We now sat under a small tree at a remote location of the town, a spot somewhere between Ponyville and the creepy forest. I couldn’t see anypony else around. The place was perfect to have a private talk without somepony thinking that Pinkie Pie was talking to a ghost. However, Pinkie wasn’t completely alone. I didn’t mean she was with me, no. She had this green… thing, sitting on her back. The green lizard-like thing that stared at his master, licking his eye every now and then. I wasn’t even sure if he could see me or not. At this point, I wouldn’t even be surprised if he did.
“CC, this is Gummy, my toothless baby alligator pet. Gummy, this is Crystal Clear, a ghost I found wandering the streets one night,” Pinkie introduced us to each others.
It was clear that Pinkie assumed his pet to see me, but I still wasn’t convinced. Gummy’s hollow stare went right through me. I tried to move, but I couldn’t tell if he followed me or not. But that wasn’t important. What interested me the most was the reason Pinkie Pie had brought this creature with her.
Pinkie waited for my response. After a moment of hesitation, I greeted the green reptile, “Nice to meet you.”
Pinkie smiled. “From now on, you have a new codename. Your name will be Gummy. That way, I can talk to you without raising any eyebrows. If anypony asks, I’m just playing with Gummy. Which, after you receiving your new codename, is actually true. Plus I’m also taking the real Gummy out so it’s double true!” Pinkie explained excitedly.
I first looked at Pinkie, then the pet alligator. I still couldn’t tell if he knew about my presence. Gummy aside, Pinkie’s plan seemed solid enough, although I didn’t exactly get everything that was going on. Maybe I didn’t need to know.
“Okay, that sounds good,” I replied nonchalantly, still looking at Gummy, who licked his eye again. There was something almost hypnotic in his demeanor.
“Oh, what was that, Gummy, you like my new friend? Aww, that’s so sweet,” Pinkie Pie cooed.
My baffled expression went unnoticed by Pinkie Pie. I wasn’t even trying to understand how they understood each other. I could swear the alligator didn’t say a thing. For now, I decided to let it be and concentrate on the task at hoof.
“So, are we ready to get started?” I asked, feeling a bit uneasy about the situation.
“Yeah. First, let’s go find that article,” Pinkie said, pumping her hoof.
But just as I thought I had seen everything, Pinkie Pie pulled something out of her mane. She pulled out a magnifying glass, a pipe and a big detective hat, which she put on her head.
“Now we are ready!” Pinkie Pie announced, determined.
Sometimes I wondered if I was simply having the weirdest dream and if I suddenly woke up from where ever I dozed off...
---
We walked back to the town and headed straight to the big tree I had yet to investigate. But judging by the look of things, Pinkie had some business there. I merely followed in her wake. She had instructed me to stay behind her so whenever she talked to me, she wouldn’t look suspicious when she actually faced Gummy to talk. Not me, Gummy, but the alligator. Not sure if that was brilliant or just crazy. Either way, I started to get excited as well. Pinkie Pie’s enthusiasm was really contagious.
We walked to the door and Pinkie Pie knocked with her head. I simply rolled my eyes. There was nothing I could have said in that situation anyway.
A moment later the door opened and a familiar looking purple unicorn greeted her visitors. Well, except me of course. Now that I think about it, I had seen her on the marketplace the other day.
“Hello, Pinkie Pie, what brings you here?” the purple mare asked.
“Hey, Twilight. I was just playing detectives with Gummy here, would you mind if I took a look at your library for anything suspicious?” Pinkie giggled happily.
Twilight peeked at the baby alligator on Pinkie’s back and smiled.
“Well, okay, as long as you don’t make a big mess like last time, I just cleaned up here,” she said.
Last time? Was she playing detectives with Gummy on regular basis then? I shouldn’t have been surprised by this point, but Twilight didn’t question Pinkie’s activities in the slightest. Or her appearance. I guess her randomness knew no bounds and everypony was used to that.
“Oh, no problem, I just want to take a look at all your latest newspapers.”
Pinkie’s plan started opening to me. A sly smile rose to my face as I walked inside after her, heading straight to the living room table that had some papers lying around.
“Is this all?” Pinkie asked, holding her magnifying glass over the papers.
“Yeah, I have already thrown out the old ones. I think there’s a week worth of news there,” Twilight replied with a smile, almost like playing along with her.
“Alright, let us have a look.”
And with that, Twilight left us alone for a moment and Pinkie Pie started to go through the papers.
“Do you see anything, Gummy?” she asked.
Despite being unable to actually touch the newspapers, I could still read whatever was open on the table. There didn’t seem to be anything interesting.
“Nope, I think we just have to keep looking,” I replied.
Pinkie Pie went through the newspapers for a while and I tried to help her as much as I could. She even laid them out for me to read. Soon enough, one article got my attention. Probably because I recognized Roseluck from the picture. 'A local pony as a nominee for the merchant of the year.' The article made me smile. Was it really the flowers or the gossips that made her sales, I wondered.
"A-ha! Look at this, Gummy," Pinkie suddenly shouted. "A mysterious case of an unknown pony found dead in Ponyville."
It took me a while to process her words as I turned to read the article as well.
"The Royal Guard has inspected a mysterious case of unusual death in Ponyville. A brown earth pony was found dead in a side alley near the Mane street. Cause of death unknown. Pony, unknown. Assumed to pass away by natural causes. Buried a few days later as unknown," I read out the story.
The text didn't really affect me at first. I couldn't tell if it was about me or not. Although, the article said it was an earth pony. I was an earth pony. But that could have been just a coincidence. But in an alley? I looked at Pinkie Pie. She first looked around her and then at me.
"This sure looks suspicious, Gummy. I think we might be onto something," Pinkie said and pulled her magnifying glass over the article.
"So, what we do now?" I asked.
"That's a good question, Gummy. I think we should visit our next target. There's nothing more we can do here."
Suddenly, Twilight came from the other room and greeted Pinkie Pie with a warm smile. I swear, she had no clue what was going on.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked playfully.
“Yup," Pinkie replied. "Can we keep the paper, though? It might prove useful later on."
"Sure, I was going to throw them away anyway," the unicorn answered.
And so, Pinkie Pie thanked Twilight and trotted outside, me following closely behind her. It was now that I started thinking more about the article. What if it was me? What if I really was dead? Passed away by natural causes? Did everypony who died naturally end up like me, wandering through the land as a ghost? No, I couldn't have been dead, could I?
Once outside, Pinkie Pie stopped and put Gummy on the ground. I walked next to her as she now faced both of us. I momentarily waved my hoof inside the baby alligator, with no result.
"Okay, our next target will be the town hall. I think we will find more clues there. I'll talk to the mayor and ask if she knows anything about this case," Pinkie explained.
I just nodded absently. I was too deep in thought about the article and myself. I wanted to find out who I was, but... Was I actually ready to hear the answers?