The Cutie Alchemist

by Visharo

Starswirl the Bearded

Starswirl the Bearded, the only sentient lifeform on Equus. His form, a biped with a horn sticking out of his forehead. His skin, a particular grey, and his wavy two-toned hair and beard, sporting white and gray as the color scheme. His pale blue eyes held much wisdom from his uninteresting long life, and today was like every other.

Starswirl woke up, made himself a morning meal from plants grown out back, and when he finished it, he packed up several snacks and a midday meal in his trusty pack made out of sturdy leaves and silk from silk worms. For decades he has done this, and the movements were well practiced. Once the pack was filled, Starswirl slung it over his shoulder, picked out a nice walking stick from his large collection, and headed out the door.

This ritual was started about 50 moons ago, when Starswirl had enough of doing nothing in his little hut atop a gorgeous hill. He made it his mission to go out and find something new every trip; only recently has this goal made him search further and further. Any further and Starswirl might have to move, not that it bothers him, there is nothing for him to do. The diversity in lifeforms was not many, only in this particular region at least, for Starswirl had only encountered birds and deers and the occasional bee.

As he trudged along, taking a route he hadn't taken in a while, he thought of one of his past times. Several moons ago, he decided to go birdwatching and record as many as he could. Using a reddish rock that leaves a line wherever he pressed and paper he made from a plant, he was able to record 36 different birds that live in the area.

Starswirl was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly heard a clink. He looked down at his feet and saw something shiny next to his walking stick. Taking a few steps back, he crouched and peered at the mysterious object. It being mostly covered by large grass, he pushed it to a more suitable location using his stick. There have been several incidents in the past that ended badly because of Starswirl's lack of knowledge; one of these encounters was a hungry boar.

Now that the object was in clear view, Starswirl was able to look at it without hinderance. It's circular and wide, one of its ends is completely open, and Starswirl had the sense that something could be put inside. The material was an interesting one; it was completely clear; however he could see it and the sun reflected off of it.

After a couple of more whacks, prodding, and staring, Starswirl deduced that nothing bad would happen if he were to pick it up, and pick it up he did. It felt cold and smooth and this made Starswirl even more curious. He decided to head back home, considering this curious object as something new. So, stuffing it in his bag, he turned around and headed back.

He stopped halfway to sit on a beautiful peak for his midday meal. The scenery was truly spectacular, trees of different colors, all ranging from vibrant pink to shimmering green. In the distance, the glint of reflected sunlight on a large surface of water. Starswirl went there once, his curiosity overwhelmed him one day, and it took three nights to reach the bank, and what a sight rewarded him.

After finishing his delicious Bittergreen Leaf Salad, Starswirl packed up his gear once more and headed home. It didn't take any longer than 200 countings to finally see his hut. His home was made out of fallen branches and the holes were patched with mud, while the roof was covered in large Flatleaves, protecting him against the elements.

Starswirl pulled over a large flat rock that he found at the foot of a mountain and placed the curious object on top. Sitting down on another rock, padded with leaves and fallen feathers, Starswirl peered at the curious object. It took several countings for him to come up with a name, and once it popped into his thoughts, it was like lightning. Starswirl had always prided himself on his ability to come up with names for things, be it fauna or floral. He ultimately decided that this object before him was a cup and the material was glass. Since there is nobody else to question him, it became so.

Feeling pleased with himself, Starswirl picked up the cup with his calloused hands and twirled it in his grip, looking at it at different angles. Then he decided to lift it towards the sun, see if it could shine through the glass, and Starswirl was surprised to see that it did. However, something peculiar happened; the longer he held the cup up, the more it filled up.

It truly was a marvel and he decided to see what would happen if it he kept it up till it filled up. As he watched, it seemed like the sun's rays were gathering inside the cup, pooling into a pure white mess. Starswirl tilted his head when suddenly, blotches of pink started to show up within the white.

A few more countings later, the whole glass cup was filled with the white and pink liquid. Starswirl kept it up higher, wondering if it would spill over, but no matter how long he held it up, no such thing happened. Intrigued, Starswirl placed the cup back down and looked at the concoction closer. Before his very eyes, the whole thing started glowing, and a picture, he couldn't describe it any better, started to appear. Starswirl hastened backwards, frightened of what might happen.

Starswirl lost all sense of time, and before long, the picture was fully formed and he crept on all fours, to see it at a closer angle. However, he was peering over his stone table and poised to jump away, just in case something would happen. The picture depicted on the glowing glass was a stylized sun.

Then the whole cup started to shake, scaring Starswirl so bad that he fell on his rump, letting out an interesting noise. On normal circumstances, he would stop and would try to make that noise again, but these aren't normal circumstances. He quickly got up and didn't bother with the dirt specks on his skin and scrambled away. Then, the shaking stopped, followed by a bright white flash. Starswirl waited for a couple of countings, then cautiously peered over the corner of his hut.

There, atop his stone table, stood a very confused...being. Upon closer inspection, Starswirl determined that the look in the new being's eyes held sentience. Overjoyed and terrified at the same time, Starswirl made his approach carefully. The being turned its head and saw him. Starswirl immediately stiffened at the sudden gaze that held intelligence. Then the being smiled.

"Hi! My name is Celestia! What's yours?"

Far away, over the water and through the trees, the shadows stir. Unbeknownst to all, a second being emerges into the world, eyes aglow.

"So, magic has finally returned."