"Nope! In fact, you'll be the one guarding me while I get the mushrooms! And as for why I need you specifically. It needs to be someone I can trust, ya know?" Joyride says, giving Emerald a fake punch to the shoulder, "Love ya, lil' perv."
Emerald asks why she suggested Zebra alchemy when unicorn magic seems much more useful.
"Uh, you were the one that decided on alchemy, buddy. I asked you what kind of magic you wanted to try out and that's the one you picked. I mean, alchemy is nice because it can be used a lot of places magic can't. Plus pony magic is very tiring, since most of the magic for the spell comes from the pony themselves. It takes a lot of time to build up magical power too. I bet you at most could cast four, maybe five spells before collapsing."
Emerald frowns a bit at this, and then Joyride continues, "But hey, if you are looking for a good in between you could try Goat magic. It uses focuses too because even though goats have horns they aren't magical. The difference is that they need spell components, and many of them are… Sort of common. It's certainly much less tiring to cast."
Emerald asks about Sensoria. He wants to get more information on a focus if possible, and she may be the pony to talk too.
"I don't know when she'll have the time. She'll probably tell me though, since she knows I'm in town. She doesn't have much of it, considering her position." Joyride remarks with a nod.
Emerald asks about the spell book, and why just anyone can make one.
"Well, because a spell book is just a record of the rituals and incantations for certain spells. Even some one like me forgets a spell from time to time, and it's nice to have it written down somewhere just in case."