Travelers and Jumpers:

Chapter 2:

Travis Voyageur

Despite my experience with my bad luck, I actually managed to push my way through the forest without losing my footing. No roots entangled my feet, nothing ran out to tackle my legs…for once, I was able to make a speedy arrival. Then again, that might still be bad luck, what with having to deal with whatever was attackin-

“Ye Gods!” I softly said, stopping to duck behind a tree. Right in front of my eyes was an incredibly odd sight, even for my standards.

First of all, I had found the source of the roaring. The creature was enormous, a great mass of rolling muscles, sharp claws, with the eyes of an enraged predator. Its tail whipped around angrily, hissing its displeasure to the world, while it both roared, and bleated in a feral rage. Massive paws clawed at the ground before it, tensing up for the pounce that would let it tear into its prey, while its rear hooves adjusted themselves for the weight shift.

Oh, and the goat head on its back let out another bleating war cry, while the lion’s head let out a small puff of flame. A  snake lashed about violently for its tail, completing the disturbing image.

A chimera. The classic chimera, from Greek Mythology, and it was about to tear into a…well, here’s the freaky part. It was about to tear into a small unicorn. Yes. A unicorn. Large hazel eyes, powder blue coat, and a cherry red mane and tail. Before I could wonder more at the strange appearance of the unicorn, it – No, she – let out another shriek of fear, barely ducking in time to avoid another pounce.

The scream was what really snapped me out of my trance. Well, that and Ivy furiously flying around my head in circles, her blue flames leaving an odd colored after-trail in my eyes. I quickly blinked it away, and took the hint to move into action.

Possible magic failure be damned; there was someone in trouble.

With that, I thrust my staff towards the chimera, keeping a tight grip on it with one hand, while the other fumbled about in my pocket . The chimera stopped to regard my actions with what seemed to be a sort of curiosity, as if it welcomed a new challenger. It didn’t know just what it was about to get challenged by.

“Fulmen!” I shouted, pouring my will into the staff. The intricately carved runes embedded into the oak glowed a bright white color, quickly followed with a discharge of electricity that arced through the air, and collided with the chimera’s goat head.

I didn’t get a chance to put that much power into that attack, though, and the monster quickly shook it off like it was nothing, training its lion’s eyes onto my tree. It opened its mouth as if it were about to let out another roar, but instead of that, I felt the air around us get considerably warmer.

Oh, hell, I mentally cursed, barely managing to dive to the side in time to avoid a torrent of flame. Ye Gods, I forgot that chimeras could do that!  

“Ivy, options, now!” I spat, lifting up my staff to fire off another spell at it. Ideally, I would try to counter with a fire attack of my own, but if I missed, I’d have to worry about a forest fire, along with the casual threat of dealing with the monster. Then there’s that unicorn to consider too. When she had screamed, it sounded…sentient. Like it knew it was scared, and was trying to call for help, but it couldn’t form the right words.

The chimera closed the distance between us with a powerful leap of its legs, and was on me in an instant, its fanged jaws trying to reach down and tear at my throat. I braced my staff against the ground, and used it to catch the struggling monster, right before the teeth could graze my skin. I hastily threw a shield spell together, and used it to reinforce the staff, effectively putting the magical equivalent of a wooden fence between us. As it thrashed about, trying to remove the flimsy defense I had set up, I felt Ivy return to her spot on my shoulder.

She made a noise like she was clearing her nonexistent throat, and said, “Chimera; monster. Originally, the chimera was killed by Bellerophon, when he-”

“When he tamed Pegasus, stabbed the monster with a lead spear, and waited for it to die of lead poisoning,” I growled, still struggling against the weight of the chimera. "Unfortunately, the only lead I've got wouldn't do much more than piss it off!"

"In that case, I suggest you revert to your fallback plan," Ivy shot back, as she floated back into the pocket watch.

Damn it, I hate it when she's right like that. It makes me look dumber than I usually am. I closed my eyes, and focused a bit more will into the staff, right around the area the monster was biting down on. Once the runes started glowing again, I gave the chimera my best See-you-later look.

“Forzarre!”

A focused blast of pure kinetic energy flew out from my staff, catching the beast on the inside of its mouth, and hurling it a good twenty feet away from me, where it slammed its back into the side of a tree, and fell to the ground in a slight daze.

Not one to let this advantage slip me by, I ran to the trembling unicorn, and wrapped a free arm around it.

“Don’t worry, I got ya,” I muttered to it, right before I took off running.

What? The chimera is dazed and confused, just got a couple of decent spells tossed at it, and was blasted into the side of a tree. I think any more damage would just piss it off, and give it a reason to chase after me and the…well, I’m gonna take a guess, and say that it’s a foal.  Or a kid. I don’t know, grammar in these situations is not exactly my forte. Plus, I didn't want to risk running completely out of energy while dealing with a ferocious monster like that. If I messed it up, odds are I'd end up killing both of us, and the Chimera would use my femur as a toothpick.

With that lovely mental image present in my mind, I tightened my grip on the unicorn, and fled for our ever-loving lives, ducking between trees, leaping over branches, and nearly slipping on some damp leaves that threatened to send us both tumbling to the ground. After yet another perilous run, I managed to get us to the relative safety of the path, just a little ways away from the woods.

You should have killed it when you had the chance. Tore out its throat with your wyrd, bound it to your will, something that would have shown it and the rest of its kind not to-

"Shut up," I mentally snarled at myself.

Once we had returned to the road, I let out a deep sigh, and looked at the barely struggling unicorn. “You alright there, l’il fella?” I asked, only half-expecting it to answer.

She did.

“I…I’m fine…” she mumbled, actually burying herself a little deeper into my jacket. Now that we were away from the danger, I was dimly aware of the chill in the air.

Talking unicorns. Okay, not the most surprising thing I’ve seen. I deal with this all the time, I’m a wizard AND a Traveler, I told myself, ignoring the surprise that had initially shot through my brain.

“That’s good,” I nodded. Almost as an afterthought, I asked her, “What’s your name, kid?”

She only gave me an indecipherable mumble in reply.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that,” I said, leaning my ear down closer to her. “What did you say?”

“My mommy told me not to talk to humans…” she mumbled slightly louder.

That was a little surprising to hear. Still, maybe I can get her to take me to wherever her home is, and I’ll be able to ask her parents about what they have against us bipedal apes. I adjusted my staff, and started back down the path again.

“Now why would she say that?” I asked her, my long legs carrying us down the path.

“She says you’re weird…but I don’t think that’s bad,” she said in only the way an innocent child could. “I think Mr. Roberts is really nice. He’s always helping others. And Mr. Brennan isn’t so bad either…”

Only two names? Okay, let’s see…I guess that makes me the magic number three? That’s kind of worrying, actually. See, in magic, three is one of the most magically powerful numbers there is. Think about it; there were three fates, three days that Christ was buried before coming back to life, three core components of a mortal, all kinds of trios. Hopefully it’s just another coincidence, but I’m still gonna keep that bit of information stored away for later.

Back to the conversation.

“Well, I hope I’m not that bad to you,” I cheerfully said, ignoring the small burning sensation from carrying the foal down the road.

“Hmm…” she placed a hoof on her chin, and seemed to regard me with a bit of curiosity. “I think you seem kinda nice…maybe just a bit scary…I thought only unicorns could use magic?”

Other magic users? Hmm…more information. Ivy’s still taking notes, I hope. Thankfully, she popped back into the watch. That’d be awkward enough to explain.

“Well, surprise, kiddo,” I replied out loud, slowing my pace to a jog. “Some of us humans can do some pretty crazy things.”

“Yeah! The way you beat up that monster was really cool!” she said, punching outwards a little bit with her hoof. “I haven’t seen a pony do something like that in, well, ever! How did you even do that? You don’t even have a horn!”

“What, you mean my magic?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “It was just a little something I learned during my Travels. Lots of humans can do that where I come from.”

“Really? But…how?”

If it’ll keep the kid talking, and keep me distracted from thinking too hard on this entire world, maybe a bit of magical explanation will do me some good. Hell, I actually like talking about magic. It’s like I’m teaching, I guess. “Well, where I come from, there are some humans that can tap into the energy of the world around them, and the energy that rests inside of them, and harness it to do fantastic things. They’re normally called Wizards.”

“Does that mean you’re a wizard, mister?” she asked.

“Oh yeah. Amongst other things, but yeah. And hey, I’m not a ‘mister’. My name’s…” Here, I paused. I wasn’t sure if I could give her my real name, so I decided to give her one of my pseudonyms. “Travis. Travis Voyageur.”

“Can I just call you Trav?”

“Sure thing, kiddo,” I shrugged. “Now, back to magic, right? Anyways, there are two basic ways that we wizards can use magic. What you saw me do is called Evocation. That’s where we just take a bit of our energy, slap our will onto it, and guide it into existence. It’s fast, and a bit risky, but I’m fairly alright at it. We mainly use that for when we don’t have time to prepare.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. A lot of us use some kind of focus item, like a wand or something, so that we don’t lose control of it. I guess unicorn horns act the same way,” I added. When she gave me a confused look, I told her, “Look, the simplest way of saying it, is that Evocation is ‘Ka-boom’ magic.”

“Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” she wondered, scratching her chin.

“That would have been a smart thing to do, wouldn’t it?” I agreed. “But, at least you can add those big words to your vocabulary. You’ll probably understand them a lot better than I do, that’s for sure.”

She giggled a bit at that, and I had to chuckle with her. It was always infectious to hear a child laugh, no matter what their species is. It’s just that fundamental innocence that everyone can take a small measure of comfort in.

“So, what’s the other way you can use magic?” the unicorn asked, a glimmer of wonder in her eyes.

“Thaumaturgy,” I stated. “This is the stuff wizards really excel in. See, this is the magic that we use to actually prepare stuff. You know, rituals, magic circles, potions, anything that takes a bit of time to prepare,” I explained, trying to keep it simple for her. “It’s like…putting a puzzle together.”

“Really?”

“Yep,” I nodded. “We just have to find the right pieces, and put them together just right. If we mess up, it could end up…messy, to say the least.”

“What’s the most?”

I had to let out a barking laugh at that. “Kid, you just asked the right question!” I said, setting her down on the ground so that she could walk alongside me.

The foal trotted with me, her eyes staring at me in excitement. “I did?”

“Yeah. A lot of people just take it at face value,” I chuckled. “You’re trying to learn more. That’s something special, that is.”

“Really!?” she gleefully shouted, before turning her eyes to her flank. After a second of staring, her eyes became gloomier, and she let out a heavy sigh. “Rats…still no cutie-mark…”

“Cutie what?” I asked in confusion.

“You know, a cutie-mark!” she repeated. “It’s how we know our special talent!”

“…Makes sense,” I lied. “So, it just appears when you discover it then?”

“Yeah! But…I haven’t found it yet…” she let out another sigh.

I felt bad for the kid. It’s not just kids that look for their special talent in our world, is it? Even adults try to figure out what they’re good at for a good long time, before either giving up, or persisting…

“Hey, come on now,” I told her with a small smile. “Everyone has that bit that makes ‘em special. I mean, it took me a reeeaaaally long time before I could figure out my talent, and I’m just a silly human!”

She giggled weakly at that, but it was a giggle nonetheless. At least I can give her a bit of cheering up before we reach…erm…

“Hey, do you know where we’re going?” I asked suddenly, realizing I had no idea where the path would lead us.

The filly got a thoughtful look on her face, and tried to think about it for a minute. “Um…I think we’re closer to Ponyville now. I’m not sure…I just moved there from Canterlot a few days ago.”

…Ponyville? Canterlot? My inner pun-isher is going to have a pun time at this place.

At least, it will, once I deal with the new challenger that was standing on the path, glowering at me with a look that could freeze Hell itself.

“Oh! It’s Mr. Roberts!”

“…I just entered Mr. Roberts’ Neighborhood, didn’t I?” I mumbled underneath my breath. “Alright, alright. Let’s…just deal with this calmly, and make sure I don’t make a total fool of myself. Kid, why don’t you go up to him first?”

“Why?” she asked again.

Because he’s trying to kill me with his Deathvision, and that looks like a knife-sheath of some sort on his leg, I thought. “I just want him to know you’re alright. After that, he’ll be able to get you home, nice and safe.”

“What about you, though? Don’t you want to see Ponyville too? After all, it’s getting dark…” she commented, her eyes darting about nervously.

“Yeah, but I’m not scared of the dark. It knows better than to mess with me,” I said with a false bravado. “But what about you? Don’t you think you oughtta get to your parents before they start worrying about you?”

Her face fell at that statement.

“…Ah…” I whispered. “Okay…I see…”

Great. Kid who doesn’t have parents that seem to care about her. Maybe I should go with her, make sure everything’s alright. Then again, I’m just a stranger. Maybe this…Roberts guy could take care of it. I just have to keep a civil tongue, and explain everything to him. Yeah. I can do that. No problem. I’m very sure he’s a reasonable man, and will be perfectly willing to listen to a guy wearing a Seahawks jacket.

…Looking back on that sentence, I think I must have been on something.

Still, it’s worth a shot, right?

I closed my eyes, and cleared my head, right before I took a few more steps forward, and used every ounce of diplomacy, charisma, and negotiations skills that I had acquired in my countless years of dealing with people more than likely to attack me if I acted the wrong way.

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