//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: Alchemist's Law // by LucidTech //------------------------------// The market in Ponyville was bustling along while the shopkeepers were eagerly selling off their goods to any approaching customers. As the morning ticked by, many customers came to see Applejack as she sold off the crop she had harvested from the day prior. Occasionally one of her friends would come by and chat for a bit while business was slow, perhaps buying some of her wares for themselves. “Excuse me miss,” came a high pitched squeak from near the ground in front of the apple stand. “May I buy an apple please?” The apple farmer leaned over the counter to see her customer, a small pink unicorn filly standing there. AJ recalled that the filly was the daughter of Ditzy Doo, the town mailmare. “Indeed ya can Dinky. That’ll be two bits for an apple.” The orange mare said with a somewhat jovial voice. The filly’s smile fell at this and her voice took a sad tone as she spoke “I only have one bit miss.” Just as Applejack was about to lower the price for the filly, she had made enough profit that day to make up for the small one bit loss, a stallion walked stiffly in front of the stand. “Six apples,” the stallion said in a gruff gravelly tone as he dropped the twelve bits onto the counter of the apple stand. As he spoke Applejack turned to face the new arrival. He wore an old, worn top hat low on his head. It covered the entirety of his forehead and cast his eyes in shadow. Aside from the hat the stallion appeared to be wearing no other clothing. Looking closer at the eyes that sat in the shadow of the hat, Applejack could make out the grey ring that composed the eye color. Somewhat irritated at this interrupter but deciding that she could spare a few moments to take care of the customer, the orange mare retrieved the apples and set them down on the stand in front of her. The stallion glanced at the apples then back at Applejack then back at the apples. With careful actions, the odd pony picked up and moved three of the apples into his saddle bags before nodding to her and walking off. AJ called out after him, “You forgot these apples mister.” The stallion paused and turned to face the mare, his eyes were apathetic and unmoving. “I remember it differently. I remember that the filly there paid for those three apples when I interrupted. Make sure she can get them home in one piece.” With those words the black stallion with a stark white mane walked off again. There was a moment of silence before Applejack put the apples into the bag and handed them to Dinky, who was overjoyed due to the kindness the stranger showed. He’s an odd one, if he wanted to give her apples he sure went about it in an strange way, the apple farmer thought to herself before the daily market kicked back into full swing for lunch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monochrome walked away from the apple farmer and the small filly. After he turned a corner, he reached into the saddle bags, which sat strategically over his cutie mark. Pulling out one of the apples, he took a bite before dropping the remains back into his bag. “Yup, still tastes like ash. But what else is new?” he said to himself as he walked along. As the black and white pony walked along, he would gather a few stares here and there because of his odd coloring. Most of them would just shrug it off and continue on their route. For those whose stares lingered, they were met with one in return. The returned stare held no emotion, no rage, no joy, no jealousy. They only held emptiness. It made all ponies uncomfortable and they looked away quickly. While Monochrome was staring back at a mint green unicorn, he managed to run into somepony else. When he looked to see and apologize to the mare he ran into, he saw a yellow pegasus with a pink mane already saying quite a few sorries and blaming herself for the accident. “No it’s my fault,” the black and white pony responded, “I should have watched where I was going.” The yellow pegasus stopped talking and looked up into his eyes. She gasped and quickly lowered her look to the ground. “What?” Monochrome asked. Before the shy pegasus could answer, two other pegasi flew up from behind the mysterious stallion. Both wore smugs grins on their faces as they approached the shaking mare. “Managed to run into someone else Cluttzershy?” one of them asked with a sardonic tone. “The pegasus who is afraid of heights, what’s the deal with that?” The two pegasi continued to tease for a moment before they were interrupted by a cough from Monochrome. He looked at them, the ever present apathy in his eyes, as he looked at the two bullies. They began to back away before making a comment about how they needed to go somewhere and they both flew away hastily. “Now miss,” the black and white stallion said to Fluttershy, “Why don’t I walk you home. Unless, of course, you have some other business to take care of at the market.” The yellow pegasus smiled at him in response. “Just home please.” With a nod from Monochrome he followed the pegasus back to her house earning him a few more stares from the customers in the market. Upon arrival at the small cottage made of wood, Fluttershy made her quiet remarks of thanks. Monochrome nodded slowly in response. The odd pony with a top hat made at leaving, but was stopped by a sudden call from the pegasus who still stood at her door. “Wait, I mean um, if you would please.” Monochrome turned around and faced the pony, waiting for her to continue. “Um, I was just wondering, what’s your name?” “My name is Monochrome. Its nice to meet you...” “Fluttershy.” came the quiet reply. Monochrome strained to hear the shy pegasus. It took him a moment to piece together what the pegasus had said to him. “It’s nice to meet you miss Fluttershy. Enjoy the rest of your evening.” With that, Monochrome headed back into the small town, hoping that perhaps one of the hotel rooms was still available for rent. He wasn’t going to be getting much sleep that night regardless of how comfortable the bed was, but the stallion didn’t yet realize that was the case. That night, as the majority of Ponyville slept in their beds, a fire broke out. The fire forced Monochrome out of his bed due to his throbbing head. "Magic Overload," he managed to get out between struggling, pained breaths as he put his top hat on in its usual position on his forehead. He quickly darted out of the hotel in the direction of the disturbance that was causing his pounding headache. As he lurched around the corner, he heard a panicked voice shouting, "Fire at the library! Fire at the library! Please someone help! Twilight is still in there!" He approached the noise and could make out the hollow tree being consumed in purple tinted flames. His headache spiked once again but the stallion ignored it. Monochrome ran faster towards the burning house once again. The fire didn't appear to be actually consuming anything but Monochrome knew it would burn living organisms like any normal flame. With a cry, he ran into the flaming door which broke open under his assault. Lying on the floor in the middle of a stack of books, the purple unicorn was unconscious as the flames slowly advanced on her from the burning walls. A glass cup lay by her front hoof but it was quickly shattered as Monochrome trampled over it in his rush to her and tossed her over his back. It occurred to him that he had forgotten his saddlebags in his hurry and silently cursed himself as he ran out of the building. When he ran out of the building he saw a small dragon with purple scales talking to two pegasi. One of them Monochrome recognized as the shy one who he had escorted home yesterday afternoon, while the blue one that was with her didn't ring any bells. A look of relief flashed across the faces of all three of the ponies but they disappeared as Monochrome ran past them to be replaced with looks of confusion. His hurried hoofsteps took him in the direction of the hospital he had made a point of finding upon first entering town, as he ran through the streets his breath became shallower and shallower and his body began to beg him to give in. Ignoring this familiar Monochrome continued his run and eventually made it into the hospital as a blue pegasus began to close in on him followed by four other mares and a dragon. Monochrome put Twilight onto the gurney that a nurse quickly wheeled out. Twilight was taken away and put into a room which the black stallion followed and took a defending, yet nonetheless powerful, presence . “What’s the big idea?” Came a call from the hallway. “Let us see our friend!” Monochrome turned to face the voice as the full form of Rainbow Dash came into view, the black stallion shook his head back and forth as his eyes remained apathetic. "Move aside or I'll make you," Rainbow Dash sneered as she dropped to the ground and tensed up in a runner's stance. Monochrome shook his head side to side once more in response and Dash took off. She rocketed through the hall and rammed into the shoulder of the black and white pony. A sharp cracking noise shattered through the air of the room and the hallway. As the abrupt noise broke the relative silence, Rainbow backed away, eyes wide and body unharmed. Monochrome stood completely still, the attack having failed to move him from the doorway. His eyes were even as he looked at Rainbow. With a voice filled with spite and eyes filled with apathy Monochrome spoke. "You will not enter, not while I have life in my bones will I let you pave your friend's road to hell with your golden intentions." The words were powerful and the friends all stood still as they looked at the strange stallion who blocked the door to their friend. Fluttershy stood off to the side of the hall and had looked at the floor of the hallway. Rainbow walked nervously around in circles keeping a steady glare on Monochrome. Applejack seemed unsure of what to do and so she leaned against a wall, also keeping watch on the stallion. Rarity had left shortly after on account of the fact that she had some work to finish before the night was out. Pinkie Pie rode the elevator up and down in excitement, hoping that Twilight would be released soon. All the while the clock on the wall silently watched the remains of the night. (Everyone thank the editors that made my text suitable for human eyes. Prince of Hyrule and V-Dub)