Elixir Master

by Pen Stroke

Too Many Cooks

The creatures of the Everfree Forest stirred, piercing yellow eyes glowing like beacons in the night. Something was approaching. They could hear the rustling of branches and could smell the tender, delicious aroma of pony flesh. In times past, a pony wandering into the forest was like a feast. Yes, some surely got away, but others that were not as quick of hoof or wit found themselves part of the forest food chain.

But the hunters of the forest did not leap to action as they did in the past. No, they did not rush to the hunt because there was one they feared. They had to lay low and wait for the prey to draw closer, and soon, they began to hear their possible prey. Two voices began to gently echo amongst the trees, and one of the voices left the hunters of the Everfree Forest whimpering. There would be no hunting ponies today, for she was among them. She was the one to care for all creatures. She was a mother figure to all of the forest, both as a caregiver but also one to scold and guilt the hunters. None wished to cross the yellow one.

Fluttershy pushed back a branch, not even noticing the yellow glowing eyes of the forest hunters disappearing. She then looked over her shoulder, allowing the pony she was traveling with to step through the opening in the undergrowth. “I am sorry this is taking so long. I promise that it normally doesn’t take this long to get to Zecora’s.”

“Oh, don’t you worry a single feather, Fluttershy. I’m the one that’s making us late, but this forest is amazing. It’s like a whole town market stocked with potion ingredients.” The other pony with Fluttershy was a living legend in perhaps the most literal sense. Mage Meadowbrook, famed healer and potion maker of Equestrian lore, was all smiles and excitement. “Finding this much poison joke has got me bubbling like an eager cauldron. It can be a tough ingredient to wrangle, but it can add a magical kick to just about any potion. This Zecora sure picked a great place to make her home.”

Fluttershy giggled, getting past the branch she bent back for Meadowbrook. The pair then continued walking through the forest shoulder to shoulder. “Well, I certainly think you two will be able to hit it off.”

“Oh I hope so,” Meadowbrook said. “I mean, that hospital Twilight showed me was fancy, to be sure. But this ‘modern medicine’ just ain’t the same as good, proper potion making. I mean, ponies being laid up for days with broken bones. Going to a dentist who’s going to drill into the teeth to fix them. I mean, I see the good it’s done. Equestria is healthier than ever, and I reckon that’s because of all the regular practices that your modern medicine has created. I just wish good potion making hadn’t become such a rare skill.”

“Well, I’m sure that’s something you can change if you really want to. I bet there would be lots of ponies wanting to learn from the legendary Mage Meadowbrook.”

Meadowbrook chuckled and waved a hoof. “Oh, don’t go buttering me up like a cut of bread before breakfast. Still, are we getting close?”

Fluttershy nodded, pausing a moment to lift a hoof and point through a thicket of foliage. There, between the trees, the two ponies were able to catch a glimpse of the numerous, brightly colored jars that hung from the branches of the tree that Zecora had made her home.

“Is this a delightful surprise my eyes do see? Fluttershy, so nice of you to come visit me.”

Fluttershy grinned, doing her best to contain her excitement and mind her manners. “I’m sorry if we’re interrupting anything,” she said as she and Meadowbrook walked in through the front door.

Zecora chuckled as she closed the door behind them. “Well, I can’t deny that I am at work. But to turn you away, I am no such jerk.” She then turned and moved back to her cauldron, which gently bubbled and stewed over a small, smokeless fire. She lifted a small wooden bowl, taking a pinch of the powder inside and gently sprinkling it over the concoction within. The brew shifted in tint from a swampy green to a light rose pink, and the whole room began to smell like flowers.

“Why, is that potion base you’re making?” Meadowbrook moved up beside the cauldron, taking a few sniffs. “And tie me up like a bundle of cattails, this looks like almost the exact same recipe my mother taught me. I’d even bet that thing you just added was powdered sapphire leaf.”

Zecora blinked a few times, then smiled and nodded her head. “Your eyes and knowledge are entirely correct. I speak to a fellow potion maker, I do suspect.”

Fluttershy moved up beside the cauldron as well. “That’s right. Zecora, let me introduce you to Mage Meadowbrook, one of Equestria’s most famous healers and potion makers. She’s the one that figured out the cure for Swamp Fever. Meadowbrook, this is my friend, Zecora.”

Meadowbrook moved around the cauldron to offer a hoof to Zecora. “It is a true pleasure, Miss Zecora, to meet a fellow potion maker.”

“The pleasure is mine, this I assure, for I’d have become a tree if not for your cure.”

Fluttershy grinned ear to ear and struggled to keep herself from prancing in place. Her highest hopes were working out. Zecora and Meadowbrook were hitting it off, and they hadn’t even spoken a dozen sentences to one another. She was helping sow the seeds of a new friendship, and her heart felt like it was filled with delightful, fluttering butterflies. She felt—

A gentle chiming drew Fluttershy out of her jubilation and made her look to Zecora’s wall clock. It was well into the afternoon. “Oh my. Uh, Zecora, Meadowbrook, can you excuse me for a moment?”

The two potion makers glanced over in Fluttershy’s direction. “What’s the matter, Fluttershy?” Meadowbrook asked.

“Sorry, I just need to make a quick trip back to my cottage. I didn’t realize it had gotten so late, and it’s almost time for my weekly tea with Discord.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Fluttershy. All my detours to collect potion ingredients on our way here ate up time like a frog eating up swamp flies.”

Fluttershy gently waved her hoof reassuringly at Meadowbrook. “Oh, don’t be sorry, it was a lot of fun. Still, I promise I’ll be right back.”

“I have plenty of room and my favorite tea. If it helps, please, bring Discord back to my tree,” Zecora offered as she grabbed a large wooden spoon and began stirring the contents of her cauldron.

“A tea party with all four of us. Oh, that does sound wonderful. Thank you, Zecora. I’ll be right back with Discord.” With that Fluttershy went to the door, slipping outside before taking off and flying above the treetops. As she flew, Fluttershy couldn’t contain her excitement and performed a lazy barrel roll. A little time alone would let those two get to know one another even better, and she had been hoping to invite Meadowbrook to tea as well. Ever since the incident at the last Gala, she had been trying to help Discord expand his circle of friends. He had her, of course, and he had the Smooze as well. Then there was Spike and Big Mac, his Ogres and Oubliettes buddies.

Still, Fluttershy felt like Discord didn’t really have anyone to talk to about magic. His magic was just so different from unicorn magic. But Mage Meadowbrook and Zecora dealt with the magic of potions. Maybe that would be enough common ground. That and Discord could probably help them whip up all sorts of very rare potions.

And even if they didn’t hit it off, that was okay. It would still be a lovely tea party, she just knew it.

“Well, I will say I was impressed that zebra friend of yours had a potion that let Twilight look backward in time. I have always been meaning to ask where she got that.” Discord had shrunken himself down and was sitting in a little seat that he had snapped into existence on the top of Fluttershy’s head. Discord himself was in what looked like an old-style Wonderbolt’s uniform. He had also snapped into existence a bunch of weird controls and knobs around him, including a wheel like Fluttershy had seen on fancy airships. Yet, he was just sitting back, not touching anything while Fluttershy flew.

“And I’m sure Mage Meadowbrook will be fascinated when she gets a chance to meet you,” Fluttershy said.

“But of course. Everyone is fascinated when they meet me,” Discord said with a chuckle. “Though I do hope Zecora has something interesting in her tea collection. I’d expect an herbalist who lives in the middle of this wonderfully chaotic forest to at least—”

Discord was cut off as a loud explosion shook the air. Birds took off from all across the Everfree Forest, and a plume of smoke rose in the distance. Fluttershy felt a bit of panic grip at her chest. “Oh no! That’s close to Zecora’s hut!”

Sitting up in his little seat, Discord took hold of the little control wheel. The moment he did, Fluttershy felt her wings suddenly shift in position. That and a pair of large metal cylinders appeared on her back, where she would normally wear a pair of saddlebags. “Everfree Tower this is F7UTER5, requesting expedited landing.”

Though it sounded distorted, as if it was coming out of a record player, Fluttershy suddenly heard Discord answer himself. Most likely, Discord had created a copy of himself he was now talking to. “F7UTER5, this is Everfree Tower, we’ll prepare the runway. You are clear for landing.”

Below Fluttershy, she saw numerous trees in the Everfree Forest suddenly shift. They began to stand up and move, quickly clearing a long narrow flat track of land. She then saw what looked like a few copies of Discord start rolling out a long, black rug with yellow and white lines painted on it. On top of all that, she felt the strange metal cylinders on her back starting to push her forward. It reminded her of the times Rainbow Dash would grab and pull her along when she was flying too slow. Were they little engines?

Fluttershy didn’t get a chance to really think much on that more as she suddenly felt her wings pitch her down. Her body was flying itself, or rather, she bet Discord was flying her body from his little steering wheel on her head. Perhaps it would be faster if he just teleported them there, but… she couldn’t deny they were racing towards Zecora's hut faster than she had been. So… she went with it.

Soon, she was gently trimming the tops of the trees before reaching the edge of the long, black stone road that Discord had laid out in the forest. “Wheels down.” Fluttershy heard Discord say before feeling a pop of his magic around her hooves. She glanced down and saw she was now wearing roller skates. Roller skates that soon made contact with the long black road, letting her roll along smoothly.

A few moments after touching down, Fluttershy felt the weird metal cylinders on her back starting to push the other way, slowing her down from her quick descent and landing. The forest began closing up behind her, like a zipper pulling itself shut. Eventually, it all came together as she came to a perfect stop outside Zecora’s hut, and Fluttershy saw the explosion just wasn’t close to Zecora’s hut. It had happened inside Zecora’s hut. The smoke was leaking from the top of her tree, and all of her windows had been blown out.

With a snap of his claw, Discord undid everything he had done and returned to his regular size. This let him and Fluttershy rush towards the door. Fluttershy got in first, with Discord poking his head through the door. “Zecora! Meadowbrook! Are you okay!?” Fluttershy called as she coughed, choking a little on some of the lingering smoke.

“Just a moment, Fluttershy. I can’t imagine breathing this smoke can be healthy for you.” Fluttershy felt a healer’s mask appear over her face, not unlike the one Mage Meadowbrook always wore. Though, looking down the snout of the mask, Fluttershy could tell that this particular healer’s mask looked exactly like Discord’s face.

After that, Discord made the same strange device he summoned at the Grand Galloping Gala appear. It whirred to life, and using the attached tube, he began sucking up the smoke from inside the hut. As he did that, Fluttershy moved further into the hut. She passed the cauldron, which smelt like a badly burnt meal. She had never known Zecora to make a mistake while making a potion. “Zecora? Meadowbrook? Oh, please tell me you’re okay.”

A cough made Fluttershy quickly turn to one side, and she smiled beneath her mask as she caught sight of the two potion makers laying against the far wall of the hut. She quickly rushed over. “Oh, are you two hurt?”

Meadowbrook was the first to sit up, holding her head and coughing. “No… no Fluttershy, I’m okay. Though certainly not for lack of trying.” Her voice lost its usual gentle tone, and she growled as she looked at Zecora. “I told ya adding that was wrong!”

Zecora now sat up as well, waving a hoof in front of her face to try and clear away some of the lingering haze. “You are trying to blame me? Do you have the mind of a flea? This was caused by your own act. Don’t try to twist the tale, I speak only fact.”

“Fact!? Even adding a pinch of that red juniper to that potion base would have been disastrous! You would have turned us to living goo!”

“Living goo, that is untrue. I know how to prepare my ingredients. I know how to work my reagents. And the whole bowl falling in was your doing. Your actions have left me fuming. I know my way around such a simple brew. But your behavior, I have to wonder what is wrong with you!”

“Now now, I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding,” Fluttershy said as she tried to calm the quickly escalating argument. She was baffled how things could turn sour in such a short time, but she’d try to calm everyone down. Thankfully, the air was getting clear because of Discord’s efforts, and now a few copies of himself were beginning to repair the damage.

Meadowbrook stood up, dusting herself off a bit. “You never use red juniper in a potion base like this. Though, I suppose someone that could mess up a simple language potion can make that kind of basic mistake.”

Fluttershy saw Zecora’s jaw drop, her expression caught between looking shocked and infuriated. Fluttershy looked to Meadowbrook and just couldn’t help herself. “What do you mean by that?” she asked, curious how such a simple sounding accusation could leave Zecora speechless.

“Oh, you think she does this rhyming thing by choice… or that it’s the way of her homeland. Well, that’s a load of rotting swamp wood. One of the first brews my mama taught me was the Language Learner potion. After all, a healer has to be able to understand her patient. A few ingredients, and some sample of the language you're trying to learn, and the potion can let you be as fluent as a flying falcon at just about any tongue. The ‘sample of a language’ a potion needs could be as simple as letting two native speakers talk around the potion for a while. But if you really want to know everything about a language, the best thing you can do is toss in a couple of books. If you get one on the grammar and a dictionary together, then you can make yourself a fine Language Learner potion.”

“Okay, so what does that have to do with Zecora?” Fluttershy asked.

Meadowbrook huffed. “‘Cause any potion maker worth her salt knows, for that potion, you need a regular dictionary. If you use some other kind of dictionary, like for example a rhyming dictionary.” She gestured to Zecora, who was gritting her teeth but blushing at the same time. Fluttershy couldn’t help but bring a hoof to the mouth of her Discord Healer’s mask. The mask itself had morphed into an expression of shock.

“Zecora, why didn’t you ever…”

“Such a mistake of my past has no bearing on the present, except perhaps causing me to look at you with discontent. These insults I shall no longer tolerate. A duel’s challenge I lay, just name the date.”

“What!? A duel? Now, Zecora, Meadowbrook, surely there is a better way for you to—” Suddenly, Fluttershy found her words weren’t able to escape from her mask. She lifted a hoof to it and could feel that the mask’s lips had zipped themselves shut. At the same time, she felt a claw on her shoulder. Discord bent down beside her, a bit of a devilish grin on his lips.

“Wait, Fluttershy,” he whispered. “Let’s let this play out.”

Discord then slithered through the air away from her, raising his voice to normal tone to get Zecora and Meadowbrook's attention. “Oh, a potion duel. It’s been ages since I’ve seen a good one… mostly because I’ve never seen one. That makes this all the more exciting! If you two wouldn’t mind, I’d love to lend my phenomenal, chaotic-power to make your duel something truly spectacular.”

Discord quickly slipped up by Meadowbrook, holding her shoulder with a paw. “Surely Equestria needs to know which potion maker's brews are best. Whose potion packs the most powerful punch.”

A second copy of Discord appeared next to Zecora, holding her shoulder in a similar fashion. “Which elixir is essentially excellent. Whose tonic is tops.”

“What do you say, mares?” the two Discord clones said in unison. “Let’s make sure there isn’t any doubt who’s the best potion maker after this.”

Zecora and Meadowbrook glared at one another a few seconds, but then firmly nodded their heads. Discord smiled, chuckling to himself as he snapped a paw, his two clones becoming the one and only Discord. “Tomorrow, noon, in Ponyville. I’ll handle all the preparations. And we’ll be sure to have a few witnesses. Yes, just a few… dozen… hundred… thousand. Oh yes, for such a once in a lifetime rumble of remedies, there must be an audience, judges, and a snappily dressed announcer.

“Oh, this will be such fun!” Discord said before snapping his paw and vanishing from the hut.