//------------------------------// // Subject 42: Hidden Suffering // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// “Okay okay, listen! A small group of mine has been conducting...trials to make our citizens stronger!” the blowhard of a unicorn sweated bullets, “Is that so wrong?” “It’s wrong when you drag innocent ponies into it,” Twilight stepped forward, “I have to be honest--I’ve done a poor job as a princess if I can’t maintain those who work beneath me. But that all changes today. Neighsay, you are hereby removed from your position in the EEA and will be sent to the dungeon as you await your public trial.” “But I--” the old geezer tried to interject, but Twilight had none of it. Her horn lit up. “My decision is final.” Her magic aura consumed the stallion, which took away his magic, and thus rendered him defenseless. “You are lucky. A thousand years ago, you would’ve been put up for execution immediately. Guards!” A set of Royal Guards which included Gallus and Flash Sentry entered the room. The griffon spoke first. “Ma’am. What’s the problem?” “Take Neighsay to his cell. He’s been de-powered, and won’t give you any troubles.” “On it. Move it, old timer, let’s go,” the light orange pegasus lifted him up to which the griffon assisted. Neighsay was too weakened to move or speak, and gave no protest when dragged off. Sunset meanwhile, had been lightly sobbing into her hooves the entire time. Me? I cried along with her. I wasn’t above displaying my emotions. “It’s...alright. You have friends in both worlds here to support you,” I tried to put a hoof around her, but she didn’t take. Understandable. This was earth-shattering information that would make anyone uneasy. She pushed me away, gently. “Sorry, I’m just...I need time to think about this. And I need to see Celestia. Where is she, again?” Twilight answered. “She and Luna are both retired and living in Silver Shoals. It’s not that far from Canterlot. You can take the train there right now if you want.” Sunset nodded. “Please...I’d like that,” she looked at me, “And don’t worry Pale. When the trial for Neighsay is held, I’ll be back to testify against him right with you.” “No trouble at all, miss,” I tipped my hat, “Go. Go on and see your old teacher--she does have quite a bit to explain to you, I’d imagine.” “She does...yeah. Thanks for showing me the truth, Twilight. It hurts, but now I think I know what I need to do,” she stood up, and gave her alicorn friend a hug. “Don’t worry Sunset. I’m always here for you, you know that.” The unicorn mare let go, and to my surprise, she hugged me next. “Good luck with Cozy, okay? I’d like to speak to her too whenever you’re both free.” I returned the gesture with a hoof around her neck also. “Absolutely. I’ll reserve you a spot in line, Sunset.” She forced out a laugh, “Heh, thanks. Wait...one more thing.” Her eyes turned a solid white when she embraced me. Was this related to one of her powers? “Your childhood...I can see…” “It’s...yeah, it’s heavy. But don’t worry. We’ll get through our troubles together.” “Good, good…” she let go, and started to walk out, “Well, I’m off. See you guys later.” “Thanks for your help, Sunset,” Twilight replied. I tipped my hat. “Be seeing ya.” As soon as the unicorn left, Twilight sighed. “Ugh...I’m sorry about all of that, Pale. I never figured Neighsay would do something like this. He may have had good intentions, but his methods…” That’s when something hit her. She blinked once, twice, and came to a realization. “His methods were flawed...just like…oh no.” It didn’t take much to understand what she meant. She had compared herself to the former Chancellor. And in a way, she understood just the exact problem she and those before her propagated. “Listen...it’s only a matter of time before we come face to face with our own flaws. The fact that you can do that on your own is what makes you better than scum like Neighsay.” “I suppose you’re right. Even so, maybe I can make this right. Come on, let’s go to that statue,” she said with newfound vigor. With a flash of her horn, Twilight and I were transported back to the infamous villains’ stone prison. “You ready?” I had put away the device the other Twilight gave me for use on the portals for later and nodded. “Of course I am.” Another flash of her horn, and Twilight hit the filly’s statue with a spell to undo her petrification. Except...something happened when she fell to the ground. Cozy Glow wasn’t a small foal anymore. She was now a young mare--about the same age as the Crusaders were. But something was off. Cozy didn’t move, nor speak. Was she even conscious? “Princess--what’s going on?” “I...I’m not sure. But I can tell something’s wrong with her.” She trotted over to, and inspected the young mare with her magic. “It...It’s possible that she’s lost her sense of self due to being imprisoned for so many years and stuck in the same body as a filly. Except now, she’s suddenly been thrust into a young adult body and is more or less fully grown...I should’ve known this was a bad idea…” I walked up to her. “Huh? I don’t quite follow…” “She’s stuck in a time-lag induced comatose state. It may be awhile before she wakes up...if she does wake up.” Wait what?! It’s possible that she could die?! No. I won’t let that happen. I had already thought of a plan to see this through. “Twilight. We need to take her to the hospital immediately. And get a message out to Luna right away.” “Well, that was my intention to take her to the hospital anyways. But why Luna?” “Because. If she and I can enter her dreams and undo whatever she’s suffering from, it’ll make things a whole lot easier. Then we can finally understand her perspective and why she acted the way she did.” Twilight nodded without hesitation. I’m glad she saw fit to trust me now. “Okay then, Pale. I gave you full authority on what to do regarding Cozy Glow from this point.” With another flash of her horn, we were all teleported to the hospital. The light pink pegasus mare was given an immediate room to sleep in so her health could be monitored. After about ten minutes, the doctor came out to us. “Well..she’s alive, that much is certain. However, she seems to be unable to wake up. Likely due to head trauma. Don’t worry, she shouldn’t be out for long.” “Thanks, doc,” I responded, “do you mind if we go in there?” “Go right ahead. She can’t hear anything. Just try not to disturb her body.” Twilight and I both entered the room. Cozy Glow was still out cold, but hooked up to a heart rate monitor so we could keep tabs on how she was feeling. “Whew...thank goodness she isn’t in much danger,” Twilight expressed her relief at the mare’s condition. “Okay, Pale. I leave her in your hooves. For now, I’m going to head back to the castle, and send out an express message to Luna via Spike. Then, I’m going to set up Neighsay’s time in court, and what he’ll face for his actions against you, Sunset Shimmer, and anypony else’s lives he’s damaged.” I nodded. That’s all I could ask of the alicorn, and I was more than grateful for it. “Thank you, Twilight. Do your best, please.” On her way out, she shot me a smirk. “Heh, I always do my best. Don’t you worry about me. I’ll see you later, Pale.” “Bye, Twilight. And thanks again for your help.” I waved as she left. With that established, I took a seat in a nearby chair next to Cozy Glow’s hospital bed. My mental wheel began to turn once more. Just what did Neighsay do to affect mine and Sunset’s lives? What was he and his little group out to obtain? I needed answers soon. Hopefully the alicorns would look into whom they had hired in the last few years or so. And Sunset...that mare/girl deserved to know the truth about her life and how things ended up the way they were. And maybe, just maybe...we could find out the truth about Cozy’s origin as well. Night fell. I had my first good sleep in the last week. At the very least, I could rest easy knowing that the kid was still breathing. Hopefully Luna would arrive soon. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for me to get my wish. In the outside world, I could barely make out the alicorn’s voice as she called my name. She must have arrived. Soon after, I found myself face to face with her in my dream. “Pale? Are you alright?” My dream was sleeping in a comfortable bed. Nice. I got out of it, and approached her. “Luna. You’re here! How’s everything going in the real world?” “Very...complicated. Sunset Shimmer visited us and inquired to my sister about her past--the time before she became her student.” Out of respect for her privacy, I didn’t pry. At least, not yet. I’m sure the evidence would be used in the trial against Neighsay very soon. “Makes sense to me. She has the right to know. Now, as for me. Twilight finally--” Luna interrupted me, and trotted around the dreamscape. “I am aware. Cozy Glow’s state of mind is very fragile from being imprisoned for so many years. It is going to take a minute before she is even capable of dreaming again.” Damn. Oh well. Guess it was back to the waiting game, then. “Fair enough.” “Sunset has also spoken to me about the Sirens and what they’re currently dealing with. It sounds to me as if they are making an honest life for themselves in this ‘Human’ world with the Faculty Lot.” I snickered. That was the lot where teachers would place their motorized vehicles known as cars. Luna thought it was a place of power, so she technically wasn’t wrong. But the Sirens were the main topic of this conversation. “Yeah, they are. They’re actually working jobs and stuff, too. They even saved Sunset and I from this giant crab monster.” Luna blinked. I guess she wasn’t prepared to hear that. “Wow a...crab monster--ahem. It sounds like you all had fun. If the Sirens can make a better life for themselves, then I don’t see why we can’t give Cozy a proper chance to change this time.” “Agreed,” I nodded, “It’s unrealistic to expect everyone everywhere to be able to express kindness and be nice. I deal with rowdy customers on a near-daily basis. That’s why I want to support as many different individuals as possible. So when the stronger enemies come, we’ll have a chance to fight back.” “Sound logic indeed. More allies means more strength. If only it were so simple, then Equestria would know true peace…” she hung her head. That’s when I had to bring some reality into the scenario. “I’ve been in this job for god knows how long, ma’am. And the fact is: True peace...is not possible to achieve. Even hundreds of years from now when I’m long gone, conflict will still exist.” Luna raised a brow, eager to hear what I had to say next as she countered. “Oh? Then is striving for peace not a pointless endeavor?” “I didn’t say that, did I?” I put a hoof around her neck, and pointed to the dream doors, “You of all ponies should know that everyone has a dream. And with those dreams come obstacles. And with those obstacles come conflict. And with conflict, comes development.” She thought about it for a moment. “Only through conflict do we evolve? Is that what you are saying?” I let her go, and started trotting around the empty vastness of the scape, “In a nutshell, yeah. The only way we can get better as people--gah--ponies-slash-creatures, is if we face trials and tribulations that contribute to our growth. That is why true peace is impossible. Everyone is always going to disagree with someone on something. And it's within those disagreements that we choose to either live or die. Hence my...efforts towards Cozy Glow.” Out of nowhere, a new dream door appeared. It matched the color scheme of Cozy’s pink coat and light blue mane. Could this be a dream she was having? Was she still with us? Only one way to find out. “Hm…” Luna walked up to the door. With a flash of her horn, it flew open. “Strange...this is unlike any other dream I have ever witnessed.” I followed her. It was a pitch black void of nothingness for as far as the eye could see. Was this even right? Were we truly in Cozy Glow’s head or was this the wrong door? “No...you’re in the right place,” the pegasus mare appeared between us from within the darkness. “I...there’s a lot to unpack and show you both, so I hope you don’t mind listening…” Luna shook her head. “My child, you are in a place of absolute solitude. Your true intentions, whether hidden or not, will be on full display for us to witness. I admit, I apologize for not allowing you the chance to speak and tell us why you committed such atrocities,” she said with a bow. “That is why Pale Vestige has fought so hard to set you free.” The young mare blushed since she didn’t feel comfortable in the presence of a former princess that bowed in front of her. “Uh...you can rise, Luna. Don’t worry. I’ve had...a lot of time to reflect on my life in the last decade or two. And...well, first off, I wanna thank you Pale for trying your best to help me out.” I nodded. “Not a problem, kid. It’s my job.” “But...I don’t know if I can be fixed. So many ponies have always pushed me around, or wanted me to never be around them, it’s…” she sighed. Luna put one of her hooves underneath Cozy’s chin. “Do not be afraid, Cozy. You are not judged within the confines of your own mind. Regardless of whatever you have dealt with in the past, we are going to listen. Isn’t that right, Pale?” “That’s right, Luna. We’re not here to judge you, kid. In fact, Luna and I were both little bundles of trouble in our youth. So if anything, we’ll understand you best. Won’t we, Luna?” She blushed, and nodded. “Heh...heh…” Cozy pushed Luna’s hoof away, and stepped ahead of us. “You both really want to know? The darkness that lies within my heart? Are you prepared to witness my childhood horrors?” Luna and I looked at each other, nodded, and turned our heads back to the adult Cozy. “Absolutely,” I said. “Yes, of course,” Luna added. With a sigh, Cozy activated her dream. “Alright then...here is the truth.”