After scouring the refrigerator and concluding that half a jar of pickles is not a nutritious and balanced breakfast, I quickly conclude that I was perhaps a bit hasty with offering Scootaloo my entire danish.

Now, do I regret it? That is an entirely different question. As much as my choice has put me in a pickle (and a pickle in me, pause), the answer to that question remains a resounding no.

Sadly, even in a world that seems to be propelled towards something approaching utopia by the literal magic of friendship, moral fiber remains just as lacking physical substance. A fact to which the hoofful of pickles currently doing their best to give me heartburn can attest. I will need to be more careful with my money in the future. Spontaneous impulse buys will not serve me well right now. I need to work on saving as much money as possible and preparing myself as well as I can to fulfill the role I have been so graciously given.

Speaking of which, while I’m mulling this over, I’m also reading up on a spell in the beginner's section of Simple Spellcasting. The Glue spell has caught my attention for a few reasons. For one, being able to simply adhere an object to another and then detach it at will seems extremely useful.

The Glue spell achieves this by first using a simple water earth and aether weave to alter the state of the magic channeled by the spell to serve as a simple adhesive, with said adhesive being more robust the more magic the caster channels into the weave. If unfocused, the spell can be used to create a small puddle or wad of this adhesive magic, or the spell can be focused on an object to apply a thin layer of the magical adhesive.

Once conjured, the adhesive will remain until the energy from the forces acting to dislodge an object from the adhesive surpasses the energy provided by the spell to keep the object adhered, at which point the spell dissipates, and the adhesive evaporates harmlessly. There are also some footnotes about how intermediate casters can use additional techniques and an additional strand of earth to draw small amounts of ambient magic from their surroundings constantly after casting to counteract energy drain from factors like gravity or wind and vibrations, but that seems like it’s a bit outside of my skill level. I’ll definitely need to keep that in mind for later, though!

The book also recommends that I look into the section which details the process for the safe dispelling of magic. That checks out. It would be really shit if I were to say, cast the spell with way more power than I had intended from overfocusing, forget to select a target and end up conjuring a puddle of magical superglue at my hooves without any way to escape outside of struggling for my life.

I turn to the page containing the primer for dispelling, scan over it, and come across something fascinating.

The basic principle of safely dispelling magic is simple in practice but potentially very complex in execution. It essentially boils down to either:

1. Using the “proper” metamagical method, you introduce a counterweave to the spell you wish to dispel by creating a pre-established weave corresponding to the spell being undone with an appropriate mixture of elemental strands and an appropriate amount of magical energy to counteract and dissipate the spell at a fundamental level. This is widely considered best practice and is by far the safest and most reliable method. Still, it does require the caster to memorize a specific counterweave or each spell you plan on being able to dissipate.or

2. Disrupting, force completing, altering, or otherwise interfering with the spell in such a way that it causes the spell to fizzle and lose power without detonating. The key to this method is ensuring that whatever method you use to disrupt the spell causes its energy to deplete safely and stably. It’s considered best practice to include a secondary weave in your spells to make sure this happens automatically if an unforeseen outside force disrupts the spell to prevent a detonation, but this isn’t always the case, especially if you are dealing with a spell cast by an amateur, or by a bad actor deliberately leaving their spell unstabilized to potentially harm anypony seeking to undo their magic, and is generally discouraged unless the matter is particularly pressing and you do not possess knowledge of the requisite counterwaves to undo the spell properly.

The tome illustrates both methods using the Glue spell as an example. It first shows a diagram for the counterwave that dissipates it, which looks reasonably straightforward as the spell is relatively simple.

It then goes into more detail about the weave itself for the second method. It doesn't get too in-depth, simply labeling three distinct sections of the spell. Most of it dictates what the spell is supposed to do, like a programming script meant to tell the magic in the weave what its function is.

Near the end, it isolates a few particular sections of the pattern, notating them as something akin to variables. These little nodes ask for input from the user regarding where in space relative to the caster the effect should take place and whether the spell is being used on a specific object or just to produce the effect on its own to create the adhesive.

Oh…ohhhh…

OH

Ohohohohohohoho wait a second, I think I’m onto something here.

I quickly skim back to the entries for the Light and Grasp Spells, and much to my delight, the same pattern variation that appears in the Glue spell also occurs in those as well! While the strands being used are different, the actual pattern is unchanged, with all of the strands of the weave coming together temporarily in a braided pattern and then being woven over themselves in the same configuration for each spell.

If I understand what I see correctly, this implies that hypothetically, if I were to add this particular pattern to the end of a weave that does not already possess it in the correct spot, I could then impose that conditional effect onto the spell!

Which means…

Okay, the Glue spell can wait a second here, I have to try this!

I concentrate and navigate to the entry for the Grasp spell in my Loci, my mind palace. I open the book in my mind and follow along the weave. I incorporate one of the patterns from the Glue spell, which checks to see how much energy you are committing to allowing the effect to persist, which I tack on at the end of the weave.

I hold my breath as I tighten my weave as best I can and focus intently, aiming my intent at the book on the table, willing it to float at eye level in front of me and pouring in a not-insignificant amount of magic as I tie the weave off and pray that I don’t send the book through the ceiling.

I cut off the flow of magic to the spell and end the weave, opening my eyes and OH SHIT THE BOOK IS FLOATING ON ITS OWN!!

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, YEAHHHHH BABYYYYYYYYYYY!” I yell out at the top of my lungs as I bolt into a standing position, rearing back and raising my front hooves into the air before slamming them down on the table. A wide grin splits across my face as I watch the book float steadily in place, enshrouded by a hot pink aura without my intervention. This is…this is so fucking cool holy shit. I love this, I love magic, and I love coming up with fun, creative new ways to use magic. It feels like I was meant to-

My attention is suddenly pulled by the white, hot glow of a bright light emanating from my person. I let out a confused, frightened shout as it gets quickly brighter. Oh no, oh god, did I do it wrong? Am I about to be turned into a pickle? No, anything but that! I don’t want to spend the next six months being funny and then never be funny again!

This decidedly unfunny trail of thought is quickly derailed as the light secedes, I pant softly, my throat a bit sore now as I inspect myself hurriedly for signs of impending vegetation.

Fortunately, all I find are two new markings on my flanks. They depict a tall, imposing familiar tower with vines creeping up the sides. At the top of the black spire sit two six-pointed stars, one soft pink and the other striking crimson red.

“A…a cutie mark…?” I say softly, a sense of awe washing over me. I slowly raise a hoof to my flank, tenderly running my hoof over one of the markings. I shiver softly, it’s…sensitive. Strange….

My decidedly more impactful and meaningful new train of thought is once more interrupted as my door is smashed open, revealing Rainbow Dash reared back on her hind legs, holding a dazed and confused-looking Ditzy like a battering ram before gently setting her down on her feet with an apologetic look, dusting her off then rushing into the Library. “I heard screaming. Is everypony okay?” She asks as she dashes into the room, looking around for signs of imminent danger before her eyes settle on me, looking quite sheepish all on my lonesome.

“O-oh uh…sorry, Rainbow Dash. I didn’t mean to startle anyo-anypony. I was just studying some magic, and I figured something out, and then there was this huge flash of light, and now I’ve got Cutie Marks!”

I smile awkwardly as I turn my flank toward her to show off the newly minted marks, wiggling excitedly. She seems a bit embarrassed to have a grown stallion waving his ass at her for a moment until she sees the marks and returns my smile, looking both relieved and even a bit genuinely happy for me. “Well, hey, look at that! Way to go, bookworm.” She teases as she gives me a firm but obviously playful punch on the shoulder. “But maybe celebrate a little quieter next time, huh? I mean, you’re supposed to be quiet in a library, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got you. My bad, Rainbow. I’ll try to be a little more mindful of my volume next time. How did you get here so fast, anyway? “I ask as I rub at my shoulder, wincing slightly. Playful or not, that mare is pretty strong.

She looks a bit more serious as she leans in. “I was actually on my way over anyway. I needed to talk to you. You met Scootaloo today, right?”

Oh.

A little early, but I was feeling the mojo tonight and wanted to just get it out there and not worry about it for the rest of the week. I was super excited to get this scene out there, and meaningful character interaction takes a lot of brainpower for my autistic ass so I'm gonna need the extra time

I would once again like to shout out Exiled Path For their continued support. It genuinely blows me away to know that there is anyone out there who is willing to just throw this amount of money at me for something I do as a silly goofy ha ha hobby. It really makes me feel like I'm doing something good here <:3

Hope you guys enjoy. As always, see you next time ^^