//------------------------------// // 3: Not... Today // Story: A Different Alchemy // by Acron //------------------------------// Shirei sunk her fangs into the wood, trying the part above the nail for a change. Creepy's plan had a hole in it. A hole at least the size of a changeling fang. Apparently, he had some trick to keep the nail from coming out. Pfft. Yes, the nail, the chain, and the crystal on the other end were all borderline indestructible. But hey, there was really no reason to care. She only needed to make whatever was attached to the chain small enough to fit through her hoof-holes. Despite their magical feeding ability, Changelings weren't bad at chewing. Shirei's mouth was recovering nicely, plus, there was up to half a day of time. Judging from the now severely damaged column – which she had checked to not be structurally important – she'd be done in a fraction of the time. With Creepy underestimating her healing, this moment was her chance. And it might be the only chance she would get. So this was the time to concentrate on grinding down some timber. She bit on something that felt harder than the usual wood. A close look revealed the tip of a little crystal inside, surely the reason she couldn't pull the nail out. Her eyes widened. She went back to the lower side and tore out pieces in a frenzy, targeting the same position, but on the opposite side of the nail. She found the other tip, but only on the very top of the ripped-out area. Heh. That was too small. If she managed to pull the crystal from the wood, it would easily fit through the holes in her leg. The forest's peace – a false peace, as Crimson knew – was broken by erratic sparks and flashes. Mana surged down his body, leaving a burning sensation on his magic-incompatible skin, engulfing him in white fire until it reached the ignition circuit. After activation, he had three and a half seconds to raise the barrier. Not that such a thing would suffice to shield him toward the epicenter; He had erected a protective crystal for that purpose, carefully shaped for this type of impact. The first shock wave struck like lightning. He leaned his head on the ground behind the crystal that would hopefully save his eyes and ears. Blinding light streamed through his closed eyelids. When the main blast rolled through his body, it pushed him over the ground, shaking him off balance as the air resounded in an endless echo of thunder and shattering wood and crystal. He straightened up, keeping his eyes closed and the barrier active, waiting. Scattered sounds returned from a nearby mountain. Counting the blasts, he reaffirmed: everything had triggered correctly. Eyelids carefully drifted open to a thick sea of black amidst flames. The barrier was fading, but as planned, the upper part remained active for a bit longer, blocking any splintered wood raining down on him. When it stopped, he dug up the remaining flask, which he had buried in the protected patch of ground below him, threw it into the center, and ran. He had left his other equipment behind a rock, just outside the affected area. When he reached it, he broke his gallop and turned to observe the devastated patch of forest. Fiery, bluish steam was flowing outwards behind him, covering the ground like a thin layer of fog; any remaining plant in it withered to a dead, brownish color. A burning tree toppled over, crashing into what was now a clearing. He stood and watched as the dust settled. A pillar of smoke rose to the sky. The Realm's Eye was collapsed to a disk, safely placed between his bags; it was quickly picked up and unfolded. Crimson Leaf roared. “Impossible! Insane! Who or what in the burning—” He smacked the device into a different position. The innermost crystal kept glowing, in a glow that was perforated with black spots. As soon as the fog had subsided, he walked back into the new clearing, taking the Realm's Eye along. He reached the central crater, stomping the ground in frustration. The readings were certainly off – they had been unsteady often lately – but there was no doubt. Tainted. Even the World Eaters themselves could not withstand that gas without shielding. It was madness. It was also a mistake. He had planned to just walk off now. The citizens of Ponyville would be able to contain the fire; they might have wondered what happened, but that would have been the end of it. Now, it was a serious problem. The explosion would draw in ponies – ponies that an Eater could possess. And there had to be more to it than that. A simple taint on the landscape couldn't withstand an attack like this. It was being fed, strengthened. “Uh, are you alright, Mister?” His movements were reflexive. In a single moment, he had turned around, broken a tiny crystal in his cloak and activated the circuit to read the reflection. Earth pony. Foal. Three-halves range. Maximally susceptive. “Stay away,” he shouted. “Back off!” He galloped toward her, his mind frantically going through his remaining equipment. At this distance, there was nothing he could knock her out with. Luckily, this foal was smart enough to not ignore him. She stopped and actually walked backwards a little. “Ah heard somethin' explode an' saw the smoke. Ah couldn't help bu' worry somethin' bad happened.” Crimson was panting when he came to a stop in front of a yellow filly. She must have been on the fields; how else did she reach me this quickly? “Nopony was hurt. But you can't go in there. It's… poisonous,” he puffed. “What happened?” Crimson ignored her. She seemed to have gotten the cue at “poisonous” and was keeping her distance. More ponies would arrive any moment, and they'd pester him with too many questions to allow for calm thinking. He was certainly missing something. His readings didn't work like they used to. There was something large, no, something huge he had overlooked, or else this situation would be impossible. With no better idea, he set the Eye's focus to infinity and started scanning the horizon. “Uh, mister?” She walked in a little closer to crimson, which was no problem, as he was already well outside the tainted area. “The Crystal Empire?,” Crimson exclaimed in a disbelieving voice. It just couldn't be. He double-checked the direction. Indeed, the reading appeared to originate precisely from the Lost City's former location. And from there, Eater magic radiated toward him, toward everything. “You know somethin' about it? Ma sis' just wrote she's goin' there, but Ah never heard of it.” Now she had Crimson's attention. “You wouldn't have heard of it. It was shifted out of this realm long ago. Your sister is going there?” He wondered how to make sense of that. “Is she traveling with the Elements of Harmony?” “Ah don't know if they're takin' the Elements along. Nopony tells us such things. Ah'm sorry, but ain't we got somethin' else to worry 'bout here?” She glanced at the smoldering forest beside her, then back at Crimson Leaf. “I mean the ponies, not the circuit. Is your sister traveling with the bearers of the Elements of Harmony?” The filly brightened up at the question. “Sure is! Mah sister Applejack is the Element of Honesty! She an' the other Elements are the bestest of friends!” Calling it brightening up didn't do her expression justice. She was beaming. Crimson let out the breath he'd been holding. These news might not have been all bad. From what he knew, the Elements of Harmony were some sort of strike team serving Celestia. They claimed a remarkably high rate of success; any conflict with their involvement had ended in Celestia's favor. And it wasn't just minor feats like removing a local parasprite infestation. They had purged Nightmare Moon from Luna, which was quite a feat. They had also frozen Discord alive – without a trial, but it wasn't the time to worry about that. The important part was that Celestia was pulling out all the stops to take the Lost City. Not that Crimson considered himself a subject of Celestia's. Anypony would prefer her to the alternative. As the story went, the city had vanished when a particularly ill-minded pony had willfully merged with a World Eater, to crown himself king of the northern highlands. If he was the source of the resistant taint… “Can you stand still for a moment?” Crimson directed the Realm's Eye at the confused-looking filly. He rotated the ring for depth focus, but the image remained a distorted mess. Now he knew why he was having such trouble with the Eye lately. The calibration was off. The Lost City was affecting it, and likely many other things, even at this distance. The filly was gawking at the instrument, neatly standing still. If there was a luck reserve for dealing with foals, Crimson must have used up a season's worth of it. There was the sound of hooves coming closer, but Crimson was really too occupied to look. “Apple Bloom! You can't just run off!” It was a stallion's voice. As it turned out, he was also an earth pony, and he was large. “Perfect timing,” Crimson blurted out. “You're just the pony I need. Could you stand still for a moment? Oh, and don't enter the crater until I checked this, it could be dangerous.” The filly – Apple Bloom, apparently – exchanged a bewildered look with the big red stallion. But they didn't complain or move until the Eye had neatly selected the large pony as a glowing shape on the crystal. Crimson turned it back to the crater and refocused. It still read as tainted, but it was uninfectious for at least a day, probably receding if it weren't for the Crystal Empire's support. Damn. Crimson, you fool. All the outer patches had never been expansive. He had just fired an enormous amount of explosives and Reforger spells on mostly harmless forest. And the Eater wasn't even there. The alchemist's house was easy to spot. Now that she saw it, Lyra remembered that old building. Lonely placed against a large rock, it flanked the route south into the Everfree Forest. It would be only questionably safe to reach at night, and Lyra had believed it was unoccupied, but it sure didn't look that way now, with marked boxes and barrels lined up aside it. Some barrels were open; they stood under a porch roof, filled with beige powder. Lyra had no idea what an alchemist would work with, but this did look like the right place. As Lyra raised her hoof to knock, she heard thumping and clanking sounds. Seems like somepony is at work. She knocked, and the sounds promptly ceased. Nervously shifting between hooves, she waited in front of the door. But nopony opened. Maybe it was a coincidence that the sounds stopped – and he hadn't actually heard her. She started knocking frantically – this was, after all, no matter to be taken lightly. Eventually, she was all but hammering at the door, but nothing happened. When she stopped, there was nothing to be heard again. I can't wait! Bon-Bon can't wait! Unnerved, Lyra started trotting around the house. “I'm sorry, please, this is urgent! Anypony here? I—” One of the windows was visibly broken. Some wooden splinters lay around and the glass – if it was glass, Lyra wasn't quite sure – had cracks. Had somepony broken into the house? She inspected the window more closely: it was quite damaged, but still didn't open properly. She pressed herself against the window, looking at the room inside. It seemed to be a bedroom, connected to what looked like a living room. It didn't seem as if somepony had searched the house, but there was some broken wooden thing inside and… … a changeling, bandaged over one eye, with a piece of broken wood in its mouth, staring right back at Lyra. An ear-splitting scream escaped the mint-colored pony. “Changeling! Burglars! Anypony,” she shouted. Much to Shirei's shock, she started hammering against the window, clearly intending to break through and chase Shirei down. She tried to run over to the other end of the house, but she could only limp at sluggish speed. When she finally reached another window, she only confirmed what she already knew: it was locked and sturdy, like all the others. It would take time to break open, too much time! Cracking sounds and the glow of magic followed her from the other window, and all too soon, hoofsteps. Before she knew it, Shirei stumbled, magic grabbing her legs, and then got jumped on by an agitated mare. “What did you do? Where is the alchemist? Did you hurt anypony? SAY SOMETHING!” She grabbed Shirei, fixating her in an intense gaze. Shirei tried to cover her head while mouthing words, still unable to make a sound. She shook her head, her only way to respond. “Where is he? The pony who lives here, WHERE IS HE? If you don't tell me, I— I—” Shirei was lying under the pony, almost unable to move. She had somehow managed to protect her broken hoof and wing so far. Somehow managing to free one of her hooves she, to the best of her ability, gestured in the direction of the front door. Next thing she knew, she was on the back of the pony, which was gallopping through the house, holding Shirei in place with magic. When the mare noticed that Shirei was just pointing at the entrance, she stopped. “You mean he's not home?” Shirei nodded, but the mare wasn't looking at her. “Are you mute or something?” The magical grip slid Shirei far enough to the side for the two to look each other in the eye. Shirei was nodding resolutely. “Almost,” Shirei whispered as loudly as possible. “Oh. Uh.” The mare lowered her voice. She suddenly seemed a lot calmer, slowly placing Shirei back on the ground. “So you… just stole bandages and stuff? You didn't hurt anypony?” Didn't hurt anypony. With these words, Shirei lost sight of the instant, and as her mind fired a barrage of memories, from time as well. From these words, Shirei was told that every answer was a choice, and that none but herself chose every time. By these words, something was triggered inside of Shirei. It was something that had been bottling up inside her, since long before the invasion. Was it – resignation? Realization? Suddenly, to her, this was no longer about the confused mare who thought she had broken in. It was one of these questions. Just like the simple question from before: what Shirei's name was. The answers to them, were they really decisions? She could have answered… something soothing. Alchemist? Oh, that guy? No, of course I didn't hurt him. But she hesitated. Something was wrong with that – and deep down, Shirei knew exactly what was wrong with it. It wasn't the real answer. I've hurt ponies. I don't even know how many. When I set a fire, without thought of whom— But she couldn't say that. She could barely think about it. Yet, every time she had taken the easy answer, the convenient answer, it had gotten worse. Again and again, she had given in, given in to running away, running ever faster from her own shadow. Now, her life meant constantly running with her eyes shut. Don't ask, just don't talk to me! You really don't want to know! It was not going to end until she would hit an obstacle. She would find her reaper in one of these encounters, and her regrets would fall with her, unspoken to the end. A chilling silence filled the room. The mare surely knew what it meant, hesitating to answer whether or not you had hurt anypony. As her habits failed her, Shirei could not tell who she really was, and what would be the right thing to answer. Faceing the mare's worried gaze, she had become truly mute. The moment seemed endless, unescapable. I can't not answer that! She was breathing heavier and heavier as she tried to form a word. She thinks I did something to Creepy! I – I must say something! Have I? Have I hurt anypony? Shirei must have opened her mouth a number of times, without producing a word. When she finally got herself to speak again, she was feeling about to throw up. “Not… today.” What really drove her to give such an answer? It was much too truthful! For all she knew, for these words, the pony might kill her on the spot. She lowered her head, seeing how much her own body was shaking – a distant reality to her now. “Good gracious,” the mare murmured, half to herself. “Mh. I can't let you hurt anypony. And I need to find the alchemist who lives here.” Shirei nodded until she was sure the mare had seen it. Yes, you can't let me do that ever again. She would surely turn mad, or evil, or both the next time she did that. Wait… I already am evil, am I not? The mare was looking at her. Right, she's looking for Creepy. “He'll be back.” Her whisper over unsteady breath was barely audible, but the pony understood. “Uh. Then… then I'll go get Bon-Bon in the meantime! Mmmh, guess I'll need to tie you up.” Shirei just nodded. “But,” she whispered, “please, carefully? Please don't hurt me. Broken hoof, broken wing, I— the alchemist won't like it if you, uh, damage me.” Widening eyes showed the pony's bewilderment. “Of course! I'll be extra careful.” She stared at Shirei for a moment longer. “Do you think I'm some sort of monster, that you gotta argue about this?” Shirei slowly dropped her head to the ground, relieved. “Sorry,” she whispered, “guess I'm projecting myself on others.” She held a blank stare on the floor, her breathing slowly returning to normal. It took strangely long until the pony started work on tying her down. And for some reason, Shirei's energy flows felt strangely different from before. Time. “Bon-Bon! Bon-Bon, are you awake?” Distraction. “Bon-Bon! I'm sorry to wake you. And sorry to bother you with this. But can you…” Focus. Arrangement. Distraction. “please come along to get checked at another place? I'm really worried about you and there's somepony else who might be able to help.” Lyra sounded unnerved as well as worried. Time. Time… what is it with time? “Ugh.” Bon-Bon rolled over, still feeling weak and sleepy. “Can't it wait a little longer?” “No, Bon-Bon. And I know, I'm all hyper and get on your nerves all day, but this time you must come. Hey! Stop falling asleep again! I'll drag you there if I have to!” Bon-Bon really felt tired. But for some reason, Lyra looked about to have a panic attack, which was unusual even for her. Maybe Bon-Bon wasn't looking so good and should go see another doctor. “Ugh. Okay, okay, right.” She slowly found her way out of bed. “Fine.” Calm. Somepony calm doesn't trip. Following Lyra out, she opted for the bathroom first. “Just a moment. I'll… oh, seriously?” Lyra had promptly followed her. “I'm not letting you out of my sight. Just making sure.” When she was finished and walking down the stairs, she did feel rather okay. Still slightly dizzy, but certainly not getting worse. Her eyes fell on a garbage bin. This broken crystal! That got her. She tripped and was immediately caught by an aura, as well as Lyra's hooves. “Nice magic,” Bon-Bon heard herself say. “Now you admire my levitation? You should focus on where you're going.” Yes. Yes, focusing really helps. She shut the crystal mobile out of her mind, avoiding its remains. Once outside, she slowly returned to walking normally. Breathing some fresh air wasn't so bad after lying around for so long. “I kinda caught a changeling earlier. A really hurt one though.” “Huh?” Distraction. Focus on walking first. “Yea, she had broken into the house we're visiting now. But don't worry, I properly tied her up. We'll take care of that after you got looked at.” “Wow. Okay. Who is that doctor we're going to anyway?” She was being led over one of Ponyville's bridges, following Lyra to the very edge of town, an unusual path to take to a doctor. “Is it Zecora?” “He's an alchemist, actually. It was Zecora who sent me there after I told her what happened. And the changeling said he'd be back any moment.” “Wait, what?” “Uh, yea, guess she checked when he leaves before—” Lyra sounded strangely thoughtful for saying something this crazy. There's something wrong. “The CHANGELING said— How do you know it's not a bunch of other changelings coming?” “It's kind of hard to explain, but trust me, it should be okay.” Lyra's voice had an irrelevant sound to it. Don't let that idiot get us into even more trouble. “Should be okay? Are you crazy? Did you get anypony else after meeting the changeling?” There's something seriously wrong. “There are no other changelings there, Bon-Bon. Heck, I shouldn't have told you. You're not thinking straight, just let me handle this for once.” She's crazy. She'll walk into anything without a second thought. Like yesterday, just that that wasn't so bad. Or was it? “Just where do you think you're going?” Lyra grabbed Bon-Bon the moment she started to turn around. BEHIND! “I'm not feeling well. You can't drag me there, I mean to changelings, I— LYRA LET GO!” RUN FIGHT RUN FIGHT RUN FIGHT RUN FIGHT RUN FIGHT— Lyra was struggling to push Bon-Bon forward, whose confusion was really getting to her. She protested and kept trying to turn around. But their destination was already in sight, just a little further down the dirt path that crossed the last bit of grassland before the Everfree Forest. A glowing ring appeared on the ground, filled with similarly glowing lines. Bon-Bon was engulfed in a faint pillar of light and forcefully slammed to the ground. Lyra gasped. She quickly tried to pull her friend back out of what she had pushed her into. To no avail; even a single leg of Bon-Bon seemed too hard to lift, and Lyra's magic suddenly failed her. Her friend was trapped on the grass, close to but not quite at the alchemist's house. “Bon-Bon! What the—” Her friend wasn't responding anymore. Lyra almost jumped into the strange light when she checked: to her relief, Bon-Bon was still breathing normally. Oh no. Okay. This is not my day. What the hay is going on? Was this some kind of joke? Why did so many weird things happen? She considered running to the village to get help. But that would take time. What was that thing holding Bon-Bon down? Some sort of trap? Who would do such a thing, and this close to Ponyville? “Lyra?” Bon-Bon sounded weak once more. She had turned her head a little, looking her way now. “Oh! Thank Celestia you're back! I can't get you out of there! Are you alright? You were out cold there for a moment.” “Where am I? Still on our way? I'm really confused.” “I noticed! Hang on in there, I'll find a way to get you out.” She started levitating rocks to hammer them onto the glowing lines. Doing magic was awfully hard when it came to the spell on the ground. After a bit, Lyra opted to use her hooves instead. “Lyra, why am I in some sort of magic trap?” Bon-Bon's voice was quiet, slow, and calm. It sounded much less – erratic – compared to before. “Heck if I know. We're just across the river. It's a miracle nopony else triggered it. I was even here earlier—” “That makes no sense. Lyra, I've been here hundreds of times. What did you do before this thing went off?” “Nothing! I was just pushing you, 'cause you were making a ruckus.” “I was making— huh? I was just feeling bad, what do you mean, ruckus?” Lyra finally managed to chip one of the lines. The outer ones were not so hard, it seemed. “You got all dizzy but kept trying to walk the wrong way, wouldn't listen to what I—” “BACK OFF!” The voice was crazily powerful, resonating through the air. Lyra turned to see a cloaked shape, far off at the forest's rim, flickering in a glow similar to the one on the ground. “If you value your life, back off right now!”