A Dangerous Sparkle

by David Silver

113 - Arriving in Yi Sheng

The train came to a smooth halt at the station. The party stepped off the train alongside the remaining, and shaken, passengers. Soft Mane looked around the large town, "Bigger than Turves, way smaller than Viljatown."

Applejack looked towards the roofs, "Funny ar-key-tech-chure, so, ya figure Sonata and Lex'll catch up?"

Twilight shook her head, "There's no way to predict. First thing we'll do is..." She turned to Spike, "Spike, come with me. We're going to sell what you picked up, and see if there's somepony in town who'll heal Rainbow." Spike sharply saluted as Twilight looked to the others, "Find lodging, then we'll meet at that well." She pointed at a well that stood in the middle of a square not far from the train station.

They separated then. It didn't take long to find a jewelry store and to press inside. Twilight strode up to the counter, where another unicorn sat, a mare. She smiled at Twilight, "Welcome to my humble shop. We have gems for every occasion. You have the look of a spellcaster. Are you looking for enchanting materials?"

"Hello," started Twilight as she levitated Spike's bag of gems over, "We'd like to sell these."

The mare opened the bag with her magic and began picking out gems with a soft hmm. "You haven--"

Twilight cast a quick spell, all the gems in the bag began to clean up swiftly, soon all sparkling clean.

The mare nodded, "That works, I suppose. Are you adventurers? I assume yes, coming in with a random bag of gems." She began separating the gems into neat piles. "Do you even know what you're selling?"

Twilight pointed at one pile, "That is a pile of unworked emeralds." She pointed to another, "Opals." She pointed to a third, "Amethysts."

The shopkeep blinked softly, "Huh, you do know your gems. Maybe I should take this seriously."

"I learned from the best," said Twilight with pride.

"Rarity?" asked Spike, getting a nod from her.

The shopkeep leaned back after the sorting was done, "None of them are cut very well, most of them aren't cut at all, which you could argue is better than a bad cut. I can do the cutting, given time, but time is money." She made a dismissive wave, "Five hundred for the batch."

Spike looked ready to accept the deal, but Twilight shook her head emphatically, "You're testing me." She pointed at a pile of glittering purple stones, "This set alone is worth that much. Three thousand."

The shopkeep sat up, "Three thousand?! You want my foal to starve in the streets, is that what it is? Look at these sloppy cuts, I'll be lucky to get anything for them. You'll get eight hundred and you'll thank the Sun Queen for my generosity."

Twilight turned up her nose, "I thought you were a serious businesspony. Anyone could turn a profit with these, even the badly cut ones. Spells hardly care, and spellcasters are the most free with their money beside. Two thousand, and you're practically robbing us."

The mare slapped the counter with a hoof, "You're a nice kid, but you don't know anything about my field. I struggle day after day to make ends meet, and overpaying for product is how I'll end up with a tin cup instead of a store. Thousand two hundred, and I'm tired of arguing."

Twilight nodded, "Sold. Thank you." The shopkeep nudged all the gems back into the bag and tucked it away before producing a hundred and twenty platinum coins for Twilight.

When they stepped out of the store, Spike clapped his claws, "That was amazing. When did you learn to haggle?"

Twilight smiled gently, "I read a book about it. Know the value of what you're trading for, be firm, be polite, and know when to fold." She nudged Spike with a wing, "Let's find the others. Rainbow will be so excited we have enough to get her wing repaired."

They moved swiftly back for the well where Rainbow was waiting for them with a bored expression. She perked when they came into sight, "Hey guys!"

"Hey RD," said Spike, "We got the money."

Rainbow tilted her head, "All of it?"

Twilight raised a hoof, "All of it. Where are we staying?"

Rainbow glanced around, "Couldn't we go fix the wing first?"

Twilight frowned, "You waited this long, Dash, a few more minutes won't kill you. Where's Soft?"

Dash pushed off the well and began trotting off, "Fine fine, this way!" She led the way through the town to a squat one-floor inn with a hanging sign that read, 'The Exploding Mare'.

Spike raised a brow at the sign, "I've seen better names before."

Twilight shook her head, putting it out of her mind as they proceeded inside. Soft was just inside, parked at a wide table and reading a book. They moved to join her and soon everyone was seated around the table. Soft closed her book and looked to Twilight, then Spike, "How much did you get?"

Twilight extended her wings, taking on a displaying stance without realizing her pegasus side was showing, "More than enough to fix Rainbow Dash, replace Spike's lost backpack and supplies, and take a train back after we finish investigating."

Rainbow extended her remaining wing, "Aw yeah! So let's get to it then!"

Soft waved a hand in an uncertain fashion, "This isn't the biggest town. Are you sure someone here can do that?"

Rainbow's expression fell and she stomped a hoof, "Well let's go back to Viljatown and do it there."

Twilight shook her head, "With the accident on the way in, I doubt the train's running. Let's ask around before we give up." She rose from her seat, "Didn't somepony say this was an alchemist town? Somepony here has to be able to brew up a potion to fix you, Dash."

A new voice joined the conversation as a griffon approached from another table. He had the head of a raven and the back end of a snow cheetah. "I heard you seek the service of an alchemist?"

Twilight looked over the odd griffon. All the ones she'd seen in Equestria were eagle/lions. "Yes, actually... are you one?"

The raven griffon shook his head, "Nay, but I work for one of the local colleges. They would know how to find one willing for the job."

Twilight extended a wing towards Rainbow, "We need to fix her wing. My reading says that requires a 'Regenerate' spell? Does somepony have a potion of it?"

"A potion, no," said the Raven as Rainbow grumped and sank to the ground, "But an extract, perhaps."

Twilight raised a brow, "I'm afraid I don't know the difference, but if it fixes Rainbow, you have our attention." The griffon made a come hither motion with his talons before moving from the building. The party shared glances before they abandoned the table to follow after. It was ten minutes' hike from one side to the other side of the town and they arrived at a large gated structure.

The griffon walked up to a rope dangling beside the gate and pulled it, ringing a small bell.

An equine head popped up over the top of the wall, a horn on his brow, "Hello? Oh, Night Wind, pleasure to see you again. You have guests?"

Night nodded lightly, "Customers for the Guildmaster."

The gate soon swung open for them and they were admitted into the alchemist's guild. One thing Twilight noticed quickly was that, Night Wind excluded, there were no non-unicorns present. They seemed polite, nodding at the group as they went by, though a few looked at Soft Mane or Spike with curiosity or wonder.

They descended stone stairs into the mountain, navigating a honeycomb of passages before they arrived at gold-framed doors. "This is where we part," said Night, knocking thrice on the door before padding off quietly. The door opened a moment later to reveal a scowling unicorn mare.

"What do you require? I'm conducting very fragile experiments," she demanded.

Rainbow advanced to the fore, "Hey, we hear you can regrow wings?"

The alchemist mare raised a brow, "I may be able to do something of the sort, but what do I get in return?"

Twilight raised a hoof, "One hundred platinum, more then the market share for such a spell."

"No," said the alchemist, planting her bottom on the stone floor, "I'm not some apprentice you can wave funds at and expect a spell to fly out. That formula took years, decades even, to master."

Rainbow shrank a little, but her emotions quickly turned around and she scowled at the mare, "Look lady. We're trying to be nice here. I want my wing back and I ain't leaving without it." She stomped a hoof on the ground, snorting.

The Alchemist looked past Dash over the others before raising a hoof to point at Spike, "Him. His horns. Powdered sky dragon horn is a valuable reagent that I am entirely without. That would be a fair trade."

Spike's claws flew up and he covered his horns protectively with a scared look in his eyes. The alchemist rolled her eyes, "Don't be a hatchling, your horns will grow back over time. This is your friend, is it not? A month or two without horns should be worth her entire limb."

Spike lowered his claws down, "Yeah... I guess you're right."

"You're the best!" exclaimed Rainbow, tackling Spike to the ground and hugging him.

Soft Mane crossed her arms, "Are you sure about this, Spike?"

Spike nodded as he gently extracted himself from under the ecstatic Rainbow Dash, "Like she said, they'll grow back."

Applejack set a hoof on Spike's shoulder, "That's a mighty fine thing you're doing, partner."

The alchemist rolled a hoof, "Yes yes, time is gold." Her horn glowed as she hefted Spike into the air, "More action, less discussion. This won't hurt but a moment."

The door slammed shut in the faces of the rest of the party.

Twilight slowly tilted her head, "Did we do the right thing?"

Soft shrugged her shoulders, "If she tries anything funny, Spike'll rip her in half."

They waited in a fitful silence, sitting together in the dim tunnel with little to look at or do. It was only about half an hour when the door opened, allowing a teetering Spike to shamble out with a dazed expression. Where his horns had been were now just filed-down nubs.

The alchemist strode out confidently, "You." She pointed at Rainbow, "In, now."

Rainbow shivered, then steeled herself and marched forward, "Ready to get my wing back now."

The door shut sharply once Rainbow was inside, sealing her in with the mare. The mare strode to a table and pointed, "Lay down." The table was just as wide as a pony, but not long enough by far.

Rainbow stepped over the little pedestal with some confusion, "How do I lay on it?"

The table sprung into action, straps securing Rainbow's legs tightly, almost painfully so. It stretched out, pulling her taut and suspending her in the air. "Woah! This isn't what I signed u--" Her words were silenced as a bottle of something was forced against her lips.

"Drink," ordered the mare, "And your wing will be renewed."

Dash considered her options, but the chance of having her wings won out. She guzzled down the nasty, sour gunk and spit out the bottle. It was caught in the unicorn's mental grip before it hit the ground. Rainbow began to feel warm and tingly all over before a new pain shot through the stub of her lost wing. Before her amazed eyes, the stub began to grow out, replacing lost bones, then tendons. Muscles grew over that as fine blood vessels wove through the forming flesh. All manner of subtle viscera Rainbow had no hope to identify was on display before the skin finally concealed it. Fresh sharp pains exploded through the limb as feathers burst free and grew rapidly to full size. She had lost all track of time, but when it was done, she was whole.

Author's Note:

Rainbow Dash finds this chapter... acceptable.

She cannot say the same about the typing.

Comments

[Neece]

That's gotta hurt.

[CCC]

It was only about half an horn when the door opened

That's... not a measurement of time that I am familiar with. And Spike had both horns more than merely halved...

[David Silver]

5737806 Ha, meant an hour, fixed.

[Bugsydor]

5737840
Fair enough! Dang that was fast.

[RadicalDishonesty]

Applejack looked towards the roofs, "Funny ar-key-tech-chure, so, ya figure Sonata and Lex'll catch up?"

I hate you Applejack. So, so much.

The shopkeep sat up, "Three thousand?! You want my foal to starve in the streets, is that what it is? Look at these sloppy cuts, I'll be lucky to get anything for them. You'll get eight hundred and you'll thank the Sun Queen for my generosity."

And now the shopkeep has a funny generically-foreign accent to me. I don't know if that makes me a bad person... Probably.

[David Silver]

5737888 Don't be hating on the AJ.

[Booster Spice]

Shopkeeper missed chance to have large gem guarge pop up when shouted for. "Bert, this one won't haggle"

Spike got Beavis and Buttheaded. "I think we just got laid"

Dash gets her wing back, Is ther any recovery time, as in loss of limb for duration leads to minuses in use of regained limb, verses rolls to relearn, compensate?? Or is that all taken care of in a given extract of given quality, level?

That extract would be really useful to have, if the price of infusion could be paid. Maybe after a bit more leveling up, and Rarity bringing gifts of head sized gems.

[David Silver]

5738420 She has her wing. Mechanically, she's good.

[Sable Dawn]

5738457 umm on their own pegasi wings do not work mechanically, are you implying that she still cannot fly. Just asking, as I enjoy this story greatly and am rather curious about the next chapter.
Though of course best wishes to Rainbow Dash and Spike to get back to full fighting form, I mean Spike used them horns for a lot.

[David Silver]

5738692 She has her wings, she can flyyyyyy!

Do her wings, physically, empower her to fly? No, not really, that wouldn't make any physical sense, but her magic is in her wings. No wings, no fly magic, no flying.

But she has them back!

[Sable Dawn]

5738698 Cool,,thanks for answering.

[Breakfateschain]

Good thing Rainbow got her wing back, but shame about the horn, Spike uses those in combat a fair amount

[Alzrius]

The party stepped off the train alongside the remaining, shaken, passengers

Just to make that flow better, I'd change it to "...the remaining, and shaken, passengers."

she turned to Spike, "Spike, come with me.

This seems like the beginning of a new sentence, so the "she" at the beginning should be capitalized.

Twilight pointed at one pile, "That is a pile of unworked emerald." She pointed to another, "Opals." She pointed to a third, "Amethyst."

Both "emerald" and "Amethyst" need to be pluralized.

I struggle day after day to make the ends meet, and overpaying for product is how I'll end up with a tin cup instead of a store.

She struggles day after day to "make ends meet." There's no need to put a "the" in there.

She led the way through the town to a squat one floor inn with a hanging sign that read, 'The Exploding Mare'.

It's a squat "one-floor inn."

It was ten minutes hike from one side to the other side of the town and they arrived at a large gated structure.

It was "ten minutes' hike."

Night nodded lightly, "Customers for the guild master."

"Guildmaster" is a compound word.

They descended stone stairs into the mountain, navigating a honeycomb of passages before they arrived at gold framed doors.

The doors are "gold-framed."

The Alchemist looked past Dash over the others before raising a hoof to point at Spike, "Him. His horns.

No need to capitalize "Alchemist" here.

Spike lowered his claws down, "Yeah... I guess you're right.

There needs to be a closing quotation mark at the end of that sentence.

The door slapped shut in the faces of the rest of the party.

This would sound a lot better if the door "slammed" shut.

Soft shrugged her shoulders, "If she tries anything fancy, Spike'll rip her in half."

Again, it'd sound more natural if she said "tries anything funny."

Where his horns had been were now just filed down nubs.

He has "filed-down nubs."

She guzzled down the nasty sour gunk and spit out the bottle.

I'd put a comma between "nasty" and "sour."

She had lost all track of time, but when it was done, she was whole.

Purely for style, I'd end that sentence with "again."

[Mad Maudlin]

That was suspiciously easy. She's gonna have Alien Limb Syndrome, I know it!

[David Silver]

5738738 Fixes applied, my faithful editor. Thank you!

[albedoequals1]

Spike clapped his claws, "That was amazing. When did you learn to haggle?"

Twilight smiled gently, "I read a book about it.

Oh Twilight, don't ever change

The mare strode to a stable and pointed, "Lay down." The table was just as wide as a pony, but not long enough by far.

I think you meant "table" based on the next sentence.

It's early yet, but the group seems a little indifferent about the people they left behind. Either they are assuming Sonata and Lex are fine (not at all certain under these circumstances) or they don't care whether they died or not (which seems unusually callous, at least for Twilight and Spike).

[terrycloth]

5738874 Alchemists are known for their experiments. But a guildmaster should be relatively reputable.

[Mad Maudlin]

*ponders*

You know, if I were Spike, I would've tried to substitute a dose of man-spackle instead of the horns. It's probably rarer, outside of certain sexy sexy ponies, than horn dust.

[Alzrius]

I have to admit that, while the sub-plot with Dash's wing seems to have been wrapped up rather quickly and cleanly, I honestly can't see what else could be done with it. Even leaving aside the fact that Everglow (like most Pathfinder-style worlds) is a place where major issues can be treated so long as you're in a town of modest size and have modest funding, I'm not sure what else could be done with this particular arc insofar as Dash's character goes. We did get to see her despairing, but by the same token her friends did what they're supposed to do, and refused to let her fall too far. Beyond that, it's hard to see how else this could showcase her character, so maybe it's for the best that this wraps up.

I agree with albedoequals1, however, in that they're being too casual with regards to their missing party members. While there's not much that they can do, it doesn't change the fact that as far as they know Lex and Sonata are more than likely dead, and even if not then they're probably hurt and alone in the wilderness. Plus all of the other passengers in those cars. While their actions are extremely limited in that regard, it's at least worth them considering and discussing what they could do, even if they come up with nothing.

[David Silver]

5739377 Fixed!

[FanOfMostEverything]

Appraise. It may not seem like an impressive skill, but when you need it, you'll be glad you have it.

And Dash has her wing back in exchange for something that'll grow back naturally. Sorry, Spike, you'll have to work with just three attacks for a month or two. Assuming it doesn't take longer. Still, Dash can fulfill her purpose in life again, Spike and she both understand that being awesome doesn't prevent bad things from happening to you, and the party can restock. (I'd have suggested they shop around a bit, but again, Rainbow Dash was denied her purpose in life. That makes recovery kind of a high priority.)

Now it becomes a question of whether they wait to see if Lex and Sonata will catch up or if they press on without them.

[Vutava]

113 - Arriving in Yi Sheng

Maybe it's just written wrong in the Ponyfinder Campaign Setting.

5738420 Problem with extracts is:

An alchemist can create only a certain number of extracts of each level per day. His base daily allotment of extracts is given on Table: Alchemist. In addition, he receives bonus extracts per day if he has a high Intelligence score, in the same way a wizard receives bonus spells per day. When an alchemist mixes an extract, he infuses the chemicals and reagents in the extract with magic siphoned from his own magical aura. An extract immediately becomes inert if it leaves the alchemist's possession, reactivating as soon as it returns to his keeping—an alchemist cannot normally pass out his extracts for allies to use (but see the “infusion” discovery below). An extract, once created, remains potent for 1 day before becoming inert, so an alchemist must re-prepare his extracts every day. Mixing an extract takes 1 minute of work—most alchemists prepare many extracts at the start of the day or just before going on an adventure, but it's not uncommon for an alchemist to keep some (or even all) of his daily extract slots open so that he can prepare extracts in the field as needed.

(from PFSRD alchemist page [bold mine])

[Not so New Brony]

The town's name has been bugging me for a while, and it's not about it being incorrect as Vutava has been stating so far but the way it is pronounced. Is it supposed to be the chinese word for doctor?

[David Silver]

6843761 Learn something new every day.

[Shadow Lance]

6843788 dang it, look at what ya did spike, your most valuable weapon, lets hope he gets some fake horns to substitute till his grow back. he should have instead given them to one of their party memberes to get a sword out of

[redmar]

More than enough to fix Rainbow dash

Dash needs to be capitalized. Not all typos were fixed in this chapter.

[David Silver]

7715537 Fix'd

[Crystal Treasure]

they'll grow back.

Missing end quotation marks.

I always enjoy seeing characters haggling. It's amusing the way they're practically insulting each other, but come away without being angry.

[David Silver]

8929192
Saw another ancient typo lurking nearby.