Twilight Sparkle was not having a good day. For starters, her mane was an absolute mess. Add that to the fact that the pony she had come to see had turned her away at the door, and she wasn't in a good mood.
"Spike," she turned to her assistant, who got out a quill and scroll on instinct. "Take a letter. Dear Princess Celestia, today I approached that new alicorn I recently read about in the newspaper. I wanted to find out what caused his ascension, as there have not been any major events recently like the ones my friends and I have faced. But he turned me away at the door citing his business as to why he couldn't talk, and gave me a potion that resulted in… well, the barber shop seemed unfazed by it, at least. I ask your advice on how to approach this new addition to the alicorns, as he appears to have gone slightly power-mad with his newfound skills. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle."
Spike the dragon finished scribbling down the letter and prepared to send it off, but before he could inhale to prepare his fire breath, an alabaster hoof snatched the letter from his grasp. "Oh, a letter for me? I haven't gotten anything from you recently, Twilight."
Twilight spun around to find her mentor and current princess of the sun, Celestia, smiling down at her. She was dressed in, of all things, a fishing vest and carried several rods and other fishing equipment with her. Standing behind the regal alicorn were Mage Meadowbrook and a pegasus mare she didn't recognize.
"Twilight, dearie, it's been ages! Come here, let me get a look at you." Meadowbrook stepped forward and gave Twilight a quick once-over. "Dearie, you definitely look like you had a run-in with my colt. Want to come fishing with us to unwind? I know he's quite the hoofful. Oh, and where are my manners? This is Juniper Berry, she'll be joining us today."
"It's an honor, your majesty," Juniper said as she bowed.
Twilight dismissively waved a hoof. "Oh, don't worry about formal titles. Call me Twilight! And if you're all willing to have me, I would be happy to tag along! Celestia, can we perhaps talk about that alicorn later?"
"I was actually going to speak with you about him soon. And these two know him personally,so I'm sure they would be happy to warn you about Arca's… eccentric behaviors."
Juniper groaned. "I swear, even on my days off he gets involved."
The deep blue waters of crater lake shimmered in the midday sun as four ponies (plus royal guards) stood on the deck on a rented fishing vessel.
"So he's pretty much Pinkie Pie, but an alicorn."
"That's a good way of putting it, yes."
Twilight cast her line out again with another question. "And he's older than Cadence?"
Juniper reeled in a fish, letting it go quickly. "Meadowbrook raised him, so I can say with certainty that he was around before the elements of harmony."
"And he travelled from the past the long way, like I did, so he is a bit dated in his attitudes," Celestia added. "And remember, he won't remember you unless you buy something from him."
The group continued fishing in relative silence for a bit, occasionally swapping stories about their daily lives, their friends, and their jobs. It was peaceful.
Meadowbrook sat down for a minute to relax. "So, Juniper, you pretty much live here, with this lake at the base of the cliff the town is on. Why's it called Crater Lake?"
Twilight's eyes lit up and she entered 'lecture mode' instantly. "Oh, I know this! This lake used to be a mine in the early days of Rainbow Falls, until a Gryphon airship crashed in it and destabilized the mine's structure. The ship's still down there, probably laden with gold, gems, and ancient artifacts that could be worth a fortune!"
Celestia giggled. "Mostly right, Twilight, but part of that is a lie to prevent anypony back then from knowing how strong Arca is. Remember what I told you about the townsponies trying to run him out of town after becoming an alicorn?"
"So what really happened?"
Juniper chimed in. "He changes the story every time, but the only thing he keeps consistent is that there never was a mine, and the crater is from him fighting something. He told me he suplexed a hydra hard enough to make the impact."
Celestia gave a quizzical look. "That's a new one. He told me that he summoned a meteor to beat a dragon… but he told Luna that he defeated a Roc with 'an admittedly excessive amount of dynamite'."
"Nah, I totally beat a Golem with a super giant mega lazer blazer attack!"
Everyone on the ship jumped in surprise at once. "ARCA?!"
"Heya! How's it going, folks?" Arcane, who had suddenly surfaced from the water with nothing but a wet lab coat and a snorkel, grabbed the side of the boat and pulled himself up… before proceeding to shake off like a dog, soaking everypony. "Ah… much better! Now then, permission to come aboard, Captain Princess-boss?"
"Ugh… you might as well."
"Yay!" The damp stallion totted gleefully over to Meadowbrook and gave her a hug, which she reciprocated without complaint. "Hi, mom! I missed you! And I found a cool thing! Look!" Lighting his horn, Arca levitated a large treasure chest out of the water. It looked old, and valuable. "I found this down at the bottom while snorkeling."
Juniper stopped him. "Wait… this lake is 300 feet deep. No snorkel could reach that far."
"That probably explains why I couldn't breathe, then. Thank goodness for my oxygen potions!" He held one up to show off the concoction.
"That's an empty bottle."
"No, it's an oxygen potion. Big difference."
"WHAT?!" The group suddenly turned to Twilight, who had opened the treasure chest. "Why is this thing filled with KELP?! Where are the ancient coins? The gems? The historical artifacts?"
Arca shrugged. "Oh, you mean that shiny stuff? I ditched 'em to make room for the kelp. I needed ground up kelp for some potions, and fresh ingredients are always better!"
Twilight facehooved. "Dear princess Celestia, I give up. Please send cider."
HOLY SHIT THE META ALARMS ARE BLARING.
Lmao. Leave it to Arca to think gold and jewels are worthless. Though it's certainly understandable that he would want the Kelp due to his love of his work/job. Plus, I mean like...Arca is more than rich enough to never have to worry about money, yet another reason Kelp > Jewels & Gold
Also, I feel so sorry for Twilight. Someone who is as Lawful as she is...it must be very difficult to deal with someone as chaotic as Arca. Doubly so when she hasn't even had a chance to acclimate to his unique brand of crazy!
Though NOW I'm rather curious to see if Twilight will be in any of the next few chapters. If so...I kinda feel sorry for whatever it is she's going to have to deal with <.<;
9700473
Yeah, Arca's line of thought down there was "hey, coins! Wait, these went out of circulation centuries ago. No store would take them... meh, moving on."
that was a really mean thing she said about pinkie pie, and she calls herself a friend
9700497
That line DID feel off for me too. I changed 'intelligent' to 'smarter'.
9700505
To be honest, I feel even that's kinda mean. Pinkie's an engineer at heart, probably with a background in thermal dynamics(Considering the party cannon), so she and Arca just have different knowledge sets. Arca probably wouldn't be able to make Pinkie's chopper, but Pinkie probably wouldn't be able to do the same alchemical experiments as Arca without more disastrous results.
As a prospect mechanical engineer, it rubs me the wrong way when people say scientists are smarter than me.
9700538
Point taken, again. I may change it to "So he's like pinkie, but an alicorn."
Oh Twilight, you are just tempting fate now... Who knows what kind of stuff will happen if those two meet?
Something tells me that not enough cider in the world is going to help with keeping up with Arca. Heck, I bet the normal term that's used in Mayor Silver's office for when they look at collateral is called 'The Arca Amount' because the number's too high.
Side note though, even though the coins might be useless, can't Arca just use any molten nacho cheese he has left over to melt the coins down and turn it into something more... well... practical?
I wonder how long it would take Twilight to break under Arcane.
What use would he even have for gold? How many potions do you know that need gold in it?
...I now want to see Pinkie Pie and Arca try and bake/brew something together.
The truth about the crater: Arca and Alondro did battle for title of Equestria's Weirdest and Most Insane Mad Scientist.
There were only losers in that battle... everywhere...
Only 300 feet deep, eh?
Time to mount a recovery expedition! I shall recover ALL THE TREASURE and become disgustingly, nauseatingly rich! Then, I SHALL BUY THE WALT DISNEY CORPORATION AND ALPHABET, MAKING ME THE MOST POWERFUL AND EVIL BEING IN THE MULTIVERSE!! MUWAH HA HA HA!!
9700717
Who said that he had to use gold for potions? If anything he can-
QUACK!!!
... Aw hell.
To be honest, after dealing with Pinkie as much as she has she should've seen that coming and prepare accordingly
New headcannon accepted
But Twiggles Snarkle (I so want Arca to keep calling her that after she buys something simply because she snarked while doing it and he NEVER changes a known name) is a smart mare experienced with Pinky-ness. Therefore she shall buy air potions (after checking with Juniper and Meadowbrook if they're the right ones) and go diving for the artifacts and treasures.
For she needs a win after dealing with Arca
9700730
Party cupcakes in the shape of flasks and each one has a different party effect when eaten.
9700837
Just be sure that there isn't any mane growth potion mixed into the batter. The thought of having more floof on Pinkie Pie alone is mind boggling
9700851
And now you've piqued my curiosity.
9700896
FLOOF PARTY!!
Ha!!!!!
Is she including the fact that he doesn’t know her name
Imagine if Arca and Ragar from ‘the worst equestrian necromancer’ were to meet. The chaos would make Discord faint out of sheer joy.
9700795
If you do buy Disney, please shut them down.
9700544
Pinkie and Arca are like Beetlejuice, you say their names too many times and they show up. Also, you’d probably need weed to deal with Arca, not cider. Just a guess.
good thing he's an alicorn not only is there a lack of oxygen to deal with but the pressure.
9701579 I shall put Disney is charge of all movies, television, and Internet censorship!
(ABSOLUTE EVIL ACHIEVED!!)
9701954
Something tells me that’s what they’re already trying for.
9702668 Well, yeah, obviously.
But I shall become the one in charge of it!
Then it'll be amazing. I promise free genetically engineered talking ponies for everyone! (Disclaimer: genetically engineered talking ponies may become undead, roving vampiric creatures and/or destabilize and explode violently without warning)
9702988
How much for two?
I’m LATE.
BUT STILL HERE, AND LOVING THIS.
9702988
I’ve got a way more evil idea! Give Pinkie a flask of nitroglycerin and tell her to hold still.
Sooo... how about a update?
Also, have a Duck.
media1.tenor.com/images/17cbebab988a5a7102ffe72874f91541/tenor.gif?itemid=3842249
Alcohol is the answer to all problems Including friendship problems, sponsored by Friendship Princess
9700730
I know this comment is a bit old, but now that it's happened, I hope it was enjoyable to see Arca and Pinkie team up.
With a focus on potions instead of parties