Journals of the Royal Alchemist

by Ashfur

Entry 9: Where's Arca?

Three sharp knocks sounded on the door to Arca's lab. There was a subtle click as the door swung open, Celestia poking her head in. "Arcane, I need to talk to you. Some Zebrican herbalists are asking for some rarer ingredients from the Everfree and I was wondering if you could escort them to… the… locations?" She looked around. The lab was silent. The lanterns and magic crystals were off. "...Arca? Hm." She turned to her secretary. "Bullet Point, did Arcane have anything scheduled for today?"

"No, your majesty."

Welp, that was the red flag to end all red flags. "Scramble the guards. Either Arca's been taken by somepony, which would be bad, or he's outside and unsupervised, which would be WORSE."

---

January 10, 37 ANM

Do you know how hard it is to brew 17 different potions at once? It's very hard. And I'm gonna have to do it when I get home. But, such is life. I sold off most of my stock at a discount for a charity sale to support the local orphanage. Ironskin potions, cold resistance, pain relief, dreamwalking, and more! I even got authorized to sell a few temporary wing potions to some curious earth ponies that wanted to try flying, it was great! Plus, I wanted to help get some extra bits for the poor foals. I've been orphaned twice, I know how much it hurts.

But yeah, I can only do so much at any given time, even I can't brew more than five or six potions at once. And I need someone to watch the lab while I'm gone. Maybe it's high time I follow in mom's hoofsteps and get an apprentice of my own.

Still, it's been a super productive day! I probably shoulda told Celestia directly that I was going to be out working the charity sale, but she's a smart mare. It's not like me disappearing off her radar for six hours is going to cause a panic.

Arca put down his journal and got up from his spot under the oak tree in the back yard of the orphanage. He glanced up at a sudden commotion, there appeared to be a contingent of royal guards racing across one of the streets in the upper district. "Hm, I wonder what those guys are looking for. I am technically a knight… maybe I should get my armor and help?" He paused, contemplating his options. "...nah, I want food. Mister Splinters, watch the stand while I'm gone, okay? Remember, it's a charity sale, so half off regular prices."

"I AM MISTER SPLINTERS. BALL. BALL. BALL." The orphan foals were certainly happy playing fetch with the pup. Taking that to be confirmation that everything would be fine, Arca set off to find food. Which, in the case of Arca, meant heading to the bakery. It wasn't a far walk, and he could overhear a conversation from inside.

"And you haven't seen him?"

"If I had, sir, I'd tell you. You know he's a regular customer here. He was talking about a charity sale. I'm pretty sure there was one going on at the mason's guild. Maybe check there?"

"Good idea. Thank you for your time." A group of guards ponies sprinted out of the bakery and right past Arca, who was keeping a low profile so as to not interrupt. And then he calmly strolled into the bakery.

"Crispy Crust! Hi good to see you how you doing gimmie bread."

"Ah, Arcane! Good to see you." Crispy reached over and grabbed a loaf of pumpernickel bread off the display case, where heating crystals were keeping it warm. "You know, the guards were just in here looking for you."

"They were?" Placing a few bits on the counter to pay, Arca picked up the bread in his magic and unceremoniously took a bite off the end of it. "I coulda told them I was here if I knew that. I wonder why they needed me."

"They were in a rush, but apparently nopony at the castle knows where you are."

Arca blinked, his muzzle already eating at the soft, porous insides of the bread, which was the best part. "No, that's not possible. I told Celestia I was going out for the day, and gave her an address, AND a timetable. I wrote it all down and put the paper in the box on her desk!"

"What box? You forget I've never been in the castle, unlike you."

"Oh. Celestia has two boxes on her desk with paperwork in them. I put the note in the box labelled 'Out' because I was going out for the day."

Crispy, who had worked in his family's bakery his whole life and had never heard of an in or out box, nodded. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Yeah, although I didn't have any paper on hoof so I used one from Celestia's desk. I hope she doesn't mind."

"HEAR YE, HEAR YE!" A crier called out from outside, catching the pair's attention. "PRINCESS CELESTIA HAS ISSUED AN OFFICIAL ROYAL PROCLAMATION!" The young colt looked down at the paper he had been given. "IT READS AS FOLLOWS: I AM GOING TO THE HOME FOR LOST FOALS FOR THEIR CHARITY SALE. I HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE. ALSO PLEASE GET ME SOME CHAMOMILE FROM THE MARKET, MY SUPPLY HAS RUN OUT AND IT WOULD MEAN A LOT TO ME!"

"Hey, I wrote that, not Celestia!" Arca groaned, watching all the ponies in the market make a beeline for the stands that sold flowers, hoping that they would get in the princess's good graces. Other ponies rushed toward the orphanage, hoping to meet Celestia there. "Welp, I better head back to the charity sale."

Arca returned to the charity sale to find the place mobbed. High ranking nobles were arguing over who got to adopt one of the foals. Others were swarming Celestia, who had, after hearing the announcement, decided to save face by cancelling her afternoon off to attend the event. Much to her annoyance, though, she was dealing with an increasingly large pile of chamomile flowers, and on top of that, she had to call the special guard contingent that often helped care for Mr. Splinters so they could get the scary timberwolf away from the nobles.

"Hey, Princess-Boss! You got me chamomile!"

---

Celestia's Journal, January 10, 37 ANM

For all his chaotic antics and uncoordinated ideas, Arcane does manage to push things in the right direction more often than not when it comes to sciences and magical studies. However, on rare occasions, he manages to make the stars align to cause good things for all involved.

Today the Home for Lost Foals had its entire population of colts and fillies adopted by the nobility. I was… let us say, unaware that I had an appointment there, but it worked out in the end. The number of foals that got a shot at a much better life today was staggering, and I have put measures in place to make sure they are taken care of instead of just kept as a means to curry favor with the crown.

Also, Canterlot is suffering a slight chamomile shortage, which is usually only a concern to potioneers due to their medical use. It shouldn't last long, but with the surplus the castle has acquired through… generous donations, we have been able to send most of the surplus to hospitals and clinics across the city. And what's more, after Arcane experimented on some of the excess, it actually makes for a splendid tea! It has calming properties, as well, so I will make sure Arca comes to like it. I need all the help I can get.

Author's Note:

Any time Arca goes missing, regardless of time period, is IMMEDIATE cause for alarm. Because for all the good he can do, an unsupervised Arca tends to lead to an explosion that probably could have been prevented.

Comments

[MLPMekarm]

half the time i think he helps out so many when not around.

[Shadowshame]

You say the stuff about explosions like they don’t happen on a daily basis

[FrostTheWolf]

So 'Where's Arca?' is like an even more dangeroud version of 'Where's Waldo?' I can get behind that

[Ashfur]

11311300
Can't live with him, can't live without him.

11311319
Before Arca founded the Alchemy guild and they started assigning apprentices to keep tabs on him, the royal guard had 'Arca duty'. Anypony who took it got the next day off.

[MLPMekarm]

11311327
so its a like some sort of crazy balance huh. pore tia.

[Venerable Ro]

Ah, chamomile, you can use it in soaps or in tea.

[Ashfur]

11311347
It's my favorite tea!

[Iron Comet]

Those foals probably hated being taken away from a friendly Timberwolf.

[Emtu]

an unsupervised Arca tends to lead to an explosion that probably could have been prevented.

Probably?

Probably.

[mapu]

Great chapter.

[Da Fennec]

Well there is a certain logical to putting a note you are going out in the OUT box. Though it doesn't help adding your note to a random piece of paper already in the out box

[joan demarro]

"Crispy Crust! Hi good to see you how you doing gimmie bread."

Wait, wasn't Crispy also in the present day, in the other story, in the chapter "a wheely fun ride"?
...
Oh my God, did Arca give a man immortality just because he liked his bread?!?!?!?!

[Ashfur]

11312488
Nah, on rare occasion I reuse names. That was a valid mistake on my part.

[joan demarro]

11312514
Oh, I see
I do stand by that it would have been hilarious if he did do that though

[Ashfur]

11312568
While I will admit it would be a funny joke, I decided that three non-canon immortals was pushing the boundaries of how many ageless characters I had. This series took the canon number of ageless characters and multiplied it by 1.5. Gotta show restraint.

Feel free to headcanon it though.

[Kirtai]

Oh, Arca :)
btw

He was talking about a charith sale.

charity

[Draco Dei]

11312610
Or maybe that name just runs in the family?