Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49


Subject 161: Our Power

“Aw lighten up, wouldja?” Babs retorted with an annoyed roll of her eyes, “All of us wanted to know what was happenin’ down here and now we wanna fight too.”

Lightning Dust was taken aback by this statement. “Wait what? For real? I didn’t think we’d actually be thrown into a war.”

Babs opted to tease her. “What’s the matta? Got cold wings granny?”

“Wh--I’m only like, forty-something years old!” the pegasus snapped back, “Not even close to being somepony’s grandma.”

“Then you’ll help us, won’tcha?”

“Absolutely,” Dust said, “I’m not gonna waste this chance if it means that I can fight for a cause.”

Tempest spoke up in agreement. “That’s precisely why we’re here, Twilight. Whether or not you allow Pale to make use of that power, we’re all going to stand and fight for the sake of our home. What do you have to say about this?”

Moondancer didn’t say a word. She simply made casual observations as usual.

The princess sighed, and used a flash of her magic and conjured the jar of miniature gray magical torrent in front of herself. “After some careful observations, I have deduced that this magic was created to buff others so that they could have greater strength, greater speed, and greater endurance. It’s not a form of magic that is known to ponies. So I don’t feel comfortable with--”

But just then, she was interrupted once more by another voice. “Let him make use of it, Twilight. If we don’t make use of what we got, then we’ll be dead as disco before this even begins.”

We all looked around, and Twilight called out. “Uh, who said that?”

Vinyl ‘de-cloaked’ after having been invisible against the nearby wall of the throne room for what seemed like the entire time. “It’s me, Twiggles. And before you freak out, I slipped in here when the guards had the door open.”

At least Moondancer seemed interested for once. “Wow. You gotta teach me how to do that.”

“Vinyl?” Twilight looked at her with a judgemental set of eyes. “Might I ask why you’ve decided to show up? Unannounced.”

“Look, Sparkle--all I’m saying is that I intend to watch Pale’s back during this operation. If he steps out of line, then you can count on me to put him down if need be.”

...How ominous. I didn’t know whether I should’ve felt comforted for her desire to help, or concerned that she’d go all in on that. But to see someone so distinguished have my flank in a time like this, well it was something alright.

I could see the anguish on Twilight’s face. To say that she was conflicted was an understatement. But I could tell that deep, down within herself, she knew that I was more than ready to accept the risks that came along with it.

“...Let’s assume that I allow you to make use of this,” she gestured towards the sealed jar, “If you were to make use of it, could you look me in the eye and promise me that you would only do so for the benefit of those around you?”

There was no time for this. But as much as I disliked it, I suppose there was no other option for the moment. I had to follow her orders if I wanted to get somewhere. So I looked her in the eyes with a cold stare. “Absolutely, Twilight. Not for myself, but for the safety of everyone. Especially Cozy. I have reason to believe that he is after her in particular.”

Twilight raised a brow. “Really? What makes you come to that conclusion?”

“As I explained already, while we were in Tartarus, we were temporarily transformed into foals to experience a sliver of what Cozy did while she was down there. And it was…” I looked down at the floor, “Not pretty to say the least. By process of elimination, I’ve deduced that something about her in particular is what they want. But I’ll never give her up so long as I draw breath.” I looked up at her once more. “With that in mind, I cannot, in good faith, allow Grogar to make his advance. And in order to do so, I need to make use of that magic so that I can not only keep her safe, but prove to the world that we’re all capable of doing anything because we all have our own magic that we can channel for the sake of others around us. No matter if we’re an earth pony, unicorn, pegasus, griffon, dragon, you name it. This is something I am choosing to do whether you allow me to make use of it or not.”

Twilight fell silent for a moment, but finally relented. “Alright, Pale.” I don’t know if it was because of the fact that I convinced her, or if it was due to the fact that she felt bombarded with everyone around her. “You have my permission to make use of this magic to fend off Grogar. On one condition.”

“And that is?”

“Once he’s defeated, I will be stripping this away from you until I decide if you deserve to make use of it permanently or not.” She levitated the jar towards me. “Do we have an understanding?”

I clasped the container with my left hoof. “Of course, Twilight. And I appreciate being given this opportunity.” The thing is, Twilight probably already knew what specific type of magic that was. It was a type of magic developed specifically by earth ponies to enhance the mind, body, and soul. It wasn’t easily tamed nor acquired--which is why Mane-iac received such a significant enhancement from it.

And it’s also why Twilight more than likely allowed me to make use of it.

But me? I knew how to properly manage this miasma.

“Now then…” I opened the jar, and the aura consumed my very being. The gray mass of magic swirled until it was absorbed into my body directly. Nothing on the level of an alicorn transformation or anything, but I still felt it. My heart began to beat once more, the aching from my self-inflicted wound began to heal. But above all else, I knew what had to be done next. “...Perfect.”

BLAM!

With a stomp of my hoof, it produced a shockwave that washed over everyone in the room. They were all granted the enhancements that I had received, and could feel it in their bones.

“Hey…” Lightning Dust commented as she looked over herself--her wings specifically, “I feel like I could fly forever!”

Tempest Shadow was next. She rubbed a hoof at her stump of a horn. “Strange. I have an...odd sensation within me. As if I could make use of other spells.”

Even Moondancer had something to say. “...Yikes. Suddenly I feel like I could come up with twenty arcane recipes at once. Did my memory get better?”

They all glared at me.

“Yeah...about that. I essentially granted you all the same abilities,” I explained with a rather teasing grin.

Corkscrew was first to respond. “Wicked cool! Now we can take down whatever that bozo throws at us!”

“Really?” Twilight gazed at me with a neutral, annoyed expression. “...You couldn’t have just said that was your plan from the start?”

“I would have,” I said with a tip of my hat, “But you wouldn’t have believed me.”

“Of course I wouldn’t have! It’s not every day that you come across an earth pony that can actually pass magic through the Earth!” she rushed at me, and almost tackled me to the floor, “I’m going to need to study this further!”

Vinyl Scratch cleared her throat.

Twilight backed off. “...Once the situation with Grogar has been dealt with, that is. Now let’s get to prepping, everyone. We have to be ready for the worst if we’re going to deal with the Father of Monsters.” “I bet he knows exactly what that magical power really is. He’s smarter than that.”

All part of the plan.