//------------------------------// // Subject 111: A Welcome Respite // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// Well then. For the sake of not drawing ire from the School of Friendship’s Principal (Starlight), I didn’t do any major case-related activities for a few days. I lied low so that I could both relax and keep a close watch over the town. No major incidents. Hm. Maybe I was being a bit skittish. But even so, Cheerilee’s reunion was something that I couldn’t just leave unprotected. Oh, and Fleur had been taken to Ponyville’s local Hospital. Moondancer was notified, and would be arriving soon to come check on her. The day of the Reunion arrived, and I got ready to attend the casual event. Instead of my usual coat, I put on a green polo with white leaves--a bit of an off-duty look. Yeah, it did suit me. I stretched each hoof out, and buttoned it up. Okay, now I just needed to… Knock-knock A rather calm tap was at my door. I went to answer it, and found Cozy. “Oh. Hey kid. What’s up?” “Pops, it’s...mind if I come in?” I stood aside. “Not a problem. What’s going on?” We both sat down at the couch with some hot tea. Cozy began to explain her piece with a worried pair of eyes. “Okay...Cheerilee told me about the Class Reunion today, and invited me. I immediately realized that the concentration of love may be at risk. But I’m sure you already knew that, yes?” she asked. Ever the strategic one. Nothing got past Cozy when it came to formulating plans of attack and defense. “I did know already, but...something about it doesn’t feel right,” I replied with a quick sip of my teacup. “I don’t know. I can’t explain it, but…” The young pegasus looked down, and spoke some truth to me. “You think that it’s not the true target, is that it? But you’re too afraid to leave the situation unattended, so you know you’re gonna wanna guard it.” I said nothing. That young mare read me like an open book. She went on. “And you know that, deep down, you desperately wanna defend Cheerilee and her class. But at the same time, you can’t be biased and leave the rest of the town at risk of being attacked so you’re mentally split since you know you can’t be in more than one place at any given time.” I sighed. She was right once more. Yet again, I couldn’t form a proper response since I knew that she knew me well. Down to a perfect T even. “And yet you feel annoyed by Starlight. You don’t want to show her your hoofful of playing cards because the very moment you get involved, your reputation is at risk.” She put her teacup down, and put her hooves together. “Okay then. From this point on, allow me to help you make a plan.” “...A plan?” I finally responded after my long silence. “Kid...what are you talking about?” I shifted my eyes over to her without really turning my head, “It’s like you just said. The very minute I get involved, I’m at risk for tanking myself and your public perception. That’s not something I’m going to put on the line. Things are too dire to act recklessly.” Cozy paused. She must have been thinking about something very tense since she remained silent for a long while. “Okay. Clearly this entire situation has gotten out of hoof. Pale is so concerned about his public perception that he feels as if he’s on eggshells while he’s working. I can’t blame him since he’s been through a lot, and is guided by his own sense of justice instead of his emotions. But what if we could somehow harness his inner justice and...yes, that’s it!” I couldn’t tell what she was thinking precisely, but I could sense the mental gears turn within her head. That young mare was planning something. And I wasn’t sure if I should have been scared or excited. “What’s your current objective, pops?” she asked with a focused gaze. I turned my head to fully face her. “As of right now? I need to wait on the results of what Moondancer has accomplished with the individuals that were affected by Neighsay’s work. But with him dead, we can’t exactly find out as much as we could have. But anyway, she’s supposed to be sending me a letter.” “I see,” Cozy went on, “And today is the School Reunion for the local Schoolhouse, right? You’re going to be there for Cheerilee?” I nodded. “Absolutely. I intend to be there to see how much her job has changed her and her students over the years. As her...stallion--it’s something that I simply want to do.” Cozy looked at me with a smile. “Then go on! Be there for her.” “But...what about everyone else? What about the safety of the town at large?” Cozy replied with quite the alarming derision. “Don’t worry about it. My friends and I will be on the lookout for anything crazy. And Thorax’s local changelings will report anything suspicious to us.” Now that just sounded ludicrous. How was such an idea going to be executed? “To you? How?” “Well...don’t get mad but,” she tapped her hooves together and her eyes shifted upwards and to the left. This was not good. “I may have convinced Flurry Heart and her dad to let her help me out.” Her eyes focused upon me once more along with a toothy smile and a plush toy squeak sound. “...You what?!” I didn’t know whether to flip my lid or congratulate her. For the moment, I chose to hear her out. “Since when?” She giggled. “Well...a few days ago, actually. I knew you would know that our enemy would probably have their own plan of attack, so I sent an express letter to Flurry to ask for her help. Shining Armor--with a bit of convincing from his wife--agreed to send Flurry down to assist by making use of her emotion-based magic.” While the idea was sound, there were two problems. First off: Flurry’s power being a detrimental flame for these disgusting moths to gather to. The second: If Shining and Cadance knew, then Twilight probably knew. And if Twilight knew, then Starlight and Trixie… “Um...won’t that compromise--” But Cozy interrupted me with a confident smirk. “Don’t even worry about what Starlight thinks. That’s what’s causing you half your problems. You just need to take a deep breath, and relax.” She leaned back against the couch, and looked up at the ceiling. “Besides, she’s way more concerned with the possibility of pony slave trade going on outside the country. I highly doubt she’s immature enough to throw a fit over Flurry visiting Ponyville.” That was a good point. Starlight was far more intelligent than she appeared at first glance. Because of that, I knew she would be more focused on other, more pressing matters at hoof when it came down to it. Cozy really knew how to put me at ease, didn’t she? I cracked a smile. “Alright, then. If you and Flurry know what you’re doing alongside Thorax, then I’m not worried. In fact, I feel safer knowing that loads of good changelings live here so that they can possibly sniff out any bad ones.” In a weird twist, she put her hoof upon my head. “There ya go, big guy! All you need to focus on is Cheerilee and meeting her students. You’ve already met the Crusaders, so the rest may shock you.” Wait what? From the way she said that, it sounded as if she already knew a bit about those old students. Did she already get to know some of them? “Oh? Have you met a few? Aside from the Crusaders, Diamond, and Silver that is.” She nodded with a little wave of her hoof for the ‘so-so’ gesture. “Ehhh...kinda. You’ll see when you get there.” With a flap of her wings, the young mare hopped off the couch. “Now come on, pops! You got a reunion to attend! Oh and don’t worry, you look great in that Leaf Polo.” I rose from the couch, and looked down at myself. “Oh? Guess that’s good to know, heh. So you’ll be with Flurry the whole time, yeah?” “That’s right. I’m not gonna do anything crazy or out of order while you’re out,” she trotted over to the door, and I followed to make sure she was safe on her way out. “Got that? Anything else?” I shook my head, and watched her leave off the porch. “Nah. That’s all. Have a good day, Cozy.” “Heehee! You know I will when Flurry’s around. See ya!” she waved, and flew off back to her home. Well that was much simpler than I expected. Now that that was established, I could get back to-- “Sir!” a voice called out from around the corner. I turned to see who it was, and found two unicorn mares. Fleur, and an annoyed Moondancer. The sweater-clad unicorn rolled her eyes. “Make it quick. We need to get you back to Canterlot as soon as possible.” “Yes, yes of course. Ahem,” Fleur responded to Moondancer before she looked at me. “Mr. Vestige. I just want to extend a hoof of gratitude towards you--and your friends. Through my actions, I came to realize that beauty isn’t allowing somepony else to profit off of you while you sit idle. It’s about making a difference for yourself.” I was confused for a moment, but responded with a soft smile and a nod. “That’s right. Above all else, you should strive to do your best regardless of how difficult things will get. So what will you do now that you’ve understood your faults?” “I still want to show off my art to the world,” she said shyly, “Through...flowers. I’ve always loved the way they look, feel and smell in my hair. But making art out of them is something I’ve always wanted to pursue. Though, I couldn’t due to being stuck in my career as a model and having to pose for cameras day and night…” she trailed off and grit her teeth. “...I suppose that, looking back, it wasn’t much of a job. It was more like...glorified prison.” Well, I wouldn’t have jumped that far to make a comparison, but it wasn’t exactly invalid. Models were not able to do what they wanted and were shackled by social, beauty, and management standards. It was a fickle thing to deal with. And if Fleur no longer desired to be a part of it, she had every right to search for a new career path. “That’s wonderful,” I replied, “I’m glad my crew and I could help you realize that. But please, don’t go telling everypony that we were the ones that changed your life. It was all on you at the end of the day.” Surprisingly, she accepted my words with no hesitation. “Understood. I will not needlessly praise your actions with empty words, then. Instead, I shall give you this,” she reached into her saddlebag via magic, and levitated a small black box over to me. “Hm?” I tilted my head, and looked inside. It was filled to the brim with small bars of platinum! There were at least 50 bars in there too! Platinum was almost always worth twice as much as gold was. And gold bars alone were worth hundreds of bits. Needless to say, I nearly passed out where I stood. “Um….” Fleur bit her lip, and figeted her hooves by rubbing one over the other. “I...I apologize. It’s a very tacky way to say ‘thank you’ but it’s the only way I know how…” she explained as she looked down. “I even did the same for both of your friends. You all deserve time to yourselves and your families.” Oh no, I was more than grateful. I put on a wide smile, and a hoof on her shoulder. “...The fact that you realize your mistake and desire to apologize is more than enough. But please, I can’t take--” She cut me off, and shook her head. “You must take them, please! Don’t worry about me, I have thousands more at home. Give some to a charity that you like and use some on yourself, hm?” Since when was she--you know what? I wasn’t going to question it. The mare was already improving on her social skills, so I wasn’t about to critique her now. “...Understandable. Thank you so much, Fleur. I hope you have a prosperous time as you pursue your new life path.” “I will. Thank you very much, Mr. Vestige. And have a prosperous life yourself,” she took a bow, and turned away, “I’m ready to go, Moondancer.” She rolled her eyes. “Finally. Let’s go. Oh, and Pale--once I finish my tests, I’ll mail you my results.” “Got it,” I said with a wave of my hoof, “Have a safe ride home, you two.” “Byyyye!” FDL replied in the distance, much to the chagrin of Moondancer. I shut the door, and stared down at the box of platinum bars. Such a generous, wonderful gift that showed that there was still hope left in this heinous world. I made sure to put them away in a safe place for whenever I may have needed them. They were certainly going to come in handy when I started to prepare for things like birthdays, anniversaries, weddings...heh. Weddings. Yeah right. But for now? I had a class reunion to attend.