A Different Alchemy

by Acron

4: The Choice

Lyra defiantly held her ground aside the strange glowing structure, buried beneath dirt and grass. The eerie stallion's gallop toward her made her want to run away, but nopony had the right to trap Bon-Bon and then tell her to get lost. “I'm not hitting your stupid spell, line, whatever. Will you calm down and—” Lyra rose her hooves to show she wasn't doing anything.

The cloaked pony almost ran her over, stopping so close that she took a few steps back after all.

“What… part… of backing off do you not understand? Back away from the circuit,” he panted.

Reluctantly, she did as she was told. But if it was dangerous, that was all the more a reason to stay and get Bon-Bon out! “Why? Don't you see my friend—”

“Not your friend. World Eater. Don't you dare free it.” An intent, chilling stare accentuated his words.

“Huh?” She had nothing deeper to say. This was beginning to feel like a silly dream. Every strangeness Lyra ran into gave way to an even weirder so-called explanation.

“This is an Eater trap I set up on the path to me. That was a well-placed precaution, as it turns out. Why did you come here? You” – he motioned at Lyra – “must give the answer, not the trapped one.”

---

Okay. This time, it had surely been plain bad thinking.

Of all things, the pony had tied Shirei to the bed's frame, made of the same weak timber from before. It wasn't even a part of the outer frame holding it together. For a moment, she had even been a little reluctant to chew herself free – after all, it had only been this easy because the pony had been too nice to her. Once she had been free to move around, having an already broken window, complete with shards to cut her bonds with, she had made it outside in no time.

Only able to walk slowly, she had hidden in a nearby grove when she had heard voices. It had been the only cover in the open meadow outside, aside from the rock and few trees aside the house. So, she was still somewhat trapped until the daylight would fade, trapped behind the ponies' inconspicuous dirt path – a wiggling line from Ponyville's southern bridge to Creepy's house. Behind her, the river and Ponyville were insurmountable obstacles. But she was content; who would expect her in this little hideout? From there, she had watched the entire scene, peeking out of the greenery: from the ponies' childish-looking dispute to Creepy's trap and overly dramatic appearance. She had been surprised that the sun was being lowered already. Either the celestial princesses were doing weird things, or the time she had woken up beside that alchemist hadn't been dawn at all. Either way, this was good: soon enough, she would be able to leave unseen. It was the same plan that had failed on the evening of the battle, this time appearing quite possible. Until then, though, she had no choice but to hope the ponies would keep entertaining themselves, forgetting about her.

“Let me get this straight.” Lyra – she and Bon-Bon had been quickly introduced by calling each other's name all the time – sounded resolute. “You are saying Bon-Bon is possessed by some sort of invisible monster? I was talking to her. She's sick, but that's Bon-Bon for sure! Let me show you! Bon-Bon, do you remember that—”

“She will,” Creepy said. “That is beside the point.”

“How is that beside—”

“Hey! I'm right here, you know,” Bon-Bon complained.

“Eaters are not intelligent creatures by themselves. But they can merge with other beings, hooking onto their intentions and memories. The result is what alchemists refer to as Eater Hybrids, but this is really what anypony who says World Eater is afraid of. Sombra, Nightmare Moon, those are combinations of World Eaters and intelligent, living beings.”

“Hold on. Say I believe your crazy story and Bon-Bon is possessed. How can I cure her?”

“Hey, can I ta—”

“Silence, Eater.” The alchemist stomped the ground, causing a white flame to run into the trap. Bon-Bon's head dropped down and she fell silent.

“HEY,” Lyra squeaked. “What do you think you're doing?”

“She will distract us. We can't distinguish if the Eater's will is speaking.”

Shirei didn't know how to feel, watching this. The ponies were getting more and more caught up in their heated discussion; Creepy had cut Bon-Bon off even more often than he cut off Lyra – meaning pretty much always – and now it seemed Bon-Bon couldn't speak anymore.

But, as much as the scene caught Shirei's attention, it was really time to get ready – get ready to leave. There was no immediate hurry though, so she took a moment to check her options. The first thing she noticed was how much energy she had. She hadn't been this well-fed since before the invasion! Where did it all come from? Some pity from Lyra couldn't possibly feed her this much. Thinking back, she had felt something then, but it had been just weird.

No matter where it had come from, the energy was very useful. Shirei ramped up the healing spell – though the hoof and wing would have to wait until she could lie down longer.

She moved a little further inside the bushes, allowing their leaves to fully hide the ponies from sight. A few cracking branches below her reminded her to be cautious, but the ponies were too far away, and too occupied, to notice a tiny sound. After settling down, Shirei could cast her spell in silence. She was able to focus on healing for some time until Lyra's shouting drew her attention again.

“We came here for HELP! Are you— You want to murder her?”

Shirei was ripped from her thoughts. Good distraction or not, this was escalating way too much.

“I—” The alchemist bit his lip. “I know this is of no help to you, but I am sorry. If I cannot gather the power to deal with the Eater, it must be destroyed. This… is my mistake. I always kept mana reserves for this case. But, the last day… I wasted too much, miscalculating explosives and figuring out how to… how to save a changeling.”

Save?

“The first is a rare error. And the changeling… she was dying. How could I foresee that this happens?”

You used it – for me? I… I didn't ask for your “mana”.

“So you need that stuff to save her? Then let's go get some instead of planning – hay, I can hardly say it – to murder Bon-Bon!”

“I will try. But chances are dim. My inability to keep mana in quantity is the reason we got to this point in the first place. The Eater – how long ago did she contact it?”

“Yesterday… afternoon, we went to the forest—”

“It's the second night then. So… the Eater must have been dealt with by dawn.”

“By Celestia! I— I'll go to Ponyville and ask for—”

“Don't. They will interfere more than they help. The— forget it, no time to explain. They won't be able to provide what we need, and then everypony will question my decisions, which is pointless.”

“Pointless? You're mad! You won't get to decide that! I'm—”

“I will do it immediately if you bring in ponies to stop me.” The alchemist sounded very matter-of-fact about it. “You haven't seen an Eater Hybrid like this one and I will make sure you never do. This one must not come free, it is one of the purest, purer than the one the Elements are engaging as we speak. Come to think of it…”

He produced his floating tool from earlier – out of a pocket in his cloak, not even his saddlebags – unfolding it from a smaller shape. This time, it didn't float though; he held it on an outer ring.

“You don't get it! I won't let you harm Bon-Bon, you hear?”

He ignored her, adjusting his instrument.

Lyra kept speaking, shouting, complaining – but just like the alchemist, Shirei stopped listening. It was getting dark. The ponies wouldn't notice a stampede passing them. This was her time to leave this mess behind.

There was no reason to wait.

She could just take a step, then the next – before she'd know, all this would be out of sight.

And maybe they'd save the pony.

Or… not.

And afterwards, they would find her gone.

The changeling ran away.

Hardly a surprise.

Shirei took a very deep breath.

Why was it so hard to just walk, as she had intended for a while now? She knew she didn't want to live at the expense of ponies, so there was no more place for her here. It had been a sick plan from the start. If anything, meeting them and seeing the results of her actions had made one thing abundantly clear to her: she couldn't live the way the hive had planned, no matter what. But running head-first into trouble just because she felt bad – that wouldn't revert anything that had happened. She would rather go back to the badlands, find some time to think, leaving everypony alone as she should.

What could she do in this mess anyway? She knew nothing of all this magic, only how to lie and deceive and hurt and conspire. How would any of that be useful in what little time was left until dawn?

Still, she didn't know. Not for sure, anyway. If anypony knew, then that alchemist, that creepy one, that unpredictable poker-face who might not feel anything at all, the most fearsome type for a changeling to face. Did he even care what happened here? Was he a mad scientist, a soldier, an outlaw? What would he really do when it came down to it? Might as well ask him and see whether he beheads me for breaking out.

Yep. That's what I'll do.

Of course she wouldn't. That thought was a bad joke. Which changeling would go meet ponies, close to Canterlot, undisguised, now? Just because she was loosely involved in something that randomly got a pony she'd never heard of in trouble? To try fix a problem she didn't understand in the slightest, one she could probably do nothing about?

She started walking toward the ponies.

Right. I'll just walk in on them. Throw my freedom away, to ask if I can help.

It was easy. Of course it was. Steps take you any direction with the same effort, don't they? One, another, there, the ponies came closer, one trapped, one panicking, one creepy as always.

And while I'm at it, I won't lie anymore.

When asked, she would tell them. Tell them all the reasons she can't be trusted.

I'm nuts.

As she made her way over moist grass at nightfall, each step was lighter than the last. No scale could gauge the weight lifted from her that moment.

Author's Note:

As always, I'm happy about comments~

Another chapter should be out next week.

Comments

[Misty Horse]

Some points through this story are confusing. Gonna keep reading, though.

[Gregonator]

OOH, I'm on the edge of my seat. Would Creepy really kill her. What will Lyra do. Will Shirei have the solution. SO many questions. I cant wait for the next chapter.

[Acron]

4170531

Can you please tell me what you find confusing? Just a rough idea, so I know where to look.

I could add to landscape description and character movement, or character thoughts, or details and interpretation of dialogue, or the story's current focal point... I just don't know which would help best, so I'd love hints about how it feels to read the story.

[Misty Horse]

Not really sure. Lol
Ill have to read it through again to figure out how to pinpoint it. It may just be me missing some minor detail that was pointed out earlier.
I think shirei was adorabpe with the immitation of creepy guy. Would love to see a video of that.