//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: ...Into... // Story: The Alchemist // by Mr_Hippopotomonstroses //------------------------------// Chapter 20: ...Into... "...Death is my opposite?" "You do know who Death is right?" "Yeah, the thing with the scythe that tried to kill us." "Do you remember the other three?" "I can't. My memory is clouded." "I don't want you to be like you were in the past so I will only tell you the basic things on what is going on." "Okay. So what are the basic things of what is going on with my new life?" "So there are four of us and four of them. You, me, Mirror, and Jinx." "Mirror?" He was going to say something when he stopped and smiled. What are you smiling about now? Then he spoke. "You're remembering aren't you." "I almost remember it but I can't. Does Mirror happen to be a girl?" "Actually yeah. Both Mirror and Jinx are girls." "...And all of us had a journal right? Journals one through four?" "Yes, we each had a number and a journal. You saw it didn't you." "...She was number four wasn't she." "Yeah." He showed me his arm. On it was what looked like the number four and an alchemy circle burned on his arm. I looked at mine remembering that night. I saw her... "She died." "...Yeah. Whenever one of us dies it is burned into our arm to alert us. And the power that she had will be divided among the three of us still alive. Same rule for the four of them;." "What about the four of them? What are their names? I know Death is one." "Death is the most powerful of all four, like you all the most powerful of us. Death, your opposite. War, my opposite. Famine, Mirror's opposite. And Pestilence, Jinx's opposite." "Those names. They're-" "The Four Horsemen. Yeah." "The Horsemen? But they're not real. They where a story, how do they exist?" "They where a story. But Discord made them real." "How do you make a story reality?" "By finding four people who resembled the four horsemen that wanted nothing more than to watch the world burn and grant them their wish." "Discord can do that?" "He can do much more than that. But not as much as you." "Why not as much as me?" "Um... best not to tell you. It might awaken personal memories that might restore your personality from before." "What happened to me that made me such an ass?" "A lot actually." "Should I just not ask?" "Yeah probably." I continued to ask questions. What I learned was astounding. The four horsemen came to be from four humans. They each resembled the four horsemen in their own way and wanted nothing but to see others suffer. Once Discord came into the picture, which Ditto won't tell me, he granted the four people the opportunity of all that power and eternal life so they could make the world suffer for eternity. The four people gladly accepted and became the four horsemen. But deep in their minds, they felt guilty for making the world suffer. The four did not want to feel this guilt. So they came to Discord ask another favor. They asked if they could live without all of their guilt and what made them regret making their decision to become the four horsemen. Discord did so. But the part of the human that knew right from wrong that made you feel that guilt and regret could not just vanish. So Discord sent it to the past to inhabit four innocent people of the past. And so the horsemen would have someone who stood a chance against them. The four unlucky people where me, Ditto, Mirror, and Jinx. I remembered that dream with the children and the four journals. Ditto was still unsure on how the journals came to be. But he did say I might have known something. I always kept secrets from others. Even them three. Once we grew up we discovered our powers. The first of us to learn alchemy was me. He said that the way I learned it was very unfortunate. But that they did not have a sad story like mine. Once we learned our powers we were under investigation. We were tested on. Once again I had the worst experience. I had managed to set the other three free but I was recaptured. Once I managed to escape I found others like me. Ditto and the others taught people how to use alchemy. They only taught the people who would use it to help mankind. I was at the top of the ranks. Then it was the other three. Then eight ranks below them. The horsemen were powerful. That's how we found out that we could learn from fighting. Every time the four of us or the four of them fought. We learned more and more on attacking and defending. And the more we fought each other, the harder and longer the next fight was between us. We were opposites. They did what they did for evil. We did what we did for good. We just happened to have the same powers because of Discord. Which I still don't know how he came to be. Ditto wouldn't tell me about Discord. I said I was okay with not knowing but I felt the need to know what happened. What my history is with him. I wanted to know but asking him would be useless. If I wanted to know I would have to search on my own. Or get someone else's help. "So how did we leave our human world and end up in this pony world then?" "Oh...you forgot that too? This will be interesting." "Why?" "You might need time to accept this. But..."