Return of an Alchemist (open)

The Tea shop, A popular area for this pony to find himself on his down time. Elix entered the shop with a bit of a nostalgia sigh as he went to the counter and ordered the day's special for tea. he had his spiky black and red Mane well groomed for once as he was out an about today. his red, foggy eyes scanned the scene to see if anything change, which it seemed to have not, or not to a degree to notice. Elix smiled and paid for his tea before pulling out of his satchel, which is usually hidden by his cloak, a thermostat of what he considered his medication and mixed some of its content into the tea before finding a seat and sipping it, Sighing as he relaxed and pulled out a Journal and a Jared specimen of a black and thorny vine, looking a bit like something that would have grown in the Everfree Forrest, and began to write in the journal about this specimen more or less, his cup of tea levitating near by in a ready stance when he wanted a sip.

Heartspan sat at a small table reading in his ancient tome. The hood of his deep black cloak was pulled up over his head revealing nothing but his snow white horn. he had ordered a cup of tea, though he had only come here for a quiet place to read. Once in a while he would glance up from his studies to look at his fellow patrons few though they seemed from his position.

He watched a colt with a neatly combed black and red spiky mane purchase some tea before taking a seat. Soon the colt produced some filthy looking vine and heartspan shook his head returning to his spellbook.

Elix seemed to finish writing what he was and placed his tea down and rustling could be heard as a glass vial and a beaker of a strange, shimmering liquid levitated out of the bag and the liquid was poured into the vial before returning to the satchel. the Vial was lowered onto the table, being propped up by the book and tea cup as a small,red beam of magic from his horn struck the vial and the liquid began to boil and take on the color of the magic. once the liquid was a uniformed color, Elix began to manually pick up the vial and open the jar, pouring in a few drops of the liquid and quickly resealed the jar as the Vine began to go crazy over the liquid and seemed to grow and the spikes began to shimmer with a red glow. Elix then returned to writing about this reaction, not seeming to notice the Jar beginning to crack as the plant began to throw itself against the jar's wall. this began to show that the jar might be magically reinforced as the cracks seemed to be a shade of dark purple, contracting to the clear jar.

Try as he might, he just could not get much into the spell he was working on. The clinking and clattering of the colt with the vine kept distracting him. He carefully shut the book and took a good look at the colt. The vine was freaking out in the glass and the colt looked like some mind numbed zebra as he tinkered with this and that.
Heartspan did not like the look of things and carefully tucked his book into his saddlebags. Should things go awry he would leave swiftly. Other than this he decided to watch this mad spectacle. He was not himself fond of zebra alchemy but it was a curious sight to be sure and a unicorn wasting time on such a thing only made it more amusing.

Elix seemed to to be very calm as he sipped his tea as the Jar seemed to be riddled in cracks, only held together by the magical reinforcement. there is no way he does not notice, but he seems so calm as he pulls out of his bag a vial of a purple and blue mixture and put in something in it. it could be a thorn or something similar as the material is dissolved into the mixture. when the Vine finally smashed through the container, he poured the chemical on the plant as the thorns began to dissolve, or at least seem to as the plant tried to violently grow more. the other ponies seemed to watch this scene half bewildered as Elix calmly pulled about another Jar and a Mixture that can only be described as a Zap Apple Cider mixture and began to boil the liquid into a gas, seeming to use the fumes to calm the plant down while using a hoof to slid it into the Jar. he made sure a good amount of the vapors was in the Jar as he sealed it. Sighing a bit as he drink his tea and began to put everything away, the only thing he left was the smell of fresh Zap apples and something else, something Harmonic. Elix looked around the room and saw eveypony and shrugged a bit before speaking.

"Sorry about that, was running what I hopped was a safe experiment, but new plants, new properties."

He said in a calm logical voice, in fact, his tone seemed unnaturally calm as if he was medicated or drugged.

"Sorry about that, was running what I hopped was a safe experiment, but new plants, new properties."

Heartspan could not help but be surprised at the lack of sense this pony had. He took a glance about the room from beneath the confines of his hood. Many patrons were giving a look at this fellow with his strange goings on. Some angry, some confused, some without much thought.

Heartspan stood. " I think you should run your experiments in a lab, or at least your house, not a coffee shop. this whole business stinks of negligence." he said caustically before turning and strolling out the front door of the tea shop.

He looked at the fellow with a light smile and pulled out a vial of what looked like a blue twister in a vial and opened it as a light breeze filled the air towards the jar as it seemed to pull the air into the jar at a harmless rate, clearing the air of any unwanted fragrances. he put the cap back on the vial and cleaned up any mess he may have made before quickly finishing his tea and following the fellow out.

"Ah yes, and I usually do my friend, but when I want to study Botanical items, I tend to do it at a more relaxing place.Sorry if I ruined your studying, from what I saw that was an old tome if I recall. If I may Inquire, what volume is that, I do not recall reading or even seeing that volume in the Library?"

He seemed to ask in his very calm voice, as if apologizing for bothering his studies. but it was odd; how did Elix know that this fellow was reading and perhaps studying? maybe he was assuming by glancing at what he had on him, or maybe he is more aware of his surroundings then he may lead to believe, which seems hard to believe as his eyes seemed to be fogged over as if he was blind.

"Ah yes, and I usually do my friend, but when I want to study Botanical items, I tend to do it at a more relaxing place.Sorry if I ruined your studying, from what I saw that was an old tome if I recall. If I may Inquire, what volume is that, I do not recall reading or even seeing that volume in the Library?"

heartspan turned at the intrusion and finding the potion maker following along he heaved an inwards sigh.

" I can take up my study any place and so it is no bother. More to the point i find it ridiculous and negligent to preform such labors in any establishment be it calming or otherwise in it's nature." he replied sternly " My book happens to be ' Chimera: a look into the origins of the Alicorn as viewed through the frame work of Unicorn Transmutation.' I believe this tome was banned and so shouldn't be included in the libraries material. "

"A mental lapse in my judgement due to comfort and I will be returning to the old way of just coming there to drink tea, relax and write what I have learned besides experimentation on the specimens I find. As for my input on the book, if you do not mind, is an interesting view point as the newest Princess WAS a Unicorn beforehand"

He stated and realized he had forgotten something, a drink to go. he seemed to express something more then a calm demeanor, Panic and worry. Elix took a deep breath as he knew panicking and worrying would NOT help the situation.

"again I apologize for my Professional Negligence; I am Elix in case you were curious."

Heartspan listened intently as he always did when conversing with folks. His irritation fading as they walked. He noted a passing frantic worry come over the colt as he spoke. Heartspan waited patiently for the other to finish speaking.
" Well, my name is Heartspan. Through the course of theorizing, the book provides a process in which a unicorn and a pegasi are fused together through transmutation. An untested theory but interesting none the less. " he offered by way of explanation. " Anyway, now it is my turn to be curious. Just what experiment were you attempting, or were you simply researching the properties of that strange plant? and nice to meet you by the way."

"very interesting, I never thought of transmutation on such a large scale, but i can see why this would be banned in most, if not, all libraries. as for what I was doing with the plant, just testing the properties and getting ideas of potions and elixir to brew from them, so far I have the workings of an anti magic oil."

He stated, smiling as he seemed happy to talk about his work.

"In case you could not tell, which I doubt you did not, I am an Alchemist, but I work mainly with poison Joke and its Polymorphic properties. may I ask what field you study? or would you rather keep it hidden like the Tomb?"

He asked, seeming to understand some hobbies and skills are not to be publicly talked about.

Heartspan nodded thoughtfully as the colt spoke. His interest was peaked at the mention of an antimagic oil.

" For sure i noticed your area of training. I was even wondering why any unicorn would step into a decidedly non magical area of training. however, You definitely blew my mind with this talk of antimagic. That for sure has given me a new respect for your art alchemist. i would like to hear your theories on this for certain. I myself am a student of transmutation, so i can at least understand the properties of objects. " he replied politely.

he looked up at the sky for a moment then back down to the alchemist

" Of course, i have a feeling you will find your studies are banned and listed in the forbidden knowledge of our country." he said with a smile. " After all, you can dispel a spell, break a spell, or reweave a spell with magic, but you can not make antimagic with magic. i imagine our decidedly magical princesses will not find your discovery or theories to be too amusing."

"well contrary to belief, my family is not of pure unicorn heritage. my mother is a Unicorn and my father a Pegasus. My father was the original alchemist, so i dabbled when I was young, helping him when I could. I just grew to enjoy the possibilities of creating vials of oils and liquids with unique properties that anypony can use, but only a skilled one can make."

As if to show how serious to the trade, he showed his cutie mark of two potions in a 'X' formation, one of a white and calm liquid, the other of a red/black liquid that looks like it was being shaken. between the vials was a Familiar Blue flower. he lowered his cape to hide it again before talking about his trade some more, smiling and chuckling a bit.

"and I imagine my trade is banned, but not because of this new discovery, but that I work with the essence of Chaos and try to use it in a somewhat controlled environment. doing some comparisons, this new vine and Poison Joke might have originated from the same source, Chaos Magic. but I am sure you would not like to hear my theories on Chaos."

Elix stated, his voices becoming more normal and less like a medicated calm person as we was smiling and making some auditory signs of emotions. Elix put a hoof in front of Heart to stop his movement, then seemed to make a blowing motion in front of them at what seemed to be nothing.

"Sorry, don't you hate it when the clouds sink to the ground?"

Heartspan listened politely to the colt, he even glanced at the pony's cutie mark. Heartspan had seemed to come from an old family of unicorns, at least this was what he gathered from his last visit home. Even-so he really could not remember for the life of him any of these sort of family details. So he simply kept silent letting the alchemist talk to his hearts content.

The colt seemed to really enjoy talking about his talent and heartspan saw no reason to dissuade him from chatting. All of this talk of antimagic and chaos magic were all very fascinating. Then suddenly he was held up short as the alchemist lifted a hoof to prevent Heartspan's forward movement.

"Sorry, don't you hate it when the clouds sink to the ground?"

The words seemed the words of a madpony and heartspan looked where the colt seemed to be looking but saw nothing. Clearly this poor stallion had been spending too much time cooped up with his chemicals. However , it was really only a small concern to Heartspan. he had enough magic and talent with his hidden weaponry not to be in fear of an attack, and often genius did have it's quirks. he simply shrugged.

" Ah, i suppose, though to be honest i don't see any such thing." he replied casually. " At any rate do go on about this chaos magic theory you were just getting into. you think both these plants have an origin in chaos? "

He smiled as the the seemed to show interest in his theory and seems to not mind him explaining his theory on how these plants he has mentioned are of Chaos Origin.

"well I got some help from my Botanical Marefriend, who specializes in unique and uncommon plants, and she found that Poison Joke and this new vine are related some how, like how Nightshade is related to a Tomato. I know, due to my research, that poison Joke is a magical plant in origin and it is my conclusion that the only source of powerful enough Chaos magic to create a plant with such naturally random and Polymorphic attributes would be the spirit of Chaos himself.I had to study some Chaos theories to use Poison Joke the way I do, essentially focusing the Chaotic properties into one point, but bringing Order to Chaos can be dangerous and weaken the property greatly. the strongest Healing Potion I have created is the closest to keeping the properties of Chaos intact, but it does one of several beneficial healing factors, so not a reliable source of medical attention."

He seemed to explain, his eyes seemed to dilate a bit as he seemed to be doing relaxation motions to calm down, the reason is unknown at this point.

Heartspan listened intently and simply ignored the strange motions the alchemist was making. The fellow was strange to say the least but his theories and skill were sound as far as Heartspan was concerned.

" so does this then relate to your antimagic?" He asked as he thought on the alchemists words. " You will use chaos theories to create antimagic? or am i simply adding two distinctly differing subjects together incorrectly."

" different Subject, but Chaos theory crates it. you see, most magic now a day comes from one of two things; Concentration and order in the caster's mind to keep the spell on going and stable and the other is Harmony and friendship. Due to this fact and the properties i found so far about this vine is what makes me believe that it originates from Chaos. grant it, this plant is completely harmless in theory for other forms of magic like Chaos magic or even Dark Magic."

He said the last one with a chuckle, as if to him, Dark magic was not a big deal.

"Sorry, just Dark magic. . . any-pony who practices such magic risk loosing too much for too little. but, this plant seems to not cancel out the magic, but messes up the spell by emitting chaos elements into the spell, so scrambling the spell and giving it chaotic elements and removing some Order elements as opposites will cancel out."

Heartspan was silent for a moment as he thought on what the alchemist had said.

“ I think that you are mistaken in your thoughts elix.” he said softly and thoughtfully. “ firstly magic comes in three forms. Chaos, light, and dark. Harmony and friendship are just elements of the light and as such are only catalysts for light magic in terms of power. All magic except for chaos requires concentration and order but there in is found a balance between the powers. Chaos upsets order and order binds chaos which is seen in the healing potion process you mentioned earlier. Secondly you are wrong to scoff so easily at dark magic. You should think of chaos light and dark as a triad none of them are greater or lesser than the other. Further more in the world of magic all things have a cost and the value of what is gained by paying it is dependent on the caster as is the potency of any spell.”

he looked off into the crowd.

“ In thinking on what you mention it seems as if the plant was itself a creation meant to serve as a weapon against light magic since as you say it is harmless to other forms of magic. I suppose though you can take precaution against the scrambling effects once you have noted their existence.”

he turned back to the alchemist.

“ I forget, did I ask where it was you found this plant or did you mention it and I forgot. I am curious now and it seems to have slipped my mind.” he said with a tone of apology. “ you have given me so many interesting theories to ponder on you see.”

"Hm, well I do believe you, but theory of magic is not my fortified knowledge, I know chaos magic is letting the magic do what it do's. I must remember to keep that in mind to keep some of the potions more potent."

he chuckled and his mind seemed to wander as looking at non existence beings and items, laughing, seeming to be distracted before snapping back to him.

"oh sorry, a light shower was about to happen, um, i got this trimming from my own personal clipping when the forest began to expand. got it before they went extinct~"

he seemed proud of this and seemed to examine him.

"you know you have two shadows? I would be careful where you walk as a man with TWO Shadows is bound to pick up more. keep a light on you at all times."

He seemed to slowly going mad as his voice began to sound more emotional and have feeling, his eyes shrinking down as his sanity seemed to slip.

"If you want, I, no pony else only I, could make you a prototype oil of magical disjunction. though how it happens, you have to make sure they are not using Chaos Magick, as it could do the opposite."

you know you have two shadows? I would be careful where you walk as a man with TWO Shadows is bound to pick up more. keep a light on you at all times.

The words, those words, brought to him a sense of profound sadness. They unnerved him and spoke of things he could not remember but that seemed completely unsavory. he could feel his heart beating faster. he had to take a deep breath to calm himself choosing to focus on the strange way the alchemist would slip between the world of madness and the real world. Emotion bubbled into the colts voice his eyes as the colts eyes narrowed.

If you want, I, no pony else only I, could make you a prototype oil of magical disjunction. though how it happens, you have to make sure they are not using Chaos Magick, as it could do the opposite.

The words coming from the colts mouth were lucid but the colt seemed lost into his own world. This Heartspan thought was the price of studying chaos and was a price he found too high for what was gained. He never remarked on this rather he continued the conversation. he would for certain find a potion of magical disjunction useful.

" If you think yourself capable of making such a potion then for sure i am interested. I will be sure to heed your warning in regard to it. How long would it take to make such a thing?" he replied

Elix laughed as this colt talked as if he did not have the skill, in his mind it was a trivial as the time of day or the color of the sky. grant it, the color of the sky to him might be a shade of unknown color.

"Hm? oh yes, you. yea I can easily make in due time. are you local? sorry if you did mention it, but if you can not tell, I have forgotten my 'medicine.' so my memory is going to be a bit off."

He laughed at this as the emphasis on medicine was as if he did not enjoy it. to those who may have sharp wits might piece together that his calm demeanor was the effects of the medicine he just mentioned, its functions are only what can be assumed. this is proof that everything has a price.

"So if not, i need an address to send a mail mare to your home with the order."

He stated and began to look around, seeming to watch some sort of thing do air acrobatics. . . . or spiral around and begin to crash.

heartspan rifled through his hovering saddlebag pulling out a piece of parchment along with quill and ink. he quickly jotted down his address before replacing his writing tools.
He shook his head at the alchemist as the colt watched some non existent objects move about.

" Well, i am sort of local. I wander about a lot so i am rarely home but this is my address. You can send it here.' he replied as he handed the piece of parchment in the alchemists direction. " i am most interested in your theories and studies, so if you ever need any help don't hesitate to ask. I am more than willing to assists in your work."

Elix used his magic to accept the paper and read it with a laugh before he folded it up (into the shape of a star) and put it in his bag and he bowed to to the colt.

"Pleasure is mine Hearts and Spades. and next time you want to talk about chaos theory and fun things to do, we should talk about it over a nice tea, or Chocolate milk."

He laughed to himself as he looked up to the sky, squinting at something.

"And if your shadows show your nature as your words might, I might need your assistant, but the nature of the help will vary on my state of Mind."

He said and stared at him with a smile, having the look a crazed oracle might have.

"oh and one random question before you go be you and me be me, what is your thoughts on gypsies?"

heartspan looked at the alchemist and spoke very simply with a small smile.

" i don't think about them at all Chaosmancer." he replied in friendly fashion.

he took a step back and offered a short bow after the fashion of the older ponies.

" You have a means to get hold of me now should you need my help." he said. " i shall take my leave."

he shook his head and for just a moment wondered what it was the alchemist saw all this while they spoke, Then with a laugh he turned and walked away. No amount of interesting vision was worth the price of delving that far into chaos magic.