Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49

Subject 313: Rights' Tale Part 4

Rights let out another sigh, a rather painful one. “...That...that was difficult for me.”

---

12 Years Ago…

I had been assisting with Sky Scraper’s therapy after the accusations were proven false. Little thing you may not know about me, but I do actually have a minor degree in psychology. It’s one of the reasons why I was able to help you out so much, Pale. But this young stallion was in bad shape. Despite being fully grown and essentially able to think for himself, he couldn’t believe he was thrown under the cart by Maple’s family.

I sat down with him in my office one day. “How are you feeling, Mr. Scraper?”

His eyes were bloodshot and pained as if he was unable to sleep for a few days. So much so that he practically fell asleep as he sat in front of me, and quickly snapped out of it once his eyes were shut. “Huh--wha? Oh, sorry, ma’am. I’m just a bit out of it. Haven’t been able to sleep well.”

“I can see that from a mile away. Has your family helped you recover at all?” I asked.

He managed to look up at me with a smile. “...They knew I was clean. I was at my brother’s birthday party the entire time when it happened. There was no way I could even be linked to such a...disgusting act. I just can’t believe that her family would say something like that about me.”

I put my hoof around him to give him a hug. I was proud that he hadn’t succumbed to insanity or any negative emotions, but the state of his eyes still left me concerned. “Well that’s good, but I can tell that something else is on your mind. I won’t force you to tell me anything, but I’d appreciate it if you were honest about anything you were comfortable with so I could help you.”

Sky Scraper looked like he was about to burst into tears at the drop of a hat. All I could do was offer my best warm, encouraging smile to help him feel at ease enough to make his own decisions.

Somehow, he must have worked up the courage to tell me what was on his mind.

“Alright, well...it’s about Maple. She wants to break up…”

Now that to me, was a bit strange. I could venture a guess as to why, but I wanted to hear it from the stallion’s mouth. “What? Why? Did she give a reason?”

Sky replied with a sniffle. “It’s...I can’t blame her. All this drama between our two families has driven such a hard wedge between us that she feels it’s more trouble than it’s worth to even try to be together anymore.”

I bit my lip. I was no expert on relationship stuff. I’ve always been single. Had a few dates here and there, but absolutely could never land on the right match in any circumstance. It was difficult for me to say...anything to him, really.

“I...I’m sorry to hear that, son. I’m sure she only said that for the sake of your safety,” was all I could think of to say.

Luckily, it managed to calm him down as he wept quietly. “Yeah...you have a point. She probably doesn’t wanna see me lynched by her parents or anything. But it still hurts. Knowing that they’re the ones actively preventing us from living in peace. Especially since both of our cities are awash in crime...adults can be stupid sometimes.”

Normally, I would’ve clocked someone over the head for saying that. But in this instance, he made a great point. The phrase ‘respect your elders’ had been watered down to the point of ‘accept whatever someone older than you does/says no matter what simply because they’re older.’ And I was not about to let that fly. Everyone had the right to stand up for themselves.

“...You got that right, kid. For now--I want you to focus on helping your folks fix up Chicoltgo. It’s not gonna rid itself of all the gangs and I can only do so much.”

And from that moment, I could see the fire in his eyes--not unlike yours, Pale. After he let out his emotions, he realized that there were more important things on the horizon, and the safety of his cityfolk were more important than a failing relationship that he had been trapped within.

“You...you’re right, Ms. Rights,” he said once he wiped his face, “I have to be strong and tell my father straight up what needs to be done. I can worry about Maple later.”

---

“That’s amazing!” I proclaimed as she reached the climax of the story, “What happened next? Did he ever get back on his hooves?”

Rights looked at me, paused, shook her head, and laughed. “...Heheh. You’re adorable, Pale. I’m sure you’d know by now, given it was in the news from a while back. Do you remember seeing an article about how long it took for Chicoltgo’s crime problem to go down?”

….Five years total.

Comments

[Neo4K]

Rights looked at me, paused, shook her head, and laughed. “...Heheh. You’re adorable, Pale. I’m sure you’d know by now, given it was in the news from a while back. Do you remember seeing an article about how long it took for Chicoltgo’s crime problem to go down?”

….Five years total.

...Damn. I'm starting to think that Chicoltgo is like Gotham without a dark hero figure or badass supervillains involved.