Crossing Anthology Two

The next day came; Mina had not been seen since the party. Jonah, Cole and Halie got up bright and early to speak with General Canis. There were no dreams amongst the three, only worries for their missing friend. They left the bed empty that night incase Mina decided to come back, she never did. They walked down stairs at a slow pace, Jonah’s foot still hurt, Cole’s face hardly healed of its tiny cuts; they were not looking forward to the aftermath of yesterday’s tragedy. Applejack leaned her head back from the kitchen entrance; she looked at the three from down the hallway and asked;

“Y’all want some breakfast? I got some mighty fine apple fritters cookin’ up!”

Cole shook his head and replied;

“Sorry, but we should really meet with the General today, and try to push this school shooting off our shoulders as quick as possible.”

Halie added to Cole’s rejection;

“Everyone in town probably thinks we don’t have what it takes to hunt this serial killer, we need to act fast.”

Without the three knowing of her presence, Fluttershy walked out of the kitchen with a smile and said sincerity;

“I believe you can do it.”

Jonah and Cole spoke at once;

“Fluttershy?”

Jonah continued;

“When did you get here?”

“One of my chickens got loose this morning, I found her here and Applejack offered me breakfast. So I brought my chicken home and came back.”

Fluttershy looked around us, then at Halie;

“Where is the other girl? And who are you?”

“I’m Halie, and you must be referring to Mina. She isn’t talking to us right now; she’s actually been gone since Pinkie Pie’s party last night.”

“Oh that’s no good, is she okay?”

Jonah answered;

“She’ll be okay, if anythin’ this is all my fault. I didn’t help her when she needed it… Now she thinks I don’t care about her at all, I just want to find her now and apologize.”

“You seem to care an awful lot about her; I’m sure that as long as you truly care for her, then you’ll have no trouble reuniting with her.”

Jonah smiled slightly;

“Thank you, Fluttershy.”

Cole reached his hand around Jonah’s face and fake-slapped it rapidly;

“Let’s go, Jonah. We’ll come back for breakfast.”

“Right, talk to you later Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy called out trying to retain her soft voice;

“Oh, okay! It was nice seeing you all again.”

The three walked out, ready to face the aftermath. Before they shut the door behind them, Fluttershy looked back for brief second, her eyes widened when she saw the bandage around Jonah’s foot. She flew to the door quickly before Cole could shut it all the way. The door smacked Cole in the nose as Fluttershy flew through it; he let out a groan;

“Ah!”

Fluttershy looked at Cole when he cursed, noticing the tiny cuts on his face. She gasped;

“Oh my goodness! You both are hurt! Was this from yesterday? Did that big meanie do this?”

Jonah and Cole nodded;

“Yep.”

“Oh no! You should have come to me last night! Oh, why don’t you come over later so I can doctor you both up.”

Cole said to Fluttershy quickly; ready to get to business;

“Okay Fluttershy, we’ll come.”

“Oh perfect! Come see me at my cottage later.”

Fluttershy flew back inside, Cole sighed in relief. The three continued to walk away from Applejack’s barn, suddenly Jonah felt something tap him from behind, and it was Fluttershy again;

“It’s just, I help take care of so many animals. I also want to take care of humans too, surely you can understand since there are no other humans here… Not that I’m only doing it for my benefit, I want you to get better too! It’s-!”

Halie interrupted with a raised voice;

“We understand, Fluttershy! It’s all okay! We’ll be there.”

“Oh okay, see you later then…”

Fluttershy finally flew away, the three kept walking. Cole laughed a little and said to Jonah;

“I hope she doesn’t kidnap us and throw us into an old chicken coop…”

Later:

The walk through Ponyville was as baron as the previous days, though it still felt different. They could not help but feel that there were disappointed eyes directed at them. Halie glanced to her left where Twilight’s library stood. Halie thought about Twilight’s episode from the other day, she couldn’t shake it off. Halie finally asked;

“Would it be cool if I went to go see Twilight, I told her what happened yesterday since Canis wasn’t in his office. When I did she lost control of herself and broke down, she wouldn’t stop crying.”

Cole answered;

“Of course, go on and see her, Jonah and I can come by later.”

“Thanks guys.”

Cole said to Jonah;

“Okay, let’s get a move on. I bet the General is torn up about yesterday too, by now word has probably spread all over Equestria of what’s happened.”

Cole’s words failed to reach Jonah. As Jonah saw Halie run towards the library, he couldn’t help but notice Spike’s face in the one of the windows, staring down at him with the same empty look as before. Jonah looked back at Spike with a grin and waved, trying to get some sort of reaction out of the boy. Jonah could hardly see it from such a distance, but he thought he saw Spike snarl a little, blinds from inside the window fell and obstructed his view of Spike. Jonah’s concentration was interrupted by Cole’s call;

“HEY! BITCH!”

Jonah took a second to respond;

“Oh, Cole. Sorry, let’s go now.”

Cole looked at Jonah with confusion, Jonah noticed Cole’s gaze;

“I think Spike hates me…”

“Spike? Twilight’s friend? He barely knows you, why would he hate you?”

“Because he didn’t say a thing when I first met him, all he did was gaze at me with this emotionless, blank stare… And I just saw him in the library window too! All he did was stare at me! Halie was going over there and he didn’t even glance at her!”

Cole sighed;

“Ugh… Jonah…”

“I tried waving to him and smiling, all he did was roll down the window.”

“We can try talking to him later then; he probably wants to get to know you. Maybe he’s shy or intimidated by out tall humanly selves.”

Jonah looked back at the same window where he saw Spike, it was still blocked off. Jonah spoke again;

“I hope you’re right.”

Jonah followed Cole. During the walk to the General’s office, Jonah compared Spike’s silence to that of the serial killer’s, both atmospheres felt the same to him. Given the difference in species, it was impossible for Spike to be the killer, but Jonah could not help but feel that there was some sort of connection. One thing was a certain fact; Spike was the witness to the killer’s first strike.

Later:

Jonah and Cole were finally in the General’s office. The General faced the opposite direction of the boys, looking out his window with no movement. He knew of what happened; they told him the reports from the warehouse, and Cole described what little he saw of the killer’s face. The General responded with a voice, far different from the excited and cut loose tone he had the previous morning;

“So… That’s what you have?”

Cole responded, getting a sense of emotional pain from General Canis’ dry voice;

“Yes, General. That’s what we have. Are there any updates from yesterday’s shooting? Are there any missions you want us to go on…?”

“No.”

Jonah felt uncomfortable staying in the office. He could tell that the General, being in his position and all, took his duty to the ponies of Equestria seriously. The General’s obnoxious personality from before was only mask his true thoughts for everyone’s wellbeing. The General spoke after a period of silence;

“You can leave now…”

There were no words. Jonah and Cole only left the office through the portal; their destination was for Twilight’s library. On the other side of the portal, Jonah spoke to Cole;

“Wow, the General is like a completely different pony now.”

“I know, I feel bad for him, he must feel so obligated to these ponies.”

“According to Halie, Twilight reacted pretty badly to the shooting. Let’s get over there, quick!”

Jonah and Cole started running to the library.

Meanwhile:

Halie and Twilight sat together at a table set up in the downstairs lobby; Spike was on a ladder organizing books on a tall shelf for Twilight as he drank from a cup of a cherry flavored liquid. Twilight had just heard Halie’s story about the previous night, how Mina ran away. Twilight gasped;

“Oh my gosh, I hope she’ll be okay. So, what happened? Did someone say something? Or…?”

Halie was slow to respond;

“I yelled at her earlier that day, but it was only because she insulted my relationship with Cole. Maybe I should have ignored her. I don’t know how to explain it; she treated me and Cole like shit all this time, so why am I so worried for her?”

Spike could not help but over hear;

“Sometimes, you don’t know how much you like someone, until they are gone.”

Spike returned to his work. Halie looked down with a guilty look about her. Twilight felt the need to change subjects;

“Where are the boys?”

“They’ll be here soon; they went to go see the General.”

Spike overheard Halie’s words, the rocking ladder he stood on stiffened suddenly. He looked over quickly to Twilight and called out;

“Twilight!”

Twilight looked to Spike; he was motioning her to come over to him. Twilight got up from the table and walked to him. She asked him;

“Yes Spike, is something the matter?”

Spike motioned Twilight further from where Halie sat, he whispered;

“Twi, I don’t want HIM here…”

Twilight rolled her eyes and whispered back;

“Spike, we’ve been over this, I promise you he’s not the one.”

“But Twilight, you’re a unicorn! I’m only looking out for you.”

Three knocks came from the front door; Spike looked up at Twilight with pleading eyes;

“Twilight! Please…”

Twilight rubbed a hoof against Spike’s face softly to calm him;

“Maybe you should just get to know him better, now relax and enjoy your company.”

A lump formed in Spike’s throat, he swallowed his fear.

It is clear now, Spike is afraid of Jonah, but for what purpose? Who does he think Jonah is? How is it relevant to Twilight being a unicorn? So many more questions are coming; can they all lead to the great mystery that is the serial killer’s true identity?