The Alchemist

by Hummingbirds

Ambrosia

A star rose on the horizon, gently, brilliantly lighting the sky. A porcelain image sat upon a high tower, overlooking yet another carefully painted day, wings slowly, yet not fully, falling to her sides. In thousands of years, the goddess had much time to learn of the mind, being nothing more than a simple soul at her heart, and few things troubled her... but as the clouds flowed past, a long sealed part of her mind became sentient yet again. She, the goddess of day and warmth, was scared.

And she knew it. In the lapse of mortal time, nearly all that could be known, was known. All that she had brought with her to this world, was what remained, as she planted knowledge in others and sealed off the memories for herself, letting time carry on unhindered.. and yet, there was a fault in that. A simple student of hers, (nothing more, she told herself,) had access to virtually every thought, every musing, and every soul in existence. She could know more, and ascend far beyond the reaches of herself, easily surpassing her taken power. She remembered why she dared not bring more of that knowledge with her, truly believing that only good should exist, but painful meditation ensued regardless, bringing to her knowledge that certain things truly must be. This, she learned long ago.

---

A pink maned mare sat at a mahogany table, surrounded by sturdy wooden walls and a warm hearth. Lanterns were strewn about, giving an orange glow to her surroundings. She paid it no attention. Across from her sat a friend, by the name of Ophelia. The umber mare was by all definition, blissful, as she sat, quietly sipping tea with a goddess. Celestia, however, had other things on her mind. Recently, she had taken more interest in psychology, and more blatantly noticing that, regardless of the incredible intelligence and self-awareness of the ponies, they all had one thing in common- They were all happy. Sure, there were foals who cried from bullies, and drunkards who roamed the night in search of fun, but none were depressed. At all.

This, of course, made her rather happy as well, knowing that sadness had no place in her beautiful world, but that was short lived. Several years later, again interested in philosophies regarding psychology, she began to feel that, according to what she knew about the world, she could only amplify the joy around her by simply adding one thing- an inverse. It was planned, of course. Once every century, a foal would be chosen by here who possessed the greatest potential, and her sister would guide them along an adverse path, showing them the beauty of other things, showing them new worlds, new feelings, and new power. Celestia had known that those foals would come to value strength and ability over all else, and those were chosen to see the light of darkness, to become creatures of night, the lunar guard. They meditated for years, and trained for decades, slowly bringing their inner, lethargic, calculative, and cold souls to boil, becoming confident, strong, and incredibly powerful in magic, as even the earthen breed learned its ways. Those rare souls could shatter boulders underhoof, raise crops in a day, and, much to their liking, maintain the vague, rather shallow spirit of yin that resided in equestria. Usually, they played simple pranks, like planting a spider in sheets, or simply casting illusions of fleeting shadows where one thought they were alone. And for the time, for thousands of years to come, these century old beings roamed free, carefully stabilizing the residence of the land.

--

Of course, after a tragic event where Luna's philosophical teachings, in her attempt to better understand the notions, essentially trained herself, but without mortal bindings. Her darkness grew, and soon with it, her anger. Needless to say, such thoughts, for mere safety, were agreed upon to not be had yet again, and the sisters cast the memories and knowledge into exile. However, the true affects of her simply maintaining happiness and playful jeer had shown, as short, chaotic events occurred more often, and natural oddities took place of forged. With a cringe, she remembered the most recent events... A small shack on the edge of a lake housing a fisherpony just dissapeared, and left a tree in its wake, growing a single fruit each year at the turn of spring. That, however, wasn't it. Its fruit were eaten once, by a strange foal of which nobody knew, and ever since, the pony had developed delusions of rusted, gargantuan fishhooks hanging from chains upon ceilings, branches, or any perch.

But in truth, it was minor. Albeit being the first case of permanent dementia, it was easily cured with a yearly spell from a doctor, and all was well.

Still a porcelain figure sat, watching the now risen sun. The universe wanted balance again, and it was telling her. Aside from her fear of Twilight's ability, she knew that such a thing was entrusted to the very element of magic for a reason. And with her final musing, she walked down to her court.

--

Somewhere, on the edge of a lake, a tree shuddered, and burst into flames.

Comments

[Hummingbirds]

AAAAAAAAAAAAH. New chapter! IT PROBABLY SUCKS TOO!

[Shielded Myth]

Fairly nice chapter, could be a little better but i liked it

[Aziraphael]

Seriously.....this story is so trippy. Stories like this definitely aren't for everyone, but for anyone who's just a little twisted in the head or has a penchant for abstract philosophy, this is a gold mine. Keep up the good work .