//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Time for Parties! // Story: A Scientific Breakthrough // by Eruedraieth //------------------------------// I attempted to stretch my back. My body seemed stuck in some way however, because I couldn't move a muscle. I opened my eyes only to close them immediately because of the insane amount of light burning my eyeballs. I also attempted to talk, but all I heard was a rasping sound. Once I got control over my tongue muscles again I managed to say "Water " in the most driest voice ever. The Sahara was nothing compared to the way my mouth felt. I heard scurrying footsteps, and a glass of water was placed at my lips. I gladly swallowed the life-giving fluid, and my mouth and throat felt less like sandpaper. " Thanks, whoever you are. I dare not open my eyes, the light blinds me so I can't look at you. " I said, coughing. " Do you really need to see me to know who watched over you all this time? " I heard a very familiar voice say. "Twilight! Could you maybe turn off the light or something, I hate not being able to see anything. " I asked. Twilight walked over to what was presumably a light switch, and I heard it click and felt the strain on my eyelids diminish. I opened my eyes, and looked over at where Twilight would be in the dark. My eyes adjusted quickly, and I saw the purple unicorn standing there. "That magical feedback struck you good, although I wonder how you woke up so quickly in the battle. You have broken a lot of bones, and had a few internal wounds aswell. Those had fixed themselves up however, so all the doctors had to do was coax your bones into mending the same way. " Twilight said as she walked closer to my bed. "How long have I been out for? And how did you get me to this hospital? " I asked. " Celestia and Nightmare Moon used their magic to teleport us here after they checked on you in the guest quarters. You have been out for a day since then. " she said. " So I've turned into Wolverine now then. " I muttered. " Who now?" Twilight asked in confusion. " Wolverine. He's a 'superhero' from a film back at my world. He has regenerating claws made out of an alien material and has unnatural healing abilities. If something would be to cut him, that cut would heal within seconds. " I explained. " Okay. Well you didn't heal that quickly but it was still remarkable. My guess is that your attunement with the element of Water gave you passively increased regenerative abilities. I also guess the magical feedback you took in with your daggers when you hit Luna overcharged that ability. Essentially making you this 'Wolverine' character for a moment. " Twilight moved closer and gave me a hug carefully, and a kiss afterwards. I didn't expect the kiss at all, especially not from Twilight. "Twilight, why did you ki-" A strange glow from my chest broke our kiss, and we both looked at it. " What's happening to me? " I asked, slightly panicked. I couldn't see it, but Twilight definitely saw. " Your bones... They are mending themselves! Amazing! " She quickly took out a notebook and scribbled something down. " This should help me figure you out more than you think. It seems your magic is powered by a need to protect the ones close to you by any means necessary. Our kiss must have activated your magic to heal your injuries! " "Great. So now my enemies could have a weakness to exploit. Guess I'm going to have to kick it up a notch and make sure you will be able to defend yourself in any situation. I wanted to do this earlier but getting that ritual done had a higher priority at that moment. I tested all of you briefly before, but I want to plan a full set of training sessionsso you can hone your mark prowess and your normal abilities. " I said. " I nearly wanted to shout at you for that cold comment. But I guess you are right. I doubt you would forgive yourself if something happened to us. " Twilight agreed. " By the way, Pinkie wants to hold a plethora of parties mixed into one. She called it the 'Welcome to Ponyville, Thank you for saving Michelle and Thank you for saving the world' party. I doubt I have to explain the details. " "Oh but I would love to hear the details. " I said slyly. " You monster you. Anyway, can you move? " she asked. I moved several parts of my body, mainly my arms and legs , and they all did what I wanted to, albeit a little stiffly. " It's still a bit sore, but I can move everything. Catch me if I fall trying to get out of this bed " I said, ripping off several bandages and placing my feet on the ground to brace myself. I lifted myself off the bed with surprising ease. " That was easy. " I said, stretching my back properly this time. " I'll go get a doctor to dismiss you. " Twilight offered, and walked out of the room. I slowly walked over to the window, and looked outside. It was nearly breaking dawn, and I saw the sun rising from its place in the sky. " Beautiful, Celestia. Thanks for this spectacle. " I said under my breath. " My pleasure, Primal. Once you get out of the hospital, you should come see me, Luna, Nightmare Moon and your pet, I assume. The black panther had been standing beside your bed all the time after Nightmare teleported you to the guest quarters. How she found out where you were or how she opened the door is a mystery still. " Celestia responded in my head. " I'll get dismissed in a moment, so I'll come by in a few minutes. Twilight would probably like to see you too. " I answered. A mental nod was returned to me, and the waking world returned to me. I found myself leaning on the windowsill and looking outside with a faded expression. I felt tugging at my hospital clothes, and I turned to see a doctor and Twilight looking at me. " You look fine to me. I'll sign the papers and get your clothes. " the doctor said. He walked out of the room, and returned in a few moments signing a paper and carrying my travelling gear I had worn all that time. "Thanks Doctor. I'll put this on and head off . Celestia asked to see me, and you too Twilight. " I said. The doctor looked surprised to find out that a princess asked to see such a strange creature like me. "Name's Primal Dagger. I suppose you haven't heard of me. " I introduced myself. I quickly put on my gear, and motioned for Twilight to follow me out. We headed straight to the palace. It was early so there were little to no ponies around. I quickly used a weak locating spell to findout where Celestia, Luna, Nightmare and Sabrina were. I opened the door to the palace dining hall, and saw the princesses eating breakfast and Sabrina munching on a fish. " Is that.... Fish on your sandwiches? I thought you ponies detested eating meat. " I said curiously. Celestia responded after she swallowed the bite she took. " Yes, well spotted. Twilight told us of her eating it on your adventure, and we thought we would try it too. It tastes amazing." "I like the taste as well. Adds some variety to the usual 'daisy sandwich and hay' combination" Luna followed up. Nightmare remained silent, and over that silence I could hear Sabrina purr in agreement to how good her meal was. "You're quite special aren't you Sabrina? I'm glad you came to me when you did. I couldn't have asked for a better companion." I said, praising my pet panther. The panther purred in delight, and walked over to me to rub my leg softly to show her affection. " Such an inspiring bond between you two. I am sure you and Sabrina will go through a lot together." Celestia said. " Usually a creature of the night won't show any affection towards other beings, but I suppose Sabrina is an exception to that. " Nightmare Moon said mockingly, causing Sabrina to softly growl at her. " Easy there Sabrina. Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon for centuries at end, so her social skills are a bit lacking. That and being described as 'evil '." I said, calming the panther. " Please do refrain from insulting others if you intend to stay and get better. Folks don't like being insulted. " I said directed at Nightmare Moon. " I apologise, that was a bit brash. My social etiquette needs to be updated. And I do intend on staying, and I hope I will gain the respect of our subjects back sometime. " Nightmare said. " That will take a while, but with me and my sister by your side and a few good deeds from your end and you will earn that back in no time. Just don't go out alone yet." Luna said. " I won't place a hoof outside this palace without you. I greatly respect you for putting up with me for so long, but I am glad our differences have been settled. " Night responded "Anyway " I cut in whilst stroking Sabrina. " I suppose you would want to ask what happened for me to heal so quickly. Twilight, care to tell them?" I asked. Twilight told them of how she quickly hugged and kissed me, which activated my attunement with the element of Water, which healed my injuries. She also explained how I got back up so quickly in the battle, with the whole 'protection of close ones ' story and how that was linked to my magic. " I am going to train the Mane Six as a result so they will be able to protect themselves when I am not around. Also, Luna or Nightmare Moon, I wanted to ask either of you to train me in the use of sentient clones. I can't seem to get the hang of it, and with both of you being proficient with those kinds of magic, I could not think of anyone else. In return I could maybe teach you a few tricks, providing you don't know them already. " I said. " I can do that. If you don't have anything else to do we could do a session after this breakfast. Speaking of, I doubt you have eaten anything since I teleported you to the guest quarters. Come sit with us, and you too Twilight. " Nightmare Moon said. We gladly accepted their offer, and we sat down at the table. A plate with delicious looking food was levitated to the both of us, and we quickly dug in. WWWWW I finished my breakfast, and thanked my hosts for the meal. Twilight said she wanted to go back to Ponyville to her friends, so we said goodbye to her. Celestia and Luna had royal duties to attend to, so they left us too. " Let's go to the guest quarters. Your human friend is still there. We took care of her while you were in the hospital, and she has recovered considerably. " Night said. I followed her to the mentioned place. When I entered the room I saw Michelle reading a book on Equestrian lore. " Enjoying the book?" I said, grinning. Once she took notice of me, she quickly dropped her book and launched herself at me in a hug attack. " Alright I get it, you are glad I'm back. "I said. " Sorry, got a bit overexcited there." She got off of me. " When I heard from Night what happened to you and that you were taken to the hospital, I got worried. Just like before when you drank that potion. Speaking of, I might know a way of recreating that formula. I was reading this book for a reason y'know." Michelle said. " Oh? Tell me more! " I demanded. Just as Michelle wanted to explain what she found out, something quite familiar happened to her. A small current of lightning jumped between her arms and travelled the length of her body. "Oh my. Looks like I'm not the only one here with rune magic anymore. " I said as the lightning created a rune in the air in front of her, and it slammed into her chest with non-existent force. " Looks like I'm going to have to train you aswell and see what you are good at. I doubt you will be the same as me. " "Rune magic? So I can cast spells like you do now? " she asked. " Seems so. My talent lies with the shadows, but your talent will probably be something different. Of course you can still cast the same kind of stuff I can, but things dealing with Air I will probably be better at. I'm taking a guess that your talent will either be Earth, or Water. Most likely Water. "I said. " I guess Water would suit me. Since I seem to worry about your wellbeing constantly, it would be the most logical. With the healing and all. " Michelle responded. " I'll take you to the training with the Mane Six once we get to that. The formula can also be discussed later. For now, you can watch Night train me I guess. Maybe you will pick up a thing or two to use yourself. " I said, turning my attention to Night who had been watching us in silence. "Shall we began? " Night explained the basics of cloning yourself, and demonstrated it. A second Night appeared who walked out of the room, and came back shortly after with tea while the Night in front of me explained how you had to transfer part of your essence into the clone. I accepted the tea with surprise, took a sip and placed it down on a nearby table to try the spell myself. " Should I transfer the essence before, during or after I cloned myself? " I asked. " Either during or after. If you transfer during casting you will need more essence as some will be lost in the process. If you transfer after the spellcast it will be more stable and cost less, but it will take more time obviously. I suggest trying to transfer after the cast whenever you can, but in a battle you might need a clone quicker. I will help you with both methods. " she said. " Could I try, too? I might aswell try using my magic now. " Michelle asked. " You can, but be careful. You had part of your essence severed during that ritual, so trying too much might injure you. " I said. " I'll be careful. As for the spell, I just need to think of what I want and channel my magic for it, right?" She asked, and I nodded. I watched her focus, and surely enough a clone appeared next to her after about 20 seconds. She then focused again to transfer her essence, and we saw a small wispy trail coming from her going into the clone. The clone sprung to life, and walked around the room. "Well done. Now you, Primal Dagger. " Night said. I went through the same process of creating the clone, but sped up significantly. The clone stood beside me within a few seconds, and I transferred my essence into it. The same wispy line was seen, and the clone and myself equipped my signature spectral armour and blinked around the room,creating a cross pattern of smoke. " See, it is not that hard now is it. How did you manage to teleport so quickly, though? " Night asked. " That's one of my signature spells. I call it Shadowstep. I heard, read and saw that you ponies have to channel the teleport and think about where you want to be. I bypass all that and simply blink to where I am looking at. Try it, don't think about it and just look at where you want to be and will that to happen. " I explained. Both Michelle and Night looked at a point in the room. Michelle was the first to reappear where she wanted to be, and Night followed not too long after. " This is quite useful indeed. How do you use this to, let us say, teleport behind a wall?" Night asked. " That's a bit trickier, and will require you to cast another spell before casting Shadowstep quickly after. I got quite effective at doing that quickly, but I suggest you two take it slowly."I walked over to the wall, and continued talking. " You have to literally envision the area behind the wall. If it's just one wall I tend to use a sort of x-ray vision to look through the wall and simply cast Shadowstep. With multiple walls that gets harder. For that, I use a combination of a scrying spell, a normal teleport and my Shadowstep. I scry the part behind the wall and think of where I want to go, while looking at the same spot. This speeds up the process of getting myself there. I'll demonstrate. " I cast the x-ray spell and the Shadowstep in quick succession. I appeared on the other side of the wall and re-entered the room. "I used the x-ray for that. Come here and I'll share my understanding of it, it's a bit hard to explain in words. " They stepped closer to me, and I placed my palms of my hands on both their foreheads. I transferred my knowledge of the spell, and they both looked enlightened. " Go ahead and try it. " I said. Both of them walked towards the wall, and focused to cast the spell. Both of them disappeared at the same time, and the door opened a second later revealing two smiling faces. " Alright, now let's aim for Celestia's room. Use the thinking part aswell as the x-ray and looking at the target. I'll go first, and meet you there. Don't rush it, you don't want to end up in a wall. " I said, and teleported to Celestia's room. " Oh hi Celestia, sorry to pop in unannounced. I'm teaching Night and Michelle how to use Shadowstep for faster teleportation." I said to the shocked alicorn who had just came back from a boring meeting. " Shadowstep? Is that one of your spells? " she asked. I just wanted to answer her when Night appeared next to me. " I did it! That is hard to master, I will make sure to practice it often. " "As I wanted to say, Shadowstep is my way of quickly traversing the area. It requires you to see the actual area, but in doing so drastically reduces time and energy costs. " I said. "Hm, I have heard of similar spells, but none of those were able to go through solid objects. How did you do that then?" Celestia asked. I explained the combination of spells and the x-ray vision needed to accomplish it. " Would you care to learn? " I asked. " No thank you Primal, I do not have much use for such spells. If I require it I will be sure to ask you. " she answered. " Suit yourself. " With that said, Michelle appeared on the other side of me, but fell over. " Ow! I should try to teleport myself upright next time. This is seriously hard though, I greatly respect your abilities, and thank you for teaching them to us. " "My pleasure. I could always use a bit more practice myself. " I turned to Celestia. " Me and Michelle should get to Ponyville now. Thanks for all of your help, and for yours too Night. Give my thanks to Luna aswell, and I'll hopefully see you around. " I called Sabrina, and she came through the door. I still wondered how she was able to open doors, but I guessed due to her size and intellect that it wouldn't be that hard. I said goodbye to Celestia and Night, and Michelle followed me as we left towards the train station. We got lucky as a train to Ponyville was just about to leave, and we boarded that train quickly and headed home. WWWW Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Twilight Sparkle I had left Primal and Nightmare Moon to train, and I took the earliest train to Ponyville. I was excited at the idea of seeing my friends again, even if just a day had passed. I knew Pinkie had something big planned for Primal, and I wanted to ask her for the details once I arrived. I spent the rest of the train ride looking out of the window, admiring the Equestrian scenery. I stepped out of the train carriage, unsuspecting of those waiting for me. I got tackled to the ground by a cyan blur, followed up by orange, white, yellow and pink. " We missed you even though it was just a day! " Pinkie shouted. " I missed all of you too. I can't stand being separated from my best friends!" I shouted back happily. They all let go of me and allowed me some breathing space. "So Pinkie, want to share your plans for Primal's all-in-one party? " I asked. " Nope! Strictly Pinkie-fidential!" Pinkie responded. I looked at the rest to see if they knew anything, but all of them shook their heads. " Oh well, guess we have to wait and see. Anyway, Primal wanted to plan a training session with all of us when he returns. " I said. " A training session? For wha-" Dash's confusion cleared when she realised. " Oh yeah of course, the marks. Why do we need more training though? " " He wants us to be prepared for anything, so he will train us in using our marks aswell as the abilities we already had. Physical strength, magical strength and all that. " I said. " I don't w-want him to t-train me in flying! " Fluttershy said. " I doubt he will let you pass that. You have wings, so you should be able to use them properly. Not Rainbow - properly, but at least well enough to get away from danger quickly. " I lectured. " I hope he will take it slowly. I'm not so good with my wings." Fluttershy said. " It will be fine, 'Shy. I will help you too, and you will be able to fly fast in no time!" Rainbow encouraged. Fluttershy muttered something inaudible, and remained silent. " Anyway, how's Primal doin'?" Applejack asked. " He's healed completely thanks to a little help from me. He went to train with Nightmare Moon when I left them, so he will probably be here later this day. Something about clones and controlling them properly. " I responded. " Clones? Why, he could've asked me! Ah can create dem clones just fine!" Applejack retorted. " Proper properly. As in them being abe to cast spells too. I doubt you have tried making a clone duplicate itself or make it cast a different spell. " I said. Applejack focused, and created a clone of herself. I could see both the clone and her casting a different spell, presumably invisibility. Only the real Applejack went invisible however. " See? It's harder than you thought isn't it. I'd say try pouring your essence into it. Certain unicorn magics work the same way. " I instructed. Applejack appeared again, dismissed her previous clone and created another clone. When the clone stood beside her, she channelled something different. A small wispy trail travelled from the real Applejack to the clone. Again, she casted the invisibility spell. This time, both of them went invisible. " Awesome! Thanks Twi fer teaching that there knowledge! Ah can show that to Primal when he goes training with us! " Applejacks voice called from somewhere. " Could you make yourself visible again darling? I do not like talking to someone who is not here. " Rarity said. Applejack appeared again, behind Rainbow Dash. " Come on girls, let's go get something to eat together. " I suggested. " Why don't we visit that new place that opened up near the bakery recently? I heard they have pretty good salads and haysteaks." Rarity added. " The Silver spur? Why not? " Rainbow agreed. " It sounds like a lovely place. " Fluttershy added. " Ah also heard they served the best nachos in all of Ponyville! " Applejack said. " Ah certainly wanna try those! " "Nachos? NACHOS!" Pinkie shouted. " Nachos it is then! Onwards! " I rallied. Our party walked towards where The Silver spur is located, catching up on the latest stories each of us had experienced. I told them about the kiss me and Primal shared, and of course Rarity wanted to know all the details of the experience. Rainbow told us about her boring visit to Cloudesdale for a scheduled weather team meeting, and Fluttershy told us about an encounter with a strange animal. "Now however, it's time for NACHOS! " I shouted. We all went inside, and found a table for six near the window and sat down. "Where is Spike, by the way? He wasn't with you at the station. " I asked. " I think he said something about getting groceries or something like that. Maybe he has planned a mini-party just for you! " Pinkie said. " Spike? No way he will do that. But who knows, maybe he'll surprise me. " I said. Each of us ordered something from the menu, most being nachos, and we continued our idle conversations. Then, Rarity scraped her throat. " Girls, I need to tell you something. Spike sort of opened up to me, and I could tell he had a crush on me. I have, for a while now, but by the looks of it he isn't going to get over it. So, I told him to wait untill he's more grown up before I would attempt any kind of dating. " Rarity said. "And you leave Spike hanging like that?" I asked. "He didn't seem too unhappy about it when I told him." Rarity responded. "Maybe he didn't show it? Now I'll have to deal with a lovestricken baby dragon..." I said, sighing. " NACHOS!" Pinkie shouted, before anyone else could respond. I turned around and saw the waiter arriving with our meals, five of those being nachos and one a haysteak. I thanked the waiter for the quick service and quickly started devouring my nachos in brutish fashion. My stomach cried for sustenance, and I couldn't hold back any longer. " So savage. Have you not learned any table manners Twilight? " Rarity asked, neatly cutting her haysteak with knife and fork. I swallowed the bite, and answered. "Not when I'm this hungry. It feels like I didn't eat in days! I apologise if it bothered you though. " We finished the rest of our meal without much talking, and Spike entered the establishment when we were just finishing. " I'm sorry I missed your return Twilight. " he said with regret. " I had to re-stock our food supplies and get some new quills for you. " " It's okay. I didn't exactly say when I would be returning. I'm still surprised you girls were waiting for me at the station. " I said to the rest of the group. "Pinkie-sense warned us. Don't ask how, but we went over here as quickly as possible. " Rainbow said. " Let's go to the library. I'll pay the bill-" I wanted to say. " Nonsense. It is your surprise, so it is only fitting if we pay. I will take the bill " Rarity said. Rarity paid, and we headed over to the library. WWWWW Changeof Character - Twilight sparkle - > Primal Dagger Sabrina and Michelle followed me towards the library once the train had arrived at Ponyville station. My companions received a mixture of scared, curious and shocked expressions, but I paid them no heed. Sabrina was not bothered either, but Michelle brought it up. "Why are they looking at us like that? Surely they must realise we mean no harm by now. " "The ponies here get frightened easily. Two strange bipedal creatures and a black panther following them isn't the most friendliest of sights. They kind of know me by now which is why they aren't running away screaming. " I responded. Michelle sighed, and kept quiet untill we reached the library. I heard voices coming from inside, so I motioned for both to come closer. I shrouded us in a veil of shadows as I opened the door. To them, it looked like the door randomly opened on its own accord. " I know it's you Primal. I had a hunch you would try something like this. "Twilight said. I signed for Michelle to keep silent as my magic closed the door without a trace. I walked upstairs, and told them to remain up here while I would still attempt to scare the girls downstairs. " Come out Primal, we know already. " Twilight said, but I could hear a slight waver in her voice. I created an effigy of pure darkness in the corner of the room,they didn't notice as it came to life slowly. I made sure the effigy looked as evil as possible by making it look like Death itself. "Your time has come, Bearers of the Elements. Death arrives to claim your souls. " I made the effigy say, it's voice dark and resounding. " What about me though? " Spike asked. " Your time has not yet arrived, dragon. You are to witness this world fall into madness. " the effigy said. Even I got slightly scared by my own creation. The effigy swung its scythe at the frightened ponies and dragon, but I dispersed it before it landed and made myself visible. " I still got you! You should have seen the looks on your faces! Pure gold! " I laughed. " I w-wasn't afraid! Rainbow said, obviously still shaken from the experience. "Sure. Even now you're shaking! " I said, still laughing. " Serious now though. My training has got to get that kind of fright out of all of you. Not even Death will scare you when I'm done with you. Spike, you will join the training too. As will Michelle. " I called upstairs to Sabrina and Michelle, who came down shortly after. " I heard that from upstairs, and even there it frightened me. " Michelle said. " Show them what you found out Michelle. " I asked. She looked at me for a second with a quizzical expression, but that quickly transformed to understanding. She created a rune in the air, and I created one aswell. Mine was a symbol of Air, and hers one of Water. My rune shot a lightning bolt towards Michelle's rune. It accepted the bolt and shot back a stream of water in response. "So both of you have rune magic then? And I'm guessing the symbols are your attunements. But you can cast more than Air-related stuff right? " Twilight asked. " Correct. We can cast spells from every element but our attuned element is significantly more powerful. I could cast certain spells Michelle couldn't even dream of, and same goes the other way. She could manipulate entire oceans if she so desired. And could, because right now she can't cast a lot. A bit of magical training from you and me should help her on her way, Twilight. " I said. " Enough magical stuff. Let's go to Applejack's barn! " Pinkie said. " You knew?!" Twilight asked Applejack. " You don't wanna know how hard it was to keep it from you. But yes, of course Ah knew. Pinkie and me traveled together, remember? She can't keep quiet long enough." Applejack said. " Did I miss something? " I asked, but nobody responded. " Come on everyone! Let's go to the barn! Something EXCITING is waiting for us! " Pinkie said impatiently. I followed a bouncing Pinkie Pie towards Applejacks farmstead. Rarity had to leave us to finish an order for the next day, so we all said goodbye to her before we headed to the barn. " From the outside it's still the same farm. " Twilight stated. " Because the excitement Pinkie Pie was talking about is probably inside. " I added. " You have to wear a blindfold Primal! It's part of the surprise! " Pinkie said. " If you insist. " I said plainly. A blindfold was placed over my eyes to obstruct my view. Little did they know, my mastery with Air allowed for 'blind-sight' so I could see nearly as well as without a blindfold. We entered the shed, and I pretended to have trouble walking. " This way Primal! " Pinkie said. I saw she was leading me to a chair with a fart-cushion on it. " There's a chair in front of you.Sit down!" She said, almost failing to hold in a laugh. I turned myself around but used my hands to quickly swipe the toy off as I sat down. " Did you really think I'd fall for that? A party pony, and a chair she wants me to sit down on. It couldn't be more obvious. " I grinned. " How..? Oh no matter, the next part is coming up! " Pinkie said. I saw a table with a pie a few other foods being moved towards me. " There is a table in front of you now. One of the things on the table is an ordinary lemon pie. The rest are failed baking experiments which probably taste horrible! " Pinkie said. I hovered my hands over the table, but I already knew where the real pie was. It was the only piece which didn't look disgusting. I held my hands above the wrong pie for a moment before shifting to the real one. "I think the good one is here somewhere" I said, pointing to the pie underneath my hands. My blindfold was removed, and I could see my result for real now. The other pies looked even more disgusting this way. " I picked the right one! " I shouted in fake glee. " Enjoy the pie! DJ! Turn up the music! Let's get this party STARTED!" Pinkie shouted. I took a bite of the pie as house music was pumped through the speakers by the only great dj in Equestria : DJ-P0N3 a.k.a. Vinyl Scratch. I was instinctively swinging to the music as Twilight walked over to me. " You knew, didn't you? " she said, her voice barely topping the music. " I did my best to play along, but those pies looked disgusting. I just couldn't do that. " I nearly shouted. " You mean you were able to see all that time? " Twilight questioned. " Yep. Attunement with Air gives those kinds of passive benefits, I found. Earth has something similar I think. " I responded. " How could you know? " Twilight asked. " Celestia had a book about rune magic and the subtle benefits with each Element. I read it some time ago when she gave it to me. " I responded again. " Enough about my magic now, let's party!" I stood up in fast motion and took Twilight with me to the dance floor. She quickly surprised me by pulling out some moves I'd never imagine her doing. We danced through the night and even I had a few drinks after being encouraged by Rainbow and Applejack. I found I was quite resistant to the effects of alcohol, as all it did was slightly brighten my mood. Applejack challenged me to a drinking challenge, and boasted about being the champion drinker. That title was quickly forfeited however as I was still standing when Applejackfell over. The alcohol was taking its toll slowly now however, as the room swayed slightly. " I think itsh time for me to go home. "I said. The music had died down slightly over the course of the night as Vinyl mingled with the small crowd of me, Sabrina, Michelle, the Mane Six minus Rarity, Spike, part of the Apple family and a few locals who joined the party late. " You are right Cap'n Primal. We should head for shafe harbours. " Twilight said in a bad pirate accent. We said goodbye to the still partying ponies and headed back to the library together. Some of the alcohol in my system had left, and the world swayed no longer. When we arrived at the library, I told Twilight I wanted to get some rest, but she had other plans for us. " I am not going to do anything like that with a drunk mare. Especially when said mare is a friend of mine. " I said. " I'm not drunk! Look! I can walk normally! " she said while slightly stumbling towards the stairs. " Sure. Tell that to the floor in a second. I walked upstairs behind her, making sure she wouldn't fall down the stairs and hurt herself. We entered the bedroom after cleaning up a bit, and I took off the casual clothes I had put on magically. " Don't get any ideas Twilight. " I said resolutely. " I don't wanna be seen as the guy who took advantage of a drunk mare. " I slipped into my bed, and pulled the blanket over my head. I heard Twilight take her place in her own bed before sleep took me.