Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49

Subject 255: Civil Discussion

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, hold on,” I said to them both. “Is this...for real? I’m going to need some evidence to prove this.” It’s not that I didn’t believe her--in fact, I had a sneaking suspicion that this may have been true, but I didn’t want to believe it. I never wanted to entertain the idea of Cozy truly being a product of such horrible parents that they would not only abandon their child, but also turn around and serve such a snake of a stallion.

The kid was adamant in her approach, and looked to Neighsay for an answer. “Well? You heard the man. Go on. Show him. Show us all what you’ve been hiding this entire time. Secrets that you intended to keep with you to the grave!”

We all stared at the demon pony until he finally relented. “...Fine. I’ll tell you...on one condition.”

This time, I approached him. “No. Enough of that. You are in absolutely no position to negotiate. None. Whatsoever. You had better cough up what we want to know or else--”

He sighed, and shook his head in disbelief. “Relax. I only wish that you promise me to wipe Grogar from the face of the earth. Once I divulge this information, he’ll no doubt end my existence anyways.”

Cozy got a bit--no, a lot closer to the stallion, nearly towering over him at that point. She spoke in a hefty tone that demanded authority. “Explain yourself.”

“Alright, well then--it is as you both previously stated. I ran experiments on Cozy Glow’s parents as well. But! To my own credit, I had no clue they had a child. They simply offered themselves up…”

It was Cheerilee’s turn to chime in next as she trotted up to stand next to Cozy and I. “Oh really? Why should we believe you? Do you have anything to prove what you’re saying at all?”

A portal appeared next to Neighsay, and he reached his hoof inside. “As a matter of fact, I do…”

I watched him with a keen set of eyes to ensure he didn’t try to pull anything funny on us at the last second. And to my surprise, he didn’t. He kept to his word, and pulled out some documents for us to look at--just as the portal closed.

Cozy took a look at the papers, and as a result, her wings and face simultaneously dropped.

“Yup,” she muttered as she backed away from the documents that showed a photo of two ponies--ponies that I could only presume to be her parents. She nearly stumbled, and fell to the floor as a result. The reveal of what her parents did to her after they abandoned her must have rattled her to her core… “That’s...that’s them, alright….”

I took a look at the documents for myself, and started to read them. But Neighsay simply handed them off to me. “Here. Take them. It’s not as if I’ll need them where I’m going. Consider it a reward for defeating me.”

As I held onto those papers, I thought about something for a moment. I knew it wouldn’t be very long before his existence was terminated by Grogar, so I decided to ask him one last question. “...Before you’re wiped from history, tell me one thing,” I took off my coat and hat, and set it on Starlight’s desk nearby. “Man-to-man--er, stallion to stallion. Talk to me.”

“Hm?” he raised a brow, “What are you on about?”

“I want to speak to you as an equal. Not an adversary,” I explained, much to the confused expression of Cheerilee who had been busy consoling Cozy behind me--I could see her look of bewilderment from the corner of my eye as I went on. “Tell me one simple thing: Why? Why did you do all of this? What led you to this point? What drove you to be so hellbent on changing the world?”

He almost scoffed once I finished my question, but chose to answer regardless. “I suppose that’s an easy enough thing to answer since I’ve already told you a part of it before. In short, I’ve never put my faith in the alicorns or the elements. I knew that their usefulness was finite, and chose to carve my own path. I wanted to further the extent at which we all can perform magic, and fight back against the threats that have plagued us for so long. Do you understand my perspective? I never wanted to see anyone else deal with the same problems that I saw many others go through. Homes lost...families split apart...all because some power-hungry fool wanted to destroy everything!” He yelled out with what little energy he had left. “...But we’re weak creatures. We can’t do everything in our current state. I intended to caste that aside for the greater good. To better us all--even if it meant betraying the trust of my princesses.”

I nodded. That’s exactly what I intended to do, which is why I brought up the question. “Exactly...as much as you may want to deny it, you and I aren’t so different.”

His response was delayed, as if he couldn’t believe what I had just said. “...Really now?”

“That’s right,” I replied with a stern glare, “Just like you, I also think that the public at large relies too heavily upon the powers that be. It’s to the point where none of us can make decisions for ourselves. But I...don’t think so lowly of mortals the same way you do. Yes...we are weak creatures. We depend on each other to survive. Alone we’re no better than a fly on a wall. But together--united under a common goal, ponies, changelinges, griffons, dragons--the works--we can all become stronger than any so-called godly being that gets in our way.”

Neighsay let out a sigh, as if he wanted to agree with me on some level. “I can see your stance. But how can you be so sure? How do you know things won’t fail next week, next month, next year? Will everyone still remember your actions? You’re hinging far too much on the unknown, Vestige.”

“And the difference between you and I, is that is the risk I’m willing to take.”

Cozy mumbled something from behind me. “Pale...are you sure about that?”

Comments

[Neo4K]

I nodded. That’s exactly what I intended to do, which is why I brought up the question. “Exactly...as much as you may want to deny it, you and I aren’t so different.”

His response was delayed as if he couldn’t believe what I had just said. “...Really now?”

“That’s right,” I replied with a stern glare, “Just like you, I also think that the public at large relies too heavily upon the powers that be. It’s to the point where none of us can make decisions for ourselves. But I...don’t think so lowly of mortals the same way you do. Yes...we are weak creatures. We depend on each other to survive. Alone we’re no better than a fly on a wall. But together--united under a common goal, ponies, changelings, griffons, dragons--the works--we can all become stronger than any so-called godly being that gets in our way.”

Neighsay let out a sigh as if he wanted to agree with me on some level. “I can see your stance. But how can you be so sure? How do you know things won’t fail next week, next month, next year? Will everyone still remember your actions? You’re hinging far too much on the unknown, Vestige.”

“And the difference between you and I, is that is the risk I’m willing to take.”

Cozy mumbled something from behind me. “Pale...are you sure about that?”

My thoughts exactly, Cozy. Sounds like Pale is taking a big gamble on this. And I'm starting to worry about where it might lead.