A Scientific Breakthrough

by Eruedraieth

Chapter 12 - Earth is far away...

"That doesn't look like a particularly comfortable position to sleep in, Night. " I heard a familiar voice say, waking me up from what was indeed an uncomfortable position.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? " I responded.

" My rest was far from comfortable as well, so you're not alone on that front. I wonder how he's doing.... " Twilight said.

I walked over to the side of the hospital bed Primal was in. " He looks peaceful, and he's still breathing. "

" I'm so glad he didn't sustain any serious injuries. I don't know how I would've coped without him around." Twilight said. " When will he-"

" He should be waking up any minute now, if the tests are correct. " A nurse said as she walked into the room to check up on Primal.

We all waited patiently until he showed signs of returning to the world of the living. And as promised, he showed a sign in the form of a groan.

" Ugh, I feel like I've been out for days at an end." Primal groaned. " Did Michelle really drain my energy for that spell? "

" You have been out for a day. It's nearly 4 pm now. " The nurse said. " I'll leave you alone, and check in a little while later to sign him off."

"Michelle did drain your magic, but not intentionally. She didn't even know it was draining magic from elsewhere. " I said.

" Where is she now? I really don't want her to feel guilty for hurting me like this. " Primal asked.

" She should be back at the library. She was pretty stricken when Night told her that her spell had siphoned your magic. " Twilight said.

"Did you two stay with me all the time I was out, by the way? " Primal asked.

" I checked in on my castle this morning and made some breakfast for me and Twilight, which I took back here. Celestia also came by to tell me the re-introduction is tomorrow. " I said. " Twilight has been by your side all this time. "

"I don't remember if I left the room for anything, so I suppose that is true. " Twilight confirmed.

"You really are devoted, then. It feels so good to have friends like you..... " Primal said, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

" It's alright, Primal. Know that we'll never leave you, no matter what happens. " Twilight said comfortingly.

" Thanks.... I really appreciate it... " Primal said, sniffing.

" You still have your parents though? " I asked, curious.

" I do, but parental love isn't exactly the same as this now is it? Parents will love their child no matter what happens. " he said.

" I suppose that much is true. I do not have any parents as far as I know, since I am simply an embodiment of Darkness. " I said.

" That's kinda sad... " Primal said with a sentimental gesture.

" It is not. I do not have anything to be sad for. " I said. " It is simply who I am, and I have no problems with accepting it. "

"Alright, you win. I sure can't wait to get out of this damn hospital, though. " Primal said.

" I'm sure the nurse will be back soon. Otherwise I could go get her. " Twilight offered.

" I would be forever in your debt if you did. I'm quite sick of this bed, and my feet are itching for a walk!" Primal said.

" I will stay here untill she returns. " I said.

" Thanks, both of you. " Primal said.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Nightmare Moon -> Twilight Sparkle

I left Night with Primal to search for a nurse to dismiss him. I sure like him.... Maybe even more than that...

I shook away my thoughts as I had to walk down the stairs to find a nurse, and I asked her if she could sign Primal out of the hospital.

"Sure, I'll be there in a moment." the nurse responded.

I waited for the nurse to finish what she was doing, and followed her upstairs back to Primal's room.

'Hello there, Primal Dagger. Sounds like you are ready to leave the hospital, so I'll sign this form here and dismiss you." The nurse said to Primal.

"Wonderful!" Primal said as he stepped out of the bed.

"I have your clothes over here, Primal." I said, handing him his clothes.

"Thank you, I'll go put them on in a different dimension real quick." Primal said, as he vanished with his clothes.

"What did he just say? A different dimension?" The nurse asked, confused.

"He can walk between dimensions, just don't question it too much or you'll get a headache. He's the Shadow of Equestria for a reason." I explained.

"The Shadow of Equestria? THE Shadow of Equestria?" The nurse asked, seemingly bewildered.

"Yep. The one and only." Primal said as he reappeared in front of us.

"Oh my, my fellow colleagues are not going to believe that I nursed the Shadow back to health. Word's been going around that you saved a lot of people from robbers, thieves and the like. Not to mention beating that corruption with the Mane Six and the princesses." The nurse said, excited.

"You know about that? Where did you know this from?" I asked.

"Word travels quickly, Twilight." the nurse responded.

"O-kay... Alright. Have a nice day, nurse." I said, bidding farewell and hinting at the others to leave.

"Don't get into more trouble now!" The nurse called to us as we left the hospital.

"Ah, fresh air. I'm going to head over to the library to make it up with Michelle. Where did Night go, anyway?" He asked.

I looked around, but found no sign of Night anywhere. "She probably teleported back to her castle. I noticed her hiding away when the nurse came in, which was probably a good idea. She hasn't been properly re-introduced yet, remember?"

"Yeah, threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness isn't much of an introduction to who Nightmare Moon is." Primal added. "Anyway, will you join me in heading to the library, or do you have other things to do?"

"Actually, Fluttershy asked for my help, so I'll go to her place now. Tell me how it went, okay?" I said to Primal.

"I will. See you later!" Primal said, leaving for the library.

I hope they will fix things between them. I thought, as I trotted towards Fluttershy's cottage.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Twilight Sparkle -> Primal Dagger

I opened the door to the library, and opened the second door to the living room. Michelle and Spike were sitting at the table, having a conversation when I walked in.

"Oh hello, did I interrupt something?" I asked.

" No, not at all! Come in,and shut the door behind you will you? " Michelle said. I could hear a serious tone in her voice, so I did as she asked and took a seat at the table.

" I'll leave you two alone to talk. Don't blow up the house okay? " Spike joked.

Michelle waited until Spike was out of the room before she started talking. " I know you came here to tell me it's okay, it wasn't my fault. But it really was. I got so caught up in casting that spell to test Fluttershy's barrier that I didn't even stop to think where all that power was coming from. I brought you unnecessary harm...."

"Hey, it's really okay. Don't start blaming yourself for getting me in harm's way. You showed you cared for me when you prevented my head from colliding with the floor, against my orders. Besides, did you ever see what you casted back there? That was so much power that even I thought it was impossible! " I said, noticeably comforting her.

" Heh, I guess you're right. Tell me when I want to try something like that again though, I don't want it to happen again! " Michelle agreed. " You still have a sparring session with Night though, and a contract from what I heard from Twilight! "

"Twilight told you then? I guess it wouldn't hurt if I'd ask you to accompany me on that mission then. " I suggested.

" I'd love to! I could learn a thing or two, and who knows maybe I could help out! " she answered. " Will Sabrina join us too? "

" Ofcourse, she's my spirit companion! Speaking of, where is she right now? "

"I think she went out to catch some fish, she should be back any minute- " Michelle said as the door to the library opened. " Well, there she is! Right on time! "

Sabrina threw a confused look at us, but smiled when she fully noticed me and purred in delight as she nuzzled my leg. " You are healthy again then, yes? She asked.

" Yep. Fully healthy, just dismissed from the hospital and already having to do a mission. This'll be the first mission where it isn't just me, so I'll have to adapt slightly. You will be joining me right? " I said.

" Ofcourse. Where are we headed? " the black cat asked.

" Canterlot. A certain pony named Mortimer Moneybags needs to be dealt with for stealing property. All the bases are covered, and all we have to do is get to him, get him somewhere far away and erase his memories to replace them with new ones. " I said.

" Erase his memories? How? " Michelle asked.

" You are as adept as I am with rune magic, so you tell me. " I said plainly.

" Really? Okay, well.... Maybe we could 'liquefy' the memories while he's incapacitated, and pull them out that way? I could mend his brain tissue after to fill in any essential gaps should it go wrong. " Michelle suggested.

" Not really how I would've done it, but it does sound like a better idea than what I had in mind. You're the master of Water magic, after all. Shame we don't have anyone with mastery over Earth, it would've been a lot easier otherwise. " I said. 'Although I have a slight suspicion someone does...'

" I will stand guard while you two do whatever you intend to do to this 'Moneybags' ." Sabrina said.

" Well it's set then, let's head out! I'll mentally notify Twilight we are leaving. " I said.

I told Twilight we are leaving, my mind-speech still a bit wobbly from not using it for a while.

" She wishes us good luck, and for us to return before supper. I could hear the worry in her voice though. " I said. " She's a born worrier. Don't ask how I know that. "

" How'll we travel to Canterlot? Taking the train would take ages-"

" I took the liberty of creating a stable portal to the palace beforehand. It's inactive right now, but a bit of power should spark it up right away. This way, ladies. " I said. I led them to a shack by the lake located some distance away from the library, to prevent ponies finding out about the portal.

" Why is this place so far away? Wouldn't it be easier to make a new room in the library for a portal? " Michelle asked.

" Do you know how long it would've taken if we made anther room? Other than Spike's cave and the foyer upstairs we only adjusted the existing ones. Besides, this place was already here and not in use, so why not? " I explained.

" Okay. So how do we start this portal? She asked. .

" Place your hands on this stone here. " I pointed at a stone in front of the portal. " The stone will convert your magic into liquid form and run into tubes running beside the portal. The magic will power up the silver orbs on top, which radiate the energy and create a portal in the frame. "

(Le very crudely drawn portal. A for effort?)

She placed her hands on the stone, and the stone lit up with a hue similar to her magical colour,Light blue.

Soon enough, a trickle of light blue liquid was seen filling up the portal tanks. The portal lit up with a purple hue.

" Step through! " I beckoned.

WWWWW

The portal in Canterlot was located in an abandoned room in the castle which Celestia allowed me to use. It wasn't far away from the main hall, but enough to not draw attention.

I opened the door to the room and walked into the hallway connected to the main one. Sabrina and Michelle followed me, and I decided to pay a quick visit to the royal area to check if Celestia or Luna were around.

I found neither of them, and figured they would be out on official business or something, so I led my companions to the area where Moneybags was supposed to live.

" We do a little reconnaissance mission first to gather some information. It would be excellent if you scouted the place while invisible, Sabrina. "

" Will do. I shall be your eyes and ears. " she answered.

" Michelle, I want you to stay near me. We'll check if the ponies around are dangerous or not, he might have hired some secret agents or something. Better to be prepared than to dive in unknowingly." I said.

" Got it! "

We approached 'The Lucky Coin ', as the establishment was called. Sabrina was already invisible and quietly pawed her way around the shop's back area while we went to talk with the store clerk.

" Hello, and welcome to The Lucky Coin! How can I assist the two of you? " the clerk said.

" You seem rather unfazed for seeing creatures you've never seen before. " I said calmly.

" A customer is a customer, no matter what he or she looks like. Now that I mention looks, you are looking quite fine there m'lady. " he flirted.

" I don't have any interest in dating, so quit the flirting. " Michelle responded.

The clerk was taken aback by her answer, but recovered his composure quickly. "Anyway, how can I help? "

" I just wanted to look around for a bit. " I responded as I carefully examined the store's wares. There was a variety of items, ranging from adventure wear and gear to household accessories.

" I do have a question. Do you have a brush or something around here? " Michelle asked.

" Why certainly! We have a whole range of brushes, ranging from simple to fully automatic brushes. They are right over here. " he said, walking over to the brush section.

"Ugh, girls and their obsession for appearances... " I mumbled to myself. I took the moment to look at what Sabrina had found so far, and she told me there was a large supply of bits in the cellar, along with various paraphernalia for unknown uses.

I wonder how this guy managed to hide all of that in almost plain sight. " Ahum, Clerk? Do you maybe have something around here like-" I called as I described a piece of equipment I saw in the cellar through Sabrina's eyes.

" Hm, no I can't say I remember having something like that around. I could ask Mortimer about it if you really want to? " the clerk answered.

" Nah, it's okay. I didn't really need it anyway. " I responded. I could tell he wasn't lying, he clearly had no clue about his boss's stealing practices. " Did you find what you needed, Michelle? "

" I have, and even more than that! " she said as she walked over to the counter with a simple brush and a rather odd looking mirror.

" That will be 35 bits then." the clerk said.

I pulled out the bag of coins I carried on my ethereal belt which I took the liberty of rematerializing before heading over to the counter, and pulled out the required amount of bits.

" Thank you, and have a nice day! " the clerk said, still in a somewhat challenging voice to attempt to woo Michelle over.

I quickly left the store and took Michelle with me. " That guy was trying so hard to get me. " Michelle said.

" Hah, you bet. Now why did you buy that mirror? " I asked.

" I read about this thing in a book! Without its counterpart it's useless, but I'm sure we can find that somewhere! It has the ability to send items through this mirror and out of the other one. " Michelle said. " Do you know how useful that could be here? Or even anywhere really? "

" Yeah, it's useful. You better be glad I get paid a lot, otherwise you wouldn't have that thing right now. " I said.

" You almost sound like Moneybags. " she retorted.

" I worked hard for that money, okay? I worked so hard I put my life on the line for it actually. Even though what I fought was still quite pathetic. " I said.

" All you did was arrest a few criminals, no big deal. Right? " Michelle said.

" I wrapped up an entire cult dedicated to cursing the world with eternal night. Doesn't sound like 'a few criminals' to me."

" Wait, you did? I guess that voice in my head back then must've left out a few details. " she answered. Just as she finished talking, Sabrina appeared next to her.

"Find anything else? " I asked.

" A note with what looks like a code or something? Other than that, not really. " Sabrina answered, and gave me the note she held in her jaw.

" Oh that isn't a code, it's an address! And I think it's not far from this place. " I said as I stepped out of the way from some ponies who passed me. " Let's head over there, I'm getting sick of this busy place. "

We headed over to the address scribbled on the note, and arrived in front of a very fancy looking building. I knocked on the door, and a male voice shouted : " Could you get the door, housemaid? I'm busy!"

Hoofsteps were heard a moment later, heading down what sounded like stairs. The door opened, and a pony in traditional housemaid attire stood in the opening of the door. "Yes? My master is busy right now. "

"Who is your master? " I asked.

" Who wants to know? " she answered.

" Someone with a business proposal. " I retorted, hiding my true identity.

" I don't deal in my master's affairs, but I suppose I could tell you his name : Mortimer Moneybags. " she said.

Perfect. " Could you tell him to try and make time for us? " I beckoned to myself and Michelle. Sabrina was invisible to prevent any chaos.

" I'll see what I can do. " The maid said as she closed the door and headed back up the stairs. Sabrina sneaked inside while the door was still open, and provided me with some eyes of the interior.

" Now we wait for either Sabrina to get into trouble, or the poor fellow makes time for us. " I said to Michelle.

" This seems almost too easy. You sure he isn't hiding something powerful? " Michelle said.

" Dunno. Once we get in and get the guy to be on his own, cast the spell on him. Make it subtle so he has no time to react. " I said.

" I'll cast the spell by placing my hand on his head when he isn't looking, so I'll pretend I'm looking at the room while you talk with him. " Michelle said.

" I hear hoofsteps. "

The door opened again, and the same maid was there. " Mortimer has time to speak with you now. Come in. "

We followed her inside and up the stairs. " He's inside this room. " she beckoned to a room beside her.

" Ah hello. My maid told me you wanted to talk business. " Mortimer said. He looked as dastardly as his practices were. " Do sit down. "

I sat down on the chair in front of him, but Michelle started inspecting the room, much to the confusion of Mortimer.

" She's an interior decorator. Whenever we visit homes like these she takes great interest in the decor, don't mind her. " I lied.

" Okay. So, what kind of offers do you have? "

" I visited the shop just around the corner. I found out you owned the establishment, and I might have a rare artifact you could display in your shop. I'm sure it will fetch a high price. " I said as I grabbed the mirror we bought and explain what it was capable of.

He stopped moving as soon as Michelle cast the spell on him. A pink liquid flowed out of his ears, and evaporated as soon as it came into contact with the air.

"He's all yours. "

I put up a suggestive tone, and told Mortimer he had a very important train to catch towards Manehattan. I relayed some information about an address I was supplied with, and told him he would stay there for the rest of his life to build up a new imperium to promote charity and goodwill.

Once I was done, Mortimer left the room and told his maid he had to leave. I walked out of the room with Michelle, and the maid threw a curious look at us.

" Don't ask me. He suddenly remembered something and rushed out of the room without telling anything." I said.

The maid shrugged, and continued her work.

When we exited the building, Sabrina reappeared next to me. " Poor maid. She is working for noone now. " she said.

" I'm sure my employer has ways to cure that. He's at the Rusty Horseshoe, room 25. " I said.

We found the bar and hotel after asking a few locals for directions, Sabrina being invisible with every encounter ofcourse. We entered the bar, and I asked the caretaker about room 25.

" Room 25..? If you insist... It's down the hallway, to the right. "

I thanked him, and beckoned for Michelle and Sabrina to follow me.

Room 25 was found easily, thanks to logical numbering, and the door to the room was opened by quick hands.

" I take it Mortimer is dealt with then?" a voice asked from the from the shadows in the dimmed room.

" He has been sent to Manehattan to start a new business, promoting charity and goodwill. " I responded.

" Excellent.... And who are these two you brought with you? A panther and another creature like you? " he said.

Sabrina had still been invisible, but dropped the act once she noticed she had been spotted.

" The 'creatures' we are, are called Humans, thank you very much. As for my name, I'm called Michelle. " she said.

" Any particular abilities I should know of? " the mysterious stallion asked.

" I'm versed with the same kind of magic Primal here uses, but my mastery lies with spells dealing with the element of Water instead of Wind. So I doubt I'll be of much use to your scheming. "

" Hey, I probably couldn't have done that memory wipe so easily without you!" I snapped back at her.

" I suppose that's true, but I'm not much of the stealthy type. " she stated.

" Too bad, another could've been useful.... " the shadowy pony murmured.

"I'm not doing any more jobs for you. I just want my payment and I'll leave you to do whatever. " I said.

" Okay , here " he handed me a medium bag with rattling coins. " Too bad we couldn't be partners for longer, it could've been quite profitable..... "

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Goodbye. " I said impatiently. I was quite done with this guy. He was a bit too shifty for my liking.

I led Michelle and Sabrina back to the portal we came here with.

" After you. " I bowed slightly, allowing them to go first.

WWWWW

The portal near Ponyville spewed out a party of three, and they headed towards a library which also served as a home to a purple unicorn mare and her baby dragon assistant.

" Twilight, we're back! " I called.

The mentioned mare opened the door and nearly bowled over me in glee. " I have to say, I was really worried you wouldn't return. "

" Not return to you after such a simple mission? Preposterous! " I said.

" Was it that easy? " Twilight asked.

" Yeah. Easy money if you ask me, but I really didn't like the guy who gave me the mission. Too suspicious, eager to jump at opportunities.... "

"Leaves you more time to spend with me! " Twilight cheered.

" Do I want to spend more time with you, though? And what's for dinner?"

" Soup! And not just any soup, but I won't tell you what! " she said, ignoring my comment. " You have to figure out yourself. "

" It does smell really good... Reminds me of a family member who was great at making soup." Michelle said. " Too bad I'll never get to see her again... "

"Yea, about that.... I might also be able to create a portal back to Earth.... " I said, slowly.

" What, Really? You're kidding, right? "

" He isn't. He spoke with me about visiting Earth, and I thought it was a great idea. I wanted to come too! We will have to inform princess Celestia, though. " Twilight said. " Spike, could you send a letter for that while I prepare the table for dinner? "

Spike nodded, and ran off to get a quill and paper.

Just when Spike was gone, Nightmare Moon landed outside of the library and got inside quickly, much to the surprise of the others in the room.

" Uh, hello Night? " I greeted.

" Nopony saw me enter, right? " She asked.

" I don't know. There's usually nopony around at this time, but why? " Twilight asked.

" Let me just say that the re-introduction did not go as planned." she said, shifting eyes across the room. "Could I stay here for the night? I would not like a horde of angry ponies after me. "

"Sure, but what happened? " Twilight asked.

" A cult appeared at the introduction, claiming their princess had returned to them to continue their quest for eternal darkness. " she explained.

" Not that cult... I thought I dealt with those guys! " I said. I heard Michelle snickering.

Twilight looked confused at me and Night now. " Cult? "

" A time ago I got a task from Celestia to dismantle a cult dedicated to cursing the world with eternal night. She made me target their leaders, and once I had dealt with those, Celestia would order the rest mopped up. Which means either my intel was incorrect about the 'leader' or there were still members around afterwards who reformed it. " I said. " I don't want to deal with them now though, I can't stand the thought of not seeing my family and friends for much longer. "

" Are you going somewhere? " Night asked.

" Me, Primal and Twilight were going to visit Earth."

" Could I come too? It would probably be best if I did not show up anywhere around here for a while. " She asked.

" Sure! It shouldn't be much of a problem. " I said. " I still owe you a sparring session though."

" I know what you are capable of, so it is not necessary." Night said.

"Okay. Now about the portal... We need a lot of magical energy to keep it up, and I might have an idea on how to do that, but I'll need your help to see if it is possible Twilight." I said.

"Can't you just supply it with your own magic?" Twilight asked.

"And be exhausted all the time? No thanks, I'll pass." I responded. "I was thinking we would need something along the line of solar panels, wind and water mills, and maybe some special flowers capable of generating magic."

"I've heard of magical flowers like that, but what are these other things you mentioned?" Twilight asked.

"Solar panels are what we use back on Earth to create electricity from sunlight. Once we get there I'll see if I can show you some. As for wind and water mills, they use the wind and water to generate electricity by transforming movement. Both work in the same way, the wind or water pushing windmill blades or a turbine, which moves and sends that movement to a dynamo which creates electricity. I'm not a physicist, so my explanation could be completely wrong, but this is what I know." I said.

"Sounds interesting, I think we could create something like that." Twilight said.

Spike, who was still waiting for Twilight to sum up her letter to Celestia, softly coughed.

"Oh Spike! I'm sorry, I completely forgot I asked you to write a letter!" Twilight apologised.

"It's okay, I'll wait as long as you need. Now, the letter?" Spike said.

"Yes, ofcourse." Twilight proceeded to tell Spike what he needed to write down regarding the visit to Earth, the portals and the magic generation.

When he was done, he lit the letter on fire, causing it to transform into dust and fly out of the window, towards Canterlot.

"I'll go find the book for those flowers you mentioned." Twilight said.

" I'm going outside to catch some fresh air. Mind joining me, Michelle?" I asked.

"Not at all!" She responded as she followed me outside.

Once outside, I opened my mouth to speak, but before I was able to, I saw a 2 meter high wave approaching Michelle, which struck her directly, soaking her completely.

"What the..." Michelle exclaimed.

Before Michelle could talk further, a lightning bolt struck me, even though the sky was completely clear. The static ran through my body, not harming me but draining my energy.... and then revitalizing it to new heights. But my power felt... lacking.

"What happened? And why do I feel stronger after being hit by a friggin' lightning bolt?" I said.

"I'm not sure, but I feel the same way. Stronger.... but something is missing?" Michelle told me. "Oh, it can't be..."

"What?" I asked her, confused.

"Try casting a fireball." She said.

I prepared myself to shoot a fireball at the ground in front of me... but nothing happened. No fire, no spark, nothing.

"Why...." I said before Michelle cut me off.

"I think the wave that struck me and the lightning bolt that struck you removed our attunements to the other elements, but increased our attunements with our primary elements. Which explains why we are feeling stonger!" She said.

"Okay, so that would mean.." I said before I held my hands in front of me to cast a lightning bolt.

A blinding light, followed by a thundering noise which shook the very ground I was standing on, was the result of the lightning bolt. The ground it had struck was completely charred.

"Wow. What power! I don't really mind losing the other attunements if this is the result!" I said, shocked. (Excuse me for the pun!)

The door opened behind us, and a scared and worried Twilight Sparkle walked outside, looking up.

"There are no clouds!?! Why did I hear thunder then?" Twilight said, confused.

"That might have been my doing." I said, holding my hands up.

"We know you are powerful, but did you really need to shake the entire house with that?" She said, looking at the scorch marks the bolt had left on the ground. "Not to mention the damage you caused to the ground there."

"I'm more powerful, yet I am weaker than I was before." I said, mysteriously.

"What in Celestia's name are you talking about?" Twilight said, annoyed at my vague explanation.

"Well, me and Michelle walked outside when both of us got hit. She was hit by a huge wave of water, and I was struck by a lightning bolt. It didn't hurt, merely drained our power... but recharged us to new heights after. The power we had felt lacking though.. I can't use the other elements now, just Wind. Same goes for Michelle.. She can only use spells affiliated with Water." I explained, this time more clearly.

"Oh my... I'm glad you two are not hurt. That sounds like it could've been serious." Twilight said, worry in her voice.

"We're fine, don't worry. Even though that is hard for you." I said, smirking. "By the way, I have a slight suspicion... Could I try something on you?"

Nightmare moon, who was standing behind Twilight in the opening of the door, moved aside to give room to us.

I walked over to Twilight, and touched the base of her horn with two fingers. A small static shot through my fingers and back to my hand.

" My suspicions seem correct.." I said, stroking my chin.

"What do you mean? And what did you do?" Twilight said, confused again.

"Well Michelle, remember I told you we had noone with mastery over Earth?" I said, turning to Michelle.

"I do... But what does it have to do with-" She said as her face turned to one of realization and shock. "Are you serious?!"

"I am. Twilight, you are a Runecaster... attuned with the primal energies of Earth." I said.

The mentioned mare looked at me with shock and disbelief. "Me, a Runecaster? But that is impossible, I would've found that out long ago!"

"I doubt that. You see, the spells you are able to cast are all really easy for you to do, correct?" I said.

"Yes, but-"

"That is your rune magic helping you out without you knowing it. While your unicorn magic is still capable of casting other spells, the ones related to Earth draw from your rune energies." I said. "Now, you only need to realize you have such potential, and make it happen."

She closed her eyes in concentration, and the ground started trembling under our feet. A stone spire shot up from behind me.

"See? Already you know what to do, and you have known all along." I said.

"All this time, and I didn't even notice I was capable of this..." Twilight said, sighing. "My life would've been so much easier if I found out about this earlier."

" I realize now that my powers are partially gone, how badly I abused my magic. " I confessed. "You shouldn't, either. Even if it's granted, does not mean you can abuse it to your heart's extent. "

" I suppose that is true... I could have realised and reached my potential power earlier, though. " Twilight said. " Anyway, I got the book about the mana flowers! "

She levitated the book over to me, and I opened the book. " Plants of Equestria, what a dull title. Descriptive, but dull. " I commented after reading the book's title.

" I recall that book being written a very long time ago, maybe even before I was banished. " Night said.

" So I'm holding a piece of history. Huh. " I said.

We heard a familiar burping sound from inside, and Spike came running outside holding a royal letter. Twilight took it and started reading it.

" It's almost as if they have nothing to do, with them responding so quickly. " I remarked.

" Only Luna is having night court now. And since both are alicorns, they do not need much sleep. " Night explained.

" Lucky them. Meanwhile, Twilight has probably read the letter twice now. What does it say? "I asked.

"Celestia says she agrees with us leaving for Earth. However, she has requested for Luna to tag along too..."

"Why not. The more the merrier, right?" I said.

" Luna will teleport over here in about 30 minutes, after Night Court is finished. We can go prepare the portal in the meantime. " Twilight added.

" Alright. Also, it says here the flowers we're looking for could potentially be in the Everfree. Who's up for a quick adventure into the deep, dark woods?" I asked, pointing at a paragraph in the book.

" It's near Spike's bedtime, so I'll go tuck him in and we can go. " Twilight said.

" Hey that's not fair! I want to come too! " Spike said angrily.

" And fall asleep in a dangerous forest? I think it's best for you to stay home, Spike. " Michelle said.

" Aw man, why must I stay home while you get to do all the fun stuff. " Spike sighed.

" You're a baby dragon, Spike. You need a lot of sleep. " Twilight said.

" Aww alright, I'll go to bed. "

"You have the tree for yourself, we will be on Earth. " Twilight said, walking into the house.

I gently zapped Night with a bolt of lightning while she didn't notice.

" YEOW!!" Night shouted. " What struck us? "

I couldn't contain my laughter, and started laughing uncontrollably. Night couldn't help but grin, too. "You are playing pranks now, Shadow?" Night said.

" You gotta admit, that reaction was priceless. The shocked look on your face!" I said, while laughing.

" Only you can get so much fun out of something like that. " Michelle said, grinning.

" Heh. Guess I'm just silly. Ah, there's Twilight again. Let's go to the forest!" I said, and started heading to the forest.

Our party of brave heroes reached the edge of the forest not much later.

" You do know what the flowers look like, yes? " Twilight asked.

Before I could respond, Night did. " If he does not, I do. It should not be far away from here, I think I saw some growing nearby when I explored the forest. "

And like Night said, we found a small clearing with a few flowers growing there. The flowers were a pure yellow, similar to sunflowers but without a dark spot. They were also emanating faint golden sparks.

" These are it! Now all we have to do is get them to the 'portal shack'. Any ideas? " I asked.

" I could try my Runecaster powers? Might aswell try using those, since I'm attuned with the Earth, as you said. " Twilight offered. " I could levitate the plants and the ground it's roots are in over to the portals. "

" Won't that rapidly drain your power though, levitating that many flowers? " Michelle asked.

" It might. I am not sure if my powers account for it. " Twilight said, now nervous.

" I can provide you with a static power link. It might sting a bit. " I said as I cast the necessary power funnel.

The static ran through Twilight's body, who started brimming with power.

" Looks like it works, go ahead. "

Twilight's horn lit up and surrounded the various flowers.

" Climb on my back, you two. We can fly over there. You do not mind walking back, Michelle? "

" I should be fine. I think I can sense water flowing nearby, so I can use that to get back quickly. "

I climbed on Night's back, behind Twilight who was levitating several plants with attached ground in the air, and we soared off in the direction of the shack.

Night landed gracefully, and both of us stepped off her back.

"Where do I plant these? " Twilight asked.

" Just anywhere is fine. If we really need to we can move them again later. " I said.

She planted the flowers in the ground, digging small holes for each of them. I felt a lot of power being drained off to Twilight, however.

When the last flower was planted, I severed the link and bended the air around the flowers containing their residual magic. I siphoned that magic back into me.

" Might aswell use it right away, it looked like they were at maximum capacity. " I said.

Twilight huffed, but did not attempt to start an argument. " Where was Luna going to meet us? Here?" I asked.

" She didn't really say that, but I'm guessing it's going to be at the library. " Twilight said.

" Let's go over there and wait for her inside your home. This shack isn't as comfortable to stay in as your tree home. " I suggested.

We leisurely walked back to the library, and found Michelle already sitting on the couch in the living room. She looked like she had taken a shower with her clothes still on.

"Looks like you will...

...throw cold water on that idea"

Somewhere, someone shouted after putting on a pair of sunglasses.

" What did that even mean....?" Michelle asked. " Ah nevermind, it's probably one of your silly jokes again. "

Twilight facehooved herself, and Night had a confused expression.

" So, jokes aside... What will we do until Luna arrives? If I'm correct, she won't be here for yet another 15 minutes..." I asked.

" I'd like to try and figure out what I can do with this Runecaster magic. " Twilight said.

" Sure. We might want to go outside though. " I said.

We walked back outside again, and Night walked away from us to make some space and took a good viewing position.

" Alright then, try something. "

Twilight focused, and part of the ground started floating upwards. It wasn't surrounded by her usual violet aura, which indicated she was using her rune magic, not her unicorn magic which was violet, or her mark which had a deep purple colour. Instead, it simply had no colour at all.

Michelle followed up with a spell of her own, engulfing the piece of dirt with water.

I created a gentle breeze on the water's surface, and Twilight shaped the dirt around to create tiny landmasses in the surface of the water surrounding it. My breeze shaped itself into clouds, and created tidal currents in the waters. Michelle let the water flow through the landmasses to create rivers, and Twilight added the final touches in the form of mountains.

" Ha, we created Earth! " I said cheerfully.

" This is what Earth looks like...?" Twilight asked, curious.

" Well, it sort of looks like it. We're missing a few volcanoes though. And the landmasses don't completely add up in this way. It's still pretty awesome though, combining our powers like that. "

"You can say that again. " a voice behind Twilight said.

I just wanted to open my mouth to repeat what I said, before Luna cut me off. " Not literally. I am quite interested in how Twilight acquired her magic, though. "

Night, who had watched from a small distance, came closer to us to hear what would be said.

" She had them all this time. It took us to realize it. " I said, pointing at myself and Michelle.

" I still don't fully understand how I didn't find it out earlier. " Twilight said, sighing.

" Some things can't be discovered that easily. Took me years and a watchful assistant to figure out that world travel using potions was possible. " I said. " Speaking of potions, I really want to go to Earth now. Can't wait to see everyone's faces when we appear there. "

"No time to waste then!" Twilight said, sharing my excitement.

We travelled back to the portal shack,and the flowers we had planted were already sparkling again.

" They recharged this quickly? If we can recreate those plants we won't need anything else! " I said, surprised. " Wiring those up with a suitable magic network can come later, though. We can use our magic for the time being. "

I quickly walked inside to re-wire the portal we had used to travel to Canterlot, and set it for Earth. Where we would end up, I had no clue to.

The others followed me inside shortly after, both alicorns and Michelle bending their heads to prevent their horns and head from touching the door frame. Both alicorns were nearly the same size as me, but their horns reached over my head. Michelle was the tallest out of all of us, but considering human length she was still small by comparison.

" Alright, do you all see this stone here?" I said, to which all of them nodded. "I hope it still works since I don't have any mastery over Earth now. "

"Place your horns or hands on the surface of it, and channel your magic into it. " I explained.

Everyone did as I said, and I added my own magic into the mix of colours swirling inside of the stone : Deep dark blue, Violet, midnight blue, cyan and now dark yellow, from Nightmare Moon, Twilight, Luna, Michelle and my own in order.

The magic pooled up and siphoned into the connected tubes, flowing underground and back up next to the frame. Both orbs on top lit up and energy sparked into the frame , creating a sky blue portal.

" Who goes first? "