//------------------------------// // Subject 148: Forming A Plan // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// After we finished explaining the whole situation to Moondancer, we would ask her a very important question next. “So...what do you intend to do with her?” I asked, “Keep her locked away in that box forever?” She adjusted her glasses with a hoof. “More than likely. If she’s on the outside, she runs the risk of causing trouble to others or escaping again, and we can’t have that. If she still has any valuable information to divulge, then we need to hold her captive as tightly as possible.” As much as I somewhat disagreed, there was a good point behind such a notion. We absolutely could not trust her to stay put, nor could we reliably assume that other individuals won’t come after her for the information she knew. As of this moment, Elytra was placed within an advanced form of witness protection. It was a bit odd when I phrased it in such a way, but you have to do what you have to do. “Alright then, ma’am,” Flash Drive responded first, “The sooner we can work together, the better the outcome of the situation will be.” Moondancer gave an unimpressed roll of her eyes. “Uh...huh. Right. At any rate, I suppose there are worse things in the world than working with you all. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, from what little I know about Grogar, he does have a weakness.” Well now, this could very well change the game! I had to choke on my enthusiasm to avoid putting her off. “Erm, really? And just what might that be, pray tell?” “Pfft,” she scoffed in a nonchalant fashion, “If I knew it, I’d have gone out and beaten him myself. Unfortunately, all I know is that he has a weakness. What that weakness is, is a mystery as of this moment.” Pity, though not unexpected. We couldn’t honestly stand by and have all the answers handed to us on a silver platter, now could we? At any rate, I did appreciate her assistance. Flash Drive and I were able to take it from there. “Well regardless, your support won’t go unnoticed,” I said, “What are friends for, after all?” I must have misstepped. She took a step back and tried to hide the disgust that she desperately wanted to show. “Uch--I mean, I wouldn’t go that far just yet. We barely know each other. That hardly qualifies as friends.” From behind me, I heard Flash Drive do his best to stifle his laughter. I simply nodded, and walked her to the door. “Understandable. Have a nice day, Moondancer.” “Yeah...you too, I suppose,” she replied as she stepped out of the door. But she stopped before she left the porch, "Oh and by the way, what was that drink you gave Elytra to make her more cooperative?" "Oh that?" Drive replied and looked at the kitchen, "That was just a potion I cooked up." "...Potion?" she asked with a bit of hesitant surprise, "What are you part Zebra or something?" "Yes, actually," he said in a rather snappy manner. Moondancer took a moment to ponder that little detail. "...Huh. Impressive. Anyway, see ya." And with that, she left. I turned around and looked at Flash Drive. “She’s a piece of work isn’t she?” “Oi, you can say that again, mate,” he commented with a chuckle, “But now ain’t the time to worry about the small peckin’s. I’ll get back to that later.” I went in for another tease. “And by that, you mean you’ll ask her out later. Right?” I was about to laugh, but he pulled me towards him with his magic. “Bruv. This ain’t the time for jokes! We need to focus!” It was funny to see him react in such a way, but he was right. Ultimately, we needed to look carefully at all of the evidence we’ve gathered up to this point before we made a decision on what to do next. With that in mind, I explained to him my plan. “In essence, we need more info from Cozy,” I started off, “She apparently knows quite a bit about Grogar from Tirek. And honestly...I don’t know if we’re prepared.” He tilted his head with a concerned frown. “Eh? What are ya on about, Pale?” “I mean that I believe there’s more to Grogar than what any of us realize. I mean, he’s known as the Father of Monsters and took the form of a Ram. But what is he exactly?” My unicorn companion looked even more confused. He even took a moment to sit down on the couch as he processed what I said. “Wait a sec, wait a sec. Run that by me again?” I sat down with him, and went on. “What I’m saying is that Grogar himself may not be what the legends say. Yes, we know he’s apparently the one behind the creation of the monsters that roam the land. And he also apparently had the ability to gain power from fear itself. So much so that he freed himself from banishment with a magic blast so powerful, it had the force of--and I quote, ‘more than a thousand armies.’ According to Gusty’s own book.” The mental gears began to turn in Flash Drive’s head as he nodded slowly. “Ah...I feel ya now. You’re thinkin’ that Grogar might be a complete freak of nature, eh? One that we, as mortals, simply can’t fathom.” “Pretty much,” I said with a slight shudder in my voice, “He’s a being of fear, powered by fear, and channels fear into the minds of his enemies. Unlike King Sombra who was an innocent soul corrupted by a power that he couldn’t comprehend, Grogar is quite simply a beast of terror. One that can’t simply be ‘beaten’ on his own. He’s something that needs to be purged from existence entirely.” “...Now that sounds like straight bollocks, mate,” Drive retorted with a scowl, “Don’t tell me you’ve already given into the fear of it. That’s exactly what the crummy old bugger wants.” I paused, and slowly shook my head. “...No. You’re right. I can’t give into despair now.” He patted me on the back. “That’s right, lad. Now, what’s our next move?” “Honestly? I think we need to confront Mane-iac ourselves and take back that power that she didn’t rightfully earn so we can use it against Grogar.” Drive’s eyes nearly bulged out of his face. “Wait--wait a sec now bruv. Are ya sure that that’s a good idea?” He levitated a notepad and started to scribble some equations down onto it. “First off, you’re assumin’ that we have the chops to take her down. Then, you’re assumin’ you can take control of the power she has without goin’ barkin’ mad. And then you’re assumin’ you can take down Grogar who may not even exist to us on the same mortal level because he may be an eldritch abomination.” He flipped the notepad around to me, with his various numbers and symbols written down and a big fat ‘NO’ written at the bottom right of the yellow paper. “Forgive me, but there’s reckless and then there’s plump idiotic.” Yes, I had to admit. It was an insane concept. To take back the magical abilities that were stolen to begin with and use them to forge a path towards erasing such a beast from the world. But if I was going to ensure a safe place, free of corruption and hatred for myself, Cozy, and everypony that lived, I had to do my job as an officer and work towards the path I believed in: the law. “Don’t worry, buddy. Ultimately, I have a plan to set everything into motion. And I’m gonna need your help.” Drive couldn’t help but sigh. “Uch...this better not end up like the time we got sent to Puerto Caballo.” “Now hang on a minute, I didn’t start that fight! Besides, we managed to capture the leader of the uprising, didn’t we?” “Yeah, but mate. Did you really have to start singin’ ‘Macarena’ on the beach as a distraction?” “Oh come on!” I folded my hooves, “It’s the top song that the locals of Caballo enjoy! It was the perfect number to sing while you and Neon handled business on your end!” Drive chuckled, and sighed. “Hehe...whatever you say, Pale.” He wasn’t going to let that go, was he?