| Turnabout Theatre - Part 1 | |
|---|---|
 ~The Troubled Production~ | |
| Date added | June 5, 2019 |
| Duration | 56:16 |
| Transcript | Available |
| Part of | My Little Ace Attorney: Elements of Justice |
| ⇐ N/A |
⇒ Turnabout Theatre - Part 2 |
In the prologue, spotlights shine down on ponies performing a play on a stage. In the middle of this, a pony is seen chasing after another pony through the dark backstage area and up a flight of stairs. The pursuer is struck on the head by something and falls over. One of the performers on stage hears a noise behind her, turns around, and is horrified to see a pony hanging above the stage by the neck. The spotlights turn off. A flashlight searches the scene, and the unconscious body of Coco Pommel is discovered.
************************
The scene shifts to the law office of defense attorney Phoenix Wright, where Phoenix continues to screen phone calls in search of clients to represent. His present company includes his fellow attorneys Athena Cykes and Apollo Justice and daughter Trucy. While discussing plans to get some food, Phoenix is suddenly overcome by an unseen force that freezes his movement, and the others notice him start to vanish. When they grab him, the same thing happens to them, and Phoenix feels a sense of deja vu.
Minutes later, the four find themselves transported inside a grand castle, and they are able to move again. They are greeted by a talking unicorn with wings, who addresses Phoenix as if they have met before. Apollo, Athena, and Trucy are shocked at the sight of a talking horse; Phoenix does not recognize her at first, but when the events of Turnabout Storm come rushing back to him, he remembers her as Twilight Sparkle. After a warm reunion, Phoenix introduces Twilight to his associates and daughter (who were accidentally brought along with him when they touched his frozen body), and he learns Twilight has gained wings, a castle, and the title of "Princess" since they last saw each other.
Phoenix explains how he was previously summoned to Equestria to defend Twilight's friend Rainbow Dash in court when she was arrested for murder. However, while it has been eight years since this event took place from Phoenix's point of view, it has only been a year and a half for Twilight. In the aftermath of that case, Gilda (who tried to frame Rainbow Dash for the murder and was briefly jailed for perjury and crime scene tampering) reconciled with Rainbow, and Sonata (who was believed to be the true killer but exonerated by Phoenix and jailed for crime scene tampering and blackmail) stated that she would "help out all those who need it" after her jail time was served.
When Phoenix asks Twilight why she summoned him this time, Rarity appears and, after another round of introductions, begs Phoenix to defend a friend of hers from a murder charge. Phoenix agrees, and Twilight gives him the Equestrian Attorney's Badge he will need to get into the detention center where Rarity's friend is detained.
************************
Following a train ride to the bustling city of Manehattan, Phoenix goes inside the detention center and meets with the accused: Coco Pommel. The first thing Phoenix notes about her is that she is suffering from an unexplained headache. Coco explains that she is a costume designer for the nearby Bridleway Theater and that her friend Overall Concept was murdered by hanging in front of a packed audience. Coco was accused and arrested for the murder when she was found at the scene of the crime, though Rarity believes she is innocent.
When asked about the victim, Coco says he was the theater's head costume designer and that she worked alongside him, though she insists their relationship was purely platonic and professional. When asked why she was at the crime scene, Coco says she recalls rushing to the catwalk after hearing a commotion, and then discovering the body and being arrested by the police some time after, but she does not remember anything between those two times. Finally, Phoenix holds his magatama and asks Coco if she killed Overall Concept, which she immediately denies. The magatama does not react, meaning Coco is telling the truth, and Phoenix agrees to be her lawyer.
Back outside, Phoenix explains the situation to Twilight and the others, and Rarity reveals she was in the audience when the murder took place, having gotten the last available ticket to the play from Coco. On their way to the theater to investigate the crime scene, Rarity briefly bumps into Suri Polomare, with whom she has a sour history. Inside the theater, Phoenix and company meet with the overly perfectionist theater director Playwright. In interrogation with Phoenix, he comments positively on Coco and Overall Concept's skills and teamwork, remarking that the two always looked very happy while working together. He explains further that he witnessed Coco chasing Overall up the left side of the catwalk before the murder, giving Phoenix a map layout of the theater.
In the stage area, after a brief tangent involving Trucy's "magic panties", Phoenix discovers the murder weapon - a rope tied into a noose - still hanging above the stage. Apollo discovers a torn piece of fabric; Rarity recognizes this as a special fabric Overall Concept developed that is coated in glitter and treated with fluorescent paint to make it glow in the dark. On the catwalk above, Trucy discovers traces of glitter from Overall's fabric. When the theater lights briefly flicker, hoofprints left by fluorescent paint are also found. The hoofprints lead down the right side of the catwalk, despite Playwright stating earlier that Coco ran up the left side and was led down the same side by police, meaning someone else could have committed the murder. Using a specialized forensic flashlight for detecting fluorescent paint, Phoenix determines the hoofprints lead from the dressing room to the catwalk to the theater's back door. In the dressing room, the group finds multiple cans of fluorescent paint, which Rarity comments must have been very expensive.
With the evidence they have collected, Phoenix believes they have enough to cast doubt on Coco's guilt in the next day's trial.
************************
Back at Twilight's castle, the rest of the Mane Six and Spike appear to greet Phoenix. After yet another round of introductions and some lighthearted conversing, Trucy suddenly realizes that she had seen Twilight and all her friends once before when she was little. Phoenix recalls that when Trucy was younger and she started to outgrow her original magician's hat, he gave her the hat that Trixie gave him at the conclusion of Turnabout Storm to replace it. Inside the hat was a photograph of Phoenix and his new pony friends. Even now, Trucy still has the photo pinned to the inside of her hat.
When Phoenix asks Twilight what Trixie has been up to, Twilight relates the events of the episode Magic Duel, when Trixie returned to Ponyville to get revenge on Twilight using the mind-corrupting power of the Alicorn Amulet - though she apologized afterward upon being released from its effects and realizing what she had done. The episode ends with Phoenix telling his pony friends stories of what he has been up to during the eight years since he left Equestria.
Trivia[]
- Twilight's line "a title is nothing more than a title" is the same line spoken by Miles Edgeworth in the Ace Attorney case Turnabout for Tomorrow.
- AdoxographistVA (who voices Coco Pommel) and DJ Zapple (who voices Playwright) repeatedly mispronounce "Pommel" (putting emphasis on the first syllable instead of the second). Series creator TheAljavis has stated he was afraid to ask the voice actors to redo their lines, thus leaving these mispronunciations intact. This would later become a deliberately scripted running joke.
- At the 38:43 mark, "catwalk" is misspelled as "cakewalk" in the on-screen text box. This has resulted in an ongoing running gag in TheAljavis' social circle, particularly on the social media platform Discord.
- TheAljavis has stated the error was the result of him watching a YouTube video by the let's play channel Achievement Hunter while writing the script for Turnabout Theatre at the same time.