The Lady and the Alchemist

It was a pretty light morning- autumn always brought a bit of wind to the town of ponyville and Brew's house was no exception. After he awoke, the young stallion went to check his mane. It was getting very long and messy and tangled, just how he liked it. After washing up he went over to Archie, his pet tarantula. He put some food into the cage and left the room. He'd let Archie out to play once he was sure there weren't any lady tarantulas about.

Brew went down to his basement and collected the potions he mixed the previous night. He put them onto a cart and walked downtown, giving an occasional nod to the neighbours. He loved this weather, with the cool breeze blowing on his face and the nice autumnal colours shining around him. The neighbours didn't know much about their local alchemist, considering he mostly kept to himself and only had a handful of friends. His unkempt appearance and Manehatten accent often made some assume he was a bit of a filthy piece of city trash. He proved this wrong frequently.

Brew got to his shop and opened the door, carrying the crates of potions into the basement. He still had plenty of stick from the previous day so there was no need to restock. He sat back on his little chair, reading a book while awaiting the morning's first few customers to pop in.

Rosella Petals hesitated at the door of the apothecary. She had never been to this particular store in Ponyville, but, then again, a lot had changed since she had last been there. She could afford to try new things.

The last time she was in Ponyville, things had quickly spiraled out of control for the poor mare. The catalyst to her disorder had occurred on a dark stormy night, the day before she decided to pack up her things and leave Ponyville forever.

Forever didn't seemed to have lasted long. Through unexpected circumstances, Rose had found herself in the place she hated most in the world. She had decided, unlike other times, that she would try and cope with this. To ensure maximum happiness and minimum chances of letting Her emerge, Rosie had taken to avoiding places where ponies usually converged, like Sugarcube Corner, the Everfree Forest (surprisingly), and the marketplace. Unfortunately, to get what she needed for her dye, it meant that she had to go to the town square. She prayed that Recurve wouldn't show up, unexpected.

Finally reserved enough to enter, the sparkly crystal pony opened the door.

Brew was just getting to a really good part when he heard the door open. He looked over and saw an unfamiliar mare entering. Strange- Brew thought he had seen everypony in town, and this crystal mare would certainly be hard to miss what with all the light coming off her. Brew bookmarked the page and put the book under his desk. He looked over to the mare and smiled, saying:

"Welcome! Wasn't expecting to get anypony this early but everything's all set up. I've got tummy ache cures, little emotional pick ups, sleeping draughts. That sort of thing. Just holler if you need anything."

He went back to his book, getting back to the really good bit he was on. It was one of those little Sci-Fi novels that Brew liked to pick up every now and then. He looked out the window briefly, realising it was pretty quiet that morning. Normally the place was decently busy, but today it was only the occasional group, pair or individual passing by the window.

(May be a tad short- sleepsies and not much to go on.)

Rose nodded slightly, but she was too late. The stallion had already returned to his book. She sighed, looking around at the bottles on the racks before heading for a glowing blue glass and examining the label on it.

Sleeping Draught

No, that wasn't at all what she was looking for. What she was trying to find was a rather obscure potion, something her mother had called "Perma-bond" as a joke when the mare had been younger. That was before Sombra, of course. She hadn't seen her mother since the Empire had been restored to its former glory.

"I have a question," she asked suddenly, replacing the bottle. "Are you familiar with crystallization?"

Brew watched the mare looking at the wares. Interesting- what interest would she have in the sleeping section? Whatever. He got back to reading his book. However, the mare called over to him, so he shut his book and listened to her question.

"A little. It's a fairly new field of alchemy since you crystal ponies only emerged recently, but I've done a little research on it. What do you need me to do with that exactly?"

A grin spread on Brew's face. Being able to do research on a field of alchemy that was largely undiscovered? That was promising indeed. He got up and went downstairs, coming up with the crystallisation equipment he'd acquired earlier.

"Ready to go with whatever it is. I'm wager- this is a brand new field of alchemy, untouched by many hooves! Oh Celestia will this be fun!"

He was behaving like a small colt on Hearth's Warming Eve to be quite honest.

Rose stifled a laugh at the sight of the shopkeeper and his equipment, and she apologetically held up a bit of parchment.

"I've got that bit covered. You see, I'm working on making a crystal fur dye for ponies, and all I really need is something to make it permanent. For now, it lasts for no more than an hour on live eukaryotic organisms, but it works rather well for crystallizing flowers. That's what I sell at the moment."

She looked at the list again, then back at the enthusiastic stallion.

"Well, I guess I could show you how to do it..."

Brew grinned when she offered to teach him.

"If it isn't too much to ask of course. I wouldn't want to hold you up or anything."

He thought a moment about what she would need. To keep a dye permanent you'd need litmus flower, but does that apply to crystal ponies? Depends on their genetic makeup, though it couldn't be much different from the other species considering they had the same brains and body shape...

Brew realised he had been muttering all that for a bit.

"Sorry. Have a habit of getting caught up in my thoughts. Now, could you show me about crystallisation?"

(A bit late and a bit short. Sowwy.)

Litmus... that was a faintly familiar word. Rose made a silent note to investigate further. Smiling slightly, she puller her notebook from her saddlebag, flipping through notes of incomprehensible scribbles and notes written in a hasty cursive. Coming to her current recipe, she laid it out on the counter and examined it for a moment.

"Well, how much of this do you want?" she asked. "My formulas are only for a pot full of the solution, but that usually will create about fifty flowers."

She glanced at the shop door, looking out into the square. Her heart stopped when she thought she saw the glint of sunlight on midnight blue crystal fur, but it proved to be a trick of the light as the stallion moved aside and proved that it was, indeed, not the one she was trying to avoid.

"I'd hate to occupy you if another customer walks in," she said worriedly, turning back to the shopkeeper. "I guess I could come back after you close up shop..."

(Huh. I thought I'd replied to this.)

Brew's head snapped up. Of course! He had customers to take care of. He quickly put away all the crystallisation equipment then went back to the crystal mare.

"Yeah, I shut around 6 when most customers are done with us. Actually, what's your name? I'm Mixed Brew. Just felt it was a bit weird if you were going to teach me something and I didn't even know your name."

He looked over to the window- the street was getting a lot busier. He'd be getting some business in a while for sure, which was lucky. He didn't like sitting in the shop all day, bored out of his skull. It wasn't the case most of the time thankfully, and on the few times it had happened it was because there was a festival or holiday which he didn't know about that everypony else shut up shop for.

Once again coming out of his thoughts, Brew looked to the mare.

"Come at about 6:30. I'll need half an hour to get everything set up, ok?"

"I'm Rosella," she said as she opened the door to leave. She flashed him a small smile. "But ponies call me everything. Rosie, Rose, Ella, That Freaky Pony... Take your pick. I'll be back half after six!"


6:30

Rose opened the door to the shop again. This time, she had five varieties of flowers in her saddlebag and a vial of her last batch of dye, glowing blue in the fading light of the sun.

"Hi," she said to Brew, shutting the door to keep out the chill.  "I brought some extra things, so, whenever you're ready, I guess we can start."

For some reason, Rose had been rather excited to return to the little apothecary. She hadn't felt that excited since her adventures with Blindsight, and that was hard to beat.

Brew watched Rose leave, smiling a little himself. He couldn't wait to get started on crystallisation! Just think of all the possibilities! He excitedly went into the basement and got out the book on crystallisation he bought a while back. It might help them. For the time being he sat back down, aiding his customers with a smile. Something bothered him though- that Freaky Pony? Was Rose bullied or something? Still, it wasn't his business. He'd maybe ask if they became friends.

6:30- Evening of The First Day

Brew snapped the book shut when he heard Rose enter. Grinning like an entertainer, he rubbed his hooves together and got the Crystallisation book and the corresponding equipment out to and laid them out on the small table he had. He then looked to Rose.

"Thanks again for teaching me. This is so exciting! Shall we begin then?"

He almost bounced up and down on the spot, like that pink pony who worked in the cake shop.

(Damn, my post didn't show up. My apologies.)

Rose smiled and dumped her things on the counter, tossing her saddlebag over Brew's chair and fishing out her vial and the flowers. She opened up her notebook again, skimmed the words, and looked up at Brew, smiling with excitement. She hadn't had somepony genuinely interested in her work in months... maybe even years (she wasn't keeping track of time.)

"Do you have an alchemist's cauldron?" she asked. "If not, a large soup pot will suffice. Ooh, this is going to be fun. Ready to learn, Brew?"

Brew went downstairs and brought out the cauldron he used when he made large batches of a potion. He then got a fire going under it- the quicker it heats up the faster the reaction. He was still grinning like an idiot. Indeed, he nodded at Rose with a smile.

"Damn right I'm eager to get started! We'll be the forefront of a new age of alchemy, with this teaching and my...well, decent alchemy skills."

Brew was actually a pretty talented alchemist. He just never considered himself that great since he had a policy of never making emotional potions. After that happened he avoided it- didn't want another screw up and having another mare going even further than last time. He was pretty sure Icy would be pulled that if his friends hadn't prised her off him. Brew's clouded blue eye turned bright again while the orange seemed to almost glow in affirmation as he pulled himself back up from his regret.

"Anyway, let's get going! What's the first thing we need?"

Rose smiled and plucked the vial from the counter, tipping it into the cauldron and watching it simmer and smoke.

"Ever had sourdough bread?" she asked as it slowly turned clear. "They always use the same mother dough to make a new batch, taking a little bit of the last mixture and putting it into the new one. I accidentally set off the first batch, and I've not tried to make it again. This method works, so I'm sticking to this one. Now, we put a sprig of lavender into the pot, right as the clear liquid starts to boil..."

Right on cue, the pot started to bubble, little wisps of steam coming out of the cauldron and dissipating into the air. Rose dropped the lavender into the mixture and started to stir it.

"Three times counterclockwise..."

The flower melted away, tinting the water-like substance purple.

Brew watched Rose stirring the mixture. He got an idea- he picked up a piece of parchment and started writing down the instructions she was telling. He was alright at drawing as well so he did a few diagrams. Nothing too extraordinary of course. He was actually enjoying his time with Rose- she was good at teaching certainly and she clearly knew what she was doing. Brew then remembered something he'd been meaning to ask.

"So, what exactly do we aim to get out of crystallisation? It's interesting but I'm curious about what we could make out of it."

(Sorry it's short. Not much to say.)

Rose smiled as she watched the potion, her hooves pausing to let it simmer, untouched.

"I'm working on a coat dye for ponies. A unicorn a while back expressed a want to keep her temporary crystal coat permanent, and it sparked a very interesting rollercoasters of events that have shaped my life. I've been working on the formula for a while, but I can't find the right way to keep this dye lasting longer than an hour on a mammal. That's all."

She looked at Brew for a long time. Something was tugging at her chest when she looked at him, and it wasn't the exotic colors of his eyes nor the pain that came every now and then to the scar hidden under the scarf around her neck.

(The only peek of insomnia is timely posting)

Brew looked into the soloution, loving the colour mixing that was going on there. Rose certainly knew her stuff, and Brew was starting to get an idea.

"You said that you need to make the due permanent, yeah? I remember that to make a cough medicine last longer you add some Rosemary to it. Is there a crystal equivalent to it or something?"

He took some Rosemary out of his saddle bag and held it out to Rose.

"Maybe this'll work."

Brew was also noticing the crystal mare was staring at him. He tilted his head in confusion, then said uneasily:

"Are you okay?"

Rose shook her head, clearing her mind and bringing herself back to her senses. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. So sorry about that... Just daydreaming."

She took the rosemary from Brew with her teeth, dropping it into the liquid and watching it sink to the bottom (which may or may not have been a good sign, she didn't know).

"There. Now, we leave it for an hour or so... Have anything to occupy the time?"

(My apologies for the short post.)

Brew shrugged. He didn't keep many things for entertainment- this was his shop, not his house. Aforementioned house was a good half hour walk away as well so they couldn't really go up for a visit. Still, Brew kept a couple of things in case of a slow day. He got a teapot and a book on alchemy. He smiled apologetically at Rose.

"Sorry, I don't have a lot of stuff. This is just my shop, and I usually get a decent flow of customers so I don't really get bored. If you're interested in general alchemy then the book's an idea."

Brew had another little idea now that he thought about it. He put on the kettle and made them both some tea (more a trottingham thing but whatever), laying out the cups with sugar and milk and such.

"Take what you like. I got another idea there- would you like to see the other stuff I've been making? It's stewing in the basement but if you don't mind a slightly creepy atmosphere then it's worth a look."

(Ish fine. You've been away a while after all.)

Rose shrugged, looking at him with interest. Creepy places? Brewing things? That was right up her alley.

"Creepy? You should have seen the basement in my home, well, back home. Well, before it was destroyed. That was quite the mess to clean up. Mother.... Mother..."

She trailed off, looking forlornly off into the distance.

"...Would have hated the untidiness. Ah, it's no matter. I haven't been home since I realized how much Faust-damn time had passed since Sombra. I had to go out and see the world! And, right now, the world is your basement!"

She took a sip of her tea and looked expectantly at her now companion, and she almost wanted to slap herself. Rule One of Rosie's friendships: DON'T TALK ABOUT THE PAST. NEVER. She was losing her head, and that was a bad thing, especially since it could trigger... Her.

The crystal mare smiled a little at Brew, forgetting her concern for a moment. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Brew gave Rose a concerned look. Bad memories seemed to be catching up to her. He knew what that was like, considering his nightmares involved a certain traumatic event that needs no further articulation. He smiled softly, saying:

"I assure you Rose. We all have bad memories, though from the sound of it yours are particularly horrible. It was SOMBRA for sun's sake. Anyway, I'll show you what I'm making."

Brew lead Rose down and into the little basement he kept. Torches lined the wall and a pot was visible, bubbling away with green liquid. Brew's mismatched eyes widened when he saw the colours.

"Ohdamnohdamnohdamnohdamn!!"

He quickly galloped upstairs and grabbed a piece of nightshade. He ran back down and threw the plant into the cauldron, shielding his eyes from the bright smoke that spread when it contacted the solution. Brew checked the mix and sighed with relief, seeing that it had turned pink.

"That's better. It goes green when it's overheating, and the gas produced doesn't respond well to heat."

He made a little 'poof' noise whilst demonstrating with his hooves. He then used a ladle and started scooping it into a few bottles of the concoction.

"All this for a cough medicine...jeez..."

Rose looked skeptically at the dastardly pink fluid, her brow furrowing in distaste.

"That's a rather bright... bubblegum pink for a cough syrup. Why don't you just make, you know, a normal syrup? Seems a little over-the-top for a simple remedy."

She didn't look around, like she should have. It was certainly an interesting room, but she just wasn't interested. Instead, a hoof tenderly touched the scarf around her neck, covering her chest, but then she dropped it.

"Some things are worse than Sombra, Brew. Sombra was easy to fool. All you had to do was pretend like you were having the time of your life, and I was very good at that. Sometimes, I do it without thinking."

She looked blankly at the pink concoction again, her eyes glazed over, before making a small sound in the back of her throat and looking back down at her hooves.

Brew thought about Rose's question.

"I guess it's just more fun that way. I'd get bored if I had to make it just by adding stuff into a pot and stirring it. Making it a bright colour and have the potential to explode adds an edge of excitement. Plus, this method makes the cough go away much faster. It also....helps me make up for a gap in my spectrum. Not completely but at least it's something."

He looked concerned at Rose. Yeah, there were definitely a few complexes spinning around in there. He guessed since she was hinting at it she probably wanted to tell him about it. Then again, he was hinting to the potion but didn't really want to talk about it. Still, asking wouldn't hurt.

"What's troubling you exactly? I'm no psychologist but you definitely seem to have something bothering you. I get that we don't know each other all that well but if you need somepony to talk to I'm willing to listen."

Brew stoppered all the little vials and put them on a tray. He'd put that on the shelves tomorrow. He turned back to Rose, awaiting a reply.

(Not being able to sleep works wonders on posting time)

Rose smiled a tiny bit, but it was a sad smile, something that hid a terrible wrong.

"Some things are harder to speak about than others," she said quietly. "Others like to stay quiet."

She shook her head, plastering a bigger smile on her face and looking upstairs. It was easy to lie about happiness than anything else.

"Don't mind me. I'm depressing to hang around. I think it's ready for a bit more playing around. Come on."

She moved towards the stairs, but her scarf caught around the end of a table, pulling itself off of the mare and settling on the floor, a sharp contrast of red against the dark stone of the basement floor. A deep sigh built itself up in her throat, but it caught behind the lump in her throat. Painfully, Rose swallowed it, but she didn't pick up her sheath. She just stood where she was, not moving.

It was a visible change, even from behind. Such small things could mess her up, though Rose was very careful to keep Her from wrecking havoc on Brew's lab. In doing so, her appearance slipped, and the result was depressing. Flat, dull mane, lack of sparkles, and a lack of spirit were what hit the eye first. Yet, however sad as it was, Rosella did not move.

Brew raised an eyebrow at Rose's answer. Well, she didn't have to tell him if she didn't want to. She was being a little enigmatic about it, but whatever. He gave a small smile to her as she went up to the stairs.

"I have to say, you don't seem depressing to me. The stories are at least interesting."

He noticed her scarf had caught on the side of the stairway. Brew nonchalantly picked it up and held it out to her.

"There you go." Then he noticed how still and quiet she was. "Erm....are you...okay....?"

Rose was starting to scare Brew. She seemed...off. She certainly looked strange. Was the scarf magical or something? Ooh, maybe a potion! He shook his head- Rose was still standing stock still, and it was getting creepy.

(Sorry if it's a tad short. Not a whole lot to go on.)