Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49

Subject 213: Friendly Banter

Thank goodness my brother came to my aid. I was certain he and Zecora would figure out how to handle the enemy without unnecessary bloodshed. And he was right. I didn’t even need to resort to sucking any blood, thankfully.

Once everything had been settled, the Farasi troops would take care of the region and appoint a new leader soon. Then, they’d also work on giving the halfbreed ponies their lives back as well as figure out how to deal with the South Zebrican soldiers who fought us. It was entirely possible that those soldiers had been roped into this by those disgusting cult leaders and they were innocent. We wouldn’t know for sure until a verdict was cast.

For the time being, the four of us--my brother, Zecora, Moondancer, and myself--would take a boat back to the mainland in order to give our report.

Speaking of which…

“Moons, yeah?” I entered her cabin of the ship, and addressed her. “Just why did you follow us?”

The unicorn mare turned to me with her test bottles all spread across a desk. “I was ordered by Twilight to take after your brother. Nothing more. Nothing less,” she stated, and turned her head back around.

Part of me wanted to take that at face value. But I knew there had to be something else behind it. “You wanted to see if he’d succeed or fail and determine his worth off of that. Am I right, madam?”

Even though she no longer faced me, I could feel the sensation of a sarcastic eye roll. “Maybe. Maybe not. What’s important is that we get back to Twilight and let her know about what’s transpired here. Now that we have zebras on our side that have overridden an entire hostile nation, that’ll make preparations for Grogar’s attack go much smoother,” she replied as she used her magic to levitate a pencil and scribble down some notes.

Honestly? I wasn’t sure what to make of it. She seemed...strangely annoyed by something. I couldn’t exactly put my hoof on it, though. As if she had become irritated with the state of my bruv’s affairs with the country. Was she upset at how the South Zebricans operated? If that was it, then I could concur. Those horrid beasts didn’t deserve to lead a horse to water, let alone run a nation.

“Right, right,” I replied in a casual, off-hoof sort of way, “Sorry for bothering you then.”

I trotted out of that cabin and closed the door. In the meantime, all I could do was wonder just how much of a mental toll this had taken on both Flash Drive and Zecora. Fighting an entire war--even if it was short--must have been bloody busted on their mental state. And just why did Zecora hurry off in a huff earlier? If anypony could figure it out, it was ol’ Drive. Hm. Might even score something greater if he tried hard enough.

---

Once we got back on the ship to the mainland, I immediately went to a cabin room with Zecora to discuss a few things with her. Her involvement in this, her Farasi friends, and her own matters if she was open to discussion about it.

“...Zecora. Is everything alright?” I asked as I stepped inside of her cabin, “You looked rather tense back there. And before when you warned me about saving my brother…”

The zebra mare let out a sigh as she closed a small journal of hers. “Ah. I suppose you have caught me. In truth, I was horrified by all of the things I could see. When I was but a foal, I pursued knowledge until I drove me away from all those I held close to home.” She looked off to the side, ashamed of herself from what I could gather. “But then I saw you...and how much fight you had in you in the field. And I knew that I would hate myself for eternity if I allowed you to lose your family and end up in a similar situation that I did.”

So that explained it. I knew something had been off due to how she stormed away. I knew her rather well, and that’s not usually her type of behavior. At any rate, I figured it would be a good opportunity to deepen the bond we had.

“I see…In that case, why don’t I stick around with you for a bit longer?”

Zecora tilted her head. “Excuse me? What do you mean?”

I pointed at the saddlebags that contained her belongings. “Well, clearly you have a lot of different things under your belt, and I can tell that you’re always looking for more knowledge about magic.” Then I put my hoof to my chest. “And I’m always prepped to work on new ideas for the sake of the future of my mates and I. But...I’m not the best when it comes to things that require more hooves-on experience,” I said with a nervous chuckle. “So...if we combined our efforts, we can cover each other’s flanks if you catch my drift.”

“Oh? Now that’s unexpected…” I could see the mental cogs turn in her head. Zecora considered my offer, but she also likely weighed the amount of time she’d invest into a partnership with me. “You’re a wonderful young man, so I won’t reject it. So long as you don’t quit halfway through. When things get hard, I’ll be counting on you.” She put a hoof on my head. “Are you satisfied? Does that make sense, Flash Drive?”

“Um…” Dammit. I didn’t realize it, but she was rather beautiful up close. I felt my cheeks turn red when she embraced me like that. Can’t believe I’d let myself display such a thing. “Y-yeah--yes ma’am.”

She giggled, and stepped away from me. “We will be back home soon. Make sure you’re ready to report what we have to Princess Twilight so we can put an end to this Grogar goon.”

“Absolutely. When we get back, that’s the first thing I’ll do,” I replied before I rushed off to my cabin of the ship.

---

Two Days Later...In Canterlot…

We gave our report to Twilight about what had happened in South Zebrica and how Grogar, while weakened, would still return shortly. All she could say in response was a loud:

“WHAT?!”

Comments

[Neo4K]

We gave our report to Twilight about what had happened in South Zebrica and how Grogar, while weakened, would still return shortly. All she could say in response was a loud:

“WHAT?!”

... Twilight, why are you so surprised? It's not like you haven't battled literal god-like beings before.