Journal of the Alchemist

Wednesday, June 14, Year 1000 of Our Lord

It’s surprising that I haven’t started a journal yet. I really should have done so earlier, what with all that I’ve been doing. First, some personal details. My name is Mist Tumble, but people call me Storm Blitz, for soon-to-be obvious reasons. I’m a pegasus, as you might have guessed from my name. I’ve got a dark blue coat, and a dark grey mane. My mane is usually a bit messy, but I’m much too busy to get it styled. And I hate those barbershops, anyway. Always gave me the creeps. I’ve got hazel eyes, like my mother. Pretty good vision, too. Would have been a boon if I’d worked as a weather pony, but that’s behind me. My cutie mark is of a lightning bolt. A common cutie mark for somepony in the weather team, but I got it by chasing after a storm cloud. I needed some bottled lightning for a potion, and I got a bit carried away. People say I was on a blitz chasing after that storm, and that’s how I got my nickname.

Second, I guess I’ll list my interests. In no particular order, they are: flying (not speed-flying, mind. I just like gliding around on a warm day), alchemy (not the crazy stuff; I just don’t like calling it science. Makes me sound weird), reading (I have a small collection of books on elements and how they relate to each other. I call it my cheat sheet), writing (I’ve been trying to get all my thoughts about alchemy down on paper, but I can never seem to get it just how I want), and cloudball (I’ve never been good at it. For some reason I can never take the ball further than a few yards before it’s destroyed. Annoying).

Third, my house, I guess? I live on the ground, in the town of Ponyville. I used to live just outside Cloudsdale, but when I took up alchemy, I found that I needed something more solid to live in. Solid, and blast-proof. It’s a nice enough place. Three floors, if you count the basement. The top floor is not much better than a loft, but it’s where I sleep. I’ve got my writing desk up there, for when I’m too agitated to sleep. On the ground floor is my kitchen, my den (which has all my books and stuff), a guest room that I made for Sugar Heart when she started visiting, and a storage room, where I keep all the stuff I don’t need at the moment. My basement is just where I’ve got all my alchemical things. More on that later.

Oh, I guess I should mention Sugar Heart. Maybe talk about my other friends, too. Sugar Heart (or Sugar, as I call her), is an earth pony. I’ve never been able to figure out for sure where she lives. I have a sneaking suspicion she finds all her weird herbs in the Everfree, but I can’t prove it. She’s a bit crazy, but in an endearing way. Her coat is pure white (“Like sugar!” she always says), she’s got this raspberry coloured mane that she always keeps straight, and brushed to one side. Kinda cute, really. Her eyes are really blue. I mean, the kind of deep, dark blue that reminds you of the ocean. It’s like you could fall into them. Her cutie mark is of a candy heart; she got it when she was in one of her rare moods when she’ll make sugary treats. She loves cooking. REALLY loves cooking. I mean, I can enjoy it, and I like eating my newest creation (for me, cooking is like alchemy for food), but I’ve got NOTHING on Sugar. Every time she comes over, she’s got a dozen new recipes to feed me. It’s odd because you’d think she makes lots of sweets, but she’s a wizard with salads and sandwiches. I think she’s only brought over cupcakes or cookies, like, three times.

Uh, anyway, there’s also Cobalt Bright. He’s a pretty cool unicorn. He and I sometimes swap notes on alchemy, although he still calls it science (ugh). Despite his name, he’s not blue at all. He’s actually really black. Like, you could look at him, and think he’s just a shadow until he moves. Or opens his BRIGHT GREEN eyes. Or you see his BRIGHT YELLOW mane. Or he uses his WEIRD ORANGE magic. But yeah, besides that, he’d be pretty much invisible. Cobalt’s got a good cutie mark. I think it suits him, anyway. It’s these three sparkles that look kind of like blue lightning. I was there when he got it, too. We were good friends ever since kindergarten, and one day he was practicing magic and he got his mark. Cobalt likes to think that his magic makes him a better alchemist than me, but all it really means is that he can hold more than one or two things at once. Just last week, I solved a problem he was having simply because he’d forgotten to test a sample at more than one temperature. He’s still a cool guy. I think he’s got something for Starblossom, though.

Speaking of which, Starblossom! Man, she’s one insane unicorn. She’s convinced that everyone’s spying on her, she doesn’t eat eggs or milk, and she always carries around a stuffed mouse. I don’t see her often; mostly I just hear about her from Cobalt. Her coat used to be purple, but she dyed it brown when she saw another purple unicorn in town, and thought someone had replaced her. Last I saw, she’d shaved her mane and tail, but Cobalt says she’s regrown it and dyed it black. I don’t know much more about her. I kinda keep my distance. I don’t think anyone knows what her cutie mark is. Cobalt says she doesn’t like how it looks, so she’s hidden it by a lot of ways. She’s shaved her flank, dyed that spot in all the colours of a rainboom, worn a coat just to cover it... Yeah, pretty weird. I don’t know what she’s tried recently. I haven’t seen her for a few weeks.

Anyway, there are the basics. I’ve got to finish an experiment now. I’ll write down how that goes tomorrow, or whenever I remember.

Thursday, June 15, Year 1000 of Our Lord

Yeah, it exploded. See, this is why I’m glad I moved into a house on the ground. I got so sick of half my cloud being blown up whenever I added too much explosimary or slaughtercress. And I hated dropping a vial and having it fly right through the floor and smash into a million pieces on the hills below. Anyway, even if the first test exploded, it gave me some new ideas for snow. In the Northern parts of Equestria, see, they grow syrup trees and sugar trees. Maples, I think they are. Well, sometimes in the fall a light snow falls, and the people making syrup call it a sugar snow. If I can get a few sample of that sugar snow, imagine what kind of candies would be possible! I bet Sugarcube Corner would be interested if I found anything. It’s only June now, though, so I won’t be able to get any sample for a few months.

In the meantime, I’ve got to think about what to do for the Summer Sun Celebration. It’s less than a week away, and this one’ll be a doozy! I can’t even imagine what the Mayor has planned for the millennium celebration, but I know she won’t disappoint. Last year, Cobalt and I did a few tricks for the event. He was in charge of the sun, moon, and star glowstones, and I took care of all the weather. I would have liked to work with the glowstones (I’ve got a knack for getting them to hover at just the right places), but Cobalt pointed out that since I was the only pegasus, and he couldn’t manipulate the clouds with magic, I’d have to do it. He was right, I guess, and the whole thing was a smashing success (except for when the glowstone for canis minor exploded mid-show). The problem is, I don’t know what I can do this year to top it. Everyone loves fire tricks, but those are too easy. Besides, last time I singed my mane and for weeks I had a bald patch on my neck. I could get some bottled thunder and give them out as noisemakers (or bottled lightning as firecrackers), but, again, this is the ONE THOUSANDTH celebration. I can’t just do any old trick. Eh, maybe I should have thought about this earlier. At any rate, I asked Cobalt and Sugar to come over tomorrow to brainstorm. Likely Cobalt’s got a few tricks hidden under his hoof. He always does.

Oh dear! I forgot about my earth globes! I have to get them from the furnace or they’ll turn into magma balls again! Uh, I’ll write more tomorrow!

Friday, June 16, Year 1000 of Our Lord

Whew! What a day I’ve had! Cobalt and Sugar came over, with Sugar bringing one of her new salads (lettuce, kale, orange, tomato, and onions! Yum!), and Cobalt with, as he calls them, “bottled miracles”. I don’t know what he used to get mercury to stay solid in a glass vial on a warm day, but he managed it! We talked about what we were going to do for the Summer Sun Celebration, obviously.

Sugar’s going to give away a baked good. That’s all she would say, no matter what I or Cobalt asked. Sugar’s usually easy to get talking about a new recipe, so whatever she’s got cookin’, I know it’s going to be different and fun.

Cobalt had a few tricks he’s planning to do for the celebration, but they were all little things he could set off randomly, just to get the crowd’s attention. He did have a plan for our number this year, though. He claims that there’s some new thing one of his buddies in Saddle Arabia has found, and Cobalt’s confident that it’ll be just what we need to make a real show-stopper. He didn’t really know much about it, besides the fact that it seems to defy physics as we know it. The last time we found something like that, my house caught fire. That’s when I bought a whole bunch of fire-proof foam to insulate the place with. Anyway, Cobalt’s going to  take the train to meet up with his Saddle Arabian friend while I mix up the smaller tricks and fill out the Mayor’s infamous paperwork. I just picked it up an hour ago, and I swear she’s added a whole new chapter on explosions and fires since last year’s fiasco.

I don’t expect it’ll take me more than a day to get the ingredients for the potions (I’ll have to talk to Zecora about some of them, unless I can somehow find Starblossom and convince her to lend me some of hers), and another day to mix them up. Might take me half a day to fill out this paperwork. I guess I could fill it out in-between making fireworks and glowstones, but that’s a bit risky. I’ll just take it slow for once. Not looking forward to trekking through the Everfree to find Zecora, but I’ve packed a lunch, so at least I’ll have an excuse not to try her latest brew. I mean, I love that zebra, but the stuff she mixes up just doesn’t sit well in the stomach. Well, I’m off to bed. Another day awaits!

Saturday, June 17, Year 1000 of Our Lord

Right, I’ve got all the supplies for a half-hundred fireworks. Although, if you want to split hairs, only about a dozen of them will be real fireworks; the rest are little concoctions of fire and lightning and smoke that I’ve invented. Won’t be able to use my best inventions, sadly. I have to set off only stable, non-property-destructive explosions, according to the Mayor. Pity. Speaking of which, I’ve started picking at the stack of paperwork. Most of it is straightforward: no potentially dangerous acts, no public nudity (though I don’t know how that classifies, since we don’t normally wear clothes, anyway), no being disrespectful to the princess or visiting dignitaries, stuff like that. Some of this stuff is annoying. No pets allowed? Specifically, a clause stating that pet alligators are not permitted on the grounds (probably due to that pink pony’s gator scaring the Mayor in the middle of a speech). And the part about “in the case of conflagration, aqueous disaster, or otherwise potentially hazardous event, staff in the echelons of political office will evacuate the premises posthaste”? Sounds like the Mayor’s way of legally telling us that we’ll die first. She’s awfully serpentine for a pony, sometimes.

At any rate, I’ve got my supplies, and they ARE LEGAL! Oh, speaking of which, I didn’t have to visit Zecora after all! I was heading out this morning to the Everfree, and I found a basket full of all the ingredients I needed with a note attached telling me to burn the basket and the note after reading it. Oh, Starblossom, you DO care! I burnt what she asked me to, of course. You don’t want to cross Starblossom when it comes to burning evidence. I made her a little thank-you gift of scent remover. She always likes not being able to be spotted, by any means, so I know she’ll like it. Oop! There goes the kettle! Time for my evening tea! Tomorrow I’ll start actually making the fireworks.

Sunday, June 18, Year 1000 of Our Lord

    Most of the fireworks are done, and the rest of the paperwork didn’t actually take me that long to finish. I’ve sent it off to the Mayor for approval. I really hope she doesn’t find some excuse to deny it. I’d hate to redo all that stuff.

    I bumped into Sugar at the market today. She was getting more things for her culinary creations. I wasn’t able to see what she got; she’d covered her basket with a blanket. I guess this new treat of hers is REALLY something special if it’s THAT secret. Or maybe she was buying drugs. I dunno.

    I’m expecting Cobalt to arrive tomorrow with the show-stopper. It makes me feel good to have everything going smoothly for once. Although, I AM making fireworks, and fireworks are basically just explosions, and if there’s one thing I’m good at making, it’s explosions. Well, if Cobalt makes it back by noon, I’ll have everything ready to go, and we can do a couple rehearsals with dummy fireworks before picking apart his friend’s discovery. I haven’t really thought about it in the last few days, mostly because I’ve been busy with all I’ve had on my hooves, but now that I’ve got the time, I’ve been thinking about what this thing could possibly be. It probably isn’t just a big explosion. I think I’ve made enough of those before. Maybe it’s not amazing by itself, but it needs to be mixed with a few things to really shine. That would be fun, experimenting and alchemizing to find the coolest combinations (Celestia knows it’s been a long time since I’ve had a really good challenge). I suppose it could even be a new element! My, I think that’s the most exciting prospect! I can’t even imagine how a new element could fit into place. I mean, there are already so many of them! But a new element would certainly be something to one-up our last Summer Sun Celebration show...

Monday, June 19, Year 1000 of Our Lord

    Oh, I’m more excited than I’ve ever been! Just two more days, and Cobalt and I will put on a show that’ll blow Ponyville’s socks off (not literally; the Mayor would have my head if I were responsible for another disaster)!

    The new thing Cobalt brought back from Saddle Arabia is called a “hot snow condenser”. I have no idea how it works, but Cobalt’s got all the specs to make a few himself. It’s basically a sphere with a hole in the top. If you pour water into it, mix in a cloud, and stir it with a pegasus feather (which I’ll be providing. Ouch), and then SET IT ON FIRE, it’ll start belching snow out of the hole at an incredible rate! Cobalt says they use it in the more arid parts of Equestria to cool off and have some fun. What’s really amazing about this “snow” is that it doesn’t melt when it’s hot; it only melts after enough time has gone by, with the time able to be altered base on how much cloud you add, and how long you let it brew. For the celebration, we’ll have it melt after a few minutes, so it doesn’t become a nuisance.

    There’s not much more time to explain more, as it’s getting quite late. I think Cobalt and I spent a few too many hours playing with that snow condenser. At any rate, the decorations for the celebration are going up all around town. I hear that the owner of the Carousel Boutique is putting up the decor for the town hall, so that’s guaranteed to be good. Catering is being taken care of by Sugar Cube Corner and Sweet Apple Acres, as usual. That nice pegasus with her songbirds is going to put on some music for the event, and the weather team from Cloudsdale is coming by to make sure the resident weather pony isn’t sleeping on the job instead of clearing the skies, and all around town, performance ponies are putting the finishing touches on their acts. I don’t think anything can go wrong with Wednesday’s event.

Tuesday, June 20, Year 1000 of Our Lord

    Cobalt and I put the last few touches on our show, the decorations are up, food is starting to cook, music is ready, and the skies are clear! Princess Celestia sent around a unicorn from Canterlot to make sure all the preparations are in order, and she’s marked everything satisfactory. Why, Twilight Sparkle (that’s her name, by the way) even got the full Pinkie Pie treatment this evening, with a huge party welcoming her to Ponyville. As they say, ain’t no party like a Pinkie Pie party, ‘cause a Pinkie Pie party don’t stop. I didn’t get home until laaaaate, so I don’t have much energy to write more than a paragraph. Still, the Summer Sun Celebration is tomorrow (or, I guess, earlier today, if you want to get picky, but the day doesn’t start until I wake up), and it’s sure to be awesome.

• End of 1: Storm Blitz