Chapter Two: Exploring New Territory
Rarity closely followed Ashlan as the Everfree forest loomed ever closer. As the forest grew closer, the grass turned from a bright green to a more faded and dark green. The trees along the road thinned out and became more and more menacing. Finally, the duo reached the tree line. The trees color was a dark grey, forewarning of the potential death of those who dare venture inside.
“Looks like a great place to find reagents.” Ashlan said, starting to walk ahead.
“Um, Ashlan, is it? Perhaps we should go the other way, just to be safe?” Rarity suggested. Ashlan’s pace didn’t falter. Rarity sighed, took a deep breath to muster her courage, and followed Ashlan into the famed woods.
The path was barely visible due to the various grasses that grew, but the argonian seemed to follow it with no trouble. Rarity followed close behind, constantly looking around to check for something that might pop out at her. Looking at Ashlan, she noticed he didn’t seem nervous at all. Then again, he was the one wearing a tacky suit of Wyvern hide armor. Still, he made the armor look decent. A nearby brush suddenly rustled, causing a loud yelp from Rarity.
“Hey, Rarity, if you’re going to jump at every little thing in this ‘terrifying’ forest, you can just turn around and take the train. Why did you follow me anyway, if this place is so dangerous?”
Rarity took a few seconds to calm her nerves then said, “Well, you were strong enough to defeat an entire pack of diamond dogs and-“
“Rarity,” Ashlan interrupted, “First: Strength had nothing to do with it. I was simply smart enough to take advantage of my environment, quick enough to take out the underdogs in the resulting confusion, and agile enough to dodge the alpha’s attacks while attacking at the same time. Second: If you really think I’m so strong, stop acting like I’m not going to be able to protect you.”
Rarity remained quiet for a while after that. As the two marched through the gloomy wood, Ashlan suddenly stopped.
Rarity started to panic. “What is it? Are we in danger? Are we about to be attacked?” Ashlan knelt over by a bush with particular berries growing on it.
“Let’s see: Used incorrectly, these berries could be highly fatal if consumed, but if combined with corkbulb root could cure paralysis, and with other berries of similar origin could produce a high quality potion of fire resistance. They could also be used to create effective Napalm. Interesting.”
Ashlan said, pocketing a handful of them. Rarity sighed a breath of relief. “I told you when I came in here I was looking for reagents for alchemy, didn’t I?” Ashlan said, standing up.
It was almost three in the afternoon, and the two were deep in the forest. Suddenly a loud rustle was heard from the bushes. Rarity stopped.
“Um, Ashlan, should I be worried?”
“It’s probably just a rabbit.” Ashlan said. A loud hissing came from the bushes, directed at Ashlan.
“Or a copperhead.” Ashlan commented. A large reptilian figure loomed over Ashlan. It had large fangs, literally dripping with poison. It was significantly taller than both of them, and its eyes were a deep yellow with a narrow slit for a pupil, not too different from Ashlan’s eyes.
“Or it’s a…um… I’m actually not too familiar with this province; do you know what it is?”
“Basilisk.” Was the only word Rarity was able to mutter.
“Oh, well then it’s a Basilisk. Looks like some kind of snake, so it’s probably nothing to worry about. Could actually prove more useful alive than dead. What do you think?” Ashlan asked.
Rarity didn’t respond, choosing instead to simply tremble at the spot.
“Rarity, I know it’s a bit intimidating, but it’s nothing worth worrying about.” Ashlan said reassuringly. At that moment, the basilisk sprung towards Ashlan.
Rarity screamed out of terror for her friend, and out of knowing she was next. She cowered at the ground, waiting for her fate.
“Aw, you’re not such a bad little guy.” Rarity looked over and saw that Ashlan was scratching the towering creature under the chin, its tail thumping against the ground like a pleased dog. After realizing that the creature wasn’t going to eat her, she stood up, amazed at Ashlan’s feat.
“He says he respects that I stood my ground, and he’ll help us through the rest of the forest. Isn’t that nice of him?” Ashlan turned to continue walking, and, surprisingly, the basilisk followed without hesitation.
“You coming?” Ashlan asked, seeing that Rarity was still standing in the same spot. After shaking off her disbelief, she caught up to him.
“However did you manage that incredible feat?” Rarity asked.
“I’ll tell you when we’re out of the forest.” Ashlan whispered back.
With the basilisk, which Ashlan opted to name ‘Bassy’, as their bodyguard, the rest of the journey through the Everfree was uninhibited by monsters. Ashlan occasionally stopped to list off the properties of some plant or berry and add it to his growing collection of reagents, but other than that the journey went by fairly quickly. The two arrived at the forest’s edge about an hour before sundown. After bidding farewell to Bassy, the two continued down the path that led to Ponyville.
“Ashlan, you never did explain how you were able to tame that vicious beast, let alone understand what it was saying.”
Ashlan turned to face Rarity. “Well, a while ago I met a Wood Elf named Gracia during my line of work. We had a short talk, and found out we had a common goal that night. After working together a few more times after that, she offered to teach me how Wood Elves control animals. I swore to keep it a promise, so don’t get your hopes up. I found I wasn’t very good at it, except on scaly things.”
“Scaly things?” Rarity inquired.
“Like Wyverns, Drakes, that Basilisk. I even tried it on a small dragon once. I also found that when I keep an open mind, I can get the general idea of what they’re saying. I also found the influencing skill good for other things too, like persuading people. That’s pretty much how I developed an interest in the magical arts of illusion.”
“Oh,” Rarity said , “That must be a useful skill to have. Also, I’ve been meaning to ask you about this, and, please don’t take offense but: Do argonians usually have hair like yours?”
“Actually, I’m part Dark Elf, which is why I have hair in the first place. If we could leave it at that, I’d appreciate it.”
“Oh, well of course, if you don’t feel comfortable talking about it. I’m sure the rest of my friends would simply love to meet you, if you have the time. Twilight would love to know about your skills in alchemy, and Rainbow Dash would love to spar with you, I’m sure.” Rarity’s offer seemed kind enough to Ashlan.
“Sorry, I don’t have anywhere to spend the night.”
“Don’t worry Ashlan, I’m sure one of my friends would love to have you over.”
Ashlan sighed. “Fine, lead the way. You know this place better than I do.”
Ponyville turned to be a lot bigger than the other villages Ashlan had seen, which made him feel a little anxious. After glancing at the wanted posters and seeing his face wasn’t up there, he determined the Imperials thought he drowned in the wreck, so he was able to loosen up just a little bit. After Rarity had shown him around a little bit, she came to a large tree with a sign in front that read ‘Golden Oaks Library’. Rarity motioned for him to follow her inside. The library was much bigger on the inside than Ashlan had anticipated, but it seemed cozy enough. The shelves were lined with books of all different colors, sizes, ages, and authors, and behind the counter was a pile of books that hadn’t been shelved.
“Hold on just a second! Spike, just get in the tub- No, not down there!”
A small purple dragon with a green frill, which was about the size of Ashlan’s chest, soared down the stairs on small wings, and plowed straight into Ashlan and knocked him over. It proceeded to run off into the kitchen, where several pots and pans could be heard crashing over.
A lavender Equestrian with purple hair and a pink highlight came barreling down the stairs.
“Spike, why do you do this every month?” Twilight looked over to her new guests.
“Rarity, you’re ok!” The two friends embraced each other in a tight hug.
“When you didn’t come back we all were worried sick about you! Where have you been?” Rarity released herself from Twilight’s grip.
“Well, you know I went out to get inspiration for a new dress, when a man lured me into a trap set by Diamond Dogs.” Twilight gasped.
“Are you ok? How did you escape? Did they hurt you? Where are they?” Twilight asked at a million questions per minute.
“Well, Twilight, they were going to wait to see if anyone else came by that day, which ended up to be a severe mistake on their part. The same man tried to lure Ashlan into a trap, but-“
“Rarity, who is Ashlan?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, this is Ashlan. He’s an alchemist.” Rarity stepped aside to let Twilight view Ashlan, who simply waved. Rarity continued.
“He defeated all of the diamond dogs with his bare hands and-“
”Wait-“Twilight interrupted, “Argonians have bear hands? I thought they were like lizards.”
Ashlan spoke out. “First off, I am going to pretend I did not hear what I clearly just heard. Second, she said
hands. B-A-R-E. Third, where did you get I was an alchemist?”
Rarity blushed. “Well, the whole way here you kept rambling off the different ways of using those plants, so I simply thought-“
Ashlan sighed. “Alchemy is a vital part of my job, which I am very good at. You were talking about the diamond dogs?”
Rarity thought for a moment, then continued. “Oh, yes, well, after defeating the dogs he proceeded to defeat the entire den
the alpha, free all the slaves, and get the town the food they so desperately needed.”
She then looked over to Ashlan. “Oh, and he also made that horribly tacky outfit. He also made sure I came back to Ponyville safely, which I am extremely grateful for.”
Twilight seemed impressed. “Seems like you two had quite an adventure. Well, you should let everyone know you’re safe. In the meantime, I’ll be trying to get Spike in the bath.”
Ashlan did a slight laugh. “You named your baby dragon Spike?”
Twilight frowned. “What’s wrong with Spike?”
“Nothing, it just seems a bit cliché to me.” Ashlan said.
Twilight didn’t respond for a second, then suddenly said, “Oh, you should probably let Sweetie Belle know you’re safe first. She’s been worried sick about you.”
Rarity gasped. “Oh my goodness, I’d almost forgotten about Sweetie Belle! Thank you Twilight; I don’t know what I’d do without you!” And with that Rarity rushed off to her home, leaving Twilight and Ashlan to themselves.
The two just stood there awkwardly for a little while. Twilight was the first to break the silence.
“So, Ashlan, where do you plan on staying for the night? You can’t stay here obviously; I have way too much going on without having to worry about houseguests.”
Ashlan responded honestly. “I wasn’t planning on staying in Ponyville too long, but it seems like a nice enough place. Honestly though, my line of work usually means I move around a lot.” What exactly is your line of work, Ashlan?”
“Well, it’s kind of a pointless job in Equestria, but, you could say I’m a mercenary for hire.”
Twilight seemed interested now. “Well, that does seem like an interesting job, but you’re right: it is kind of pointless in Equestria at the moment. But that doesn’t answer my question: Where do you plan on staying tonight?”
Ashlan thought for a moment. “I’ll probably do what I usually do and spend the night under the stars in the countryside.”
“Well, here’s a thought, but: maybe you could stay at the inn like a normal traveler?” Twilight suggested.
“Maybe.” Ashlan thought, “Maybe not. It depends how I feel.”
Twilight suddenly stopped talking and looked at Ashlan for a moment. “What?” “Well, I just noticed your clothes, um….are you an escaped slave or something?”
“Do you approve of slavery?” Ashlan asked.
“Of course not, besides, it’s illegal in Equestria.”
“Well, I don’t like to talk about my past, but-“
Twilight shushed him. “It’s ok. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it. I can see why that would be sensitive for you. You know, you could use Equestria as your chance to start over, get a fresh start. Like…”
Twilight thought for a moment. “Do you have any skills?”
“I’m good with Alchemy, I’m a great marksman, and I know my way around a few different swords and shields.”
“Well, the town does need an alchemist, and Fluttershy can’t heal every traveler that comes through injured…”
“I’ll think about it.” Ashlan said, walking out of the library.
Ashlan walked through the streets, pondering this new development. He sat down on the stairs of the town hall for a minute as it started to rain softly. Unable to sit still for long, he got up and started walking around under the shelter of the patio roof, when he remembered something from earlier. He walked over to the wanted board, and saw exactly what he had hoped for: a large amount of criminals had also seen Equestria as the chance for a fresh start, not to mention the criminals that resided in Equestria before the Imperial takeover. Ashlan took a mental note of each of the bounties. He would have to come back with some paper tomorrow, but a large amount of them were wanted Dead or Alive. He noticed once more that his face wasn’t on the board. Ashlan stood there for a moment to take in his surroundings. The gentle patter of rain on the ground, the subtle smell of the bushes, the sound of water draining from the gutters: It was all very surreal. At that moment, Ashlan decided what he was going to do. Yes, he would become the town alchemist, as Twilight had suggested. But by night, he would put his other skills to use as a bounty hunter, and he would leave his dark past behind for a new day, a new chance for a better tomorrow. And although there was no guarantee he wouldn’t slip into his old ways, he would do his best to make sure he stayed within the limits of the law. If Equestria was going to be his new home, he would need a place to stay. But that could wait until tomorrow. For now, he needed to sleep. With that thought in mind, he headed out for the countryside to find a nice tree to sleep under. The rain always helped him sleep anyway.
Ashlan woke up the next morning feeling quite refreshed. The scene of the fields of grass around him covered in the morning dew added to the tranquility of the scene. The tree rested on a hilltop that oversaw the surrounding land, and in the distance one could see an apple farm. The road into Ponyville winded around the east side of the hill, leading past the apple farm and eventually into the Everfree Forest. Approaching the hill was an orange Equestrian girl with two blonde ponytails, and she was pulling a cart full of apples, presumably to Ponyville. Ashlan assumed this was Rarity’s friend Applejack she had talked about while in the woods. Something compelled him to join her on her walk. He had to go back to Ponyville soon anyway. Ashlan got up and stretched. Sleeping out in the country was much cheaper, but it wasn’t as comfortable as sleeping in a nice, warm, bed. As he started his way down the hill, he noticed that Applejack slightly sped up her pace. Ashlan reached the base of the hill just as Applejack was passing by.
“Hey, what’s the rush?” Ashlan said, walking alongside the cart. Applejack didn’t respond.
“Excuse me, it’s considered rude to ignore people.” Ashlan said. Applejack turned to face him.
“Look, I know exactly what you want.”
“A pleasant conversation?” Ashlan asked.
“No, you’re gonna try and steal some of my Apples as soon as I turn my back!” Applejack replied angrily. Ashlan was a little offended. He made it a priority not to steal from anyone, especially friends.
“Why would I do that?” Applejack started to ignore him again. Ashlan tried to come with an idea to help the two start a conversation. If he was going to live in Ponyville, he wanted as many friends as possible.
“Well, what if I walk in front of you? Would you trust me then?”
“Fine. But stay next to me.” Applejack agreed grudgingly.
“Great.” Ashlan rushed to catch up with the farmer. “I’m Ashlan. Are you Applejack?”
Applejack looked warily at him. “How do you know mah’ name?”
“Oh, Rarity told me about you. I helped her get back to Ponyville last night.” Applejack gave him a look of doubt.
“Really? Ah’ suppose you helped Twilight give Spike a bath too, huh?” Ashlan was starting to get a feeling he did not like this country girl.
“Wait, is this because I’m an argonian?” Applejack started ignoring him again.
“That’s it isn’t it? What do you have against argonians?” Applejack stopped the cart.
“Look, ah’ just don’t trust anyone who just ain’t from Equestria, ok? Now stop harrassin’ me before I call those guards you have set up all over Equestria!”
Ashlan didn’t get angry easily, but this girl was really pushing his buttons.
“Fine, whatever. Just thought I’d try and make some friends because I’m moving into Ponyville. Guess that’s not happening.” The two arrived to Ponyville and immediately parted ways.
Just after that, Ashlan bumped into a girl with cyan skin and rainbow colored hair. After the initial encounter, the girl whipped around and started yelling at him.
“Hey!”
Ashlan turned around. If this girl was as bad as Applejack, this was not going to be pleasant.
“May I help you?” Ashlan inquired.
“Give it back!” the girl yelled.
Ashlan thought, Oh she thinks I stole her wallet or something.
“Look, before you start accusing me of things, shouldn’t you double check your accusations?”
The girl turned around to check her pockets, and then looked embarrassed.
“Oh, I have…everything…on…me.” The girl looked embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, I just, and well…I haven’t heard nice things about outsiders. I’m Rainbow Dash.”
The girl extended her hand, which Ashlan warmly returned.
“I’m Ashlan.” Rainbow Dash looked a little surprised.
“You’re Ashlan? I heard you rescued Rarity. You seem nice enough. Twilight said you were gonna be the new town alchemist. That true?”
Rainbow seemed actually a little excited to meet him. It was a nice change of pace.
“Yeah, but I need to find a place to set up shop first. Are there any places available?”
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment.
“Well, if there was, you would have to talk with Mayor Mare. She’s in charge of setting up all the new shops the Empire’s bringing in. You can find her at town hall.”
“Thanks, I’ll be sure to do that later.” Ashlan said.
Rainbow smiled, “Well, I’ve got to go help out Fluttershy with moving her furniture around. You want to come? You can meet Applejack while you’re there.”
Ashlan frowned. “Trust me, I’ve met Applejack.” “Huh,” Rainbow Dash said, “Well, see you around I guess.” With that, Rainbowdash sped off to Fluttershy’s cottage.
Ashlan decided his next stop would be to visit the Golden Oaks Library again to try and get to know Twilight a little better. If he did become the town alchemist, he would need some books on the subject in case others wanted to try it themselves. When Ashlan entered the library, he was greeted by a scene similar to the night before.
“Hold on just a second! Spike, just let me clip your claws- No, don’t go down there!”
Ashlan was ready this time. When Spike barreled down the stairs, he caught the baby dragon in his arms. It tried to escape, but the argonian was stronger. Twilight came rushing down the stairs.
“Oh, Ashlan, I’m so sorry, I was trying to clip Spike’s claws and-“
“I can’t hold him down forever, so if you could hurry this along?”
“Oh, right!” Twilight said, suddenly remembering the task at hand. In a short amount of time, each of Spike’s claws was an acceptable length. When Ashlan released, Spike looked back and released an angry puff of smoke from his muzzle and flew upstairs.
“You know, I don’t think your dragon likes me.” Ashlan said, getting back on his feet.
“Yeah, no kidding. He loves Rarity, though. Probably because she always feeds him jewels when she comes over.” Twilight said.
“So it’s true some creatures here eat gems?” Ashlan asked. Ever since the alchemist at Hoovesdale had brought it up, the question had been nagging at Ashlan’s mind.
“Yeah, and Spike loves Rubies. Sometimes I make him a jewel cake if he’s been really good.” Twilight replied.
“That’s insane.” Ashlan said.
“It’s really not that hard to make, if you have the right recipe.” Twilight declared, proud of her apparent baking skills.
“No, the fact that jewels are so plentiful here you can afford to make a cake out of them. That’s insane. Back in the empire, you’re lucky if you can afford a sapphire ring, let alone make an entire cake.”
Twilight smiled. “Well, here in Equestria, you’re lucky if you can afford to make a dagger out of iron, let alone make an entire suit of armor with it.”
Ashlan laughed. “That’s actually a great comeback. So, is there actually a city dedicated to gems up north?”
Twilight seemed a bit confused. “They called it the Crystal Empire.”
“Oh, no.” Twilight responded, “The entire city is actually made of gems. My aunt is actually the princess of the Crystal Empire. She’s married to my brother, Shining Armor.”
“Wow,” Ashlan said, “Your brother must have a pretty important job to be marrying a princess.”
“Who, Shining Armor? He’s the Captain of the Equestrian guard. I was surprised. He took the Imperial takeover pretty well. He said the agreement Celestia and the Emperor worked out spared a lot of lives, on both sides.” Twilight said, proud to have relatives in such high places.
“Oh.” Ashlan said, terrified one of his friends had relatives in such high places.
“Yeah, he’s supposed to be meeting with a representative from the Empire. I can’t remember the details, but he was supposed to help the transition from Equestria to an Imperial Province. His name was Captain Obsidian- No, maybe it was Onside-no, um, it was-“
“Captain Odician?” Ashlan suggested, secretly hoping the answer was no.
“Yes, that was it!” Twilight declared, glad that her memory recognized the name, “Why, are you two friends?”
”We’ve met a couple of times.” Ashlan said nervously.
“All good things, I assume?” Twilight said happily.
“Yeah, you assume that” Ashlan whispered to himself.
In reality, Captain Odician was the guard who was originally placed in charge of capturing Ashlan in the first place. He was a vigilant man, an Imperial with 4 years of service under his belt. Contrary to most Imperials, he didn’t look down on the other species of the empire. He treated everyone like he would want them to treat him, a prime example of the golden rule. Of course, if you had committed a crime, it was a completely different story. He was like a Nyx-Hound, relentless in hunting down the unlucky criminal assigned to him. Before coming to Equestria that unlucky criminal had been Ashlan. He had given the guard a decent amount of trouble, eluding his grasp for almost a year, longer than any other criminal in the warrior’s sights. When he had finally cornered Ashlan, he didn’t make a scene like most other criminals would trying to fight back. Ashlan knew his limits, and the Captain had outclassed him in every way. He had personally escorted on the prison ship to Skyrim, and the rest was history. If Captain Odician really was in Equestria, Ashlan would have to make sure to stay out of the spotlight. As long as he did that, he should be fine. After all, he had no reason to assume Ashlan was still alive after the boat crash, right?
Ashlan came back from his train of thought. “So, Twilight, I have a quick question: Do Equestrians really get those, um…”
“Ponypox?”
“No, it was something else…”
“Jewel Cakes?”
“No, Twilight, it has to do with-“
“The uncontrollable urge to bust out in song?”
“What? No, it was-Cutie Marks! That was it!” Ashlan said, “Do you guys get cutie marks when you discover your special talents?”
“Oh, that. Of course!” Twilight stated, as if it was a fact that everybody should naturally know.
“Huh. I wish it was that easy for others to know when you’ve found your special talent. Do you have one?” Ashlan asked.
Twilight beamed a proud smile. “Naturally. I got mine for being talented in magic.”
“Cool. Can I see it?” Ashlan asked. For some reason Twilight unexpectedly went to slap Ashlan, then stopped just short of his face.
“Oh, that’s right, you don’t know.” Twilight said, pulling her hand back to her side. Ashlan blinked.
“What? Is a cutie mark some kind of curse or something?”
“No,” Twilight said, becoming a little reluctant to talk, “It’s just where the cutie mark is. I was going to slap you, but then I remembered you didn’t know anything about them.”
Ashlan was really confused now. “Why? Where do Equestrians have their cutie marks?”
“Well,” Twilight said sheepishly, “It’s just below the back of the right hip, which pretty much makes it on your…”
“Ok, stop talking, I get the picture.” Ashlan said, suddenly sorry he had ever brought up the subject,
“Well, on that note, I’ve got to go officially apply to become the town alchemist.” And with that, Ashlan rushed out of the library, remembering that next time he talked with Twilight to pick a subject he knew a little more about.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Twilight looked out the window at the awkwardly escaping Ashlan. Although she hadn’t expected the question, it had been funny to see his reaction to the answer, after she got over the initial shock of course. She knew Ashlan’s type well enough, and he wasn’t one of those Nordic perverts who were always trying to put the move on girls half their age.
He was the type who was doing his best to compensate for some past mistake, and Twilight wanted to know what it was. She always loved a good mystery novel. At that moment, Spike flew up on the windowsill next to Twilight.
“Oh, sorry Spike, I almost forgot about your-“
She looked down to see Spike was doing his I know something smile. Twilight didn’t care what others thought; dragons were fully sentient creatures that were also little devils sometimes.
“What? Spike, what did you do?”
Spike continued smiling and looked out the window at Ashlan.
“Who, Ashlan? Spike what did you do to-“
It suddenly hit Twilight what the little dragon was getting at.
“No Spike, I don’t have a crush on Ashlan!”
She shooed him away from the window. Spike flew upstairs, doing his little dragon laugh he did when he knew he was right. She sat down on the windowsill bench, looking down at her feet, which were in all actuality lavender hooves. After making sure no one was watching, Twilight blushed.
“Even if he is a little cute…”
______________________________________________________________________________
Ashlan walked up to the front door of the town hall. It looked like it had been fixed up recently, and whoever did it had done a very good job. It was painted bright pink and bright blue, and actually matched the rest of the town very well. Ashlan hadn’t bought a fancy set of clothes, mostly because he didn’t want to give any false impressions. If he was going to get a job, he was going to be himself. He was still going to be courteous, and he had washed and repaired his Wyvern Hide armor. Putting some pride into his step, Ashlan walked into the Town hall. He was greeted by a light brown Equestrian woman with long dark brown hair.
“Hello! I’m High Charity, but all my friends just call me Charity. Can I help you with anything?”
Ashlan was glad Equestria was so much friendlier to outsiders than other provinces like Morrowind & Skyrim.
“Yes, I was hoping to apply to become the town alchemist.”
Charity let out a small cheer and clapped. “Yay! Go see Mrs. Mare in her office; it’s in the hall, first door on the left!”
Ashlan waved to the cheerful woman, and then followed her directions into the Mayor’s office. When he got to her office, there was already an Equestrian man there conversing with Mrs. Mare.
“I’m sorry; I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Ashlan said.
“Oh, don’t mind us.” The Mayor replied, “We were just discussing Crossfire’s application for the town’s alchemist.”
“Actually, I was hoping to discuss just that. I wanted to become the town alchemist as well.”
Crossfire silently scowled at Ashlan. Mrs. Mare looked between the two alchemists.
“Well then, it looks like we have ourselves a bit of a problem then, don’t we? I think I’ll have to come up with a contest to see who the better alchemist is.”
Just then, there was a knocking on the office door.
“Come in.”
Mayor Mare said. It was Charity.
“Um, Mrs. Mare? I just got a call from the school. Your daughter is sick. None of the other kids have caught it, but, they say it’s not looking good. They sent her home; they suggest you check on her A.s.a.p.” Mrs. Mare stood up.
“Excuse me boys, I need to take care of this.”
Ashlan turned to face the leaving Mayor. “Well, maybe we can help. We are alchemists, after all.” The mayor thought for a minute.
“Alright, I guess you can come.” The three of them headed out of the office to the mayor’s home.
After a short walk across town, the mayor and two alchemists arrived at the home. Walking inside, the sick child was nowhere in sight. “She’s probably in her room.” The mayor assured Ashlan and Crossfire. The three went upstairs to the mayor’s daughter’s room.
“So what’s her name?” Ashlan asked.
“Rosie.” The mayor replied.
The trio entered Rosie’s room. The child was a sickly version of her presumably usual red, with strange spots all over her body. When she opened her mouth she let out a sad groan. Ashlan noticed her tongue had dark spots, and it seemed a bit dry. Crossfire kneeled down, but didn’t get too close.
Ashlan thought he had seen something like this before, but he couldn't place a finger on it. Crossfire stood up.
“I can have a potion for this ready in half an hour.”
“Oh, good!” The mayor said. Crossfire left to prepare his alchemical equipment, but Ashlan stayed behind. He set his hand on Rosie’s forehead. The mayor gasped.
“Aren’t you afraid of catching it?”
Ashlan stood up. “Not really. Argonians are resistant to a lot of diseases. I’ve only gotten sick once before. I can also guarantee that Crossfire’s potion isn’t going to work. Tell me, did you have anything imported recently? From one of the other provinces maybe?”
The mayor stood silent in thought for a moment. “We had a Scathecraw plant from Morrowind, we got it as a decorative, but that’s at the office-“
“And has Rosie been at the office since the plant arrived?”
The mayor looked ashamed of herself.
“It’s not your fault.” Ashlan told her reassuringly, “Maybe it was something else, but for now, that’s our prime suspect.”
Crossfire returned with a potion in hand. “Alright, this should do the trick. Just have her drink some of this, and she’ll be good as new.”
The mayor took the potion and knelt down beside her daughter and leaned her head up.
“Here, Rosie, drink some of this.” The small girl drank some of the potion, but nothing happened.
“Just give it a few minutes.” After a few minutes, still nothing had happened.
“Crossfire, what was that potion?” the mayor said. She was starting to get angry with him, which was understandable.
“Yeah, that didn’t really do anything.” Ashlan added.
“I don’t understand, it was a Standard Potion of Cure Common Disease, it should’ve worked!”
The mayor was visibly upset at this point.
“Please, Mrs. Mare, let me save you the trouble.” Ashlan said, approaching Crossfire.
“What are you doing?” Crossfire said, “It’s not my fault the potion didn’t-“
Ashlan delivered a ferocious punch to the left side of Crossfire’s face. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A COMMON DISEASE TO YOU?” Ashlan yelled. Apparently he was just as upset as the Mayor.
“Come on, Mrs. Mare,” Ashlan said, leaving behind Crossfire, “I need to go see this plant.”
“Hm, this plant isn’t diseased.” Ashlan said, getting up after observing it for a few minutes. Crossfire scoffed.
“I thought you were an alchemist, not a biologist.”
Ashlan stood up and looked him in the eyes, a difficult feat considering Ashlan was almost 6 inches taller than him.
“I know enough to recognize when something has a disease, something you obviously can’t.”
Crossfire gave him a glare. “Ok, then genius, where’d the disease come from?”
Ashlan went down to the hallway where the mayor’s office was.
“What’s that room down there?” The mayor looked down the hall and followed Ashlan’s line of view.
“Oh, that? That’s the storage room. We keep Hearth’s Warming Eve’s decoration and the works in there. Why?”
Ashlan grabbed the door to the storage. “And you said the plant came from Morrowind, right?”
“Yes?” The mayor said. Ashland opened the door to the storage.
“I’m going to ask you three to stay out here. I think I know what happened, so I need you to stay out in case I’m right.”
Ashlan pulled out the wakizashi he had bought from the trader in Hoovesdale. With it, he started knocking on the different boxes around the room as the three outside looked at him in confusion.
“Hey, Ashy, whatcha doing?” Charity asked.
Ashlan continued knocking on the boxes. “First off, don’t call me Ashy. My name is Ashland. Second…” Knocking on a box labeled ‘Nightmare Night Decorations’, a loud noise could be heard from behind the box.
“Second…is this thing.”
With that, Ashlan thumped exceptionally hard on the box. A large rat popped out from the box. It was a sickly brown, and had spots on it similar to Rosie’s. It let out a large hiss, which showed the dark spots on its dry tongue. Ashlan immediately stabbed it through the head, ending its suffering from the disease. Ashlan stood up to face the others, who looked at him in shock. Ashlan realized it was probably all three of them’s first time seeing something die.
“I know what’s wrong with Rosie. And I know how to fix it. Come on.”
______________________________________________________________________________
Charity, Crossfire, and Mrs. Mare all stood behind Ashlan as he went to give the potion to Rosie.
“Alright Rosie, you’re going to be fine.” Ashlan said as he had the mayor’s daughter drink the potion.
The effects were almost immediate. Rosie’s skin returned to its usual bright red, and the spots disappeared completely.
“Rosie!” Mrs. Mare ran over to her daughter and gave her a warm hug.
“She’s going to be tired for a little while; don’t worry, it’s a harmless side effect of the potion, and it’ll wear off. Besides, the rest will be good for her.” The mayor stood up to let Rosie sleep, and turned to Ashlan.
“How did you know what to do?” Ashlan walked over to the window.
“I knew I’d seen the dark spots on her tongue before. I didn’t remember where until you said the plant came from Morrowind. When you brought your daughter to the office she caught the Blight from that rat.” The three others gave Ashlan a confused look.
“The Blight is a disease that comes from the Red Mountain in Morrowind. The rat must’ve jumped the ship and come here. The disease isn’t highly contagious, but I’d still get rid of these blankets and sheets, just to be safe.”
The Mayor seemed relieved that her daughter was going to be ok. Ashlan continued.
“I didn’t know if I’d be able to find reagents to cure it, but I was able to find what I needed in the Everfree forest. I know most people are afraid of what’s in there, but it doesn’t really bother me.”
The mayor stepped back to face Crossfire and Ashlan at the same time. Charity bounced over to her side Pinkie-Pie style.
“I think it’s a fairly obvious choice who the ideal candidate for Ponyville’s new alchemist is. Congratulations, Ashlan. Come by my office later to pick up the deed and make it official. In the meantime-“ Mrs. Mare handed him a set of keys, “-go get used to the place. Charity, show him there. Crossfire, get out of my house.”
Ashlan and Charity stepped out of Mrs. Mare’s house. They were followed by a very frustrated Crossfire.
“Don’t think this is the end of this, Ashlan!” Crossfire declared in a loud voice.
Ashlan turned around. “Um, what are you talking about?”
“You may have won this battle, Argonian, but I will win this war! You have made a very powerful enemy today, Ashlan. I am-CROSSFIRE!” And with that, the Equestrian threw down a bottle that exploded in smoke and ran off.
Charity turned to Ashlan. “Gee, Trixie complex, much?”