//------------------------------// // Subject 100: Jewel Of Ponyville // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// “Yeah yeah, my big bro actually used to be with her. But they stopped seeing each other after a while,” Corkscrew tapped his hoof against his chin, “I heard she’s actually got a kid now. But it ain’t with my bro.” I raised the absolute biggest eyebrow that I could manage to show how completely confounded I was. “Inky Rose? The Inky Rose? The morbid pegasus that likes dark arts and counterculture? You mean to tell me one of your two older brothers got with her?” I suppose I never thought about it enough. Corkscrew’s family consisted of his parents and five siblings: Two older brothers, two older sisters, and one twin sister. Their house was always a fun riot to visit whenever I had the chance. But the reason I was so surprised is because one of his brothers had become a musical theory technician--whatever that is--and the other had become a martial artist way off in Japony. Just how could somepony like Ms. Rose fit with them. “Well, that’s the thing,” Corkscrew replied as he organized some files, “It didn’t last very long. My older brother realized it wasn’t going anywhere so they broke it off. Shame too, because she seemed pretty cool.” He shrugged, and got up from his spot at his desk. “Anyway, I’ll accompany you to Ms. Rarity’s place so we can find out where she is. If Rarity isn’t there, then Sweetie Belle can help us.” Well, I wasn’t going to pass on his word. If he knew the next subject that we needed to make contact with, then it would be in my best interest to at least follow him and hear what he had to say, right? And so, we traveled to Carousel Boutique. It was just a short walk away from the agency, and when we arrived, I knocked on the door. “Hello?” I asked, “Is Rarity home?” The door opened to the sight of a familiar white unicorn mare. “Oh, hello, Mr. Vestige, sir. Do you need something?” “Yes, Ms. Belle,” I replied with a nod, “Is your sister home? We need to ask her a question about one of her past business partners.” Sweetie Belle looked at us with an uncertain expression. “...Oh wow, um...which one? You know that she’s had dozens and dozens over the years, right? I sincerely hope you know which pony it is you’re looking for.” Corkscrew spoke up next. “Oh don’t worry, we do. Inky Rose. Do you remember her.” “Inky Rose...Inky…” she had to think about it for a moment before it came to her. “Ah! I know her. The tall, skinny pegasus mare with the gloomy, gothic style to her. She was so cool, now that I recall. I’m a big fan of the Queen Victrottia era, myself, hehe.” “Do you know where she lives?” I asked. Sweetie shook her head. “Nah. But Rarity will. Luckily for you, she’s here today. She just got back home after an important business meeting with her special somepony.” Oh? Rarity found somepony to spend her life with? That was nice to hear. But of course, it wasn’t my priority. I needed to focus on getting in touch with her. “Alrighty then. Where is she?” The white unicorn pointed a hoof towards the staircase. “She’s up in her room. But try not to burst in loudly. She’s under a lot of stress lately.” Made sense to me. I knew just what that felt like. So I made a mental note to approach her calmly. “Understood.” I looked at Cork, “Follow me, bud.” “Yes sir,” the pegasus nodded, and stayed close as we walked through the clothing store/house. We both took the stairs up, and found the room at the end of the hall where Rarity stayed. “Hey boss, this reminds me of the time we were appointed with watching over the Countess of Derby in Trottingham with Neon and Drive,” he reminisced as we walked down the empty hall, “Yeah, it’s coming back now. The brothers were busy off on a mission in Coatsile to help Lucy Hay with an insurrection of sorts. And we had to question Elizabeth Stabley in Derby. You remember, yeah?” I rolled my eyes. Trottingham’s culture was vastly different from that of Ponyville's, Manehattan’s, and even the Empire’s. In Trottingham, the island was divided up into many miniature counties. Somewhat like Manehattan’s Hooflyn, Saddle Island, and so on. In Trottingham, though--the counties were all governed by nobles whose ancestry dates back to the start of Pony Civilization itself. Anyhow, most ponies weren’t aware of this because it would apparently cause confusion in regards to who held power. But honestly, it wasn’t that hard to grasp. Derby, Coatsile, Wingchilsea, and Stableford, and other various counties were all home to Counts and Countesses that essentially managed and governed the area not unlike our Mayor Mare. But when Corkscrew mentioned a previous operation we had been on in the region, I chuckled to laugh off just how ridiculous it was. “Hehe...naw, son. Don’t come at me with that. I remember all too well what happened down there. And I can assure you that watching over some noble busypony is nothing like this.” Cork chuckled and nudged my side. “C’mon. You know it was fun. Even if we didn’t catch any monsters that day.” I put a hoof to my forehead, and silently shook my head ‘no,’ before I cleared my throat. “Ahem...anyway, let’s approach this as delicately as we can, alright?” “In that case, allow me,” the pegasus stallion offered, and stepped in front of me. He used his wings to tap on the bedroom door in a soft, quiet fashion. “Ms. Rarity? Are you there?” No response. Not immediately anyway. After a minute or two, I decided to speak out next. “We’re here to ask you a few questions. We’re from the agency near the Commercial District of Ponyville.” I hated to announce my status to incite a response, but it was a rather important situation that I couldn’t afford to waste time dealing with. At last, I heard the mare’s voice from beyond the door. “Oh, er, just a minute, darling!” she replied. I heard a button on what sounded like a machine power down. Was she really working even now? Yikes...I couldn’t imagine being in her position. Fashion was always a fickle mistress. I couldn’t even decide on what to wear half of the time when I went out. That’s why I usually stuck with my trench coat as it fit me the best all of the time. After a moment or two, she opened the door. A pair of reading glasses were on the white mare’s face with a few wrinkles under her eyes. She was clearly a bit worn from all of her work over the years, but she didn’t look terrible by any means. “Hello!” she responded with her best effort to sound in high spirits, “What can I do for you, officers?” I continued. “Yes, we’re looking for a pony named Inky Rose. You worked with her in the past, right?” She blinked, and hesitated to reply as if she was concerned. “Uh...yes, well. I may have…” Corkscrew cleared things up fairly quickly. “Oh no, no. Don’t worry! She’s not in trouble,” he said with a nervous smile, “We’re not after her or anything. In fact, we’re concerned for her well-being.” “Oh my,” Rarity replied with an even more concerned set of eyes, “Whatever happened? Can you explain?” There was only so much I was able to divulge to another citizen when it came to situations like this. If a bystander had too much information, it could very well endanger the life of that bystander because the enemy would usually tend to tie up loose ends whenever possible. This included things such as witness accounts. With that in mind, I said what I could. “It’s a matter of her safety, ma’am,” I spoke candidly, professionally, “Let’s just say that we think she may have been involved in something regarding a certain somepony’s lust for power.” “Ah…” Rarity’s eyes dropped, and she rubbed one of her hooves into the floor. She didn’t look disappointed in my lack of clarity, though. If I had to guess, I’d wager she was eerily familiar with the scenario that I had described. As a result, she was now afraid for the security of her former business partner. “I know what that’s like. All the ghastly and tacky, eugh, villains that have tried to take over Equestria in the past have wanted nothing but ‘more power’ this and ‘ultimate magical encapsulation’ that.” She put a hoof to her forehead in dramatic fashion. “Uck! It’s quite annoying, wouldn’t you agree?” Looked like the years certainly didn’t put a damper on her personality, that was for sure. It was nice to see, really. “Indeed. And right now, we’re currently dealing with somepony that makes use of underhooved tactics in order to deceive the masses and gain power through what they think is right.” Corkscrew chimed in right after. “That’s why we need to know if you know where Inky Rose lives. This is important for not only her safety, but the safety of everyone in Ponyville. Possibly the world at large, even!” “Hmmm…” the elder white unicorn sister, tapped her hoof on the ground as she thought about something. Was she going to help us? Was she on our side? Who knew, honestly. It was about two minutes before she suddenly gasped. “Ah! I remember now, wait one moment, please!” she held up her hooves and urged us to be patient before she dashed back into the room. Cork and I exchanged a look of confusion, and took a peek into the mare’s bedroom. Fairly standard, honestly. Massive bed, books to read on a desk, a shelf filled with sewing supplies, a guitar, a pair of skis, and a buckball over in the corner. Huh. Guess she had a wide array of hobbies. My eyes drifted over to her desk once more, and I could just make out a framed photo that sat upon it. Probably her special somepony that Sweetie Belle mentioned earlier. But wait... Was that...that was the earth pony stallion with the magical--! My thoughts were interrupted when Rarity suddenly appeared before us in her bedroom doorway with a magazine. “Okay, I don’t exactly know where she lives, but I know where she works.” She used her magic to levitate the magazine over to me, and I grabbed it. I took a moment to look at the cover. On it was Inky Rose lying down in a rather seductive pose while surrounded by dozens and dozens of black roses. She wore a black, fishnet bodysuit that left nothing to the imagination. But when I read the name of the store for which she worked, everything became clear. “‘Hot Trotic’? Seriously? I thought the youths despised these places?” “Oh, nonono!” Rarity waved her hoof, “It’s a rather...counterchic sort of place. It’s where I got inspiration for my amazing punkish design. Take a look!” She levitated another magazine over, this one from about two decades ago. The cover had Rarity on it. But instead of her usually swirly manestyle, she had a leather jacket on with her mane all frizzed out and colored with green, purple, and yellow. She even wore a spiky hoof bracelet to make it all come together. I couldn’t lie, it was beautiful. I could certainly see Cheerilee pulling off the look. Right, right. Had to focus. Corkscrew took a closer look at the magazine I held onto. “Hot Trotic, huh? I know that place! It’s like...in the middle of town, somewhere near the other shops--dammit.” He huffed, and hovered in the air while he folded his hooves. “I’ve only been there once, so I’m not sure where it is exactly.” Rarity giggled. “Hmhmhm! Don’t worry about that. The address is right there on the cover, darling.” She pointed to the set of numbers on the front page. “I do hope that this assists you gentlecolts in your investigation. Please, do let me know of what happens to her once you’re finished, yes?” I nodded, and stuffed the magazine into my coat. “I’ll be able to tell you what I can, ma’am. Don’t worry. Get yourself some rest, and have a nice day, okay? Come on, Cork. Let’s move.” “Bye-bye, now! Oh, and if you’re ever in the mood for a new trench coat, come back, and I can fix one up for you!” Rarity called out as she waved. “Good luck!” Corkscrew landed, and trotted after me. “Thank you, very much.” I heard her bedroom door shut as we walked down the stairs. Sweetie Belle asked us about what happened with her sister and whether or not we managed to find any information, but from this point, I exercised confidentiality. Once the case was cleared, then I would offer transparency to the public. “...aw,” the younger unicorn sister said with a frown, then nodded, “But I get it. It’s probably not my place to know yet. Good luck, you guys!” Once again, we appreciated, and accepted her words with a smile as we left. Now we were on our way to this Hot Trottic place. A store that I never even knew existed, and one that Corkscrew had apparently been to before. Oh just what wonders could await us at such a place...I wondered. Hm. But as we walked, Corkscrew found time to reminisce yet again. “Unknown territory, huh? Just like our time down in Val Verdneigh, eh boss?” he nudged me with a snicker. “We nearly raided the--” I shook my head with a small grin and interrupted him. “Oh shush. Don’t bring that up…” “But we were so cool!” Nearby… “I’ve got my eye on you, Vestige. Don’t try and do anything involving that bug or you’re gonna be pounded...into a timeout that is.”