Three years

Crystal looked up. She then realized just who this mare was. "Leafy!" She shouted. "You survived!" She was relived to see sompony she knew. She jumpped up and hugged Leafy.

Shadowfax burst out laughing at the pony's expression.

"Free alcohol? Well we know what's going to run out first.."

Galen broke his trance and started laughing along side Shadow. "Well don't mind if I do" then poured himself a short glass of whiskey. "So who are y'alls?" Looking at the other two ponies.

Leafy hugged Crystal back. "Yes, yes I did," she said. "Kind of hard to leave everything I've ever known, but I'd die if I didn't leave Equestria." She smiled. "So, have you done anything interesting since I last met you? Learned any magic lately?" Crystal had said she only knew one spell at that time in the Everfree forest, though she didn't say what it was. At least I know one pony here, Leafy thought. Only one, but it was better than nopony. How many were there in the ship anyway? From looking around, probably about ten. But maybe some were still sleeping or doing other stuff.

"Other than boarding the ship? No and I still only know one spell." Crystal frown. She had hoped to learn more magic one day but for now her horn was a usless flashlight.

"Do you have any books on magic?" asked Leafy. "If you do, then you can probably learn some simple magic." She didn't know about magic, since she was an Earth pony. What was supposedly the easiest spell? Probably levitation or telekinesis, since she had seen plenty of young ponies do that. Not very well - the item they were levitating almost fell - but still okay.

Then again, most were levitating light things like one chocolate chip or a small piece of paper.

Crystal frown. "Just one but, I don't understand it. Too many huge words. I used to have mom explain them." She blew her mane out of her face as she somtimes did when down.

"Well, I think I can help with most of the complicated words, unless they're magic words that only unicorns know." Leafy smiled. "And you don't - didn't - own a dictionary?" Wait, does she mean she had one back at home, or she brought it on the ship? she thought. I probably should have been more specific... Oh well. She took a bite of her toast.

"I never needed one. But that would be helpful. The book is in my bag in my room." She replied. She had not even opened her bag. She didn't want to see the few things she had brought.

"Why don't you read it after breakfast? That should help you learn magic." Crystal didn't exactly seem enthusiastic, so Leafy continued to talk. "When three years pass and we reach the new planet, it could help. In the ship, you can try to cook using magic or at least make reaching high stuff easier."

(Think your short posts are rubbing off on me.)

(And yet you still rp with me xD)

"I guess your right." She sighed. She was going to have to open the bag eventualy anyways. She might as well do it before it became too hard. "Thanks Leafy." She said with a slight smile.

"Surprise you? Well, I'll try." The mare shook her head, adding a big spoon full of sugar to the tea.

"Unless you have an unbidden phobia of sweet things, I'm afraid the surprise of drinking tea is very lackluster." She said, leaving it out on her side as she sipped her own nonchalantly. The unicorn soon drifted off in a state of daydream, as she would normally while drinking tea in her garden.

(Yes, yes I do...)
"You're welcome, I'm really only helping you understand the words, not actually anything else. I can't do magic," answered Leafy. She finished eating her two slices of toast, and waited for Crystal to finish her jam sandwich so they could start learning.

(Long enough? lol)

Crystal ate her sandwich and trotted off to her room to find her bag. She looked at the bag not wanting to open it. She stood there for a few minutes before flipping open the top and pulling out the book. She ignored the rest for now.

It was a huge blue book with a ripped and tattered cover. The words on the cover where barley legable anymore. Yet every word inside looked as though writen yesterday and the sketches unfadded. Somthing had always been odd about it scince the day she bougt it from a small shop. It was a magic book after all.

"Here it is." Crystal said setting the book down and looking at it. "There are words even my mom didn't know." She smiled at Leafy.

Leafy followed Crystal to her room, and she showed her a book. Leafy could hardly read the words on the cover. Well, I guess it's going to be hard to read this thing, she thought. Who keeps a book this old anyway? The book, from the torn cover, looked to be about twenty years old, give or take a few months.

But when she opened it, she was surprised. The words were neat and apart from the little dust, probably from being in the bag, it was perfectly new. The drawings were beautiful and detailed, without any smudges. I guess it's not that old after all, she thought. Either that or since it's magic, it can remain in good condition forever. She started to read the large, bold words at the top.

Chapter 1: Alchemy

"Do you want to learn how to turn stone into gold and stuff?" Alchemy, technically speaking, wasn't magic, more of science. Really complicated science.

Crystal looked at the book. "Al-chem-y?" She read questioning. She had read that section over but didn't really get it. She could try again and learn something to start with. It would be no easy task to learn magic. Magic wasn't imposible though.

She looked at Leafy again. "If that's what comes first." She smiled.

"Okay, then." said Leafy. "Alchemy is actually science, but it's easier to learn than most magic." She continued to read out loud.

Alchemy is a philosophical tradition. Some have claimed that their hooves changed to have something called 'fingers' as a result of it.

"Philosophical means..." She searched her head for the right words. "...Usually something old fashioned, not exactly the kind of thing most would use in this era."

They also have claimed that they managed to find out the secret to immortality using a magic elixir. This potion has only been tested once, by a pony who refused to believe that alchemy was not real. He tested it on himself, and although he did not live forever, he managed to live longer than the average pony by a few years.

(Making stuff up about alchemy.)

(Lol)

Crystal sat and listened. This was interesting. She wondered how long ago this really was written. "Alchemy sounds odd." She giggled. It seemed so simple of a concept but so hard as a topic.

"Wow. This book sure has a lot to say about alchemy." Leafy skipped a few paragraphs; most of the things were about the results of alchemy years ago. Stone and lead turning into silver or gold, fruits changing, that kind of stuff.

An example of alchemy in books is the famous story Rumpelstiltskin. In the book, a girl has to find a way to turn straw into gold... She was pretty sure both Crystal and her knew about fairy tales. That story was a classic. She didn't even know somepony who didn't tell their foal that story!

To perform this, you must believe that the object of concentration is the same as your soul. Judging by the picture of a stone and a pony together, the book meant that Crystal had to believe that the stone was the same as her, and if she turned it into gold, that would be the same as making herself better.

"That book has a lot to say about everything!" She giggled brushing her mane aside. Maybe this would be hard after all. It was a huge book and reading it was no easy task. But it would all be worth it if she could learn at least one thing. "So all I have to know that everything is alive?" She asked trying to understand.

"I think so." Leafy looked up from the book. "You got any rocks or metal to turn into gold? If you don't, then maybe I'll have something in my room." Actually, she was sure she hadn't any metal items in her room. Wait, she had... A book or two, a quill, and a saucepan. She already knew that food would be in the ship, but as for cooking materials, she hadn't been sure. She had nothing else to bring. She wanted to have a simple life.

(Where the hay is the captain of this ship anyway?)

Crystal looked around. She rummaged through her bag and found an old spoon from her kitchen back home. She had stuffed it in her bag after taking her ice cream outside with her. Crystal held the spoon up. "Would this do?" She asked paciently.

Leafy looked at the silver spoon in Crystal's hooves. "Yep." Leafy went back to the book.

Concentrate on your item and hold it in your hoof. Close your eyes and try to turn it into something else. Remember, the object is the same as your soul. Changing it will change you too. Turning it into gold will purify you.


(Didn't know how to perform alchemy, so still making stuff up. Not even sure whether you're supposed to do any of these things.)

(Alchemy isn't realy in mlp and this is an AU so it's all good lol)

Crystal was tempted to start now. She looked to see if Leafy was destracted before she closed her eyes. She imagined the spoon and herself side by side. She focused for awhile on the image in her mind. She opened an eye and looked down at the spoon. It was still a plain spoon.

She frown at the spoon in her hoof. She passed it back and forth for a bit. As she turned it in her hoof she felt the cold touch of metal. "Well maybe I didn't think about it enough." She found herself thinking aloud.

Leafy was still looking at the book, not noticing Crystal shut her eyes, concentrating on the spoon until she'd finished. Nothing happened. The spoon was still ordinary metal. "Well, maybe alchemy is hard to do for some." Leafy shrugged. "Do you want to try again, or try whatever's in the next chapter?"