Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49


Subject 55: The Best Flier's Best Plan

I was at a crossroads. Should I really fault the mare if she lost those close to her in the battle that ensued? Alongside that, the Kirin population has been facing issues when it came to sustaining healthy numbers. The death of her family was utterly detrimental to their development. It was a difficult thing to think about, surely. I completely understood why she would want to keep Cozy Glow imprisoned--dead even.

While she wasn’t the sole reason, she was one of the three individuals that nearly destroyed the world when she was younger, and the cause of the death of her family in the ensuing battle. But the kirin was so buried in her ideals and her rage, that she didn’t want to bother with any sort of compromise. My attempts to convince her that the demonic filly from long ago was now a mare trying to make things right were totally in vain.

“Come on! If you’re ready to die for her, then so be it! Consider it revenge for her killing my family!” the nirik, Freeze Flame, snarled at me from her side of the cloudy park. “No more talking! Fight me!”

Remember when I said I was completely prepared? I wasn’t entirely speaking the truth. Part of me sorely wished that she’d be willing to listen, but I knew she wouldn’t. Not within that level of rage. I supposed that the only polite thing to do would be to at least offer her a chance to relieve some of her aggression.

But despite my words, I had no intention of killing her. The plan was simple. Fight the nirik until she ran out of stamina and had to change back into a kirin. Then and only then could she listen to reason. And if she didn’t listen in her kirin form...then that would be my final stand.

“Fine then. Come at me with everything you have.”

“NO MORE TALKING!”

The nirik charged at me and leapt into the air. Her first attack was initiated poorly--a downward punch that I easily rolled out of the way to avoid. Her hoof hit the cloud-ground and it held solidly. No signs of cracking or damage whatsoever. I guess these pegasi really knew how to make hard structures out of clouds.

But the battle went on. In truth, I was mostly on the defensive. I didn’t want to hurt the mare. I had no reason to.

“RRRRAGH!”

She slammed her hooves into the ground and sent flames my way along the ground. They were impossible to extinguish by normal means so I could do nothing but avoid them.

But that wasn’t all.

Her large horn lit up with a pink aura. From it, she sent flaming spheres at me that flew through the air at me.

“Woah!” I had to both jump and flick my neck to the left and right to avoid the ground flame as well as the projectile ones. They were so hot that I felt the air around my skin boil from the evaporation of the air. Yeesh. This would be a pain in the flank to deal with.

After I dodged those, she sent another set of fireballs my way that I barely managed to dodge. “Gah!” None of them even made contact with my face, but it still hurt. I could hear miniature explosions go off within the ball of fire as it whizzed past my ear. The air around them was simply that hot. “That was a nut hair away from taking my whole damn face off,” I mumbled and straightened the hat on my head.

The nirik stood on her hind legs and put both of her front hooves together. Her horn lit up as well.

“Oh shit.”

Just like something out of Corkscrew’s Japonese comic books, a ball would be superheated in both of her hooves and then her next attack would fire off in a massive laser beam! Fire was a form of plasma, but I never knew that a kirin could transmutate their abilities in such a way.

“Yow!” She flung the beam horizontally which made me duck. She flung it towards my hooves which made me jump. It would be about thirty seconds before she had to stop using it to avoid overexertion. Thank goodness. I had to perform a zig-zag sort of evasion roll just to get close to her. I knew well that unicorn magic could be disrupted if the horn was struck or damaged. Maybe kirins worked the same way?

There was only one way to know for sure.

The next time she sent out fireballs, I was ready. I brought out my trusty blaster gun and fired it, which redirected the heated, condensed explosions away from me and into the air where it went off harmlessly. This Freeze Flame mare was a long-range combatant, so getting in close was my top priority.

I faked going in. I pretended to perform a sliding tackle along the ground only to rise up at the last second in order to strike her horn with a spinning kick. “HA!”

“Ghhh!” Her magic was temporarily disabled so now I could fight her on closer terms. But she wasn’t about to drop so easily. She flung a few punches at me that I just managed to block. Though they hurt like hell due to being lit with her hot rage.

Eventually, we were locked in a struggle, both of our hooves clashed against each other like something out of a swordfighting film. We both tried to overpower each other desperately. And I knew exactly what would give me the edge here. “Not bad, but you’re far too young to waste your talents working with a piece of shit like Svengallop. Why don’t you spend your time doing something productive?” I said with a smirk that hid how nervous I was. Sweat ran down the side of my face. When I spoke, it irked the nirik mare and she increased the intensity of her flames. I couldn’t tell whether or not it was because I insulted her stallion or if it was because of the fact that I continued to speak after she demanded silence.

Either way, it worked. While she angrily increased the power of the flames on her body, she was distracted.

Just long enough.

In a swift motion, I threw one of my hindlegs forward. A straight kick delivered right to her midsection that sent her for a tumble into the nearest wall of a building. “Gah! Grrrr…”

“Ow...shit…” I felt severe burns on my left hoof, but at least I managed to land a hit. But I didn’t allow her time to recover. I ran over and cornered her to that wall. “Listen...I have no reason to kill you. We can end this peacefully, and I can prove to you that Cozy has outgrown herself. She will never do anything like that again?”

From on the ground, she scoffed and spat with a scathing reply. “Feh. Why should I believe you? All you’ve done is bring back the same pony that took my parents magic. Without their magic, they died in that battle. How do you know she won’t do it again?! How do you know anything?!”

I closed my eyes and sighed. It took me a moment, but I had to be honest. “...if she tries it again, I’ll stop her myself. She’s my responsibility.”

The nirik was unsatisfied with my words. With her back against the wall, she lit her horn up and prepared another spell. I could feel it through the clouds beneath me. “And what if she does it again?! And again! And again! Just stopping someone isn’t enough. Sometimes permanent stoning is needed...or even death.”

“There’s another way!” I thought about my options for a moment. Bringing the kirin's parents back, while noble would be deadly. No one should ever mess with those who are no longer with us. However, maybe I could help her with that other problem she and her race faced. “Okay...what if...alright. In order to prove to you that Cozy has changed, I’ll task her with helping the kirin race integrate into society so they can meet other ponies. That way, your race won’t die out.”

I had no idea whether or not she listened. She remained in her nirik form, so it was difficult to tell if she cared. After a moment or two, she finally spoke.

“You...you think you can help us? You think she can help us?”

I nodded. “If it will act as enough recompense for the actions she...somewhat assisted in doing to your family and race, then she will be more than willing to oblige to make things right. I implore you to heed me. She was not the sole reason behind the death of your family. Moreover, she was a child. A lonely, crazed child. She has now aged enough to where she comprehends the damage she caused.” I took off my hat, and leaned down, “Please...allow her that chance to correct her mistakes.” I reached out a hoof to her.

The nirik had solid white eyes, but I could sense the hesitation within them. Did she really understand what I had to say? All I could do was wait in silence for her answer. At last, she took hold of my hoof. No fiery contact this time. Maybe she did truly want to be reasonable?

But that’s not what she gave me.

Instead, I was met with a shockingly painful blaze of fire that nearly consumed my entire hoof!

“AGHHH! Hhh...fff...ow!!” I tried to pull away, but her grip was too strong. Before I knew it, I was flipped over onto the white ground lying on my stomach. I could feel the weight of the kirin on top of me as she forced me into the cloudy surface, my entire body felt like it was being boiled alive. “Why?! I thought you were willing to hear me out?! GAH!!”

“Aw, does it hurt?” she responded in a rather immature, mocking tone as she twisted my hoof more and more, “I bet it hurts reaaaal bad, doesn’t it? It’s just how I felt when I lost everything that mattered to me! You think I’ll let the pony that played a part in my family’s death walk the earth freely?! Never! She’ll pay! And so will you, you disgusting, selfish vermin! Burn! Squeal! Cry! Take the delicious pain!””

“Ngh...dammit...the heat...I’m...roasting alive…” I tried to break free, but the overwhelming pain was too much. I felt my breath leave my body. I felt my skin flake from the sheer amount of pressurized heat applied to me. I could do nothing at this point. I couldn’t move, and I didn’t even know if anyone else had been watching. “...help…”

The haughty nirik cackled at my expense. At this moment, I was sure I was going to die.

That is, until I heard a powerful, rage-induced scream.

“YYYYYAAAAAH!”

BLAM!

Out of nowhere, Corkscrew flew in and struck the nirik with a powerful kick that was enhanced with a gust of spiraling wind that forced her off of me and into another wall nearby. “That’s for Pale and the innocent hotelgoers ya cow!” the pegasus shouted, and turned to offer me a hoof. “Boss! I knew I should’ve come with you. Don’t worry. Flash Drive is back at the agency watching over Suri. But you always protected me back at the Officer’s Academy. So now it’s my turn.”

I weakly stood up, and coughed. “Ugh...well, no need for that. She’s innocent. This mare on the other hoof...it’s a long story…” I felt my sense of breath return slowly. But from the corner of my eye, I saw her prepare another attack. “...Cork...move!”

He blinked, and noticed the mare fire off the blast of flames. I was too weak to dodge it. “Never!” The pegasus stood on his hind legs, hooves and wings outstretched in a defensive stance. “I won’t let you get--!”

In the next moment, he was cut off. The nirik had sent a massive flame ball towards us both, but Corkscrew took the hit for me. The fire lit him ablaze like a burning tree! No!

“AAGH AAAHHH GAAAAAH! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT...AAAAAGAGHHHH!!!” His screams...they were bloody and full of pure terror. I couldn’t imagine what those flames were doing to his body in that moment. He tried to walk towards her, "COME ON! I'M...NOT DEAD YET! YOU CALL THIS HOT?! MMF...ARGH...COME AT ME! QUIT RUNNING AWAY!" but he collapsed to the ground with his body unable to bear the pressure of the flames.

I went into overdrive. “CORK!” I had to think fast. The cloudwalk spell allowed me to use a but of them, so I ripped off a bit of a nearby rain cloud and started to smother Corkscrew’s body with it to consume and get rid of those flames. “Don’t worry! I-I got you...just stay calm...keep it together! You’re gonna be okay!” I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this much anxiety. My best friend was close to being burned to death!

“Aw, how sad,” the bothersome nirik trotted near us, “He got to experience that amazing pain of being set on fire and having your intestines boiled alive. But maybe now you’ll understand the pain I went through, you coward!”

Her words did not register with me. I felt tears well up within my eyes. My voice broke. My heart sank. I just wanted the pegasus to be okay. “C-Cork...speak to me…”

He was covered in burns and ash. I put an ear to his body. His heart was still beating. But just barely. I wasn’t even sure if he would survive. All I could hear him say were five simple words. “It was...worth it...buddy….”

“No...no...no! Listen here, young man! You won’t die on me here! Not now! Your mother would be furious! Come on!” I held him in my hooves. He needed medical attention and he needed it fast. “I NEED A DOCTOR!” I screamed as loud as I could.

“I got him!” Lightning Dust swooped in, and put him on her back. “This time….I’m gonna help save a life. The Las Pegasus hospital is top tier, Pale. He’ll live. I swear on my flank.”

Concerned sobs had leaked out of my eyes for the entire time. I rubbed them, and smiled at the turquoise mare. “...Thank you…”

She glared at the nirik, “You’re gonna pay for what you’ve done…”

“Hah!” Freeze Flame laughed it off, “As if I’m gonna be lectured by some horse who nearly killed a disabled child! How’s it feel to be a laughing stock among fliers, huh Lightning Crust? You're no better than me.”

“Oh I’m gonna…” she shook her head. “No...there’s no time for this.”

I stood up, and walked in front of her. “Go. Get that stallion safe. I’ll handle this mare for all of us.”

Lightning wasted no time, and flew into the air with the charred Corkscrew on her back. I could only hope that he would be safe.

Meanwhile, the nirik trotted around me in a circle. Much closer than before. “Aww...now do you see how it feels? To lose something you care about? How does it feel, huh? HUH?! HOW DOES IT FEEL?! NOW DO YOU GET IT?!”

I hid my face beneath my hat once I got it back. My emotions were immeasurable in that moment. What was this feeling? Anger, desire to kill, the yearn for...revenge. At that point, I felt my body quake. My legs were like gelatin. My blood pumped through my veins at an untraceable rate. But I felt weak, as if I could pass out yet again. Was it due to the smoke and sparks that I inhaled?

“You…”

“Oh? Wanna kill me now?” the nirik mare taunted me with her disgusting smile. A thick cloud of smoke filled the air and cut off my vision. She was trying to snuff me out.

My eyelids grew heavy. I couldn’t even tell if I was fully conscious anymore. But I heard a voice in the back of my head. A familiar broken stallion’s voice…

“Be the king of your own throne.”