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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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 Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:27 pm
 Ender had been waiting outside Obi's house for ten minutes. The alchemist had said to come at four, but she couldn't help herself; she had to arrive early! She was incredibly excited- Phonyland's master alchemist had agreed to give her a lesson! She couldn't wait to have some quality alone time with one of the greatest minds in the city. Think of how much she could learn! Then she could take what she'd learned home and show Taquita... oh, how much fun this would be! She checked the time again. 3:59. Only a minute to go- then she could race up the steps, knock on the door, and the lesson would begin! Ender had read all about alchemists. They were one of the oldest tropes in Gothic fiction, leading directly to the creation of the mad scientist. Sometimes, like in The Monk, they worked for evil; other times, they worked for the good of mankind (or, well, phonykind) or for progress. Heck, Abraham van Helsing, one of the most heroic characters in the western canon, was really a mad scientist. What kind of anatomist studied vampires? Clearly one whose roots were in alchemy. She had no doubt that Obi was one of these heroic alchemists whose experiments would lead to greatness- and here she was, getting to learn from her! 4:00. Time to go in! Ender had to concentrate hard to keep from sprinting up the steps. Slowly and carefully, she trotted up to the house and knocked on the door- not too loudly, as she didn't want to disturb anything fragile, but loud enough to be heard.
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Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:48 pm
The basement glowed with magic as Obi moved the more complex cauldron potions into the vault. Using black onyx and a drop of salt water, she created a large blackboard to be used in the beginning of the room. Putting out a medium pewter cauldron out, Obi went over her mental list "....blackboard check, basic potion ingredients out, check......all I need is.." Tilting her head at the knocking at the door, Obi went up the stairs and opened the door. "Right on time, Lady Era. Come in."
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:20 am
Mandrake couldn't quite recall who she had heard of this phony from first. Some were confused, others dismissive, but the title she carried was so mysterious it sent shivers up her tiny spine. Obi the Alchemist. That was what lead her to snooping around and the reason why she was now trotting around in a certain dark and mysterious phony's basement, arranging various potted plants as Obi slowly listed items off to be checked. The caring instructions for one such plant carried daintily in her mouth, Mandrake was just about to place it on the table by its relevant plant when a knocking came at the door. Was it common for a mysterious alchemist phony hidden away from the rest of the amusement park to get visitors? Craning an ear, Mandrake listened closely for any pertinent information. Obi's words made her drop the caring instructions right on the floor. She quickly fumbled and set it on the table like she intended, and then scurried around quickly to hide under one with a long cloth. Her grin was deep set and her ears swiveled wildly to hear anything more. "Lady Era" was either referring to some other phony she had never heard of, or more realistically End of an Era, her newest acquaintance! There, cloaked under one of the tables, Mandrake hid until they were both under the stairs.
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:09 am
It took every drop of Ender's self-control not to race into the basement. She followed the older unicorn down the steps, taking in the blackboard and cauldron. The dim light of the room created a perfect environment for both writing and magic. Something seemed... odd in the room, though. It almost felt like somephony was watching her, somephony who wasn't Obi. She recalled the mare's skeletal phonies from Halloween; were there perhaps ghosts in the basement? She smiled at the thought. Ghosts were a particular interest of hers. A haunted basement would be pretty amazing. As she wandered around the room, waiting for further instruction, she looked at what was on the tables, not under them. She didn't see the little earth phony as she eagerly inspected the plants, looking to see if any of them were ones from her books. "Where should I stand? What do I do first, Dr. Obi?" she called as she looked at a sheet of instructions near one of the potted plants. She was incredibly eager to get started!
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:48 pm
"..Near the cauldron please Lady Era....and do not move an inch..."
Obi grabbed another cauldron and set it near the blackboard. Frowning slightly, she tugged at a medium box.
"...Lady Era, what I am about to teach has baffled most phonies....and left others who tried it in unfortunate situations.......this is a precise art...you need to tell the difference between the most basic ingredients........What is the difference between hemlock and Dandelion roots?......Can you help Lady Era out, Lady Mandrake?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:13 am
Yes, it had worked!
The other filly walked right by her hiding spot and hadn't noticed at all, it seemed, which made Mandrake's tail swish with excitement. Obi, apparently their shared teacher, followed suit but wasn't so easily fooled. She called out to the noisy colt, who was half under the table now as she began to sneak out, and Mandrake stopped in her tracks with a short but shrill eep! sound, orange eyes locked onto Ender's vibrant red ones.
A question like that had caught her off guard, but Mandrake skittered the rest of the way out from the table and took her place next to Ender, hoof raised to her snout in thought. "S'it the color? Since they got the same basic shape..." It was a bit of a shot in the dark for the little phony, she hadn't spent much time looking at precise differences of things under the ground so much as what was up top but she wasn't unfamiliar with plants to any degree.
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:41 pm
"That is partly true. Dandelion roots are used in medicines and salads. Hemlock needles if eaten can slowly over time kill a person.......you must be prescience about what you use........"
Obi used her magic and drew the symbol of alchemy on the black board.
"........there are different forms of alchemy, some easier, some more difficult. Potion making is a delicate form......"
Taking a small scale that had a two headed phonie holding the bowls.
"....I want you both to find out what plant is equal to to each other. This scale can tell by the plant's properties which one is more or less equal....for this object."
Obi then takes out of the medium box a small pouch. Placing the pouch between the scales, she takes a step back.
"....begin."
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:29 am
Ender was more than a bit miffed that another filly had joined her private lesson. Still, a lady keeps that sort of feeling under wraps, so she didn't say anything about it. "So hemlock's a poison and dandelion's delicious. Are there any other plants that look similar to hemlock that have different effects? I wouldn't want to get them confused." She was doing her best to show Obi just how serious she was about this
She looked at the other filly. At least it was a filly she knew, and not some stranger. "So... we're sharing this scale, I think. Do you want to work together on this or take turns? If we work together, we'll get the task accomplished quicker, but if we take turns, I feel as though we'll develop our skills with greater independence and precision." Please say take turns, please say take turns, she thought. She wasn't sure if teamwork while potionmaking would be a good thing. What if they relied too heavily on the other's abilities?
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:04 pm
Mandrake glanced between Ender and Obi with her orange eyes, bright and alert, but her brow was slowly knitting with worry and confusion. She was definitely interested in everything they were saying, the plants and potion making in particular, but at the same time it seemed the ghostly filly was far ahead in terms of knowledge already and Mandrake wondered if maybe she wasn't quite fitting in with the two of them.
With a quiet "uh..." to Ender's question she nodded, piping in "Y-yeah, I was wondering about that, too." Her ears flicked back nervously as she rubbed a hoof on her leg. She had to try her best not to look stupid in front of these two!
Going quiet, she stepped up next to End of an Era and stared at the scale, frowning curiously. "Oh, uh..." Mandrake faltered for a moment, taking the other phony's words into consideration before using her hooves to gently nudge the equipment closer to her, "Yeah! Yeah, turns is fine. You can go first." This way, she could watch the process in action and have a better idea of what she was supposed to do, thus lessening her chances of messing up and looking like an idiot. It was the perfect plan.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:35 am
"..to my knowledge there was once long ago.....but that plant is long since extinct by the popular belief it could help the dead live again...."
Obi nodded once, watch the two colts. As she hoped, they were working together to solve the task. Seeing how they were a bit..hesitant, she gave them one clue.
"....Lady Era and Lady Mandrake, what you are both looking for is two plants that look very similar in shape..there are two pair on the table, only one combination will work."
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 1:52 pm
As soon as she heard Obi's hint, Ender reached out with her magic and started grabbing at the plant samples. She picked them up two at a time and held them in front of her face to see their similarities, pointedly ignoring Mandrake. This would be going so much faster if it was just me, she thought huffily. She wanted to be the first to get done! But then something struck her. As a unicorn, she was already gifted with magical abilities. Alchemy probably fell under that, but Mandrake was an earth phony. If she used her abilities to get ahead and leave her partner in the dust, that would... kinda be like cheating. The thought left a bad taste in her mouth.
And besides, what kind of friend did that make her? It would be snooty, ill-mannered, and downright selfish to use her magic to help only herself. It wouldn't be fair to do that to a pony who she already knew was a good person- she liked Mandrake! And she wasn't going to be a jerk to somebody who'd helped her in the past. She needed to work with Mandrake on this, not against her. And the best way to do that would be to actually work together. To communicate. So, putting one of the samples back down, she held the other one at the other filly's eye level. "Ok. I think... I think this will work better if we work together on it. I've got... sort of a plan. I'll hover the samples over each other and when we see two that match, we can talk about them and try them. Do you think that will work?"
She ran the sample and down the rows of samples, holding it over each plant in return with her telekinetic abilities. Hopefully, they'd spot the right plant soon!
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:32 pm
As Obi spoke, Mandrake plopped her rump on the floor and watched the other filly get straight to work. All things considered, she really felt in over her head here. Between both unicorns and barely knowing what their mentor was talking about, she was beginning to reconsider this "lesson" as not so great an idea. When she first heard about it, she was all gung ho and eager, the mysteriousness of Obi's home and occupation winning over all her fears. For the most part things seemed as she thought; that the dark unicorn was just misunderstood and the other phonies didn't "get it". Ender seemed to be the same, but now that she was comparing herself directly to both of them, things seemed... off.
Mandrake bit her lip, taking a page from her brother Lullaby's outlook on life, and decided she was probably useless with this sort of thing. That was why, when the ghostly foal beside her spoke again after a few minutes of awkward silence, Mandrake looked absolutely shocked. Mouth agape, she stared at Ender for a few seconds before blinking quickly and leaning forward to rest her hooves on the table and get a better look. "That sounds great!" Excitement rippled through her and where there were doubts, they began to be systematically replaced with eagerness.
This she could do. She knew plants, she dug them up and played in their dirt, planted and watered them. Mandrake figured she would at least be able to see the similarities if Ender couldn't. That was the goal, right?
Before her floated two sample plants; rue and fennel. While the colors were correct and the basic flower composition seemed alike, Obi said it was the shape that was important. The stem and roots, as well as the petal shape, were completely different. "Mm, not them. Try another pair!" The other samples included herbs like mugwort, mint, rosemary, juniper, sage, garlic and thyme, among other less contemporary plants like witch hazel, wormwood and even a bulky mandrake root.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 10:08 pm
Frowning slightly, she was less then pleased when Lady Era at first ignored the other colt's presence. Obi then slowly smiled as they started to work together. These two were very promising in the first steps of the basics. She mentally went over in her mind what knowledge she gleamed from their actions.
Lady Era, a unicorn helpfully with magic and knowledge of the dark tales. But with the presence of another, Obi noticed how she seemed a bit different then usual.
Lady Mandrake, a earth pony with great knowledge of plant life. She seems quiet but is respectfully. Obi notice that she tended to stay a little too quiet with Lady Era.
Both knowledgeable students in their own right, but have some bumps to go over. This lesson is already teaching them two to overcome them. She held her breath as Lady Era and Lady Mandrake pause at the rosemary and juniper.
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 12:16 pm
Ender quickly realized that Mandrake was much better at assessing the differences between the plants than she was. Working together really was the way to go with this! While some of the differences were obvious- a root, for instance, didn't look like a leaf- so many of the sprigs and twigs were close in size, appearance, and even scent! And in this profession, confusing any two reagents could be a grave, maybe even fatal mistake. If she was going to larn anything, she needed to trust both Obi and her partner and not be selfish with her time. She needed to treat this as an exercise in more than just the ingredients that went into a potion or alchemical draft, but as a lesson in life as well.
But now wasn't the time to be reflecting on the different things she could learn from both Obi and Mandrake. Now was the time to figure out which two ingredients they needed to use! She hovered an evergreen sprig next to a softer-looking herb. "What are these two called? They look... maybe alike? I don't really know... Mandrake, what do you think?"
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:04 am
Leaning forward to properly examine the two samples. With one quick sniff, Mandrake nodded to the softer herb and confirmed its name. "That's rosemary -- it's good for cooking and stuff," turning to the evergreen sprig she looked a little less certain and narrowed her eyes. Standing on the tips of her hooves, she leaned so far forward her nose nearly touched one of the pines. "Uuum," she started, wagging her bottom a little to stay upright, "That one's uh... Jupiner-- Juniper!"
Briefly, Mandrake glanced to Obi. She couldn't tell what the older phony was thinking just from looking and her expression was normally blank or hard anyway, but her heart raced a little as she wondered what sort of mental notes their mentor was taking on both of them and she quickly looked back to the sprigs. "U-um, they're both pretty similar but the stalks have a different color and juniper leaves are all pointy when rosemary's are round. See?" Mandrake gestured with a quick hoof before looking back at the others samples. Surely there was a faster and more precise way to do this than play the guessing game via unicorn magic? There were a few small collections of leaves -- the sage, mint, and thyme as well as bay leaves, purple basil and oregano. Mandrake tilted her head and clopped a hoof to the table, pulling one of each near her.
"Do any of these look alike to you?"
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