Call me Hot Scoop, one of Equestria's up and coming journalists, a resident of Manehattan. In my brief time as a journalist, I had reported on all the trials and tribulations that Equestria has been through in its long and storied existence. But, there was a story, a time where I had been approached to do something that would test both my confidence and my integrity as a journalist.
It all started a few days after word arrived that the creature known as Lord Tirek had been reimprisoned in Tartarus. I was sitting at my desk at the Equestrian Journal going through the edits I had made to a recent story about political corruption in Rainbow Falls, when I heard a knock at the door of my office.
"Hot Scoop," I heard a gruff sounding voice say as I turned to find my boss and editor standing in the doorway. "Sorry if I interrupted anything, but I've got an assignment for you."
"Chief," I groaned, turning away from what I was working on. "Can't you see that I need more time on getting this story done? I mean, you've always said that you can't rush art…"
"I am aware of that, Hot Scoop," he interrupted, holding a picture of somepony infamous in his hoof as he walked into my office. "But, since you are a young up and coming journalist, I think it would be best that it would be good practice for you to face a challenge."
The chief was always prone to offering up challenges for us. According to him, it was a way of not just building us up into premiered journalists, but also to put confidence into our minds in general. Nevertheless, I waited to see what he had to say.
"Since you want me to face a challenge," I sighed. "What is it that you want me to do?"
The chief then placed the picture on my desk and I took a very good look at it. It wasn't just any creature, it was Lord Tirek himself, his recent mugshot from his re-imprisonment afterhis escape. Then, I realized that the chief was probably wanting me to…no, he couldn't, he wouldn't.
"You're not serious," I cried out. "You want me to…"
"Yes, Hot Scoop," he said firmly. "I want you to go to Tartarus and interview Tirek. The ponies of Equestria have the right to go inside the mind of this monster and find out why he did what he did. You know very well that it is our duty to share these kinds of stories with the public."
"Of course they know what he did, Chief," I retorted, trying to weasel my way out of this situation. "He stole magic from everypony in Equestria, nothing more. We were just one of the lucky ones that managed to avoid getting our energy stolen. With all due respect, sir, have you considered anypony else for this job?"
"I have," said the chief. "And they all refused the offer, Hot Scoop. As the youngest of the staff, I think you are the most promising member of our young fleet of reporters and you've been the one who always stepped up to the challenge in the past, remember?"
As I listened, I knew that the chief had a very good point on me stepping up to the plate. Still, I had my reservations, which I kept to myself.
"I guess you're right, sir," I remarked, accepting my fate. "I've always been the one to take the bigger assignments because I care for this business. I don't know, maybe I'm just nervous to take these kinds of challenges."
"Don't be nervous, son," encouraged the chief, walking over to an award-winning article that I had written about the Changeling Invasion of Canterlot during the Royal Wedding. "You've done so much for this business that it is undeniable to me that you have proven to me and to your colleagues that you can take this kind of challenge. Besides, when you think about it, Lord Tirek is nothing more than a sniveling coward who throws temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way."
I couldn't help but think of whether my boss was telling me the truth or not. Tirek was not like any petty criminal and that was the truth. He was a dangerous creature that did more than just steal magic.
"If you say so, chief," I sighed, writing down this impending assignment in my list of tasks to get down. "When do you want me to leave?"
"Well, the prison warden at Tartarus have said as soon as possible," he said. "So get all the sleep that you can muster, Hot Scoop. In the meantime, I will let you finish the story you are working on right now."
With those words, I watched my boss walk out of my office and I was left to accept the cards that had been dealt to me. I knew very well how dangerous Lord Tirek was, but I did remember reporting that he did some things that had gone too far. Chief was right, Tirek did much more than just steal magic.
In fact, I began to think back to the days after Tirek's rampage when I went to Ponyville to try and get an interview with Princess Twilight about her fight with Tirek. I could still remember the words that her friend, Applejack, had said to me that day I stood in front of the destroyed Golden Oak Library where Princess Twilight had been living during her student years.
"Hot Scoop, Equestrian Journal," I said to Applejack. "I have a few questions for Princess Twilight regarding her battle with Tirek."
"Sorry partner, I'm afraid yer going to have to come back another time," she replied as she directed me over to a distraught Twilight being consoled by her friends. "Twilight is not going to be in the mood to talk any time soon. As you can see, her library is gone."
"But, doesn't she have a castle to call her own?" I asked, remembering that there was now a castle in the middle of Ponyville that had come up after Tirek was defeated.
For a moment, I could also remember that Applejack's eyebrow raised up, almost as if I was being oblivious and insensitive to the situation that was before me. Then, the scene continued to play out again in my head.
"Let me tell you something, partner," I remembered Applejack snapping at me. "How would you feel if you lost everything that you held dear to a freaked out monster who didn't do anything to you? That's exactly what Princess Twilight is feeling right now and even if she does get over this, I would certainly think she won't want to talk about it. So, if I were you, I'd mosey on out of here! Go on, shoo!"
"All right! All right!" I remarked and then I turned to leave, but not before taking one last good look at the destroyed library. "I'll come back some other time."
Even though it was only for a brief moment, I had every reason to believe why Applejack would be so angry at me. I had come to interview Twilight at a worse possible time and perhaps maybe that one day, she would open up and give me that planned interview. But, of course, like Applejack had said, I would have to wait until the moment would come. That was one of the downfalls of being in this business, because you needed to invade a celebrity's privacy to make a living.
However, right now I needed to prepare for my interview with a monster in Tartarus. So, I finished what I was doing and set off for home, only wondering just how an interview with one of Equestria's most dangerous enemies was going to go.
…