Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49


Subject 144: Investigate The Scene

No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Wait, no...I knew how and why. The entire time we had been focused on dealing with Mane-iac, the real threat went ahead and made their move. There was no time for this. I had to focus on her first.

“Is she alright?” I asked Sentry, “Where is she right now?!”

“According to the report, she was at her home when it happened,” he explained, “But I don’t know much beyond that. You’ll have to go see for yourself.”

I groaned, and stomped my hoof into the floor. “Gah...but...hmph.”

Twilight would speak up next, “Pale. Go home, and check on her. I’ll start to work on gathering intel towards whatever Mane-iac and her superior is planning. If we can finally find out who the cause is behind all of this, then Equestria’s modern threats will be put to rest.”

Well, there was no way I could reasonably refuse that. After all, the pony that I considered my daughter was in some sort of unknown danger. And to think, I wanted to offer her something important, but there was no time. There was never any damn time.

“Understood,” I said, “I’ll head there immediately. Drive, Guts--care to join me?”

The unicorn stallion trotted up next to me. “Never in a million years would I leave you out to dry, mate. I’ll be right with you.”

The red pegasus flew into the air. “What he said. Now let’s get going before anything else happens.”

“Agreed,” I said, then turned to Twilight, “If anything happens, then please let me or someone in my squad know.”

“Absolutely,” she replied, and pointed to the door, “Now get going. We have no idea what just happened with Cozy. Time is of the essence here.”

With that, we were off. Drive, Guts, and I took the next available train ride out of Canterlot, and went back to Ponyville without hesitation.


As soon as the train came to a stop, we took off, and sprinted into the town.

“Alright, mate,” Flash Drive said as we ran through town (though Guttersnipe flew), “Which way is her home?”

“This way!” I made a hard right turn, and skid along the ground which kicked up some dust. After which, we bolted down the road and came upon the address that Cozy stayed at. Everything looked normal from the outside. No signs of forced entry--which made it all the more confusing.

Guttersnipe shared, and lamented this thought. “The heck? It was broken into, but everything looks fine?”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Flash Drive said as we slowed down to a stop near the front door. “Get in position, everyone.”

We all took up a breach formation near the front door. Drive and Guts were both near the frosted, icy windows, ready to breach as expected. I gave a silent nod to the both of them, and we commenced our assault.

I slowly opened the front door to find a messy living room. Okay, this was more in line with what I expected. Vases broken, the dining room chairs flipped over, the carpet ripped to shreds. Everything was a mess.

Flash Drive used his magic to open both windows which he and Guttersnipe slowly crawled through. We shut the door, and locked the windows back immediately after. As expected, Flash created precautionary barriers with his magic around the scene all in a cyan hue. These barriers would be deactivated later so that we could gather evidence. Even the floor was coated in a light blue shield that allowed us to walk through, and survey the home without interfering with any potential evidence.

Once that was done, we kept quiet, and kept going. It wasn’t until we reached the stairs that things started to pick up.

“...”

My pupils shrank as I stared at the staircase. Patches of blood all along the steps that led up to the top. To say that this terrified me would be the understatement of the century.

But I felt a hoof on my shoulder. Flash Drive comforted me with that honest face of his.

I said nothing in response. All I did was look down at the floor as he created the magical barrier to keep the evidence from being tarnished. Once that was done, we all carefully walked up the steps, and Drive continued to make the magic shields beneath our hooves.

That’s when I noticed the blood trail lead to one of the particular doors. It had to have been Cozy’s bedroom. Just like we did with the front door, we took our breach positions. If this was a trap, we absolutely did not want to fall victim to it.

I slowly, and carefully opened the door. And that’s where we found Cozy--the sight of which made my heart drop. She was scuffed, and scraped up with a lot of cuts all over her body. It wasn’t anything fatal, but it was enough to spook me for sure.

“...wh...C-Cozy…?” I mumbled through a pair of restless lips that quivered as though the cold air of the wintry weather had invaded my body. “Who...who could have…?”

This time, it was Guttersnipe’s turn to comfort me. While she didn’t communicate verbally, I could tell by the strained, sorrowful look in her eyes that she wanted me to remain focused on the matter at hoof so that we didn’t lose our minds.

Of course I was upset. But in this instance, now more than ever, I needed to reign in my personal feelings, and keep a professional aura. With newfound resolve, I shook it off and gave them orders.

“Guttersnipe, get her to the hospital immediately. Carry her as gently as possible, got it?”

She saluted, and picked up the pink mare to put her onto her back. “Understood, boss. I won’t waste time.” With that, she carried Cozy downstairs, and into the snowy weather towards Ponyville Hospital.

I looked at Drive next. “You know what to do.”

“Gather evidence, and notify the rest of your crew?” he asked with a confident smile, “On top of it, mate. You get down there to that hospital and make sure Cozy’s okay. Cork and Quick will be down here soon.”

I nudged his shoulder. “That’s why I can count on you. I’ll see you later.”


Nurse Redheart greeted me at the hospital. Guttersnipe had already taken her there, and she was placed in intensive care.

“She’ll be fine after some rest,” the white doctor mare explained to me, “Try not to lose your head, okay? It’s times like this where you need to be strong, and stay calm.”

I nodded, and went back to the waiting room to sit next to the red pegasus. “Hey, buddy. Everything okay?”

I sat with my hooves against my cheeks. “Yeah, for the most part. I just...gah.”

“...You think that she was attacked on purpose. Because she knows more than we realize and our enemy wants to send us a warning,” she said as she leaned over to me, “Am I close, Pale?”

Another nod. She pretty much hit the nail on the head. “Yeah...but there’s nothing to do now except wait until she’s better to ask about what happened.”

The red pegasus leaned back into her seat. “Good point. Until then, let’s relax, okay?”

“Alright…”

Easier said than done.