The Forgemaster was sitting outside of his home, with what appeared to be a multitude of small stones around him. Upon a closer examination; they are revealed to be many small pieces of metal, on which strange glyphs were etched into. In a word: runes. The Forgemaster had worked throughout the night etching out these runes and now he was part-way through the arduous task of actually attaching them to the walls of his home. Inside and out, the runes coated his home, providing a large amount of magical protection from fires, magic, blunt objects, and, apparently, Rainbow Dash.

"AHHH!"

*CRASH*

"Rainbow Dash, what a nice day isn't it? I hope you know that the wall will always win."

The blue pegasus' only responses are moans.

"I suppose you're hurt. Moan again if you are in pain."

More moans.

"Alright, wait one."

The Forgemaster held his hand out from where he was working, not even bothering to neither look nor stop his task. A mellow, yellow light slowly slithered out from his palm and into Rainbow Dash. With a slight sizzling sound, Rainbow Dash's wounds were healed. She quickly stood from her previous position and, with a grin, turned to The Forgemaster.

"What in the hay was that?"

"Magic." Her grin grew wider.

"I bet Twilight would love to get her hooves on that kind of magic!"

"I'm sure she would. However, she is on double-secret probation and cannot ask me anything about magic for a month." Her grin grew wider still.

"Really!"

"Yes, of course." She burst out laughing.

"Ohmicelestia! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard! I bet she's going crazy that she doesn't know something and it's sitting right in front of her!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say crazy. Maybe horribly obsessive and mildly creepy."

"What? Why?"

He cocked a thumb over his shoulder, "'Cause she's in those bushes over there."

Rainbow Dash looks, and sure enough there is a small purple horn sticking out of the bushes across the street. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing once more.

"How'd you even know that?"

"She was loud; I could hear her from my bedroom when she set up earlier this morning. I can smell her, we're downwind of her. Also, I could feel the vibrations of her constant shifting in my backside. That's not even to mention that I saw her horn sticking out."

Rainbow's eyes grew wider and wider as he spoke. She looked across the street towards the bushes and noticed that Twilight's horn was gone! Evidently she had heard The Forgemaster's speech too. Rainbow looked at The Forgemaster with awe in her eyes.

"She left when I said I could hear her."

"What are you? No-pony I know could do that!"

"I'm not a pony, tiny creature. And you don't become an apex predator by having dull senses."

"Who you callin' tiny?" Rainbow put her chest up.

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to insult you, if it makes you feel any better: you're actually quite fat." He said with a straight face.

"WHAT! Alright, that's it! Put 'em up, them's fightin' words!"

Rainbow Dash started to hover with her wings and punched the air in front of her with her hooves.

"Rainbow Dash! I knew you were impulsive, but actually starting a fight because of sarcasm is just a bit much, dear." A rather posh voice said from up the street.

The Forgemaster and Rainbow Dash turned to see…. Rarity.

"Honestly, Rainbow Dash! You know The Forgemaster would win, why would you try to fight him? But, that's not why I'm here; Twilight has invited us to a slumber party!"

"A slumber party?" both said in response, The Forgemaster questioning, Rainbow Dash in excitement.

"Yes, and you're both invited. It was rather sudden I'll admit. Twilight passed me on the street not 30 seconds ago and told me. She also told me to invite you 2 and that you were over here."

"It seems that Twilight Sparkle has a plan to coerce me into spilling my secrets." The Forgemaster said.

"What makes yah say that?" said Rainbow Dash

"You ponies have a game… what's it called? Truth or Dare? Well, Twilight Sparkle is likely going to use that to get me to answer all the questions she desires. It fits her personality; try everything you can before actually confronting the problem on your own. It will be fun manipulating her, I'll be there. And Rarity, I'll have a working prototype of the water tank by the end of today, I might even bring it to the slumber party."

Rarity and Rainbow Dash raised their brow at this, but didn't question him. They left him to his work to pursue their own business elsewhere in the town. He managed to finish his work in several hours. By the end, his home looked like a dragon with overlapping scales. That all changed when he fired a spell at his home. As the spell struck, his home returned to its pre-rune form, the runes turning invisible. After that, he had about 3 hours until Twilight's slumber party was scheduled and he made good use of his time. He managed to complete his hot water tank prototype a half-hour before the party started. He set about getting ready for the party; he had a feeling that it would either be great fun, or an awful period of non-stop questions.

The Forgemaster had just arrived at Twilight's home. As he entered, he noticed the party already set up. Every-pony was there except for Rainbow Dash, and she would undoubtedly be just barely in time. It seemed to be a hobby of hers: doing things in 10 seconds flat. Sure enough, just before the clock struck 9 o'clock, Rainbow Dash rushed in. Then, the instant the clock struck 9 o'clock, Twilight Sparkle started the party. As The Forgemaster expected, Twilight opened with: Truth or Dare!

"Alright every-pony, welcome to my slumber party! I think what we should start off with should be…"

"Truth or Dare!" The Forgemaster and Twilight said at the same time.

Rainbow Dash immediately started rolling on the floor laughing, clutching her sides in pain. Rarity gave a polite, though limited, chuckle. The other ponies just looked at them confused.

The Forgemaster explained, "Twilight Sparkle, using a party game to ask me questions is undeniably sneaky and underhanded. I didn't think you had it in you. It would have worked too, if it had not been for me knowing what I know. Though I suppose these other ponies won't take kindly to having a party thrown for your own selfish reasons, not to just have a good time with your friends."

All the ponies that weren't laughing looked at Twilight, who immediately blushed and tried to cover herself by saying, "That's not why I invited you all to this party!"

"Then why did you start with Truth or Dare? It was my understanding that the game is played last, before sleep." declared The Forgemaster.

Twilight looked down, too embarrassed to meet the gazes of her friends.

"Twilight Sparkle, I'm disappointed in you. You didn't even try a simpler plan, like, I don't know, asking me about it?" She didn't lift her head from its position, "Twilight Sparkle, I believe I've had enough fun with you. If we would continue with the game, perhaps?"

A circle of pillows was quickly assembled, several for the Forgemaster and every-pony else getting one.

They had a long night ahead of them; the entire planned party time was devoted to Truth or Dare…