The Lightning Alchemist

                  Prologue

Blast Core laid next to Lyra staring up at the stars, Blast Core felt like a complete idiot the more he thought about recent events. He had thought drawing out a transmutation circle wasted time in alchemy, he had to get a good permanent mark on his hoof that he could use whenever he needed. He had scorched a transmutation circle on his hoof, no matter how stupid he felt he knew he succeeded, that transmutation circle would be there for life.

“That was incredibly risky, you know that?” Lyra looked to the side at him her eyes squinted at him with disappointment written all over her face. He shrugged lifting his gaze back at the stars.

“Maybe, but hey at least it works.” He shrugged, they were incredibly young, Blast Core looked at his hoof before sighing again, and he still felt pain from it. Eventually he heard Lyra talking from his side.

“Hey, I’m going to head back now.” He jumped back up to his hooves along with her.

“Yeah, me too I guess.” They both started trotting down the winding dirt road which led them back to Ponyville. He saw lightning clouds looming overhead; this was the perfect time for him to show off his alchemy to Lyra! He lifted his hoof up beginning to mix with the air flow; it caused a sort of gravitational Funnel leading down to his hand drawing lightning into his hoof. He played with the lightning in his hooves with a broad grin on his face.

“See!? I told you I wasn’t lying! I can manipulate lightning! She rolled her eyes as they both stood there staring at the bright lightning gracefully swirling around in his hoof.

“So you’re an alchemist.” They both turned to face the strange figure that had spoke; she came out from the tree line walking over to them with a friendly smile spread across her face.

“You look a little too young to be doing advanced Alchemy, it’s dangerous.”” She said with her still friendly smile, she stood stooping down to their level to look into their eyes.

“Why don’t you two tell me your names?” She said squinting through the darkness to get a good description of them. Immediately Blast Core being the goofball he was, rose his foreleg up high.

“Ooh! I’m Blast Core!” He said with a goofy looking smile on his face. She smiled at him rustling his mane up with her right hoof.

“And how about you, what’s your name?” She said staring over to Lyra who didn’t seem as excited as Blast Core to see the stranger.

“Lyra.” She said plain and simply. She smiled placing a hoof on her head aswell. She looked back and forth at them sort of comparing the two by the looks of it.

“You look so sincere.” She said looking at Blast Core with a soft gaze. She was too nice to be an enemy. He thought to himself deep in thought.

“And you, you look intense, just like me.” She smiled at Lyra who was now smiling at the strange Mare herself. She looked back to Blast Core now with a slightly more serious expression.

“Blast Core, do you like Lyra?” She said with her still soft expression. Now the two of them being as foolish as they were, didn’t know exactly what she had meant by that. Eventually being the sincere goofball he was answered.

“Well, of course I like her! She’s my best friend!” He yelled in excitement at the strange mare who now began to laugh. Lyra was smiling at him now; she was obviously touched by that statement.

“Well, Blast Core, it’s your job to now make sure she stays safe. What if something horrible happens to her and she can’t save herself now you have to be there to help her. It’s your job Blast Core.” She said with her smile still lightly spread across her face. She rose up to her original height.

“Can you do that for me Blast Core?” He nodded his head rapidly blushing ever so slightly at her.

“Well, sure I can!” The mare began to laugh as she trotted back off into the darkness. The two Young ponies sat there confused for a few seconds before Lyra started walking again.

“You hear that Lyra? I’m going to be your protector from now on.” He said with his sincere smile still on his face. He laughed under his breath as they walked together.

She smiled as they walked shoving him in his flank to make him stumble. He shook a bit regaining his stance running back to walk with her again.

“I don’t need to be protected by a goofball Blast Core.” She said as she kept on walking shaking her head slightly at him whilst sighing to herself. They walked all the way home and went to bed for the night. They remained friends for five years after that odd night before the most horrible thing happened.

He had been trying to figure out if there was a way to generate lightning, but the law of equivalent exchange clearly stated that if you took something, something of equal value must be given. He had tried to generate lightning but it always lashed back at him causing him pain. He had the most idiotic idea of a lifetime. He clapped his hooves together rubbing them against each other with a cocky grin. Lyra appeared to be a passive spectator; she was still interested in what would happen next.  He drew out a transmutation circle in the dirt with his foot trying to get a more powerful transmute from the two transmutation circles combined, the dirt one and the one scorched onto his hoof. He rubbed his hooves together smiling.

“You ready to see some masterful alchemy?” He said with a cocky grin looking back at Lyra. She only shrugged her shoulders in response smiling at him.

“Please, be careful Blast Core! Don’t hurt yourself!” She yelled out at him as he cracked his neck. He stomped his forelegs down onto the transmutation circle which was greeted by a bright flash. As he did he noticed a terrible sight. He had messed up his transmutation circle; one of the inner prongs which protruded from the center was uncompleted. Instead of lightning generating a dark aura rose from the circle reaching out to the sky. He looked around as dark tendrils rose from the inner sanctum swallowing him whole. He heard Lyra screaming out barely as he was pulled out from reality.

He looked around slowly seeing only white around him. An odd looking Pony who was a complete white color, he blended in with the background except for the black outline which drew out his body. He smiled at him evilly before speaking.

“Well, it looks like a child has come to complete the exchange.”  He said with a rather odd echoed voice. He pointed his hoof behind him to see Lyra floating unconscious in the air. A few black hands grasped her holding her in the air sort of levitating her.

“Lyra!” He called out to her, but she did not stir. She was stuck in some sort of trance between existence and non existence. He looked back at the pony now anger in his eyes.

“Why did you, what did you do to her!?”  He gritted his teeth in both anger and fear of the mysterious pony.

“The Law of Equivalent Exchange, dear child. You must now lose her to gain what you wish.” Lyra was pulled into the white floor by the black hands taking her away from his view.

“No! Bring her back! Take the alchemy back I don’t care! Give her back please!” The pony began to laugh sinisterly before returning his sneer back at Blast Core. He looked up at a giant doorway which began to materialize behind him. There were multiple symbols etched on the door way. He saw a new symbol beginn to materialize in the center of the doorway, this he guessed is what he gained from the exchange.

“Too late I’m afraid, you’ve already made the exchange, now I have to send you back, I hope you got what you wished for so desperately.” He felt something pulling him away from the pony at incredible speeds. He tried to resist, tried to run back to Lyra but he couldn’t. Eventually he faded into darkness slipping into unconsciousness.

He awoke from unconsciousness in the same field where the transmutation had all gone wrong. He looked around panic stricken. He looked around or any sign of Lyra's presence,  but there was no sign of her. He began to bawl right on the spot, he was always a very sensitive pony, this event had just cost him his best friend. He wiped his tears away looking at his hooves. There was now a mark where he had scorched his transmutation circle. He lifted it up into the air slowly, He smashed it together with his other hoof willing to generate lightning out of curiosity. Eventually a giant strike of lightning came from the sky, he had generated an immense amount of friction in the atmosphere almost without effort. He looked down with a new determination rising within him.

He had to get Lyra back, no matter what happened to him. He made a promise all those years ago to protect her from harm, he was going to live up to that promise.