“There has to be something in here that will help us,” Twilight sighed in frustration as she sat down yet another useless book.
“Twilight, dear, what are we even looking for?” Rarity questioned as she pulled a book off one of the many shelves in the library.
“I don’t know,” Twilight answered as she laid her head down on the table before her, “that mare said magic didn’t- and would never- affect them. That’s got to be a clue, but I’m finding nothing on the subject.”
“What about the other clues?” Pinkie Pie questioned as she bounced over “they said a mama didn’t give birth to them, but instead they were made from a cauldron. That’s a clue, right?”
“Yeah, it is, but I can’t I find anything on that either,” Twilight answered with a sigh.
“I think I might be able to help you,” An unfamiliar spoke that sounded almost like that of a filly’s “I’ve been pursuing those three for years.”
Twilight turned to see an unfamiliar unicorn mare with a dark blonde coat standing behind her. Her mane and tail- which were styled into messy half curls and tied into short ponytails- was a gradient of icy blue, blonde and pastel purple. Indigo eyes stared sharply at Twilight and seemed to be sizing her up. The mare was dawned in witch-like apparel- a plain, charcoal grey corset, a purple saddle with livid lace and a short, jagged black skirt that covered her flanks. Icy blue and pastel purple stockings decorated her back legs while her forehooves were covered by short, icy blue gloves decorated with skulls of shades of pastel purple and pink. Atop her head sat an elongated charcoal grey hat that- like a typical witch’s- curled up at the end. Her hat seemed to have a pair of eyes and a mouth of its own with sharp, jagged teeth. In her indigo magical grasp, she held a wooden staff adorned with a round, ruby colored jewel.
“Who are you?” Twilight questioned with a suspicious glare.
“My name is Cauldron Bubbles,” The mare answered “like I said, I’ve been pursuing those three for years. The mare that did most the talking was Hijinx. The other mare was Abra Cadabra and the stallion was Abra’s brother, Alakazam.”
“Fitting names,” Twilight grumbled under her breath “why are you after them?”
“To make a long story short, those three stole my whole life. They stole my whole life’s work. All my spells, potions, books, ingredients- pretty much everything I owned, ” Cauldron Bubbles explained with a sad sigh “they even stole my pets! I used to have a cat named Rupert, three bats named Lunar, Blood and Star, and an owl named Cary, which was short for ‘Apothecary’. I loved my pets, but they could have always been replaced at any given time. The most important thing they stole from me was my daughter.”
“Aren’t you a little young to be having children, darling?” Rarity questioned.
Cauldron Bubbles looked over at Rarity with a look of both shock and offense on her face.
“I’ll have you know I’m in my late twenties!” Cauldron Bubbles exclaimed as she loudly tapped her staff against the floor “why does everypony assume I’m that young just because I’m short and have a high pitched voice?!”
“Because of that, darling,” Rarity quipped “your height and voice.”
“Tch- whatever,” Cauldron Bubbles huffed “that’s not even the point. You want my help or not?”
“We’d love your help,” Twilight said with a smile “and in return, we’ll help you get your daughter, pets, and belongings back.”
“An offer I can’t refuse,” Cauldron Bubbles said with a grin.
Cauldron Bubbles trotted over to the table Twilight sat at and planted her rump in the empty chair next to her. After adjusting herself to a comfortable position, the small unicorn conjured a thick book which landed on the table with a loud thump. The leatherback book was embroidered with foreign symbols and numerous alchemical sigils of different sizes and colors. In bold, swirling letters the word ‘Alchemy’ was embroidered in a sharp lime green color.
“What’s this? A book on Alchemy? ” Twilight questioned, “I’ve heard of it before, but I thought it was another lost art.”
“It’s all but lost, I’m afraid,” Cauldron Bubble answered “Hijinx, Abra Cadabra, and Alakazam were created through alchemy. Fortunately, this was the only book they left me.”
“That would explain why magic didn’t affect them,” Twilight said, “and that means they weren’t bluffing about anything.”
“Mmhm,” Cauldron Bubbles hummed with a nod of her head “that master of theirs is highly skilled in alchemy. I’m not sure who they are, but whoever their master is is somepony we should definitely never underestimate.”
“Right,” Twilight nodded in agreement “we’ve dealt with powerful creatures and power-thirsty ponies before, but it’s always bad to assume a new villain is just like the rest.”
“I think I’ve seen their master once, when I was trying to locate my daughter,” Cauldron Bubbles said, “all I remember is a hooded figure, but whoever it was seemed to be a pony- or a pony-like creature to say the least.”
“Ugh, typical villain,” Rarity sighed in disgust “I don’t understand why such power creatures wear such rubbish clothes.”
“Yeah, you’d think to be super duper smart like that, they’d know something about fashion,” Pinkie Pie bounced with agreement “not that I really know anything about fashion. I know a lot about cakes and yummy, yummy super sugary treats though!”
“So, this alchemy book you’ve got here,” Twilight began “I assume it’s not going to tell how or where to find Hijinx or her master?”
“Well, of course not,” Cauldron Bubbles said with a laugh “but it will teach you alchemy, which is going to be essential if the need to fight Hijinx, her buddies or her master arises.”
“Of course,” Twilight said with an enthusiastic smile “it would definitely even the odds if we learn alchemy.”
“If only we had Starlight with us,” Rarity said with a sigh “if she could learn it too, we'd be unstoppable against Hijinx and her master.”
“Don't get so down,” Cauldron Bubbles said “you’ve got Twilight and yourself. You're both talented unicorns.”
“My magic is more suited to fashion,” Rarity said.
“All the more reason to learn alchemy, right?” Cauldron Bubbles questioned, “it might seem unconventional, but you never know when your fashion magic could come in handy, especially when coupled with alchemy.”
“I suppose you've got a point, but what about Pinkie Pie?” Rarity questioned.
“Alchemy doesn't discriminate. Literally, anypony could learn it if they could,” Cauldron Bubbles answered “she can learn it too. Plenty of great alchemists were earth ponies.”
“Learning alchemy isn’t going to be a breeze,” Cauldron Bubbles added, “if you thought magic was tough to learn, you’ll find it’s comparatively easier than alchemy.”
“But isn’t alchemy just throwing a bunch of stuff into a bubbly pot and saying some funny words?” Pinkie Pie questioned.
“It is, but there’s more than to it than that,” Cauldron Bubbles answered “the more complex alchemical spells, like creating a living being, for example, take a lot of hard work and finely attuned skills. The slightest mismeasurement will ruin everything.”
“Do you practice alchemy?” Pinkie Pie questioned.
“I do,” Cauldron Bubbles said with a proud grin “if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here, now would I?”
“Oooo~ right,” Pinkie Pie said with a trademark giggle snort.
Twilight began to open her mouth to ask Cauldron Bubbles a question when her staff suddenly began to glow and flicker. Cauldron Bubbles sighed and rose from her seat at the table. From the look in her indigo eyes, Twilight could tell the flickering glow emanating from her staff meant nothing good.
“I have to go now,” Cauldron Bubbles said with a small smile “my family needs me. I'll return as soon as I'm able. In the meantime, just read over the basics.”
“Oh, and go someplace secure. Their master is going to target you sooner or later,” Cauldron Bubbles added “would be a shame if you got foalnapped before you could fight back.”
“Right, well, until next time, Cauldron,” Twilight said with a small smile.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie simultaneously waved goodbye- though the latter a bit more vigorously- to Cauldron Bubbles as the shorter unicorn teleported out of the library. Twilight turned her attention to the thick leatherback book sitting before her. The brown leather was worn with age and had certainly seen better days, but still appeared to be sturdy and useful. Magenta magic enveloped her horn as she used it to open the book. Turning to the first page, the words ‘Introduction To Alchemy’ greeted Twilight with big, bold letters. Twilight briefly skimmed over the lengthy passage before she begun to read it aloud to her friends.
Minutes turned into hours as Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie attempted to familiarize themselves with the basics of alchemy. Without Cauldron Bubbles there to help them, it was very difficult to do. Just as they were about to attempt another try at drawing sigils and practicing incantations, another unfamiliar unicorn mare trotted up to them. She was tall- almost as tall as Cadence- and looked thoroughly worn out and tired. Around her neck, a beautiful amulet shaped like an encircled hourglass twinkled in the light. The circle around the hourglass was bronze with bits of diamond here and there, while the main body of the hourglass itself was gold. The ‘sand’ of the hourglass was a mixture of emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. The chain keeping the dazzling piece of jewelry around her neck was a beautiful shade of shiny silver. The mare’s coat was a creamy yellow color, her eyes were a dreamy blue and her mane and tail were styled in curling locks of a beautiful golden blonde color. All in all, the mare looked comparatively like a beautiful sunflower to Twilight.
“I heard what happen, your highness, and I’d like to apologize for arriving so late,” The mare spoke as she bowed her head respectfully “I missed the train so I teleported as closely as I could and galloped the rest of the way.”
“No need to be so formal, you can just call me Twilight,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh “er, uh, who are you exactly?”
“My apologies, your highness. My name is Almalthea, and I’ve come from far away in hopes to aid you in the defeat of the menace that has arisen- my sister,” The mare said, taking it upon herself to find a seat near Twilight “I’ve got information that I believe you may find useful.”
“Go ahead, darling, spill the beans as they say,” Rarity said impatiently.
Rarity tossed her mane out of her face as she sat near Twilight. Almalthea licked her lips and smiled warmly, albeit sadly, at Rarity.
“I guess I should start from the very beginning to help you better understand,” Almalthea began “as I said, my name is Almalthea. I’m one of the four daughters of a nobel, wealthy line of unicorns. I’m the oldest of six siblings, whom of which have long since passed except for one. My sister, she and I are very old. Over a thousand to be exact. I sort of lost count after my five hundredth birthday.”
The three bearers of the Elements of Harmony looked at each other with surprised looks on their faces. Before they say or question anything, their guest continued her explanation.
“Sadly, we’ve got another bad case of jealousy and hatred on our hooves,” Almalthea continued “just as Princess Luna grew jealous of her sister, mine grew jealous of me. My entire family loved and praised me, always giving me their full attention. Very rarely did my sister get any, and when she did, it was usually them scolding her for not being as good as me as far as magical abilities went. They scolded her for using alchemy and for becoming good at it when she was not very skilled at magic.
So when they eventually shunned her and kicked her out of our family for coming dead last in magical abilities out of all our brothers and sisters, she vowed that she’d return one day as powerful as Celestia- or at least close to it- and then ran off. We never saw or heard from her again until a few years later, when my parents held a grand ball at their house. The whole family came, except for her- at first. My siblings, who had moved far away, came back to our childhood home. My aunts and uncles and other family members whom I had no memory of came to celebrate.”
Almalthea took a deep breath in before continuing once more;
“It was nearing midnight when a sudden storm began to rage overhead. It was no normal storm. The sky was different shades of black and green. The rain was as red as blood and the lightning was as blue as a sapphire. The lights flickered and the atmosphere changed completely. Suddenly, before us stood my sister- all grown and in good health- along with several companions. She gave a brief vengeful, hate-filled speech before ordering her companions to attack. Those she did not kill, she transformed into stone statues- our parents included- and took them with her as prizes. A few lucky souls narrowly escaped. I myself barely managed to escape with some of the younger children who attended the ball with their parents. After that night, I vowed to do whatever it took to stop my sister and to rescue those she turned into stone.
In my long journey to accomplish this goal, I stumbled upon a rare amulet that grants the ability of immortality and eternal beauty. It’s the one you see around my neck now. It’s given me the ability to live longer and attempt to keep up with my sister. My sister has the gifts of immortality and eternal beauty as well, but hers is surely due to the miracles of alchemy.”
“I see,” Twilight said, clearing her throat. She found herself at a loss for words once again.
“I kept telling myself for years that I was doing it to save my parents and the others she took as stony prisoners and to keep others from falling victim to her once again,” Almalthea began “but now, I’ve come to realize I’ve been doing it to rescue not my parents, but rather my sister from the jealousy, hatred, and powerlust that’s consumed her. I want my little sister back.
I want to hug her and I want to love her and I want to make up for all the times I’ve turned my back on her when she needed me and for all the times I’ve stood idly by she became more and more of what she is now. I kept trying to tell myself it wasn’t my fault, but now I’ve come to realize and accept that, while it wasn’t entirely mine, I did play in role in creating the m… monster of a mare that my sister now is. I could have done something to prevent this, but instead, I just turned an ignorant, blind and now I’m paying the price.”
Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie simply stared at Almalthea, unsure of what to say. Words clogged in Twilight’s throat as she struggled to find something to say to Almalthea. Pinkie Pie dug at the hard crystalline floor with a hoof as she tried to think of something to say and Rarity struggled to form the words to say something. Finally, the words untangled in Rarity’s throat as she found something to say.
“We’ll do everything in our power to help you,” Rarity spoke, “we can’t guarantee your sister will be free from punishment, but we can certainly stop her before it’s too late.”
“Almalthea, what is your sister's name?” Twilight questioned, “so we can start to put the puzzle pieces together.”
“She changed it. I can’t remember to what, but I think it started with a ‘v’,” Almalthea answered, “but her birth name is Cavatina.”
“Cavatina,” Rarity repeated “such an elegant name.”
“Yes, it is,” Almalthea agreed with a sad smile.
“Just a few hours ago, a mare named Cauldron Bubbles showed up,” Twilight said as she put a hoof on the alchemy book “she gave us this book and promised to help us defeat a powerful alchemist whom I’m going to assume would be your sister, Cavatina.”
“Cauldron Bubbles is an alchemist herself, you see,” Rarity said “your sister’s minions took important things from her- including Cauldron’s daughter. In exchange for teaching us alchemy, we agreed to help her reunite with her daughter.”
“It’s a win-win for the both of you,” Pinkie Pie chirped “you get your sister back and Cauldron gets her daughter!”
“It’s a win-win for everypony, darling,” Rarity said, “she gets her sister, Cauldron her daughter and us our dear friends and beloved princesses.”
“Oh, yeah!” Pinkie Pie giggled.
Almalthea looked at them with a sad smile. Twilight rose from her seat and trotted close to Almalthea. She draped a foreleg over Almalthea’s shoulders and smiled reassuringly.
“I’m all for libraries and reading books, but how about we take a break, find a cafe and chat there?” Twilight suggested, “I know you must be exhausted after coming all this way.”
“That would be lovely,” Almalthea said with a warm smile.
“That’s a marvelous idea, darling!” Rarity cheered happily.
“Woo! Fooood!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she jumped up from her chair.
The four of them laughed as Almalthea and Rarity rose from their seats. Using her magic, Twilight slipped the book Cauldron Bubbles gave them into her saddlebag. Wordlessly, the four of them trotted over to the library’s exit and left. They found the previously crowded street completely bare-boned and void of any ponies. After the panic and mayhem, Hijinx and her companions had caused, the crystal ponies had locked themselves inside in fear of having their faces rotated or their bodies switched with complete strangers. Those who hadn’t been affected had taken down the decorations as without the Princesses, there would be no celebration.
Twilight sighed quietly to herself as she led her friends down the street. After a couple of turns, they reached the small but popular ‘Crystal Café’. The door was locked, but after a few hard knocks on the door, the owner- an older unicorn mare with cream colored crystalline skin and a purple crystalline mane pulled back into a bun- reluctantly let the four of them inside. The four of them found a small corner table to sit at in the back of the café and ordered three glasses of water, a glass of chocolate milk and some hayburgers.
“So, uh, is there anything else you can tell us about Cavatina?” Twilight asked.
“I believe I have good bit of information you might find useful,” Almalthea replied, “some of it might be a bit out of date, though.”
“I think one of the most important things is looks,” Rarity said, “so what does Cavatina look like?”
“The last time I saw her, her mane and tail were honey yellow in color and styled into tight curls. Her coat was it’s usually cloud-white color and her eyes were pink,” Almalthea explained “Her cutiemark was a pink winged magical sigil beneath a decorative hourglass. She earned it after she started messing around with alchemy.”
“Her voice, what did it sound like?” Rarity questioned.
“Smooth, mature and a little low,” Almalthea answered.
“Hmm,” Rarity hummed “what else, what else?”
“Oo! Oo! I know!” Pinkie exclaimed “where does she live?”
“After she was banished from our childhood home, I have no idea where she ran off too,” Almalthea explained “I know she was temporarily using this cottage a couple of miles outside the outskirts of a small town, but when I got there, she was gone. Everything was. The cottage was almost completely empty.”
“Almost empty, you say?” Rarity asked.
“Yes. You see, the cottage still had all of the furnishings and utilities still inside,” Almalthea explained, “any trace of her being there was gone.”
“Aww, poo,” Pinkie Pie huffed.
They paused their discussion as the owner of the café trotted up their table with a tray of food and drinks. The older mare smiled warmly as she passed out their food and drinks to the appropriate pony.
“Sorry to have eavesdropped, your highness, but did I perhaps hear you mention a mare named Cavatina?” The owner questioned.
“We did, yes,” Twilight answered, “do you know her?”
“No, not personally, but I do recall a strange pony looking for a mare named Cavatina when I was a little filly,” The owner explained “she came to my home and asked my parents if they ever saw or met a mare name Cavatina. If I remember correctly, the pony was looking for a mare fitting your description to a tee.”
The three younger mares and Almalthea looked at each other with excitement. Huge grins on their faces spread from ear to ear.
“Do you remember who that pony was?” Twilight questioned eagerly.
“I didn’t catch a name, I’m afraid,” The owner answered “but I do remember what she looked like. She looked as if she was made from some kind of green rock or crystal, and she glowed slightly. She had wings and a horn as if she was an alicorn, but I’m not sure if she could actually use them.”
“An alicorn mare made of a glowing green rock or crystal?” Twilight pondered aloud “I’ve read about a mare like that before, but it was in a children’s book about fictional heroes.”
“Well, if she’s seen that mare, she’s clearly no fictional hero,” Rarity stated matter-of-factly “but I digress. We should pursue this lead, darling.”
“Thank you, ma’am, for the food and the information,” Twilight said with an appreciative smile.
“You’re quite welcome, your highness,” The owner said kindly before trotting away.
Pinkie Pie happily consumed her meal in one, comically large bite before chugging down her entire glass of chocolate milk. The others followed her lead and began to eat their meals.
“Between Almalthea, Cauldron Bubbles and that mystery mare, I’m confident we’ll take down Cavatina in no time,” Twilight said with a confident smile.
Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Almalthea hummed happily in agreement as they continued to eat. It would seem Twilight and her friends were at the start of another epic adventure.