My Little Homunculus: Alchemy Is Magic Rewrite

Twilight, and Ed walked out of the library to find that Garble was standing near the entrance. “Oh, hey Garble.” Twilight said, “Good timing actually. Do you know a place we can stay the night?” Ed’s stomach growled.

“And a place to eat too?” he added.

“Why don’t we get something to eat first.” Garble said.

“That sounds good.” Twilight said as her own stomach growled.

“Come on, I know the best restaurant in town.” he said, before walking off. Ed, and Twilight quickly followed him. Finally after a few minutes of walking they stopped in front of a cave entrance. “Here we are.” he said.

“How can you tell?” Twilight asked, “All these caves look the same to me.” Garble chuckled.

“I’ve lived here for a while.” he told her.

“Well what are we waiting for?” asked Ed, “Let’s go.” Garble nodded, and walked in, followed by the other two. They entered what seemed to be a relatively small diner. There were three other dragons sitting in here, and they turned when they entered. They sneered, and went back to eating. They sat down at a table, and a waiter came up to them.

“What will you be having?” he asked Garble politely.

“Get me some chicken strips.” he told the waiter. Twilight wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought of meat. The waiters expression changed as he turned to Twilight, and Ed.

“And what will the ponies be having?” he hissed, putting an emphasis on ponies.

“Just give us two salads.” Twilight said, put off by the waiter’s attitude. The waiter gave a bow to Garble, and left. 10 minutes later he came back with a plate of chicken, and two bowls of salad. He gently set down the chicken, but slammed the bowls of salad down in front of Ed, and Twilight.

“Rude much?” she said.

“Sorry about that. Not very many dragons like ponies.” Garble told her.

“I could tell by the glares we’ve been getting.” she said.

“Well, dig in.” he said, before devouring his meal. Ed, and Twilight started to dig into their salad. When they were done Garble asked, “You guys want dessert? They’ve got sapphire flavored ice cream.” They shook their head. “Your loss.” he said. The waiter then came over to the table again, and collected the empty dishes. “Here, I put a tip in.” Garble said, handing him some coins that Twilight didn’t recognize.

“What’s that?” Twilight asked him.

“What’s what?” he asked.

“That coin.” she said, “What is it?” He took out another one.

“You mean this?” he asked.

“Yeah.” said Twilight, taking it.

“It’s a dracon.” he told her.

“A dracon?” she asked.

“Yeah, dracons are our currency.” he said.

“Oh, um, I thought you just used bits, like us.” Twilight admitted, chuckling nervously.

“One bit is equal to about two dracons.” he told Twilight, “We should exchange your money.”

“How do you know so much about this?” Twilight asked him.

“No reason.” he said, a little too quickly.

“Hmm.” Twilight said, “In any case can you show me where I can exchange my bits for dracons?”

“Right this way.” he said, walking out, and into another cave. This one, though, had a vault at the back of the room. He walked up to the counter, and told the clerk, “We’d like to exchange some bits for dracons.”

“How many bits do you have?” he asked. Twilight put a bag up on the counter.

“I have 30 bits with me.” she said. The clerk did a few calculations, and then opened the vault to reveal large stacks of many different coins. He took the bits out, and then placed some dracons in it. He then closed the vault, and put the bag back on the table.

“That transfers to 57 dracons, minus the five dracon fee, so you have 52 dracons.” said the clerk.

“Thanks.” said Twilight, levitating the bag back into her saddlebags. “We have some time, so can you show me where I can get some souvenirs for my friends?.” she asked.

“Sure.” he said, walking out, and to another cave. It really did get confusing for Twilight. This time they entered a cave that seemed to be a small market. Garble led them past a few vendors, to one who had a bunch of knickknacks.

“Hmm. I don’t think my friends would like any of these.” Twilight said. Suddenly something caught her eye. It was a necklace with what seemed to be a tooth hanging from it. “What’s that?” she asked the vendor.

“I see you have a good eye.” the vendor said, picking it up, “This is the tooth of a manticore.”

“Hmm. I’m sure Dash would like something like that. How much?” she asked.

“Eight dracons.” he said.

“I’ll take it.” she said, levitating her money bag out, and giving him eight dracons.

“Pleasure doing buisness with you.” he said, taking the money.

“Same here.” she said, levitating the necklace into her bag. “I don’t see anything else here, so let’s go.” Twilight said. “Do you know a place we can stay the night?” she asked.

“Yeah. Come on.” Garble said, leading them to yet another cave. He walked into the reception, where there was a dragon behind the counter. “Do you have two rooms?” he asked the clerk.

“Yeah, but not for them.” he said, pointedly looking at Twilight, and Ed. Garble sighed, and brought them outside.

“Sorry about that.” he said.

“Don’t worry about it.” Twilight told him, “It’s not your fault.” He sighed again.

“Yeah, I know, but I just wish there was something I could do.” he said. Suddenly an idea popped into his head. “I know! How about you stay with me?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Twilight said.

“I have plenty of room.” he insisted.

“Okay, I guess.” she said.

“Great, follow me.” he said. They followed him to another cave, and led them inside, and down a tunnel. When they reached the end they gasped in awe. Instead of a small cave like they were expecting, it was a gigantic cave, even bigger than the one the library was in. Hanging from the ceiling, lighting up the room, was a giant chandelier.

“Wow.” said Twilight, “Your house is amazing.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice isn’t it?” he said, grabbing a drink, and sitting on his huge couch.

“Pretty nice? This is amazing.” Ed told him.

“So tell me, what do you plan on doing now?” Garble asked them, taking a sapphire from an ornate bowl, and throwing into his mouth.

“Well, we were planning on going to the capitol.” Twilight told him. He nearly choked on his snack, when he heard that.

“The, uh, the capitol?” he asked, hoping he’d heard wrong.

“Yeah. Something wrong with that?” Ed asked him.

“Uh, no, nothing.” he said. It was Ed’s turn to narrow his eyes.

“Right.” he said.

“Anyways, why don’t you tell me about yourselves?” Garble asked them. Over the next few hours Twilight explained about her adventures, and then talked about why they were there. “I see. That’s interesting.” Garble said.

“Well why don’t you tell us about yourself?” Twilight asked him.

“Me, um, I.” Garble was trying to find a good excuse, so he wouldn’t have to tell them, when he noticed what time it was. “Well, would you look at the time.” he said, “Let’s get something to eat.” Twilight narrowed her eyes. There was obviously something he wasn’t telling them. She decided to go with it though, because she was hungry. “What do you want?” he asked them.

“I’ll just have another salad.” Twilight told him.

“Me too.” Ed said. Garble prepared them their salads, and just ate some gems himself. After they were done everyone was tired, and Ed let out a yawn.

“Why don’t you guys get some rest. I’ve got some extra beds.” Garble told them.

“Thanks.” said Twilight, as he led them farther into the cave, and brought them each to a room. “Night.” Twilight told them, and went to bed.

“See ya.” Ed said to Garble before going to his own room, and drifting off to sleep. The next morning Twilight, and Ed were awoken by the smell of cooking eggs. They walked into the kitchen at the same time.

“Oh, hey.” Garble said, when he saw them, “I made some breakfast.” Which was pretty unnecessary, considering there was a plate of eggs on the table.

“Thanks.” said Twilight, sitting down. They all made a plate, and started eating.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Garble asked them.

“Well first we’ll resupply, and then we’ll head towards the capitol.” Twilight told him.

“Yeah, well, about that.” he said, “Could I travel with you? Twilight was surprised. She’d hadn’t expected this.

“Uh, sure I guess.” she said.

“Thanks!” he said. As soon as they finished eating, they got their bags. Garble had packed his last night, just in case. “I’ll show you to the market again.” he said as they walked. Soon they reached the market again, and they bought supplies, which ended up to be 17 dracons. Luckily Garble paid for it, so Twilight still had 44 dracons left.

“Let’s go now.” Twilight said, taking her map out, “We’ll head to Fen’rar, and then to Drakonia.”

“We’ll have to cross Lava Chasm if we go that way.” Garble pointed out.

“I know, but it’s the fastest way to the capitol.” Twilight said.

“I see.” he said, “Well, we should probably get going now. We’ll be able to reach Fen’rar in four days if we’re lucky.”

“Could you lead us to the way down?” Twilight asked him, “I have no idea where it is.”

“Sure, this way.” he said. Just as he started to walk, though, his path was blocked by two dragons. One was a large purple dragon, and the other a large brown dragon.

“And where do you think you’re going with those ponies?” asked the brown one.

“None of your business.” he told them.

“It is our business.” said the purple one, pushing Garble, “You’ve changed man.”

“Yeah, I have.” said Garble, pushing him back, “I’m not a jerk anymore, unlike you guys.”

“What did you call us?” said the brown one, pushing Garble.

“You heard me jerk.” Garble said.

“That’s it!” yelled the brown one, throwing a punch at Garble, who easily dodged it. Using his smaller frame, and better agility, Garble dodged all their attacks, and dealt some blows of his own. Within two minutes the other dragons were flat on their backs. He spat on the ground, and turned back to Twilight, and Ed.

“Come on, let’s go.” he said. The other two just nodded, dumbfounded, and followed him down the stairs to the bottom of the mountain.

“Let’s see.” said Twilight, taking out the map. “We go that way.” she said, pointing north. They nodded, and silently set off across the wasteland, towards their next destination, Fen’rar. As they walked their destination never seemed to get closer. Two days went by just like that. On the third day, though, the village came into sight just as night  was closing in on them.

Finally! Ed thought. We’re almost there. That night, though, Ed had a nightmare.

“Why big brother? Why?” asked the voice of a little girl.

“Nina! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Nina!” he called out.

“Why?” the girl’s voice asked again.

“Nina. Nina! NINA!” he yelled.

Suddenly he jolted awake, covered in sweat. He looked around, and took deep breaths to calm himself. Wh-What was that? He wondered. Was that a nightmare, or... or was it something else? Suddenly Twilight barged into his tent.

“Are you okay?!” she asked, “I heard you scream.” He took a few more deep breaths to compose himself before speaking.

“I’m okay.” he stuttered, “It was just a bad dream.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, “Do you want me to stay in here?”

“I’m fine.” he told her.

“Okay then.” she said, and went back to her own tent, leaving Ed to wonder what exactly that was. The next morning they ate, and packed up, determined to get to the city before sundown.

“We should go see my cousin.” Garble told them, “She’s a bit weird, but she’ll give us a place to stay.”

“Sounds good.” Ed said. They ignored the glares of most dragons as Garble led them through the many streets of Fen’rar. At least this town actually had houses. Garble led them to a cozy looking house. He knocked on the door, and almost instantly it slammed open, revealing a pink dragoness. She suddenly gasped, and pulled Garble into a hug.

“You never told me you were visiting cuz!” she said, excitedly hopping up and down.

“Yeah, well it was kinda short notice.” he said. Then she noticed the two ponies behind him, and gasped again.

“Are those your friends?” she asked.

“Yeah.” he told her.

“Great!” she said, “Come on in, I’ll make us some lunch.” Twilight smiled as she was reminded of Pinkie Pie. Now she understood what Garble had meant when he said his cousin was a little weird.

“Thank you Miss...” Twilight trailed off.

“Just call me Sam, or Sammy.” she told Twilight, “My parents named me Sprinkle, but I thought that wasn’t really a proper dragon name, so just call me that.”

“Alright. Thank you, um, Sam.” Twilight said.

“No problem!” Sam said. She quickly fixed something for them all to eat, and they sat at a table.

“So what brings you here cuz?” she asked.

“We’ll I’m just travelling with them. You should ask them what’s going on.” Garble said, pointing towards Twilight and Ed.

“So what are you two doing here?” she asked.

“We’ll it all started when I met Ed.” Twilight began.

--

“And that’s about it.” Twilight finished.

“I see now.” Sam said, “That’s sounds super duper fun!”

“If you say so cuz.” Garble said, rolling his eyes. His cousin never could grasp the seriousness of situations. “Anyways, I was wondering if you would set us up a place to stay for tonight?” he asked.

“Sure!” she said, cheerfully, “On it!” She walked off somewhere, leaving the others alone.

“What did I tell you. Weird or what?” Garble said.

“Oh I don’t know.” said Twilight, “I know somepony very similar to her.”

“I’m done with the rooms.” said Sam, suddenly appearing out of nowhere, “Were you talking about me?”

“No.” said Garble. To Twilight, and Ed he whispered, “See, weird.” Twilight gave a small chuckle. For the next few hours they just chatted. They then had dinner, kindly provided to them by Sam, and then it was time for them to get some rest. She showed all three of them to their room.

“Have a good sleep.” she said, before retiring to her own room. Ed laid awake for a little while, just thinking.

Am I going to have another nightmare? He wondered. I hope not. He tried to stay awake a little longer, but finally sleep overcame him. Luckily he had no dreams that night. The next morning he awoke, and entered the kitchen with sleep still in his eyes.

“Sorry, but the only thing I can really cook for breakfast is toast.” said Sam, “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” he told her, taking a seat. Surprisingly they were the only ones in there. That soon changed, though, as he ate.

“I would have liked some bacon, but I guess this’ll do.” Garble said, taking a bite out of his toast. “We’re leaving now cuz.” he said as they finished breakfast.

“Have a safe journey!” she called out after them.

“We will!” Garble called back. They walked to the market, which was just like Ponyville, and they bought supplies. Twilight sorted them out, and gave an equal amount to each of them.

“We’re ready to go now!” announced Twilight. Garble lead the way out of town, and they walked until they reached Lava Chasm Twilight, and Ed gasped in amazement. They could see why it was called Lava Chasm. It was about 200 yards across, and even deeper. At the bottom of the ravine was lava, flowing just like water in a river would.

“Let’s get going.” Garble said, walking towards an unstable looking rope bridge.

“Are you crazy?!” asked Twilight, “We can’t go that way!”

“We don’t have time to go around it.” Garble told her, “And besides, this bridge was made for dragons. It’s more stable than it looks.”

“I-I don’t know.” said Twilight, still unsure about this.

“Watch, I’ll go first.” said Garble, stepping onto the bridge. “See? Perfectly safe.” he said.

“O-Okay I guess.” said Twilight, following closely behind Garble. Ed followed behind her. When they were a little past the middle a strong gust blew. Twilight grabbed the bridge tightly, but to her surprise it only rocked very slightly.

“Oh no!” Garble gasped. Twilight looked up to the sky, like Garble was, and she gasped too. Rolling in on them was a giant storm cloud. Garble ran the rest of the way across the bridge. Twilight followed, not as quickly, but still pretty quick. She was then followed by Ed. As soon as they got to the other side, Garble opened Twilight’s saddlebag, and tore out the map. “We need to get to shelter as soon as possible.” he said.

“But where?” Twilight asked.

“Look here, the Lost Caverns are only 10 minutes away from here.” he said, pointing at what seemed to be a cave entrance with the words Lost Caverns written beneath it. “We can stay there until the storm passes.” he explained. Twilight nodded. She wanted to ask questions, but she knew their safety came first.

“Right.” she said. Garble started running, followed by Twilight, and Ed. The rain had just started right before they reached the cave, so thankfully, they weren’t too wet when they flopped into the dry cave floor.

"We made it." he said.