Travelers and Jumpers

Chapter 8:

On The Trail

After I got some directions from a friendly pegasus, I found myself standing in front of a building that sent my diabetes radar into overdrive. Now I know that these ponies might be extraordinarily colorful and diverse, innocent, and adorable, but...a building that is in the exact same shape as a gingerbread house. Ye Gods, even I found that a little hard to believe.

Then again...It’s a bakery shaped like a gingerbread house. Why should I complain?

That thought was reinforced into my head the instant the front door opened, and allowed me to catch a whiff of what must have been pure heaven. Warm bread, melting chocolate, fresh cake. 

I steeled my nerves, and walked inside of Paradise the bakery, instantly fighting against the urge to just stand in front of the cupcakes display and take in the sights/smell. I couldn’t let myself fall to it, though. I had a job to do.

The thought of that sobered me up long enough to allow me to take in the surroundings. Nobody else was here, except for a familiar looking pink mare that was manning (mareing? Argh, I’ve gotta ask Ivy if she copied a thesaurus while we were at the library) the counter. Her pink mane was incredibly poofy, almost the exact same shape as cotton candy, and she had an image of three balloons on her flank.

“Hello, miss?” I asked, stepping up to the counter. When she looked up, I said, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions about a pony that came in here a few days ago.”

“Oh, hi! I remember you,” she cheerfully said, leaning onto said counter to get a better look at me. “You were that new Jumper that was at Twilight’s library! It’s nice to finally get a chance to talk to you.”

Now I remember her. She was one of the mares that had joined Alex and Matt the other night. At least she seemed a little more accepting of me than most everyone else. I immediately decided I liked her.

“Well, it’s nice to properly meet you,” I told her, bowing my head to her. “My name is Travis Voyageur.”

“Silly, I know that!” she giggled good-naturedly. “My name’s Pinkie Pie, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner! Would you like a free sample of one of our cupcakes? They just came out of the oven!”

The pony waved a tray of baked goods right underneath my nose, and my stomach growled at the sight of them. I guess it was just about lunch time...

“Why thank you, ma’am,” I said, carefully grabbing a cupcake that had green icing on top of it. She stared at me expectantly, and I gave her a casual shrug, as I took a bite out of i-

...ohmygods.

Take the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten. I don’t care what it is, or how tasty you seem to think it is. That meal is nothing - nothing - compared to the flavor of that single cupcake. Chocolate had never once tasted so...so good! The icing on it added a delicious mint taste to it that was subtle enough to not overpower the chocolate, but it was still there all the same. I literally couldn’t form a coherent thought while eating that pastry. It was one of the few foods that I wanted to savor, and take the time to enjoy the taste of it.

All in all, I can compare that entire experience to viewing a live orchestra perform an adventurous piece...but in taste form. That probably doesn’t make much sense, but it’s the closest I can come to describing Pinkie’s cupcake.

As soon as I had swallowed the last bit of it, I once again bowed my head to her, and said, “Miss Pie, that was by far the greatest pastry I have ever had the honor of having.”

Pinkie smiled at me, and replied, “Aw, thanks! It’s not everyday that I get to give away something I threw together from scratch!”

...From scratch, she says. Note to self: When I get a steady source of money, come into this bakery, and buy every single cupcake in sight.

Shaking myself out of my sugar-induced stupor, I told her, “Well, you certainly have incredible skills as a baker. Thanks again.”

“No problem! I guess that will have to do for a welcome party for now,” she shrugged, never once losing her smile. “Now, did you say you had some questions for me?”

I sighed, and brushed a hand through my hair. Right. Back to business, I suppose. I just hope she keeps up this attitude with everything.

“Sorry to change the conversation to something so dark, but...” I paused, and fished my wallet out my pocket to show the mare my detective license. “I’m currently investigating the murder of Silver Scrolls. I was hoping I could ask you a few questions, and see if you knew anything that might help me out.”

Pinkie Pie blinked, before tilting her head at me. “Well sure! I’d be happy to. But what makes you think I’d know anything?”

I slid my wallet back into its pocket, and this time came up with the receipt. “I found this near where the victim had been found. The date on here is just one day before the murder was reported to happen,” I explained. “That means you were one of the last ponies to see her.”

She had a thoughtful expression on her face, right before she gasped and exclaimed, “Wait! You don’t think I did it, do you?”

She instantly placed her face a few inches away from mine, forcing me to look right into her eyes...and before I could say anything, before I could even protest or try to struggle against it, I felt myself drawn into Pinkie’s eyes. The unmistakable sensation of a soulgaze overpowered all other senses, filling me with pure terror.

A soulgaze is one of the most terrifying aspects of being a wizard. It is something I find myself both cursing, and loving in the same breath. Sometimes, I don’t even know why I learned about this in the first place.

To put it simply, this area of magic takes the phrase, “Eyes are the window into the soul” and makes it literal. When someone with an iota of magical talent looks into your eyes, they get to see your very soul, they see everything that makes you who you are. However, a soulgaze is a two-way street. You get to see the other guy’s soul as well. And there are no filters attached to it. You’ll see everything about them, you’ll learn more about them in those few seconds than almost anyone else will in a lifetime. And it stays with you. You will never forget it.

Sometimes, though...that can be a good thing.

Like when I found myself staring into Pinkie’s soul.

At first, all I saw was an empty grey space. There had been nothing there, and it seemed...sad. Lifeless, almost, but not quite that. It looked as if despair had been given a physical form, and been carved into the landscape. And then...something miraculous happened.

An explosion of color washed over everything, myself included, spreading warmth and happiness to every fiber of my being. And it didn’t stop there. Loud, triumphant music echoed throughout the space, as every bit of grey was chased away by an enormous rainbow. It was wild, it was chaotic, it was happy, it was pure euphoria. I suddenly felt like laughing, that every single problem that I had dealt with until that point could be laughed away.

The light started to change into forms, then. I saw ponies of all shapes and sizes, the ones who lived in Ponyville, and what I presumed were her family, surrounded me suddenly, and I could make out the shape of Twilight, of Alex and Matt, and of others that I found vaguely familiar. Every single shape seemed to just burst out of nowhere, appearing all over the landscape. Buildings sprung into existence, painstakingly decorated with every single ounce of care for a celebration. Life was predominant in this scene, and it was unmistakably...just...there.

Most of all, though, I remember the laughter. I remember the feeling of joy, of triumph, of days spent in the company of true friends.  I remember wanting to spread this feeling to everyone I met, of wanting to chase away their own despair.

I remembered how she strived to do that every single moment of her life.

When I found myself back in reality, it really wasn’t a surprise that I had fallen onto the floor, and that I was weeping openly. After seeing that, who wouldn’t?

“Ye Gods,” I managed to croak out, my voice hoarse. “That...that was...”

I was at a loss for words at that point. How could I even begin to convey everything I had felt and seen in that soulgaze? Honestly...I couldn’t. Even now, I still have a tough time finding a way to do it justice, and each time I do, I feel like I came up short.

Pinkie Pie, though, seemed to have recovered quite easily. I don’t know what she saw, but it evidently made her look at me with a strange mixture of emotions. Most of all though, I saw...surprise. At what, though? Still, I was more than glad it was only the two of us in that bakery. It made the following silence a little less awkward.

“So...” I quietly croaked. “Th-that happened. Are you alright, ma’am?”

Pinkie Pie shakily looked at me, and nodded her head towards me. “Yeah, I’m alright...Wow...what was that?” she asked me.

I sighed, and gave her a brief summary of what a soulgaze was.

“So...that was...that was you?” she slowly asked, looking at me with wide eyes.

I nodded silently. Best to just get this over with...Look, I may be the guy who works for the Good people, but I’m not exactly a saint. I’ve done several thousand things I’m not proud of, and would rather forget if given the chance. And judging by the lack of violence in the lives of these ponies, it wouldn’t surprise me if Pinkie suddenly decided Alex had been right about everything he had said about me.

So imagine my surprise when she gave me a bone-crushing hug, and said, “You’ve really been through a lot, haven’t you? Alex is wrong about you.”

This time, it was my turn to shakily nod my head in answer.

“It’s alright, Travis! You just gotta keep on smiling, and you’ll pull through!” she told me, giving me a wide smile of her own. And it might have just been my opinion being altered by the soulgaze, but there was just something to that smile that made me feel...better.

Damn Soulgaze. Makes my eyes all messed up.

“Y-yeah,” I replied. “You too, Pinkie. Don’t stop that smiling.”

It felt a little awkward to hug a pony that I had just met and shared a very sensitive moment with. A good awkward, but an awkward nonetheless.

Somewhat reluctantly, I pushed myself out of the hug, and helped her up to her hooves.

“So...uh...questions?” I asked.

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie remembered. “Here, wait just a second!”

I sat down at one of the tables, and pulled myself together. For that kind of beauty to be seen in a soul...that should be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Still, I couldn’t let myself be hooked up in that experience.

Pinkie returned a few moments later, a tray of cookies and apple juice balanced on her head, and she sat down right across from me. Once the tray had been moved to the table (quite expertly, and confusingly, I might add), she looked at me with a serious expression on her face.

“Okie dokie lokie! I’ll try to help in any way I can!”

“Thank you, Miss Pie.”

“My friends call me Pinkie!”

I could only smile at her, and say, “...Thank you, Pinkie. Now, let’s get started.”

Reaching into a small hidden pocket in my jacket, I pulled out a small notepad and pencil to take notes, while Ivy brushed against my mind, readying herself to take the conversation to memory.

“Alright, ma’am, let’s start out with the easy questions first. Miss Scroll came into this establishment the day before she had been found dead, correct?”

“Yeah. She used to be an old customer of the Cakes, back when she still lived in Ponyville.”

“She used to live in Ponyville?”

“Yeah, she moved to Canterlot just about three years ago! I think it was because her book collection was getting too big for her old house to hold.”

“That’s right, she was an avid book collector, wasn’t she? In any case, did anything seem off about her that day?”

“Off?”

“Did she seem frightened, worried, nervous, or anything like that?”

“Hmmm...Nope! But the pony she was with was all twitchy and stuff!”

“Wait, Scrolls came in here with someone else? Can you describe him, please?”

“Sure! Let’s see...he had a sand colored coat, blond mane and tail...Oh! And his cutie-mark was a weird circle thingie in a magnifying glass!”

“Cutie what?”

“A cutie-mark! You know, that thing that shows a pony’s special talent? Oh! It’s rude to stare for too long, though. That’d be reeeaaallly embarrassing if you didn’t know that.”

“...Yeah, very. Alright, any other distinguishing characteristics I should know about?”

“He was a pegasus pony, but I can’t think of anything else.”

“Alright. Now, did you happen to hear what they talked about?”

“Well...No, I didn’t. I was actually busy with a few other customers that day, and didn’t really catch anything. I know they were being really quiet, and whispering, but that’s it. Oh! Wait! I did see that the pegasus gave her some kind of books or something. Really old ones too!”

“Old books?”

“Yeah! Like all old and musty and really thick, like the kind that Twilight keeps in her library. I think they had a picture of a crystal moon thingie, and they had little locks on them too!”

“Are you sure that’s how they looked?”

“Yep, I’m sure. The pegasus didn’t look too happy when he looked at them though, but Silver Scrolls looked like she had just been given the best Hearth’s Warming gift ever. After that, I gave them their cupcakes, and they left.”

“Do you have any idea where they are now? Or if they said anything about that?”

“Well, no, but I know a few hotels where they might have been staying. You could try asking around there, and see if anyone else saw them! Here, let me write them down for you.”

“That would be very helpful. Thank you, Pinkie.”

A few minutes later, and I was walking through Ponyville, studying the list of hotels that Pinkie had written for me. She had also been kind enough to add directions to make it easier to find.

Odd girl. But nice.

“Ivy, you got all of that, right?” I asked out loud, ducking down an alley for a bit of privacy.

“Affirmative,” she replied, not bothering to come out of the watch this time. “That was pretty foolish of you though, soulgazing her like that.”

“Cut me some slack; I didn’t know it was gonna happen until it was too late,” I countered. “Besides, it ended up working out for us, didn’t it?”

“It did, but you have to be more careful. What would have happened if she was traumatized by your soul, or if she wasn’t as ‘nice’ as she seemed?” Ivy chided me. “The mental trauma alone would have driven you to the very edge of madness. Not to mention Nero could have used the opportunity to escape...or worse, take over.”

I sighed, and finally said, “Alright, you’ve made your point. I’ll try to make sure it doesn’t happen again, unless I mean it.”

“Good.”

Still, despite Ivy’s misgivings, that adventure had proved highly helpful. I now had new information I could use in my investigation. Silver Scrolls was alive and healthy when she had come into Sugarcube Corner that day. After all, a book collector doesn’t go into a crowded place, gets handed rare books, and buys a platter of cupcakes if they plan on dying. Quite frankly, if I were her, I’d plan on celebrating.

But that other pony. Tan pegasus. Did that have anything to do with the tan feather I had found at the scene of the crime? I’m none too familiar with pony culture yet, but there’s something about a pegasus losing one of its feathers that strikes me as odd. And why had he been nervous when he had been in that bakery today? For that matter, what was his connection to Scrolls in the first place? Pinkie had mentioned that she hadn’t seen him before, and she seems like the kind of pony who would recognize anypony in her town. So who was he? And what stake did he have in everything?

And this still begs the question of why I’m trying to solve this mystery in the first place. I could easily just walk away from it, and get my stuff back from Alex the hard way. There wasn’t any need to solve this. Those guards could probably just deal with it on their own. I mean, this can’t have been the first murder they’d have to solve...right?

But that wouldn’t change the fact that I had already signed up for it. The instant I decided to walk out of my office and into the wide, wide world of Equestria...

I just don’t know when the hell to back down, do I?

Something about Ivy’s presence shifted slightly, like she were nervous about something, as she quietly whispered, “We’ve got company.”

Instantly tensing up, I unconsciously tightened my grip on my staff, and slowly turned around to see that two ponies dressed in dull grey armor,had blocked off the alley entrance, and were aiming their undivided attention at me.

“Howdy,” I greeted them, idly taking note of the fact that they seemed to sport an almost identical color scheme and build. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Now it might just be the paranoia, but I don’t like it when identical people in matching armor sets corner me in an alley. Especially when an asshole of a human decided to take my stuff from me while I was asleep, and left me with nothing to defend myself with, save a giant stick. So this time, I decided to try and play it safe. Maybe these guys had just wanted to ask me a few questions, or tell me that I had left my wallet at Sugarcube Corner.

“Stop right there, criminal scum!”

Or not. Next Chapter: 9 - Guard Blocked Estimated time remaining: 45 Minutes