//------------------------------// // Subject 224: More Trouble // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// “...How soon?” I asked, and took a step closer to her. “No idea,” Lyra said, “But there’s steps we can do to prepare for it. We just need you to remain calm and keep Cozy Glow as isolated as possible.” Oh yeah. About that. That wasn’t going to be an easy one to explain. “Well…” Lyra put the device away and glared me square in the face. “Don’t tell me she decided to stay here…” I didn’t really have much of anything to respond with. That was, in fact, the truth. “...Mm-hm.” “Dammit,” the green unicorn stomped her hoof and looked off to the side, “That makes this twice as complicated now.” Behind her, her crewmates arrived at the first interrogation room to deal with Suri Polomare’s mental injuries from the visions she saw. “I know,” I said with a sigh, “I honestly didn’t know how to feel about it either, but--” Lyra interrupted me, and tapped one of her hooves against my chest. Those yellow eyes of hers cut deep into my soul. “Listen, Pale. Are you sure you know what you’re doing here? Allowing her to remain amidst the rest of us? Because if all hell breaks loose…” Yeah. I already knew what would happen if worse came to worst. But I had confidence. I wasn’t going to allow myself to be deterred so easily. I pushed her hoof away, and shot her a somewhat relaxed smirk. “Relax. We have this in the bag. There’s nothing I haven’t seen before--especially at this point.” “I can imagine. I just hope you’re making the right decision,” she rubbed one of her forelegs against the other, “If it were Bon Bon in the same position, I don’t know what I’d do…” Now that was a terrifying thought. Back in the interrogation room with Pumpkin Cake, Corkscrew carried on with his interview… “...Ms. Cake?” I spoke up again to try and get her to notice me, “C’mon. You have all of your family members worried sick. Just try and tell me what’s wrong.” After what felt like forever, the mare finally started to talk. “N...No...not worth it…” Okay, we got somewhere. But I needed more than that. “What? What’s not worth it? Come on, I got your back. Just tell me what’s wrong…” Her odd mumblings continued. “...There’s...no escape...I’m...stuck here forever.” “Stuck where? Are you trapped someplace or is someone keeping you down?” I leaned forward a bit with my wings spread wide from bated excitement. “I want to...be myself and do my own things,” Pumpkin Cake explained, “But I’m...afraid. If I don’t fall in line with the rest of my family, then the business will cease to exist. Everything we’ve had built up over the years would be for nothing if I don’t keep it going. I should just accept that I’ll never be able to do what I want in life…I should probably just give up.” Jeez. While this was a bit less intense than Suri’s situation, I couldn’t deny that it was still a difficult one. After all, Pinkie couldn’t run Sugarcube Corner forever. But honestly? I didn’t exactly know what to say here. Don’t get me wrong, I knew how she felt too. I was honestly pretty lucky since my parents weren’t all that supportive of the fact that I wanted to be an officer. Yet my grandpa allowed me to do so. I had a lot to thank him for in that regard. So I’d have to use the relatability in order to talk her down. “Look, I know how you feel. I’m only in the career path I chose because I managed to get lucky. For you, it sounds like something far more complex than what I endured. The best I can tell you is: Maybe consider somepony close to your family that’s willing to run the place?” I sat back in my seat to give off a more comfortable vibe. “I’m sure that, since everyone in your family knows and loves you, they’d be willing to help.” “Hmph...I guess I never thought about that. I’m just…” She rubbed her hooves against the sides of her head. “I just feel so annoyed that my twin brother is going to marry a princess and leave me behind. Whatever I do won’t come close to the fact that he’s going to end up governing an entire nation when he gets older.” Oh no. I knew it ran deeper than what I initially thought of at first. This wasn’t just concern for herself, this was straight up withheld jealousy. That’s when it hit me. I finally started to get what Grogar’s initial attack was meant to represent. The underlying negativity we all had inside of us that was impossible to ignore. Not a bad way to throw us off-base, I’d say. Didn’t mean we were gonna let it stop us. But how exactly would I address this particular case? Gah. I could only hope that Quick had a smoother time with Octavia.