//------------------------------// // Subject 177: Debrief // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// Okay so in the end, the mission was kind of...mixed--and that was putting it nicely. While we didn’t manage to capture that monster, we at least managed to save an innocent pony from the clutches of the wrong side. Now I understood exactly why the boss wanted Cozy to stay back for as long as possible. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the absolute destructive prowess that she could manage with all of that power at her disposal. It wasn’t something I wanted to think about either. Oh, right. As to the status of the individuals in question--no one was badly hurt in a physical sense. I’m pretty sure Jackpot and Spectacle were probably going to feel extremely awkward about all of this--especially once Trixie caught wind of it. Yup. It was only a matter of time. Meanwhile, the boss and I had finished our normal procedure as always. We gathered evidence, interviewed witnesses, and discussed with each other about what we found. Once it was all said and done, we exited to the hotel lobby, and sat in silence for a moment. We still needed to speak with Ms. Spectacle--who had been given a room to rest in while she recovered from the strain placed on her body. So I used the opportunity to speak with Pale about what he was forced to endure. My head still spun after all of that. I could barely walk properly, and the pain throughout my midsection all the way down to my pelvis rattled me to my core. To be quite frank, it was the first time I had experienced such an...assault on my senses. I felt weak--powerless even. I was essentially blackmailed by keeping the location of the kid hidden. But Corkscrew really came through for us all. To be honest, I didn’t expect him to employ such a...strange tactic. This mission went on for a bit longer than the last one, but it was still a success. Mostly. I for one, was disappointed in myself. I couldn’t believe that I allowed myself to fall for such a...disgustingly simplistic trap. I was better than that. I knew that I was. But I allowed myself to fall victim to something that basic. Not only that, I was used by some gross entity that took control of another pony’s body for the sake of making another feel bad. While I did enjoy magic shows and adored Jackpot’s work, I couldn’t deny that it was very foolish of him to be so careless. To have a child with somepony and not even realize it? How was that even possible? He should have been more careful. However, it wasn’t entirely his fault--he was unaware of Spectacle’s intentions. At the same time, I couldn’t ignore Spectacle’s missteps either. To go on for so long without so much as mere contact with the stallion she had a child with. Not only was it confusing, but it made her out to be equally careless when it came to taking care of her child. And of course, allying with some weird entity for the sake of revenge was despicable. Though once again, I could not blame her entirely as she had been controlled by a being that caused most of the conflict here. Lastly, the fact that the census records had zero information in reference to Trixie’s background caused many a theory to pop into my head. Did either of her parents falsify documents in order to distance themselves from their child? Did Trixie go back and fudge records so that she wouldn’t have to bear the weight of those that came before her? Or was there an outside party involved? I believed in innocent until proven guilty, but this was very damning. No matter who was involved, tampering with federal documentation was a serious offense that couldn’t be ignored. The only legal method that would be deemed acceptable would be if they divorced, but that still didn’t explain why Trixie was recorded as having “no family” in the Ponyville records. Hrm… “...Pale?” Cork spoke up which broke my train of thought, “Is everything alright? You’ve been oddly quiet for a while.” I didn’t say anything at first--mainly because I wasn’t sure how to put it into words. “Well…” “Boss, what did she do to you?” he leaned forward with a hurt expression behind his eyes, “Did she really…?” I suppose that there was no way to hide it any longer. I opened my coat, and exposed my underbelly which had various welts from a whip. In addition, my neck had severe strained marks from the leash, and my lower body was...just a painful mess. “...Pale...bro….” Corkscrew stared at me, “...How did you manage...what do you think she deserves for this?” I closed my coat, and felt a nervous twitch in the back of my head as I recalled the events. “...I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE! PLEASE! LET US GO!” “Aw, getting tired already? I don’t think I gave you permission to conk out on me. After all, the show is only getting started!” “NO...STOP….GRRRAAAGH!” I felt a cold shiver, and did my best to explain how I felt. “She was being brainwashed by an unknown force--possibly connected to Grogar. I didn’t have a choice but to allow her to do as she wished until I knew you’d come to my aid. It wasn’t her fault. This was a special case…” I explained with my head hung down. Corkscrew fell silent. I could tell he was worried about how I reacted to such a thing, but in the end, he realized that there was no one to really point blame to in this situation. “Even so...when we finally get ahold of Grogar, I’ll make sure he suffers for what he’s done to you--even if it was inadvertently, he’s still at the root of it all.” While I denounced such tactics, I had no comment against him in that moment. There was no point in going back and forth about it anymore. Jackpot and Spectacle walked out to us. I suppose they finally explained everything they wanted to discuss with each other. “...Please just let me say that I deeply apologize for my behavior,” the mare spoke, unable to maintain eye contact with us--likely due to embarrassment which I couldn’t blame her for. “I just wanted to see my daughter again, but I let myself get manipulated by some monster…” At first I felt the compulsive need to take a step back and hide, but then I remembered that she was not the one who did those things to me. I rubbed my hoof against the side of my head to ease the pain I had. “It’s not your fault. Well--at least the rampage part. There’s no need to force out any excuses for something you couldn’t control.” She rubbed one of her forelegs against the other as she went on. “...Even after what I did to you? Please allow me to make it up somehow...” “Not your fault,” I replied quickly, “We’ll deal with those who are responsible for this. Mark my words.” I didn’t want to dwell on that any longer, so I looked to Jackpot for some answers. “Anyhow, if you both want to accomplish something, then I suggest visiting your daughter. I mean, it’s absolutely none of my business as to the status of your relationship and whether or not you all will function as a family. But at least do that much for her, yeah?” Corkscrew joined in. “Absolutely. We live in a world where the majority of ponies have their parents to back them up. But sometimes, we end up in those rare situations where a child isn’t supported by the ones that brought them into this damn world. So the least you could do is show some respect!” He snapped at them. Normally I would have chastised him for saying such things. Especially to ponies who were probably three times his age. But in this instance, I didn’t bother. I could feel the frustration in his heart in regards to what happened to me. To put it bluntly: He was pissed. Fortunately, they responded rather amicably. “...I honestly had no clue I had a daughter,” Jackpot admitted with a bashful glance off to the side, “But if that’s what this is about, then it’s on me to fix it. Even if she hates me for never being around, I want to at least try to reconnect with her.” He turned his head to the mare, “And what about you?” “Of course,” she said with a nod, “I’m just as bad for thinking you never cared, so I have to take responsibility for what I’ve done--and didn’t do, in this case.” I got up from my seat, and trotted towards the exit--with a slow gait to avoid stress on my weakened body. “Just be ready to answer some questions regarding some documents that may or may not be missing. Come on, Cork. We’ll leave the rest to the evidence team.” My pegasus companion got up and followed me out. “They’re already on their way, boss. I got your back." He grabbed one of my hooves and put it around his neck to assist my steps. I almost wept. "...Thanks, Corkscrew." The Next Day… I decided to sit out of the next mission. After something as rough as that, I needed some time to myself, and explain a few things to Cheerilee. So in my stead, I allowed Quick Draw to handle the next one. Shocker, I know--even she was surprised, but I ordered her to take it upon herself so she could prove herself out in the field. Guttersnipe was going with her, so it wasn’t going to be that bad. “...Are you sure, Pale?” Quick asked. I was at her doorstep in person with this request. “Absolutely. I need...to get some things off of my mind before I return to the field. I’m putting my faith in you to represent us well out there.” There was a hint of tearing in the mare’s eyes, but she hid it well as usual. “...Let me go get ready, then I’ll get Gutsy.” Since he put my faith in me, I had to honor it or else I’d squander my relationship to him as a friend. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake as before, not now, not ever. Once I alerted Guttersnipe, she and I headed to the School of Friendship to get more information from Starlight. And we were headed down under.