Sad Splinters {Open}

[Mortar Retort]

After the ash and fires finally subsided, soon after the bodies were laid to rest which were followed by an early morning rain, the frazzled blue pony returned to his shop just at the corner between Pony-Joe's and some non-discrepant boutiques. The ruined building, though not uncommon for the alchemist, felt distant and empty. Much like the rest of Canterlot, the flat, charred rubble remains from the attack had left what little remained of the original structure nothing more than sad little splinters, burnt and bruised beyond recognition. With his saddle bag full, the stallion-mare crossed what was once the front door, the bronze little bell which use to signal the arrival of new customers laid low amongst the ruble. The front of the shop laid in ruin, wasted potions from broken bottles and broken shelves created a slurry at the pony's hooves, mixed with the ever bubbling waste from the distiller – though, despite the wreckage, that was the only familiar sight. Vainly, the pony in gender flux used their magic to float a few unbroken, though wholly expired potions from the slurried floor onto what remained of the only wall still standing, though broken and unstable, with shelves that were holding together by sheer grace and luck. Each bottle and vial was placed with care, wiped free of the vile ichor which flowed all around. Lovingly, almost, in their sad presentation amongst the open air ruins that was once a shop.

The stallion-mare stepped solemnly through the broken barrier which once constituted a counter, setting up the bit-till upon what little space remained between the front of the shop and the back. It clanked broken as it was sat down, a few wayward bits dribbling out from the till-tray as the broke device gave up any semblance of functionality that it may have once had. Retort removed his fez, placed it upon the top of the broken machine as he tried in vain to shut the busted tray back into its proper place. He gave up with a heavy sigh, throwing his saddle bags down beside him and removing the few things he had been able to procure before the final attack and set them aside, displaying them for all the city to see, a defiant stand for what little pride he had left in his shop.

With his horn ablaze, Retort turned his attention to what was once the front door to the shop, now nothing more than two chard sticks sticking out from the ground. There, he levitated up a partially burnt scroll which he plastered to the left most part of the burnt door frame, which outlined obscured, spotty rules:

2. You break, Drink, or explode... the corpse becomes the property of the proprietor. 5. The Mane Ingredient is neither liable nor responsible... 6. All Sales are final. And at 7. There are no dumb questions.

As the brunt out scroll unfurled, his magic threw up a hastily drawn sign with but one word on the opposite burnt out splinter of the door: Open.

[Deleted]

Even though he had been in Canterlot for a few days, the young foal wasn't used to the sight of everything crumbling or in ash. Today was merely going to be a day of exploration amd thus the young unicorn held the map out before him through the use of magic. Resulting in his horn glowing. Though the rain soon appeared and the young foal took to finding suitable shelter; a slightly hard thing to do. Rolling the map up in the attempt to keep it dry he squeezed himself carefully between the remains of what could've been a roof to the building across from Retort's store.

The youngster had seen no on enter the building across from him though he was a bit preoccupied with slowly unrolling his map. Trying not to tear the parchement. Despite his strong dislike; hate, for his father it was the most useful thing the stallion has give him. Sadly the wet parchement didn't take well to being unrolled and thus ripped down the center, stopping at the center of the map. A sigh left him as he looked about just in time to see the word 'OPEN' appear, one letter at a time on the building across from him. The only way for that to work was magic! Maybe this was a magic shop? Rerolling the map up, he picked it up in his mouth and went over to the front doors; what remained of em that is. Slowly and carefully, the young unicorn made his way through the door, not wanting to cause it more damage.

Once inside, his silver gaze glanced about. Ignoring the obvious damage from what happened. This resulted in his gaze to be directed at the partially burnt parchement on the wall that served as the rules. Though due to some missing words and sentences it caused the youngst to tilt his head. Attempting in his mind to fill in the blank spots to where it made sense. So at the moment, Retort would simply see a colt unicorn staring at the burnt parchement, tilting it's young head from side to side as it tried to make sense of it.

[Mortar Retort]

Though Retort's head was down on the counter, the pony's ears twitched towards the sounds of hoofsteps upon shatter glass and splintered wood, before the pony glanced up at the new arrival. The moment Retort's eyes fell upon the colt, he rolled them and sighed, motioning towards the burnt scroll the young pony had just glanced over.

"Can't you read? No foals..." Then the realization that most of his rules were little more than half burnt sentences on parchment. "Oh bugger, that part is gone. Fine, come in. Watch your step - not going to be held libel if you cut your frog." He said as he flipped his fez back atop his head, nesting it between his ears. "Welcome to the Mane Ingredient, the finest alchemist shop in Canterlot. We have your health tonics-" Pointing to a broken shelf laying in pieces on the floor. And with each mention of tonics, poultices, herbs, reagents and strange concoctions, the proprietor motioned with a forehoof to another broken shelf or wall, until he pointed to one final shelf still intact with a few messy, but otherwise intact bottles and vials. "And the discount shelf. Though I can't guarantee those won't cause your fur to turn green, fall out then your ears to spontaneously-combust. Anyway, do you need something in particular or are you just lost?"

[Deleted]

His ears twitched to the sound of the shop keeper's voice and thus he turned round to look at them. Huh? Wait.... glancing back at the scroll, he searched the burnt parchment for any mention of foals and there was none. Soon confirmed by the shop owner. Using his magic, a glow surrounded the map as he let go of it and he turned to look at Retort.

"My frog? Sir....I don't have any frogs with me." Nightroad replied confused.

The torn and weight map floated behind him and what water was falling off of it, was dripping onto his back. Ears twitched a few times as he listened to the owner explain as well as point to every shelf the contents that were there. The young colt's gaze followed each direction the older pony pointed in. A alchemist shop eh? The young colt had wondered what it would be like to create potions every day instead of performing spells. However he was merely still learning so it's not like he could really compare the two in any sense.

"Exploring actually, I've been in Canterlot for a few days but I've mainly been doing lessons." Nightroad explained. "I got caught off guard by the rain and my map tore but that's fine, I was looking about to see where exactly I was and I noticed the word Open being written outside. So I was curious."

[Mortar Retort]

Retort facehoofed upon the foal's declaration about frogs and his lack there-of, this was one reason he had a 'no foals' rule in his shop - that and their sticky, snooty hooves. He rung his hoof along his muzzle and sighed as he leaned across what remained of the shop's counter, extending out his forehoof for the colt to see. With his magic, the older unicorn lifted a wooden shard from the floor and used it to point at a spot on the underside of his hoof, near the back.

"This, right there, that's the frog. Silly name, I realize but, that's what it's called." He let the shard drop and put his hoof back down then rounded the counter, throwing open the swinging separator only to have it disintegrate in his hoof and fall to the ground to mix with the other broken bits. He snorted at this compounded frustration but carried forward without a hitch in his step.

"Excuse the mess, it's normally not this bad. So lost, are you?" He inquired as he glanced at the map, "Surprised to see anypony out in this mess, no wonder you're lost. The city was confusing before all this, now it may as well be a labyrinth. Where exactly is the place you are trying to go, or perhaps the more appropriate question is, where was the place?"

[Deleted]

Seeing the facehoof, Nightroad tilted his head. Okay something had been done to make the older pony do that. Though his silver gaze was directed to the older pony's hoof and where the wood shard was being pointed, the colt took a few steps closer to get a better look at the exact spot that was being pointed to. Oh! He hadn't meant a actual frog!

"Very odd name, I wonder why some things were named the same as others. Even when the things don't have anything in common, certain doesn't look like a frog." Nightroad replied.

His gaze was directed to the other pony's face as they came round from the counter. The whole city was a mess truly, so it was only natural to leave it be unless one were adding to clean up. Though there wasn't anyone that he could help with that.

"I didn't have any lessons today besides....being out here is much better than staying at that place..." Nightroad started, his ears slanted as he spoke and a unhappy expression was on his face though he had them stand up and put on a happier expression. "It is pretty confusing, when I first arrived I kept getting lost even with this map. Well honestly I just wanted to explore Canterlot, I wasn't heading in any certain direction, so long as I remained in Canterlot was fine."

Staying at the place where he and his...'father' lived wasn't idle when he had nothing to do. Sure read and practice magic would be what he'd do. Course with the chance of his father walking in the door were rare, it was still possible.

[Mortar Retort]

Retort shrugged off the comment about naming things, responding with a snort and a shoulder shrug, "Dunno, I'm not on the naming things committee. I just mix stuff." He said nonchalant as he moved past the little pony to a mess behind him and with his magic begun to sort through the debris idly.

"Lessons? And what place is that?" Inquired Retort with a twist of an ear back towards the other pony. "School? Not a fan, I gather? Never cared much for it either, so many useless classes." As the older pony spoke, various object began to fling themselves back towards Nightroad as Retort shifted through the ruble. "Besides, you learn the best doing practical applications. AH-HA! Found it."

Retort turned around with a small glass and wood horn-lockable display case with a tiny brass embossed plaque with the number '4' etched upon it. With a spry step in his stride, returned back around the counter which he sat the case upon. He disappeared for a moment behind the counter, the sound of riffling through something emitting from beyond before he emerged with a bottle containing a bright pink and opalescence substance which swirled around inside like a distant galaxy. He placed it in the case, locked it and set it aside.

"Should have come here six months ago, not much to see now." Retort stated as he rested his forearm on the counter and propped his head upon the hoof lazily. "Though I hear the ramparts are mostly back up and the main boulevard is seeing some new life. As for my shop... ehhh-" He cringed, twirling his other forehoof as he tried to surmise an end to his statement, "Knowing the city, they'll save it for last." He pouted with a snort through his lips.

[Deleted]

True, whoever was the first to give a name for that part of the hoof was to blame. Maybe they were a bit crazy and thought they saw a frog there? Possible. Though there were other possible reasons but no true answer known. Though the subject soon changed to his lessons as the older pony walked past him.

"A school." Nightroad agreed, though he soon moved away to the side to try and avoid the debris. "Actually I really like the lessons, cause they're in magic. And magic is really fascinating."

As Nightroad spoke of magic, his silver eyes had a bright look in em, a look of joy and curiosity. Magic had that effect on him. He wanted to learn as much as he could! Though, he was sort of taken in by divination but he hadn't learned anything about it. When the older pulled a box out, the black pony watched the older one go past him and into the back. The sounds of riffling through something had come to his ears and it pulled his curiosity, he did want to look though he stayed put. Only for the shop owner to return and place a bottle in the case.

"Well...I couldn't. See I lived my whole life in Trottingham though I was born here, my father stayed here and my mother took me to live in Trottingham." Nightroad started. "When I was able to start using magic, even weakly I was interested in it. My mother gave me lessons as well as books to learn from but my dad showed up suddenly and brought me here to learn magic. I got here three days ago."

[Mortar Retort]

"Bah, magic shmagic." The older pony spat indignantly, "Yeah and what do you do if you bust your horn? Or something out there learns to counter it, or outright take it away? All these ponies relying on simple magic, it'll cost them one of these days, mark my words." He then motioned to the ruble that was once his shop's store-front as if boasting with pride in what was presented there. "Alchemy, science, that's the future. When all the magic in Equestria fails, there will be alchemy like a shiny golden god." He said with his forehooves raised up, triumphantly, the burgundy cloak he wore fluttering in a slight breeze.

Slowly he lowered his hooves, a look of slight embarrassment befell him as he did. "Anywho, Trottingham? Explains that hint of an accent I hear. So, three days new to the city and here with your father - not sure why anypony would bring their foal to Canterlot following the Sky Titan but, who am I to judge. So, you want to buy something? Not all my stock is spoiled - probably. Might have a magic enhancer somewhere around here since you're so into that stuff." He brought a hoof up to his chin and scratched it, pondering. "Though never tested it on foals before but, I never was a mare before either, thus it's never too late to try something new."

[Deleted]

"And what's wrong with learning something I have a real interest in? What happens if you lose your hooves to where you can't do anything to make the things you do?" Nightroad questioned as he stared at the older pony.

Nightroad really didn't know what to do if he lost his magic. He just wanted to learn it, it was interesting. Ears twitched to the pony's mentioning of Alchemy. Alchemy? He heard that before but what did it fully mean? Science yes....but...oh wait!

"Isn't Alchemy both science AND magic?" Nightroad questioned, staying where he was.

This unicorn had to use some magic in his potions, so if this guy busted his horn too then he wouldn't be able to do it alchemy either at all or that well. If magic was part of it, then he'd have to find someone else to do the magic portion while he did the science. A nod left Nightroad as the pony repeated Trottingham and went on about his accent along with the state of Canterlot.

"Honestly don't even see why he came to bring me here, it's not like he's actually being a father." Nightroad replied. "No thanks, I was just curious as to what this store was when the word open started appear on the outside and came in."

[Mortar Retort]

Retort let out a little laugh at the foals assertion, how delicately quaint he found his assertion to be. "Oh, well I still have my horn but I suppose that'd make me a hypocrite, now wouldn't it? Ah should I lose my hooves, I'd find and fashion myself some better ones. There's been some amazing advances in griffon automations and synthetics. Why, maybe I'd give myself claws like the catbirds." He mused as he scratched his chin with a hoof. "Or maybe I'd find a formula to regenerate my limbs - actually, that's a brilliant idea. Oh, Retort, you are a clever pony! You, foal - I guess I hadn't caught your name yet, no matter, quickly take a note!" The stallion proclaimed boastfully as she quickly glances around for something, shuffling through ash and debris with his hoof to find it. "On second thought, delay that. This place is all higgly-piggly, suppose I should clean up before concocting new formals."

Retort dismissed the idea of a regeneration potion of that caliber, for now as he whipped the bits of dust from his hoof. "Eh, as for alchemy, depends who you ask. However, as I see it, it's all about how elements, materials, metals, etc... interact with one another. You just have to know what goes with what, it's like a puzzle - one that occasionally explodes and turns you into a mare. Perhaps it can seem magical but, it's just because we're only really beginning to understand it on a fundamental level."

Retort's rant slowly grew distant and quiet as he heard the foal besmirch his father, his ears twitching so, "Problems at home? I'm not a case-worker, kid. I'm a alchemist and a businesspony, however, what is the problem? Not loving enough? Cold, distant? Perhaps... even a tad cruel?" The stallion asked as he once more rounded the counter towards the foal then coming up beside him and placing a forearm over the nape of his neck, "You know, I might have something to help this problem, just need to know what exactly your grievances are. You'd be amazed the things alchemy can do."