Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49

Subject 248: Advancing Through

“Ooh! Gotta go, Pale.” Sci-Twi was the first to join Sunset in the spell’s radius. “Now this’ll be interesting. I can’t wait to see how my alternate self has managed her kingdom since we’ve been here. Let’s go everyone!”

The Sirens were next, and I had to admit that the half-pony-with-fish-tail looks suited them well. It was far less destructive than being actual, full-powered sea monsters.

“Comiiiiing!” Sonata ran over first while she mumbled to herself, “I wonder if they have tacos here--oh! Bye Pale!”

Aria was next. As usual, she had a smug expression on her face. “Well at least it’s far less boring than what I thought. Hey A-Dawg--how dope would it be if the old man Starswirl found out that we were the ones who helped rectify a mistake he caused,” she snickered, and waved at me. “See ya.”

“That would be...hilarious,” Adagio summed it up rather quickly, “But let’s not worry about that. For now, we have a world to save. I just hope Luster Dawn won’t flip out when she sees us.” She sighed, and looked at me. “Do me a solid and don’t let this place go to hell, alright?”

It felt nice to be depended on--even if the extra pressure was a bit daunting. Nevertheless, I refused to let others down. Especially not in a dangerous campaign like this. “Never intended on it. This is my home as much as it is your homeworlds. Don’t you go dying out there either, hm?”

Sunset giggled. “Of course not, pops. You worry too much. We’ll be fine. Alright everyone...let’s go.”

And with a flash, the five of them disappeared and left a circle of ash on the ground where they once stood. A long-distance teleportation spell like that was powerful and required lots of energy to pull off, so I hoped that they could make it there safely.

After all of that, I watched as Rainbow Dash and her crew left the scene as well. A few Wonderbolts stayed behind to secure the area, so I knew it would be in good hooves. It was hard to believe that a bunch of showponies could come together to assist in eliminating a grand threat, and yet here we were. Almost tickled me a bit.

From there, I went to find Cheerilee and just my luck--she was already on her way back to me, and waved to get my attention.

“Pale, over here!” she called out.

“Well there you are,” I said with a sigh of relief, “How was Scootaloo? Was she okay?”

“Yes, she is. One of the Nurse Ponies escorted her back to the hospital to check on her injuries.”

The hospital, huh? Lightning Dust herself was likely going to be taken there as well. Hopefully by the time they both came to, they would be able to talk things out with each other. It served as the perfect backdrop for reconciliation.

For the moment, though, we had other things to worry about. Namely, catching up with Cozy and whoever had been tailing her.

“Alright, so here’s the rundown…”

I explained the situation to Cheerilee, and she gave it some thought.

“Hmm...sounds like they’re headed for the School of Friendship. Which could mean…”

“Blech,” I nearly spat at the ground. I already knew who was up next at the plate if they had chosen that location as the stage for their act. “So he’s finally shown his face then, huh? This isn’t gonna to be fun at all.”

The mare put a hoof on my shoulder to comfort me. “You know as much as I do that a pony like that can only be brought down if we face him together. You, myself, and Cozy Glow. We need to be strong, but we can’t throw out our common sense, dear.”

As usual, she was right. If what I expected to happen was true, then we were in for a fierce situation that would require all of us to stand strong for each other. So what better way to deal with it than by tackling it directly? Whatever the case, I knew I needed to stop doubting myself.

“Alright then. Let’s get a move on.”

And so we were off once more towards another edge of Ponyville. Specifically the side of town where the School of Friendship was. And oddly enough, everything seemed normal. Too normal.

Cheerilee and I ceased our run, and skidded to a stop. Despite the rest of the town having been fully thrust into the throes of armed conflict, there was an eerie sense of peace near this building. I could hear the sounds of the birds chirp, water flow through the pond and various waterfalls that overlooked the school from behind, and even the sounds of frogs and some insects. It was like an average day here in Ponyville.

But today was not an average day.

“Shhh…” I whispered as I stepped forward. In this situation, it was a prime time to make use of my abilities to suss out potential dangers. But strangely, I couldn’t make out a thing. “Rats...do you sense anything on your end, Cheery?”

She followed close behind, and put her own abilities to work. But even she couldn’t pick anything up. “No...I...wait…”

Or did she? I turned my head around. “What? What’s wrong?”

“I can’t feel any magical signatures...but I just have this nagging feeling in the back of my head. Like one of my old students is in danger…”

Wasn’t that the same thing? Regardless, it was still important. After all, wasn’t her intuition what led us to the other Crusaders in the past two scenarios?

Comments

[Neo4K]

No comments yet, but it sounds like their enemy has come prepared.