//------------------------------// // Subject 217: Curse Outbreak // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// More victims in the span of a few moments. Diabolical. There was no way to tell just how severe this was or if anyone else had been affected yet. That reminded me--if Pumpkin Cake was here, then where was her brother? Pound Cake had to be nearby, right? I trotted in reverse, and exited the room with my eyes focused upon her. I didn’t want to be surprised by another crazed and confused mare. Not again. I kept going until I was in the hallway, and slowly shut the door. That’s when I heard a whisper from my left--at the end of the hall. “Psst! Ey!” I turned my head to find Pound Cake. He poked his head out of what appeared to be the laundry room, and beckoned me to come over. “You see what’s going on with sis?” “I do...what’s happened to her? Do know when this all started?” I quickly pranced over as I questioned him for answers. “No idea, dude. But it’s creeping me out,” Pound mumbled with his wings spread wide from anxiety, “Our parents wouldn’t have let something like this happen and I’m starting to lose it!” He leaned against the nearby wall of the laundry room with his hooves on his head. I took a step forward. “Does Pinkie Pie know?” “Yeah, I told her about it. She said something along the lines of ‘she’s reading too many books at night’,” he said with air quotes to mock the older mare, “And I just knew it had to be more than that. But I’m...too afraid. I don’t know what to do about this, sir.” Pound Cake finished his explanation with a nervous shiver. I could see it in his soul. If anything happened to his sister, he’d be at a loss. A painful loss. And Pinkie didn’t know? Really? Was she dense or did she play a game of four-dimensional chess because she knew I’d arrive? Either way, I needed to conduct an even more thorough investigation. “Pick her up, and bring her to the agency right away,” I grabbed one of his hooves, and lifted him off the wall. “You can do this. You can be strong for your sister in this circumstance even if it’s troublesome.” With a quick flutter, his wings retracted, and folded back. Pound took a deep exhale, and shut his eyes for a moment. “...O-okay. A-alright,” he replied as he opened them, “...I-I’m still a bit worried, but I want her to be safe. If I can’t keep her out of trouble, then what good am I?” “You’re already much more sane than I was at your age,” I said with a chuckle, and put a hoof around his neck, “Just stick with me, and things will be alright. Got it?” “Y-Yes sir!” the pegasus stallion replied with a slightly more confident tone, and flew out of the laundry room. Once it was all said and done, we left out of the backdoor to Sugarcube Corner. With Pumpkin Cake limp, and carried on her brother’s back, I pointed him in the direction of the agency building. “It’s what appears to be an antique shop,” I noted, “Go on. I’ll be right behind you.” “Okay. I’ll take her there with no delay, sir,” he trotted onwards at a slow pace to avoid more stress upon his sister. Unfortunately, while I would have escorted him there, I was stopped prematurely by a familiar face. A unicorn--white with shades above her head. “Hey, Pale! Dawg! Something’s going on here!” Vinyl Scratch stampeded up to me, and tilted her head downwards as she caught her breath with rapid exhales. “Eh? What’s the matter?” I asked as I leaned down to get a better look at her, “Did something happen? I’ve been dealing with a lot of weird things today so if it’s something strange is ahoof, I can--” Once she had finished her fit of sharp breaths, her head rose, and Vinyl started to give me the details. “It’s Tavi,” she explained, “I woke up and found her with a strange case of bloodshot eyes and her mane was in a mess! She looked like she hadn’t slept in days when she was perfectly fine the night before!” Okay, that lent credence to the other cases that I had witnessed thus far. But I needed to know more. “Alright--first thing--did she seem sick at all? No signs of any fever or cold?” “None,” she shook her head, “She felt perfectly normal, but she looked absolutely ragged. I honestly don’t know what the problem could be. This is driving me nuts!” Vinyl screamed at the top of her lungs and hunched over upon the ground--a rare sight indeed. Just the idea of Vinyl losing her ‘cool’ shook me down to my core. But this...this was downright disturbing. We needed to keep it together. I took a deep breath, and focused on my next plan of organization. “Vinyl. Get Octavia and bring her to the station. We have several other cases that fall in line with what you described. We need to gather the witnesses in one place so we can find evidence. Understand?” Vinyl sniffled to herself, and stood upright once more. “Y-yeah...sorry I just…” She used her magic to levitate her shades off her face, and wiped them off with a purple handkerchief that had musical notes on it. “I get worked up when Tavi’s put in danger. But if you know what you’re doing, then I’ll follow.” Once cleaned, she put her shades back on her face, and her more confident demeanor returned. “I’ll bring her there right away. Alright?” “Savvy,” I replied, and turned around. I then made a straight beeline towards the agency building. All of this wasn’t random. It was planned. The bastard had already began his assault on the local population’s mental state. Which meant that Cozy Glow’s wasn’t so far behind...