Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49

Subject 46: Medical Expert

And so the kid and I made our way down from Cloudsdale back to Ponyville. Naturally, I was still suspicious of other individuals and what sort of feelings they could have been hiding towards Cozy. Yes, I know the public was on my side at face value. But the power of a card was always within its hidden face. Such is the way of the tarot.

She and I made our way to the Ponyville hospital. Things were actually fairly quiet in the place today. Very few patients and no serious injuries. Good. This meant we could probably get to see Nurse Redheart.

My prayers were answered. As soon as we entered the hospital, we found the bored white earth pony at her front desk. Her mane was in a bit of a mess, but we could probably attribute that towards stress. I decided to approach her first, as gently as possible.

“Ahem...Nurse Red?”

“YES! PRICK ME WITH THE NEEDLE HARDER BABY--!” The head medical pony woke up in a violent stupor. She looked around, noticed us both, and her cheeks turned red. “Oh...excuse me.”

“Of course.” I internalized my laughter. It was amusing to see such a professional mare lose her temper so quickly. I looked at Cozy, and she was...concerned for the Nurse to say the least.

Redheart had turned around to fix her mane, and faced us once more when she was ready. “Ahem. How may I help you today?”

“Hello, Nurse Red,” I said with a tip of my hat. “We would like to inquire the extent of the damage that was accrued on the day that magic was stripped from the land.”

The earth pony nurse took a look at Cozy Glow. I could see it in her eyes that she felt a mix of sympathy and dread. “Oh...you’d...I see.” She turned around and picked out some files from a nearby drawer. “Alright, here we go. Yeah, quite a few pegasus ponies came in with crippled wings, and a few earth ponies that fell to the ground due to the cloudwalk spell malfunctioning.”

Yikes. The mental image of such a thing made me flinch internally. Cozy’s face scrunched up out of fear and pain that she could taste, I’d imagine. “Ouch…” she muttered under her breath, “I remember being crazy with power and not caring who I hurt in the process when I was little, but now…”

I looked at her with a curious gaze. “Now?”

“Now I...do understand,” she said with a weak sigh. “Perhaps it’s too late, but I think I’m starting to get just what it meant to be a supervillain. Stomping over everypony, taking out my aggression on others, the strong trampling the weak…”

That deadly cycle. I despised it with every fiber of my being. As I said before, ponies--and everyone else who lived on this planet with us--were weak creatures. Of course some may carry more power than others, but we’re all just as flappable on the inside. Over the course of my line of work, I’ve come to learn one simple thing.

Those who appear strong were actually weak in some way, and those who appear weak may have been stronger than anyone ever realized.

That is what separated those who had power from those who earned it. Cozy was somepony that had loads of power...but did she really want that?

Nurse Redheart spoke up. “Well, I can’t say that you’ll be forgiven for what you caused. But know that it wasn’t entirely your fault.”

Cozy shook her head. “No. I want to take responsibility for what I did.”

“Well, you can start by doing charity work,” Redheart suggested and pointed up to a poster. “In fact, we have an event going on right now.”

I looked at the poster. It was for the annual Running of the Leaves in Ponyville. “Oh?” I asked, “What’s this about?”

“Well, we’re trying to raise money for those who have been affected by evil magic,” she tapped her hoof against her chin, “wish we could come up with an acronym for that. Anyway, the Running of the Leaves is starting within a few days, but we need a few more hooves to get everything set up. Generous donations will only be made with good advertising.”

Cozy seized the opportunity the moment it presented itself. “Hey, I think I can help with that. I...have an idea or two that might make donators...donate.”

The nurse was curious as I was. “Oh? What’s this now?” she leaned towards us.

Nervously, Cozy refused to divulge the contents of her idea just yet. “Um...I’ll let you know when I’m ready to set it up.”

“I see…” Redheart sat back in her desk chair. “Well, if either of you can come up with something to help draw in donators, then that would be nice.”

Wait a minute, didn’t one of the most wealthy ponies in the world live here? “Wait a minute, why not consult Filthy Rich about it?”

“We tried that,” the nurse replied with an eye roll and a hoof against her cheek, “He said he didn’t want to give anything if he couldn’t get a ‘return on investment’ or something,” she said with airquotes. “Truth is, it’s a time-honored tradition that some ponies consider obsolete. ‘Do it with magic’ they say.”

I was no businesspony, so I didn’t exactly have the greatest load of knowledge when it came to subjects such as investments. But erasure of a tradition held in high regard by the general population? Why, it was foolish. To my surprise, the kid next to me said something pretty clever.

“Hm...I can understand that.”

“You can?” Nurse Red asked with a raise of her brow.

“It’s simple. He doesn’t want to waste his bits on an event that won’t make his businesses look better,” she explained. “I know he seems pretty greedy for not wanting to donate, but it’s a pretty shrewd decision if you think about it from his perspective. What we need to do is showcase to Filthy Rich and the other potential donors that the Running of the Leaves is worth investing in.”

Huh. The kid had a point. But there was also something she didn’t consider. If she were to actually do this; aid in restoring Ponyville tradition as well as perform an act of recompense for the damage she did in the past, it could very well be her first step towards earning the trust of the public back. Legitimately.

“Wow, really? Did you learn how to file taxes while you were in stone or something, kid?” the nurse replied with a quip that was accidentally insensitive.

I was about to open my mouth, but yet again the kid surprised me. Cozy giggled? “Hehe! Nah...I just learned a thing or two from...watching other ponies do their jobs, let’s say.”

Huh. I suppose it wasn’t out of the question to assume that she had mentally prepared to face comments such as that, and internalized them as jokes rather than insults. Smart kid.

“Well, if you have an idea, I’d like to see it in action. The Mayor is at the end of her rope over it.” Nurse Red put the files away, and looked up at us once more. “Is there anything else I can do to assist you kind folks today?”

I looked at Cozy. It was largely up to her.

The young mare shook her head. Seems like she already knew what her plan was. “Nope. Nothing else, Ms. Red. But I do have an idea in regards to keeping the Running of the Leaves relevant and to make money for those who have suffered.”

The nurse smiled. “Well, if you know what you’re doing. Do your best, kid. But just know that not everypony is going to trust your actions because of…”

“My past? I know...but I refuse to wallow in it any longer. Mr. Vestige. I’m ready to leave and head back home.”

Oh? Where did this newfound confidence come from? I rather liked it. The kid was ready to tackle this problem head-on and I couldn’t be happier. But I wondered just what she would do at home. Hm…

“Alright, kid. Let’s go,” I tipped my hat at the nurse before the both of us left.

Cozy addressed the elephant in the air. “Huh--that’s an odd sight. But more importantly, my do ya keep calling me ‘kid’? You can clearly see I’m an adult now--sorta.”

I snickered. “Well, you’re still about a decade beneath me. But if you’d rather me not, that’s fine.”

She rolled her eyes and shrugged as she kept walking. “Eh. I’ve been called far worse. That’s alright, I guess.”

I felt a smile creep up on my face before it was quickly washed away. Just what other, bad things has she been called before? Not a nice thought to have. But at least she was happy, and had some ideas going. That much was certain. “Got it.”

We walked back towards her home. Cozy got a few odd looks here and there, but other ponies gave her a friendly smile in response. “I forgot how...relaxed everypony acts. It’s refreshing to see.”

“I hate to say it, but the general population...is extremely passive. So long as their ruler agrees with something, they’ll see fit to agree also. I don’t like it, but…”

Cozy shrugged once more. That didn’t seem so bad to her. “Hey, if the general population trusts their ruler enough to agree with most of his/her decisions, I say they’re a good ruler. Without trust, things will break down and society will crumble, resulting in...war.”

Right again. I couldn’t refute such sound logic. Though, no country was truly perfect. After all, the key to--

My thoughts were interrupted.

“Huh? Is that...the Crusaders in front of my house? They look so...mature.”

What? I regained my train of thought, and looked ahead. A yellow earth pony mare, orange pegasus mare, and white unicorn mare were all standing outside of Cozy Glow’s newly created home with some sort of...basket? “Hm...stay behind me. You don’t know what they--kid?”

She didn’t bother waiting for my explanation. Instead, Cozy trotted up to the three young mares herself. “Hello?”

They all turned to face her. Their pupils shrank, their jaws hung open, and they froze in place when they looked at Cozy.

She waved her hoof in front of their faces. “Um...are you three okay?”

Comments

[Neo4K]

Well, that went well. Nice to see Cozy contributing to the Running of the Leaves. Let's hope Filthy Rich and others are willing to listen. And the CMC finally make an appearance. I can only imagine how this exchange will turn out in the next chapter. Perhaps Cozy could finally tell them the truth about her.

[GamePlayer64]

“Hey, if the general population trusts their ruler enough to agree with most of his/her decisions, I say they’re a good ruler. Without trust, things will break down and society will crumble, resulting in...war.”

Until those who decided to keep the peace their ruler made by creating a secret army, frighten, threaten and banished those who want to change their ruler’s work because of citizens’ hatred and grudges.

[Jmaster49]

10454214
That's right. Not everyone can be trusted so easily.

[Jmaster49]

10454194
Yup. This will be her first challenge to work on improving herself!

[asdtroi8895]

Nice to see that most of Ponyville seems to support Cozy and its also nice to see that she hasn't lost any of her intellect and cunning.

They all turned to face her. Their pupils shrank, their jaws hung open, and they froze in place when they looked at Cozy.

This'll be awkward...

[Jmaster49]

10454285
Yup. They know about the trial after all.

And it's been a long time coming for them to meet her.

[Xanderfox]

10454285
Well hopefully she can learn to use her talent for good, like Diamond Tiara did, as they are pretty similar having marks for influence.