Turnabout Storm/WMG

This page lists all Wild Mass Guesses for the crossover Turnabout Storm by NeoArtimus.

Any Wild Mass Guesses that either have yet to be confirmed or jossed, or are 'what if's unlikely to be confirmed or jossed in the series, are organized in the "Pending/Misc. Guesses" folder.

The folders labeled "Confirmed Guesses" and "Jossed Guesses" contain exactly what they say they do.

All spoilers regarding Turnabout Storm will be unmarked, but spoilers specific to Ace Attorney and MLP: Friendship is Magic won't.

Gilda Griffon will be appearing as a witness but will not be the actual murderer.
The feather that Phoenix presented in court may or may not be Gilda's. If it were Gilda's though, she'd be the viewer's immediate target for suspicion. Considering the plot twists that are so common to Ace Attorney cases, the viewer's initial suspicions may not necessarily be correct. Thus it's not out of the question to think that Gilda might be making an appearance in the game without turning out to be the culprit herself. Trixie's comments about a witness with an "attitude" might also point circumstances in this direction.

Twilight Sparkle will channel Mia Fey.
Considering the Stinger at the end of Part 2 where we hear Phoenix calling out Mia's name, as well as the mysterious Magatama glow before the trial, this one is not an unreasonable guess.
 * All but confirmed seeing as though the audition video's stinger shows a ponified version of Mia for a split second.
 * Unless that's not a channeled Mia but a reincarnation. There's a mystery that Part 1 left hanging: namely how Twilight knew Phoenix's name. What if she didn't summon the best defense attorney but instead summoned Phoenix intentionally, following the advice of a peculiar pony?
 * Please provide the link to this video.
 * The video in question was erased by the creator, but there is a screencap of that split second. [[media:Turnabout_Storm_-_Is_that____6600.png|Here's our "pony"]]. And here's her next to her human form. That's some Morphic Resonance there.
 * This picture seems to match up precisely with the leftmost silhouette of the Part 2 ending, making this the most likely scenario.
 * Alternatively, she could somehow end up summoning Mia Fey instead, except in Pony form. Reasoning for this would be that she'd be trying to summon a different lawyer after Phoenix is forced to accuse Fluttershy to buy time, to get that one to take his place, who would then explain things in a bit more detail.
 * PLEASE let this one be true. I want Twilight to understand Phoenix's motives so badly it hurts.

Given that the mysterious pony turned out to be the OC Sonata, this has become much less probable, though not enough to say this is jossed.

The one case in Justice For All will be brought up.
Phoenix is bound to be confronted by at least Twilight on the stunt he pulled in court. At which point, he'd explain his reasoning for accusing Fluttershy as well as pointing out that he needs no help from Twilight in hating himself for it, partially explaining the one case.
 * Although I agree with that, I think initially Twilight won't want to talk to him and walks out on him as mentioned in the above WMG. He will however bring it up to Fluttershy in the Detention Center, and she will probably have the kindness to forgive him; maybe even saying that if it means helping Rainbow Dash, she's happy to help in any way she can.
 * Interestingly, this also calls to mind Case 1-5 from the original Phoenix Wright game, where . It's possible that Rainbow Dash, especially since she is the Element of Loyalty and Phoenix has accused her friend Fluttershy of the murder, might do exactly the same thing before someone else intervenes on Phoenix's behalf.
 * Perhaps Trixie might have second thoughts about getting revenge? She's a jerk, yes but I REALLY don't think she's one to do THIS to Twilight and her friends.
 * PLEASE let the above be true. No MLP:FiM character should be like Manfred Von Karma.
 * Did you see how she reacted at the end of part 2? She was perfectly happy to have Phoenix accuse Fluttershy. She doesn't have any qualms about throwing anypony under the bus as long as she gets what she wants.

The culprit tried to kill Rainbow Dash, not Ace Swift.
Let's assume that the murder was premeditated. The fact that Rainbow Dash and Ace Swift were both in the same area of the Everfree Forest at the same time suggests that Rainbow Dash could have been just as likely a target as Ace Swift. Granted, there is still not enough evidence that proves the act was premeditated but this is still a reasonable guess considering what has already been shown in court.
 * Ugh; this theory may be plausible but it gives me the chills...OH MY CELESTIA! Something just hit me. There's a theory that Rainbow Dash is being blackmailed right? Well...what if Fluttershy becomes a target by the blackmailer? She's in the detention center so someone claiming to be an old friend or part of the defense team might be able to slip in and kidnap her to use as a hostage so Rainbow takes the fall. And Rainbow would do it given that she's the Element of Loyalty and it's been all but confirmed that Fluttershy is one of her oldest friends...gah; I hate myself right now.
 * Original poster of the above: Sorry everyone. I've been informed that my panic was spurned by being misinformed and Fluttershy is safe. Thank Celestia huh?
 * Well, devil's advocate here, but what's still stopping somepony from kidnapping Fluttershy?

The embarrassing pictures...

 * Are from Rainbow Dash's time in the Junior Speedsters. I agree with the previous WMG that Gilda may not be the murderer but she definitely has a part in this whole mess and that part being that she provided the embarrassing pictures.
 * If this one's true, I want Gilda to have done it unintentionally and to be apologetic when she finds out what her actions caused. She does really care about Dash after all.
 * Are of the previous girly Rainbow Dash or otherwise this Rainbow Dash "dressing in style" as her namesake put it. Considering her reputation as a Tomboy, having those around is not good for her.

Ace Swift isn't dead to begin with.
Call this a hunch, but in a setting like My Little Pony, it's hard to imagine a murder taking place other than snuff fics.
 * With the autopsy report and a crime scene complete with Chalk Outline and everything, I highly doubt that. Even if he didn't die, they got Phoenix Wright, ace Mystery Magnet and video game poster boy of Always Murder, taken to Ponyville. Something will die at some point.
 * Maybe someone's innocence?
 * Wait... so you can go for trial for killing someone's innocence? I should have known sooner! I'm contacting a prosecutor!

There is more than one culprit involved in the murder.
This is as of yet unsubstantiated but still a valid guess. Many theories seem to revolve around Gilda or Trixie being the culprit but this would make the case far too simple. A more likely answer is that numerous individuals are involved with one central figure that is ultimately responsible.
 * I like this one. And then if Gilda, Trixie or both are involved, they come to realize just what they've done and in their horror/disgust with themselves, they join up with Phoenix to clear Dash.

The culprit was an Equestrian attorney.
Compare the burnt object that Phoenix and Twilight found with the Equestrian attorney badge. There is somewhat of a resemblance, although this is still not confirmed in any way. This is Wild Mass Guessing, after all.

The culprit is Trixie.
She's an attorney? Check. She can summon thunderclouds? Check. Likes to spite Twilight's Friends in revenge for being shown off? Check. The fact that Manfred, the character most people seem to compare her to in this fanfic,  Check.
 * This seems to be a prevailing opinion but it appears far too obvious of an answer to create an interesting case. See the above WMG that suggests more than one pony was involved.
 * That and she doesn't have strong enough magic.
 * Plus Trixie's not a Pegasus so she couldn't move or manipulate the cloud which was confirmed as the cause of death.
 * Unicorn magic is just as capable of affecting the weather as Pegasus magic. Unicorn magic is used to change the weather and the seasons in Canterlot, and both Luna and Trixie herself have used Dramatic Thunder in their Large Ham moments. Hearths Warming Eve also implies Unicorns are able to affect the weather.
 * Trixie can summon lightning, but we don't know for certain if she can manage to summon real lethal lightning, considering most, if not all, of her tricks are pretty low key.

Rainbow Dash really did do it.
That or Fluttershy. How shocking would that be?
 * When she was asked if she had anything to do with the murder, no Psyche-Locks appeared at all. It isn't like the case with . The fact is that Rainbow Dash couldn't have been lying when she said she had nothing to do with Ace Swift's murder, especially since Phoenix worded his question as such.
 * Riiiiiiight. Forgot about that.
 * Plus no Psyche-Locks showed up when she said "I DIDN'T KILL ANYPONY!" so she's not lying about that and therefore didn't commit the murder.
 * What Phoenix asked was if Rainbow had anything to do with Ace's murder, but what she answered with was that she didn't kill Ace, which isn't a direct answer. All it means is that she didn't directly kill him, but it doesn't mean that she wasn't involved in some other way.
 * That doesn't change the fact that Phoenix worded his question as, quote, "Did you have ANYTHING to do with the death of Ace Swift?". If Rainbow Dash had anything at all to hide about his death, the locks would have appeared there and then.
 * Not only that, notice that Rainbow didn't hesitate at all before answering "I told you...I DIDN'T KILL ANYPONY!". In every, every single case when someone was hiding something in the original Ace Attorney, they would noticeably hesitate in some way before answering, whether by stammering or by silence, indicated with an ellipsis "...". . Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, does not hesitate at all. If we accept the hesitating-equals-hiding pattern from Ace Attorney as true, chances are that Rainbow truly has nothing to hide.
 * On top of that, recall that Rainbow Dash does stammer a bit when the Psyche-Locks show up later in the story, which adds yet more credence to the above theory.

Ace Swift did it.
Consider if you will that Ace is indeed cheating. He could have called Rainbow Dash into the forest, intending to blackmail her into competing. Even with the embarrassing pictures though, she was hardly about to give in, adamantly refusing to do it. Thus, Ace's insurance plan was to use the thundercloud which he stole from the ones Rainbow Dash was using, activated it preemptively and then tried to pin Rainbow Dash under the cloud. However she escaped and the cloud killed Ace instead. Rainbow Dash then ran into Apple Bloom in her frantic flight, soon flying out of the forest and getting seen by Fluttershy as Applebloom got back onto the path. This would be why Fluttershy didn't see Apple Bloom. The theory likely has holes in it so feel free to discuss and take apart if need be.
 * Rainbow Dash herself mentioned that she was planning on competing anyway and even Twilight makes a point to mention how much Rainbow Dash was bragging that she'd win. For what reason would Ace Swift have to coerce Rainbow Dash in competing?
 * He was trying to coerce her into NOT competing. That's how he's won every single race he's been in: by blackmailing anypony that's faster than him to drop out of the race.
 * The cartoon has shown that lightning strikes only when a Pegasus touches the cloud as shown in this clip. If Rainbow Dash managed to escape and the lightning somehow killed Ace Swift on the ground, then who or what triggered the lightning?
 * Even if the lightning struck somehow, what are the odds that the lightning would have hit precisely one of the few areas of his body that was not protected by a lightning-proof suit?
 * How do you aim a lightning bolt in the first place? Even with the whole 'directly below the cloud' thing, that's still kinda vague.
 * My thoughts on this one are as follows: If this is true, then Ace messed up because he's a professional athlete and not a weather pony so he couldn't aim the lightning properly and struck himself. Frightened by the sudden turn of events, Rainbow fled the scene in a panic (explaining how she looked when Fluttershy saw her) and distracted Fluttershy long enough for her to miss Apple Bloom. The whole hitting him in a so-called "sweet spot" was either poor luck or another pony (specifically a Unicorn) who wanted Ace out of the way for some reason who used magic to redirect the lightning to hit the exact right spot. Feel free to pick apart as you want but I think this is pretty sound.

An Odd Friendship will form between Pinkie Pie and the Judge
Considering both are quite the Cloud Cuckoo Landers, the latter is enjoying his stay at Ponyville, and Rule of Funny, this is not unlikely.

There will be a friendship report to be written.
Possibly about how you should trust in people or that Justice Will Prevail even in the Darkest Hour.

Lenora is a Griffon.
Before the credits start in Part 2, 3 OC silhouettes appear, 2 ponies and another one that looks like a griffon. One of the ponies is Cruise Control who was already shown in the audition video, the other one appears to be Mia Fey, something that was discussed in the above WMG, so that only leaves us with the griffon for the remaining OC, Lenora. If this is true, all guesses regarding a griffon getting involved (most if not all of them pointing to Gilda) could point to Lenora instead.

Phoenix Wright will write a letter to Princess Celestia by the end of this.
It's My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic. This is bound to happen.
 * And it will be mixed with Ace Attorney's own Every Episode Ending in some way: Objection!

The Equestrian Attorney Badge will be useful again somehow.
I'm not necesarily saying it'll be used as evidence or something like that. Maybe it will form a bridge between Nick's world and Equestria once he comes back? (if he comes back...).

The Culprit is an Original Character.
Just another hunch.

What Phoenix did at the end of Part 2 will reward him with more than just extra time.
More specifically, something in the questioning of Fluttershy will wind up in getting something that can turn the tide of the case.
 * That's only to be expected; all of the Ace Attorney cases revolve around gathering groundbreaking evidence outside of court by speaking to witnesses.

Edgeworth will make a proper appearance in the story.
Follow me on this. Trixie, as she slowly realizes that Phoenix is in a completely different league than her, will cast the same spell Twilight did to find 'The Greatest Prosecuting Attorney' which will result in Edgeworth being summoned (because seriously; who else?). This will in turn lead to a huge Oh Crap or Hoist By His Own Petard moment for Trixie when she realizes that Edgeworth isn't as concerned with winning a trial as he is with finding the guilty party.
 * Sweet Celestia, let this happen. (And why else explicitly show Edgeworth and cast a voice for him? Other then the Court and guard ponies, no one else has been a one time deal.)
 * Just for the sake of irony, Trixie will screw up that spell somehow.
 * If he does appear, he will be under the impression that it's All Just a Dream. After all, magical, talking ponies are simply too illogical to exist, right?

Trixie will have a Villainous Breakdown.
She's an Ace Attorney prosecutor. They're often prone to have breakdowns. Bonus points if said breakdown becomes memetic or put into some kind of Phoenix Wrong sketch.
 * I can see this being the climax of a Break the Haughty moment against her.
 * I see the Villainous Breakdown and the possible Break the Haughty coming from her getting Edgeworth to Equestria and discovering that he's more interested in justice than a guilty verdict.

The Perry Mason Method will be used.
This should come out as natural, considering Phoenix always has to prove the guilt of someone else in order to save his client.
 * This is a staple of Ace Attorney. Regardless of the circumstances, it will happen.

Pinkie Pie was the one who gave the tip.
Trixie mentioned that the reason why the police didn't respond to the tip seriously at first because of the tipper's "attitude", and Pinkie could easily have used her Pinkie Senses to find out that something big was going to happen.

Phoenix will have a chance to give her either a Hannibal Lecture or a The Reason You Suck Speech to Trixie at some point.
Maybe during the Break the Haughty moment.
 * Oh; if Trixie stays the bad guy, let this happen! She needs it!

Phoenix's accusation at the end of Part 2 is right.
Phoenix never used the Magatama on her, so there's no proof against her doing it. He may have been just buying time, but his logic still fits, and Trixie doesn't wish to argue with the idea of having two of Twilight's friends in the slammer. Also note that Dahlia was mentioned in Part 1. Foreshadowing?
 * At this point, we can say Celestia did it. When Phoenix Wright is in the court, early on, NO accusation is too outlandish.
 * Oh come on! Fluttershy committing murder? May I ask what is going on in the brain of the original poster? That's crazy!
 * Allow me to present my counterargument.
 * Well-played but I call extenuating circumstances in the above. Fluttershy has no reason here to hurt anypony let alone somepony she barely knew.

Trixie is being manipulated.
Note how at how a few points, Trixie's mood shifts, her cool persona cracking every so often when something unexpected happens. Something Twilight notices too. Maybe she's being blackmailed into doing this, just as Ace Swift apparently intended to blackmail Rainbow Dash?
 * Certainly a plausible idea. Note that whenever Trixie gets flustered at these points, she stops referring to herself in the third person, indicating that she is not acting normally at these points.

There will be emphasis put on the Power of Trust.
The trust Phoenix has with his clients, and the one between him and Edgeworth, are a moving force of his series. He mentions this trust in Part 1 as his inspiration for becoming and an important part of being a defense attorney. It seems to be Nick's answer to MLP's Power of Friendship, and it might become a key point in Turnabout Storm, as how one should trust on his friends and allies even on the darkest of times.
 * Hell, if you want to reach near conspiracy theorist levels on this guess, he might or will somehow be connected to the Elements of Harmony by this power.
 * Perhaps the Power of Trust is the seventh Element of Harmony?

One of Ace's previous blackmail victims is the murderer!
Blackmailing may be Ace's usual method for winning, and some other Pegasus who he did this to was looking for revenge, with Rainbow set up as the fall guy. Err, pony.

The murder weapon is the small, burnt metal object.
Ace's suit had a few precise weak points where lightning could theoretically strike it, right? If someone were to stick a small strip of metal on the back of his neck, or sabotage his suit by clipping something on, or something similar, it *might* be conductive enough to act like a lightning rod, especially if there's nowhere else for it to strike. It would also allow the bolt that killed him to be one of the "imprecise" second or third lightning bolts from a cloud; no need to manually aim directly under the cloud for a weak point if you've got something that attracts the lightning to it. This also opens up the possibility of explaining the "missing lightning bolt" discrepancy; the first lightning bolt could've gone off long before the murder and the "first lightning bolt" everyone heard is actually the second lightning bolt.

The humans who visited Equestria before...
...were the ones from past incarnations of My Little Pony.
 * Most likely. Just for the sake of further developing this idea, Twilight said they based their criminal justice system on the human one, so that means either they did their research on humans, or someone law savvy winded up in Equestria. Maybe another attorney has laid feet on Equestria before? Maybe... someone Phoenix may know?

If Discord appears...
...His theme would be Investigation's "The Enemy Who Surpasses The Law", before he decides that's too dull and changes the background music to "Let Me Laugh At The Cool".

Franziska taught Trixie how to prosecute.
Trixie is extremely similar to Franziska in her prosecuting style, almost like if von Karma swapped her whip with more Trash Talk. Maybe this is more than just a coincidence, and she actually learned prosecution from Franziska herself; she might have invoked a prosecutor before and learned from her, which would also explain how she got into prosecution in the first place.

A crossover between The Steel Samurai and Just For Fun will be made in-universe eventually.
After being introduced to his adventures by a visitor from Earth, the steel-plated warrior from another world will make furor within Equestria, and it'll spawn its own series of novelizations for the enjoying of the ponies and other creatures. So much will be his fame that the anonymous author of the action/fantasy novels Daring Do will decide that it's time that these 2 heroes from different worlds meet and face the thoughest challenge they've ever encountered.

The plot will involve a team up between Ahuizotl and the Evil Magistrate, one done in order to bring to fruition both Big Bads plans with each of their worlds. The evil duo manages to get their hands on the mysterious treasures Daring has managed to keep away from Ahuizotl hands all this time and make their escape. Ms. Do gives them chase, and winds up in front of a portal that both used to get away; she jumps in, only to find herself in Neo Olde Tokio, surrounded by dozens of the Magistrate's warriors. Just as she loses all hope to escape, the Steel Samurai jumps into the scene, swiftly cutting through the mooks, giving Daring the chance to escape with the warrior.

Both heroes eventualy find out the plans of both of their nemesi, and realize the only way to save both their worlds from a certain doom is to team up. With the Steel Samurai's fighting abilities and Daring Do's knowledge and cunning, both set up to recover the relics and stop Ahuizotl and the Evil Magistrate's plans.

(The idea of an In-universe Intercontinuity Crossover inside another Intercontinuity Crossover was too good to pass up!)

The second lightning bolt never hit anything.
Does anyone remember how it was said that "lightning is what produces the noise when it strikes the ground" when Nick tries to point out how Fluttershy 'heard the lightning bolt'. This information seems a bit odd to have been included in this story other than to illustrate further how little Nick knows of Equestria.

Also, Apple Bloom said she only saw the lightning bolt but not necessarily that she heard it (This is a bit of a stretch though). And Fluttershy also never heard the second bolt even though it was confirmed to have been set off because of the 'cloud ballistics' and she would have been able to hear it from her cottage.

This may mean that the second lightning bolt didn't hit anything at all or at least hit something that for some reason wouldn't make it give off a sound or leave a mark. It is also possible that it would be related to the burnt metal object that Nick and Twilight found at the crime scene.

There is no telling whether this is even significant to what happened or even how it fits in to the case but this IS a Wild Mass Guess and there is a fair amount of emphasis on the second lightning bolt even though we don't really know a lot about it or what happened to it. So it's either a Red Herring or critical to the case.
 * This actually makes sense. Very rarely do the Phoenix Wright games include information without it becoming somehow important...especially if it's highlighted multiple times. I think we can expect for the second lightning bolt to become more important in the next two installments.

Derpy did it.
Search your feelings, you know it to be true! In addition, she's a Pegasus. Lyra and Bon-Bon probably conspired with her.

The crime scene was staged.
Rainbow Dash triggered the lightning bolt to destroy the photos. The second lightning bolt hit Ace as he was flying away. Someone came along, dressed him in the lightning-proof suit, put the photos on his body, and moved him to where the first bolt hit; probably Trixie.
 * This is a good idea but I honestly don't see Trixie doing this...she's not smart enough! I personally see someone who has a grudge against Rainbow (Trixie has one by proxy) and decided framing her for murder would be a good enough revenge or possibly one of the other highest ranked racers who decided that with Rainbow out of the way, they just needed to remove Ace and their victory would be secured.

Trixie isn't aware of the truth behind the murder.
She's just an Unwitting Pawn, though not unwilling -- more driven by jealousy and hoping to hurt Twilight. She doesn't care who's really responsible, or who goes down for the crime, so long as it's one of Twilight's friends -- be it Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, or anyone else. If Applejack or Rarity or Pinkie or even one of the CM Cs could be potentially punished, she'd leap at it.

On top of that, it'd also give her a 'victory' over Twilight in the sense that she triumphed in court. Taking down the 'top defense attorney' is just an added bonus.

Twilight is lying about Celestia being rejected as judge. Either there is no high council or Celestia suggested to the council to have someone else preside.
I highly doubt any pony would want to go against Celestia's will. Most ponies respect her and fear those who show any kind of disrespect. If that's the case, then why did Twilight lie about that? Celestia told her to. She knows Rainbow Dash didn't do it, but she knew that even if she did let her off, everypony would still believe she did it. She had Twilight summon Phoenix to truly prove that Rainbow Dash didn't do it and then had her summon the Judge to show that there wouldn't be any bias in the verdict.

Edgeworth will help Phoenix with Trixie.
Why not? They're friends since childhood.

Scootaloo is the only pony besides the rest of the Mane Six that still believes in Rainbow Dash's innocence.
Because let's be honest. She's Rainbow Dash's number 1 fan. I highly doubt she'd think Rainbow is capable of such cruelty. I wouldn't be surprised if she's thinking of some sort of petition to have Rainbow Dash freed.

The Black locks Twilight mentions will belong to the real killer.
If Apollo Justice is anything to go by this is probably the case. I also maintain that the magatama, or rather its power charged into Twilight, will be unable to break them as well

Sonata set the whole thing up.
She's blackmailing the actual killers to carry out the murders in her stead and refuses to go down with them.

Sonata was in the forest that night.
Not only was she there, but she also teleported Apple Bloom outside of the forest. That was the bright flash she saw. Not only that she probably teleported herself out and kept anypony from seeing her
 * As well, watch carefully for Sonata's 'cringe' moments; they typically appear whenever Pinkie's being high-pitched. This leads me to believe that Sonata was there when the lightning was hitting, and wasn't prepared for it; possible earache there, Sonata, from the thunder? Causing pain when Pinkie's being high-pitched?

Twilight will have to finish the trial herself.
I think Phoenix will use the evidence against Sonata to bring her down and drag out the truth and Sonata will attempt to take Phoenix down with her. Twilight will then step in and take control as lead defense to finish the trial. It would be great homage to how Maya got herself held in contempt of court on Edgeworth's behalf

Derpy's misdelivered letter will become more important in Twilight's part.
Just a hunch. In Ace Attorney nothing is ever done without aim. Most everything becomes relevant at some point.

Rarity's perfume will become important evidence.
It may take a while to become relevant, but considering she gave Wright her invoice it's highly possible. As with the previous guess, nothing in Ace Attorney is ever done without aim.

The cloud was moved by magic after Rainbow used it the first time.
Remember how there was a big dug up spot in the ground. I'm willing to bet money that that's where the first bolt struck down. The second bolt did kill Ace the first bolt missed and wasn't even at his exact location.

Sonata did it.
...Seriously, you want an explanation as to why this is plausible?
 * Sonata is also currently the only original character in the series that is presented as an actual main character with dialog. This would prevent a canon character from either series from having to be responsible.

Something will happen that will let Phoenix spill the beans on the blackmail without fear of being arrested.

 * If Sonata is the killer, and he finds some evidence leading to her that he could have found without going into the hotel room, then he could nail her for that, and her protestations that he broke into her hotel room could be put under suspicion. Even then, Phoenix would probably be perfectly fine with facing the consequences for his actions as long as it didn't hurt Rainbow Dash's case; if the real killer were found, he could go to jail then.

Sonata has some sort of connection with Mia.
I'm not saying she's Mia herself, but she might have some sort of connection with her. It's kinda hard to swallow that the coincidence of voice and looks is just that, a coincidence. This might be reading too much into it, but there's also the fact that Sonata's cutie mark is a human eye.

Ace wasn't a Pegasus to begin with.
Sonata use a spell to give him some wings that spell has to be casted multiple times or has a short duration.

A pony version of Miles Edgeworth will show up.
Sonata looks like Mia and Phoenix thought Applejack was one of the persons of his universe so...
 * Hmm; come to think of it, that would explain the casting of a voice for Edgeworth without having to bring him in.

Phoenix will use Owlolysius to nail Sonata
At the end of Part 3 - Phoenix, Phoenix asked Owloysius for a favor...it's a long shot, but it's possible that the favor is taking the evidence on Sonata and Ace's blackmail to the proper authorities.
 * I LOVE this idea! It needs to happen.

Dr Whooves knocked Phoenix out.
1) Keikoandgilly is one of THE voices for the doctor and is already doing voices for Turnabout Storm. Derpy here is voiced by Balddumborat, who voices her in Dr. Whooves and the assistant

2) One of the theories for the Doctor's incarnation in MLP is that he used to be human shaped but the next regeneration turned him into a pony. This is why his walk cycles are sometimes slightly off and so on. He's still getting used to the world.

3) It was implied Phoenix was knocked out by someone hitting the nerves on the back of his neck. The only pony to do this would be someone who knows not only that the nerve cluster exists, but where it is... i.e. somepony who used to be human, humanoid or near humans themselves.

Sonata could be blackmailing Dr. Whooves for a variety of reasons. She knows he's not really a pony, The Time War, she knows about the Tardis, Dr Whooves and Derpy are in an inappropriate relationship... and he knocks Phoenix out because he likes his life in Ponyville.

The mysterious caller's identity.
Just who was the one that called Phoenix in the middle of a world without cellphones?
 * The ghost of Ace Swift called Phoenix to the forest. It might be unlikely, but note that the caller managed to use Phoenix's cellphone to communicate with him, which probably nopony no matter how good their magic is can do. The attacker's coat color also looks similar to Ace Swifts. Additionally he wanted to be met alone in the forest clearing, which makes sense because it's where he was presumably murdered. I can't think of an explanation as to why he would attack him. Perhaps it's just a way to give him the bottom half of the letter.
 * Doctor Whooves called, as part of the blackmail conditions from the "Dr Whooves knocked Phoenix out." WMG. He might have access to some kind of technology or power to make a call to Phoenix's cellphone.
 * Twilight did it. She made conection with Phoenix's signal using magic, and then she modified her voice somehow to avoid being caught by Phoenix. She did it so she could get the evidence from his hands.
 * What's the easiest way to make contact with a cellphone? Another cellphone of course. Another human, probably from "orders" of a pony (Trixie? Sonata? Twilight?) made contact with him with the aid of their cellphone and a little magic to lure him into the forest.

Princess Celestia will be the Big Damn Hero
Phoenix's cases have a history of someone bursting at the last minute and producing some vital evidence for the case. Who better to swoop in and save the day than the ruler of all Equestria? After all, the council only prevented Celestia from serving as judge, but there has been no indication that she couldn't participate in the trial another way...

Mia is related to Celestia somehow.
This would explain how Celestia knows so much about Phoenix and his accomplishments. Maybe her spirit has made contact with her after her death?


 * It's possible that Celestia was channelling Mia when she told Twilight to summon Phoenix. This WMG is from the YouTube comments from the Part 3: Twilight preview.

Pinkie Pie is right
Well, sort of. There is an evil Rainbow Dash, but she's a magically disguised imposter, not an Evil Twin.
 * Since they introduced Changelings, the possibility for this has increased dramatically.
 * Or, there is an evil twin, expect that in fact it isn't Rainbow Dash's twin... But Trixie's ! If Twilight's reactions during part 2 weren't caused by seeing psych-locks around Trixie, it may have been caused by Trixie's twin not exactly acting like Trixie would. Though, truth to be told, it's still a quite iffy hypothesis.

Trixie's after the real killer and the trial is fake
A magician relies on subterfuge and legerdemain. She's using the trial as a smokescreen to hide her real intent. She could have tried to deny Phoenix's accusation, but instead let him do it. However, that is not to say everything she is doing is part of the act. Publicly humiliating Rainbow Dash is purely a perk for her.
 * I know, a Phoenix Wright prosecutor that is out to get the real villain. Highly unlikely, but this is "Wild Mass Guesses".

Sonata will pull a Heel Face Turn
Okay, okay, I'm going to get some flack for saying it, but just hear me out.

Now, this was inspired by one of the above Guesses about the The Power of Trust being a theme for the series; Sonata's special talent, the thing that she is almost supernaturally gifted in, is observation, meaning that she could easily tell when someone is lying. If she was an early bloomer, she could have had her trust betrayed by somepony close to her when she realized they were lying thanks to her skill, possibly to the point that she became as she is today.

However, Phoenix isn't one to lie unless he absolutely HAS to, making him the perfect someone to restore her faith that not everyone is a liar and that good and decent people (And ponies) still exist. I realize this invokes a lot of Humans Are Special overtones, and I'm sorry, but it's just been on my mind a lot.

Sonata is the murderer.
She found Ace's letter (which mention firing someone), tour it up in anger, and then started plotting her vengeance. Spike mentioned having a "Magical Friend" of whom he gave a book to. That book is Advanced Magical Studies. That book is rare, as it can only be found in Canterlot. She knew that Rainbow Dash was going to meet Ace Swift in the Everfree Forrest. Sonata follwed her until after Rainbow ran off. She used the book on magical studies to manipulate the cloud into striking Ace Swift. That is why there is no other marks; she never touched the cloud.

Plus, she's an OC. You think the writer would condemn a cannon character?

Sonata is pregnant with Ace's foal.
She's just hiding it because it would be unprofessional to reveal she... was with a client. Those random winces? Foal be kicking.

Phoenix will be forced to reveal what he learned in Sonata's hotel room and will hand over the reigns to Twilight.
It just seems like standard Ace Attorney fair with the twists like that and it would make for a damn good story. Also, that's the most damning piece of evidence that Phoenix has right now.

The Black Psyche Locks that Twilight mentioned can be broken.
or
 * Twilight's talent is magic, and it's been shown before that she can learn spells from other unicorns and power them up considerably, like Rarity's gem-finder spell in "A Dog and Pony Show". There's a chance that this may hold true for the power of the Magatama, and she'll be able to break the "unbreakable" black locks thanks to this.
 * Seeing as how the Magatama can't break them on its own (which means that Twi can't break them on her own), Phoenix will team up with Twilight to use both the Magatama and her spell to break the Black Psyche Locks.

Sonata's random winces are from a recent injury.
Specifically, the second lightning bolt hit her after she killed Ace Swift. The reason she didn't die is because she was using a spell to protect her from lighting as a safety measure (she did have an advanced spell book from Canterlot). However, she wasn't powerful enough to use the spell properly so the protection was incomplete leading to her surviving without major injury but still being in a fair deal of pain.

The second lightning is the one which killed Ace.
Let's recap'. There were 3 lightning bolts (no less, no more): Now, remember that it is confirmed that lightning bolts can't hit the same spot twice. So, we can rule out the hypothesis that Ace was struck by lightning at the same place of the first one. Also, it is revealed that while a pegasus is flying, their combinaison protects them against lightning. However, when on ground, we see that the neck aera is no longer protected. So, we can imagine that if Ace was flying stationnary, the same aera around his neck would be vulnerable. So, it's entirely possible that said lightning bolt could have killed him. However, there's still one problem: even if said lightning bolt struck Ace, it would have left a mark on the ground... ... Or, during episode 1, while they were in the clearing, Phoenix and Twilight noticed that there was dirt on a place, like "somepony was kicking the dirt around in this aera". We can probably bet that this is the spot where the second lightning bolt struck (or at least, where Ace's body landed). All that's left to do for the murderer is to move Ace's body on the spot where the first lightning bolt struck. The only question marks left at this point would be:
 * The first one was fired by Rainbow Dash, and burned the ground in the clearing, at 8:40. It is assumed by many that this is the lightning bolt that killed Ace.
 * The second one, as for now, is a mystery: somehow, no one heard it, though it is mentionned that lightning bolts make sound only when they touch the ground. It happened a short time after the first one, at 8:50.
 * The third one croaked a tree (poor tree), way after the events of the murder, at 11:35.
 * Who really killed Ace ?
 * What is the burnt object found by Twilight and Phoenix during episode 1 ?
 * Why, oh why didn't anybody hear the second lightning bolt ? Is it related to the burnt object ? If it hit Ace, did something prevented the lightning bolt to struck the ground, therefore preventing it from making any sound ?

Pinkie Pie will team up with Wright.
After what happened in part 2, Twilight probably won't want to work with Wright. So, since it's Wright, Pinkie will step in! She'll probably understand his reason for his stunt in court through her Pinkie-Logic.
 * With the trend Phoenix's (and the series's in general) assistants have of being quite "out there", Pinkie would fit the bill perfectly, like a Maya Turned Up to Eleven. I'm sure she'll be the one that'll bring up the eternal debate of ladder/step-ladder, and just because it has to happen, this is Ace Attorney dang it!

Confirmed by Part 3.

Twilight Sparkle has gained the Perceive Ability after exposure to the Magatama.
Consider the fact that Twilight, in the words of Phoenix Wright, keeps "randomly looking at Trixie" throughout the trial, but when she was asked about it earlier, she brushed it off as unimportant. Also consider how the Magatama emitted a strange glow before the trial started. Isn't it possible that Twilight has gained the ability to sense tension when others lie in court as Apollo Justice can?
 * Which could lead to some interesting Fridge Brilliance considering that the cross examination theme playing during those moments was from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.
 * This brings up a problem, though, as the Perceive ability was gained through a specific bloodline.
 * Note that she only starts looking "randomly" at Trixie after contact with the Magatama and had no such incidents with similar situations prior. Likely if she does have the Perceive ability or something like it, it is a product of exposure to the magic of the Magatama rather than something natural.
 * It's possible that instead of the Perceive ability, Twilight gained the Magatama's power to see Psyche-Locks.
 * Alternately, notice that both the times Twilight started staring Trixie was using Is and other first-person words, temporarily breaking out of her Third Person Person routine. It's possible that Twilight was staring simply because she was perplexed to see Trixie actually speaking in a first-person rather then because she gained a new ability from the Magatama.

Twilight won the ability to see Psyche-Locks after this incident.

Phoenix will explain to Twilight why he did what he did.
This might seem like the logical thing to do as Twilight might start calling him out only until he explains to her why he did it.
 * She might not buy it...
 * If the WMG about Mia being channeled, reincarnated or summoned turns out to be true, maybe Mia will be able to talk Twilight around. And regardless, Twilight will probably forgive him by the end of all this; Phoenix DID have good intentions... just no good way of carrying them out.

Happens in part 3.

Rainbow Dash is being blackmailed.
Why is Rainbow Dash so reluctant to tell Phoenix what she was up to at the time of the murder? It would not be a stretch to say that the reason is connected to the photos presented in Part 2. If they were, it opens up the possibility that Rainbow Dash is being blackmailed, whether by the victim or by someone else. Many seem to be focusing too heavily on the contents of the photo; it is often ignored that the fact that the photos exist and were in Ace Swift's possession when he was killed might be far more important.
 * I agree with this one. Given how Rainbow reacted to the photos showing up in Trixie's hooves, blackmail is a possibility. Also she's upset by anyone seeing meaning that even if she wouldn't have given into blackmail, she'd still have to deal with the fall out of them showing up somewhere...hey; maybe this is how Ace Swift actually works. Sure he's talented but what if whenever he comes up against someone who he knows he can't beat, he either bribes or blackmails them into dropping out? He either tried bribing Rainbow and failed or sensed bribing her wouldn't work and so then turned to blackmail which failed again. Not sure how the cloud and lightning fit into this one though.
 * Hi; the poster of the above agreement again. I've just rewatched part 1 and I noticed that one of the silhouettes highly resembles Rainbow Dash. Given that the dialogue involves one party talking about "negotiations" and the other replying "Forget it. I'm not doing it." before being threatened "Do it or else." and countering with "I don't care about that anymore." This could indicate that Rainbow was being blackmailed but decided her honor was more important than protecting herself from being embarrassed. Then the "better idea" mentioned was using lightning to destroy the photos, leading to the WMG below about the crime scene being staged.

Blackmail indeed.

The Audience is playing a big role in determining the case's outcome.
They're pointing out contradictions that weren't pointed out in court and even theorizing on who did it. Maybe NeoArtimus will take notes from the comments and add them to her next part with the audience helping to either clear Rainbow Dash's name or send her to the sun.
 * Unlikely; she has stated that she has the overall plot as good as complete; she only needs to write how everything goes down (by the time this was written she has already sent the script of Part 3 to the voice actors). But I wouldn't be surprised if she's taking ideas from the comments for potential gags.

'Jossed, the author has already stated that she had the story and plot points completed before Season 2 of MLP started. She's even confirmed that there are some plot points that contradict with some of Season 2's events, and it's too late to fix them.'

Regarding the reason Part 3 is taking so long.
NeoArtimus has said there's a special motive as to why Part 3 is taking more time than usual to make besides the massive ammount of content that part will have. It's supposed to be a surprise, but she's said that bronies in particular will like the reason. Hmm... a time consuming feature that bronies might enjoy... and she's said before that there's going to be song in part 3... Friendship is Magic style animated opening mayhaps? Or maybe an animated scene put in between that part?

'Turns out that's not the motive of the delay. Part 3 is a double feature, one video from Phoenix's and another from Twilight's P.O.V.'

Trixie is possessed.
Her lingering grudge against Twilight made her a perfect pawn. Consider her glee at Phoenix accusing Fluttershy, one of Twilight's friends... and somepony who didn't take part in her original heckling and humiliation. The occasional slips into first person are her possessor breaking character.

Jossed by NeoArtimus herself in the comments section of her profile for bring a BIT too epileptic.

Phoenix Wright will be conducting the second day of investigation alone.
After Phoenix Wright pointed out that Fluttershy is a potential suspect, I doubt Twilight will be willing to stay with him...at least at first. Therefore he'd be left to try and gather evidence and possibly even face everyone's criticism (ESPECIALLY ponies like Applejack and Rarity).

Nope - see confirmed guesses.

There will be a﻿ song sung by a...'character' in Part 3.
This is not me guessing; this was actually written by NeoArtimus. Time to make those Epileptic Trees grow:
 * Easy guess: Pinkie Pie will sing and it will creep out Phoenix.
 * It's most likely her. This comment was left on the profile of the guy who voices Phoenix. "I just got the part three script and it's looking really good; shame I have to stay secretive. (How would they react if they knew I spoke to that "one" pony who's in it...What was with her? She really needs a﻿ dose of Ritalin and a glass of water.)"
 * Phoenix himself will sing, he's taken lessons from The Phoenix Wright Musical Project after all.
 * Edgeworth will, he will get summoned while he's singing to himself the Steel Samurai's theme.

Due to time constraints, the song supposed to appear in Part 3 - Phoenix wasn't finished.

The voice at the end of the second preview clip for part 3 will belong to Octavia.
Going from the tone and accent, it sounds like a voice that Octavia could have if she were a canon character.
 * Or it could be Gilda. No offense to the original poster but it actually would make more sense for the list shown to be in Gilda's room that she's renting for some reason or other whether she has it on purpose for an innocuous reason, was given it but didn't realize the significance and is in the middle of having someone try to frame her or have had someone slip it into her room without knowledge. As for why Gilda would be in Ponyville, she might have come to see Dash race and also apologize because she feels bad about the past. She ended up staying because she wanted to be a character witness but someone thought she would make a perfect patsy to pin the murder on; whether Dash or Gilda got convicted, someone would end up heartbroken over a lost friend.

It wound up being an OC pony - see part 3.