Early Riser looked at the young mare seated on the other side of the low table In my Equestria dreamscape. Yawning she rubbed her eyes with the back of her front hooves. Over the last few weeks she’d been going non-stop living out of hotel rooms, barracks, sleeper cars, and in a few case sleeping on the ground.
 
She was part of a small army ponies who’d been tasked by the Royal Court with interviewing, examining, collecting, and correlating the interviews of thousands of ponies who life had been effected by the actions of not only the Associations, but also as a results of the Royal Court’s crackdown. Celestia was aware of the precedent of this operation and she wanted to be certain that it was properly documented.
 
This meant Early Riser was interviewing not only witnesses and victims of the Associations, but also certain members of the Associations that Crown felt might be willing to cooperate and could aid the operation with their testimony. Some of them were utterly reprehensible. Others were unscrupulous but possessed knowledge critical to achieve prosecution of certain key members. Their information was also essential to unraveling the web of interconnected shell businesses that the Associations owned.
 
But the mare Early Riser was now interviewing was strangest one so far. She stared down at the suspect’s dossier one more time before asking her next question.
 
“Okay Prophecy What the Royal Court is trying to understand is what was your relationship to Blank Check and her Association? So let’s start with a basic question. Why did you originally contact Blank Check?”
 
The young unicorn mare slowly lifted her gaze from the table surface. The dark bay was a haggard looking thing. Her black mane was a disheveled mess and her bloodshot ice-blue eyes quivered as she looked at the investigator. According to medical report that had been assembled by the Crown, Prophecy was prone to anxiety attacks and ulcers as a result of said anxiety. Also she was troubled by sleeping disorders along with a raft of other medical problems. Early Riser was no doctor but the poor mare looked like a wreck to her.
 
“Well.” The young mare began to speak in a soft voice. “ She’s been my legal guardian for several years. I first met her when I was 15. My aunt Purple Bloom had died the year before in a fire where I had been living at. I stayed for a while with some of her neighbors since I had no immediate relatives in Manehattan, and none of my distant family would take me in.”
 
She looked down at the table and her mug of tea and sighed. “I, I, had gotten a reputation for being, well, rather strange, and weird. Several of my aunt’s neighbors were kind of enough to let stay at their place until the school year was over. However I couldn’t keep sleeping on their sofas forever.”
 
Slowly with a front hoof she started to pushing the mug of tea in front of her from side to side. Her white half sock markings almost matched the color of the mug. For security reasons Prophecy was wearing an inhibitor ring. Although Early Riser was pretty sure the suspect wasn’t threat to anypony. After a few seconds of this she continued to speak.
 
“I didn’t want to go back to school in the fall. There were already too many rumors, stories, and gossip about me, and my aunt’s death wasn’t going to back that any better. I had no really friends there and the teachers tolerated me but were never happy to have me in their classes.”
 
Early Riser’s pen danced across the paper as Prophecy spoke. “Why was that so dear?” The investigator already had read the young mare’s school records and the interviews of the facility, but she wanted to hear the suspect’s own words on the matter.
 
The mare continued to stare at the mug as she slowly leaned her head from side to side. “Because strange things happen around me. Often dark terrible things. My parents were murdered while I slept in the next room. Other ponies often felt like there was something watching them when I was around. Something very, dark, angry, and hungry. They say you can hear things moving around that nopony can see. Like hoof-steps from some unseen creature. If it’s very quiet others have often said they heard whispering in their ears. They don’t know what the words are and I’ve never heard them myself, but they say they’re dark, ominous sounding words.”
 
Early Riser noted this as well, and her own contact with the young mare confirmed her statement. The room was well lit and she knew that the temperature had been set at a comfortable level. However where Prophecy was seated the room appeared dimmer. Like a thin veil of shadow swathed the mare. Also one could almost imagine they felt the slightest of chill wind occasionally coming from the suspect’s direction.
 
The suspect continued speaking. “And, and of course their’s my Riders. Viper and Creeper. They, they disturb most other ponies when they appear.”
 
Early Riser jotted this down. “So Prophecy why did you approach Blank Check? How did you find out about her and her Association? Did one of your classmates or teachers mention them? Was it something your aunt or neighbor said? Or did become aware of them by reading about them in the papers? “
 
“It was none of those. I, I, one day started having a vision over and over in which I saw her helping me. Also–”
 
Suddenly the mare convulsed and as Early Riser looked on the Prophecy’s ice blue eyes rolled up past her upper eyelids. Then a few seconds later another set of deep garnet red pupils rolled up into view. Early Riser had been warned about this special condition Prophecy had, but it was still creepy as hell to observe. Also the young mare’s personality and body language changed. Her nervous, slouched, insecure demeanor melted away, and its place was an intelligent, calculating individual. This was the entity referred to as Viper sat up and spoke.
 
“Also after deliberating on the matter I came to the conclusion that Blank Check was in a position of wealth and authority to aid me with my current predicament.” It was still the young mare’s voice, but was as if Early Riser was listening to a different pony speak.
 
“Why not seek out the help of the authorities?” Asked the inspector.
 
Viper/Prophecy shook their head. “While there are services offered by the city and the Crown. They are not well suited to our needs, and in the case of the Crown there would’ve been too many restrictions and conditions attached to their aid. We felt that this would have constricted our plans too much.”
 
“But you felt Blank Check would not?” Early Riser was noting the appearance of Viper in her notes.
 
“Correct. While our loyalty would be expected from Blank Check and her Association; they were both familiar with working individuals who had unique backgrounds and they would accept us with fewer conditions. So long as we demonstrated our devotion and willingness to assist and help their organization we’d continue to prosper.”
 
“You mentioned the city officials and the Crown had too many conditions attached to their aid. What are you planning to accomplish that made these organizations unacceptable to approach?”  
“We seek to–” Suddenly Prophecy convulsed and the red pupils rolled up into her head. Then her regular ice-blue rolled into view. The mare shivered and shrank back into her normal demeanor and resumed speaking the original sentence.
 
“Also we were hoping they might be able to help us afford a, a, specialist who might be able to assist us with our problem.”
 
Early Riser found herself wanting to instinctively give the poor mare a hug. Here was a mare who desperately needed help. “Dear. If you cooperate with the Crown. I assure you they will be able to get you the help you need. You just need to work with us. It might take a few years, but there are ponies that can help you”
 
Suddenly the investigator had an idea. using her levitation she levitated her satchel into view. Inside it was a tin of fruit pastilles she’d been eating. Sometimes a simple gesture like offering a piece of candy could help put a pony being questioned at at ease. She looked into her satchel as she spoke.
 
“Prophecy would care have to something to go along with your tea? I have these–” Suddenly she heard the suspect speak up in a voice that caused a shiver to run up the length of her spine.  
“The Gatekeeper will have opened the gate by then. She will have torn the sun asunder and plunged the moon into its fiery remains. The mountain will have tumbled and the seas will have boiled away. Death will stalk the land slaying all it finds, and its bow will be dyed red in the blood of those its slain!”
 
Looking up Early Riser found herself staring into the vivid emerald green alien eyes of Creeper. The investigator swallowed and once again levitated her pen to her notes.
 
“Um, do you mind repeating that?”
 
To be continued.
 
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