//------------------------------// // Subject 171: Sky Mission Part III // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// “What do you think, boss?” Cork asked as we headed backstage, “Do you think Jackpot will actually talk to us?” “He practically runs this place,” I responded with confidence, “If anything is going on, anything at all, he’d be the first to notice. The stallion is a magician who tricks everypony's senses for a living. You can’t out-trick the trickster.” The young pegasus didn’t exactly take my word. By his snickers, I ventured that he found it preposterous. “Psshaw. Just how skilled do you think he is? There’s no way that anypony can realistically outdo everything.” “Well, true. Be that as it may, it’s important that we at least get his perspective. He’s probably been here for a long time so who knows what he’s seen.” We showed our badges to the staff, and asked where the stallion was. They directed us towards the dressing rooms. It was down another path behind the stage towards a hallway. We passed by a few doors that were reserved for important names labeled with star-shaped emblems. Coloratura, Photo Finish, Sapphire Shoes, the Ponytones...ah. There it was. Jackpot’s room. “Alright, here we go.” I cleared my throat, and tapped my hoof on the door to knock. “Hello? Mr. Pot? Are you there?” There was no immediate answer. Though I flicked my ear, and could hear some bumpy noises as if someone had worked out. I couldn’t pick up any voices, though. But I decided to give it a minute. People were often busy when they either worked hard or rested harder. Not to mention the life of a magician had to be stressful if one had to constantly come up with new illusions to entertain their audience. Cork and I stood in silence for a bit longer until finally, the door opened. We were greeted with the face of a blue stallion that had quite the spitting similarities to Trixie. Was it more than coincidence? I wondered… Anyhow, he answered with an annoyed tone at first. “What do ya want? I’m not supposed to go on until later.” However, once he realized that we were not his managers, he warmed up to us. “Oh, you’re not--never mind. Who are you two?” We introduced ourselves to him. “Pale Vestige--investigator from Ponyville. And this is my partner Cathartic Corkscrew.” The pegasus tilted his head upwards. “Sup.” “We’re here to ask you a few questions. Don’t worry you’re not being prosecuted for anything. We just need some...eyewitness accounts. Do you mind if we come inside?” His eyes shot open. “Er...give me a moment, alright?” With a slam of the door, he retreated into his room. From there, we heard some more rumbles. It sounded as if his room was an entire hazard waiting to happen with how much clutter that Cork and I could hear. “Yikes,” Cork commented with a scoff, “His room sounds messier than mine when I was little.” I shot him a glare for such a rude thing to say behind someone’s back. “Hey, show some respect. He’s probably been busy.” He replied with a rather curt giggle. “Hehehe. I’m joking. Relax, boss!” Him and his jokes were enough for the time being. I simply rolled my eyes, and waited for the stallion to come back out to us. Soon enough, he returned with a much more relaxed expression. “Come on in, boys. It’s been a while since I’ve had fans come to see me.” We strolled inside. It was a fairly standard celebrity room complete with a vanity, a massive trunk filled with props (likely for his tricks), a manestyling machine, and a couch to relax on. Cork and I took a seat on this couch and Jackpot sat in his vanity’s chair--facing towards us of course. Jackpot wasn’t wearing his usual uniform, which I had to admit was a bit odd at first since I had always seen him in his suit. Without his uniform, he looked scarily like Trixie. Seriously, the resemblance was uncanny. Could it be…? No. Need to stay focused. “Okay, so first and foremost,” I began as I took out my notepad to write down on, “Have you seen or heard any suspicious activity around the resort recently?” “...Define, strange,” he asked while he levitated a pipe up to his mouth, “This is Las Pegasus, son. Crazy things happen here all the time. You’re gonna have to be more specific if you want any details from me.” Corkscrew spoke up next. “To be frank, we’re looking for info regarding any...newly unexpected entries into the casting schedule for the theater and its shows?” “Hrm…” He shut his eyes to think about it for a second. “I’d need to check the schedule. Hold on.” His eyes opened once more, and he used his magic to levitate a book from his vanity’s desk, and opened it. “Let’s see…” “Anything at all, sir,” I did my best to persuade him since any information would be good information. “We can’t afford to run the risk of losing anyone to the chaos of an infiltration. Las Pegasus was already attacked once a few months ago by a--” “Kirin, yes,” he cut me off. “I’m aware of the things that go on around here. Arguably more than the security posted here. Ah, here it is,” he tapped his hoof on a specific page. “Yeah, come to think of it, we had a new hire about a week ago. ‘Spectacle’ was their name. A bit generic, but otherwise nothing really notable about it.” Okay, so maybe my thoughts about the Yak performance were inaccurate. If this was someone on the inside, then clearly they would aim to strike when it was time for them to perform. It was worth a shot. Corkscrew asked pretty much what I had thought of. “I see. Have they gone on stage yet?” Jackpot shook his head. “Nope. I honestly almost forgot about the name because of it. But they’re apparently going on stage this afternoon at...three. Might be worth catching the show if you two wanna find out who they are.” I exchanged a knowing, determined glance with Cork. We both knew what to do. This was our situation. “Thank you very much, sir,” I said as I got up, “Don’t worry about anything else. We’ll handle things from here.” “Oh, that was it?” he spoke in a rather surprised tone, then chuckled, “Heh. And here I thought you’d want my autograph or something.” “Well, if--” Part of me did want to ask, but I stopped myself. I could do that later. Plus, I could feel Cork’s judgemental gaze bore holes into the back of my head. “Maybe once we’re done, sir. We have a job to do.” “No problem,” he said, and turned around towards his vanity mirror, “Take your time. Good luck, gents. Hrm...why does that name sound familiar?”” He mumbled the last bit, so I couldn’t quite make it out. Cork and I walked out of the dressing room, and shut the door. “Wow, Pale,” he said with a somewhat snarky tone, “I’m surprised you were able to resist asking for his signature.” I rolled my eyes. “Quiet, you. We need to focus on this situation. Whoever this ‘Spectacle’ is could possibly be linked to the report that Twilight gave us. So let’s approach this as calmly as possible, yeah? No fighting unless absolutely necessary.” He flapped his wings with a bit of hidden excitement that I could sense. “No problem, boss. We’ll be able to handle this no problem. It’ll be hella memorable too.” Memorable indeed. What happens in Las Pegasus stays in Las Pegasus.