Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49

Subject 51: Self-Shamed Creator

“Calm down, miss. Once all of the evidence has been gathered, I’ll consider what to do with you next. Just follow me, please.” This process was usually fairly smooth if the individual was innocent. But was she just trying to fake it? That was the question.

Suri nodded and followed me into the agency building. “Alright, alright...but can I at least explain myself to you?”

I closed the door behind her once we were both inside. I ushered her into one of the holding cells and locked her in. “It’s only fair, so feel free to state your piece.”

Once again, she surprised me. She didn’t fight nor make a fuss about it when I put her in the cell for the moment. Instead, she simply took a deep breath, and explained herself. “Well--you’re a detective, officer, etcetera...I’m sure you know who I am.”

I took a seat at my desk across the room and crossed my legs as I listened. “I do,” I replied as I looked into my filing cabinet. “We all do. Suri Polomare of Manehattan--Saddle Island to be exact. You grew up in a pretty well-off area and became a fashion designer at an early age. But you were controlling, and overbearing towards your assistants. You fired...at least 12 of them before you stuck with Coco Pommel.”

Her face contorted to that of shame and embarrassment as she sat on the bed of the cell. But she didn’t stop me from continuing.

“...whom you also drove off with your overbearing ways. She became a success while you...quite literally fell off the face of the planet.” I finished speaking and put the file away. Quite the tale, though of course, it didn’t document absolutely everything. I leaned forward in my seat, and put my hooves together in a contemplative sort of position. “Mind telling me what happened after that?”

Another heavy sigh. “Well you should know what happens to your name when you try and take somepony else’s work. Plagiarism is...no joke. I found out the hard way.”

Indeed. That is something all foals are taught as soon as they get midway through elementary school and begin to write papers for assignments. Taking someone else’s work outed you as a thief, and somepony that couldn’t be trusted. In Suri’s case, it was magnified. Not only was she a fully grown mare that had stolen from another individual, but she worked in the fashion industry. An art-related occupation that one could never recover from if trust was burned in such a way. “Yeah?”

“Nopony trusted me, I couldn’t find work, lost my job, lost my home, and was on the streets for a while. That’s when I realized that I hit rock bottom, kay?”

I nodded, and allowed her to continue.

“Worked a few odd jobs here and there, managed to find a place...sort of. Became a waitress, mailpony, and community service worker for a while. Made a bit of money here and there, spent long, restless nights crying myself to sleep over what I could’ve done differently…”

Yikes, I felt that a little bit. I wasn’t a designer but I knew just what it was like to lose the trust of those who had put faith in you. But moreover, this mare seemed to both acknowledge and understand what she did wrong. Interesting. “If you could go back in time, and change something, what would it be?”

Her answer was quick. “I would’ve never stolen from Rarity to begin with. She was so good that she managed to make new outfits out of hotel items and beat me with the stuff I stole from her. She has true talent...and I don’t. It was a complete waste of time to try and do such a thing because...well…” she leaned forward and rested her cheeks in her hooves, “look at me. I’m a washed-up nobody.”

Hm. Okay, interesting. However, I still wanted clarity on something else. “Do you feel remorse for the way you treated Coco Pommel, or any of the other ponies you hired before her?”

“I...yeah, a lot actually,” she replied slowly, “Seeing her be so successful on her own without me has made me realize I was holding her back. I was being...mean and hateful towards her. I’m happy that she’s doing well on her own now, don’t get me wrong. But part of me wishes that...I could’ve had somepony like her to share that experience with. A friend...or something.”

So it was true. She did feel something as a result of what she did towards Coco, Rarity, and several other ponies she mistreated in the past. Now, if this was a facade, then it was a deceptively good one. But I do think it was possible that she was being honest. Why?

It was a matter of principles. No one with a shred of self-respect would stoop to working on something as...odd and insignificant and laying down feathers. That was never part of the traditional Leaf Run. This next question would make or break whatever trust I intended to place upon the mare.

“Okay. So you were told to put feathers down. By who?”

“Some grayish earth pony with a two-tone pink mane,” Suri replied in an instant, “Can’t remember his name...but he said he would pay me for doing that with the feathers. And before you ask: No. I had no idea about stolen jewelry and those other items. All I did was put the feathers down. Those must have been put there after I left.”

Hm.

Well, the evidence room would be the judge of that. Flash Drive had (hopefully) teleported all of the evidence bags with a flawless snap of his magic from earlier. Long distance-related magic was his specialty after all. It’s how he managed to create devices that allow us to communicate over the wavelengths of his magic. Much stronger than radio waves and not easy to disable.

“Excuse me for one second,” I said to the mare and turned around towards my desk. It would only be a matter of time before Corkscrew would return with the results of whose hoofprints were on these items that Flash and I had gathered.

“Boss!”

Speak of the kiddo and he shall appear. Corkscrew came to me with his lab coat on. Something he always wore when he focused on extracting DNA. “What’s going on, bud?”

He handed me some files that I read over, and announced exactly what I had started to look at. “So the feathers had trace amounts of hair left on them from Suri, but they aren’t Cozy’s at all. In fact, they don’t match any pegasus pony in the entire set of citizenship files.” The youngster could never withhold his enthusiasm because he went on like an untamed rabbit. “And then, and then--hear me out. This is gold. Turns out none of the stolen goods contain anything related to Cozy Glow.”

So it was true then. I could rest easy since I knew the kid had truly moved on from her phase. But would that mean...were the statements of the former fashion mare true? There was only one way to find out. “Alrighty, son, good job. But now, did you come across any evidence that would explain who did steal those valuables and place them there?”

The pegasus stallion used his wings as fingers to show me a baggie he had. “There was one of these tiny little pink hairs left behind at the scene.”

I rubbed my hoof against my chin, and shifted my gaze toward Suri. “Didn’t you say that the pony who hired you also had a pink mane?”

The earth pony mare gazed at the hair from within the confines of her cell. What shocked me was the sheer level of detail she provided in her description. “That’s a pale shade of light-grayish vermillion. Clear as day. A one-to-one comparison of the pony that told me to scatter those feathers around.”

I was impressed. Clearly her talent for picking out different shades of colors hadn’t dulled from her days as a clothing designer. “Well now...with a description like that, it’s too specific to simply leave alone. Just where did you two meet when you accepted that little ‘job’?”

“Just yesterday at the resort hotel in Las Pegasus at around...6 or 7PM? If memory serves, he should be in the same spot as he was, in the food court near the slot machines.”

Well then, I just needed to look at the time. At that very moment, it was only 3PM. If I caught a train, I could very well have a chance to meet with this pony. This would serve several purposes. To not only prove Suri Polomare’s innocence, but find out just who was behind all of this and why they would go to such convoluted lengths to incriminate Cozy Glow. And maybe...just maybe. Could there be a connection between this situation and Quick Draw? She too was also manipulated into thinking she could sabotage something for the sake of what she thought was right. Hm…

“Boss? What are you planning?” Cork asked.

The whole time, I had my hooves folded crossed against my chest. I sat in silence as I thought over the situation, and plotted the best course of action. Neighsay’s trial was set to begin the very next day. If I could find more evidence that exposed his misdeeds, then I knew things would be set straight once and for all.

Why did I think he had something to do with this? It certainly wasn’t out of the question.

I got up from my seat. “Heading out to Las Pegasus. Wanna come with?”

Corkscrew shook his head and backed away immediately. “No way, sir. The last time I went there, I partied so hard that I woke up next to some mare that I didn’t know. Thankfully, all we did was kiss, but still. Not risking that again,” he said with quite the sincere glare in his eyes.

Wow. I couldn’t recall the last time I saw him get so...worked up. But I decided to leave that on the table for now. I shot him a grin. “Heh, no problem, kid. Do me a favor and keep watch over Ms. Polomare until I get back.”

Suri lied down on the cell’s bed and stretched her legs outward. “Eh, I don’t intend to try and escape anyways. This...is actually more comfortable than the things I’ve slept on in the last few years...ahh…” she let out a yawn and turned over to fall sound asleep.

Cork and I looked at each other with expressions of both confusion and pity. We were floored at the idea of somepony being able to rest on a cell bed and immediately fall asleep. Just how rough had this mare’s life been up until this point?

I sighed. Now wasn’t the time for sympathy. It was time for action. With a tip of my hat, I nodded at Cork who saluted in response. We didn’t wish to wake the sleeping earth pony, so we stayed quiet.

I left the agency building and headed for the train station. Las Pegasus was a fancy place filled with all kinds of folks, so I had to be ready for anything.

It was showtime.

Comments

[GamePlayer64]

That is something all foals are taught as soon as they get midway through elementary school and begin to write papers for assignments. Taking someone else’s work outed you as a thief, and somepony that couldn’t be trusted.

I... can’t argue about that. I did it when I was a kid but I have a condition, Aspergers that causes me to have problems with my mind and social skills. I barely know what is right and what is wrong so I never heard of Plagiarizing. I did it once or twice but my grades were mostly Cs in Elementary but that’s something I rather not talk about.

[Jmaster49]

10462171
Oh I'm sorry to hear about that. I hope you're doing well despite that.

But yeah, Suri really messed up.

[GamePlayer64]

10462174
Its alright, I’m okay with it. I just need help if I don’t know what I’m dealing.

[Neo4K]

Well, it would appear that Suri is very helpful to Pale in his investigation and actually regrets her mistreatment of others. Hope she sticks to it. Now it's off to Las Pegasus to confront the pony who manipulated the mare. My money's on the stallion that attacked him. Lord knows this may end in trouble where these individuals are concerned. Let's hope Pale makes it to the trial on time.

[Jmaster49]

10462225
Yup. She'll do anything for an easier time. Though, the stallion that attacked him wasn't a gray earth pony like Suri said...

[asdtroi8895]

“No way, sir. The last time I went there, I partied so hard that I woke up next to some mare that I didn’t know. Thankfully, all we did was kiss, but still. Not risking that again,”

Damn, he's a busy stallion.

I definitely believe that Suri is innocent here given the state she's in. I'm trying to think of a grey and pink stallion, but can't remember any canon character like that.

[Jmaster49]

10463634
Corkscrew has a life outside work lol.

There is a canon character with those colors. You'll see...