| Crusading for a Turnabout - Part 6 | |
|---|---|
 ~Leap of Faith~ | |
| Date added | June 24, 2022 |
| Duration | 1:51:21 |
| Transcript | Available |
| Part of | My Little Ace Attorney: Elements of Justice |
| ⇐ Crusading for a Turnabout - Part 5 |
⇒ Crusading for a Turnabout - Part 7 |
Twilight, Athena, and company race to Carousel Boutique after being alerted to a break-in, but the intruder is already long gone. According to Rarity, all of the doors and windows were locked, none of the locks had been tampered with, and Rarity has the boutique's only key, suggesting a unicorn gained access via teleportation. Inside, the group finds several things knocked over and a mess of blood and white cat fur. Rarity's cat Opalescence appears, unharmed, with blood on her claws from when she attacked the intruder. However, nothing appears to have been stolen.
Phoenix sees that the leaves, vines, and branches he found in the trash can during the group's previous visit to the boutique are still there, and Sweetie Belle's behavior when asked about it effectively confirms that she was in the Everfree Forest on the night of the murder. Phoenix advises they gather more information and evidence to get Sweetie Belle to open up about what she knows.
In a brief tangent, Athena asks Apple Bloom about timberwolves, and she explains that, while they are typically aggressive, loud noises like a clang scare them off; the group reasons that one of the two clangs heard that night was for that purpose. On their way out of the boutique, Athena briefly examines the lock on the front door.
************************
Now able to enter the Everfree Forest, the group goes to Froggy Bottom Bog next and meets with Private Eye, who shows them the latest discovery of his investigation: a royal guard helmet, presumably Royal Order's, with a bloodstained puncture mark where he was stabbed in the head, suggesting whoever killed Royal Order at the clearing threw his armor into the river and only his helmet could be recovered. He also presents evidence that incriminates Sugar Stamp in Royal Order's murder: a bloody letter opener in her mailbag believed to the murder weapon (its shape matches the hole in the helmet).
Deeper into the forest, Private Eye leads the group to the Mirror Pool, whose entrance had been unsealed after Twilight previously sealed it and where Private Eye left Royal Order's travel case. Inside, the group finds a letter addressed to Royal Order from Sugar Stamp that not only reveals that Royal Order was engaging in an extramarital affair with Sugar Stamp but also paints Sugar Stamp as being extremely possessive of Royal Order, wanting him to leave his family to be with her. They also find Royal Order's journal, in which they discover he had been researching the Mirror Pool in order to clone himself so that he could be with Fair Devotion and Sugar Stamp simultaneously.
From all this, the group reasons that Sugar Stamp killed Royal Order because she could not bear the thought of having to share him with someone else or the idea that he would choose his family over her. Athena is skeptical of this theory, however, because she sensed no possessiveness or bitterness from Sugar Stamp in their earlier talks. Lastly, Private Eye presents the anonymous tip that led to Turning Page's arrest: a note made from letters cut out of a magazine and delivered to the police station the day after the murder, accusing Turning Page of killing his father. It is believed that Sugar Stamp delivered the note to frame Turning Page and punish Royal Order further for not choosing her over his family.
Remembering how Private Eye spoke of Royal Order during the trial, Athena correctly guesses that the two were close friends; Private Eye confirms that he and Royal Order attended the same school and later pursued different careers but still kept in touch. Back in the forest area, the group takes stock of their findings thus far, and Sonata mentions that the glass shards from Silver Spoon's broken glasses only match one of the lenses, suggesting the other lens was still intact.
************************
At the forest clearing, Athena and company encounter Lawkeeper Equity, in the middle of paying her respects to Royal Order. Equity reveals that Royal Order was being considered for the position of captain of the royal guard, contrary to Private Eye and Princess Luna's claims during the trial that he was just an ordinary member. Equity also points out how deceptive Princess Luna has been since the start of the case, withholding information from Athena and her team and guiding the case in her desired direction (even suggesting there might still be some trace of Nightmare Moon left in Luna).
Equity appears to hold a personal grudge against the royals of Equestria, dismissing friendship and trust as "naive ideals" before leaving. Her parting words deeply affect Athena as she realizes everyone involved in the case has been keeping secrets from her, including her own clients, and her determination is shaken. With no clues left to uncover in the clearing, the group splits up to search different areas: Sonata, Apollo, and Trucy go to investigate the Nightmare Night statue, and Athena, Twilight, and Phoenix go to Zecora's hut.
At Zecora's hut, Athena once again apologizes to her for wrongfully accusing her during the trial, and Twilight apologizes for letting it happen and not speaking out against it, but Zecora assures them that they are forgiven.
When asked about the letter she received from Princess Celestia and Luna, Zecora says she cannot share the details of the letter's contents. However, she does share two new pieces of information: the entrance to the Mirror Pool was still sealed on the afternoon of the murder, and a healing potion is missing from Zecora's belongings. She explains that the potion only heals wounds that are closed, such as with a tourniquet; this gives Phoenix an idea to analyze the leaves, vines, and branches found at Carousel Boutique with the forensic flashlight, and he discovers traces of blood on them.
************************
At the detention center, Athena, Twilight, and Phoenix rendezvous with Sonata, Apollo, and Trucy to share their findings. Sonata and company discovered trees in the forest between the statue and the clearing that were smeared with blood; the bloodstains all face toward the statue area. Meanwhile, Turning Page and Fair Devotion are nearby having a heated argument; Turning believes his mother wants him to give up on his dream of becoming a royal guard, but Fair assures him that she will support his endeavors as long as he gets a proper school education first.
When Athena tries to ask Fair about the letter from Sugar Stamp they found in Royal Order's travel case, Fair angrily insists that their relationship was purely platonic, suggesting she already knew of the possibility they were having an affair.
The group finally sits down with Sweetie Belle to find out what she is hiding, with Phoenix taking charge to try and break her Psyche-Locks. First, he confronts her about her blood found at the Nightmare Night statue and claims she was attacked by timberwolves and used the dead Royal Order's helmet to make a clanging noise to scare them away, breaking the first Psyche-Lock. When Sweetie Belle claims she does not have any injuries, Phoenix presents Zecora's missing healing potion, claiming Sweetie Belle stole it during the time Zecora was away from home, causing another Psyche-Lock to break.
When asked how Sweetie Belle could have made it to Zecora's hut without leaving a trail of blood, Phoenix presents the leaves, vines, and branches, suggesting Sweetie Belle used them to make a tourniquet and stop the bleeding, breaking the third Psyche-Lock. Lastly, Phoenix points out that Sweetie Belle recently picked up the habit of rubbing her leg whenever she gets nervous or agitated, believing that to be where she was wounded. In the face of Phoenix's relentless pressing, Sweetie Belle's final Psyche-Lock breaks.
Sweetie Belle confesses that everything happened as Phoenix deduced, but she is still tight-lipped about why she was in the forest in the first place and the circumstances of Royal Order's death. She agrees to let Athena defend her in court, but she demands to be left alone for the time being.
************************
Back at the Castle of Friendship, Athena and the others catch the rest of their friends up on the case's development. This is interrupted, however, when Rainbow Dash sees Sonata and immediately gets enraged. Despite everyone saying how helpful Sonata has been in helping Athena build her case, and Sonata insisting how much she has changed since the events of Turnabout Storm, Rainbow refuses to trust her and leaves.
When Athena voices her frustration over Sweetie Belle's continued silence and questions her trustworthiness, Phoenix pulls her aside and firmly tells her to stop trying to solve everything on her own. Athena says she wants to be a lawyer that does not have to rely on others' help to win like Phoenix, but Phoenix says he has always relied on the help of others in court, including Maya Fey, Miles Edgeworth, Dick Gumshoe, and even the Judge. He tells Athena about the court case where he truly was alone and lost his attorney's badge by presenting forged evidence, and he warns her not to make the same mistake. As the day starts to wind down, Sonata departs for the hotel.
Later that night, Athena has a nightmare about her friends all verbally abusing her and calling her a screw-up, and Princess Luna appears to save her from her horrible dream. In this dreamscape, Athena confronts Luna about her questionable, secretive methods used throughout the trial, and Luna admits she was not sure she could trust Athena to cooperate with her at first since she was a complete stranger. Therefore, she guided the trial and Athena's defense in such a way that would ensure Scootaloo and Turning Page were declared innocent (a less sympathetic prosecutor would have made sure they were found guilty).
Now that she is certain of Athena's convictions to find the truth, Luna apologizes for distrusting and deceiving her. Athena, recognizing that she has her own mistakes to move past, forgives Luna. Unfortunately, Luna is unable to give any information about Royal Order's status in the royal guard as it is an issue of a "sensitive nature". Regardless, the two of them are determined to work together to find the true culprit in this case, which they believe is either Fair Devotion or Sugar Stamp (or even both).
Upon waking up from her dream, Athena takes Luna's words about "finding the truth in any way she can" to heart, and in the dead of night, she goes to see Sonata at the hotel.
Trivia[]
- Private Eye's story about his mentor at the Equestrian Bureau of Intelligence is a reference to the My Little Investigations character Philo Reed, who would have been introduced in the game's second case if it had not been cancelled.
- Some of Equity's facial expressions and mannerisms were heavily inspired by Lana Skye, a central character in the Ace Attorney case Rise from the Ashes.