The Alchemist

As the train left Canterlot I held onto my bag tightly, not wanting the bumps to hurt the precious contents within. I knew I would miss the royal city, but my line of work needed me to be closer to the Everfree forest.

As the sun was going down in the sky I yawned and saw my reflection in the window. I zoned out staring at my deep red eyes that perfectly matched my mane. A little rattle on the train car door snapped me out of my trance.

A blue Pegasus with rainbow hair was standing by the door of my train car. “Um… mind if me and my friends sit with you? All the other seats are taken.”

“Oh, um… yeah, sure”

“Sweet,” she turned and shouted down the train “Hey guys! I found a few open seats”

I watched as six ponies made their way into my car. Across from me was the blue Pegasus and next to me was a lavender unicorn. An orange pony that was seated across the car from me asked

“Howdy!” She said with a southern accent “Are ya headin’ to Ponyville for a visit?”

“Well actually I am moving to Ponyville”

The train headed into a tunnel and hit a small bump. The content of my bag rattled and I held it tighter.

The lavender pony next to me turned and nervously asked, “Um… what do you have in that bag?”

“Oh,” I chuckled at her discomfort, “I have a bunch of vials and glass beakers along with some chemicals and other stuff”

“Why do you have all that stuff?” the lavender pony asked.

“I am an alchemist. That is why I am moving to Ponyville, I want to be closer to the Everfree forest so I can get materials for my work”

“Cool, I haven’t met an alchemist before. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is”
-She pointed to her friends as she spoke- “Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rarity”

Each of the ponies nodded in turn as Twilight pointed to them.

“It is nice to meet you all,” I said “My name is Septimus Pyre, but you can just call me Septimus. It is a pleasure to meet you all”

“So, what exactly does a alchemist do?” Rainbow Dash asked

I grinned, always happy to talk about my work “Well, all sorts of things really. I for one am trying to make the elixir of life, but in general we alchemists mix elements to make new things, like gold.”

The mention of the elixir of life caught the attention of Twilight Sparkle. “I thought the elixir of life was impossible. I know age spells exist, but that requires powerful magic, and you’re a Pegasus so you cant do magic.”

“That’s the amazing part,” I said getting more excited as I spoke each word “You see I was reading in the Canterlot library and I found this” –I pulled out an old book- “This book goes into detail about aging, specifically, why we age and the exactly how magic affects the aging process of any pony”

All the other ponies in the car with me seemed to be getting bored, except for the two unicorns. “So as I was reading I began to realize that there is potential to mix up a solution of sorts that will effectively make any pony life forever, and never age”

“So you mean if you make this potion I could always look young and beautiful?” Rarity squealed excitedly from across the train car.

“Rarity,” Twilight gave her a disapproving look “I’m sure there are many better uses for the elixir of life than to keep you young and beautiful, such as letting the wise live on to share their knowledge to everypony”

I laughed at the completely different ideas the two unicorns had. I looked out the window and saw the sun had completely gone down and frowned.

“What’s the matter Septimus?” the yellow Pegasus asked.

“Oh, I was just thinking that I have to find my new home in the dark, um… sorry, I completely forgot your name”

“Oh, well, um… that’s ok. I’m Fluttershy. And me and my friends would be more than happy to help you find your house and get settled in”

“Thank you. I am glad I could make some friends this early in my time in Ponyville”

As the train pulled into Ponyville I gathered my stuff with the help of the friends I made on the train. We made our way towards what would become my home.

“Thank you all for the help” I said “I’m sure you all want sleep now, so don’t let me hold you up”

The group of ponies made their way out of my new house. I sighed, tired from the long day. I set up a small bed on the floor and lay down. So my new life begins. I quickly fell asleep, ready for the next day.

***

The gentle light of the sun creeping through me windows woke me up, and I knew I had a long day ahead. Unpacking. I grimaced at the thought, knowing that I would not get around to any alchemy, or even get around to gathering the materials I needed.

I sighed and began setting up my office. Gathering all of my vials and beakers, thankful none of which broke. When I finished with that I went into the room that was to become my library.

A knock on the door interrupted me and I went to see who was at my door. As I opened the door a burst of confetti hit me in the face, before I had time to recover Pinkie Pie started talking rapidly.

“SosinceyouaretotallynewtothistownIthoughtIwouldtotallythrowyouasuper-duper party! Wecanhavecakeandwecandanceandwecanplaygamesandallbebestfriends!”

Still a little confused by the confetti to the face I wasn’t able to make heads or tails of what Pinkie Pie said. “What?” I asked, sounding a bit dull.

“I said: So since you are totally new to this town I thought I would totally throw you a super-duper party! We can have cane and we can dance and we can play games and be best friends!”

“Oh, um… sure I guess. Although I am a little busy at the moment”

“That’s ok. Come to Sugarcube Corner this evening and we can all become best friends!” as she spoke she bounced up and down with boundless energy.

Pinkie Pie bounced away happily. I closed the door and sighed. It’s great to make new friends, but that bouncy pony is a bit much to handle.

I turned back to unpacked but another knock on my door stopped me. Please don’t be Pinkie Pie. It’s far to early for that Pink party explosion. Once again I opened the door, this time braced for confetti to fly into my face.

Twilight Sparkle was at the door this time. “I’m not going to hit you or anything,” she said, noticing my braced for impact pose.

“I know, but, hehe, last time I opened this door a got a face full of confetti”

“Pinkie Pie?” she asked flatly

“Brilliant deduction.” We both laughed at the little joke, and the absurdity of Pinkie Pie. “So what can I do for you on this fine day?”

“I came by to see if you needed any help unpacking, and to show you around the town” Twilight said kindly

“Thank you. I was actually unpacking and organizing my books. You wouldn’t happen to be interested in helping me unpack a bunch of dusty old books?”

Twilight smiled and giggled like a schoolgirl. “I love books! Of course I will help you unpack your books!”

We headed into the room that I chose to be my library and Twilight seemed giddy at the sight of large stacks of books and empty bookcases. Twilight quickly ran towards the first stack of books.

“History of the Crystal Empire, A complete Guide to Herbal Remedies, A Beginners Guide to Zebra Culture, A History of Equestria, The Rise and Fall of Dark Magic, You have so many books, ooh I want to read them all!” Twilight said, giddy with joy at the thought of reading all these new books.

“You can borrow them any time, but um…” Twilight had several books all open at the same time and was trying to read all of them “perhaps you should show me around Ponyville before you hurt yourself reading all these books at the same time”

“Maybe your right” Twilight said blushing.

I followed Twilight out of my house and we made our way through town. Twilight showed me around Ponyville and we eventually made our way through the town and we stopped at Rarity’s dress shop.

Twilight approached the beautiful unicorn standing in front of us “Hi Rarity, do you remember Septimus from the train last night?”

“Oh, of course I do, it is a pleasure to see you again!” Rarity spoke with an absolutely amazing voice.

I hadn’t realized just how beautiful this pony was on the train the night before and stared like an idiot for a second before I regained my composure “It uh, is good to see you a-again Rarity” I kicked myself internally for making a fool out of myself.

“Ooh I have an idea!” she said in a singsong voice, and my heart fluttered at the sound of her angelic voice “I will make you a new outfit as a welcome to Ponyville gift and give it to you at Pinkie Pie’s party”

“Oh, you really don’t need to go to all that effort for me,” I said, happy I had regained my composure and overjoyed to hear she was going to be at Pinkie’s party.

“Not at all, I insist. Now run along so I can make the outfit.” Her angelic voice once again making my heart beat faster.

In somewhat of a daydream I left the store with Twilight next to me. I had finally met the perfect mare. Everything about her was perfect, just so perf-

“Uh… Septimus?” Twilight’s confused expression forced me to realize the boyish grin plastered to my face.

I struggled to regain my composure once more. “Yes Twilight?”

“You alright there? You seem rather… giddy”

Does she know I have a crush on Rarity? Well is it a crush? I mean, I only just met her, and I haven’t act- realizing I took to long of a pause I responded with my best attempt at a casual voice “I don’t know what you are talking about,” I picked up my pace “Where to next?”

Before really going anywhere the Rainbow colored pegasi flew over to where we were standing.

“Twilight, I kinda need your help with crusaders, I sorta agreed to watch them, but they are out of control,” she said, in a little bit of a panic.

Twilight sighed, a little frustrated “Of course I can help you Rainbow Dash,” Turning to me she spoke again “Septimus can you find your way home?”

“Yeah, I think I can” but before I even finished my sentence the two had dashed off.

I began the short walk home, trying to recall all of the pony’s names I had met so far. If there is one thing I am really bad at it’s remembering names.

My stomach let me know it was lunchtime so I headed home quickly. I at a small meal and started my unpacking which unfortunately would take all the time I had until Pinkie Pies party.

***

I walked into Sugarcube Corner hoping that only a few ponies would be there. The building inside was decorated with over the top pink. Pinkie pie, you are just too much.

Pinkie Pie, and Rarity quickly greeted me, and like before the sight of Rarity made my heart beat faster. I focused as much as I could so I wouldn’t make a fool of myself.

“Septimus!” Rarity’s beautiful voice greeted me “I have my outfit for you. Go into the back room and change. Quickly now, before the rest get here”

I was filled with anticipation as I went into the back and opened the little box Rarity had given me. A large grin appeared on my face as I opened the box finding a red jacket that matched my hair and eyes, along with a pair of shades that I knew would look great with my spiked hair.

I looked like a whole new pony and I loved it. The shades and jacket matched my red mane and eyes, so it naturally went perfectly with my light brown fur. Rarity is absolutely amazing. That last thought confirmed it beyond any doubt.

“Septimus!” Rarity’s voice called me “Come out and show me your new outfit”

I stepped out and gave a devilish grin. I may be a bit of a bookworm, but I still loved looking great. The little gasp that came from Rarity’s mouth was the final approval I needed to know I looked fantastic.

“I did an amazing job, if I do say so myself, tell me, does the jacket fit around your wings alright?”

“Yeah, it feels great” My grin wouldn’t go away as I chanced a look into Rarity’s beautiful eyes. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her looking back into mine.

Pinkie Pie jumped in between us startling and making us blush a little as we realized we had forgotten Pinkie’s presence.

“Everypony else is here, now we can start to party!” Pinkie said, bouncing as she spoke.

Embarrassed at being not noticing everypony arriving I went and joined the crowd. Though my heart and mind still resided in that moment of eye contact between Rarity and myself.

The party began and it all was a haze. Finally I decided to get away from the group of ponies dancing and found my way towards the food table. Tired and hungry I reached for a bit of food and bumped my hoof a White hoof. I turned and found myself almost touching my face with Rarity’s.

She whispered in my ear “come outside with me”

I wasted no time obeying her order and before I realized it I had my lips pushed up against her in a moment of absolute amazement. I didn’t want it to stop. Hell, I wanted it to go so much more, but the sounds of a crying pony stopped us.

We broke apart to see Twilight running off crying.

Rarity froze, realizing what had just happened. “I’m sorry, I have to go” and like that she was gone.

I sat down in confusion about what had just happened. I felt a body sit down next to mine and turned to face Rainbow Dash.

After a moments pause she spoke “Well you really blew that one”