Skywind said:
Study the silence spell and then give Honourshine a loving kiss to show he’s really happy to be together again with his old fillyfriend and they’re on a real life adventure like before when they were young. Tell her we’ll head to Ryokasei for the battle of wits trial making it safer for everypony and allow the two of them to bond more just like the good old days.
[Studying] Honourshine’s Help (+1) affects your roll. You roll a 5 +1 (required 10). Partial success. Honourshine (Studying): 10
After a moment’s consideration, you decide to study the Silence spell next. You figure that having the ability to prevent sound from being heard outside of — or coming into — a magic bubble could have at least a few practical uses. You flip to the spell’s page, and begin to read.
The chapter begins by introducing the spell’s runes. You recognize most of them from the Protect spell, as similarly, it only targets the surface of a pocket of air. The reason for this is self-evident: anyone inside the bubble would otherwise be deafened.
The location of the spell is likewise optional, its origin defaulting to the caster’s centre of magic. The only difference appears to be the aspect rune — in this case, Sonus, which refers to a subject’s sound emission.
Since you are already familiar with the Protect spell, you figure that you might as well skip ahead to the spell’s instructions. From one page to the next, however, your confidence wavers; although the runes are the same, the spell’s structure doesn’t seem to match what you know.
You spend a good amount of time trying to figure out why — tracing interflows between magic circles and tristars —, yet you feel that you are missing critical information.
Honourshine: “Then perhaps you should read the preamble after all.”
You offer Honourshine a sheepish grin as she lies down next to you. A few steps away, Moonflower doodles in her notebook with her crayons. You turn your attention back to your book, and go back a few pages.
Indeed, an important detail you previous glossed over turns out to be a key difference between the other spells and this one: the bubble needs only be created once, rather than continuously channelled. The bubble remains until manually dispelled, making it useful to sleep in an otherwise loud environment, for instance.
With that in mind, you begin to read the spell’s instructions anew. You find that it all begins to make more sense, knowing what you now know. Alas, between its similarities and differences to the other spells of the same level, you fear that trying to this one would cause you to forget another.
You’ll have to try again later, once you’ve had some time to mentally digest what you’ve learned. For now, you put your spellbook away, and spend the rest of the evening regaling your historian friend with your newfound knowledge of the Elves and their role in the War of Fates.
Eventually, the hour grows late, and you decide to turn in for the night — but not before playfully asking Honourshine for a goodnight kiss. To your surprise, she responds with a gentle peck on your lips, and a look that keeps you quiet about it. It did not, however, go unnoticed.
Moonflower: “Ooh, me next! Me next!”
You grin and make your way over to the other bedroll, and Moonflower with a smooch of her own. Then, after wishing everypony a good night, you turn off the lantern, and let the gentle chirping of insects carry you off to sleep…
A new day dawns upon the flowery hills of Nan Yunjishan. The sun shines brightly in the deep blue sky, and birdsong fills the cool morning air. You wake up after a good night’s sleep, wrapped tightly in Moonflower’s loving embrace.
After waking your friends, you take a moment to stretch and check the time. Your pocket watch indicates ten o’clock. Time to get rolling!
You use Ration.
For breakfast, your party shares a ration of veggie and cheese bread. With oatmeal cookies and boxes of wheat milk to top it off, the tasty food makes for an energizing morning meal. You feel satiated.
Now feeling ready to start your day, you figure that you could pack up and resume your travels immediately, or enjoy the safety of your camp a little while longer.