It didn’t take long for me to find Rainbow, nor should it have, considering our ‘group’ were the only ponies remaining in the building. When I told her, she -- as usual -- messed around with me, telling me to ‘get some’ and the like. Honestly, though, my intentions are as I said they were: experiments -- alchemical experiments! That also reminds me...it’s been way too long since I’ve been able to blow some shit up...but that would have to wait until daylight. However...I can’t be absolutely certain whether Twilight is the same way...I hope there isn’t another ‘incident’...because if there is...I would imagine it to be the beginning of a trend...which would not be good. Oh well. Time for SCIENCE!

...well, it will be once Twilight and I reach her house.

Currently, Twilight and I were walking to her house...or so I assume -- remember, I don’t know where she lives. Somewhat surprisingly, we had arrived in a time that would not have been enough for me to narrate the previous paragraph, had I actually been narrating it. Immediately, one feature of the house caused me to start to get more cautious -- the building is made out of a tree...I can only hope that the basement is well protected. I’ve already paid to fix the Ponyville town hall on Derpy’s behalf, and I wouldn’t want to have to pay for the library as well. Before we went inside, however, Twilight stopped.

“I’m just warning you, I do have an...assistant.”

“Assistant? Of what sort?”

“Well...just...in general. I tend to have him run errands for me, help me find things...you know, that sort of stuff.”

“Sounds like exactly what I would need...that is, if my materials weren’t so rare and expensive. Not to mention hazardous, as well.”

Twilight laughed. “So it seems like you prefer to get your things yourself, just to be on the safe side.”

“And to not end up on the wrong side of a lawsuit.” I add wittingly.

Twilight chuckles, then opens the door and we both go inside.

“Just to let you know, I bet my assistant is asleep now, but I’ll go check on him, just to be sure.” Twilight whispers.

Finally, a gender-specific personal pronoun, I thought.

“What’s his name, by the way?” I whispered back before she got too far away to hear.

She turned and looked my way. “Oh, it’s Spike. And I should probably mention that he’s a dragon.”

“Baby dragon, I assume?”

Twilight nods. “Be right back.” I watch as the purple unicorn trots up her staircase.

Her assistant’s a dragon...that explains quite a bit actually, I think to myself, in regard to what Rainbow and ‘Shy had told me earlier about how Twilight is the student of Princess Celestia, as well as to my previous knowledge of dragons, particularly their magic breath in this case. That’s probably how she and the Princess keep in touch.

I see Twilight trotting down the staircase, and when she reaches the bottom she motions for me to come over, which I do.

“He’s asleep, and fortunately he’s a heavy sleeper. I’ve never had to worry about accidentally waking him up. Follow me.”

I nod, and follow her down a nearby hallway to a wardrobe, which Twilight opens to reveal another staircase.

“As you might expect, I don’t want to risk other ponies messing with my experiments.” Twilight nervously explains the reasoning for the hidden entrance. On my own terms, though, a quick examination of the ‘wardrobe’ and the surrounding wall leads me to suspect that it also has a structural function as well.

“Stay close behind me, and watch your step. The lamp’s at the bottom.”

I heed her advice, and we both cautiously make our way down the staircase, and Twilight lights the lamp as soon as we reach the bottom.

I look around the now lit basement ‘lab’, and I’m impressed with the variety of equipment in Twilight’s possession, although I realize that she very well may have gotten them through the Princess. Many of them I actually have myself, but for the majority of them I believe I had to blackmail a guy to sell them to me. Yeah; that’s how expensive and rare this shit is. As I continue to look, though, I see one particular set of equipment that’s covered in a mix of cobwebs and an oddly familiar black residue. I think for a moment, then upon remembering I start laughing; she had used the equipment incorrectly.

“What are you laughing at?” Twilight asks from the other side of the small room, to which I respond by motioning her over. When she sees what I’m looking at, she says “I actually never was able to figure out what this was, or even what it’s supposed to do. You don’t happen to know...do you?”

I laugh again. “I do, and I’m laughing because it has only one function.” I decided to test her knowledge. “I won’t tell you any specifics, but I’ll give you some hints in regard to that function.”

Twilight thinks for a moment, then agrees to my ‘challenge’.

“First, it’s used for alchemy. And second, it’s used to try to ‘discover’ something.”

Twilight raises an eyebrow in confusion. “Wait, if it’s used to try to discover something, then how was it made? And how do you know if it actually can discover that ‘something’?”

I smile, impressed at her question. “The ingredients. And only one of said ingredients has been ‘found’.”

Twilight caught on to the gist of it almost immediately. “So...it’s essentially trial and error with hazardous materials?”

I laugh again. “Exactly. Trial and error...and you don’t even know how many ingredients there are.”

Twilight laughs. “I have a feeling that this might be a lost cause.”

“More or less, but definitely less now, ever since the first ingredient was officially determined...almost 700 years ago, now.”

Twilight smirked. “Could you tell me what that ingredient is?”

I didn’t hesitate, as I knew it wouldn’t help her much, at least at this point.

“Quicksilver.”

Twilight starts to think. “Quicksilver...isn’t that an athletic wear company or something?”

I laugh. “That’s named after this one.”

Twilight goes back to thinking, which gave me an opportunity to tell her about the equipment, as well as the black residue on it.

“While you’re thinking, I’m going to go on a small tangent here. First off, do you have any remote idea what this piece of equipment is called?”

Twilight shakes her head.

“Don’t worry, few ponies do; it’s what’s known as an anthanor. And the black residue is most likely nigredo, though there’s no way to be absolutely certain.”

Twilight and I turn and see sunlight coming down the staircase.

“It’s morning already?”

“No, the sun is just getting a midnight snack.”

“Ha, ha, h---” Twilight cuts herself off with a yawn.

“I hope you remember the names I gave you, because it seems you’ll have to do some research on them.” I say with a wink.

Twilight yawns again, as we both head back upstairs. “I’ll see you...later then?”

I nod. “Just don’t blow anything up.” I say as I’m leaving her house. “That’s my job.”

Author's note: I had to do quite a bit of additional research just to be able to support whatever alchemical knowledge I already have irl, just so I know that I'm getting it exactly right.