//------------------------------// // Subject 151: Seedy Information // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// We went inside my house to discuss what Babs came to report. It was...quite the doozy of an explanation to say the least. To make an overly long story painfully short, Babs let me know that the ponies that worked for Svengallop were banished to Tartarus after they were given a trial. They were still attempting to engage in criminal activity and organize a prison escape after they had been formally arrested. So Tartarus was the next step for them. Since they had a trial and tried to cause more trouble with more attempted murder via the prison break, I couldn’t exactly fault this decision. It seemed logical. Except...what happened in Tartarus wasn’t. “...dey bodies was found empty and lifeless durin’ the latest patrol down there,” she explained, “Some kinda corruption is def goin’ on.” Given that corruption within Tartarus is what led Cozy down her initial path of hatred in the first place, it wasn’t that hard to believe. Being around those other villains and Grogar (who was Discord in disguise), really didn’t help her case. I was honestly very lucky to be able to set her free to give her another chance. But that was beside the point. “So you’re saying we have even more cases of criminal deaths within their sentencing?” I put it into simplistic terms, “Diabolical. Tartarus is a breeding ground for that sort of stuff, so I’m not surprised. What I am surprised about is how you know about this.” Babs flicked the hair out of her face with a quick whip of her neck. “Hmph. Let’s just say I got muhself a few...contacts to the undaworld, yeah?” That was rather ominous. “...Don’t get into trouble for crazy things, BS.” She let out a small chuckle. “Hehehe. Relax, dawg. My crew and I be takin’ old stuff from the rich folk dat take things fo’ granted and repurpose ‘em for the poor kids that ain’t got nothin’.” I raised a brow, and performed air quotes with my hooves. “And by ‘taking,’ you surely mean asking politely and obtaining these items legally, correct? And if so, what types of items?” “Wh--of course, we is!” Babs glared at me with quite the offended frown, “We don’t nevah rob nobody, Pale. Das hypocritical. Anyway, we look fo’ things like clothes and toys that ponies would be fixin’a throw out, and make ‘em into new stuff for da orphans.” Well now, how unexpected. I thought Babs only wanted to pursue a career in the art of mane-styling. But it appeared that she desired something more. Given that we grew up in the same run-down part of Manehattan, I could relate to her on a heavy level. Though, she was very lucky to have a family in her Aunt and Uncle Orange that took care of her when things got bad. I wasn’t so lucky. “How adorable,” I replied, “I hope things turn out better for the foals over there. Lord knows the types of things that their families have to go through when things get rough.” She sighed, and shook her head. “Tell me about it.” She then looked up at me. “But enough about dat. I gots reason to believe that whateva criminal yous is afta has somethin’ to do with them deaths.” I sighed. Part of me felt as if they deserved it for following a crazed, maniacal pony and continuing to perform illegal, heinous acts upon the innocent. At the same time, however, I was sick of this. All of this needless bloodshed, even against criminals needed to stop. Everyone should have the right to live out their punishment and potentially learn from their mistakes. If they didn’t, and continued to repeat those mistakes without a care in the world. Well...the diplomatic process of execution was in place for a reason. Yes. I was hypocritical. Killing Svengallop without a proper trial would never leave my mind as one of the most idiotic mistakes that I could have ever made. But the main difference is that I learned from them and would seek to never repeat them for as long as I drew breath. “Curious,” I muttered, and leaned back against the couch, “I wonder why this hasn’t been reported on yet.” Babs shrugged with her hooves in the air. “Ey, don’ look at me, boss. I’m just a messengah. Fa now, whatcha gonna do next?” “Considering that Mane-iac is going to make her move soon, I’m going to head to Hollow Shades and see what I can dig up. If I get lucky, my crew and I can take her down before things get bad.” She put a hoof on my shoulder. “Bud, I’ve known ya since we was foals on the streets. Yous a tough nut to bust. So for the sake of those around ya...please try not to do nothin’ crazy, alright?” That was nice. To see her express concern for me despite her rocky outer shell. She was like the slightly older sister I wish I had. “Heh. Don’t worry. I’d never disappoint my friends. After all, somepony has to keep the streets of Manehattan clean while I’m away,” I said with a cheeky smile. This got a rare laugh out of her. “Ahaha. Good’un. But for real, stay true to yaself. If I could help ya, I would but I got, uh…” she looked down and away from me. “Otha things I’m dealin’ with.” There was no way I’d even allow her to be involved. “Absolutely not. You deserve to be able to live comfortably--as well as all of those other city kids living in the slums that have nopony to care for them. Keep doing what you do best, and I’ll keep doing what I do best. Deal?” I raised my hoof to offer a hoofbump. She looked back up at me with her trademark smug expression, and bumped my hoof with her own. “Deal. Keep yaself safe, brudda. Got a lotta folks rootin’ for ya back home.” Huh? Since when did I have a fan club? “Excuse me?” I asked, “Are there really ponies back home who--” A realization came to me, and I narrowed my eyes at her with a subtle glare. “...Don’t tell me you’ve been glorifying my job.” Babs had snickered to herself for the last few seconds which carried over into her reply. “Heheno! Well, not really. I was just tellin’ some of the ponies down at the old folks’ home about ya and how ya fightin’ for a peaceful life for dem and dey grandkids.” She rubbed her hooves together in a nervous fashion. “And I may have also kinda sorta told the orphan kids also.” I fell silent for a moment. She tried to console me. “H-Hey now! Aren’tcha tryin’a set a betta example for the youngstas and show ‘em that they have the right to fight for what dey wanna fight for instead’a lazin’ around and followin’ what the majority says?” Well, it worked. She was right. I did want to provide that example for others to follow so we wouldn’t have such complacency in our society anymore. That is exactly what breeds so many destructive forces that we constantly have to rely on the alicorns to bail us out of in the first place. If we can’t protect ourselves, then who will? “I suppose you have a point,” I said with a shrug, “Just don’t go around talking like I’m the next alicorn prince or something.” “Ya shittin’ me?” She laughed that off completely. “Ain’t no way I’m sayin’ nuttin’ like dat.” “Good. As long as we understand each other.” So now, I essentially had two different directions that I could take this investigation in. The one, and most obvious was towards Hollow Shades where Mane-iac claimed that she would be waiting for us. The other was a bit more subtle. Tartarus was a place that not many had dared to go. With this newfound information from Babs, it seemed like a logical place to travel next. One also had to consider that the threat about Hollow Shades could very well easily be yet another diversion to throw me off course and commit some heinous atrocity behind my back. Decisions, decisions, decisions...