//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 - A Task fit for a Guardian // Story: A Scientific Breakthrough // by Eruedraieth //------------------------------// "Damn, I must have overslept!" Twilight simply grinned. "Go, before you don't arrive at all." I quickly cleaned myself, hastily made a sandwich and then created a portal in the corner of the room, towards Canterlot Palace Gardens. I arrived not a moment later in the gardens, still taking bites of my sandwich with lettuce and daisies. I still couldn't figure out how I came to liking eating flowers, but I shoved the thought aside. Just as I neared finishing my sandwich, Celestia walked out of the doors of the palace, towards me. "You might want to close that portal, this will take a while" Celestia explained. I quickly closed the portal, and seated myself on a nearby bench and waited for Celestia to do the same. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the way she sat herself down. "What is wrong, is it the way I am sitting?" I nodded. "It just looks so careless. I'm glad to see you can be casual around friends" I stated. "I am glad you pointed this out to me. Now I atleast know I can still be 'casual' "Celestia said. "Now, as for the job.." From what I understood about the job, my mission was to assassinate a high-priority target in a cult known as Lunar Prophecy. This cult intends to re-invoke Nightmare Moon into the world, thus creating eternal night, and have been reported to cause violence and spread terror among the populace. My target was a high-ranking leader of said cult, location unknown but rumoured to be in an underground mountain base. "I think you might want to use these" Celestia said, handing me something what looked like a metal stick with intricate carved runes on it. "This is a Rift-bomb. It will suck anything nearby into it when it detonates, causing it to literally disappear from this dimension. I hope you do not have to use this, but just as a safety measure I will give it to you. I will deem your use of this bomb will only be for good reason. I would rather not sow widespread terror of superweapons throughout the land, so try not to use it." I studied the bomb carefully, notcing the runes and tracing them with my fingers. I then traced the runes in the air, causing all 4 runes to appear in each of the different elements. I used Earth to create what looked like a metal container, and placed the bomb inside of it and closed the lid. I then inscribed the runes on the surface of the container, effectively sealing it off if the correct combination of runes and elements wasn't used. I then compressed the container to a much smaller size, and placed it into a pouch located on my belt. "There, that should keep it safe for now. Should I need it, or should something happen to me and it gets taken off of me, it will not be able to be opened without usage of elemental magic and the inscribed runes." I looked at my belt for a second, before adding: "And as far as I know, I am currently the only known elemental magic user in Terra." Celestia nodded, and cast me a reassuring glance. "I trust you will take care of this matter discreetly. Prevent innocent casualties and keep violence to a minimum. If possible, attempt to capture the target and bring him to me. I would like to ask him a few questions.." The last sentence she spoke sounded very ominous, but I disregarded it and trusted that Celestia knew what she was doing. "I will take my leave. I have some recon to do." I opened a portal behind me, following a rumour of where my target could be. "Untill further notice, Princess Celestia." I waved goodbye, and stepped through the portal. WWWWW I reappeared in a different place, in what looked like a back alley. I quickly closed the portal, and cast the same enchantment on my feet as when I snuck up on Twilight, and sneaked out of the alleyway. I didn't exactly know what my target looked like, but I thought I could easily find that out by scouring a few minds here and there. I used my power over Earth to connect with the minds of a few ponies I saw in the distance, and heard their thoughts and words: "I sure hope nopony knows what we are doing. Bringing about eternal night is not a thing to be taken lightly by the Princesses" a black stallion said to his comrade. I used my connection with the mind to acces the eyes of the stallion, and saw what looked like an ominous ritual. These two must be part of the cult, let's try to interrogate them. I simulated a voice in their heads, one similar to what one would hear from an evil boss in games, the dark, low and evil tone. "You have been caught wanting, and you shall comply, unless you wish harm to be cast upon you" I simulated. The two ponies looked around frightened, but found nothing. "You will write the location and name of the leader of your so called 'Lunar Prophecy', and leave said paper on the ritual stone in front of you. After that, you will disable the ritual and walk away from this place. If you do not follow these orders, I will make darkness itself consume you untill you plead for mercy." The ponies seemed hesistant, but complied anyway in fear of their lives. I saw the pony scribble down a name and a location on the paper, and saw him placing it on the ritual stone. They then disabled what looked like a few core parts of the ritual being cast, causing the crystal hovering above the ritual stone to lose its humming power and fall to the ground. "Go now, and do not attempt any such ritual again, or the Silent Guardian will find you." The ponies started running, terrified. I grinned, and slowly walked up to the ritual site. The paper contained a location unknown to me, and a name even more unknown, so I decided to go back to Celestia to ask her for any more info. I quickly took down the rest of the ritual, using my power of Air to turn the pieces into dust and scatter them upon the winds. After that, I created a portal which headed directly to where Celestia was located right now, and stepped through. I reappeared in what looked like private chambers, and saw Celestia lounging in a nearby chair. "I am sorry to interrupt, my princess, but I have come across a name and a location of what should be their leader. Those ponies were frightened for their dear lives" I chuckled. Celestia looked up from what she was reading, and took the paper I held out. She nodded. "I know this pony, and the location of where he's at is even more concerning. It is in fact located here, in Canterlot" she looked down for a moment, before adding: "And I know the pony personally." "Who is this pony, then? I doubt he would be in your good books if he would fall to something such as this" I queried. "Quite the opposite, in fact. He is, was, a member of the Royal guard.." Celestia said. I took a moment to let this sink in, before asking: "Anything I should know about him? Does he have any way of working around a paralysis spell?" "He is a unicorn, so he might have devised some plan to escape such spells. I suggest you take caution when approaching him" Celestia said. "Don't worry, I know just what to do". She looked at me expectantly, while I conjured a rune on the ground. I stepped on top of the rune, and drew a circle around it. The circle burst up in flames, and I transformed into an ethereal being, unseen, but unable to take action in the mortal plane. I used my mind-connection to say to Celestia:" I am still standing in front of you. I am currenly an ethereal being, moving inbetween planes. Which should explain why you can't see me. I will return shortly. I have myself a target to capture" I said to her before merging with the ground and travelling to the location I was supplied with. I had a feeling Celestia tried to talk back to me, but was unable to because of my inexistance in the mortal plane at the moment. Not a moment later, I appeared at the location. I saw my target sitting on a chair, surrounded by a few other ponies. He was discussing plans, from what I saw. I stood beside them and looked at the maps and schematics located on the table. It read: Lunar Assimilation Device (LAD) It had a few complex drawings on it, and the ponies seemed to be discussing the device currently. I connected with the mind of the leader, and used the same voice I had used previously. "Do not move or speak. If you tell anyone about my conversation with you, I will tear a hole in spacetime and fling you into it, making sure the dimension itself will tear you apart untill the end of time. You do not wish to feel that pain, I can assure you. Now follow my commands closely. You will tell your comrades that you have to leave them for an important meeting with someone, and if asked, will say it is confidential. You will then proceed to walk away from the table and head towards the this alleyway" I used my power to create a picture in my victims head, before proceeding. "You will then wait there for further instructions." The pony started his chain of commands, saying that he had an important confidential meeting he forgot about, and proceeded to walk to the alleyway I directed him to. I contacted Celestia whilst he was walking, asking:" Hey, Celestia. Can you quickly provide some sort of magic negation in your nearby vicinity? I have someone you would like to meet here." I couldnt hear any response ofcourse, but I felt a slight tug of an attempted connection. When the pony I was following was in the alleyway I instructed him to, I created a portal in front of him, ordering him to step through. He did so, and I quickly followed him through. We were in the chambers Celestia was in previously, and I saw Celestia casting a spell that seemed to negate any magic in it's vicinity. Luckily, my magic was primal and unaffected by the spell, and I created another rune on the ground. Both of the ponies saw the rune appearing out of thin air, and then saw a circle being made around it. Out came a column of flames, and I re-appeared in the mortal plane again. "Hello again. Miss me?" "Excellent job, Guardian. I will take this traitor to the dungeons, and interrogate him later. You will recieve your payment tomorrow morning in the same way you recieved your last payment" Celestia said. I bowed, and turned around to create a portal back to Twilights library, stepping through. I reappeared next to Twilight, who was used to my portals but still got a semi-scared look on her face. I disabled the portal, and gave Twilight a quick reassuring glance. "You are already back from the job you had to do?" Twilight asked. "Honestly, it was quite easy. Just needed a bit of mind-manipulation and an extremely scare voice threatening them pain for the rest of their lives if they didn't do what they were told" I explained simply. "Okay? And this scary voice works and sounds like?" she asked. "I'll show you." I connected to her mind, and using the same voice I used on the target and the ponies performing the ritual, I said: "Make a sandwich for Primal Dagger, or face the consequences of eternal torment in null and void". Twilight quickly got up and made a sandwich for me, placing the plate on the table and sat down again. "Wow, you weren't kidding. I guess I see why they complied so easily now, I would be terrified to the bone if this suddenly happened to me" she said in a slightly shivering voice. I noticed I was still wearing my gear, and inspected it closely. I saw a white mark appearing on the lower-left part of my tunic, and noticed it was a tally mark. "I guess an upgrade of outfit is required" I said sternly. Right now I had just a belt, tunic and cloak. I created a hood connected to the cloak which distorted light and effectively made my face unseen, and then created what looked like black tactical combat trousers and black work boots. I then stepped over to the mirror, looking at my upgraded outfit. "I look totally badass now, but I feel I could up it a bit more." I used the hood's light distortion to create what looked like smoking red eyes, and created an overal smokey aura coming off of the various pieces of clothing, distorting vision and making my clothes look like they emanated smoke themselves, causing me to be engulfed in smoke and shadows. Through the smoke, I saw red eyes staring back at me. "Awesome" I said, complimenting my own work. I then looked back at Twilight with my piercing red eyes. "Do no harm, or the Shadow will find you" I said in an ominous voice. Twilight seemed genuinely frightened, and tried to talk, but failed and just opened and closed her mouth a few times. I dissipated my gear, returning to my normal self. Twilight sighed with relief, seeing me again. "I suggest you dont use that look in public, unless you want to instill fear into everypony's hearts" she said with a quivering voice. "I wasn't planning on doing so. Only my enemies need to be taught fear and fright for the unseen blade" I said quickly. I grabbed the sandwich Twilight made for me, and took a quick bite. "Delicious" I grinned. "Don't start abusing that power now, Primal. A hundred sandwiches will not account for the permanent damage you could inflict to someone's psyche" Twilight said. "Anyway, the Lunar Prophecy cult should be taken care of, with their leader in custody their ranks will surely shatter. And if not, I will simply find their next leader and instill so much fear that he would never want to see the nightlight again" I said. There was a knock on the door, and I walked over to open the door to see Rarity standing there, with a couple of outfits. "I finished your outfits earlier than I thought I would, so I took the luxury and came by to give them to you". She handed me the outfits she was levitating, and I sprawled them on the table, admiring them. The formal attire was, ofcourse, looking very formal, complete with red tie and black shoes. I then picked up the travelling gear, feeling how light the material was. It felt as if I had placed an enchantment on them already, which I was sure I hadn't done. It had a few utility pockets here and there, and matching travelling boots. "I must say, the formal attire and travelling gear look marvelous, and completely suited to the situation." I then looked over to the casual outfits. One of them had blue pants, and a lime green shirt with long sleeves which could be rolled up, and a print on the back of the shirt depicting two daggers in front of a shield, in a coat-of-arms like fasion. The other set had black pants with a plain red shirt. "The two sets can be mixed and matched if necessary, I made sure of that" Rarity said. "Thank you so much for your hard work, Rarity" I said, looking at the four sets again. "Could I ask you something, by the way?" "Sure, what is it?" Rarity responded. "Could you try and use your mark to create something for me? Anything, doesn't matter what. I just want to see if you can actually get it to work" I inquired. Rarity nodded, and focused. I saw a puff of smoke appear in the air, and when the smoke cleared, there was a red ribbon tie hovering in the air. "Nicely done, Rarity! Now I atleast know you are capable of conjuring, so I can count on you if something were to happen to you or anypony else." I looked over at Twilight. "Twi, could you attempt the same? I would like for you to transmute this stone" I created a stone and hovered it in front of her. "Into something else. Again, doesn't matter what. Just try to let your mark flow, instead of your own magic. Doing so will not result in fatigue, as your mark draws upon the power of the stars". I noticed Twilight's Alteration mark glowing, and saw the same dark purple glow surrounding the stone. This signified that she was indeed using her mark, as her own magic had a light violet glow to it. Then, we saw a dark purple flash, and the stone had transformed into a wooden stick. "Cool!" Twilight shouted in excitement. "Very good Twi. I should go to the others to test their mark aswell. I just want all of you to be prepared should the worst happen someday. Do keep practicing with your mark. Over time, this should make it a lot easier to cast the spells related to your mark" I said. "I presume you have more orders to work through, Rarity?" She shook her head. "I have not recieved any other orders aside from yours, so I could accompany you while you test the others." "I don't really have anything to do right now either, so I could just tag along as well" Twilight said. "Alright then, let's get moving. Who shall we go to first?" I asked. "I know Rainbow Dash is doing some weather-related stuff right now, and I think Pinkie is going through some orders for cupcakes, or something. So that leaves Applejack or Fluttershy." Twilight said. "I guess we go visit Applejack then, and visit Fluttershy after?" I suggested. The mares nodded in approval, and we headed on our way to Applejack's farmstead. After a long walk we arrived at AJ's farm. We saw the mare bucking an apple tree not too far away from us, and we all called for her in sync. The mare looked around her and found us waving at her. "Jus' a moment guys! Ah'll be right there!" We watched her complete the bucking of the tree, and carried the basket of apples over to the farmhouse. We also walked over to the farmhouse, but I couldn't help but notice that Applejack was worrying about something. "Good ta see ya guys. Wha' brings all o ya to mah humble farm?" "Applejack, cut the act. I can clearly see something worries you. Spit it out" I said in a stern voice. "Was it really that obvious? Ah guess ah can't hide anythin' from mah best friends" she started. "Well, ya see, ah was thinking about you, Primal" I looked up in surprise. "What were you thinking of me for?" I noticed she got a slightly saddened expression on her posture. "Ah just can't help but feel that it's all some kinda dream, you arriving 'ere on our world. Ah can't help but feel that it wont last, that you will leave us eventually..." Her face showed signs of sadness. "Look Applejack, one might think that. It's okay to have doubts. But don't put yourself up with them. You can just talk to me and ask me if i'm staying or leaving. As for that matter, i'm not leaving all of you. I made too much of a good connection with you guys to just give that up, and besides, apart from managing my own lab, life on Earth wasn't really all that interesting. I mean look at me" I flared up my hands in Fire, and then extinguished said Fire with Water before lifting a rock off the ground and modifying it with Air, creating a perfect triangle. I then created another triangle and made both connect in a six-legged star, molding it into one. I used Fire to heat up the stone, causing it to brighten up and gain a smooth, shiny flat surface with no blemishes, and held the star over to Twilight. "After seeing you perform so much magic I couldn't say im still incredibly surprised by what you are able to do" Twilight said. She held the star in her magic, inspecting it. "I am absolutely loving this planet to bits. Compared to all the feats of magic I can perform here, the best I can do on Earth would be card tricks which are actually fake" I explained. "Ah didn't know yer homeworld was that bad" Applejack said. "It wasn't that bad.. It's just that nothing relates. I actually have a role to play here too, instead of being one in a billion on Earth, with no special features whatsoever". "Yea, tha silent guardian of Equestria, was it?" Applejack asked. "I'm thinking of getting that title renamed to something a bit more befitting of what I am now, considering recent changes." I donned my gear, causing the smoke to emanate from me again while two red eyes pierced the veil. "I think 'The Shadow of Equestria' would be more befitting now." I had altered my voice since last time, causing it to echo softly, and making it slightly deeper than usual. "Even though it sounds a bit more ominous. My work is ominous and stealthy, anyway, so it shouldn't make much of a difference though." Applejack and Rarity, not having seen this form before, were utterly shocked. Rarity, ofcourse, had to have her fashionista senses tingling again, as she said something only Rarity could: "Oh, but that black and those red eyes look absolutely stunning together. Did you fashion that up yourself?" I nodded. "Maybe with this new mark of mine I should start creating auras like yours on my dresses and suits. It would make my dresses absolutely breath-taking!" "Don't go absolutely crazy with them, though. They should be rare, not a common sight, Rarity" I said. "Also, don't copy this smoke effect. I think it would be a bit confusing if ponies saw my smoke effect on something other than me" I added. I vanished my armor, leaving my normal look. I then noticed I didn't even bother wearing the new outfits Rarity made for me. I guess I can wear them tomorrow I thought to myself. "Anyway, back to the reason we were here for in the first place aside from having a lovely conversation" I said, looking at Applejack. "I came to ask you, accompanied by these two here" I motioned to Twilight and Rarity "Could you try to use your mark I gave you to create a simple illusion? Just to test if you are actually able to use it." She looked up at me, confused. "How am I going to cast anything if I've never used magic before?" Applejack stated. Twilight interjected before I could respond. "It comes from within. The only thing you have to do is focus on your magic, in your case your mark, and just let it flow. Then focus on what you want to cast. The more you practice it, the better you will be able to use it". Applejack nodded, and adopted a focused look while closing her eyes. I noticed a blur appearing where Applejack stood, and suddenly there were two Applejacks standing there. They both looked at each other, and shouted in unison "Whoah! Who are you?! Who ahm ah?" "Well it seemed to have worked. Can the real Applejack focus her magic to let the other one vanish?" I saw both of them focusing hard, and one of the two disappeared in a blur not a moment after. "Wow, your magic seems so advanced that even your illusion does what's asked of you. Well done, well done indeed. Like Twi said, just keep practicing and you will become better at it. Your element should help you determine which one is the real one, if you ever doubt that for some reason" I said. "Whooey, tha was craizey weird" Applejack exclaimed. "Alraht, ah'll keep your advice to mind, and will practice a bit more with this" "We got somepony else to go to now, so you just continue on your work. Sorry for interrupting that, by the way." I said. "Ah it's fine, Primal. Mah friends can always interrupt mah work if they need me" Applejack said. "Now you guys hurry 'long now. Don't wanna keep that somepony waiting now". We said our goodbyes to Applejack and headed towards Fluttershy's cottage, which was quite the distance away. "Ugh, this is gonna take forever. What say I enchant all of us to hover through the air? Should be quite fun, right?" Twilight looked excited at the prospect of flying, but Rarity was hesistant. "Don't you worry Rarity. My spells are 100% safe. You will not fall down to Earth, you got my promise". This reassured Rarity, and I beckoned them to stand beside me. I traced a rune in the air in front of me, and drove my hands apart to create multiple of the runes. I then fused the runes on the ground, and asked for both mares to stand in one. I took my place inside the middle one, and I cast the activation spell. A small gust of wind appeared around us, and we could feel ourselves becoming lighter than air. "Oh this is so COOL!" Twilight shouted in pure excitement. Rarity still seemed a bit nervous, but slowly seemed to accept the fact that she was flying now. I turned my attention to Fluttershy's cottage, and beckoned for the two mares to follow me there. Twilight easily got to grips with flying (How, I wasn't completely sure) but Rarity seemed to have a bit of problems. "Just focus on where you want to go Rarity. Just like you focused on your mark when conjuring that ribbon. The spell should do the rest" I explained simply. After my explanation, she seemed to have a lot less problems flying, and followed us to Fluttershy. We arrived at Fluttershy's less than half of the time we would have taken if we had walked there. When all of us had solid ground under out feet and hooves again, I dispelled the flight spell. "You should teach me how to cast that some time, Primal. I think we forgot to do that yesterday." Twilight said before walking over to the door of the cottage and knocking. Fluttershy opened the door, and greeted us before letting us in. She motioned for us to take a seat while preparing some of her well-known herbal tea. She got back to us not too long after, holding a teapot and a few cups on a plate. She placed all of them down on the table and poured all of us some tea. "Enjoy the tea. What brought you three to my abode?" Fluttershy asked. "Well, aside from obviously having to enjoy your tea, I wanted to ask you to use your mark. Just to test if you are able to use it correctly, y'know" I said. "How would I do that, though? If you dont mind me asking, that it" Fluttershy said in her usual shy voice. "Well..." I materialized my belt, and unsheathed one of my daggers. "I should really let these be upgraded any time soon.. That's a matter for another time though." I moved the dagger to my left arm, and made a small cut on it. Which, ofcourse, drew out a massive gasp from all the mares present. "Heal this cut for me" I plied to Fluttershy. "Focus on your mark, let it flow, and then focus on what you are trying to achieve" I said in a lecturing tone. Fluttershy complied, and focused just like the rest had done. Her mark began to glow pink, and I could see the pink glow moving over to where the cut was located. She opened her eyes again, and focused on the cut this time. The glow surrounded the cut, and after a few seconds, the cut began sealing itself. After the cut was sealed, the pink glow stopped. "See. Nothing to gasp for. I knew Fluttershy would be able to do this, just like the rest of you have done" I said simply. "Again, like the rest of you, keep practicing and the flow of your magic should come quicker and easier for you. In your case it might be a bit odd to do, so just visit me whenever you feel like practicing, or try it on wounded animals. It's up to you." Fluttershy nodded, and motioned to the empty cups of tea. "Want another cup?" "No thanks, we're good. I think we should get going, Rainbow Dash and/or Pinkie Pie should be done by now" Twilight said. I nodded in agreement, and said our goodbyes to Fluttershy, leaving her and her tea to do whatever. "Which of the two do you think should be done by now?" I asked, before practically recieving my answer in the form of a loud BOOM! When we looked up at the sky, we saw a rainbow trail in the air. "Well, I guess we visit Rainbow Dash next, then. Onwards!" I said, pointing my arm out in a commanding motion. We just walked towards Dash's home, as we did not want to frighten her by suddenly floating up to her house and appearing on the doorstep unannounced. When we arrived on the hill located below the massive cloud home, Twilight took the lead, and called for Rainbow Dash. We saw the familiar rainbow-maned cyan pegasus sticking her head over the edge of her cloud home, again. "It's almost like deja-vu or something. I'm sure i've seen her do the same thing sometime ago" I remarked. " 'Sup guys, what brings you to the fastest and awesomest flier in all of Equestria today?" "Yep, definitely deja-vu" Twilight agreed with me. "Could you come down here already?" Dash came floating down to us. "I wanted to ask you, like I have with almost all of the others now, if you could cast me something related to your mark" I pointed at the mark above Dash's front leg. "Sure, I guess. What was it my mark did again?" she asked, having already forgotten what her mark did. "Your mark was the sign of Destruction, if I recall correctly" Twilight stated. "Which probably means that it has to do something with fire, lightning or anything of the sort. Destruction, basically. But used for good reasons!" "That is correct, Twi. Now Rainbow, I want you to cast a simple fireball, lightning bolt or frostbolt towards the target I will place over there" I quickly made a target out of stone on the place I mentioned. "Whichever of the three elements you find most awesome, or suitable for the situation. Your call, but I suggest using it for the latter." Ofcourse, being Rainbow Dash, she completely ignored me and was already attempting to cast something. "Stop. You can't just cast magic on a whim without any experience. You gotta focus first, let the magic of your mark flow through you. And then, for the fiftieth time i've explained today, you focus on whatever you wish to achieve." She nodded, this time being more focused about it. I felt the magical hum in the air, and noticed fire flaring up in front of her. "Good. Now launch the fireball at the target" I motioned. The fireball recieved its trigger, and launched itself at the target, exploding in flames. "Cool! Could you create another target so I could try a different one?" Rainbow said excitedly. "Sure, why not." I then created another target next to the smouldering remains of the previous target. "Alright, focus on the magic, then the spell." We watched her as we felt yet another magical hum in the air, and this time saw lightning gathering in front of her. Before I could tell her to launch the spell, she launched it dead-straight at the target, leaving nothing but an electrocuted mess on the ground. "Perfect, Dash. You seem to be learning this rather quickly. I didn't quite expect that" I said. "I assume you want another target for the frostbolt?" She nodded, and I created yet another target, this time on the other side of the target she used a fireball on. We watched Dash focus again, and this time saw her actually shaking with power. The frost flurry which appeared in front of her grew and grew, untill it got launched at the last target. The target, and the area around it, instantly froze and left a small localized flurry of snow in the area. I looked back at Rainbow Dash, who was still shaking from the power she put into the spell. "Very well done, Rainbow. I am sure that you can easily manage to cast extremely powerful spells within just a few days." She beamed at the compliment, and mentioned a quick thank you before flying off, presumably to further test her new powers. "Well, that's Dash in a nutshell, right there, showing off like that." Twilight said. "Let's head to Pinkie Pie last and wrap up this day afterwards." She looked at the sky, before adding "It's getting late." I couldn't be bothered with walking anymore, so I simply created a portal and beckoned for the mares to step through. We appeared in front of the bakery she worked and lived at, in Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie decided to just appear out of nowhere the exact moment we stepped out of the portal, and shouted "Hey guys! What brings all of you here? Ooh, I still have to plan a party for you Primal!" she said in a very high-pitched voice. "Calm down Pinkie, no parties right now. I wanted to ask you about something. Remember that mark I gave you?" I waved in the general direction of Pinkie's Enchanting mark. She nodded vigorously. "I want you to use the power of your mark to enchant one of my daggers." I procured one of my daggers from my belt, and held it out in front of me. "Cast a simple unbreaking enchantment on it" I explained the whole focus on your magic, then focus on the spell thing for hopefully the last time this day. I used my magic to levitate the dagger in the air in front of me, and waited for Pinkie to do her magic. We saw her concentrating, and noticed her blue and yellow mark started glowing in a combined hue of blue and yellow. Then, the blue and yellow aura moved over to the dagger, and combined with my own shadowy black aura. I saw the blade of the dagger flash up brightly, and a rune appeared on it. "Alright, let's test if it works, shall we?" I took the dagger, and slammed it into the ground. What we saw then, was miraculous. The dagger was completely unscathed, but the ground had a deep cut in it. "Excellent work, Pinkie. Now that enchantment was pretty simple. I want you to now enchant it again with some of yourself. I want the dagger to cause uncontrolled laughing whenever somepony gets hit with it" I looked at Pinkie, before adding "It would be quite funny to see people laughing after being stabbed with a knife. I could remove the enchantment myself if need be." I levitated the dagger in front of us, and we saw Pinkie concentrate again. A rare sight, coming from a bubbly, bouncy mare who never stops talking. She managed to do it last time though, so I was sure she would manage to do it again. We saw the familliar blue-yellow glow encompass the dagger again, and this time we saw a pink flash, and a pink rune appear on the blade. When the glow left the dagger, I took it and looked at Twilight. "May I?" I looked at the dagger and then at her. "I will take utmost care not to harm you, but it will sting" I said. Twilight, reassured by my words, held out her hoof, and allowed me to make a small cut in it. When the dagger connected with her flesh, she indeed starting laughing uncontrollably. I silently removed the enchantment, as it was just for testing purposes and not of much practical use when being stealthy, and just looked at Twilight rolling on the floor laughing. I let her laugh there for a little bit before I cast a dispell on Twilight, causing her to act normal again. I used Water to heal the cut on her hoof, and Twilight thanked me. "That must've been the oddest feeling ever. I just couldn't help but laugh when you cut me with that dagger. It was really weird" Twilight explained. "Atleast we know it worked. I removed the enchantment again, because when being stealthy you don't want people laughing when you cut them with a dagger. That's quite the opposite of what I would try to instill, so it would be a bit counteractive. But nice work anyway. Keep practicing with enchantments, and try to come up with as many things as you can. If you ever need a specific kind of enchanting material, just ask me" I said. "It has been quite fun seeing all of these marks at work, but I should get home. Sweetie Belle is probably wondering where her big sister is" Rarity said, waving goodbye and heading off to her boutique. "I still have a few cupcakes to bake, so I will see you around!" Pinkie said in a bubbly tone. She turned around and walked inside of the bakery. "That leaves us to return to our tree" I said to Twilight. "Haha, get it. Leaves." Twilight chuckled at my silly pun, and started walking towards the tree home. I followed her easily, and we arrived at the library not a moment later. She opened the door, and found Spike sitting on a chair, looking like he was waiting for us. "A letter came in for you today, Twilight" he said. Twilight took the letter, opened and read it. From her facial expression, I deemed that whatever was on the letter wasn't good. She looked over to me with a grave expression. "Remember the human who ran away frightened? Celestia found her... And it isn't good news."