Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49

Subject 102: Dropped Beats

“Trixie...what are you--don’t mention--” All I could do was sputter in response. Now was not the time or place to discuss what I did privately with a partner in her home. I needed to handle this with as much discretion as possible. “...Cork. Do me a favor and escort Madam Rose to the train station, yeah?”

“On it, boss.” He looked at Rose, and cleared his throat. “Ahem.”

She silently followed him without protest. Thank goodness. We needed her to cooperate with us as much as possible. Now all that was left was dealing with Trixie. Once I was alone with the unicorn mare, I spoke with her about what had transpired the night before.

“Alright...when you say you’ve been keeping an eye on me, what exactly have you witnessed so far?” I asked with a slightly nervous chatter of my teeth.

The blue unicorn scoffed. “Hmph. Nothing you need to worry about, sir. I’m simply doing my duty as the Great and Powerful friend of Starlight Glimmer who wants to ensure that you,” she pointed a hoof at me, “don’t mess up and go crazy again.”

Was she serious? Wow. The lack of trust was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Again, though. I understood why I was being tailed since they didn’t want me to fly off the handle. But prying into every bit and piece of my life was another thing entirely. The fact that she had dodged the question also didn’t sit well with me either.

“I get that, I understand that,” I replied with a small huff, “You don’t need to tell me again. What I want to know is: Since you’ve been tailing me, what all have you seen so far?”

“I...er…” Trixie’s face turned a slight shade of red. That told me all I needed to know.

Honestly, I should’ve been more embarrassed, annoyed, pissed off. Whatever you call it. But I had to remind myself that getting upset would only make the situation worse. All I could do was take a deep breath, and explain how I felt to her in a calm fashion.

“Listen...please. If you ever see that again, please leave. Staring makes you come across as a creepy weirdo,” I said with a shudder, “And secondly, I find what you’re doing to be admirable, but I am more than capable of handling myself when it comes to doing my job. You don’t need to babysit me, alright?”

She took a step back, and coughed. “Ack! Uh, yes. My apologies. I still have a job to do, but I’ll try not to be that invasive,” she said with her best attempt at an innocent smile which only served to make her look more guilty.

All I did was roll my eyes and sigh. “I’m serious. If I catch you trying to snoop in on me during...private matters, I will report you to Twilight.”

“Woah, wait, hold on! Trixie values privacy more than anything!” She pleaded. “I solemnly swear that I will exercise more caution when it comes to watching over you.”

I raised an eyebrow. No I was not convinced of anything she really said, but I had no choice except to take her word at face value for the time being. It annoyed me since I really didn’t know whether or not she believed me. After all, she was more likely to trust friends she had spent several decades with over somepony like me--who at best was a complete stranger to her.

But I couldn’t worry about that for now. “I’ll take your word for it, Ms. Lulamoon. But for the moment, I must get back to work. If you’ll excuse me…” I tipped my hat, and left her alone. I made a mental note to not let her get to me too much since I needed to focus on these next few interviews.

I eventually arrived at the train station where Inky Rose and Corkscrew were waiting for the train to arrive. I must have caught them in the middle of a conversation because I heard them finish up an exchange as I stepped onto the loading platform.

“...I have a kid. Her name is Thursday Rose. You’d get along well with her,” Inky Rose commented in her usual dry tone.

Cork’s wings flapped excitedly. “Really? Well--I mean, if that’s possible when I’m not working that is.”

“Uh-huh. Well, if meeting this ‘Moondancer’ doesn’t utterly destroy my insides, I’ll gladly introduce you to her.”

I had to pause for a moment. What she said made almost no sense since there was more danger to be had from leaving the mark engraved into her body. But anyway, the train had come to a screeching halt with its steam hissing a powerful gust upon the platform.

“Right, uh...well, for now--you need to get going, ma’am. Moondancer will assist you once you arrive in Canterlot, alright?”

Rose nodded once, and boarded the train. Once its doors closed, the train slowly chugged and made its way up the tracks.

After it was long out of sight, I trotted up to the young pegasus. “Oh? Now you’re scoring a date with her child? You sly stallion, eh?”

“Shush, boss. I’m just...expanding my horizons a bit. You know how it is.”

I chuckled. “Aheh. Right. Anyhow, Trixie is starting to keep tabs on my movements now. Which is extremely concerning for obvious reasons.”

“Oh…that doesn’t sound too good. I know what it’s like to have your back constantly watched,” he said with a disgusted shudder. “It’s so creepy. Especially when my mom does it.”

I tilted my head. “Your mother?”

“Yeah I think I’ve told you about it before,” he trotted off the platform, and I followed. “Mom has always babied me since I was little. Taking care of us with dad was a lot of work, so I learned how to do things on my own pretty quickly. Which is the whole reason I signed up for the Officer’s Academy in the first place, remember?”

I nodded. “Yes. That’s right, CC…”

Well I guess it would explain his tendency to stick around work most of the time. In fact, I never really stopped to consider just how much Corkscrew did for me and the others. It was almost embarrassing to think about. After all, he was my best friend. But how could I call him that if I was so busy with work and treated him like nothing more than an assistant all the time?

“Anyway, don’t trip about it, boss,” he said with a grin, “Come on. Let’s go see who’s next on the--”

His words were interrupted by a pony above us.

“Yo, is that--Pale!” Vinyl Scratch shouted from her second story window above us, “I got somethin’ to tell ya!”

From the background, I heard a soft mare’s voice speak. “Vinyl, could you please be a bit less happy to see the neighbors? I’m trying to work!” It was most certainly Octavia.

The white unicorn turned her head. “Sorry, Tavi. I’m goin’ downstairs for a bit. Check ya later.” With a flash of her horn, she teleported, and appeared below--and in front of us. “Alright, Pale. I got some news.”

Cork and I were both primed to listen.

“What’s the sitrep?” I asked.

Vinyl held up an evidence bag that contained bits of what looked like a green cocoon. “We found this at the edge of Equestria yesterday. We think the bug queen Elly or whatever her name is is starting to build an army with slaves from the outskirts of Equestria.”

“Slav--?!”

I covered Cork’s mouth with my hoof to keep him from saying it aloud. “Shhh. Not so loud. Ms. Scratch, do you mind if we head inside to speak about this? Away from public ears?” I said as I let him go.

“...Yeah, probably should’ve started with that, hehe,” she said with an awkward chuckle. She then used her magic to open the front door. “Come on in. Mi casa es...ya know. Follow me.”

We gratefully accepted her offer. But instead of taking a seat on the couch, Vinyl led us to her and Octavia’s basement where a home theater, billiards table, and aged cider kegs were located. It was more like an entire second home than a basement, complete with nice, tile flooring in a white and gray pattern. Likely to match the mare’s coat colors.

“Woaaah…” Corkscrew looked around, then shook his head. “Sorry. I won’t get distracted, boss.”

How cute. I always did respect his resolve to stay focused. Though I wondered how much of it stuck with him when I wasn’t around…

Regardless, Cork and I took a seat on the red velvet couch that was placed in the middle of the room, and listened to the DJ of a mare speak about what she had found. She sat on a brown, leather armchair across from us.

“Alrighty, so. Essentially, what it boils down to is the fact that Queen Elly is trying to buy slave ponies and use them for her hive. That way, she can create more changelings and take over the entire known world, yada-yada. You get the deal. She’s just as strong as Chrissy was. If not more so!” she waved her hooves in the air.

Chrysalis is who I believed she referred to. And yes, I had to agree. “From the aura I picked up from her when I came into contact with her, that’s most definitely the case.”

Cork decided to state his piece on the matter. “Okay. Now that that’s established, how can we help? C’mon, we gotta be able to do something.”

Predictably, Vinyl shook her head as she leaned into her chair. Her response was rather...snappy, and unexpected. “You wanna help? Stay out of the way.”

“What? Aw come on, man!” Cork complained, “Why are you even telling us this if we can’t get involved, then?!”

“Hey, hey, calm down, kid,” Vinyl removed her glasses, and glared at him with her bloodshot red eyes. A rare expression from the usually perky DJ. “Listen…” The glare softened, and became a somewhat saddened expression--another rare sight from the unicorn as she hung her head. “I feel bad, alright. I was involved and helped Pale carry out that execution on Svengallop. I wasn’t entirely responsible, but I played a part in what caused you to essentially get temporarily benched from high-profile cases.” She looked up at me. “So I’m taking it upon myself to let you know what’s going on. Even if you can’t lend a hoof directly, you have the right to stay informed so you can protect Cozy at all costs. She is your responsibility after all. And the more you can protect her...the better.”

“Wh--boss--Pale,” Corkscrew turned his head to me with an uncertain frown, “Are you sure this is alright with you?”

The whole time, I stayed silent to get a better comprehension of what Vinyl wanted to do. And in the end, I had no choice but to follow along. “Alright. I understand. Thank you for being willing to update me on the situation as it unfolds. For now, I need to find the next pony that Neighsay implanted a rune upon, and send them to Moondancer.”

Vinyl raised a brow. “Mind if I take a look at that list?”

I didn’t see why not. If she could help, it would be more than welcome. I took the paper out of my jacket. Thunderlane, Caballeron, and Inky Rose’s names were all crossed out which left two. Vinyl took the paper in her magical grip, and read over it.

“...Dude. The next pony on this list is already dead.”

Both Cork and I were physically taken aback by this news, and unable to speak. Our jaws simply hit the floor.

“...”

Comments

[Neo4K]

“Hey, hey, calm down, kid,” Vinyl removed her glasses, and glared at him with her bloodshot red eyes. A rare expression from the usually perky DJ. “Listen…” The glare softened, and became a somewhat saddened expression--another rare sight from the unicorn as she hung her head. “I feel bad, alright. I was involved and helped Pale carry out that execution on Svengallop. I wasn’t entirely responsible, but I played a part in what caused you to essentially get temporarily benched from high-profile cases.” She looked up at me. “So I’m taking it upon myself to let you know what’s going on. Even if you can’t lend a hoof directly, you have the right to stay informed so you can protect Cozy at all costs. She is your responsibility after all. And the more you can protect her...the better.”

You know, for a moment, I thought Vinyl was feeling guilty helping Pale to off that scumbag. And I agree. Cozy's, as well as Cheerilee's, protection takes priority.

“...Dude. The next pony on this list is already dead.”

Who the hell's she talking about? Svengallop? Or is it someone...no. No way. Is it...Granny Smith?

[Jmaster49]

10545079
Yup. Vinyl has grown wiser over the years and wants to help as best she can.

And who knows? Stay tuned!

[GamePlayer64]

“...Dude. The next pony on this list is already dead.”

Both Cork and I were physically taken aback by this news, and unable to speak. Our jaws simply hit the floor.

“...”

I'm praying that pony passed away from natural cause and not Neighsay, for once.

[Jmaster49]

10545218
Let's hope so!