Potion Mare

Melody gave a sigh of frustration as she felt the boat bump. Lily had already been up, cooking breakfast. She trotted over, giving Melody a gentle shove.

"Hey. Sleepyhead, we're here. Steel told me to drag you around, so get up and get ready. We're at the mage's college, or, well, the island that it's on." Lily rolled her eyes, setting a pot on to slow-cook for dinner that night. Melody gave a grunt as she rolled out of bed, stumbling to her hooves and shaking her mane out of her face.

"Yeah, yeah, alright... I'm ready when you are." Melody sighed, patting herself down, eyes widening as her hoof passed over the amulet, which had somehow made its way around her throat. She gave a small squeak as she unclasped it, tucking it into her robe. The cream-colored mare trotted towards the door, Lily beating her there. Lily's pink mane brushed along her side, curling along her cheek as she exited, turning her head back.

"You're kind of cute when you're asleep, ya know." Lily grinned, disappearing up on to the deck, leaving Melody to blush and regain her bearings in the kitchen. Melody shook her head, following her along up on to the deck. The air suddenly became rather frigid, snapping Melody out of her just-woken daze. She gazed over the edge of the boat, surveying the island they had just anchored at.

The island was a large land mass, but a castle on a cliff overlooking the sea took up most of the terrain. It sat at the far end of the island, two huge towers jutting out from both ends, blue flags extended off of them and bellowing in the wind. There was a dock directly in front of the boat, which led to a small town area. There was an assortment of stores, mostly magic related. The ground was covered in a light snow, and frost tinted the trees of the area flowing around the buildings. There was a small bakery and blacksmith in the area as well, surrounded on all sides by potion supply and spell book stores. Melody gave an excited giggle, trotting down the ramp that a couple of ship-ponies had rolled out, Lily walking up beside her.

"Alright, Steel said she would meet us here, so don't go anywhere," Lily spoke, cutting off Melody by sticking a hoof out to block her. "While we wait, we might as well get to know each other better. Like I told you before, my name is Lily, Lily Pearl. And your's was?" She said, tilting her head and batting her eyes.

"Melody. Just Melody." She grinned, pressing herself a bit closer to the other mare, giving a puff of air which resulted in a small white cloud. "Pretty cold out here if you ask me." Lily gave a raise of her eyebrow but didn't stop her.

"Yeah. I suppose it is. So how did you and Steel meet?" Lily questioned, breaking the awkward silence.

"Uhhh..." Melody said, widening her eyes slightly and trying to decide whether or not she should lie to her. "We... Met... At... A potion supply store! In Trotston! Yeah, she picked me up there and asked me if I would like to join the crew after she saw me demonstrate some magic. It's no big deal, really." Melody blushed, looking away to hide her shame.

"Oh? Magic? But aren't you a pegasus?" Lily teased, bumping Melody's wing with a hoof. "I didn't know that was possible. Why don't you show me what you got, ya know, show off a little?~" Lily said, her eyes sparkling.

"Well, alright, fine." She said, giving a soft giggle and purring. "Watch this." Melody said, reaching a hoof into her robe and grabbing her wand, extending it toward a small patch of snow. She bit her lip, concentrating hard. Suddenly, a short bolt of fire extended from the tip, melting the snow in a circle. Lily gasped and clapped rapidly, grinning and patting Melody's side.

"Wow! That's amazing! I didn't know regular ponies could use magic!!!" Lily squealed, leaning forward and poking at the melted water, looking from the wand to Melody and back again.

"Yeah, yeah, it's not a big thing!" Melody replied, blushing and sitting down. Lily sat down beside her nuzzling her cheek as Steel trotted up to the two, grinning and grabbing Melody's hoof to help her up.

"Oh, you two are getting close, aren't you?" Steel teased, glancing between the two and winking at Melody, Lily just giving a blush and rolling her eyes. "Anyway, here's what we're going to do. We'll dock here for two days, so Melody can get in whatever she needs to do up at the college. Lily, you'll accompany her for these days. Once we're done, we'll set sail for the next town over." Steel informed, Lily, nodding in response. "We'll meet back here in two days. Sound good? Good." Steel said, not even waiting for a response as she walked off.

"Well.. lead the way, I suppose." Lily smiled, pressing her side against Melody's and nuzzling against her side gently before pulling back. Melody gave a sheepy grin, pressing against her and testing the water by resting her wing along Lily's back, Lily blushing, but not saying anything. Melody gave a silent, triumphant sound as they walked along.

"I need to pick up some ingredients, so let's stop in here real quick." Melody said, trotting into the nearest potion supply and holding the door open for Lily. As they both walked inside, it became very obvious something was off about the place.

The walls were all a soft red, and they seemed to pulsate as if they were alive. The floor was black, with soft purple tints here and there. The entire room smelled of red wine and spice. Along one wall were individually capped vials of spices with labels, held in place by leather straps nailed to the wall. Along the other end were different herbs, held in pouches in the same way the spices were suspended. In the middle of the floor was a red and glowing pentagram, shedding soft light around the room, most of the illumination coming from the windows in the front of the store. At the far end of the room was a countertop, a couple of magic related items hanging from the wall behind it. A blue unicorn mare sat on a stool at the counter, hooves up on the desk, head against the wall. She glared at the two as they trotted in, blowing her soft white mane out of her eyes as she sat up.

"Hello, welcome to Misty's Potion Supply. Is there anything you're looking for?" The mare said, sitting up and leaning her front hooves on the desk.

"Well, actually, I'm looking for three things in particular. Grapevines, Silk, and Evening Primrose." Melody smiled, glancing back at the wall. The blue mare nodded, grabbing a pencil and jotting some numbers down on a notepad.

"Will that be all?" Misty replied, tapping her hoof as her magic carried over two small pouches, and a spool of grapevine. Melody nodded, throwing her a couple of bits, much more than were required.

"Wow, what's all that stuff for?" Lily said, grinning and nudging against Melody's side as they walked back out of the door, tucking herself under Melody's wing once more.

"Eh, just some stuff for some rituals. Don't worry about it." Melody threw back, trying to dodge any questioning on the materials.

"No! Cmon, tell me! I wanna know, don't leave me in the dark here." Lily groaned, looking over at Melody and giving puppy-mare eyes.

"Alright, alright..." Melody said, taking a deep breath. "Grapevine is supposed to be a useful herb for protecting a place or ritual. Silk is used as a sort of protection material, to prevent demons from getting into something you want to protect. Finally, Evening Primrose is useful for protecting foals. Any questions?" Melody smirked, turning and looking down at Lily as they walked, the two pressing noses together as they began to slow down in unison. Their eyes locked, the two slowly pressing forward and closing their eyes, Melody turning her head slightly to the right. Their lips locked, Lily giving a near silent huff. As they pulled away, letting the situation hang in the air for a couple of seconds, Lily was the first to break the silence.

"Ok, wow, that was amazing. You're pretty good at that, you know?~" Lily said, letting it sink in as the moment began to fade, Melody feeling as if she had only just returned to her body after her soul had left to do a couple of loop-de-loops in the sky. She gave a soft shudder, pressing back against Lily's side and resting a wing over her back.

"Yeah... Let's just stay like this, alright?" She smiled, cuddling Lily close as they began to walk again. Lily gave a small nod in response. As they walked, Melody steered them toward the blacksmith, both in complete silence, bodies working in unison, a perfect team, as if their souls were connected. Melody stepped in, giving a gentle sigh as Lily pulled away to look at a couple of swords hanging on the wall. Just being this close to her after so long felt magical, like a high. There were no words to describe what she felt other than bliss, and even that felt like it wasn't doing the situation the true justice it deserved. Melody glanced around the small shop, taking a mental bookmark to come back later. Lily walked back to her again, and Melody glanced at the dirt path that lead up to the mage's college.

"Hey, how about you stay here while I check out the college? It's important I do it alone, they don't really allow non-mages. How about you get us something nice at the bakery? Here, take some bits." Melody sighed, frowning as Lily looked a bit hurt, but took the bits. "I promise I'll be back ASAP, alright hun?" Melody smiled and gave Lily a peck on the cheek, trotting off and leaving Lily to blush with a stupid grin.

After around a thirty minute hike up the path to the mage's college, she arrived at the front doors. The gaurd raised an eyebrow at her, pointing at her wings with his spear.

"Mage's only, sorry sugar." He said in a gruff tone, eying her robe. Melody rolled her eyes and wordlessly reached into her robe. She tugged out two potion bottles, one purple and one yellow.

"Alchemist." She grinned as the gaurd nodded, stepping aside and opening the door for her, shutting it behind her. As soon as she stepped in, she knew it was a mistake to come here. There was no pony in sight, and the hallways were long and empty. Blue torches lit the walls, the hallway she stood in leading to one door at the far end of it. "Hello?" She called out, the only response her own voice as it echoed off of the towering ceilings. She began to walk, reaching into her robe and gripping the handle of the sword she had gotten from the mysterious mare at the boardwalk. She gulped hard, remembering to look over her shoulder now and then. She made it to the door at the far end of the hallway, slowly pushing it open.

"Hello? Is this the office of the high mage?" Melody spoke, her voice quivering. All of the torches in the room suddenly blew out, and the door closed behind her. Blackness covered the windows, blocking out any trace of sunlight that would have helped her. A large pentagram in the middle of the room began to glow blue, bright enough to illuminate the entire room. She pulled the half broken and rusty sword out, holding it at length.

"How nice of you to turn up." A voice called from behind her, causing her to squeak and spin on her heel, the familiar voice making her blood run cold and her heart drop. A couple of feet across the room was... her.