Luna blew out a deep breath and tried to collect herself. The startling revelation that humans somehow didn’t use magic (and still made it to their moon) had shattered her worldview. Tentatively, she reached out to find the ever-present magical fields—only to realize that they were nearly nonexistent here!
They had always been weaker in places where there was no life, but never had she felt such an anorexic and underused magical field, even in the void near her own planet. It had obviously been centuries, if not millennia, since anyone on the planet below had used a significant amount of magic. She would be hard pressed to do much other than the most basic of spells with so little to draw on.
Finally, she turned to Neil. “I understand why your species believes magic is a fiction,” she said slowly. “It is my belief that for some reason, the use of magic died out many hundreds of years ago, and the fields which accommodate magical energies have atrophied so far as to be rendered unusable to any but those with the strongest magical talent. Even then, it would be parlor tricks and small happenings, nothing like what an exercised field would be capable of.”
“Exercised?” Neil asked. “I get the whole ‘No-one’s-used-magic-in-forever’ thing, and why that causes problems, but how can a field be exercised?”
Luna thought deeply for a moment. How do you explain magic to someone with no prior knowledge of it? “The first thing is,” she began, “magic is not sleight-of-hand or mirrors and smoke, nor is it the use of believed divine power or miracles or anything of that ilk. Rather, it is a documented use of simply using a form of energy which can’t be used any other way to do things which normally don’t apply. This magical energy is present everywhere, though it’s stronger around life.” She waved her hooves around. “Anyone with the proper training and inclination can use this energy, though it is easier for certain individuals and species.
“Take, for example, this horn.” She tapped the object in question. “Several species on my world have developed hornlike organs which allow for the more effective channeling, storing, and direction of said energy.”
Neil and Buzz both looked fascinated, leaning forwards unconsciously and listening intently. Collins, however, was furiously penciling down her words verbatim.
“This magical field, however, is not inert. In fact, it’s almost... alive,” she said. “The more of this field you draw upon for a certain task, the more it seems to anticipate what you’re attempting and streamlines the process itself, almost like gathering enough of the energy together creates an intelligent mind.” She paused for a second. “Do you have another piece of paper and pencil?”
Wordlessly, Buzz handed her one of each, and carefully she gripped the awkwardly-small writing utensil in hoof and hastily sketched the two axes of a graph, followed by a familiar curve she had known since her foalhood.
Then, she slowly made each character of the unfamiliar English script, so blocky compared to her own language. Hers were blockier than most, she noted with dissatisfaction. Was there not a way to make them more appealing to the eye?
After finishing, she showed the two astronauts her graph, pointing to each piece as she explained it. “Here is a graph of the magical energy one should use from internal stores—oh, yes, creatures can store this energy and use it later or, in extreme circumstances, use their own life force as energy—from these stores for a task or spell, x, and the energy actually used, y.”
She let them look at the graph for several seconds. “As you can see, there are two distinct curves where the energy use tapers down below a 1:1 ratio like you would expect. These curves are where it’s believed this force reaches certain levels of intelligence.”
Neil shook his head. “That’s a bit hard to stomach—a universal force that, when used, can think intelligently?” He smiled good-naturedly. “But, when you consider that today, I’ve walked on the moon, seen an alien—who’s a unicorn, no less!—and then talked to an alien. So sure, there’s a universal force that’s intelligent.”
Buzz barked a short burst of laughter. “Just when you think it couldn’t get any stranger, it jumps to a whole new level of weird, doesn’t it?”
Neil nodded. “I’m not sure what else could surprise me at this point—but,” he continued, directing his smile to Luna, “I’m sure I’ll find out before too long.”
Luna chuckled. “The day has been no less strange for me,” she admitted, “But there have been stranger days—not many, but a few.”
Collins whistled, heretofore squiet as he took a double whammy—he’d had no time to acclimate to Luna on the ride here, so he was obviously still reeling. “I’d hate to see those days, then,” he said.
“Indeed, they weren’t pleasant days,” Luna said, for a moment returning back to memories of fire and void, moon and sun, and a world turned upside down.
Shaking herself out of her momentary lapse in concentration, she continued, “Anyway, because this field can be intelligent, it also exhibits some characteristics of creatures. Most prominent is its strength. If not used, it will atrophy and weaken, just like a muscle, and if used often or with great power, it will strengthen for a time. As such, the field around your world has not seen serious usage for so long, it’s nearly powerless.” She thought of a similar analogy. “Say, someone was hurt badly and had to wear casts on their legs for many months. They can’t walk afterwards, because their muscles are so weak that they cannot support any weight, and must be carefully nursed back to health.”
“Right,” Neil agreed. “That makes sense.”
Buzz asked, “So, you said some species have evolved horns—how many species, exactly? Are they intelligent?”
Luna smiled, preparing to delve into her element—unadulterated factoids, statistics, and information. Her grin was predatory enough that Buzz instantly regretted what he suspected was akin to opening a floodgate.
Hm, always sort of interesting when people try and explain magic.
Love how Luna explained the magical field bit, and loved learning that Luna specializes in those important details. Makes her the ideal scientific ambassador to a new species.
Could you hyperlink your DA account? I still have no idea how to search for a specific user on DA.
More it's getting so good
Will you give Luna's lecture to the reader? I would love to here the Thaumatic Theory in this continuity.
Like wiiman said, and I like your theory. My theory is the generation of magic from a being's soul.
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AFAIK there is no way to do so other than google. Here's his DA but as of right now I can't find the graph.
Cyan, it may be a good idea to just put the graph in the story- you can do that with image tags.
NASA never used pencils in its space missions, using pens instead. Pencils are dangerous in free fall because the lead can easily break. The broken lead can be easily inhaled or, since graphite is conductive, could float into some sensitive electronics and cause a short.
I found this very frustrating because I couldn't find a link to your deviantART anywhere I expected to see one and, since this is fimfic, you could have just hyperlinked phrases like "familiar curve" rather than adding clutter with phrases like "Graph is on my DeviantART" which not only detract from immersion but are worthless if I can't find said deviantART account.
Brb, gonna study Egyptian texts on feats of magic. See you in 400 years when I can use telepathy.
ARGH! I'm gonna light that freaking cliff you like to hang on on fire... just when I feel like I'm getting some fun Luna dialog it cuts off... I'm sorry, I just love how you write Luna and I wish I could read it forever... okay not really because then I couldn't read other fics but I still love Luna in this story also Neil and Buzz, they are best astronauts.
why I have the feeling that this revelation will open touchy subjects?
Hasn't been used in several hundred years eh? ... That wouldn't happen to coincide with the inquisition would it?
4150742 and the solomon witch hunts and the many in Europe
An interesting bit of world-building there. It also creates some interesting issues. Firstly, it indicates that the horn is a vulnerable spot for Unicorns and Alicorns. It also indicates that Luna isn't going to be this all-conquering behemoth. It's going to take her a while to pull together much power and, in the meantime, she's going to be grounded, physically weak and vulnerable.
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Fundamental Christian Extremists: the reason we can't have nice things.
What happened to structure & paragraphs? Just saying. Still, a fun and colourful story.
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But remember, at this point, Equestria doesn't have pens, just pencils and quills. Even in modern Equestria, I don't think we've ever seen a ballpoint pen, just quills and pencils. So Luna doesn't even fathom that it's not a pencil, because it's obviously not a quill.
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Thank you for pointing that out-- at the time, I was experiencing some difficulties with my internet and computer (this thing is the most finicky piece of junk sometimes) and so, I was doing temporary stopgap measures until I got the problems fixed. Expect the edits you suggest shortly!
Just a short note: Scanner is acting up (again) so it looks like a stopgap CS2 Line Drawing is going to be the picture of the day. Hopefully I'll be able to fix that at some point. Sometimes, I really hate technology. But, eventually, I'll get an actual sketch from paper that'll look good onto the site. Apologies in advance.
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I see paragraphs and structure-- What in particular are you talking about? Is it that my paragraphs aren't double-spaced?
4149464 one that was a post at a end of a chapter two that was only once for each chapter that i read and 3
this is a lovely slice of life chapter
4154147 Double spacing would help, it would make things clearer. Plus where i am, paragraphs are only deemed such if they're doubled spaced. It doesn't matter too much either way.
Still, keep iup the good writing.
This story had such a good start but it's getting weaker with every chapter.
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I wouldn't say 'weaker' but the format is allowing the momentum to slip a lot. It's taking too long for stuff to happen and we're getting such a narrow perspective of events that we're not getting the sweeping epic that we'd been promised. Maybe a broader non-character-focussed chapter to show the broader events of the world might help.
Fascinating take on magic here. I like it.
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I was thinking of perhaps moving these interludes to a side story of sorts, and then time-skipping directly to the hour or so before splashdown, so that we can get the plot moving on both sides (instead of just Charlie's) again. What do you guys think of this idea?
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I think that things do need to speed up a bit. You could arguably fit the entire 'world events' section into a single chapter, maybe Charlie's briefing notes whilst he's flying out to the USS Hornet.
FWIW, I think you've done all you need to do with the interludes now. Any more would just be padding.
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But, remember, the magical fields have been dormant, almost dead, for centuries at this point, so interactions right now are at a minimum. As Luna starts using spells, that will begin to "wake it up," for lack of a better term, which will allow humans with latent abilities to also begin using significant amounts, which will speed up the process still further. In a matter of years, if not months, nuclear weapons will cease to be a viable option.
Okay, thank god you heavily toned down the middle-English bits. Luna using it made absolutely no sense. She took the knowledge of modern English directly from his language, and wouldn't even be able to speak in Shakespearean English (aka the Royal Canterlot Voice if you want to be pedantic), because Niel Armstrong probably doesn't know it. And even if he did know Shakespeare, why the hell would Luna be digging through his memories of old Shakespeare texts when she has the current language right in front of her?
Now, onto another major criticism. These riots? Where the hell did they come from? There was no buildup whatsoever; riots just randomly break out across the country for no reason. Is it just because they announced they found alien life? I hardly think that would cause riots, and even if I accepted that, there's still the issue that you didn't tell us the reason why the riots broke out.
Finally, the whole "big conspiracy" thing feels very forced. I doubt I'm the only one who was hoping for a story centered on Luna as she adapts to life on Earth, as well as the world adapting to her existence. But while it looks like this might happen, it is inadvertently sidelined by the inexplicable riots and predictable "secret conspiracy" thing. We are already losing focus on the target.
I want to like this fic. I really do. When the first and second fics were released, I was ecstatic. And the beginning of this fic? I was eagerly anticipating where it would go. Looks like I got ahead of myself. The idea has potential. Serious potential. But it is being ruined.
Maybe Twilight's bloodline is descended from Luna. She seems to like charts and lecturing those whom know little on her favorite subject: magic.
4593450 I wouldn't be surprised if Luna was the last bearer of magic.
I am finding the story to be most enjoyable so far, and am eager to see how it plays out. Only have two notes that I've observed so far.
I believe the error is fairly obvious here. How would one even be squiet too?
The other is that the image in the story is broken. I was able to go to your DA account to view it, but some may prefer to have it visible in the story.
Keep up the good work!