It had only been a few days after he started to conduct his research alongside that of Moondancer, but in that time, Albedo and the unicorn had made some significant progress. In the tests that were conducted after they finished construction of the Elemental Crucible, the two of them had made a fascinating discovery with regards to the energy that the construct was storing and collecting. From what they could tell, the magic that resonated from the seed of harmony was one that did not remain dormant even after deactivating the Crucible. Instead, it continued to remain active and affect its surroundings, much to their surprise.
On the second day, Moondancer decided that in order to determine how it was best to contain the energy inside, they needed to determine two things. First, how much of an effect the seed’s magic had on their surroundings and second, what effects would happen if something new was introduced, such as the elemental energy from Visions. If they could determine these two variables, then it would help them piece together how to properly contain the necessary energy. After all, the last thing that either of them would’ve wanted was to have an accident on their hands much like the one that brought Albedo and Klee to Equestria in the first place.
For the first test, it was conducted using a series of potted plants that Albedo had the Young Six bring from the school of friendship’s garden. Of course, the plants that he asked for were a bit specific. The first set were plants that had only been planted just a week ago, while another set contained flora that had been growing over the last few weeks. The reason for this was because the alchemist had a theory he wanted to test, but the subjects for said test had to meet particular specifications.
“Is everything in place?”
“It is, Mr. Albedo,” Moondancer replied back, “Preparations have just finished, so we’re waiting to get started.”
Of course, it wasn’t just the two of them that were there today. For both Moondancer and Albedo happened to get a pair of surprise visitors before the two of them could begin tests. Those two being Twilight and her friends Applejack and Fluttershy. The princess of friendship had planned to come over to check and see how everything was going already, though her friends wanted to make sure the two of them were safe. After all, doing anything in the Everfree Forest always found a way to attract attention from the locals.
“So, what exactly are ya tryin’ to figure out here if ya don’t mind me askin’?” Applejack spoke up.
“Well, after yesterday’s assessment, we’re trying to see the kind of effects that this kind of magic happens to have on living things,” the unicorn turned around to answer her question, “Mr. Albedo thought that the easiest way we could figure it out was to use plants.”
“And t-this came from the tree?” Fluttershy asked as she looked at Twilight, only for the Alicorn to nod her head. “The same tree with the elements?”
“It would be unwise to take any chances and use a source of power without knowing its full extent,” Albedo remarked, “Like with agriculture, it is possible that the nature of the seed can change depending on its conditions.”
“Like if something new is introduced?” Twilight asked.
“That would be a later test,” the alchemist replied as he glanced over at the Crucible briefly, “For now, we just want to see how it is on its own without any additional influence.”
Moments after saying that, Albedo and Moondancer turned on the Crucible as the construct roared to life. The magical energy that was stored inside began to slowly build back up and release outward as the shockwave hit the plants that were in place. Yet, despite the way that everything was set up and all the planning that was put into place, something unexpected happened. Something that the alchemist and the unicorn did not expect at all.
Most of the plants did not undergo any particular changes at all… Except for two. The first one was one of the newly potted plants, where it had grown from that of a seedling to a blooming flower in the span of five minutes. The second plant also experienced a substantial boost in growth as well, but after a while, it began to wither and crumble away into dust. This in turn surprised Albedo and had the alchemist stop the experiment immediately as the Crucible was powered down.
“That was… not what I had expected,” he admitted honestly, before looking over to Moondancer, “Who was the one that placed those two?”
“I believe those were the ones that Sandbar brought,” the unicorn replied, before she began to ponder something in her head. “I would be surprised… but-”
“But what exactly?” Applejack now asked.
“Well, I was thinking that perhaps the reason why this happened the way that it did was because of how earth pony magic works,” Moondancer replied back, “We had Sandbar and his friends bring a pair of plants each that they planted themselves. Since earth pony magic has them be more attuned to the land under their hooves, I would think that’s the reason why this… well, happened the way that it did.”
“That sounds plausible,” Twilight added, “But we can’t know for sure unless-” At that point, that was when the alicorn noticed something. Albedo was going back over to where the plants had been set and moving them off to the side, before getting out his sword. “Albedo? What are you-?”
Before she could finish, Albedo had jammed his blade in between the crevice of two blocks that were on the floor, before pulling them off and moving them to the side. The alchemist did this a few more times, before breaking up the ground that was underneath so that it wasn’t stiff. As he finished, the chalk pince then looked back at the alicorn. “I might have an idea for a follow up test to conduct. Though, for it, I might need your friend's help.”
That simple response had Applejack and Fluttershy look back at one another, before the two of them looked back at Albedo with the same question on their minds. “Our help? How?”
As the question was asked, that was when Albedo took out some chalk from inside his coat and drew three symbols on the ground. Each one of the symbols being the cutie marks of Applejack, Fluttershy and Moondancer. “If we want to be certain that Earth Pony Magic is the contributing factor of what just happened, perhaps we should conduct a similar test? We’ll have each one of you plant a seed and then, if the same results happen again, we can safely say that Moondancer’s theory is correct. Only thing is, we’ll need some seeds and water to do this properly.”
“U-um, I h-happen to have some, i-if that’s okay with y-you,” Fluttershy tried to speak up, before pulling out a small packet of what looked to be carrot seeds out of her saddlebag.
“That… can work,” the chalk prince replied, before stepping out of the way, “Only thing that we’re missing is water-” As he looked back towards Moondancer and the others, that was when Twilight had teleported out of the room, before returning a few seconds later with a full watering can. “Well, I stand corrected. It seems that we have everything we need for this test to work.”
“So, how are we doing this exactly?” Applejack asked as she looked towards the alchemist, “Just planting a seed and seeing what happens?”
“For the most part, yes. Nothing too complex, I hope.”
Shortly after saying that, Applejack and the others got to work on planting the seeds that Fluttershy had and watering them properly. As they did, Albedo watched to see if there were any differences between the three of them that he might notice. Though, aside from Moondancer using some levitation magic to hold the watering can and Fluttershy trying to talk to the ground like it was a small animal, there didn’t seem to be anything noticeable. For a moment, he thought he saw something from where Applejack stood, but it was a bit difficult for him to make out what it was.
Once everything was prepared for the second experiment, all three of the Equestrians returned to where Twilight stood behind the Crucible as Albedo walked over to join them. “Alright, everything’s in place. Let’s begin.”
As the alchemist extended his left arm forward, the Elemental Crucible roared back to life as the magic from inside was released the same way as before. However, as the magical energy seeped into the soil of the improvised garden that was made, something strange began to take root. Not only was Applejack’s plant the first one to rise up from the ground and grow compared to the others, but as it did, what looked to be a symbol was glowing on the ground. A green heart with petals around the exterior. It was something that the earth pony was unfamiliar with… but one that Albedo recognized right away.
“Uh, can somepony please explain what the hay that is?” Applejack now asked, who was just as puzzled as some of her friends.
“That… is the symbol of Dendro,” the alchemist answered, “Back where I’m from, it represents the element responsible for nature and plant life across Teyvat.”
“Okay, but why is it doin’ that?” the earth pony then asked, “Ah just planted that seed like how ah’d normally would plant crops back at the farm. How is this different compared to that?”
“Maybe the Crucible sees them as the same thing?” That had everybody look back towards Moondancer now as the unicorn begin to clarify a bit on her statement, “I mean, from how Mr. Albedo described this… dendro and what we talked about with earth pony magic, there are some similarities between the two.”
“T-that kind of makes sense,” Fluttershy added.
Around this point, Twilight chose to speak up as she looked back at Albedo and Moondancer, “All surprises aside though, has this… helped with your research at all?”
“To an extent, it actually does. This helped us confirm some of the effects of the seed’s magic to its surroundings as well as reactions when new elements are introduced.” At this point though, that was when the alchemist folded his arms, “However, it doesn’t mean that we’re done just yet. Despite our findings here, it doesn’t help us narrow down what would be the best way to narrow down how to contain the seed’s magic so the Crucible doesn’t end up backfiring on us. The only way to know for sure would be to test this with other elements and possible elemental reactions.”
As he pondered this, a new question formed in his mind as the alchemist looked back to Twilight. Although he personally was unsure about whether or not this was a good idea, it was the only way for this to actually make any progress and try to get them closer to home. Because many of the elemental reactions he knew required Pyro as one of the elements. And there was only one person he knew with a Pyro vision that could help him right now.
“Would you happen to know where Klee is, Twilight?”