A Pony Displaced: Homeward

by NoLongerSober

Chapter 87 - Cold

After returning home, sure of his sanity, Barrier’s evening had been a rather pleasant one. Dinner was good and he was able to hit the hay early, leaving him well rested.

However, one downside of his early sleep was that he’d woken up earlier the following morning. Feeling too awake to go back to sleep, the charcoal stallion had decided to slip on his saddlebags and quietly head into the city, intent on exploring another area he’d yet to mentally map out.

It was still dark out as he made his way out the front door and the street lamps and stars were the only real sources of light he had to allow him to see. The city was still asleep on this Sunday morning as he went about the dim streets.

The quiet gradually started to gnaw at the unicorn. The only noises he’d hear would be the occasional flap of a bird’s wings or ice and snow falling off of a roof. This left him alone with only his thoughts to keep him company.

Y’know, looking back, I should have taken those photos Spectral took for me, he thought as he approached a section of the city with a fair amount of hotels and small apartment buildings. Not only would it be solid proof I’m not crazy, but the police might have wanted the photo of the stolen skull. Maybe I could ask her for them.

As Barrier drew near a corner, the silence of the early morning was shattered by an ear-piercing scream.

Instincts taking over, Barrier took off in the direction of the scream, coming towards a two-storey apartment complex that bent into an L-shape. A set of metal stairs connected the snow covered pavement to the upper floor, but Barrier’s eyes were focused on what was at the bottom of the metal stairway.

At the bottom of the steps lying still in the snow was the form of a unicorn mare, her forelegs bent at odd angles.

As Barrier drew closer to the fallen mare, he saw several ponies from the apartments tiredly poking their heads out their doors to try and find out what made the scream. However, one figure was racing past the second floor apartments towards the top of the stairs. It was a yellow coated mare in a postal worker’s uniform with a bag slung over her shoulders.

He recognized the postmare as Sweet Honey just as she reached the top of the stairs, looking down in horror at the mare just as Barrier started to slow his steps. He saw the face of the mare in the snow and a horrible feeling churned in his stomach as he recognized her.

Lying in the snow with her mouth hanging open and her eyes staring off into nothingness was none other than Spectral Image.

Barrier fought back the urge to swallow as he stepped up to Spectral’s body. He felt compelled to confirm her condition despite knowing how painfully obvious it was. He held a hoof in front of her nostrils, feeling no breath coming from her. He then placed a hoof on her neck to check for a pulse.

“B-B-Barrier…” Sweet Honey said from her spot, hovering at the top of the stairs. “Is she…”

“I’m sorry, Honey. She’s dead,” Barrier said as he stepped back, making sure to carefully step into the same holes he’d made in the snow with his previous hoofsteps. “Did you see anything?” He asked as his horn began to glow.

“I… I was just making my morning rounds…” Honey replied as she found herself wanting to look away from the dead unicorn’s body, but unable to so much as move from her spot. “I was putting some mail in one of the mailboxes when I heard her scream and saw her go down the stairs.”

“Did you see anypony push her?” Barrier asked as the blue light around his horn turned crimson and shot off into the sky as a series of flares.

“No… Nopony was there…” the shaking mare answered as tears started to form in her eyes. “Oh, Punch is gonna be heartbroken…”

Before Barrier could ask what she meant, the sound of running ponies reached the onyx stallion’s ears. Looking over his shoulders, he saw two familiar police mares rounding the corner with impressive speed.

“We’ve gotta hurry, Lock-Up! Who knows what…” Bright Star suddenly stopped at the sight of Spectral lying dead in the snow, the charcoal unicorn standing near the victim, Honey hovering at the top of the stairs and even more of the confused residents starting to peek their heads out their doors at the commotion. “Oh dear Faust…”

“Off… Officer Lock-Up to HQ,” the second mare shakily said into her walkie-talkie. “Send CSIs and a paramedic to the Double Tall Apartments on the corner of Snowcap and Peach Blossom, ASAP. It… it looks like we have a D.B..”

***

The first bits of sunlight had begun to peek over the horizon as police swarmed over the scene. A large area had been taped off while some uniformed ponies were combing over every corner of the apartment’s exterior.

Meanwhile, Barrier and Sweet Honey had been pulled to the side. While the unicorn kept up a stoic appearance, the pegasus was shaking like a leaf, even with a blanket draped over her shoulders.

“Are you okay, Honey?” Barrier asked the mare on his right, her eyes locked on the spot where Spectral’s body once laid, now emptied and being carefully examined.

“I… I don’t know, Barrier,” Honey drew the blanket tightly around herself. “I’ve never seen anyone’s dead body before… I knew Spectral. She was a friend of Punch’s… I’m… I’m not really sure how to process this sort of thing.”

Before Barrier could say anything in response, somepony clearing their throat drew his attention away. Turning to the left, he saw a mare that he briefly thought was Color Splash, but quickly realized that this mare had no horn but instead wings at her sides.

While her coat was the same shade of gray as Splash, her short, straight mane was a dark gray while her eyes were a magenta. Craning his head a bit, he saw the mare’s cutie mark was a magnifying glass.

“Excuse me, Mr. Magic Barrier, Miss Sweet Honey,” the gray pegasus said as she drew closer, brushing her mane with her right wing. “I’m Detective Gray Skies. I’ve been informed you two were the first ponies on the scene. I need to take your statements. Mr. Barrier, I’d like to take yours first.”

“Very well,” Barrier said as he rose up and followed the detective as she led him away from Honey. Once she was certain Honey was out of earshot, she stuck her wings into her saddlebags. When she pulled them back, she held a pencil in her right wing and a notepad in her left.

“Right, let’s take this from the top. Name and occupation?”

“Magic Barrier. As for occupation, I start as a self-defense teacher tomorrow.”

“Can you tell me what led to you coming across the body?” Gray asked as she jotted some information in her notepad. “It seems a bit odd for somepony to be up this early.”

“I’d woken up earlier than I wanted and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to go for a walk. I’m still somewhat unfamiliar with this city, so I decided to head to a part that I hadn't visited before,” Barrier stated as the pegasus quickly wrote in her notepad.

“I was passing by Salty’s Sandwich Shop when I heard a mare screaming. I headed towards the source to see what was going on and found Spectral Image at the bottom of the stairs.”

“Did you touch the body or anything at the scene?” Gray bluntly asked.

“I did.” The stallion answered matter-of-factly. “I approached the body and left hoofprints in the snow while also pressing a hoof to her neck to check for a pulse. After confirming what I knew, I stepped back into the same prints I’d left and sent a flare into the sky. Less than a minute later, Lock-Up and Bright Star arrived at the scene.”

“That means we’ll have to take your hoofprints, get a cast of them and examine them for trace evidence,” Gray stated, her eyes locked on Barrier as she continued to write. “Were there any other ponies in the area?”

“The only other pony there before the scream was Sweet Honey as far as I’m aware. She was over by one of the apartments at the other end of the bend,” Barrier answered. “As I arrived, she hovered above the top of the stairs, never touching down until she flew over to this side of the street.”

“Do you know the victim in any way?” Skies asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“I met her for the first time yesterday at the Midnight Mall in the early afternoon,” Barrier said, drawing a little bit closer to hopefully not be overheard by any of the other ponies nearby. “I had asked her to use her fortune telling skills to tell me about some things I’ve recently been dealing with involving someone imitating Grimhilde LeGrande as well as someone having stolen her skull. According to Spectral’s reading, the culprit behind the impersonation and harassment is a unicorn stallion with a lime green coat, blue-ish green mane, and a yellow lemon for a cutie mark.”

“Hmm… Interesting,” One of Gray Skies eyebrows rose further as she wrote. “You mean to tell me you met a fortune telling mare who helped you find some answers about some crook and the next morning, she winds up dead. Very interesting and pretty fishy.”

“If I may, what do you mean to imply by that, Detective?”

“It means this is something that should be noted for the investigation,” she replied simply. “Anything else you’d like to add?”

“Actually, could you see if she has the photos I mentioned somewhere in her apartment? I didn’t think to request them from her before, but in hindsight they’re rather important to me.”

“Sorry, no can do,” Skies replied. “That stuff would be considered evidence. Even if they’re not connected to her death, this would be connected to those other crimes you mentioned. Unless they’re completely dismissed as evidence, I can’t just give them to you if we find them.”

“Understandable,” Barrier said before sighing. “Sorry, but out of nagging curiosity, I feel the need to ask if you’re related to Color Splash.”

Skies’ writing came to an abrupt halt as her left eye twitched. She then harshly glared at the dark unicorn. “I don’t like talking about my ex-con twin,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Right. Sorry. I didn’t mean to touch a nerve.” Barrier’s reply caused the detective to tiredly sigh.

“At any rate, I’ll need to ask you for your contact information before I pass you off to the CSIs.” The gray mare soon jotted down Barrier’s home address before she moved over to Honey.

While a unicorn mare in a blue uniform and glasses examined Barrier’s hooves, the charcoal stallion caught a bit of the conversation between the detective and the shaken pegasus.

“Spectral… She was a friend of my sister’s. They liked to go to a karaoke place in the Midnight Mall in their off time. Last I saw her was a few days ago when she helped us move some stuff into our new apartment.”

“Alright, Mr. Barrier,” the investigator tending to him spoke up. “I’ve finished checking you for trace. Could you please follow me so I can take your hoof prints and make plaster casts? I figure it’s too cold to do it out here.”

“I... Sure,” Barrier replied with a sigh as he started to follow after the mare whose name tag read Minute Detail.

***

Sometime later, Barrier had found himself returning to the manor, where he saw the somewhat nervous looking household gathered around the kitchen table, each of them suddenly looking relieved at the sight of the approaching unicorn.

“Well, glad to see you’re back,” Daring said as she and the others quickly made their way from the kitchen to the entryway. “We were getting worried. Where’ve you been?”

“I woke up rather early this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to go for an early morning walk,” Barrier stated as he walked up to Daring and Fleet before giving them a quick hug. “Unfortunately, I ended up stumbling upon a dead body, so I had to be questioned by the police.”

A gasp came from Wind Whistler while the former privates somewhat tensed. After a few minutes, Barrier explained what had happened to Spectral Image as they made their way to the living room.

“Damn, that’s horrible,” Verdant said as he sat by the fireplace. “I think I talked to Spectral once or twice. It’s sad that somepony so young can be killed in an accident like that.”

“I don’t think it was an accident…” Barrier meant to mutter from his spot on the couch, but he was apparently loud enough for his housemates to hear. A look of stunned surprise was all over their faces.

“Sir… what makes you think this wasn’t an accident?” Swiftsword asked nervously.

Great. Now there’s no way out of this. Barrier sighed, feeling even more drained despite how it wasn’t even noon yet. Still, the ponies here all care about you. Maybe you should just tell them about what’s been going on?

A tense moment held in the air as Barrier looked over the ponies that were all looking at him in concern.

I don’t think I can… at least not all of them… “Daring… Fleet… could I speak to you in private?” Barrier asked as he rose off the sofa.

“Sure, Barrier. No problem,” Daring replied as she quickly moved to his side with Fleet joining in short order.

“Uncle, can’t you tell us?” Wind Whistler pleaded, grasping onto his foreleg.

“I’m sorry Windy, but I don’t think I can.” Barrier’s horn glowed as he gently pulled the filly off of his leg and placed her by the privates. “I want all of you to stay right here while I discuss this with Daring and Fleet.”

“Understood, sir,” Swiftsword said as she placed a hoof on Windy’s shoulder. “We shall remain here.”

The herd trio soon walked to Barrier’s bedroom door. As Daring and Fleet made their way inside, Barrier took one last glance back to the six in the living room, seeing that true to their word, they didn’t move from their spots.

Without another word, Barrier went into his room and quietly closed the door behind him.

“Alright, Barrier, spill it,” Daring firmly said as she sat down on his bed.

“Please, tell us, Barrier,” Fleet asked as she stood near him. “Tell us why you don’t think this was an accident.”

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Barrier looked his mates in the eyes. “I don’t want anypony else to hear this, but several times since we’ve come to Vanhoover, I’ve seen glimpses of Grimhilde alive in various places.”

While Daring brought a hoof to her mouth, Fleet spoke up. “Do you mean like what happened with that costumed mare in Ponyville?”

“Somewhat, but not quite,” Barrier replied as he felt himself faintly shake. “The first such time I saw one of these visions of her was during that night when you were called away to deal with a storm. I thought I saw her in the backyard during the lightning flash. I rushed outside, to try to confront what I saw, but all I found was you.”

“And there were other times you saw her?” Daring asked from her place on the bed.

“Yes, I did…” Barrier said before swallowing. “When I was in Canterlot, I saw her on the train I boarded to return. She rushed into one of the cabins, but when I got there, there was only a pony that said she didn’t see anyone come into her room.

“Later on, after Daring undid that sex switcheroo spell on us, I thought I saw her go into an alleyway here. There was no way she could have escaped when I teleported to the alleyway’s entrance, but all that was there was a sleeping scruffy stallion and an empty dumpster.”

“The most recent sighting I had of her was when I went to the museum in Canterlot. I thought I spotted her in the hallway. I tried to follow after her but all I found was a hall full of stone statues… and this was shortly after I learned Grimhilde’s skull had been stolen from the museum.

“When I met Spectral yesterday, she used her talent to show me that Grimhilde was definitely dead by showing her skull in a dark room. When I asked if someone was pretending to be Grimhilde, I got the image of a green unicorn with a blueish green mane and a lemon for a cutie mark looking in a mirror… I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I asked about who’s hounding me like this and the pony who got me answers suddenly winds up dead.”

“Yikes…” Daring said, her and Fleet looking a good deal paler after hearing what he’d said. “That… that’s terrifying…”

“I know…” Barrier said before sighing once more. “I wish I’d thought ahead and kept those photos. For all I know, those photos are somewhere in Spectral’s apartment. I told the detective in charge of this case about all of this, but I’m not sure if she’ll be able to help us.”

“I… I wish I knew what to say, Barrier…” Fleet said before wrapping her forelegs around him. The onyx unicorn quickly returned the hug. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

“If only I had an answer,” Barrier replied as Daring joined the hug. “I only ask that you don’t tell the others about me seeing Grimhilde… I worry they may think I’ve lost my mind.”

“While I can see where you’re coming from, I’m not sure that’s the best option,” Daring said as the three-way hug broke off. “I think you should tell them about this lemon stallion that’s screwing with you, just in case they might spot this guy. And maybe you should…”

“...should?” Barrier asked as the golden mare bit her lip.

“Well, maybe, just to eliminate all possibilities, you could talk to that therapist that Princess Celestia told you about back when we were in the empire?” Daring somewhat hesitantly said. “Don’t get me wrong, I do believe you, but I also think we should examine whatever’s going on from all possible angles.”

She may have a point there, Barrier. His mind’s voice said to him. After all, so far, you’re the only one that’s seen Grimhilde at all and you were all alone when you met with Spectral. Maybe seeing what this pony has to say could help prove your sanity.

“Perhaps that would be a good idea.” Barrier said as he briefly looked the mare in the eyes. “I will tell the others about the lemon pony... And… Thank you for believing in me.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Barrier,” Daring said before giving him a peck on the cheek, followed shortly before she gave one to Fleet. “We care about you. We wanna help you. And I’ve seen enough crazy stuff to know better than to discount anything.”

“Indeed.” Fleet then gave the two gentle kisses on the cheek before looking the charcoal unicorn in the eye. “We’re your family and we wish to help you.”

“Thank you…” Barrier whispered before gently kissing the two on the lips and hugging them. After the prolonged hug broke off, the three went to the door and back into the hallway. Looking to the living room, he saw the privates and Windy had kept their places without moving an inch. The six all looked to Barrier as he and the others returned to the living room.

“Alright everypony, listen carefully. I don’t want what I’m about to tell you to be spread around.” Barrier stated before he took a deep breath. “I want you to keep an eye out for a green coated unicorn stallion with a blueish green mane and a lemon for a cutie mark. I have reason to believe this unicorn may be connected to Spectral’s death, along with some other things going on. Understood?”

“Sir, yes sir!” the five young adults said in unison while Wind Whistler nervously nodded. Barrier genty picked up the filly and gave her a hug.

“Thank you and be careful,” Barrier said as Windy tightly squeezed him. “In the meantime… I think I should try to take it easy for the rest of the day and let my mind unwind.”

“Understandable, sir,” Swift said while Windy broke off the hug and Barrier sat down on the couch. “We’ll tend to things while you rest and get ready for tomorrow.”

Ah, right. I’ve got a job now. Barrier thought as he leaned back, practically feeling himself melt into the softness of the couch. Hopefully things go smoothly.

Author's Note:

Alticron: R.I.P. Spectral Image. We hardly knew ye.

Welcome back for this admittedly darker chapter of APD: Homeward. Seems there's something bigger going on than Barrier expected involving whatever's making him see Grimhilde, but what's really going on? And the bigger question is why.

For this chapter's picture, we have Color Splash's twin sister, Gray Skies; the CSI, Minute Detail, AKA, Mini; and the mysterious lemon stallion as well.

How will Barrier's first day of work go? How will Spectral's death affect it? We'll just have to find out next time.

Comments

[redmar]

Spectral's death is very sudden and I wonder what is going on. This is probably not an accident just as Barrier thinks but it does raise the question of how the culprit knew about Barrier's visit since he would notice if he was being followed.

[PaintedPony]

Awww. She seemed like such a great character to be killed off like that. That’s a problem with murder mysteries… they require a murder.