| Turnabout Theatre - Part 2 | |
|---|---|
 ~A Princely Sum~ | |
| Date added | August 7, 2020 |
| Duration | 2:08:50 |
| Transcript | Available |
| Part of | My Little Ace Attorney: Elements of Justice |
| ⇐ Turnabout Theatre - Part 1 |
⇒ Turnabout Theatre - Part 3 |
On the morning after the previous episode, Phoenix, Twilight, and their friends are gathered in a courtroom lobby and waiting for the trial to start. Twilight intends to serve as Phoenix's co-counsel as she did during Rainbow Dash's trial (as a princess, she does not need an attorney's badge in order to practice law) while Apollo, Athena, and Trucy observe from the gallery.
When Rarity arrives with Coco Pommel, Coco is strangely quiet, reacting only with tears when Overall Concept is mentioned. Rarity notices some glitter stuck in Coco's mane; Coco mentions she never got a chance to clean up since her arrest. When asked who the trial prosecutor will be, Twilight says it is Prince Blueblood, much to Rarity's extreme annoyance. After some more light conversation, the bailiff calls everyone into the courtroom.
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Court is called to order, with Coco's trial being presided over once again by the same judge that presides over most of Phoenix's cases. As Twilight predicted, Prince Blueblood serves as the prosecution.
The pompous Blueblood explains the case's details: during a sold-out performance of Hinny of the Hills at Bridleway Theater, Overall Concept was hanged to death. According to the autopsy report, he was unconscious at the time of his death due to a bruise on the back of his head, and his hooves were covered in glitter. Blueblood alleges that Coco attacked Overall in the theater dressing room at 8:50pm, chased him up the catwalk, knocked him unconscious, and hanged him with the nearby rope.
Playwright is called to the stand as Blueblood's witness, and he testifies that he saw Coco chase Overall up the catwalk from the stage's left wing. When he went up the catwalk, he saw Coco looking down at Overall's hanging body. In his cross-examination, Phoenix learns there was a 15-minute intermission at 8:00pm, during which the stagehooves cleaned up for the second act and Playwright spoke with Overall Concept about a private matter. When pressed for details, Playwright only says it was related to Overall's special fabric. Further pressing reveals that the stagehooves were positioned at the stage's right wing during the play while Playwright and his stage manager were at the left, and that the stagehooves did not see anyone go up or down the catwalk after the second act started. A glitter-stained and splintery fabric roll was also found near Coco by police. When Playwright found Coco, she was crying over Overall's death, after which the play was cancelled, the police were summoned, and Coco was arrested.
Phoenix objects to the point in Playwright's testimony about the fabric roll, which neither Coco nor Overall were seen carrying to the catwalk. Blueblood suggests that Playwright simply did not notice Overall carrying the fabric roll due to how dark it was backstage. When Phoenix questions what motive Coco would have to commit murder, Blueblood calls Coco herself to the stand to testify about her living situation.
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On the witness stand, Coco testifies that, as part of her apprenticeship under Overall Concept, he let her live with him in his Manehattan apartment, and the two brought much joy to each other's lives. When asked why she did not tell Phoenix this the day before, Coco admits she was afraid he would not take her case if he knew the whole story. Phoenix is especially confused after hearing from Playwright and Rarity how close Coco and Overall were, despite Coco insisting they were just good co-workers.
Blueblood presents a document that recognizes Coco and Overall as domestic partners; because Overall died without leaving behind a will, Coco would be entitled to all of his assets. Said assets would include Overall's costume designs and the special fabric he developed, which would help Coco win an upcoming fashion competition and earn her much recognition in the fashion industry, thus establishing a motive. When Blueblood mentions the fabric and the fashion competition, Twilight feels this is an important detail. From all this, Blueblood concludes that Coco attacked Overall Concept, he fled with the fabric roll, and upon catching up with him, Coco knocked him unconscious with the fabric roll and murdered him.
To twist the knife even further, Blueblood reveals that Overall Concept was planning to propose marriage to Coco, presenting an engagement ring the police found in his apartment. Most of the gallery is now against Coco, and Phoenix is unable to refute Blueblood's claims. Before the judge delivers his ruling, Twilight raises an objection and asks Blueblood to present the fabric he referred to earlier. Blueblood does as Twilight requests, and Phoenix notices that this fabric is incomplete. According to Playwright, the fabric was to be treated with fluorescent paint and coated with glitter, and according to Rarity the day before, fluorescent paint is difficult for most ponies to obtain. This casts considerable doubt on Blueblood's theory for Coco's motive for murder.
Blueblood presents what he claims are his most incriminating pieces of evidence: Coco's hooves were covered in glitter when she was found after the murder, explaining the glitter on the fabric roll, and the noose used to hang Overall Concept is also covered in glitter. With all the evidence pointed at Coco, Phoenix presents the torn piece of fabric found on the stage and points out two things: the fabric somehow ended up on the stage after the stagehooves cleaned up during the intermission, and it is already covered in paint and glitter. This means there was at least one completed sheet of Overall's special fabric that the police never found, indicating the presence of a third party that stole it.
If this third party attacked Coco during their escape, it would also explain her headaches and memory loss. Phoenix suggests the fabric roll was used to knock Coco unconscious, explaining the glitter in her mane earlier. Thus, Phoenix presents his own theory of events: while Coco and Overall were working on the fabric, a third party stole a sheet of completed fabric and were spotted. Overall chased the thief with the fabric roll, followed by Coco, but he tripped and dropped it, allowing the thief to knock both Overall and Coco unconscious with it. However, Blueblood points out two problems with this theory: How did the thief get away without being seen by the stagehooves? And if the fabric roll left glitter in Coco's mane, why did it not also leave glitter in Overall's mane?
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Playwright finally speaks up and makes a confession. There was a time gap of five minutes between when he saw Overall being hanged and when he went up the catwalk. During this time gap, he called the stagehooves and actors over to give them instruction, meaning the right wing of the stage was unguarded long enough for a third party to escape unnoticed. Playwright admits he was told by Prince Blueblood not to divulge this, and the judge admonishes the prosecution for withholding information.
Due to this time discrepancy, the possibility of a third party being present at the crime scene is now undeniable. Blueblood demands further proof, and Phoenix presents the glowing hoofprints that lead from the dressing room to the catwalk to the theater's back door. The police never discovered the hoofprints because they never turned off the lights during their investigation. When Blueblood suggests Coco could have left the hoofprints, Phoenix uses the forensic flashlight on Coco's hooves; they have no trace of fluorescent paint on them. But Blueblood points out it was raining on the night of the crime; Coco could have left the hoofprints, then washed her hooves off in the rain. Blueblood even suggests Coco covered her hooves in glitter afterward and made up the story of losing her memory to create the illusion that a third party exists.
Twilight considers some of the facts so far: if Coco and Overall started covering the fabric in paint during the intermission at 8:00pm and the murder occurred at 8:50pm, the paint on the fabric would have still been wet (according to Athena the day before, fluorescent paint takes an hour to dry). Secondly, there was glitter in Coco's mane but not Overall's mane, suggesting the third party knocked Coco out with the fabric roll and knocked Overall out with something else. Finally, there is no certainty that Overall brought the fabric roll up the catwalk; it is now possible that the third party took it because it had the still-drying fabric on it.
Assuming these facts, Phoenix theorizes the third party got their hooves covered in paint by touching the fabric before the paint was fully dry, causing them to leave the hoofprints. They wrapped the fabric up on a nearby fabric roll before being caught, resulting in the subsequent chase and Coco and Overall being knocked out. If Coco was knocked out with the fabric roll with the still-wet fabric on it, it would have left not only glitter but also fluorescent paint in her mane. Phoenix uses the forensic flashlight on Coco again; there is a streak of paint where she was struck on the head. This not only proves that Coco could not have stolen the fabric or killed Overall Concept, but also that a third party was indeed present.
Exasperated, Blueblood demands to know where to look for this alleged "third party", and Twilight suggests looking among the other contestants of the fashion competition. Entering the competition involves a thorough background check, and the contestants would have had their hoofprints taken. If any of their hoofprints match the hoofprints from the crime scene, the third party will be identified. With that, the judge grants a 30-minute recess for this analysis to be conducted, and court is adjourned.
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Back in the lobby, Phoenix and the others regroup to assess the situation, with Phoenix mentioning they still have a long way to go before proving Coco Pommel's innocence. Coco joins them, still in disbelief that Overall Concept was planning to propose to her. Rarity reveals she had provided the diamond for the engagement ring. With words of encouragement from Rarity, Coco tries to be strong for Overall's sake.
As her memories return little by little, Coco remembers working with Overall to coat one of the rolls of fabric in fluorescent paint before stepping out to wash her hooves. When she returned, she saw Overall racing out of the dressing room and up the catwalk. As she followed, she heard a loud clanging noise, and she does not remember anything after reaching the top of the stairs. The clanging noise is believed to be when Overall was struck by the third party's unidentified weapon. After Coco regained consciousness, she had an empty fabric roll in her glitter-covered hooves. Playwright stayed with her until the police arrived and took her into custody.
Phoenix asks Twilight how she is so sure that the third party is a contestant in the fashion competition. Twilight says there is one particular pony who fits the M.O. of doing whatever it takes to win a fashion contest: Suri Polomare, the mare Rarity bumped into outside Bridleway Theater the day before. Rarity had her designs stolen by Suri once before, and Coco used to work for Suri as her assistant, with Suri passing off all of Coco's designs as her own.
Just before the group returns inside the courtroom, Phoenix asks Coco why she kept her relationship with Overall a secret from him. Coco was worried if Phoenix knew the full extent of their relationship, he would have realized she had a strong motive to commit murder and not taken her case. Not wanting any more unexpected curve balls from Blueblood, Phoenix asks Coco to put her trust in him as her lawyer, and Coco promises not to hide any more information. With that, Phoenix and Twilight report to the courtroom to finish the trial.
Trivia[]
- The animation rigs for the My Little Pony characters and diagram for the theatre are improved over Part 1.
- In the original draft of this episode, Coco Pommel had a more subdued role in the story. After a script rewrite (prompted by staff writer Everett Toews), Coco's role was expanded to include a romance subplot with victim Overall Concept and an extended pre-trial scene in the courtroom lobby.
- Also in the original draft, Blueblood was written as only moderately competent as a prosecutor (similar to Ace Attorney's Winston Payne and Gaspen Payne). After the rewrite, he was written to be a far more formidable and intimidating opponent for Phoenix.
- During production, series creator/director TheAljavis drew the artwork for the flashbacks in color before they were converted to grayscale in the video, as revealed in the video's audio commentary.