Chapter 8: Researcher on the Run

Dye woke up at five in the morning to the sound of somepony pounding on the door to his house.

He dragged himself out of bed and trotted groggily over to the front door to tell whoever was bothering him at this hour to go away.

He opened the door and said, “It’s five in the morning! What…”

The words died on his lips at the sight of the pony standing in front of him: he was a fellow Thestricron stallion with a yellow-green coat, a black mane and tail, shifty indigo eyes with bags under them, rectangular gold glasses, a pair of black saddlebags, and an image of a golden comet curling around an eye for a Cutie Mark (the one on his right flank was bloodshot while the left one was normal).

“S-sorry to b-bother you, C-cousin,” the stallion stammered as he glanced around fearfully. “C-can I crash here f-for a f-few days?”

Dye was instantly wide-awake.

“Cosmo?” Dye exclaimed, “The paper said you disappeared!”

“I-I’ll explain inside,” Cosmo said, looking around in fear again. “P-please, j-just let me in!”

“Sorry,” Dye said, “please, come in.”

Cosmo nodded his thanks and followed his cousin inside.

After Dye shut the door, he led Cosmo to his living room—which was empty, save for two cloud couches—and motioned for Cosmo to have a seat.

“Okay Cosmo,” Dye said as they both sat down, “you said you’d explain inside, so please, explain why you disappeared three days ago just to suddenly show up on my doorstep this morning.”

Cosmo swallowed before speaking.

“Well, Cousin,” he began slowly, “I’m on the run. There’s a group of ponies who demanded that I hoof over all my research notes to them. Said something about an army. I refused, and they tried to abduct me. I escaped, gathered my notes, my oxygen tank, and all the money I could carry and fled. I didn’t even have time to leave a note for my dear Midnight Lily. She’s probably worried sick.”

“The paper said that she thought you were ponynapped,” Dye told him.

“If they catch me, it’ll be a lot worse than that,” Cosmo whispered. “The wedding was supposed to be next month, but we can’t get married like this! It’ll only put her in danger, too!”

“Who’s to say that she isn’t in danger now?” Dye asked.

Cosmo’s eyes went wide with horror.

“Dear Luna, why didn’t I realize that?” Cosmo groaned, putting a hoof to his forehead. “This isn’t good at all. I need to contact her, but how? Mom and Dad could protect her, but unless she knows what’s going on, she’ll be right out in the open where they can get to her!”

“Hold that thought,” Dye said as he got up. “I think I have something that could help.”

Dye returned to his room and rummaged through his saddlebags for a few seconds before levitating a lighter filled with a green fluid out of one of the bags.

Holding the lighter carefully in his magic, he levitated a sheet of parchment, an inkbottle and a quill out of his other bag and carried all of the items back with him to the living room, where Cosmo was waiting patiently.

He showed the lighter to Cosmo.

“A dragon lighter? How will that help?” Cosmo asked. “How are you going to get it to send a letter to Midnight?”

“I need something related to her,” Dye explained. “Either some part of her, like a hair, or something that means a lot to her.”

Cosmo shook his head. “But I don’t have—“

“Did I say something?” Dye put a hoof to his forehead and sighed. “I meant somepony.”

“Wait…” Cosmo’s eyes lit up. “You could use me?”

“Sure thing, Cousin,” Dye replied. “I’ll just need a hair or something. Make sure you’re thinking about her strongly when you give it to me, though. We don’t want to send it to some random pony who happens to care about you a lot, like a sibling.”

Cosmo’s horn lit up with an indigo aura, and the same aura enveloped a single hair in his mane. He magically plucked the hair out of his mane and levitated it over to Dye, who took it in his own magic.

“Thanks,” Dye said as he magically opened the liquid compartment on the lighter and placed the hair inside. He closed the compartment after that and watched as the hair dissolved into the green liquid.

“Okay, that should be enough for one letter,” Dye said as he levitated the quill, inkbottle and parchment over to Cosmo, who took them in his own magic and began to write.

After a few minutes, Cosmo read over the letter before rolling it up and giving it to Dye.

“I told her what happened,” Cosmo announced. “It says that I’m staying with you for the time being and that she should seek refuge with my parents.”

Dye nodded in approval, held the letter near the lighter and used his magic to activate the lighter. The letter became engulfed in green flames for a second before burning into nothing. Not even ashes were left behind.

“Okay, the letter should be there when she wakes up,” Dye said as Cosmo returned the supplies.

“Good,” Cosmo yawned. “Is it okay if I snooze on your couch for now? I haven’t gotten a proper night’s sleep since I fled Canterlot.”

“Go right ahead,” Dye said as Cosmo started to curl up. “When you wake up, though, stay inside, okay? If those ponies are still after you, we don’t want to draw any attention to you.”

“But I could help you shop and stuff,” Cosmo said as he stifled a yawn. “It’s the least I can do to repay you for letting me stay.”

Dye shook his head.

“Sorry, but I can’t allow that,” Dye said firmly. “Ponyville is small, Cosmo. New ponies are hard to miss. And not only that, but one of the ponies in town is a party pony. If she finds out about you, we’ll have an unwanted celebration on our hooves. She welcomes all new ponies with a party. Even visitors.”

Cosmo gave up after that and just went to sleep. Luckily, he didn’t snore, so the house was silent again.

Dye checked his watch, which now read six-fifteen. He considered going back to bed and catching a few more Z’s, but changed his mind and prepared breakfast for himself and his guest. Cosmo probably wouldn’t be awake for a few hours, but Dye was sure his cousin would be starving once he woke up, and he liked to plan ahead.

After he finished making breakfast, Dye renewed the stay-fresh spell again and sat down to eat the omelets and pancakes he’d made for himself.
As soon as he finished, he trotted back to the living room and saw a pouch on the ground with a note attached. He levitated the note off of the pouch and read it:

Since you won’t let me repay you with my assistance in pony, you can use the money in this pouch to purchase anything you need.

I hope this will be enough.

Cosmo

Dye used his magic to open the coin pouch and looked inside. It was filled with more one thousand bit coins than Dye could count without emptying them out first.

Wow, magical research really pays, doesn’t it? Dye thought as he removed two coins from the pouch. He probably wouldn’t even need the complete value of one coin, but it was always a good idea to be prepared.

Seeing as it was Sunday, most stores would either have shortened hours or be closed entirely, so Dye put the two coins in his own coin pouch and left them alone for the time being. Instead, he went to his studio and started painting.

He produced several paintings over the next few hours. Not one of them looked like something that his odd ability would have produced, so he doubted he’d get generous offers on any of them.

At ten in the morning, Dye left his studio to find Cosmo scarfing down breakfast at the dining room table.

“Oh, morning!” Cosmo said between bites.

Dye nodded and sat down across from his cousin.

“Thanks for the money, but I don’t think I’ll need an entire pouch of one thousand bit coins,” Dye chuckled. “I just took two. I doubt I’ll need more.”

“Well, you could at least get some proper furniture and appliances, right?” Cosmo asked as he finished a pancake.

“I was meaning to do that, but I wanted to do it with money I’d earned on my own,” Dye replied.

“Nonsense!” Cosmo said, shaking his head furiously. “I noticed that you’re using a stay-fresh spell on your food. What if you have to leave town for a while? How are you going to keep all of it from spoiling if you’re gone for more than a day? It’s not like you can ask a unicorn to housesit for you. They’d need a cloudwalking spell put on everything!”

“I could always ask Twilight to housesit for me,” Dye said, brushing it off. “She’s an Alicorn, you know.”

“Right, I forgot that a Princess lives in this town,” Cosmo said. “Even so, you can’t just wait until you’ve made a few hundred bits selling paintings before you get this place properly fleshed out!”

“I can do everything I possibly need with magic or cloud construction,” Dye replied.

Cosmo shook his head again.

“I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, Dye,” the researcher said firmly. “It’s Sunday, so there’s not much point shopping around today, but come tomorrow, I want you to buy some proper furniture and appliances for this place. You can’t keep having the entire building being made of just clouds!”

“And why can’t I?” Dye asked. “It’s not like anypony who can’t fly could get up here, anyway.”

“My parents live in a cloudhouse, too,” Cosmo said. “But they have had guests who are incapable of flight over before. Magic can do incredible things, you know.”

“Yes, I know you and Cousin Violet can teleport other ponies,” Dye huffed. “That doesn’t mean that I’ll ever get any Unicorn or Earth Pony visitors.”

“I thought you liked to be prepared!” Cosmo said, shaking his head again. “Has six days in this town really changed you that much?”

“I guess you have a point,” Dye admitted. “But, I’m no good at interior decorating.”

“I can help with that,” Cosmo began.

“You’re to stay here!” Dye snapped.

“I don’t even have to leave the house,” Cosmo countered. “I’m a magical researcher, remember? I’ve read up on quite a few spells that would blow your mind, my dear cousin.”

“And what spell could possibly help with that?” Dye asked.

“The ‘Be-my-eyes-and-ears’ spell, of course!” Cosmo said proudly. “I’ve managed to meld it with a telepathy spell, so not only will I be able to see and hear everything you will, but I can talk to you with it, too!”

“Okay, now that’s impressive,” Dye said. “Can you teach it to me?”

“It takes weeks to master,” Cosmo replied, shaking his head. “I had an ancient manuscript to guide me, but you’d only have me. I don’t even plan on staying here that long. Maybe one week at the most.”

“Fine,” Dye sighed. “But when this is over, could you please teach it to me?”

“I’ll consider it,” was all Cosmo said before he resumed eating.

“I guess that’ll have to do for now,” Dye said as he got up from the table. “I’m going out for a little bit. You’ll be okay by yourself for a little while, right?”

“Unless they’ve already traced me here, I should be fine,” Cosmo replied. “Even if they do manage to figure out that I’m crashing with you, all of them were Unicorns. They can’t fly.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Dye commented. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

With that, Dye returned to his room, packed up his tank into his saddlebags, and put them on.

After that, Dye trotted through the house to the front door, opened it, went outside, and closed it behind him.

I’ll need to get a lock for the door tomorrow, at the very least, Dye thought. With Cosmo on the run, I’ll need to be able to keep him extra safe.

Dye dove off of his property to the ground below and flew towards the library. He still had a book to return, after all.

He knocked on the library door and waited, whistling to pass the time.

After a few minutes, the door opened, and Spike was standing in the doorway.

“Morning, Spike!” Dye said as he levitated the book out of his bag. “I’m here to return a book. Could you take it for me?”

“Sure thing,” Spike said, taking the book. “Have a nice day, Dye.”

“You, too!” Dye said as he took to the air again.

After flying around aimlessly for a few minutes, Dye set himself down on a cloud and looked at his watch. It now read eleven thirty-seven. Dye didn’t have much to do, so he just took in the view of the mountains in the distance.

He sat there for a few minutes with his mind completely blank before he decided to return home.

He spread his wings again and flew back to his property and entered his house.

“Cosmo, I’m back!” he shouted.

His cousin was lying down on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

“Hey, Dye,” the researcher said, sounding bored. “You got anything to do around here? Just sitting around is getting old fast.”

“Not really,” Dye admitted. “I was so busy getting everything built that I had no time to buy anything that I could use to pass the time.”

“Great,” Cosmo grunted. “There’s absolutely nothing to do around here.”

“How about we just talk?” Dye suggested. “Tell each other how we’ve been since we last met at Grandpa’s place.”

“Well, you already know that I’m engaged now,” Cosmo said as he turned to look at Dye. “I don’t have much else. I tend to keep away from all the stuffy nobles in Canterlot, so I don’t really have any gossip about them, either.”

“Well, I have an idea,” Dye said, changing the subject. “You could use that eyes-and-ears spell so I could show you around town without you even having to leave the house!”

“Well, that’s better than doing absolutely nothing,” Cosmo replied as he lit up his horn and scrunched up his face in concentration.

The light grew brighter and brighter over time, eventually bathing the entire room in an intense indigo glow.

As Dye was about to say something, the glow enveloped him, and he suddenly felt different.

The glow faded, and Cosmo panted for breath.

Wow, I forgot how taxing that spell is, Cosmo’s voice said in Dye’s head, startling him.

“Gah!” Dye shouted as he turned to give Cosmo his full attention. Don’t scare me like that! he thought.

Cosmo looked confused. Why aren’t you sending me any thoughts? his voice asked, once again in Dye’s head.

“I thought I was!” Dye responded out loud.

You have to consciously decide to send the thoughts to me, Cosmo’s mental voice replied. This spell allows privacy so that we can only share the thoughts we want to share. Just thinking isn’t enough.

Dye focused for a second before thinking, Like this?

Exactly, Cosmo sent back, smiling. Now, the sight and hearing is only one way. I can see and hear what you do, but the reverse isn’t true. You’d have to cast it on me to gain the same effect.

Okay, I get it, Dye thought to his cousin. So, how does seeing what I see work?

I see and hear what you do in my mind, Cosmo’s voice explained. My own senses aren’t overridden, so I can still see and hear my own surroundings.

Now I really want to learn this spell, Dye mentally commented. This time, he kept the thought to himself, though.

Okay, let’s get the tour started, shall we? Cosmo’s voice asked.

Sure thing, Dye sent back. I’ll give you the full tour. Well, as full of a tour as I can give you on a Sunday, at least.

After several hours, Dye had finished giving Cosmo the tour. Nothing eventful had happened besides Cosmo making strange comments about some of the ponies. Dye had managed to keep a straight face through each of the comments, so nopony had caught on.

It was now eight in the evening, so Dye flew back home so Cosmo could lift the spell.

No headaches so far, Dye thought happily.

Careful, Cosmo sent back. You don’t want to jinx it, do you?

Dye hadn’t realized that he hadn’t made that thought private, so he was startled when Cosmo replied. However, he didn’t respond to Cosmo’s comment and just continued flying home. He arrived at two past eight.

After he arrived, Dye had Cosmo lift the spell, and the two stallions ate dinner in silence.

“Well, the ponies around here seem nice enough, I suppose,” Cosmo said as Dye did the dishes.

“At least none of them realized what was going on,” Dye replied. “I was almost sure that Pinkie suspected something was up, though.”

“Eh, you’re imagining things,” Cosmo said, waving a hoof to dismiss the idea. “You haven’t been here long enough for them to know everything that’s considered ‘normal’ for you. For all they know, walking to every single location in a town and appearing to ponder each and every one could be something you usually do on your days off.”

“I guess you’ve got a point,” Dye said, smiling. “If we can make it though the week with nopony finding out about you before you leave, that should help get your pursuers off your trail. We might even be able to get you some help in getting rid of them entirely so you can return home!”

“I certainly hope so,” the researcher replied, stifling a yawn. “Either way, I’m gonna hit the hay. I’m beat.”

“See you in the morning, Cousin,” Dye said as Cosmo left for the couch.

Cosmo tried to reply, but whatever he was about to say got replaced with a huge yawn, so he just shook his head and threw himself onto the couch and pulled a blanket over himself.

Dye looked at his watch and saw that it was now nine in the evening. I might as well get to bed myself, he thought as he put the newly cleaned dishes away.

And so, Dye did just that. He trotted over to his room, got into bed, and was asleep almost instantly, having just completed a headache-free day.