Questions with Questionable Answers

Scarlet sat in a very plain, square room (not surprising, as it was made of clouds). There were no decorations, save for an ugly plant in the corner, and the color of the room was unbearably dismal. There was a mahogany desk at the front, opposite from the building entrance, and there were some chairs lining the walls. Next to the mahogany desk was a door that led into the main offices in the building. Other than the registrar sitting at the desk, Scarlet was the only pony in the room. She began to ponder the events that had just transpired.

She remembered Dumbbell and Hoops making fun of Rainbow Dash, and she remembered stepping in to defend her, which usually didn't happen. Then, as she started to walk away, Hoops made that comment.

“At least I have parents, so they can teach me a thing or two about manners!”

Scarlet gritted her teeth. "How in the world did Hoops even know about my parents? I never talked about them with anypony except Rainbow Dash."

Either way, that was beyond the point. She remembered crying a bit, and then her mind went blank. She had absolutely no recollection of what happened during that time, because pretty soon, her eyes had opened and she saw Hoops lying on the ground. She was confused beyond words, but she didn't have time to think about it then. Before she knew it, authorities were surrounding her and she was forced into a tight harness. As they dragged her away, she noticed the medics putting Hoops on a stretcher, and carrying him in the direction of the Cloudsdale Hospital.

They brought her to a place called the “Cloudsdale Investigative Building”, where they asked her a bunch of questions. They demanded details that she couldn't provide. They wanted reasons she couldn't give. Then they asked for witnesses. The only possible witness she could think of was Rainbow Dash, and she wasn't even certain about that, considering she wasn't there when Scarlet "woke up". She would've named Dumbbell, but he was long gone. When they asked about parents, she gave them the name of her caregiver; the matron at the orphanage where she lived. She also gave them the name of her counselor at Summer Flight Camp, whom she suspected they would contact as well.

She was then led to the room she now sat in, and had been sitting in for several hours. One by one, ponies she knew had come in and out of the main offices, being led by a stallion that could only be described as "professional-looking". The first one who entered the building was Rainbow Dash. She was led into the main offices, and after about half an hour, she came out. As Rainbow passed Scarlet on the way out of the building, she leaned over and whispered, “Meet me in our usual spot, at six. I'll bring Fluttershy, too. Apparently she doesn't live very far from the orphanage.”

The next ponies who had gone in and out of the room with the stallion included her camp counselor, Mr. Bolt, and her school teacher. After quite a while, they, too, were on their way.

Next, was the matron at the orphanage, Mrs. Caring. It had been about twenty minutes since Mrs. Caring entered the main offices, and Scarlet was growing anxious.

“What in Equestria happened?” Scarlet thought to herself.

“Today wasn't much different than any other day, was it? Well, then again, I normally don't engage in Rainbow Dash's conflicts with other ponies. Why did I feel so compelled to step in this time? Was defending her really that important?

“Ms. Lightning.”

“As her friend, I suppose I was obligated to stand up for her in the first place. I can't wait until I'm out of this building, then I can get the whole story from Rainbow. I just hope she saw enough to give me a clear explanation.”

“Ahem, Ms. Lightning.”

“How in the world could that have happened to Hoops? Did I do that? Argh, I wish I could remember what happened! It's like my memory just went completely blank for a short period of time. This is so aggrav-”

“MS. LIGHTNING! Please wake up!”

Scarlet nearly jumped out of her seat. She looked up, and saw the professional-looking stallion staring down at her with a hint of agitation on his face.

“Umm, sorry. What did you say?” Scarlet asked, trying to recover from the sudden interruption of her in-depth thought process. She looked around, but Mrs. Caring was nowhere to be seen. “I guess she left already.”

“Please follow me, Ms. Lightning.” he said.

Scarlet got up from her seat. “Great, time for more questions.” She followed the stallion into the door, and made her way down a long, narrow hallway, and through another door. The room she now stood in was very plain, like the one before. However, she was given almost no time to observe.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Lightning. Please have a seat.” said a different stallion, who was sitting at the desk in front of her. This simple request, while somewhat patronizing, was asked in a polite way. Scarlet found it ironic because this "request" was not a request at all. She didn't actually have a choice in the matter, so she sat without a word.

The stallion in front of her was slightly less professional-looking than the last, and a bit more on the intimidating side. He had a Grey coat, and a neat, dark Grey mane. He waved his hoof in a sort of shooing motion, and the professional-looking stallion left, closing the door behind him. They were now alone.

The two of them sat facing one another in awkward silence for a few minutes. The Grey-colored stallion began to flip through some pages on his desk, glancing up at Scarlet every so often. After quite a bit of time, the silence was finally broken.

“So, your name is Scarlet Lightning, if I’m not mistaken?” He didn’t wait for a response.

“I’m looking through these reports, and I see nothing but good things about you, Ms. Lightning. According to your school teacher, you do exceedingly well in your classes, especially Social Studies. It says here that your Geographic knowledge of Equestria is astounding for your age.”

Scarlet shrugged. “I guess, but I’ve never left Cloudsdale. My dad used to show me maps when I was little. I’ve loved looking at them ever since.”

The stallion flipped to another page. “Your camp counselor says you’ve been attending Summer Flight Camp every summer with Rainbow Dash for quite some time.”

“This is our fifth year.”

“So I assume you two enjoy it?”

Scarlet shrugged again. Under conditions like these, she wasn't great with words. “Mrs. Caring was the one who suggested it to us. It was our first summer at the orphanage, and she thought it’d be nice for both of us to go. We were hesitant at first, but we ended up having a great time. It’s really close to the orphanage, so we commute.”

“Mmhm. What do you think of Mrs. Caring?”

“Well, she was always there for me and Rainbow Dash right after our parents died. It was hard for both of us, but she always had a way to cheer us up. In fact, she’s the one who introduced me to Rainbow Dash in the first place. When we started hanging out a bunch, she switched around some of the fillies so that we could bunk together.”

“So you think of her positively?” he asked.

“Well, yes.  I don’t have any reason to dislike her. She’s been nothing but kind to me and Rainbow.”

“Hmm, that’s strange.” he replied. Scarlet was very confused by this statement. “When I talked to her just a few minutes ago, she seemed hesitant to tell me anything positive about you, Scarlet. At first, she refused to talk about you at all. However, I can be quite persuasive. She told me positive things about you, but it was completely insincere. I believe she was honest with me, but at the same time, I feel as if she wanted me to think negatively of you.”

“Why would she want that?” Scarlet asked, bewildered.

“I haven't the slightest idea. Perhaps you should ask her yourself.” he said casually.

Scarlet had no time to consider reasons for this... strange circumstance, because the stallion continued speaking immediately.

“Tell me what happened today.” he continued. Once again, he wasn't asking.

“Today?” she asked. “As in today at Flight Camp?”

“What else could I be talking about?”

Scarlet recounted the events in the day that led up to the incident. She made sure to be very specific, even including what she ate for breakfast. When she arrived at the most important part, she was stumped for details.

“After Hoops mentioned my parents, I was at a loss for words. I didn't know how to respond to that, so tears just started to flow. A few seconds later, my mind blanked.”

“Your mind... blanked?” he asked condescendingly.

“Yes, it blanked,” Scarlet stated. “Meaning, I have no idea what happened right after that. It's almost like I went unconscious for a few minutes. I don't know how else to explain it.”

“Very interesting...” he said.

“I don't know how long I was out, but eventually my eyes opened and I saw Hoops lying on the ground, motionless. Needless to say, I was shocked, but before I had time to think about it, I was being tied up in a harness, and dragged here. I was being questioned earlier, but I don't think they knew what they were doing. In fact, all they seemed to know how to do was raise their voice at me. The only info I was able to provide was a possible witness, Rainbow Dash, and the name of my camp counselor, my teacher, and Mrs. Caring. After that, they brought me into that waiting room of yours. I think you know what happened after that.”

“Indeed,” he replied. “About your friend, Rainbow Dash. What's she like?”

“I'm pretty sure you saw that for yourself when you talked to her earlier. It doesn't take long to figure her out.” said Scarlet, trying to fight back a small smile.

“Well,” he started, “she was trying to tell me exactly what happened. She says she saw the whole ordeal.”

There were a few seconds of silence. “Well?” asked Scarlet impatiently.

“Well, how shall I put this?” he began. “Your friend seems to have quite a vivid imagination. I wouldn't let these words faze you.”

“Just tell me.” she said firmly.

“Very well.” he said, clearing his throat. He looked down at a piece of paper on his desk. “Here are her exact words:”

“That comment Hoops said made Scarlet really upset, so she started getting all glowy. Then, all of a sudden, I got pushed back by something, kinda like wind. I looked at Scarlet, and she was floating in this really creepy way. Her wings weren't even flapping, but she kept floating up! Then, this weird blue stuff wrapped itself around her like a cocoon, and a bunch of lightning came out of nowhere! There must have been like 20 bolts, and every single one hit her! Then, it looked like she was starting to calm down. She came back down to the ground, so I galloped over to her as fast as I could. Usually ponies aren't okay after being struck by lightning over and over, but she didn't have a scratch on her! Before I had time to say anything, I noticed her eyes were all blue. Not the regular blue, I mean COMPLETELY blue, and nothing else! She had this mad look on her face, like she was about to attack. I got spooked, so I flew away as fast as I could. When I was pretty far away, I heard this loud 'BOOM', and everything seemed calm again after that. I went back to Scarlet, but there were a bunch of ponies in uniforms crowded around the area and tying her up, so I flew back to the orphanage as fast as I could to tell Mrs. Caring. Not too long after that, two stallions in uniforms arrived at the door and brought us here.”

The long pause told Scarlet that he was done reading. She didn't even know what to say. She had no reason to doubt Rainbow Dash's words, but it seemed so far fetched. She was definitely going to talk to Rainbow Dash about this later.

One thing in particular struck Scarlet as odd.“Where was Fluttershy this entire time? Could she have arrived sometime during my memory gap? If she was there, it'd make sense that Rainbow Dash didn't mention her. Better to not get her involved. We both know that situations like this scare the hay out of Fluttershy.”

“Well?” the stallion asked, apparently expecting a response.

Once again, Scarlet had become lost in her own thoughts. She looked up, and realized the stallion expected her to say something.

“Well... ummm, I don't...” Scarlet still didn't know what to say.

“Pretty ridiculous, isn't it?” he asked. Scarlet looked up to see him chuckling. He was obviously amused by it. “Your friend definitely has quite the imagination. She should write a book with this. Anyway, it's clear what happened today.”

“Really?” she asked. “That's good, because I've been trying to figure it out for hours.”

“It's quite obvious, really. What we're dealing with is your everyday school yard scuffle. Well, in this case, it was at camp, but you know what I mean. I'm not saying that makes your actions justified, but this isn't anything out of the ordinary.”

Scarlet had a dumbfounded look on her face. “That's it? If that's the case, how do you explain my mind going blank for the entire duration?”

“I'm not sure,” he said. “I've heard of times when ponies were literally blinded by rage, and they completely lost all sense of control.” Scarlet started to protest, but was interrupted. “Anyway, I don't think further investigation is necessary. Your discipline is no longer my responsibility. If you were a few years older, I could have you arrested for aggressive assault, but due to your age, I believe whatever punishment instilled by your camp counselor and Mrs. Caring will suffice.”

Scarlet took this as a hint that she was allowed to leave now. She got up and made her way to the door, and he didn't say anything. As she opened the door and started to exit, however, he spoke up one last time.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” he asked.

She stopped. “What do you mean?”

He paused for a moment, as if he was trying to word this next phrase carefully. “Well, that colt, Hoops,” he started.

“Yes?” she inquired.

“He's comatose. It'll probably be a few days before he wakes up.”