//------------------------------// // Lesson 6: Reagent // Story: Bright Green Monster Realm, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Undeath // by ArtieStroke //------------------------------// Re-a-gent \rēˈājənt\ n. A substance or mixture, usually magical in nature, for use in alchemical tonics, tinctures, and potions. "Are we there-" "Listen you little punk, if you start up with that absolute horse-shit I will-" "What, 'scorch the earth where I stand'? Kinda already used that line." Sunset grit her teeth. Why this? Why her? She would honestly take an eternity of suffering in that portal realm over having to deal with pubescent brats like this Spike character. Looking around the grassy 'edge of town' scenery, she frowned. "We're lost." Sunset Shimmer stated. "No, we're not." Spike said. "We've passed this same stump three fucking times," Sunset snapped, pointing at the offending arboreal artifact, which soon burst into flames. Spike frowned. "Well, looks like that's one less landmark for us to find the way back with. Good job." Sunset's throat gurgled with a scream as she clawed at her face. This kid was a god damn INSUFFERABLE LITTLE- "Hey, does that look like the cottage to you?" She stopped, turning to look up the slight hill Spike was pointing towards- at a glance, it looked more like a tree than a house, with bright green thatch that hung nearly over the windows. It was no small wonder they missed it the first time. Sunset grumbled as Spike led the way. As they stood in front of the door, he paused. "So, uh, should I knock? Or you? I mean- mandragoras have that eye thing..." Sunset rolled her eyes, pounding her fist on the door. "Well, there we go, then." After a few moments of silence, the door creaked open- a single teal eye peeking out, before seeing Sunset and widening in terror as the door slammed shut. "W-w-we're not t-taking visitors today! S-so sorry!" Saying the voice shouted would be like saying a tortoise was moving at top speed- it was barely at a conversational volume. Spike grimaced, before shaking a hand at Sunset. "Er, maybe I better handle it after all." Rolling her eyes, Sunset took a step back as Spike rapped on the door. "Excuse me? I'm sorry for my- uh... friend? No that's not- anyways, we're not visitors! We actually saw the flier in town and wanted to help!" The door creaked open again, a little more this time and Spike was able to get a good look at Fluttershy's face- she was pretty cute, if you were into wallflowers (Zing! Nailed it!), with a bit of a cherry blossom theme to the petals that made up her hair. "O-oh, um... t-that's really kind of you, but..." "Come on- don't you need some handsome adventuring types to go gather rare ingredients out in those dangerous woods?" Spike said, casually trying to strike a macho pose. He waggled an eyebrow, and Fluttershy giggled into her hand. Sunset was fairly certain her eyes would soon gain enough centrifugal force to escape their sockets. "Really, that's very nice- but I do already have a friend on the case," Fluttershy said, no longer hiding behind the door. She put a finger to her lip. "Though... she's not exactly that great with flowers..." 'Now's my time to shine!' "That's alright- I actually know a TON about reagents and stuff! My big sis is this total bookworm, if it's magical she knows all about it. So, you know, I've picked up on a couple things." "Nerd." "Twilight ordered you to be nice, Sunset," Spike said, witheringly before turning back to Fluttershy, "So- how about it? An extra pair of hands never-" "INCOMING!" Spike was feeling pretty thankful for his stellar constitution score as a voice barreled into him from behind, and he pancaked onto Fluttershy's living room floor. Sunset cracked a smirk, and started clapping. "Encore! Do it again! Please!" Groaning with only an intense amount of pain, Spike managed to turn his head and see his assailant- his first guess would have been harpy, but the arcs of electricity jumping off of her tiny body threw him for a bit of a loop. Though that DID explain the familiar smell of burnt ozone. "Rainbow, I know I asked if you could please use the door to come in," Fluttershy started, quickly making her way to Spike and helping him up, "B-but, I meant more along the lines of... actually walking up and knocking?" "Sorry about that, Fluttershy!" This 'Rainbow' person said, getting up and off of Spike. He wheezed- fresh air. Why must you so easily be taken away? "I got those flowers you were looking for, though- look! Blue petals, red thorns." She smirked, holding out the herb with one wing. From his angle on the floor, it almost looked like some kind of bishonen hero offering the super moe protagonist a rose as a sign of love. Then he shook his head- where did THAT thought come from? Fluttershy frowned, "Rainbow Dash, I said... red petals, blue thorns. That flower is... just gonna give you a rash." Dash stood stock still for a few seconds, a nervous drop of sweat making it's way down her brow. "O-oh." "No wonder you were posting ads for help, this idiot's useless," Sunset said, and Spike finally made his way to his feet. Rainbow turned sharply towards the demon, snarling. "Hey! It was a simple mistake, anyone could've mixed up those colors!" "You've LITERALLY got the whole light spectrum in your hair, how do YOU mix up colors?" "Because- s-shut up! Shut up is why!" Spike and Fluttershy quickly made their way over to their charge/friend, respectively, to hold them back from each other. "Dash, I'm sure she didn't mean it." "Nice, Sunset! Twilight said nice! Come on, man!" Dash frowned, turning away from Sunset with a snort, "Whatever, she ain't worth it." Sunset just rolled her eyes- she wouldn't give the trigger happy harpy the satisfaction of a response. That would probably eat at her more than any kind of biting remark- she knew the type. "I'm sorry for her," Spike said, turning towards Dash, "She woke up on the wrong side of the scroll this morning, you know how it is." Clearing his throat, he extended a hand, "Let's start over- my name's Spike, this is Sunset, we're here to help with the plant collecting quest thingy." Dash raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes in confusion at Spike's comment about Sunset before brushing her thoughts away. "Alright, cool. Name's Rainbow Dash," She smirked, bumping his outstretched hand with the fist-like portion of her wings. "Neat. So, what's the actual deal here?" Gesturing to a small coffee table and some chairs, Fluttershy went into the kitchen of her cottage to brew up some drinks. Flopping into one of the seats, Dash started the tale. "It was about a week ago, I think? People started getting sick in town, and not like your normal coughing and sneezing stuff either. Obviously some mean magical shit, we're talking single mamano being locked in their houses or else they'd rampage through the town looking dudes type feverish. Others started getting weird side effects- like a werewolf I knew suddenly got shaggier than a sheepdog, or some of the lizard people in the militia getting weird tongue growths. It's freaky." Spike nodded, "Yeah, that's clearly some kind of witchcraft- is it like a curse?" "See, that's what I've been telling everyone! Like- almost all these guys live near the river that passes out of the Everfree, and I say it's gotta be the witch that lives there!" "I didn't know the Sabbath even had members in Equestria," Twilight said, frowning as she followed Rarity to 'a friend's place'. "Well, I don't know if she's a proper witch," Rarity said, "But I've heard rumors about a person living in the Everfree. Nobody ever gets a good look at them, and most say that she's a bit tall for a witch." "A Dark Mage then?" "Possibly," Rarity brushed a strand of hair from her face, "Honestly though, I don't put much stock in it being some witch's fault. It's probably some weirdness from the Everfree. Magic runs wild there." "So I've heard," Twilight muttered. The pair of them walked up a mossy path, and the sound of a crash brought Twilight's attention to the... cottage? In front of her? "It looks more like a tree than a home, how do you even manage that?" Rarity stiffened at the crash, fear crossing her face. "Wh- Fluttershy! Are you alright in there!" She shouted, quickening her pace up the path. Twilight frowned, realizing now where they were heading. "Sunset..." Rarity rushed to the door, flinging it open to the sight of Spike clinging to Sunset's neck in a futile attempt to hold her back as balls of fire enveloped her hands, Rainbow Dash backed into the corner of the cottage's roof and Fluttershy quivering behind a sofa. "Calm down! You're gonna wreck the place, it's like 100% plant!" "Then she can burn down with the rest of it!" "I didn't say anything that wasn't true!" "I DON'T CARE!" There was a glint as Twilight's eyes slipped again, blinking rapidly as she wiped the sudden wetness of her eyes away. "Sunset Shimmer, I told you to-" Twilight stopped, finding both Sunset and the rainbow haired girl she was menacing stock still- poses unchanging. Sunset struggled in place, held by some seemingly invisible force, Dash doing much the same from her position off the ground. Rarity was helping Fluttershy to her feet. "Are you alright, darling?" "Y-yeah, just a little scared..." "It's alright, there there." Spike blinked, a little dazed- one moment he was hanging from Sunset's shoulders, the next he was suddenly on the floor, blinking spots out of his eyes. Holding a hand to his spinning head, he groaned a little. "Whaaaaat the heck..." Twilight frowned, cocking her head slightly- there it was! That same glint! She stuck a hand out, feeling a thin thread between her fingers. "Some kind of magical wire?" Filing that away for later, Twilight quickly walked over to Spike's side, helping him up. "Are you okay? What happened?" "THAT BI-" "Silence!" Sunset's mouth zipped up quite neatly, but the order did nothing to stop the daggers being stared in her direction. Spike was a little woozy, but otherwise okay. "Sunset had a little, uh, disagreement with Rainbow Dash's insinuations about the content of her character." "Hey, if it looks like a demon, walks like a demon, I'm gonna call it a demon!" "Always so crass," Rarity said, shooting a disapproving look in Dash's direction. Dash tried to shrug, but the near invisible bindings prevent much movement. "Hey, uh, I'm sorry for almost letting Shy's house get wrecked, can I be let down now?" "I don't think so." "Hey, this is decidedly NOT my kink here! Come on!" "Again, crass- I'll let you down when you've cooled down a little," She looked over at Sunset, almost literally boiling with rage, "Both of you." Turning back to the other two, Rarity gave an apologetic smile at Spike, "Sorry for any discomfort there, the situation called for a little, er, expedience." Spike barely registered she had spoken to him- the past ten seconds or so after explaining to Twilight spent in total awestruck silence at the girl in front of him. Gorgeous was an understatement- she was like a living diamond, a gem among rocks. His jaw worked loosely. "Uh..." Rarity frowned, walking over and pressing a hand to his forehead, "Oh dear, I hope I didn't overdo it- oh, I really must be more careful with whiplash." Spike's face instantly colored, a squeak coming out of his mouth. Twilight frowned. "Oh, brother..." Clearing her throat, Twilight gave Rarity a questioning look, "Overdo what exactly?" "Hmm?" Rarity stood up, blinking for a moment, "Wh- oh! Sorry, just a bit of magic I've picked up to help with the seamstress work- decidedly helpful with diffusing tense situations, is it not?" "Uhuh." "I take it you know these two?" Twilight nodded, sighing, "Yeah- this is Spike, my little brother." "Hi." Spike's voice cracked, sharply. "And that's Sunset Shimmer, my... ward." Sunset's resulting glare was definitely worthy of the "earth scorching" term. Rarity looked from Sunset, to Twilight, and then to the surrounding mess. "You've certainly got your work cut out for you with that." "Tell me about it."