotions in voices. I use it, combined with my buddy Widget, to try and psychoanalyze witnesses." "Pretty Purple Pony!" Widget says mechanically. "Shut it!" Athena says aside. (Welcome to "Widgets Say the Darnest Things, Folks) "Guys...I've told Octavian about your prowess.. I'm not trying to pressure you, but ...." "You want us to take on her case, don't you?" I ask. "She's not guilty...I can tell that even without psychoanalysis...and besides, no pony deserves to be banished." "Where to?" Athena asks. "The sun...or the moon if she's lucky" "THE SUN!" Athena exclaims. "Will you guys do this? If not, I can always send you back to your world." "Count us in." Athena says. "I'd thought you say that. Here, put these on!" Twilight uses her magic and gives us two plastic pink hearts. "What....are...these?" Athena asks "They're Equestrian Attorney Badges." "You have to be kidding me." I say, hopeful but not expecting much. "Nope." "You expect us to wear these? Are there any less feminine ones?" I ask. "Sorry, the newer and more refined ones are all at the Canterlot University of Law. This is the best I could do." (I might as well hand Jean Armstrong my man card) "Wait...how did you know that we would be needing thes...." I ask. "I'll teleport you guys to the detention center. " Twilight aims a blast of magic at us, and the world goes white for a minute. June 20 Detention Center (It's funny how similar our two worlds look. Even the detention centers look alike.) "These are Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes. They would like to defend Octavia Melody." Twilight says. "We'll get the defendant." A generic guard says. "I have to go now, only the lawyers and those involved the Justice Department can visit defendants.Give me a call on this walkie talkie when you want to come back. "We could just walk there..." Athena says. "It's too far, and it's getting pretty dark, besides, only attorneys can visit their defendant." (Why is she being so pushy?) "Ok, see ya Twilight." I say. Twilight teleports again, leaving us alone in a foreign jail (This is never good...) "Excuse me...I was summoned because I heard that there were two lawyers here to see m...." We turn to see a grey earth mare staring at us. "Yeah, we're the lawyers. I'm Athena Cykes, and this is my co-council Apollo Justice. (Hold your...horses....ugg...I'm already thinking in horse puns....Is seniority not practiced anymore?) "Oh...Sorry, I just wasn't aware that two...humans...wanted to defend me." "Is that ok?" Athena asks. "Yes, don't get me wrong; I was just taken aback at the presence of humans in Equestria." (She probably was in shock when we first encountered her. Makes sense why she reacted the way she did.) Who are you? "So can you tell us your name and a bit about yourself?" I ask, trying to assert my dominance as the lead attorney. "My name is Octavia Melody, and I'm the cellist for the Melodic Minors. We're a rock-orchestra fusion band which was going to tour around the world. The Griffin Kingdom, Saddle Arabia, Maretania, Belgymkhana, Barcepona...Trottingham.......we were going places..." "Wow. How long was the tour going to last?" Athena asks. "Pretty long...in fact, most of the band didn't want to have an indefinite tour." "Why? Sounds pretty fun!" Athena says. "Others had their family and friends. Level, our stage manager, has a sister in Manehattan that he's just getting back on terms with, so he objected to the tour." (I thought Level was an A/V person...Hmm...Does that mean he was the one who fired Vinyl?) The Band "What was your relationship like with with the rest of the band?" I ask. "It's fine...I mean, we have our ups and downs, but we all get along fine" (Ahh!...my bracelet's killing me. That can only mean one thing, Octavia's lying.) Would you say that again? Sorry, my hearing's a bit dull." I say. "Your hear--- mmmph" Athena says as I put a hand over her mouth. "Sure...." "It's fine...I mean, we have our ups and downs, but we all get along fine" "Octavia, the first rule of being a lawyer is 'Always trust your client'. But that goes both ways. I have to trust you, and when you mentioned that "we ALL get along", your hoof shook. I can tell that the relationship wasn't all rainbows and cupcakes." "I'm sorry.... You are most right: The band was not as unified as it used to be." "Why didn't you tell us that in the first place? Athena asks. "It's kind of personal...but I apologize from keeping the truth from you." (Makes you wonder what else she's hiding...) Band's History "Can you tell us about the history of the band?" I ask. "Yes. The band was actually formed out of necessity, as two groups were set to play at a concert with only one timeslot. Level, Frederic, and I were a classical ensemble. Vinyl and Neon were a dubstep duo. That night, we formed the Melodic Minors. We started to tour Equestria. Then, things started to go wrong. Level broke his femur when he got hit by a taxi when visiting his sister in Manehattan. I called in a favor and got Concerto to fill in for him." "But why is he a stage manager and not the violinist?" "I don't know...Perhaps he got tired of performing or perhaps he wanted to focus more on his talent, technology. Anyhoof, the band's chemistry was knocked off balance and hasn't been the same ever since. Here's an article with some more details if you need it. Violinist Injured, Band Suffers Article added to Evidence (Kinda reminds me of when I took a hiatus during the Cosmos Space Station trial...) Your Movements "Lastly, could you tell us your movements before and after the crime?" "Sure. I was practicing my cello behind stage when Level came to tell me about the soundcheck. As I was finishing getting prepared for the Concert, Concerto texts me asking for me to come to his dressing room. When I get there, he's lying on the floor with a wound on his head." She shifts her position; now she looks tense. "I was too shocked to move. Until...he opened his eyes. He got up and started yelling at me. He said that I would pay for this, that I would never play in any orchestra again...but then....the pipe....started to float." "Float? How?" I ask. "I do not know...it did not look like unicorn magic because it normally has a sheen. This was clear, no sheen, it looked like it was floating.The pipe then started to strike Concerto, hard. Again and again and again. I think that's when I screamed. The pipe hit the floor, and then the band showed up." (So it looks like someone is trying to frame Octavia...Wow, am I really turning my head into the exposition chunnel?) Lead Pipe Added into Evidence Octavia's Cell Phone Added into Evidence "I know it sounds fraudulent, but it is the truth!" "So will you allow us to be your attorneys?" Athena asks. "Of course! Thank you ever so much." (Finally a relatively normal defendant...besides the fact that she's a pony.) Suddenly a guard walks into Octavia's side of the room. "Sorry, it's 9:00. Visiting hours are over." "We'll come back and see you tomorrow, Octavia, after we investigate some." Athena says. "Thank you." Octavia says before following the guard back to her cell. "So, what do you think? Can we trust her?" I whisper "I think we can, although I detected a few emotions differing from her testimony's tone." "But don't our witnesses normally have that?" I ask "Yeah, but why lie to us about the band's in-fighting and stuff?" Athena replies angrily "Maybe she was ashamed of it?" "Perhaps. We'll be sure to chisel away at her testimony once we have some evidence." I grab my walkie-talkie from my pocket. "Hey Twilight, we need to come back. Do you have a place for us to stay?" "Yes. I think you'll find it quite comfortable." We are again surrounded by a sheen of white light, and when we reappear, all I can do is gape. "Welcome to Canterlot Castle!" Twilight says. Prologue Part 1: They must be trying to kill me..."Well, you finally arrived!" ......... "What do you mean "I can't do this anymore?" Have you forgotten why you have to do this?" ......... BANG!!! ........ "Uh....Uhhhhh...Uhhh....." ....... BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! ........ "AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" One Hour Earlier... June 20 Wright Anything Agency "Come on Apollo! Just keep moving!" Athena says. "You better not be peaking, Polly!" Trucy adds, leading me by the hand "I doubt that, Trucy, you're practically cutting off all the circulation to my head with that blindfold you tied." "If I could trust you enough to NOT PEAK!..." "I'M NOT PEAKING!" (You know, they could be leading me off a cliff right now, and I wouldn't be the wiser.) My name is Apollo Justice, and I'm an attorney, though I haven't taken a case since one involving the Cosmos Space Station almost six months ago. "Aren't you gonna introduce us?" Athena asks. "Yeah!" Trucy adds. "I will...if you guys stop breaking the fourth wall!" (Sheesh...) Those two are Athena Cykes and Trucy Wright. Athena's a junior partner to the agency who specializes in analytical psychology. She can "hear" the emotions present in testimony using a special piece of technology: a robot called Widget. Trucy Wright is my biological sister and my employer's adoptive daughter...don't ask, it's complicated.She can tell when people are uncomfortable through body language. I also possess this power via a bracelet my mother gave me. Athena and Trucy drag me to a certain spot. "Are you ready, Apollo?" Mr Wright asks? Phoenix Wright is my employer, father to Trucy, and a legendary lawyer known for numerous turnabouts. He's also a notorious cheapskate. "Ok Mr. Wright, where's that new cherry-red Ferrari?" "You trying to impress Emma again?" Athena pokes. "Hey! Mind your own beeswax!" I shout. "Now now, you two. I think it's time for Apollo to find out what his present is." (One free bowl of Eldoon's Noodles incoming in three...two...one...) "SURPRISE!" Trucy yanks off the blindfold, and to my sincere suprise, I see a card where a bowl of salty noodles should have been. "Did you decide to move to the "Free-Noodle-Certificate-in-a-Card?" "Do you think I'm that cheap?" Mr Wright asks, smiling. (YES!) "No, of course not." I lie. "Open the card already!!!" Trucy yells. "Ok, Ok!" I take the card, which is slightly chubbier than a normal card. (Maybe they emptied their bank accounts and bought me a $5 Starbucks Gift Card...) I rip open the card, and out slides two tickets. (On second thought, they probably got me free bowling passes) "Happy Birthday Apollo!" Athena and Trucy shout! I take a look at the tickets "Admit One...The Melodic Minor's Classical-Rock Fusion Concert...Playing Live at Tremelo Concert Hall...7:00" "Daddy said you even have front row seats!" Trucy says excitedly." (How many favors did Mr. Wright have to cash in on these? Maybe he feels guilty for all those salty broth-filled occasions standing next to a noodle cart.) "I thought you and Athena would have the most fun. Besides, Trucy wants to go to a convention of some sort. "Magicon is not some convention, its THE convention for magicians. I heard that one magician's gonna chop a person in half on stage!" (Good thing I'm not going...with my luck, I'd get volunteered to be cut in half.) "Thanks Mr. Wright! So where's this Tremelo Concert Hall?" Athena asks. "It's not that far, but I kinda have to inform you about where we you are going." (If this is a chain-gang band headed by Daryan Crescend, I think I'd rather have the noodles.At least that would explain how he could afford those tickets...) "It's...foreign...so you have to know a bit about their customs" (Tijuana, here we come...) "What do you mean, Mr. Wright?" "Just...don't freak out." (You are SO reassuring me) "Uhh....I don't...feel too good..." Athena mumbles She subsequently collapses to the ground. Suddenly, I start to feel dizzy... "Just relax Apollo..." Mr. Wright says calmly. (How can I relax when I'm losing consiousness and Athena's colapsed?) So dizzy...can't see...I feel like the world's fading into oblivion...
Prologue Part Two: A Pony of a Different Color ???????? ??????? "Are those it?" I hear a voice ask. "Yes. Is everything set?" I hear who I think is Mr Wright say. (Set? Set for what? Am I in a hospital? Is Athena OK?) "Yes, Phoenix, everything's all set for the big show." The same voice as earlier says. I think it's feminine. "Ug...My head..." "Good, just as I planned. This night's already going perfectly. I'll talk to you later, Twilight." "Let's see...'Synconized Wake-Up in a moving vehicle' , check!" I come to in a train car, with Athena besides me. "What was that?" "Yeah, boss, was that some sort of drug?" "No...that was a side effect of the Summoning Spell. Though I am shaving seconds off the regaining-conscious bit." I sit up to see where the voice is coming from, when I see...it..." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA" "Don't scream Apollo, it's just a train ca.......Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa!" Athena yells. "Are you sure they didn't hit their heads when they materialized?" a new masculine voice replies to....it..." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I yell when I see the source of the new voice. "They shouldn't have...but then again, Mr. Wright was quite like this the first time he came here." "Wait! Where's Mr Wright and Trucy?" Athena asks "Mr. Wright is still safe in your world with his daughter." "My world? What world is this then?!?" "This is Equestia...I'm Twilight Sparkle" "This has to be a dream..." SLAP! "Nope, not a dream" Athena says, rubbing her hand. "Wow, you have a hard head." (Why do I get the feeling she's been waiting to do that?) "Ok...so how did we get here, why are we here,and why is there a purple unicorn and a tiny dragon in front of me?" "Tiny?!? I'll show you, reindeer head!" (Can I not get through a fanfic without receiving one making-fun-of-hair joke?) "Spike! Don't make fun of the guests, especially the birthday pon...I mean person. Anyhoof, to answer your questions,one, I'm an alicorn.Notice the wings? Two, I told you, I used a summoning spell. As for why you're here, I was under the impression that you have two tickets to the concert?" "Wait, the concert's here?" Athena asks. "Not here, but at Canterlot?" Twilight "Canterlot. Really?" "What's wrong with the capital city of Equestria, buddy?" Spike rages. "Spike! They're new here. Cut them a little slack." "Sorry Twilight..." "Ok, so are there more ponies here?" I ask "Yes, along with bison, gryphons, chimeras, manticores, Cerberi, Orthri, cocatrices, etc." "So we are going to a concert?" I ask. "You ask a ton of quest-" "SPIKE!" Twilight says curtly. The dragon gets a sad look on his face "So how do you know Mr Wright?" Athena asks. "Mr. Wright saved one of my friend's lives about a year ago?" "A year ago? He didn't even have his attorney's badge back then." "Time works differently here...I found out that when I recently was contacted by him." A loud voice comes over the intercom. "Arriving at Canterlot Station" I take a look out the window, and I see a city carved into a mountain slowly coming into view. "I'll be accompanying you guys to the concert, having this being the first time you've been here. (Mr. Wright actually suprised me for once. Let's hope the rest of...Equestria...is as welcoming as Twilight.)
Prologue Part Three: Cacophonous TonesPrologue Part Three: Discordant Tones "Ok, so there are three main types of ponies: Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies. Pretty self explanatory. There are also four alicorn princesses." Twilight explains as we walk through the streets of Canterlot. "Wait, you're a princess?" Athena asks "Yes...although I don't really have a domain, so I'm more involved with the everyday life. Since the station, Twilight's been trying to gives us the Sparknotes version of Equestria for Dummies. Though its a bit hard to pay attention with all the posh ponies giving us strange looks ans whispering to each other. I try to ignore them by staring around at the the city, with the castle looming overhead. "So is that where your...um....princess lives?" "Princesses. Princess Celestia who controls the rising of the sun, and Princess Luna who controls the rising of the moon." "So, tell us about this rocking band we've heard about. Mr Wright's kept us in the dark about the details." Athena says. Twilight's expression blanks for a second before she quickly recomposes herself. "Well, there's Concerto on the violin, of course, then there's Octavia Melody on the cello, Vinyl Scratch's usually mixing tracks and scratching records, Neon Lights's got vocals and guitar, and Frederic Horseshoepin plays piano." "So are they on a tour or something?" "Yeah, their manager's holding one last concert in Equestria before they head on tour to other countries" "Who's the manager?" "Hmm... I actually haven't gotta clue, but who cares about a manager anyway? (Even after knowing Twilight for twenty minutes, this seems a bit out of character for her/) We come upon a giant marble building that has hundreds of columns running around it. Red carpets sit upon the sidewalks leading to the entrance. "Here we are! This is the Tremelo Concert Hall." Twilight answers. June 20 Tremelo Concert Hall-Lobby We enter into the main lobby, which could be called the epitome of opulence. Crystal chandeliers, golden staircases, and ponies dressed in suits and dresses. "Wow...I wonder how many cases we'd have to take on to even afford a chandelier." Athena says aside to me (We'd probably work harder than Santa's elves.) We let the ushers scan our tickets, and we head into the Concert Hall. June 20 Tremelo Concert Hall-Concert Hall As expected by the genre of the concert, most of the ponies either don't wear any clothes or are wearing semi-formal attire. We take our seats, which take up a good portion of the front row. "Hey Athena, what time is it?" "It's currently 6:27...we still have thirty minutes until the concert." "Oh hey! There's Vinyl and Neon!" Twilight says excitedly. "You guys want to meet two of the band members?" "Sure, might as well do something for thirty minutes." We walk over to the two unicorns,who look to be involved in a heated discussion. "...I don't care Vinyl. He's the manager, so what he says goes." Neon says curtly. "Hey man! He can't think he's just going to come in willy-nilly and start firing people! If I get the chance, I'll make sure he knows that he can kiss my..." "Ohhh....Hey Twi...uh...sorry about you having to hear that..." Vinyl apologizes, slightly blushing. "You guys must be Mr. Wright's friends! I'm DJ-P0N3, a.k.a. Vinyl Scratch. I was the mixer for the band until a few minutes ago." "What happened?" Athena asks. "Ask Nylon Tights over there...the manager relayed his message through him." "My name's N...." Suddenly, a cell phone starts to ring. "Sorry, this will only take a sec..." Neon says. "Hello?...Actually, its pretty quiet out here. Vinyl's out here two btw...Yeah, kinda............What soun...??.........Yeah, I'll be there in a sec." "Who was that?" Vinyl asks "Frederic. Apparently he locked himself in his room accidentally. I'm gonna go unlock the door for him. I'll be right back." Neon turns and walks into the security station. "He must think Frederic's more important than our conversation...Don't get me wrong. Neon rocks, but sometimes he's so one-track minded." Vinyl says with a hint of annoyance. "So what are you going to do now, Vinyl?" "I'll probably stay for the performance so I can stare at them and make them feel uncomfortable." "That's not really nice..." "Yeah, well neither are they. Someone needs to do something about the manager, and the band won't stand up for me. They're afraid of him for some reason..." "Who's your manager?" "His name is...." Suddenly, Neon comes galloping back with a security guard in toe. "Princess, there's a situation. Our A/V guy's been knocked unconscious and he's bleeding! Come quick!" June 20 Tremelo Concert Hall-Security Office We all run after the security guard into the security office. He starts to frantically grab clipboards and starts to hand them to us. "What's taking so long?!?!" Neon asks "These people aren't cleared to go backstage...I need their names, hoofprints, date of birth...standard procedure" "Princess Twilight Sparkle commands you to override the procedure. Somepony's life is at stake!" Suddenly, the whole office is shrouded in darkness. "Of all the times to have a blackout! Someone find the fuse box, quick!" the guard shouts. I start feeling the wall in vain for the switch, with every fleeting moment a greater chance of something terrible happening to the A/V guy. "Found it!" Vinyl says. I hear a click and lights come flickering on. "Ok...manual override....ok! The door's open!" the guard assures. June 20 Tremelo Concert Hall-Performer's Area We clamor into the backstage hallway and before us lays a sky blue unicorn stained scarlet by his long main and a small pool of blood. "Oh Celestia!... Call that ambulance!" Twilight orders, The guard rushes back into security while Neon starts to feel the unicorn's neck, then waits. "He's still had a pulse..." "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEE!" "Tavi!!!" Vinyl yells. She gallops down the hall and we follow. Neon opens the second door on our left, and a tan earth pony walks out. "What happened?" Frederic asks concernedly "Frederic, it's Level, he's been hit on the head hard." "NEON!" Vinyl screams. We all run down to the end of the hallway, where we see what Vinyl is staring at. "AHH!" I breath. Even after all this time, I still can't get adjusted to seeing blood." On the floor of the dressing room in the far corner lies a brown earth stallion with a cocoa mane, practically swimming in a pool of blood from numerous abrasions on his back and one on his head. Beside him lies a pipe, covered in blood. A shivering gray earth mare clutches her cello. "No...I...I..." "Coming through!" We see the guard followed by an EMT entering from a back door along with several more guards. Two more go straight to load Level onto a stretcher. "Ahh...there's another...". The security guard exclaims, now seeing the limp earth pony. An EMT enters the crime scene. After feeling the victim's neck, he shakes his head. Two guards come forward. "Octavia Melody, you are under arrest for the murder of Concerto and the assault of Level Headed." One guard says while placing one handcuff on his hoof and the other on Octavia's Octavia shakes herself out of her stupor. "No! I never laid a hoof on him! Please, you have to believe me!" Octavia cries. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..." The the other guard recites as they lead Octavia out the door. "No...there's no way Tavi would do that..." Vinyl says softly.
Investigation Part 1: Monte CelloA few more guards came shortly after to get a statement from each of us outside the now empty Concert Hall, but they mainly focused on the ponies in the band and the security guard. I saw Twilight talking to one of the guards before walking over to us. "I'm so sorry, you guys. I know you didn't want your birthday spent giving testimony for a murder, Apollo." "It's fine, Twilight. Any news?" I ask. "Yeah. If there is a silver lining in all of this, the A/V pony regained consciousness. He'll have a bandaged head, but he's perfectly fine otherwise." "Well that's good...Any details about the murder?" Athena asks. "They're pretty tight-lipped, even with me." "So what about...Octavia...was it? When is her trial?" I ask. "It's the day after tomorrow. The Equestrian Council, from what I was able to pry out of that guard, sees it as a pretty open-and-shut case. There were only four ponies backstage at the time besides the security guard. Two of them were hit on the head and one of them was locked in his room. Octavia seems to be the only one who could have committed the crime." "But will she get a lawyer?" Athena asks. "Yes, we guarantee a lawyer, but chances are she'll get a pro bono lawyer who will probably get her to plea bargain." "But that's not right. I don't think she did it! Her heart cried out to me when she was arrested." Athena says passionately. "What?" "Oh, I have a gift of detecting emotions in voices. I use it, combined with my buddy Widget, to try and psychoanalyze witnesses." "Pretty Purple Pony!" Widget says mechanically. "Shut it!" Athena says aside. (Welcome to "Widgets Say the Darnest Things, Folks) "Guys...I've told Octavian about your prowess.. I'm not trying to pressure you, but ...." "You want us to take on her case, don't you?" I ask. "She's not guilty...I can tell that even without psychoanalysis...and besides, no pony deserves to be banished." "Where to?" Athena asks. "The sun...or the moon if she's lucky" "THE SUN!" Athena exclaims. "Will you guys do this? If not, I can always send you back to your world." "Count us in." Athena says. "I'd thought you say that. Here, put these on!" Twilight uses her magic and gives us two plastic pink hearts. "What....are...these?" Athena asks "They're Equestrian Attorney Badges." "You have to be kidding me." I say, hopeful but not expecting much. "Nope." "You expect us to wear these? Are there any less feminine ones?" I ask. "Sorry, the newer and more refined ones are all at the Canterlot University of Law. This is the best I could do." (I might as well hand Jean Armstrong my man card) "Wait...how did you know that we would be needing thes...." I ask. "I'll teleport you guys to the detention center. " Twilight aims a blast of magic at us, and the world goes white for a minute. June 20 Detention Center (It's funny how similar our two worlds look. Even the detention centers look alike.) "These are Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes. They would like to defend Octavia Melody." Twilight says. "We'll get the defendant." A generic guard says. "I have to go now, only the lawyers and those involved the Justice Department can visit defendants.Give me a call on this walkie talkie when you want to come back. "We could just walk there..." Athena says. "It's too far, and it's getting pretty dark, besides, only attorneys can visit their defendant." (Why is she being so pushy?) "Ok, see ya Twilight." I say. Twilight teleports again, leaving us alone in a foreign jail (This is never good...) "Excuse me...I was summoned because I heard that there were two lawyers here to see m...." We turn to see a grey earth mare staring at us. "Yeah, we're the lawyers. I'm Athena Cykes, and this is my co-council Apollo Justice. (Hold your...horses....ugg...I'm already thinking in horse puns....Is seniority not practiced anymore?) "Oh...Sorry, I just wasn't aware that two...humans...wanted to defend me." "Is that ok?" Athena asks. "Yes, don't get me wrong; I was just taken aback at the presence of humans in Equestria." (She probably was in shock when we first encountered her. Makes sense why she reacted the way she did.) Who are you? "So can you tell us your name and a bit about yourself?" I ask, trying to assert my dominance as the lead attorney. "My name is Octavia Melody, and I'm the cellist for the Melodic Minors. We're a rock-orchestra fusion band which was going to tour around the world. The Griffin Kingdom, Saddle Arabia, Maretania, Belgymkhana, Barcepona...Trottingham.......we were going places..." "Wow. How long was the tour going to last?" Athena asks. "Pretty long...in fact, most of the band didn't want to have an indefinite tour." "Why? Sounds pretty fun!" Athena says. "Others had their family and friends. Level, our stage manager, has a sister in Manehattan that he's just getting back on terms with, so he objected to the tour." (I thought Level was an A/V person...Hmm...Does that mean he was the one who fired Vinyl?) The Band "What was your relationship like with with the rest of the band?" I ask. "It's fine...I mean, we have our ups and downs, but we all get along fine" (Ahh!...my bracelet's killing me. That can only mean one thing, Octavia's lying.) Would you say that again? Sorry, my hearing's a bit dull." I say. "Your hear--- mmmph" Athena says as I put a hand over her mouth. "Sure...." "It's fine...I mean, we have our ups and downs, but we all get along fine" "Octavia, the first rule of being a lawyer is 'Always trust your client'. But that goes both ways. I have to trust you, and when you mentioned that "we ALL get along", your hoof shook. I can tell that the relationship wasn't all rainbows and cupcakes." "I'm sorry.... You are most right: The band was not as unified as it used to be." "Why didn't you tell us that in the first place? Athena asks. "It's kind of personal...but I apologize from keeping the truth from you." (Makes you wonder what else she's hiding...) Band's History "Can you tell us about the history of the band?" I ask. "Yes. The band was actually formed out of necessity, as two groups were set to play at a concert with only one timeslot. Level, Frederic, and I were a classical ensemble. Vinyl and Neon were a dubstep duo. That night, we formed the Melodic Minors. We started to tour Equestria. Then, things started to go wrong. Level broke his femur when he got hit by a taxi when visiting his sister in Manehattan. I called in a favor and got Concerto to fill in for him." "But why is he a stage manager and not the violinist?" "I don't know...Perhaps he got tired of performing or perhaps he wanted to focus more on his talent, technology. Anyhoof, the band's chemistry was knocked off balance and hasn't been the same ever since. Here's an article with some more details if you need it. Violinist Injured, Band Suffers Article added to Evidence (Kinda reminds me of when I took a hiatus during the Cosmos Space Station trial...) Your Movements "Lastly, could you tell us your movements before and after the crime?" "Sure. I was practicing my cello behind stage when Level came to tell me about the soundcheck. As I was finishing getting prepared for the Concert, Concerto texts me asking for me to come to his dressing room. When I get there, he's lying on the floor with a wound on his head." She shifts her position; now she looks tense. "I was too shocked to move. Until...he opened his eyes. He got up and started yelling at me. He said that I would pay for this, that I would never play in any orchestra again...but then....the pipe....started to float." "Float? How?" I ask. "I do not know...it did not look like unicorn magic because it normally has a sheen. This was clear, no sheen, it looked like it was floating.The pipe then started to strike Concerto, hard. Again and again and again. I think that's when I screamed. The pipe hit the floor, and then the band showed up." (So it looks like someone is trying to frame Octavia...Wow, am I really turning my head into the exposition chunnel?) Lead Pipe Added into Evidence Octavia's Cell Phone Added into Evidence "I know it sounds fraudulent, but it is the truth!" "So will you allow us to be your attorneys?" Athena asks. "Of course! Thank you ever so much." (Finally a relatively normal defendant...besides the fact that she's a pony.) Suddenly a guard walks into Octavia's side of the room. "Sorry, it's 9:00. Visiting hours are over." "We'll come back and see you tomorrow, Octavia, after we investigate some." Athena says. "Thank you." Octavia says before following the guard back to her cell. "So, what do you think? Can we trust her?" I whisper "I think we can, although I detected a few emotions differing from her testimony's tone." "But don't our witnesses normally have that?" I ask "Yeah, but why lie to us about the band's in-fighting and stuff?" Athena replies angrily "Maybe she was ashamed of it?" "Perhaps. We'll be sure to chisel away at her testimony once we have some evidence." I grab my walkie-talkie from my pocket. "Hey Twilight, we need to come back. Do you have a place for us to stay?" "Yes. I think you'll find it quite comfortable." We are again surrounded by a sheen of white light, and when we reappear, all I can do is gape. "Welcome to Canterlot Castle!" Twilight says.
Prologue Part 1: They must be trying to kill me..."Well, you finally arrived!" ......... "What do you mean "I can't do this anymore?" Have you forgotten why you have to do this?" ......... BANG!!! ........ "Uh....Uhhhhh...Uhhh....." ....... BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! ........ "AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" One Hour Earlier... June 20 Wright Anything Agency "Come on Apollo! Just keep moving!" Athena says. "You better not be peaking, Polly!" Trucy adds, leading me by the hand "I doubt that, Trucy, you're practically cutting off all the circulation to my head with that blindfold you tied." "If I could trust you enough to NOT PEAK!..." "I'M NOT PEAKING!" (You know, they could be leading me off a cliff right now, and I wouldn't be the wiser.) My name is Apollo Justice, and I'm an attorney, though I haven't taken a case since one involving the Cosmos Space Station almost six months ago. "Aren't you gonna introduce us?" Athena asks. "Yeah!" Trucy adds. "I will...if you guys stop breaking the fourth wall!" (Sheesh...) Those two are Athena Cykes and Trucy Wright. Athena's a junior partner to the agency who specializes in analytical psychology. She can "hear" the emotions present in testimony using a special piece of technology: a robot called Widget. Trucy Wright is my biological sister and my employer's adoptive daughter...don't ask, it's complicated.She can tell when people are uncomfortable through body language. I also possess this power via a bracelet my mother gave me. Athena and Trucy drag me to a certain spot. "Are you ready, Apollo?" Mr Wright asks? Phoenix Wright is my employer, father to Trucy, and a legendary lawyer known for numerous turnabouts. He's also a notorious cheapskate. "Ok Mr. Wright, where's that new cherry-red Ferrari?" "You trying to impress Emma again?" Athena pokes. "Hey! Mind your own beeswax!" I shout. "Now now, you two. I think it's time for Apollo to find out what his present is." (One free bowl of Eldoon's Noodles incoming in three...two...one...) "SURPRISE!" Trucy yanks off the blindfold, and to my sincere suprise, I see a card where a bowl of salty noodles should have been. "Did you decide to move to the "Free-Noodle-Certificate-in-a-Card?" "Do you think I'm that cheap?" Mr Wright asks, smiling. (YES!) "No, of course not." I lie. "Open the card already!!!" Trucy yells. "Ok, Ok!" I take the card, which is slightly chubbier than a normal card. (Maybe they emptied their bank accounts and bought me a $5 Starbucks Gift Card...) I rip open the card, and out slides two tickets. (On second thought, they probably got me free bowling passes) "Happy Birthday Apollo!" Athena and Trucy shout! I take a look at the tickets "Admit One...The Melodic Minor's Classical-Rock Fusion Concert...Playing Live at Tremelo Concert Hall...7:00" "Daddy said you even have front row seats!" Trucy says excitedly." (How many favors did Mr. Wright have to cash in on these? Maybe he feels guilty for all those salty broth-filled occasions standing next to a noodle cart.) "I thought you and Athena would have the most fun. Besides, Trucy wants to go to a convention of some sort. "Magicon is not some convention, its THE convention for magicians. I heard that one magician's gonna chop a person in half on stage!" (Good thing I'm not going...with my luck, I'd get volunteered to be cut in half.) "Thanks Mr. Wright! So where's this Tremelo Concert Hall?" Athena asks. "It's not that far, but I kinda have to inform you about where we you are going." (If this is a chain-gang band headed by Daryan Crescend, I think I'd rather have the noodles.At least that would explain how he could afford those tickets...) "It's...foreign...so you have to know a bit about their customs" (Tijuana, here we come...) "What do you mean, Mr. Wright?" "Just...don't freak out." (You are SO reassuring me) "Uhh....I don't...feel too good..." Athena mumbles She subsequently collapses to the ground. Suddenly, I start to feel dizzy... "Just relax Apollo..." Mr. Wright says calmly. (How can I relax when I'm losing consiousness and Athena's colapsed?) So dizzy...can't see...I feel like the world's fading into oblivion...
