Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49


Subject 127: Winter Festivities 1

I arrived back at my hotel room to meet up with Cheerilee once more. There, she started to question me about the progress I had made.

“Ah, you’re back. What was Cozy’s response to your offer?”

I rubbed the back of my head as I replied. “Well...she seemed pretty invested in helping Stellar Flare out. As we speak, she’s already at her office to communicate her ideas to her.”

Cheerilee clapped her hooves. “Excellent! She’s a perfect little strategist so I would expect nothing less from her.”

While I did appreciate her confidence, I had to be honest. I was still a bit concerned over whether or not she could actually manage. Given how much had to be set up in a matter of two hours...I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried. So I went ahead and explained the situation to Cheerilee so that she could give me her perspective on it.

“...and that all needs to be done by 6PM. Think it’s doable?”

Her eyes went wide. “Oh my...that does sound like a lot to deal with. The fireworks especially. But if there’s anypony that can figure out a good game plan, it’s her.”

I looked down at the floor with a concerned frown. “Yeah...I suppose.”

She put a hoof around my neck, and pressed her cheek against my own. “Shhh. Relax, dear. Cozy is smart and can maneuver through anything she puts her explosive mind to.”

Her words did relieve some of the tension in my heart. Yes, I suppose there was indeed no point to stress over something like that yet. I needed to have more faith in her. She could do this, I knew she could.

So for the moment, I decided to simply enjoy some time with Cheerilee.

“You’re right...ah.” I let out a brisk exhale as I flopped onto the bed while on my back. “When you’ve done nothing but work hard, it gets to be a bit difficult to take a break.”

She joined me with one of her lower hooves draped across my own lower legs. I was essentially trapped beneath her. “Indeed. When I spoke to Cadance about it, she and Shining have apparently not had a break in years.” She put one of her upper hooves on my chest. “We absolutely have to swear that--for the sake of ourselves, our friends, and Cozy--that we won’t end up like that. Understand me?”

I nodded. “Of course. The last thing I want is to end up ready to haul off and kill criminals because of…” I turned my head away from her when I realized what I had said. “Gah…”

She sighed, and used her hoof to cup my chin. She turned my head so I had to face, and make eye contact with her. “Listen...that is in the past now. You need to start looking to the future. Of course, I’m not saying that you should forget about the past completely. Learn from it, and use the past to carve out a better future.”

That was right. I couldn’t let the past define who I was today. I smiled, gave her a more assertive nod. “Of course. I won’t forget that.”

Now the question was: Just how were things going to work under Cozy’s direction? Only one way to find out.


Two hours had passed, and it was time for the festivities to begin. Cheerilee and I headed downstairs and out of the hotel with our coats on so we could experience the show under the cool evening as the sun set over the horizon.

In the middle of the town square, a crowd had started to gather. Flurry Heart and her family were there also. From what I could see, some kind of stage had been erected and a curtain was about to be opened.

“Well now,” I outwardly pondered as we walked towards the center of town. “I wonder just what this could be.”

“Ooh, I bet it’s one of those new sensational pop stars that the foals are into nowadays,” Cheerilee responded with an excited stomp of her hooves.

I rolled my eyes with a bit of pessimism as I grit my teeth. My taste in music was a bit more...eccentric than that of the average pony my age. Dance and electronic themes kind of grated on my ears. I preferred softer, more elegant styles of music like classical and jazz. I could get down to a good saxophone faster than a bunch of bass in my ear.

Don’t tell Vinyl I said that.

“Hrm…” I mumbled in a skeptical fashion, “I just hope it isn’t something...unorthodox.”

Cheerilee flicked her tail. “Hm? Unorthodox, how?”

I shook my head. It would’ve taken too long to explain. “Nah, nevermind. I’m just curious as to what Cozy had planned and how she intends to integrate what she accomplished in just two short hours.”

“Well, we’re about to find out, aren’t we?” Cheerilee continued to walk until we had both joined the crowd.

Once there, we took a good look at the stage. The crowd whooped and hollered as they waited for their promised show. All I could think about was just who was behind that curtain and what sort of music would play. My ears twitched out of concern within the confines of my warm jacket.

No time to turn back, I suppose.

The curtains fell and Coloratura was on stage with her piano and some other bandmates that included Octavia! Without warning, they started to play a sweet melody of holiday music accompanied by a bit of singing from the mare. It was actually a joy to behold, and I honestly couldn’t believe that Cozy had managed to accomplish such a feat in such a short amount of time.

Come to think of it, where was she? In that moment, the crowd had gone nuts for the beautiful display of talent on the stage that she helped provide.

I took a look around until I spotted her at one of the nearby food stands. I decided to run over and see how she fared after all of that.

“Thank you,” I heard her say as she paid the pony for a sugary pretzel. “Oh, hey pops.” She greeted me as she bit into it, “I got a few minutes before I need to check on something else, so make it quick.”

“Okay well first off--just how did you--”

She cut me off. “Get Countess Coloratura to arrive with Octavia in tow? It was simple. Telephones are currently being developed with magical circuits that allow you to talk to another pony that’s super far away. It requires a heavy amount of magic to maintain, so it’s not exactly cheap. Only officials and rich ponies tend to have them at the moment.”

Ah, that made sense. At the office, we made use of much older tech, so this was a bit of news to me. Anyhow, I asked a question, and allowed her to continue. “Stellar Flare has one in her office I assume? And you used it to call Coloratura?”

Cozy nodded, and bit off a bit of her pretzel. “Yup.” She offered some of it to me, and I took a bite from the other end. Wow, that was a lot of sugar. “It cost me about fifty bits to use, but it was worth it. I asked for her help with your name, and she said she’d be more than happy to oblige.”

I took a step back. As flattered as I was from the gesture, I knew that the only reason she accepted was because of what I did to Svengallop. However, I didn’t quite accept this, as my treatment of Svengallop was rushed and out of order. Frankly? My name didn’t deserve to be used in such ways to gain advantages.

“I...see…” was all I could reply with at first.

Cozy tilted her head with a concerned frown. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you happy that I did something good with my strategic thinking skills?”

Oh no. I would not allow her to be disappointed in herself either. The cycle of self-deprecation had to stop. I shook it off, and responded. “What? No, no, no. It’s just...I’m glad you thought carefully about how to approach the situation. But in the future, please don’t...use my name to gain things.”

She got the hint, and bit her lower lip. “Ahh...I’m sorry, pops. I won’t do that ever again. You have my word, okay?” she put a hoof on my shoulder.

I nodded, and accepted her word. I knew I could trust her to be honest with me after all we had been through together. “No problem. Now get going. I wanna see what you’ll do next with that smart little brain of yours.”

Her eyes started to well up with tears before she swiftly rubbed them with her hoof. “Hehe, of course, Pale. Just make sure you look up at the sky when it’s time…” With that, she finished her pretzel and threw the wrapper in a nearby bin. Then she went off towards another building at the end of town.

Gotta love that kid.