April 4, 1:09pm
Castle of the Two Sisters
Guest Bedroom No. 4

Back in the Castle, in their stay-in room, Phoenix and Edgeworth are going through evidence study. Well, mainly Phoenix. The mallet was still being tested in the crime laboratory. Maya and Pearl have gone out for some reason. For Phoenix, him suspecting Willow Breeze to be the culprit reflects to when he suspected Fluttershy during Rainbow Dash's trial. And that was burnt into his memory.

'I know it couldn't have been her... But if it's not her, who else could it be...!?'

He was getting stressed out, now that the situation had become a bigger problem. Then the door suddenly bursted open. "Nick! Great news!", Maya's voice boomed in excitement as she and Pearl ran inside the room with big smiles on their faces, "Sonata's finally released out of prison! You did it!".

"You saved Mystic Sonata, Mr. Nick! Yay!", Pearl cheered as she jumped happily. Phoenix, however, was far less than being pleased to hear the news. It caught both Maya and Pearl's attention and they were giving questioning looks.

"Ms. Fey, are you and your cousin actually that naïve?", Edgeworth spoke up, glancing at the two girls, "If Ms. Sonata was released from prison, all saying that her innocence was proven, then it would mean that someone had took the blame; the filly that got arrested for almost escaping with the murder weapon, that is.".

"H-Huh...!?", Maya gasped in realization, "B-But... Uh...". She was out of words, knowing that there's no reason to be all happy because of that fact. Pearl also realized it and looked down, shamefully, like she had done something wrong. Phoenix was being all quiet for the moment. And the other fact that Aria wasn't with them.

'She still must be home, probably upset about how I accused her friend...'

He sighed as he got his bag, with his notes, and walked to the door to leave. "I'm gonna go talk to Willow Breeze. I'll be back.", he said, monotonously, before leaving the room and the castle to go to the Detention Center.

April 4, 1:17pm
Canterlot Detention Center
Visitor's Room

A Pegasus guard escorted a gloomy Willow Breeze to the Visitor's Room. When she arrived, she let out a small gasp after seeing Phoenix on the other side of the thin glass partition. He saw her as well and gave a small smile.

"Mr. Lawyer?", she questioned as she took some steps closer before hopping onto the stool reserved on her side of the room, "What are you doing here? You should be grateful that Ms. Sonata, your client, is now living freely after finding she is innocent of the case...".

"I just wanna talk to you, that's all.", Phoenix replied, calmly, "Sit down and we'll get to it.". Willow did as what she was told and sat down on the stool. But Phoenix was somehow amazed by how Willow is so calm after she got arrested, as if it was nothing to her.

'And the fact that I kinda accused her of the murder because she has the weapon... She's acting like that's nothing too!'

"Um... What is there to talk about, exactly?", Willow asked, tilting her head a bit, "I mean, you won the case. Kinda...".

"No, this is all wrong.", Phoenix said, his tone becoming serious, "Yes, Sonata is out and that's a good thing. But you taking the blame is a big problem. And I just accused you for the crime because you were gonna escape with the weapon. But why are you this calm?". He tried his best not to raise her voice since he's talking to a young filly.

Willow was a bit stunned. However, despite knowing it got her into trouble, she let out a soft sigh before giving her answer, "... Because it was clearly my fault. I was responsible for the crime.". Hearing that, Phoenix was so shocked.

A young filly admitting she was responsible for a monsterous crime!?

"Y-You...", he stuttered, slowly dipping his hand into his pocket to touch his Magatama, "You're responsible for attacking Aria...!?". He saw Willow hesitated for a bit before nodding. And then...

*Bang* *BANG* *Kssshssh* *RATTLE* *Clank* *KSSSHSSSHHHH* *Bam* *Bam* *Bam* *Bam!* *BAM!*

To Phoenix's shock, his vision went dark again and a very thick tangle of chains appeared, guarded by no less than five black Psyche Locks. He also, jerked back after seeing them.

'Another deep secret!? If that's so... Then that means Willow is lying about being responsible for attacking Aria! And by the looks of Willow being determined and brave about admitting her guilt, it's seems almost as if she's trying to cover for someone!'

Phoenix pulled his hand away from the Magatama and his vision became normal. "Okay, Willow... I know I shouldn't be doing this, but...", he said before giving a sigh and he had a determined look in his eyes, "I'm gonna be your lawyer and defend you, and whether you like it or not.". Willow visibly gave a surprised look before returning to her calm state.

"If you want, then alright. I wish you luck to it.", she said with a small nod, "Anything else you want to talk about?".

"Actually, yes.", Phoenix confirmed, taking out his pen and notepad, "I want to know what you were really doing that night, since you said you were the one responsible for this crime.". Willow nodded before taking some time to remember what happened.

"That night, after I saw Aria, I went to meet with two friends, that was around... 8:12. But then I noticed Sonata looking around for Aria.", she explained slowly, "I was a bit confused since I thought Aria would be back after getting her bag. So I went back to check on her.".

"Was there anypony else in the backstage when you came back?", Phoenix asked as he took down notes. He noticed that Willow suddenly stiffened in surprise, like she remembered something.

"... No, there was nopony else. It was just the two of us.", she answered, rather quickly. But Phoenix can tell she was actually lying.

"But... Putting Aria unconscious, killing her with a blunt object, and putting her in a black garbage bag... That takes a lot fo time and work. Especially when you needed to dispose the weapon.", he noted, sensing there is definitely something wrong, "Are you saying you did all of that, by yourself?".

"Yes, I did it all by myself.", Willow confirmed, again, rather quickly, "After I hid the weapon, I was the one who called the police afterwards. They can confirm it.".

"That sounds rather... Precise.", Phoenix remarked then he thought of asking something else, "Tell me, were you the one who told Sonata that Aria was in the backstage?".

"Um... No, I wasn't.", Willow replied, her expression saying she's telling the truth, "The one who told her was my, and Aria's, close friend. His name is Aqua Splash. He was one of my two friends, the other being Sky Blazer, whom I spoke with before I returned to the backstage.". Phoenix nodded as he took down more notes.

"Okay, thanks for the info. I think I can handle things from here.", he replied, "Where can I find these two? Do you know where they could be right now?". Willow gave a small shrug.

"They always hang out at the school library.", she replied, her tone as that she was very sure, "It used to be the five of us before—". She suddenly paused, looking as if she realized something before speaking again, "... N-Never mind. Just focus on the case, Mr. Wright. Whatever else that's in my mind would mean nothing.". However, Phoenix was more interested to hear about what Willow meant by "five of us".

'I was kinda curious about that...'

"Alright, I guess I can take care of things from here.", he replied before standing up from his stool, "I heard your trial starts tomorrow. So I guess I better get to investigating all of this.". Willow nodded before standing up from her stool. They both parted ways. Phoenix knew that this case is gonna go for a new turn now that he has a new client to defend.