Perceptions

by Panoramic Toast

Part I

The sun was finally making it’s way over Ponyville as Twilight Sparkle began her long trek from her home with Spike in tow. As she wandered through the town, she could see ponies waking and bearing the same looks of horror as they read the newspapers placed on their doorsteps.

First Suicide in Over a Century Reported in Ponville

Ponyville resident, Bubble Puff, aged 34 was found dead in his Ponyville residence on the night of August 12th around 5:30 P.M. Bubble Puff, a local carpenter, was reported missing after nopony had seen or heard from him in nearly three days. Upon entering the home, Ponyville police found that Bubble Puff had hung himself. Police are currently investigating possible reasons for his sudden suicide. Rumor has it that even Princess Celestia has taken an interest in the case. After all, it was thanks to Princess Celestia’s reforms in mental health care that had lead to the disappearance of suicide as a cause of death. What could have driven this pony to commit the ultimate solution?

That is what Twilight Sparkle intended to find out as she made her way to across town. Everywhere that she looked she could see ponies crying, shaking their heads in denial, or trembling in terror. However, their acts were not of sorrow or remembrance of a pony that they had once known; they were of fear. Fear of what the news could mean for this little town. If this pony could do it, what was stopping them from doing it? A century of laws and reforms made obsolete in the blink of an eye. What was stopping their loved one from ending their lives?

Twilight Sparkle approached a small white house near the edge of town. From the outside, the house appeared clean and well maintained. The walls and roof were newly painted in a brand new coat white, blending in with the houses surrounding it. The windows were spotless and clear enough to reflect the chaos as ponies, young and old, began to surround the house.

There were numerous police ponies currently surrounding the house and thwarting off anypony who could disrupt the investigation. At the front of the group, a police pony with a light tan coat and a jet black that curled into an afro stood, turning away an ever growing crowd of onlookers. Twilight looked at his black police shirt to see a shiny badge that read, Sammy James

“Everypony, move away! No civilians allowed!” he yelled into the restless crowd. Twilight Sparkle pushed her way through and approached him.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to back away," he said with irritation.

Twilight used her magic to reach in her saddle bags and pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. Twilight unrolled the parchment and levitated it in front of the police pony.

“I’m on official business for the princess,” Twilight professionally stated as she gauged his reaction. After reading through the parchment, he nodded. “Okay, everything appears to be in order.”

“Thank you,” Twilight simply said as she rolled up the parchment and placed it back in her saddlebags. With an approving nod from Officer Sammy James, the other cops moved to give Twilight and Spike room as they moved away from the crowd and onto the lawn of the house.

Upon closer inspection, Twilight noticed that the door had been forcefully opened as evident from the splintered wood, most likely by the police officers who had initially discovered Bubble Puff. Upon entering the house, Twilight noticed a visible contrast from the outside.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike began coughing almost immediately upon entering due to the sheer buildup of dust. It was completely filthy. The walls and cracks had tangled cobwebs and dried bits of paint hanging off them. The floor was littered with trash and empty cans and bottles. The collective buildup of dust had managed to make its way across the house, filling every nook and cranny.

It was a small one story house divided into four rooms: one bathroom, a kitchen, a bedroom, and one large living space where Twilight currently stood. One of the police ponies, a rookie by the looks of it, decided to walk up to Twilight and began speaking, “Hello Miss Sparkle, I’ve heard that you’re working directly under the princess in this case. I want you to know that you have our full support in the matter.”

“Uh huh,” is all Twilight said as she walked into the kitchen to examine another mess in this Celestia-forsaken house. Plates and dishes were stacked all over the place and stains littered the room. The police officer from before had began following Twilight and blabbering on about how great it was that the princess was taking an interest in the case, but she wasn’t really paying attention. Instead, she began taking mental notes of what she saw.

As the pony continued to follow her he asked, “Is there anything that I can do to help?” She paused and turned around to face him. He was young and had a thin brown mane as well as a light brown goatee. “Maybe. What can you tell me about the victim?”

“What do you need to know?” he nervously asked.

“Anything. Personality. Occupation. Friends. Acquaintances. All of the information that I’ve received so far has been very vague. I need details.”

“Umm,” the stallion began as he tapped his chin, “well, I wasn’t too close to Bubble Puff, but I did talk to him a few times since he helped build my brother’s house. He seemed like a nice enough guy. He was a little on the slow side, though. I’m surprised that he knew a hammer from a nail. But he always seemed happy. Some of my friends that knew him said that he was a very happy, go-lucky pony. You never met him?”

“No,” Twilight replied with a shake of her head. “I had heard about him from some of my friends, and I’ve seen him around town before, but I never talked to him. Anyway, is that all you know?”

“Yeah,” he said as he rubbed his neck nervously. “I wasn’t too close to him. Is there anything that I can do to help?”

“Yes,” Twilight nodded. His eyes briefly beamed as Twilight said, “Stand right over there. I need space to think.” The young officer complied and stood to the side.

She took a quick examination of the bathroom, but quickly left before she was forced to vomit from the unbearable stench. How could someone maintain such a well done exterior but neglect the inside? More importantly, how did he live like this? Twilight kept these thoughts with her as she entered his bedroom.

As she entered, she noticed a pony bending over a pony shaped outline etched in chalk that lay just beside a bare mattress. Just above the pony was a cut off piece of rope. Twilight briefly examined the outline.

Bubble Puff. Age: 34. Occupation: Carpenter. Physical Description: Average sized earth pony stallion. Not very muscular. Brown coat with a short yellow mane and short, bushy tail.

“Creepy,” Spike said quietly as he followed Twilight further into the room. Beside the chalk was a small rickety desk that only had one object placed on it: a small black notebook.

“What’s that?” Twilight asked the pony, pointing a hoof at the notebook.

The officer stood up and turned towards her. “Oh, you must be the mare the princess sent.” Slowly, he walked towards the notebook. “That’s his personal diary, apparently,” the officer said with indifference. “Our guys couldn’t really decipher much of it.”

“Decipher?” Twilight asked as she tilted her head in confusion.

The officer blew bits of dust off of the notebook and opened it up to a random page. On the page, random symbols, shapes, scribbles, and bits of writing filled the page. On the bottom, it simply said, “The sun is watching.” The rest of the writing on the page was incomprehensible to Twilight. Most likely some form of ancient Equestrian, Twilight noted to herself. I’ll have to look it up when I return to the library.

Twilight levitated the notebook towards her and began examining the rest of the notebook. Every page that Twilight could find was filled with the same mixed bits of symbols, incomprehensible words, and cryptic phrases. This wasn’t what confused her the most however.

“Sir?” she asked the officer, “Are you aware that there are pages missing from this notebook?”

“Yeah, why?”

“The reason why,” Twilight said flipping to a page where the following had been torn along the crease, “is because this indicates that this is incomplete. This is incomplete evidence.”

“Incomplete?” he said, “are you sure he didn’t just throw it away because he made a mistake when he was writing it?”

“No,” Twilight said shaking her head, “if you examine these pages, you can see that he was trying to accomplish something. I don’t recognize these symbols from any book I’ve seen, and I can’t translate much of the writing, but this appears to mean something, at least in his mind. There are all kinds of mistakes and errors that he decided to leave in. There’s crossed out writing and scratched out portions of the text all over this notebook. So why is it that he decided to leave these in, yet he decided to remove these other pages? There are multiple possibilities, however the one that sticks out most is the possibility that there’s something that he didn’t want anyone else to find.”

“Wait,” Spike interrupted. “If that’s the case, then maybe he just threw away the pages or burned them.”

Twilight shook her head, dismissively. “That doesn’t make sense, given what I’ve seen so far. If he didn’t want anypony to see it, then it would be ludicrous of him to throw it away. Everything that’s thrown away ends up in the junkyard and becomes public property. Although the possibility of him burning it seems somewhat viable, I don’t think that’s the case. Why would he write something in here only to destroy it? Perhaps, he realized his error afterward, that’s a possibility. However, I believe that whatever he was writing was something that he placed significant value into. He wanted those removed pages to be safe. Spike, if you wanted to keep safe, what would do you do with it?”

“I’d hide it,” Spike replied.

“Precisely,” Twilight nodded. “I believe that’s exactly what happened. Perhaps it’s just a baseless hunch, and this is just the work of a lunatic. However, I refuse to leave any possibility unexplored.”

The officer and Spike stood in bewilderment. Twilight grinned proudly and turned her attention back to the notebook. “Sir, since I’m operating under the jurisdiction of the princess and the royal family, I’ve decided that I’m going to be taking this notebook with me.”

The officer shook his head, bringing him back to earth. “Whatever, it’s a mad pony’s journal anyhow.”

“Thank you,” Twilight Sparkle said as she used her magic to place the notebook carefully into her saddlebag.

“Come on, Spike,” she called as she began to exit through the front door.

Spike ran, his little legs keeping up with Twilight, who was walking with purpose. As they weaved out of the crowd that had gathered outside of Bubble Puff’s home, a torrent of question came directed at the two.

“What happened in there?”

“Why did he did do it?”

“Are you with the government?”

Twilight ignored them and continued until she had made her way to the street. She was about to leave when she noticed Spike surrounded by several concerned citizens who were bombarding him with questions.

Twilight let out a sigh as she grabbed Spike in her telekinetic grasp from the crowd and gently placed him on her back. The crowd began to turn away as Twilight picked up speed, desperate to gather her thoughts.

Twilight began to slow down prompting Spike to ask her, “So what now?”

“We need to find out more about his personal life. We need to know of any friends, relative, hobbies, or anything else that can give us clues,” Twilight stated matter of factly.

“Clues to what?” Spike asked. “I don’t see why you’re treating it like a big thing. Maybe the guy was just depressed or crazy?”

“No,” Twilight said with a shake of her head, “There’s more to it than that. If he was just depressed, somepony would have known. There’s a reason that we’ve avoided suicide for over one hundred years. There are laws laws in place; various precautions to stop it from happening. Also, I find it too strange that there are conviently pages missing from this journal.”

“What do you think it means?”

“Well,” Twilight said, “it’s just a theory, but I believe that it’s possible there are more ponies involved in this.”

Spike arched his eyebrows in confusion. “More ponies? This is a suicide, not a murder!”

“Yes, on the outset it appears to be a simple suicide case. Perhaps it’s just a madpony with a mad diary. However, I’m not buying it. Even though his thoughts were scrambled and disorganized, as I’ve stated before, there was reason and purpose with his writing. The question at this point is what he was trying to write. I believe that I he was writing something that he or someone else didn’t want to get out.”

“So a forced suicide?”

“No, I don’t believe that’s the case. If they wanted to take care of him, they wouldn’t make it look like a suicide, at least not in this day and age. I believe that there’s something much bigger going on here.”

“Aren’t we getting a little in over our head?” Spike asked with a slight shiver at the prospect.

“Possibly, but that’s why the princess sent me to take care of it, because she trusted me to get the job done.” Twilight stopped in her tracks and turned to Spike with a caring, almost motherly look.

“Spike, I won’t force you to stay, but please. You’re my number one assistant. The princess believes in you too.”

Spike bit his lip and clenched his knuckles, forming a tight fist. “Fine,” he said.

Twilight gave an appreciative smile and nod at Spike before continuing on her course.

“Twilight?” Spike began.

“Yes?”

“Where exactly are we going?” Spike asked.

“We need to find out more about Bubble Puff. We need to learn about his personal life as well as any close friends or acquaintances that he had; anything that can give us a good start.”

“How are we gonna find that out?”

“I think I know a certain mare that can help us out,” Twilight said with a sly grin as she rounded the corner.

Near the edge of the block, Twilight Sparkle could see Sugarcube corner. If there was anypony who could tell her about this pony, it would be Pinkie Pie.

The normally bustling interior of Sugarcube corner was somewhat dead as Pinkie Pie read the newspaper, a tear forming in her eyes.

“Pinkie?” Twilight began.

“Twilight! It’s horrible, Bubble Puff is dead! H-H-He killed himself! This isn’t supposed to happen! Why didn’t he talk to anyone about it? Why didn’t anyone notice the signs? I can understand if he was in a big, ginormous, humongous city like Canterlot, but I don’t understand how this could happen here, in Ponyville! It’s my fault! I should have been there for him!”

Pinkie was now openly sobbing onto the wooden floor. Twilight made her way and hugged the distraught Pinkie. “It’s okay, Pinkie. There’s no way that you could have known that this was going to happen.”

After several minutes of consoling her, Twilight pulled Pinkie Pie away and said in a serious tone, “Pinkie, I know that you’re upset, but I need your help. Princess Celestia sent me to investigate what could have caused him to.....you know, and I’m trying to gather as much information as possible. Is there anything that you can tell me about Bubble Puff? Did you know him personally?”

Pinkie Pie wiped a tear from her eye and gave a final sniffle. “Yeah”, she said in a more composed voice, “I’m friends with everypony in Ponyville, of course I knew him! He was a really nice guy. He was always laughing and joking around. He wasn’t the smartest, but he was always smiling and trying to help everypony out that he could. He always seemed so happy, that’s what was most unbelievable about the whole thing.”

“I see, were you close to him?” Twilight asked.

“Well,” Pinkie began, “I mean, we never hung out, but I threw him a party for his birthday and when he moved into Ponyville!” she said, defensively.

Twilight sighed. “Is there anything else that you can tell me? Any close friends or acquaintances that he was close to?”

Pinkie Pie placed a hoof under her chin and began thinking before jumping up and down in excitement. “Oh, yeah! He was close friends with this writer named Inkblot. He’s kind of a shut in, but he’s a nice guy. I bet he’d be willing to help you!”

“Thanks, Pinkie. Do you know where he lives?”

“Yeah, he lives right outside of the town, a mile south of Fluttershy’s home.”

“Thanks Pinkie,” Twilight said as she enveloped Pinkie Pie in a tight hug. After a few seconds, Twilight released Pinkie and exited Sugarcube corner.

~

It was a short walk around the outskirts of the everfree and after passing Fluttershy’s home that they approached a small cottage, not unlike Fluttershy’s own. The difference, however, was in liveliness. Rather than the running and playing of bouncing baby bunnies or beautiful flowers in bloom, the edges of his hut were lined with dead flowers and weeds. The edges of the cottage appeared aged with chipped paint and cobwebs lining the its walls.

Cautiously, Twilight Sparkle walked up to the round wooden door and knocked three times. After the third knock, she heard a pair of hoofsteps slowly approach the door. The door creaked open ever so slightly, revealing a set of chains and locks that kept Twilight from entering. A male unicorn appeared from behind the door, protected by the numerous layers of chains.

Twilight almost couldn’t see his distant hazel eyes, which lay hidden under his messy black mane. His coat was a pale; more pale than the purest shade of white. His eyes were rather distant, as if he was trying to keep something back. Under his nose, Twilight could notice soft patches of facial hair clutching to his face.

There was a long silence as they blankly stared at each other, his in absolute judgement and scrutinization while Twilight had to mentally pull herself together to meet his cold gaze.

“Umm, are you.....Mr. Inkblot?” Twilight muttered.

The stallion kept his eyes on her and finally spoke. “Yes.” His voice was soft but piercing “What business do you have here?”

“Well,” Twilight said, trying to piece her thoughts together. With a cough, she straightened out her mane and met his gaze with a new bravery. “My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she spoke plainly and smiled, “and I’m currently conducting an investigation into the Bubble Puff suicide case. I have a few questions for you if you’re willing.”

Inkblot disappeared from behind his door and closed it. Twilight could hear a series of clicking sounds and rattling of chains. After a quick moment, the door opened again and Inkblot appeared before him, no longer constrained by the door or the numerous chains.

“Come in,” he simply said as he retreated back into his cottage. Twilight Sparkle entered cautiously along with Spike, who closed the door behind them. Once inside, Twilight could see the sheer chaos that resided inside. Like its owner, the house appeared in a state of disarray as papers and used quills lay across the floor.

Although it was small, especially in comparison to Fluttershy’s cottage, it was reasonably spacious. Separate from the open area that Twilight was currently standing in, Twilight noticed four distinct rooms. Across from the door was a small, bathroom. To its sides was a bedroom containing a regular sized bed, intended to contain a single pony. Adjacent to the bedroom was a small kitchen where Twilight could see several plates and glasses stacked lazily onto the sink. Finally, to it’s right, Twilight could see a closed door locked in a set of chains.

Inkblot walked through the mess of papers in his path, simply levitated the offending objects as he made his way to a small wooden desk. On it there lay several blank sheets of paper, a bottle of ink, and a set of quills. Inkblot pointed a hoof at two chains on the opposite side of the room. “Sit,” he simply said. Twilight and Spike obliged in his offer and sat awkwardly for several seconds under Inkblot’s intense gaze before he spoke.

“What sort of questions do you intend to ask me?” he said in an inquisitive tone.

“Well, to start off,” Twilight said, “I’d like to know anything you can tell me about Bubble Puff. I’ve talked to a few ponies already, but from the looks of things, you knew him quite well.”

Inkblot leaned back in his chair for a moment and let out a sigh. “Bubble Puff....was an interesting pony.”

“What do you mean by interesting?” Twilight asked.

Inkblot bit his lip, trying to form the appropriate words. “He was different than the others. Others that I’ve met were hidden by the same boring smile and the same boring faces. His thoughts were deep and profound. We used to meet nearly every weekend and discuss various topics ranging from philosophy to ideas for stories.”

“Ideas for stories?” Twilight asked, carefully observing his face for a reaction. Whoever this pony was, Twilight Sparkle could tell that he was hiding something from her. Twilight kept her eyes open for any sudden movements or changes in expression as she carefully analyzed his every movement.

“Yes. He was quite the creative one. He came up with all sorts of fantastical ideas for stories. He was the one who inspired me to write The Adventures of Doctor Hoofward: a story of a pony doctor transformed into a changeling who is forced to integrate into their society.”

“The Adventures of Doctor Hoofward? Odd, I’ve never seen that in my library.”

“I’m not surprised,” Inkblot said with a snarky grin, “Not many people are.....interested in buying my works. In fact, The Adventures of Doctor Hoofward was never even published.”

“Then why do you live here in the woods?” Spike asked before Twilight could stop him. “I thought that you’d be some sort of bigshot writer who was trying to avoid attention by hiding out in the woods.”

Twilight stared at Spike with a look of apprehension. If he became angered, it could ruin any chance that she had of learning more information from this slightly disturbed pony. Twilight looked back up at Inkblot, who had no change in expression other than tapping his chin with his hoof.

“I suppose you could say that I just don’t care for too many other ponies. I find most of them to be nosey, pretentious, and bothersome. Plus, I do enjoy the peace and quiet of nature. It’s much more suiting to a writer.” Inkblot suddenly turned his attention to Twilight. “So tell me Miss Sparkle, what stake do you have in this case?” Twilight could sense no malice or threat behind the words.

“I’m Princess Celestia’s personal student. After hearing of the incident with Bubble Puff, Celestia said that she wanted someone that she could trust involved in the case.”

“Interesting,” he said as he disappeared into his kitchen. When he reappeared, he was levitating three cups of tea.

“Here,” he said, extending the tea to his two guests. Reluctantly, Twilight took the cup in her magical grasp while Spike eagerly wrapped his scaly fingers around the cup. After a brief glance at her cup, she turned to see Inkblot sitting in his chair, quietly sipping from his cup.

“Mr. Inkblot,” Twilight began, “what’s with this sudden change of attitude? A minute ago you were hesitant to even let us into your home; now you’re serving us tea after I simply mentioned that the princess was involved.”

Twilight remained on her guard and watched him carefully as he took another sip of his tea. From his brief sip, a small smile formed on his lips. He’s hiding something. Could he be involved with whatever it is that Bubble Puff was trying to hide? Twilight thought to herself as she faked a smile of her own.

Finally he spoke. “What’s wrong with sharing some tea with the prodiegee of a princess?”

“I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that,” Twilight said as she looked at her tea. She briefly contemplated whether or not she should drink it. On one hand, it would make her appear more trusting and cause him to reveal more. On the other, Twilight couldn’t rule out the possibility that he was somehow involved. If that was the case, then he might have reason to stop her from investigating further. Such a pony might not be above such methods as poison.

Her concentration was broken as she heard Spike spitting up his tea all over the floor. “Yuck!” Spike proclaimed after taking a sip. Although not surprised at his behavior, Twilight felt the need to apologize for his behavior. As she was about to reprimand him, her eyes caught something in the corner of the room, just past Spike.

Lying on top of a stack of blank pieces of papers and used quills was a torn sheet of paper. On it was a small hexagon with a series of words written underneath in some strange language. Connected to the side of the hexagon was a large semicircle that almost seemed cuffed to the shape. On the left side of the sheet, where the semicircle cut off, it was torn, almost as if it had been ripped out. Twilight’s eyes widened as the pieces clicked in her head; It was a missing page from the notebook.

Twilight had to obtain the page somehow. While it was certainly possible to take it and run, Twilight couldn’t shake the possibility that he might attack her if she attempted to do so. The possibilities continued to pour through her head. She could try and confront him, but that too was a dangerous path. She had to play it safe for now.

Twilight’s face regained her look of apprehension and she shouted, “Spike! If you’re not going to drink it, set it down, but don’t spit it out! It’s rude!” She turned to face Inkblot with an apologetic look drawn about her face. “I’m very sorry Mr. Inkblot, Spike’s table manner aren’t....the best.”

Inkblot’s eyes kept that same distant look as his mouth formed a contradicting smile. “It’s no problem at all.”

“Yes,” Twilight Sparkle said trying to formulate a sentence. Just keep him talking and learn as much as you can, she thought.

Twilight cleared her throat. “So tell me, how exactly did you two meet?”

“Well,” he said taking another sip of tea, “I had run out of my stock of quills and parchment. It is for that reason that I decided to head into town purchase some more at a local shop. It was when I was leaving the shop that I ran into Bubble Puff. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be that much of a big deal. However, I noticed something very strange about him. He wasn’t like the others; he was cautious. He tried to act calm and collected, but he couldn’t hide it from me; I’ve written enough stories to recognize paranoia when I see it. Not only that, but he just seemed to have a different air around him than the others. He didn’t care about the small things that plagued everyday ponies. No, he was always thinking about something else; something much bigger.”

“Like what?” Twilight questioned.

Inkblot shurgged. “No idea. He could be a pretty secretive pony at times.”

“Odd. I had been told that he was happy, goofy, and among other things, somewhat of a ditz.”

In an abnormal display of emotion, Inkblot let out a hearty laugh. “None of those could be farther from the truth. He was a very serious pony, most of the time; he always seemed on edge. He was always thinking; he was always questioning things. He was possibly one of the most insightful ponies that I have ever met.”

“Interesting,” Twilight thought aloud. “So you guys became friends after that?”

“Not quite. It was several weeks until I encountered him again; it occurred briefly after attempting to publish one of my stories. This was the first time that we exchanged words. He noticed my book and told me that he was a fan of my work. I found that particularly flattering since I’ve only been able to get three of my novels published; even though they all turned out to be utter flops. I invited him over to my cottage where we had many a pleasant conversation.”

“I see,” she said with a nod, “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly were your novels about, and what was it that drew his interest.”

“He told me that he was intrigued by the themes and questions of morality that I wrote about.”

“What kind of themes?” Twilight asked with an inquisitive wave of her hoof.

“The theme of uncertainty; uncertainty about everything. A stranger in a strange land. Not being able to differentiate reality from fantasy. How our perceptions of the world are based solely on personal experience rather than fundamental truths. He said that those themes particularly attracted him.”

As Twilight listened closely to his words, she continued to think of a way to obtain the page. She had heard enough information for now. Right now, she just needed to somehow obtain that page and make it out of the cottage without arousing any suspicion. Carefully, Twilight Sparkle stood up. “I think it’s about time that Spike and I left. It’s getting close to lunch, and I’m starving. Thank you very much for your assistance, Mr. Inkblot,” Twilight said with a slight bow.

“It was no problem at all,” said Inkblot as he took a final sip of tea and stood up. He enveloped Twilight’s and Spike’s teacups in a magical aura and pulled them to his side. “If you require any further information, be sure to let me know.”

With a sigh, Spike stood up, and walked beside Twilight. Twilight took a brief glance at Spike before using her peripheral vision to view the bathroom. Twilight turned around and slowly extended her hoof towards the door. As she did so, her horn began to glow a subtle shade of magenta.

Everyone in the room turned their heads as a loud popping sound emitted from the bathroom. No one noticed the smile that briefly formed on Twilight’s face. Inkblot cursed under his breath and sat down his tea cups. With great urgency, Inkblot galloped towards the bathroom, ignoring the duo as they stood at the door.

Twilight wasted no time as she located the page in the corner of the room and pulled it into her magical grasp. Quickly, she opened her saddlebag and placed the offending page inside. Before Spike could protest, he found himself being levitated under Twilight’s magic and thrown onto her back. With haste, Twilight exited the cottage and headed back to Ponyville.

~

After a short while, Twilight returned to the library with Spike following behind her. In the short walk back, Twilight had managed to explain the reason her her sudden leave as well as the need to steal the page. As Twilight reached for the key to the library in her saddlebag, she noticed the flowerbed on the side of the library. Several of the flowers were beginning to wither and weeds had began sprouting.

Hopefully the gardener should be here soon, Twilight thought to herself as she used her magic to unlock the door and entered the library. It was just as Twilight had left it, books and papers scattered across the wooden floor. Twilight let out a sigh and continued forward with the thought of cleaning it up afterward. Twilight quickly made her way to her study where a letter already lay sprawled across it.

My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

If you have not already been informed, you will soon learn that a suicide has been reported for the first time in over a century. This event goes against nearly a century of laws and reforms that have been put in place to prevent such a tragedy from occurring. The circumstances are blurry and must be cleared up as soon as possible if we are to discover the reason for this unfortunate event. If we understand what caused him to commit suicide then we are sure to stop any further acts as well as ease the minds of our citizens. The reason that I am writing to you is to give you an unusual assignment. The suicide occurred within the confines of Ponyville. As such, you are in a keen position to gather information and blend into the fabric of the community.

As your teacher, I am tasking you with finding the reason for his suicide and reporting your results directly to me. You will act as my eyes and ears and as such, you will given complete unrestricted authority to carry out this investigation; I have included a written permit along with this letter. Know that I would not give you this task if I did not trust your judgement and problem solving abilities. I trust your judgement and hope to hear your report as soon as you find any evidence that can help us bring an end to this tragic case.

-Princess Celestia

Twilight moved the letter aside and pulled out the notebook and stolen page from her satchel, laying it gently on the table. Twilight used her magic to levitate the missing page above the journal. Twilight opened the journal to the first page and began examining the torn crease for any similarities.

Too slow, Twilight thought to herself. I’d be better off simply scanning the pages for any similarities. A hexagon, a semicircle, and ancient Equestrian writing.

Slowly, she went from page to page, looking for where a page was missing. When she stumbled upon one, she would hold the stolen page side by side with the notebook and examine for any possible patterns or alignment. Upon close examination of the notebook as well as the page she paused and gasped.

Spike jumped back and asked, “What’s wrong, Twilight?”

“I can’t believe that I didn’t realize it earlier,” she said with a slight chuckle.

“Realize what?” Spike asked with a hint of aggravation.

Twilight levitated the notebook in front of Spike. The stolen page fit in perfectly to the torn side. Upon closer inspection, Spike could see that together, the two pages formed a set of shapes: two hexagons, one on each page, connected by a large circle. Below them, the ancient text flowed perfectly together.

“I didn’t recognize it before, because he jumbled the shapes and text to such a large degree. I had a hunch but now I’m sure of it; these are the incantations and instructions for the creation of a spell,” Twilight said with the utmost certainty.

“What?” Spike said, taken aback. “What kind of spell?”

Twilight sighed and sat the notebook back on her desk. “I don’t know,” she said as she flipped through the pages. “Out of the pages that aren’t torn, about half are unfinished or completely indecipherable. The other half have complete instructions that are somewhat legible, but contain all kinds of errors and mistakes. Even the torn page is simply an attempt at spell creation. It’s not practically possible. It’s very difficult to see what exactly he was trying to accomplish.”

“Surely there’s a pattern for the type of spell, right?” Spike asked.

“Kind of,” Twilight said. “The ones that appear early on are incomplete so I can’t pick out its intended purpose. The majority of the ones that are complete appear to be an odd assortment of teleportation spells. However, they don’t seem to be like ordinary teleportation spells.”

“What do you mean?”

“Typically, a teleportation spell is simply the act of transporting a chunk of matter from point A to point B. Most of the time, a teleportation spell simply divides your body into tiny chunks of molecules and transports them to the place you desire. Once you arrive, your body reforms itself. However, many of these spells are more involved in the process of splitting and reforming yourself from the microscopic level than they are on the actual act of teleporting.”

“I didn’t understand a word of that, but from the sounds of it, this guy had to be pretty smart,” Spike said.

Twilight nodded, accepting from the beginning that Spike wouldn’t get it yet thankful that he was trying. “Yes, and if I search further in the notebook,” Twilight said as she flipped to the middle of a page inscribed with various mathematical equations and theorems, “you’ll see that he obviously had a much higher knowledge than other ponies gave him credit for. If you put two and two together, it would appear that he’s much too clever to be studying mere teleportation spells. It’s almost as if he’s trying to break apart the spell and develop a new one as indicated by the missing page.”

“What do you mean?”

Twilight flipped back to portion of that contained the stolen page. “As I stated before, I have no idea what it is that this spell was intended for. This doesn’t appear to be a teleportation spell, but it does share certain similarities. For instance, one of the first portions of the text involves detailed instructions on how to split apart matter. However, after that I can’t seem to follow the rest of the incantation.”

“So where does that leave us?” Spike asked with a questioning wave of his hand.

“One step closer, my number one assistant,” Twilight said with a sly grin.

“However, there’s still something that bothers me about this whole thing,” Spike said with reluctance.

“Oh?” Twilight said with an inquisitive tone, eager to hear what Spike had to say.

Spike paused and held a thumb to his chin. He bit his lip as if trying to form his thoughts. “Why was an earth pony researching spells?” he said.

“Good question,” Twilight said with an approving smile. “To be honest, I thought the same thing. Even if he came up with the spell that he was looking for, he’d need somepony to cast it. There’s no way that he achieved all this information and data from books alone. Spells are a series of trial and error. I’ve come to the conclusion that there was somepony, a unicorn, that was in on this.”

“A unicorn,” Spike said as his eyes grew wide. “Do you think Inkblot-”

Twilight cut him off, “Possibly. I need more evidence before I can draw a conclusion, but it seems very likely that Inkblot was involved with this somehow. We already know that he has a page of the notebook. Does he have anymore pages? That remains to be seen. I’m not ready to head back there just yet. We need to gather more evidence. I know that Bubble Puff wasn’t exactly a Pinkie Pie, but I don’t think that Inkblot was his only friend.”

“What about relatives?”

Twilight shook her head. “I already checked. For some reason, I can’t find any living relatives.”

Spike rubbed his forehead. “Are there any clues in the book? You said earlier that not all of it is ancient Equestrian.”

“You’re right!” Twilight said as she turned to the beginning of the book. She began examining past the bits of ancient Equestrian and the assortment of shapes. On every page, Twilight began to notice bits of legible writing “There are more random bits of text. Something about a scientist. More mention of the ‘sun’ watching.” Twilight continued flipping from page to page until she saw something inscribed at the bottom of the page.

For Lillypop

“Lillypop?” Twilight thought aloud. “That name sounds familiar. Spike, do you know a Lillypop?”

“Lillypop...” Spike pondered. “Yeah,” he said with a burst of excitement. “She comes into town once a week to buy gardening supplies. She’s a boto-something or another.”

“Botanist,” Twilight corrected.

“Right,” Spike said, uncaring, “Anyway, she lives in the Everfree forest.”

“I see,” Twilight smiled. “Then we’ll have to pay Miss Lillypop a visit, won’t we?”

Spike gave a nervous frown and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually, I have no idea where in the Everfree she lives.”

“No matter,” Twilight optimistically spoke. “I’m sure a little visit to Pinkie’s should clear everything up.”

With a nod, Twilight grabbed her saddle bag and headed towards the door. Spike stopped and pointed at the table. “What about the notebook?”

“It’ll be fine here. I’d rather have it safe and sound at the library for now,” Twilight said.

Reluctantly, Spike nodded and followed her as she exited the library, locking the doors behind her. She was about to make her way to Pinkie’s when heard the sound of scissors snipping. Twilight turned to face the source of the sound. Upon facing the pony responsible, Twilight smiled and waved.

“Hi Onion Garlic! I’m going to do some business for the princess; I’ll be out for a while. Is it okay if I pay you next time?”

The stallion in question raised turned around and paused from snipping the rosebuds from the flower bed, near the side of the library. He was a rather well built stallion, even given his occupation as Ponyville’s resident gardener. His eyes were a bright shade of blue and his coat was a type of lush green, reminiscent of the plants which he poured his heart and soul into. His long and flowing mane was a bright shade of amber, bright as the very sun that shone over them. His cutie mark was a single bright red rosebud. Twilight Sparkle could almost consider falling for him if she were into that sort of thing. Rarity had tried numerous times to coerce the stallion on a date. His response was always the same. My work is my only mistress. The flowers and gardens that I help blossom are the only joy that I require.

It had been over a month since Twilight Sparkle had decided to hire him. Originally, it had been Spike’s job to tend to the garden. This was met with mixed results. Wanting to attract more attention to the library, Twilight requested an additional fund from the princess to hire a gardener. Naturally, Onion Garlic made the best choice, considering his local fame.

Onion Garlic rose and spoke in a deep yet welcoming voice. “It’s no problem at all; take your time. I’ll have these flowers all spruced up before you return!”

With a smile and a nod, Twilight Sparkle walked past him with Spike in tow and headed to Sugarcube to learn Lillypop’s location.