//------------------------------//
// Episode 13: Alchemy 101 
// Story: Thunder and Magic: Season 1 
// by Rapane443 
//------------------------------//

Darklo sat idly on a chair, kicking his hooves back on the desk while rereading his notes from the Clover Memory Book. Meanwhile, Spike sat next to him and revised the notes Darklo had passed to him, correcting and adding things as he saw fit. "Hm, you sure they can handle this Darklo?" The dragon turned to face the colt as he set down his book. "I mean no offence to your friends, but they don't seem like the most patient ponies, especially when learning."

"Huh?" Darklo readjusted his sitting position while attempting to understand Spike's concerns. "Don't worry Spike, I'm pretty sure they can pull it off. Besides, I was able to teach Bloom so how hard can Scoots and Belle be?" Spike shrugged and returned to revising the notes diligently. "Trust me bro. This day will be just fine, I've got you to back me up after all, Spike 'the Great and Glorious Assistant'." A quick grin from Darklo seemed to ease the lizard's thoughts if the innocent smile mean anything, as Spike checked the clock on the bark of the library and placed the notes into his bag.

"Heh, I guess I'm pretty great," Spike mimicked pridefully, "though I don't see why you need me. I can't do the stuff you do."

"Exactly!" Darklo got off the chair and booped Spike on the nose, baffling the little dragon.

"W-What?"

"It's BECAUSE you can't that will make you perfect to help me. I know you've been reading the transcripts in my book for a while now, so maybe a different perspective on my style will work better for them. Hell, it was my lack of insight on it that hindered Bloom for a while so I can't solely rely on myself. I'm no teacher after all, I'm a learner and who better to help coach me than a guy whose been with Twilight for so long?"

Spike took a second to ponder what Darklo had just said, Me? A teacher? Can I really do that, I haven't been much help these days so how?... His thoughts were overtaken by a wave of anxiety until he looked back at Darklo who walked to the front door. Ugh, snap out of it Spike! Darklo trusts that you got this and he hasn't been wrong yet, so why stay on the side lines again?"

Spike's face calmed himself until he felt purely resolute and walked beside Darklo who was talking to somepony. Somepony he knew very well (Maybe a little too well). Rarity.

"I'm so sorry the shipment took so long, I just had so many orders and the time I had to recover after Sweetiebelle's little mishap was too much to focus on your request."

"Oh, that's alright Rarity!" Darklo nodded sympathetically, his formal smile never leaving him. "As long as it was done before the Grand Galloping Gala, I don't care how long it took." Spike scratched his scales in confusion while he looked at the finely wrapped gift, adorned in a blue ribbon which floated into the house and onto the desk.

"What's in it?" Spike questioned, resulting in the ponies glancing back at him.

"Oh nothing Spikey-wikey, I'm just repaying the favour for Darklo, nothing more."

Spike's eyes became hearts at the nickname, but Darklo didn't feel the same way as his fur shivered. Uggh, that sounds like something a doting grandma would say, how he can interpret that as a charming pet name, I will never know. In fact, how does that even work? Wait, if I were to like somepony as well, would that be bestiality or- Okay! I think I'm done thinking about this. "Y-Yeah, it's just some nice clothes for the Gala. You'll see them soon."

"Anyway Darklo, I hope you have a wonderful evening with the girls. I know Sweetiebelle is," Rarity cooed as if she knew something more, "if I know my sister, she should be here right about-"

"Sorry I'm late!" And the older sister was right on the marble as a snow coated filly ran towards them. "Me and the girls were just doing some finishing touches on our new meeting spot."

"Meeting spot?" Darklo asked, rubbing the back oh his head in thought. "But we never made a meeting spot, at least when we became friends and all."

"Hehe, that's because it was a surprise! You gotta see it, Applebloom spent hours on it." Sweetiebelle innocently grinned as she held Darklo by the hoof and guided him to the forest. Spike just watched their figures get smaller and smaller, completely zoned out of the situation until Rarity tapped him on the shoulders.

"Make sure the girls don't go too crazy alright?"

"O-Oh! Of course Rarity. See you around!" And so, the anxious dragon sped after the pair like his legs were wheels. meanwhile, the fashionista nodded to herself and wandered inside the library.

"Oh Twilight, the boys are gone now. Ready for our girls night out?"

"Just a minute!"





"Belle, you don't HAVE to drag me over. I got 4 hooves for that."

"Oh sorry about that. I'm just really excited." She finally realised her mistake and hastily let go of his hoof, smiling awkwardly as Spike caught up with them and tripped from the excessive running. "Now look alive, our Cutie Mark Crusading Clubhouse!" Spike and Darklo followed the direction of her giddy gaze and the two had to admit that it was worth the surprise. 

There they saw a small wooden house etched into the bark of an apple tree: there was shudders, a door, a fence around the base of it. The normal stuff with the exception of a few loose nails around the more difficult spots. Though, what caught Darklo's eyes most of all was the staircase, as it was made out of solid earth and the steps looked like they could fold back into itself. Most likely a special touch from Applebloom.

Spike's jaw eventually closed itself as he picked himself up from the ground and clapped his hands. "Wow, this looks amazing. Right Darklo?"

"Agreed. The place looks like an adult made it, but who better to blow expectations out the water than Bloom?"

"Ah'm glad ya like it Darklo." Applebloom said, walking out of the clubhouse door and waving at them from above. She then stuck a sticky note on the edge of the stairs poured earth pony magic into it, forcing the steps to respond and fold inwards, making a slide. Spike watched in awe as she drifted along the slide and Scootaloo followed her down on her scooter, both halting near them while the stairs reverted to their original position.

"A retractable staircase eh? That's pretty smart Bloom, and I love what you've made. It's amazing!"

"Ehehe, aw shucks Ah just wanted to impress ya. It's not a big deal."

"Well, consider me impressed."

Spike had a sudden feeling of deja vu while watching the pair talk, not like he'd seen this before, but more like the dragon had been in their shoes. However, he couldn't put his finger on it so he decided to shrug it off and cough faintly. "Well, let's not keep ourselves waiting, should I set everything up in the club house?"

"Yeah, that will be great Spike. And he's right, best get this session started." Darklo followed Spike into the clubhouse as the Crusaders looked to each other.

"So Applebloom, you've been through this before. What kind of stuff do you think he had planned for us?" Sweetiebelle questioned, which led the apple filly to look to the sky.

"My guess, we are going to be startin' with usin' fire runes and then work our way through the rest one by one. That's what he did with me."

"Alright! This is going to be awesome." Scootaloo cheered as they joined Darklo into the clubhouse.





"Uhm, what is this?" Scootaloos face had turned from excitement to a hint of boredom when he cast his gaze on the chalkboard that Spike set up. It had a long list of symbols and annotations around them and the title at the top read 'General Alchemy'. "I thought we'd be learning how to use runic magic, not medicine."

"Don't let the title fool you Scoots. I'm just paraphrasing what the ancient civilisation wrote. They call the runic arts alchemy, so I will as well. It's that simple."

"But aren't we here to learn one sign at a time?" Applebloom tilted her head, her mind jumbled at the sheer amount of information on the chalk board. "Cause there's no way we are gonna remember all that, as much as Miss Cheerilee wants us to."

Spike decided to calm to waters by jumping onto the podium that Darklo leaned on. "Oh Darklo isn't going to teach you that just yet."

"What?!" The Crusaders suddenly erupted.

"But you promised we could try it."

"Yeah, you did it for Applebloom so why not us?"

"Not gonna lie Darklo, but that's kinda cruel."

"Please, please settle down, I have a valid reason for this." Darklo tilted his head to the side, revealing his awkward smile to the fillies. "Look, I'm not going to get you all to practice just yet. Not because I don't believe you can do it; we have evidence against that." Darklo winked at Applebloom while he continued. "But because I realise that I went too far with my tutoring the first time. Bloom may have learnt earth alchemy, but that was mainly through trial and error and my lack of insight on the general portions of it. So Spike and I have agreed that we should start off the session by laying out the fundamentals before we go into the practical parts."

"Twilight always said to me that nopony can hope to learn if they take a test before reading the content, and I say that  notion works well with any kind of education."

"Well said Spike. So do you all understand?"

Applebloom nodded immediately and Sweetiebelle followed, but Scootaloo didn't budge. "If we get this basic stuff done right now, can we get to the cool stuff next time?"

"Of course. You have my word."

Scootaloo shifted her gaze from Darklo and Spike to the long annotations on the chalkboard before sighing and returning to her usual self. "Well, lets ace this already!"

"That's the spirit! I knew you would all be ready for the challenge." Darklo beamed at them while Spike walked towards the board and flipped it to the other side, which was a lot more simple than the nonsense behind it, adorning the title of 'Alchemy 101'. The fillies stared at the board, dumbfounded while the colt maintained a goofy grin. "Sorry for the rouse, I just had to be sure you were all serious about this. Don't worry, this shouldn't take too long, so may I bring your attention to the board. These are the 20 signs that had been documented!" 


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Alchemy 101

Alchemy/Modern Translation=Elemental Compound
Ignis=Fire
Aer=Air
Terra=Earth
Aqua=Water
Ianue/Door=Mercury
Glacio/Ice=Salt
Custodio/Guard=Gold
Explico/Unravel=Silver
Pondus/Weight=Platinum
Vocate/Summon=Antimony
Caelum/Heaven=Magnesium
Inane/Void=Phosphorus
Transfiguro/Transfigure=Arsenic
Herba/Plant=Tin
Amplificare/Amplify=Copper
Evanesco/Vanish=Sulphur
Contrarium/Opposite=Lead
Telum/Weapon=Iron
Sano/Heal=Potash

Creo/Life=The Philosopher's Stone


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And the oblivious colt had already lost his students as they blankly skimmed writing and symbols drawn on the board. "I'd like you all to note this information down and take a few minutes each day to revise them. Some translations are explanatory with the signs, but it will be necessary to understand the kind of power you wish to project."

Hesitantly, the Crusaders took out a sheet of paper and wrote them down. While he waited for them, Darklo also caught Spike doing the same thing.Heh, I knew it. Let's see what you got buddy! After all eyes were back on him, he smiled and took an eraser in his magic and wiped it all away, prompting Scootaloo to raise her hoof.

"Got a question, Scoots?"

"Yeah, uhm, could you explain a few of those? There's just a few that aren't very explanatory." Scootaloo drew a few circles around the signs in question with her mouth and showed it to Darklo. "Like Caelum and Inane. What do they do?"

"Oh right. I guess those ones aren't too easy to imagine." Darklo nodded to himself and took Scootaloo's paper, pointing to the symbols they were assigned to. "Caelum, known as Heaven through translation, is a sign of benevolence which gifts the casters allies with a boost in their abilities. I say it's one of kinder forms of alchemy, second to Sano and Amplificare." Darklo's smile that he firmly held at the time suddenly turned sour as his hoof lowered to the sign below it. "But Inane is like the brother to Caelum. Closely related, but opposites in every way. It allows the caster to drain the energy of their victims, granting them a temporary, but extraordinary boost."

Applebloom and Sweetiebelle added that to their paper as Darklo handed Scootaloos back with a serious expression. "If I had to guess, this sign is by far the most cruel and dangerous one of them all. The ancient civilisation must have confused magic for energy just as I had, and you all know what can happen if a creature is drained of all its magic." Every creature in the room shuddered at the thought while Darklo internally grimaced. He knew well enough that the words he spoke didn't come from foolish theory. He saw the consequences a practitioner of that sign could do, and they were not pretty.God, bless those poor souls. Just imagining those pale boney bodies is enough for me... Can't believe I had to clean up Ira's vomit after that too. Thanks a lot Ira!

Darklo shook himself out of his thoughts when he noticed Spike glancing at him and the board. "Oh right, I'm getting off track. Lets move on." The colt walked to the board and drew three arrows that connected to each other in a circle. "Now, Bloom already knows this so I'm going to make this a little fun for the rest of you. Here I've made a positive feedback loop where-" Sweetiebelle raised her hoof immediately. "Yeah?"

"What a positive feedback loop?"

Darklo hoofpalmed, it felt like the 'hypothalamus' conversation all over again and frankly, the kid was not having it, wondering bleakly if their education was worse or his was just too prestigious. Probably the latter. Luckily, Spike picked up on his brothers furrowed brow and spike in his stead.

"It's a cycle of factors that continue to snowball, or increase. Like how a virus can infect a cell and reproduce, making more virus' to infect more cells."

"Well put, brother." Darklo's patient demeanour returned as things were put back into place and coughed into his hoof and directed it to the loop on the board. "As Spike correctly stated, this loop uses multiple factors that will continue to increase and it is primary that you know this, since the 3 factors that I shall mention are very important if you want to get better at alchemy. Finally, the fillies looked like they were being attentive as their kept their gaze on the board. "I'll start it off with a simple one." Darklo wrote down 'Mind' on the top of the circle. "Would any of you like to tell me why the mind is a necessary starting point?"

Applebloom had put her hand up while the rest had their hooves on their chins in thought. "Yes Bloom?"

"'Cause ya can't do something from within if ya can't understand what you're doin'"

"Correct." The colt smiled proudly at his first ever student. "All beings that have the gift of reason and intellect are capable of using alchemy. Though, that doesn't mean it's easy. Alchemy DOES require a good understanding of the world around themselves so I hope y'all like studying." Darklo grinned widely, clearly enjoying Scootaloos groans of frustration. Anyway, would anypony else, besides Bloom, want to guess the next one?"

No pony spoke for a few seconds, prompting the colt to sigh knowingly. "Alright then, think of it like this. The mind of alchemy is like a forge-pony building a sword as that forge-pony knows how to make the weapon and therefore, can perform it. If I say that the sword is the second factor in that analogy, what is the second factor for this?" Silence filled the room again, but Spike put his claw in the air.

"Oh oh I think I got it! It's magic, right?"

"Heh, well you're probably correct."

"Probably?" Every creature asked in confusion.

"I say that cause the ancient civilisation called it the body. But, I feel like that isn't too necessary as magic is the main factor that allows one to wield alchemy."

"Wait, so all them exercises ya made me do was for nothin'" Applebloom pouted her cheeks, remembering the long runs Darklo coached her into on their first few lessons.

"Hey now, I didn't say strengthening your body wasn't effective. Earth pony magic comes from your physical capabilities, after all. It's just focusing on that wont help for every creature. Now where was I?"

"Magic." Spike commented.

"Right... so magic can help one put those thoughts into action and fire out the desired sign."

"But how would other creatures train their magic if they can't use it like unicorns?" Sweetiebelle questioned.

"Glad you asked. Every creature, from what I've seen, has some sort of role in the world that connects to their magic. Earth ponies with their strength, pegasi with their flight, unicorns with their natural magical affinity, so on and so forth."

"W-what about dragons?" Spike's voice crackled a little, which got the colt's attention as he looked at him hopefully.

"I think dragons would be on the same boat as unicorns due to their affinity with fire magic." Darklo smiled and patted his little brothers head. "So don't worry 'bout that bro."

"But... what about me?" Scootaloo asked worriedly, everypony now looking at her lowered gaze. "I can't even fly, I mean just look at these wings!" To make her point, she flapped them like a humming bird, which only pulled her a few centimeters off the ground before landing again. "Did you really do all this just to tell me it's impossible?"

"No. No I did not." Darklo shook his head firmly as he watched Sweetiebelle and Applebloom put their hooves on their friends back in comfort. "Although I admit, training your magic will be difficult, you still have magic which will be enough to make it work. A forge-pony can make a sword out of wood and rope if they are cunning enough, so you too can use your magic to perform alchemy with enough tutoring. I promise."

At last, Darklo could see the light spark from the orange filly's eyes and a smile shaped her lips. "R-really?"

"Really. I'll gouge my left eye if I'm wrong!"

"..."

That comment left every creature scrambling in a panic, spouted words like, 'don't do that' and 'you're not serious right' which prompted the colt to chuckle. "Come on, you ever heard of a joke?" No creature gave him a response, unless violence counted as one, since Darklo felt a light jab bruise his left shoulder.

"Don't joke around makin' promises like that! We trust ya word already, so none of that horse radish. Ya hear?" Applebloom gave the colt a firm look which actually made him avert his gaze.

"Uh, sure thing. Sorry."

"Apology accepted." She reverted back to her innocent visage and returned to her seat near the Crusaders, obviously proud of herself. 

Man, and I thought the puppy dog eyes were deadly... The colt thought with a sweat as he coughed into his hoof and reset the flow of the lesson. "So now, can anyone figure out the last one? Think carefully now, as it's not as obvious as the others." Applebloom raised her hoof again, but was shut down by the colt. "I know you know it Bloom, let your friends exercise their brains for a moment." The filly nodded in compliance while the rest pondered the answer. Eventually, Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo nodded at each other and spoke in sync.

"The soul!" Darklo's eyes shot open in amazement, blinking vacantly before writing it down on the board.

"Huh, yeah you're both right. Well done. Maybe these lessons wont be as hard as I thought." The colt grinned with pride as he looked back at them, quills at the ready. "The soul is, in fact, the final piece of the puzzle, as it's a semblance of your mentality and will. Because of it, you're able to endure and survive the back lash that alchemy can bring.  To put this all in full circle, the forge-pony is the mind, the sword is the magic and the soul is the durability of the sword. One to know it, the other to guide it, and the last to endure it. If you are able to use these three factors in tandem, then using alchemy should theoretically be as simple as breathing, and will only become more potent as you grow along side it."

Every creature nodded in understanding. However, Sweetiebelle stood up and scratched her cotton candy mane. "But there were times where you couldn't use alchemy yourself. Does that mean losing just one factor shuts you off from alchemy?"

"Unfortunately yes. Back when I had my magic surge, I had completely ran out of magic which closed my alchemic abilities and things like doubt, shame or cowardice have the same effect. So be sure to keep a mental note on your health when using them."

Darklo kept his mouth shut for a few minutes as he watched the Crusaders talk to each other, debating and re-correcting any mistakes in their notes. Meanwhile, Spike skimmed through his notes and hopped onto Darklos back, putting the paper in front of his vision. "Wait, but what about the Philosophers Stone? You said there was 20 signs, but there is 21 if you count them all." The statement snapped the fillies into attention as they mentally counted the signs and raised many eyebrows at it.

Dammit, they really gonna make me spill it all in one lesson eh? Darklo sighed and erased the stuff on the board, replacing it with the Philospher Stones sign. "Well, I was gonna get to this for next time, but if you all insist... sit back down cause I have a story to tell." The colt left the pedestal and sat with them in a circle.

"What kind of story?" Applebloom asked.

"An origin story of alchemy. Though a bit of it will require some benefit of the doubt, so keep that in mind." But although he looked relatively calm, Darklo was mentally scrambling for ideas. He may had made a schedule for what he was going to teach, but he was planning on fabricating a more ponified explanation after he finished the first lesson. But now, he had to make it up on the fly. Or maybe I can sprinkle some half truths. It's not like they will find ancient information that'll discredit me so... "Okay, so have any of you thought of how the universe was made?"

"Uh not really," Scootaloo replied, "we have the big bang to answer that."

"Well, lets say the ponies of old speculated that it was due to an almighty God."

"But is there even evidence for that?" Spike studiously claimed.

"Of course not," Darklo answers, despite the irony of his words, "but in their defence, pre-equestria had nothing BUT speculation about the origins of the universe. But let's imagine there was a God and long ago, they created the universe. Once they were finished, God decided to make life on Equus, building 10 mares and 10 stallions from a particular element for each one. Ignis was built with fire, Custodio was built with gold, so on and so forth. God then named them after the symbolic meaning of their elements, and transformed the desolate wasteland into a nature-filled paradise with a variety of creatures to inhabit it. It was perfect.

"However, God wished for the ponies to steward the world without his interference and to do that, he entrusted them with the Philosophers Stone. A powerful artefact that granted them control over life, or Creo in old translation. Everything was peaceful until Inane, in an act of defiance against their immortal lives, decided to do the unthinkable and fused the Philosopher's Stone into herself, gaining all of the abilities alchemy could bring. changing God's creations into her design. After that, the 19 ponies of God joined forces to defeat her and eventually won with the help of Inanes brother, Caelum. But Inane did what she set out to do and stripped ponies of their perfect existence, rendering them mortal and limited. They say that it was because of her decision to stray from God that resulted in the Lord's inaction, allowing generations and generations to pass as they intended. And that is how they think alchemy came to be... what do you think?"

Frankly, Darklo had expected the unhinged jaws and raised eyebrows which was the right assumption because every creature shook their heads in disbelief. "Yeah, that makes no sense at all. So they thought every pony was related to each other? Shouldn't that have led to complications down the road?" Spike commented.

"And if a Philosopher's Stone really existed, there would be records of it. I mean, the power to control life itself? Nopony would pass up on discovering it!" Scootaloo criticised.

"Plus, God sounds so cruel. They wanted to give them a perfect existence and didn't help them?" Applebloom murmured.

He wasn't gonna lie that they had good points. In fact, he had similar criticisms, passing them off as metaphorical stories to help the old understand the mystical power that was alchemy. Though, he literally witnessed the man upstairs so he had no choice but to take it at face value, despite the flaws. Drats, why didn't I ask God about the begining the Earth while I was there? Oh right, existential panic over the afterlife and all.

"Okay, I get it. The story has it's flaws, but it was enough to satisfy the old civilisation before the formation of the Alicorn diararchy. And hey, isn't it more fulfilling to believe we were here for a purpose rather than not?" The question did rattle a few brains among the circle but they eventually smiled in understanding. "Well then, I guess for the first time in this club house, I say that this session is abjured! You all may all go about your business. See you all next Sunday!"

And with that, everypony left the place one at a time. Sweetiebelle and Applebloom walked out while rereading her notes, intrigue written on their faces while Scootaloo zipped past them with haste and rode her scooter out of sight. At last, it was just Darklo and Spike left which prompted the dragon to hop on his back.

"Shall we get going? Cause man that lesson made me hungry."

"Heh, sure thing Spike. I could use a good glass of water, my throat is a little sore." Darklo honestly answered as they followed them out. "Say, you thinking about giving alchemy a shot now? You definitely have the talent for it."

"You think so?" The colt couldn't see the dragons face, but the rhythmic bouncing of his feet gave him an idea of his excitement.

"Totally. I should be fine with teaching now that the general stuff is out the way so as long as your back there every Sunday evening, I'll happily help you out."

"Yeah, I'd like that. You're a really awesome colt, Darklo." 

For some reason, Darklos stomach tensed. He had a feeling why, but he didn't want to admit it. Luna made it clear to him about who he is and there is no place in time, past nor future, that should hold him back.

"Thanks bro."

Glad to have you around