Inseptium Nova-Pt 11: Magic Kindergarten 101
September 14th, Ponyville Library, Morning…
WARNING: MAJOR THEORETICAL SCIENCE CONTENT AHEAD!
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“Ugh, Twi, why do we gotta do this-*yawn*-so early in the morning?” Volare mumbled as Twilight hauled him to his hooves off the couch, after having spent less than what the Pegasus would call “considerate wake-up time” on her friend; she’d literally shaken him awake less than an hour past dawn, excited grin, bed-mane and all. The shock of it momentarily disguised the fact that Volare had, yet again, slept without so much as a hint of a dream. This was getting weird…in more ways than one, he thought as Twilight hustled him across the room towards the stairs that lead down to her basement laboratory
“Because you’ve got a really big day ahead of you, and I’d like to get this outta the way and have the results sent to Celestia; perhaps she’ll be able to tell me what exactly is going on with you and that equipment,” Twilight explained as they trotted down the wooden steps, waking up the firefly-lanterns that illuminated the basement with a shake of her magic as she did so and exposing rows and rows of test tubes, beakers, Bunsen burners, and a myriad of books, diagrams, and blueprints stacked and scattered almost willy-nilly throughout the lower room. The roots of the great tree it was all contained in wrapped in and around the equipment, making it appear as if it had sprouted from the bowels of the massive stem itself. It stood in stark contrast to the neat Library above them, and to say it didn’t do much to put Volare’s mind at ease would be putting it lightly; it was very Frankenstein to say the least.
“Joy,” Volare yawned and laid back in a dentist-style reclining chair, rubbing the sleep crusties from his eyes with a hoof and recounting Twilight’s excited chatter about wanting to discover exactly how and why the Pegasus was able to power the sound equipment’s earbuds to the point that they were able to produce the sufficient signal to send to the speakers, thus playing the sound of his thoughts. In truth, she had a seed of a theory on it, even more-so after reading that old book, but she had to be certain before declaring it as fact. He looked to the table on the right to see that Twilight had already set up the speakerbox and adjusted the volume to its lowest setting; she didn’t wanna wake up Spike quite this early.
“Here, put these in and relax,” the Unicorn levitated the earbuds to him, and he obeyed, reaching into the warm and tingly violet aura that surrounded the earpieces and plucking them out of mid-air. He arranged them in his ears and had to fight off the urge to leap the hell out of the chair as Twilight levitated a large, light-covered headgear over his cranium, the same one he recalled Pinkie wearing in that one episode where the Unicorn was trying to research the Pinkie Sense. Twilight gave him an encouraging smile and gently sat the helmet on his head, strapping it firmly in place and plugging the various wires that ran from it into a piece of equipment that looked like a cross between an EKG and a fax machine.
“This is gonna monitor your brain activity,” she explained loudly enough for him to hear through the rather muffled earbuds. “I just wanna see what’s going on when you play your music, that’s all. Now then, think of a song, I’ll record the results, and then you can be on your way. Just lemme know if you feel any discomfort at all,” the Unicorn levitated a quill and clipboard in front of herself and nodded for him to begin.
“Right,” Volare nodded, relaxed as much as he could despite the flickering lights and droning humming noise coming from the cold helmet pressing his mane flat against his skull. Ok, can’t think of any fandom music, cuz there’s no telling what she’ll see…shit, did she hear what I just said?! Ok, focus, focus, just get this done and you can go pick up Scoots and grab breakfast! And with that, he settled on a song he felt rather appropriate for all the flashing lights and crazy-looking machines surrounding him and Twilight.
The song faded from his mind and the echoes from the speakerbox were dying amongst the roots of the tree as Volare opened his eyes and plucked out the earbuds before turning to Twilight…and couldn’t help but crack a grin at her somewhat awed expression; the quill hovered unmoving above the clipboard, the tip sitting on the mostly blank parchment as the Unicorn simply stared at him. “Uh, heh-heh, Twi, aren’t you supposed to be taking notes?” he nodded towards the EKG/fax/WTF machine that continued to spit out paper covered in rows of zigzagging lines.
“Huh-oh, right, right,” Twilight shook her head and grinned sheepishly, flicking off the paper-spewing machine and running her eyes over the results. “Music was just…interesting, that’s all,” she muttered. "That instrument that opened the song...what was that? It didn't sound like a rock guitar."
"Huh-nah, that's an acoustic guitar, Twi," at her bemused expression, he explained that it was the precursor to the rock guitar and required a different skill set to play. His grandfather hailed from southern Spain, and it was he that Volare gave credit to for getting him into guitar music of all sorts, as he often played flamenco-style music into the sunset on their back porch when Volare was just a little kid. Even though rock was his mainstay, he'd always hold a place of respect in his heart for the humble acoustic guitar...gotta respect the origins, ya know? "Why, don't you have anything like that here, Twi?"
"Uh, we kinda lack the fingers required to play it, silly," she wiggled a hoof in emphasis. "So I'd have to say...no. The closest thing we have, or that I've ever seen anyways, is Lyra's lyre."
"And that's an entirely different animal from acoustic guitar," Volare chuckled, filing that information away for later. Huh, figured somepony would at least know about it if they know about rock music...then again, it's not a precursor to anything since they don't have fingers anyways...oh well.
“What’s the word, doc?” Volare asked as he sat the helmet aside and approached the Librarian, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of the squiggles of lines that raced along the roll of paper. “Will I live another 30 years?”
“Heh, very funny,” Twilight bumped him with a hip and began to mark off multiple places on the zigging lines, mostly at the peaks, but occasionally at the valleys as well. After nearly a minute of this, she looked up and smiled. “Well, you asked for the prognosis. Volare,” she placed a hoof on his shoulder. “I have to say, this may be a first for pony-kind,” she grinned hugely. “And I made the discovery!”
“What? What is it, Twi!?” Volare asked excitedly. A billion thoughts and possibilities ran through his mind: Was he a super genius? But he didn’t feel any smarter…was he the next musical prodigy? But he couldn’t write music…oh god, did he have brain cancer?! Then why would Twi be smiling…unless ponies didn’t get brain cancer. So what the hell was it?! But the answer he received was the last thing he expected.
“Congratulations, Volare…you’re pregnant,” Twilight replied flatly, barely able to catch her friend as his hooves involuntarily buckled beneath him.
“…w-what?” Volare finally managed to sputter, shaking his head in disbelief. “A-are you serious, Twi? But…how?!” But the Unicorn couldn’t keep up the act any longer, and a cheeky smirk slowly but surely split her features before she began to laugh. “T-Twi?”
“Oh-hahaha, Vola-a-are!” she hoofed him in the shoulder before leaning into his shoulder to keep from falling down as she continued to laugh. “You should see the look on your face; it’s priceless!”
“Uh, I don’t”- But the lavender Unicorn placed her hoof on his lips and shook her head for a moment before wiping the tears of mirth from her own eyes and continuing to chuckle as she finally stepped away from him.
“Gotcha,” she grinned for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise. Uh-oh. She suddenly turned tail and ran across the lab, the Pegasus hot on her hooves, yelling, swearing, laughing, and snapping his teeth at her indigo tail as it fluttered behind her. She dodged around a chair and slipped under a lab table covered in vacuum tubes, looking back to see a fierce grin plastered on his face as he continued to pursue her.
Just like old times, eh Twi? Volare thought back to their little "race" weeks ago as she ran around the edge of another lab bench and turned to face him, her breath coming in quick gasps between chuckles as he decided to forgo rounding the table to reach his “prey”. Instead, the Pegasus reached the table in a gallop, placed his front hooves on the edge of it, spread his wings, and launched himself over the piece of furniture, clearing the equipment with ease and crash-landing on top of the Unicorn before she had a chance to halt him with a levitation spell. The two rolled across the floor and ended up in a tangled heap of hooves, manes, and giggles.
“H-ha-ha…gotcha that time, Twi,” Volare laughed triumphantly, shaking the dust from his mane and propping himself up against a bookshelf before shooting her a cheeky sidelong grin of his own.
“Y-yeah, you sure did,” Twilight gasped, her heart rate quickened for more reasons than one as she sat back against the shelf and leaned against his shoulder. This is rather nice…oh dammit, he’s right-he DID beat me this time…jeez, he’s gotten faster. Despite the near-silent alarm bells going off in her head, she snuggled closer against his shoulder and sighed audibly. “Well, at least we didn’t wreck the place this time, eh?” she declared after a moment, noting that the worst they’d done was dislodge old dust from the bookshelf they’d rolled up against.
She looked up at him and smiled sheepishly after a long moment of silence in which they couldn’t believe they hadn’t woken up Spike…which was somewhat ironic because now she had to wake him up. “Well, you go on ahead to Pinkie’s, grab breakfast with Scootaloo and drop her off at school,” Twilight declared as she rose to her hooves and bundled up the ream of paper. “Then come right back here.”
“H-hey, wait a sec, Twi,” Volare protested as he stood up. “What about the test results? And why can’t I bring Scoots back here?”
“Because you don’t need any distractions today, Volare; Scootaloo, tests results, or otherwise,” Twilight explained tersely as she slipped a band around the paper and regarded him with an amused expression. “I’m not entirely sure of what the results mean myself and I’m about done with jumping to conclusions about you,” she booped him on the nose, smiling despite wincing internally at the self-deprecating jab. “However, I will help to teach you what I do already know, as it will be an extremely important step towards getting you back in the air. Now get going, cuz time’s a wastin’, as AJ would say.”
“But you can’t fly, Twilight,” Volare replied as he trotted up the stairs. “How can you help beyond your anatomy books? No offense, but we saw about how well those helped,” he shrugged his right wing and frowned.
“Trust me on this, Volare; what I’m going to teach you was taught to me by Princess Celestia herself…and I’ve learned that it’s not the wisest decision to discount what she has to say,” she said assuredly. “I’ll see you back here in about an hour?”
“Heh, sure thing, Twi,” the Pegasus nodded and smiled, heading for the basement door.
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Fillydelphia…
“Whoa, what the hay happened here?” Rainbow Dash looked down at the West-Filly Concert Hall, which was missing the back wall, most of the windows, and all of the roof, the remains of which seemed to have been on fire at some point. The cyan Pegasus had been given an alternative delivery route for the day by Zipscale, one which took her along the western portion of the city rather than the previous northern route. Not 10 minutes into the mail route, however, she’d spotted the shell of the nearly century-old brick building by the water’s edge.
Checking the sun and seeing that she had plenty of time to spare, Rainbow Dash landed and approached a brown and red middle-aged Earth Pony wearing a yellow safety helmet. Judging by the protective gear and the hammer and nails cutie mark on his flank, Dash surmised that he was likely a construction pony working on the repairs of the Concert Hall. The cacophony of equipment was nearly-deafening this close to the ground, and Dash had no choice but to shout to be heard over the racket.
“Hey, excuse me!” she called out as the sizeable stallion hefted a load of bricks on a sledge and began to haul them towards the collapsed back wall of the structure. He glanced down and regarded the Pegasus with a light snort before turning back to his work. Unperturbed, Dash hovered in front of him to get his attention, floating backwards as she spoke. “Dude, what happened here?”
“Ya mind movin’, missy?” the construction pony said with a light growl of irritation. “Kinda in a hurry here.”
“Say what?!” Rainbow Dash held a hoof to her ear; the noise of construction was ridiculous!
“I said I’m in a hurry! We gotta get this place fixed pronto, cuz the Canterlot Symphony plays here!” the Earth Pony yelled in reply.
“Yeah, well I'm in a hurry too,” she gestured to the mail bags on either side of her body. “I just wanna know what happened and I’ll get outta your mane; promise!”
“Ugh, fine,” the stallion groaned and sat the sledge down, stretched his neck-secretly grateful for the short break-and explained how DJ PON-3 had been in town a few nights ago, and had played some really strange music that nopony had ever heard the likes of before. The whole place went bonkers for it, and near the end of the concert, probably because she was running out of ideas, the DJ set off a large amount of pyrotechnics to the accompaniment of some sort of twanging music that sounded almost otherworldly.
“So, long story short, the roof was on fire!” the construction pony barked a reply over the rattle of what sounded like some sort of jackhammer.
“The what?!” Dash wiggled a hoof in her ear and leaned in closer. “The roof?”
“Yeah the roof!”
“The roof was on fire?!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “Didn’t the weather ponies try to put it out!?”
“Nah, they didn’t worry about the water; they just let the mother-bucker burn,” he shrugged a shoulder and harrumphed loudly. “Big waste, I say!”
“But why!?” The Pegasus couldn’t understand why these crazy Fillydelphians would let something like that happen…and then be in a hurry to rebuild the dumb thing right afterwards!
“You tell me!” he shrugged again. “Now get a move on, missy! This is no place for a dainty mare like yourself!”
And with that, he hauled the sledge up and continued on his way, grumbling about how the next generation seemed only interested in tearing down what the previous generation had built. But Dash ignored his “dainty” little jab; instead, her mind was fixated on the word he’d used to describe the music that Vinyl Scratch had played. Dash had been to plenty of her concerts, but she’d yet to hear any music from her that she’d call “other-worldly.”
“Unless…nah, no way,” the Pegasus shook the thought away and took off on her route again. “That’s just way too crazy for even me to believe…”
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Ponyville Schoolhouse…
“Aww, whatcha mean I can’t stay with you today, bro?” Scootaloo disputed Twilight’s instructions that Volare had reluctantly relayed to his little sister during their run around Ponyville after breakfast. He knelt down and ruffled her mane affectionately and nodded towards the school house.
“C’mon Scoots, Twi knows best about this,” he gave her a helpless smile. “Besides, you’ve got no excuse to miss anymore class, especially since Ms. Cheerilee saw you right as rain yesterday when we picked up the rest of the CMC.”
“Well, if you’d let me hang off your neck and hide behind you like I told you to do, she wouldn’t have seen me,” Scootaloo grumbled softly.
“Heh-heh, Scoots, you’re adorable, but not that adorable,” Volare nuzzled her for a moment, chuckling as she caught sight of the red Pegasus colt Pinion making a face at her brother loving on her, stuck her tongue out at him, and then hugged Volare’s neck quickly. “I’ll come pick you, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle up from school again, and we’ll get to scheming on some crusading ideas for this weekend. Promise,” he crossed his heart with a hoof and smiled.
“Alright…since you promised,” Scootaloo turned to leave, hesitated, turned back and unexpectedly hoofed her brother in the shoulder with a smirk. “Catch ya later bro!”
“Don’t hurt Pinion too badly, Scoots!” Volare called out as she scampered away across the schoolyard.
“I won’t…much!” the filly waved a hoof and disappeared inside the schoolhouse, leaving Volare shaking his head incredulously. Oh yeah…you and Aggie would have gotten along just swimmingly…jeez, I miss you, sis…so damn much… The Pegasus sighed and wiped his nose after the reflective moment before facing the short road back to the Library Tree. “But I know you’d hate to see me mope…so here goes nothing!” With a nod and a half-smile creasing his lips, the blue stallion trotted back into town, focusing his mind on…well, he honestly didn’t know, for he had no idea of what Twilight Sparkle had in store for him today!
…………………
Ponville Library…
“A field trip?” Volare cocked his head skeptically.
"You could call it that," Twilight Sparkle nodded and turned back to the kitchen counter where she was busy packing them a light lunch for later. Her mane was freshly-brushed and neat, and there was a definite spring in her step as she busied herself with the food.
“Really Twi; what is this-?”
“Magic Kindergarten?” Twilight preempted him with a cheerful smile, packing a few sandwiches she’d whipped up into a small basket sitting on the kitchen counter. While he’d been gone, she’d woken Spike long enough for him to send the test results to Celestia, who replied back that she’d look them over when she could and give her an answer within the next 24 hours. “Heh, might as well be, seeing as how you have no magical knowledge, correct?”
“Haha, don’t rub it in, Twi,” Volare snorted and snagged an apple out of the hanging fruit basket.
“I’m not rubbing it in, Volare,” Twilight regarded the Pegasus sternly, levitating the “Pegasus Flight” book out of her saddlebag and laying it on the countertop. “I probably should have better-explained this to you last night, but I felt that if I read this to you then, you’d have even more trouble sleeping. Speaking of which, still no dreams?”
“Nope, nothing,” he replied as he bit into the crisp fruit. “Weird, huh?”
“Yes, very much so,” her eyes trailed down to the black ring at the base of his wing. “And that?”
“What about it?” he glanced at the mark.
“No change? No pain or discomfort?” she asked with concern.
“Nope, zip, notta,” Volare shook his head and munched on the apple. “I think it itched a little earlier, if that counts.”
“Oh, you,” Twilight rolled her eyes and swatted him with her tail before turning back to the flight book. She ran a careful hoof over the brass-bound binding which bore numerous symbols in Ancient Equestrian, as well as the large picture of a Pegasi that reminded Volare of a drawing by…Da Vinci, was it? He was almost certain that’s who the Earth artist was. It looked that way, in any case:
She undid the small latch holding it shut and opened the front cover, swiftly catching a myriad of parchment that threatened to slip out from between the pages, grinning sheepishly as she did so. "Eh-heh, personal notes," she muttered and slipped them further towards the back of the book before setting it back down again and allowing Volare to read the hoof-written author foreword.
A Foreword by Typhoon VI, direct descendant of Captain Typhoon I, flight lead of the 1st Equestrian Air Wing, Second-In-Command to Commander Hurricane herself…
Throughout our history, the Pegasus race has been a proud nation of mighty warriors and skillful fliers, but of late, I feel that those traits that made us so have begun to fade into history. I will not blame the 940 years’ worth of peace at the time of this writing for this, for all warriors fight because they strive for peace in the end…still, I can’t help but believe that it is contributing to the loss of flight applications that served to raise the Pegasus race to the position that we currently stand at. And so, this book is my attempt to preserve those techniques and skills before they are lost to antiquity. I feel I must include a warning though, especially for any eager Pegasus reading this and hoping to learn what our forebears used on a daily basis:
I do not wish for any pony, Pegasus or otherwise, to be taught the lessons within these pages without foreknowledge of the very power that runs in their own veins…I am talking of course, about the magic inherent to all pony races living in this world. It is a part of every pony on the ground or in the sky, and thus is just as useful as their own legs, wings, or horns…perhaps even more so, for it is from this magic that our true power may be drawn. However, this book concerns flight and magic applications towards it, rather than the education of it, thus it is my wish that any pony reading this first display an elementary understanding of the magic that makes their species unique, for without completely knowing themselves, they will not be able to reach their full potential, nor utilize the techniques within this book. It is also recommended that whosoever reads this also possess basic knowledge of Pegasus anatomy as well, for it will minimize the need for outsourced references during the study process.
But, if you, the reader, happen to be a pony knowledgeable in magic and the way that it affects your own body, as well as how you can affect it, then you have my permission to read on. Knowledge will give you wings you’ve never dreamed of…
"This is why it's crucial that you learn about pony magic before you can see the contents of this book," Twilight tapped the text with a hoof before shutting the book tightly and latching it, stuffing it back into her saddlebag before Volare could protest further. "Please forgive me for not explaining it more clearly earlier, Volare."
"No, no, it's ok Twi," the Pegasus shook his head as he digested the foreword. "I understand now why you were being kinda vague. You didn't wanna fill my head with delusions of grandeur right off the bat, before I could appreciate them...and I do remember you warning about it last month." He leaned a shoulder against hers for a moment, missing the slight flush he brought to her cheeks as he did so. "I should have listened to you, Twi..."
"It's fine, Volare," she patted him on the back. "You're here and whole and that's what matters right now, right?" she looked up and smiled encouragingly.
"That's right," he nodded. "And since I need to learn about magic in order to really fly...and since I rather obviously know little to nothing about it," he chuckled dryly. "I'm ready to learn, Twi," he took one final bite of his apple, tossed the core in the wastebin, and grinned through the juicy mouthful of fruit. "When do we start and where are we headed on this little "field trip?"
"Well, we're not gonna get right to it," the scholar smirked and nodded towards the morning sky-filled window. "It's a wonderful day, and you and I still haven't had the chance to spend a day together when we weren't being rushed along, bleeding to death, or scared senseless."
"Haha, very funny," it was Volare's turn to roll his eyes as he hitched on his own saddlebag, beginning to pack the speakerbox into it without a second thought.
"Ah, no, no, go ahead and leave that here," Twilight shook her head, and he sat it down in mild confusion. "Just pack light for today. Here, catch!" she tossed him a few wrapped sandwiches and some bottle grape juice, which he packed in his bag instead. With a satisfied nod, she flicked the kitchen light off and trotted for the door, opening it and inhaling the crisp autumn breeze that billowed in. She paused for a moment before throwing on a lavender-striped scarf and then headed out the door.
"Where're we headed, Twi?" Volare asked as he shut the door behind him, noting that even the light vibration of that served to dislodge a handful of red-brown leaves from the Library's branches.
"Figuratively or literally?" she replied with a hint of a chuckle.
"Alright smarty-pants," the Pegasus caught up and nudged her with a wing as they trotted into town. "What's your plan, eh?"
"Well, I won't lie when I say this won't be easy due to your origins of a human living in a world without magic in the sense that we have here," her brow furrowed. "But, the first step towards reaching your goals is accepting the situation that you're in, which you declared last night I believe, right?"
"Right," he nodded; and he was serious. He didn't want to leave Earth behind, but he did want to be accepted here...and if that meant first accepting his situation as reality and not some crazy dream, then so be it.
"Good, then that means you'll more readily accept the lessons I'll teach you today," Twilight explained as she nodded politely to the Earth Pony couple trotting past them as they turned south and headed for the Southern Ponyville Bridge. "Now then, we've got a good long trot ahead of us before we reach the first physical lesson, so until we get there, I'll explain a little history of ponykind to you."
"But I thought we already went over this, Twi," the Pegasus shook his head slightly, recalling the long conversation he and the Unicorn had had when he was stuck in her guest bed after his accident.
"Mhm, we touched on it, but we're going even further back in pony history, long before the events that led up to the founding of Equestria," Twilight smiled excitedly; it had been forever since she'd had the chance to teach Ancient Pony History. "But before we begin that, let's review what you told me you already know about magic last night." They quickly recalled the examples of what he'd observed, but Twilight shook her head; she wasn't so much disappointed as affirmed in her expectations.
"You've cited nothing but Unicorn examples, which is actually a pretty common mistake, Volare, mainly because their magic is so much more obvious," the Unicorn scholar quickly levitated a small stone and held it up for Volare to see as they trotted on through the sparsely populated streets; the majority of ponies were just now waking up for the day. "Did you know that back in Canterlot when I was younger, I'd hear Unicorns put down Pegasi and Earth Ponies all the time for not being able to use magic as visually as they could?" With a small growl of disgust, she tossed the rock away and shook her mane. "It wasn't until later that I realized just how uneducated and stereotypical those statements were, and that was one of the reasons why I dedicated myself to the study of magic," she nodded back at her starburst-shaped cutie mark. "And which is also why I'm not gonna let you stumble down that same slippery slope of stereotyping."
"That's pretty poetic, teach," Volare smiled and nodded in understanding.
"I believe the term is alliterate, but that's beside the point," Twilight felt a warmth grow in her cheeks that had nothing to do with the rising sun that fell upon them as they cleared the shadows of the buildings of the town and trotted across the Southern Bridge. Within moments, they were headed down the Equestrian Valley road that ran south as far as the eye could see before it disappeared over the low hills of golden waving prairie grass and scattered farms that dotted the dale.
"So, to answer your earlier question, figuratively, we're going back in history, literally, we're headed to Sweet Apple Acres, where I believe we'll find a few ponies more than willing to help you learn about what makes pony magic tick."
.........................
As they walked along the autumn-shrouded landscape, Twilight recalled the history lessons that Princess Celestia had personally taught her. Thousands of years before the founding of Equestria, nay, even before the birth of the Sun Goddess herself, ponies of all races lived in scattered isolation of one another, travelling in small groups and never really settling down in any one place in particular; simply going where they could graze and moving on when the food was gone. It was a rather harsh life, with no protective government to speak of, and one of the largest problems ponies faced was their brightly colored coats that made them stand out against their environments. This practically rang the dinner bell for any roving predators that spotted them, for ponies, though rather stout and tough for their size, aren't particularly strong on their own.
Twilight cut off Volare's protest that ponies seemed plenty strong to him, that he was jumping ahead of her. She went on to explain that ponies slowly but surely adapted, beginning to herd together in larger and larger groups, Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns alike sometimes in the thousands, using their sheer numbers as protection against predators. This worked for a while, but predators must also adapt to survive, and they quickly adopted the tactic of picking off the young and weak, as well as those that became isolated during moving times. Volare commented that this sounded alot like the predator-prey relationship of bison and wolves back on Earth, and Twilight pulled out a quill and scribbled a quick note on the subject, storing it away for later before continuing.
At first, the herd leaders simply ignored the losses, hardening their hearts and declaring it the natural order of things. Well, try telling that to the mothers and fathers who had just lost a foal! Or to the friends they'd built relationships with during their herding behavior who tried to comfort them as best they could in their time of sorrow. Some of the leaders viewed this as weakness and rebellion against the "natural order", and tried to stamp it out, but luckily, enough of the family groups stood firm, and would soon prove that it wasn't weakness to care for the well-being of others, but would in fact become the greatest strength known to ponykind.
"The true origins of when ponies first began to harness the power of magic are a bit obscure, but what they all agree on was that it was a Unicorn who first used it in a manner more recognizable today," Twilight explained with a bit of a proud smirk that Volare caught.
"Hmm, well, that would explain alot of Unicorns' haughty behavior," he nudged her with a wing and gave her a knowing smirk of his own.
"Pfft, how's about we leave the teaching to me for now, pal," she flicked his mane with a burst of magic before continuing. "In any case, what historians do agree on is that when it did happen, nopony was exactly sure what occurred. All eyewitness accounts state that a mother Unicorn placed herself between a dragon attacking her foal, shouted at it to leave them alone, and then all of a sudden a bright light shot from her horn, impacted the dragon in a flash of fire and "thunder", and sent it flying away with burns as big as your head; and remember, dragons are supposed to be fire-proof, so what happened must have been something extremely powerful," Twilight explained, her own eyes wide in awe despite the fact that she was the one telling the story in the first place.
"Wow," Volare breathed, stunned by the images of the recounting that ran through his mind. "What happened after that?"
"Well, from what I've been told, the herd leaders very nearly decried it as another form of rebellion, but as more and more of these unexplainable events began to happen shortly afterwards, they had no choice but to accept it as a way of life, and within months had taken to studying this new behavior to discover how to harness its power," Twilight paused to recall exactly what Celestia had told her for this next part. "But the only real consistent thing they could determine about it was that these "incidents" only occurred during times of great stress, and almost exclusively when a family member or loved one was in trouble. And so, the races began to call this mysterious power "magic" as a placeholder name until they could further understand its source and cause."
"Very interesting," Volare nodded. "Seems like its pretty well understood and widespread today."
"Yes, but you must understand that we're many millennia removed from its origins, and between then and now, its become much more prevalent in pony lifestyles; basically, the more they understood it, the more it became a natural part of life," the Unicorn explained and looked up as they rounded the massive apple orchard; they were nearly at their destination.
"Well, would it be too bold for me to offer my own theory as to where magic originated from, based on what I know so far?" Volare asked.
"It's not likely to be correct, but that's all part of the learning process," Twilight smiled. "So I don't see why not; what's your theory?"
"That relationships, family, love, and friendship seem to be an important ingredient of it," the Pegasus declared, stopping Twilight in her tracks in awed silence. "Since it didn't seem to come about until loved ones were threatened, and seemed to only repeat itself during similar situations, I'd say that friendship is the source of it, or rather...that friendship IS magic," Volare grinned. Well, now it makes sense... "Uh, Twi?" he cocked his head in worry.
"Wow that's...very intuitive, Volare," she looked up at him, impressed...she wondered if he'd yet drawn that same conclusion about what had happened between himself and Scootaloo the day they were attacked...or even when he'd saved Trixie. "Just...hold that thought until later cuz you're getting a little ahead of the lesson. Now that you know the origins of pony magic, we can move onto its applications, starting with something fairly simple. C'mon, we're here," she trotted through the white picket gate that led up to the massive red farmhouse and flicked her ears this way and that until she picked up the noise she was searching for: a pony bucking the apple tree harvest. They quickly located two Earth Ponies, an orange mare wearing a brown Stetson hat and a massive red pony wearing a yoke and leaning against a tree as the mare nodded fiercely at a nearby orange-leafed tree, saying something about how it "ain't all about kickin' as hard as ya can, but more about focusin' on how ya kick when ya buck tha apples." The red stallion tossed his short mane and sighed before cocking an eye at the approaching lavender Unicorn and blue Pegasus.
"Well, well, fancy seein' ya'll two here," the large stallion drawled deeply and dipped his head politely, continuing to lean against his tree and quietly observe the situation. "Looky who decided to drop by, AJ." The orange mare turned to regard the duo with a huge grin and touched a hoof to the brim of her hat.
"Well howdy ya'll," Applejack cantered over and wrapped a strong hoof around either of her two friends. "What brings ya by our neck of tha woods? Here ta help us buck the apple harvest?"
"Well, not exactly, AJ," Twilight replied. "It's more us that need your help."
"Well shoot, Ah'm tha loyalest and most-dependable pony round these here parts, sugarcube," she winked and grinned. "So Ah guess ya came to tha right place. How can Ah cure what ails ya?"
"Oh, it's not that kind of problem, AJ," the Unicorn shook her head and explained that she was teaching Volare about the history and applications of pony magic, and if she'd be so kind as to provide a short demonstration and buck a few apple trees.
"Shoot, that ain't a problem fer me," the mare waved a dismissive hoof and trotted up to the nearest tree, eyeballing the location of the ripe apples and setting up a series of wicker baskets accordingly around the tree's base. As she did so, Twilight looked towards Volare, gauging his reaction as Applejack turned her back legs towards the tree, raised up, and bucked her hooves against the bark with a loud THOCK! Every apple in the tree neatly dropped into the baskets, and Applejack shot a smug little grin towards Twilight and Volare before repeating the same action with two more more trees. Every time, the Unicorn observed that Volare's eyes stayed riveted on every detail of Applejack's bucking, trying their best to dig out any sort of hidden information he might have missed from her earlier lessons...but he didn't see anything new, and he frowned in frustration as Applejack finished the third apple tree.
"That's enough for now, AJ," Twilight interrupted the farm pony before she could set up more baskets around a fourth one.
"Aww shoot, an' Ah was jus' gettin' inta a good rhythm," the orange mare snorted and returned to her friends, having barely broken a sweat.
"You'll have plenty of time for that later, I'm sure," Twilight replied and regarded Volare out of the corner of her eye. "Now then, you said that Applejack had previously explained how her applebucking worked without shattering the entire tree at once, right?"
"Yeah, she said something about "thinking" the apples out of the tree when she kicked it," he turned to Earth Pony. "Or something like that, right AJ?"
"That's about tha size of it, sugarcube," she nodded in confirmation.
"Thanks, AJ," Twilight smiled gratefully and turned back to the pilot. "Now Volare, would it surprise you to know that Earth Ponies like Applejack don't actually possess the sheer brute strength to do what she just did; no offense AJ."
"None taken, Twi," the orange mare shared a chuckle with her at the confused expression on the Pegasus' face. "Ya'll look right addled there, pardner. Bit fer yer thoughts?"
"But I-wha-hang on a sec!" Volare sputtered. "But I saw you buck that other tree into a millions pieces, something not even Iron Will could do, so you've gotta be stronger than him! Plus you threw me down over a dozen times when we hoof-wrestled and...ok, stop giggling and explain, please!" he said in frustration, his face blushing madly. "I mean, how could she possibly do all that if she's not strong enough to do it? That doesn't make any sense!"
"Heh, I told you you'd have to suspend your disbelief, Volare," Twilight patted him on the hoof. "It's just gonna be tough. As for the answer to your question...it's more about technique...and a little magic," she grinned.
"You putting one over on me, Twi?" he cocked a skeptical eye, but she shook her head sincerely.
"Nope, not at all," Twilight turned to Applejack and continued. "What AJ said about "thinking" those apples out of the tree is actually fairly accurate, and I'll explain why it is, and how she can do what she does with trees without actually possessing the physical strength to do so." She trotted over to a tree and pointed out the still-smooth tree bark, with the slightest hint of a hoof print where Applejack had bucked at it. "Here, if she were relying purely on physical strength, there would be a deep gouge mark from her hooves in the wood, right? But notice the lack of any?"
"So what, are you saying she didn't actually touch the tree at all?" Volare shook his head, starting to feel a migraine coming on again. This was harder than he thought it would be!
"Oh no, Ah did sugarcube, jus' not hard enough ta damage tha bark," Applejack assured him. "Cuz breakin' through that tree's bark is a surefire way ta hurt it permanently." Even Volare had to agree with that logic.
"Ok, so how's it work, then?" he asked again, this time more curious than skeptical, which was the attitude change that Twilight was waiting for.
"Magic was and is still used as a slang word for the force with which ponies can manipulate their surroundings without the use of the physical strength that their bodies naturally lack," Twilight declared, causing Volare's jaw to drop.
"Alright Obi-Wan," the Pegasus shook off his shock and laughed. "Lemme guess: this "force" surrounds and binds all things in the galaxy together and by tapping into this all-encompassing power, ponies can then exhibit powers beyond normal understanding," he grinned smugly. "Do I get bonus points for being technical?" But to his surprise, both Applejack and Twilight were regarding him as if he'd just lost his mind. Even Big Macintosh cocked a concerned eyebrow at his statement.
"Where tha hay did ya hear somethin' that crazy, Volare?" the red stallion drawled, causing the Pegasus' features to droop and his face to burn in embarrassment.
"Who's Obi-Wan?" Twilight titled her head on confusion.
"Um...nevermind," Volare slumped against a basket of apples and looked up. "Please explain Twi; I'll be right here chewing on the hoof I just crammed into my mouth." His answer caused Applejack to burst into a serious of helpless guffaws that she finally hid behind her hat when Twilight shot her a disapproving glare; the last thing he needed was negative reinforcement like this.
"Well, that's certainly an interesting theory, Volare," Twilight chuckled. "But I'm afraid that's not how it works; in fact it's much more simple than that." She closed her eyes and spoke, almost as if in recitation of something that had been drummed into her head through the years...and being the Holder of the Element of Magic, that was quite the possibility. "The source of the magic that ponies in the far past discovered was actually a way to physically manifest their willpower as a survival mechanism." She peeped an eye open and had to fight back another laugh at Volare's shocked expression. It wasn't nearly as bad as it was earlier, and he was slowly nodding his head in acceptance and comprehension, but the wide eyes betrayed any sense of "playing it cool" he might have planned on using.
"Sugarcube, if'n ya'll are gonna keep doin' this, should Ah be worried?" Applejack asked with a nudge of her hoof on the pilot's shoulder. He recoiled slightly at her touch, as if shocked, realized what she'd said, and shook his head.
"Nah, I'm ok...just a little overwhelmed I guess," he chuckled dryly.
"And that's understandable, Volare," Twilight nodded sagely. "Most ponies that study this subject do so over the course of many years, while you've picked it up over a few hours instead."
"Heh, guess that means you're a damn good teacher, Twi," he gave her a tiny smile which nevertheless caused the modest Unicorn's cheeks to warm ever so slightly at the compliment.
"Or you're a good listener," she countered with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "Ahem, anyways, you ready to continue?" she asked once she realized that Applejack was staring at their little exchange with a bit more intensity than necessary.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," the Pegasus nodded and sat back up. "Magic is a survival mechanism based on the...physical manifestation of willpower," he shook his head slightly as he said the words. This is wild...
"That's correct, and the ability to do so didn't begin to appear until after ponies began to form close relationships and bonds with others for protection, and only when used to protect their families, at least until they learned more about it," Twilight concluded. "It seemed to be the next natural evolutionary step towards survival."
"When backed into a corner, with no other way out...sometimes nature breaks through the ceiling and takes a whole new route instead," Volare declared, recalling something he'd heard way back in high school.
"Exactly, which is why I said your conclusion earlier about friendship and relationships being the essence of magic was so intuitive," the Unicorn grinned, noting with slight self-consciousness that Applejack was just barely keeping up with their conversation, and Big Mac seemed to have tuned them out entirely, content to chew on a piece of straw and occasionally peek up at the sky to observe an interesting cloud or two that drifted down near the tops of the apple trees. Oh well...
"Thanks?" he replied sheepishly.
"You sure you've never studied this before?" Twilight's innocent question immediately set off alarms in his head and quite quickly changed the tone of the conversation from his point of view. The Pegasus was stuck for words for a moment before clearing his throat loudly.
"Ahem!-N-no, of course not, Twi," he shook his head. "That'd be kinda impossible, wouldn't it?" No WAY is this theory in any way tied to the TITLE of a show with you guys in it....dammit-dammit-dammit!!!
"Yeah...I guess so," the Unicorn's vision trailed down and to the left, but Volare couldn't tell if she was merely being thoughtful or skeptical; either way, he preempted her by reaching out from where he sat and tapping her hoof with his own. She looked back up and he motioned with his hoof for her to continue. "O-oh, right! Um...where were we?"
"Ponies had discovered that magic was really based on willpower."
"Ah, right, right," she gathered her thoughts as if shuffling through a book to find the spot where she'd left off at, found the lost page with a smile, spread out the wrinkled text, and continued, pacing under the shade of the trees as she did so. "Anyway, over the years proceeding the discovery of magic's cause, its understanding grew, and the knowledge associated with it was passed down through the generations to those that would accept it. And to those who either couldn't accept it or refused to...well..."
"Natural selection is hard at work on this planet too," Volare concluded with a grim nod.
"Mhm, indeed," Twilight returned the nod and stood silent for a few respectful moments before sighing and continuing. "Kinda interesting though, how so many ponies today use magic throughout their daily lives without realizing that they owe their very existence to it."
"Probably cuz it's become so "normal" and ingrained in their lives that many take it for granted," Volare shrugged. "Humans do kinda the same thing with technology too; they just assume over years of use that it'll always be there, and to not think about life without it, because life without technology would be too tough for many to handle."
"Very good comparison, Volare," the Librarian nodded. "Again, interesting that an outsider like yourself would so readily appreciate magic's value in comparison with the general population taking it for granted."
"Now hold on just a dern minute," Applejack stomped the ground in irritation. "Not all ponies take it fer granted, pardner."
"Of course not, AJ," Twilight half-stepped between the farm pony and Volare as she spoke. It was just a subtle thing, but the protective gesture wasn't lost on the Pegasus, who smiled his thanks to the Librarian. "We're just speaking in general terms. There are always exceptions to general rules, such as you, your brother, and the rest of the Element Holders, who all seem more "in-tune" from the get-go with magic, even without proper study."
"Right, so long as ya'll ain't callin' nopony stupid or somethin'," Applejack backed off and nodded at Volare and Twilight to continue.
"Ok, so if magic obviously isn't based on physical strength, how strong can it get?" the Pegasus queried.
"Well, it really all begins with one's lack of fear, or temporary suspension thereof, as well as one's self-doubt, for that can lead to fear," Twilight replied.
Ok, I take back the Obi-Wan comment...she's getting closer to Yoda now. Yoda and Morpheus all in the same package...why do I get the feeling I'm probably doomed? Ah screw it, I'm just gonna roll with it.
"Ok, so step one: don't show fear or self-doubt. What's step two?"
"Don't think of it as being made up of steps, more as a gradual slope," Twilight chided him. "But what a lack of self-doubt will lead to is greater self-confidence. And with greater self-confidence comes greater willpower. And since magic is based on the manifestation of one's willpower being used to manipulate the environment..." she waited for him to drop the other shoe.
"The greater one's willpower, the greater one's potential for magic," Volare concluded with a grin as he rose to his hooves. "So it just all builds on itself, huh?"
"Exactly, and the more you work at it, the stronger and greater you can become," the Unicorn nodded excitedly.
"Wow, that would explain why Luna and Celestia are so powerful; because they've had over a thousand years of honing their willpower and self-confidence." Kinda reminds me of those old ninja masters in movies...they may not be the biggest or strongest guys on the block, but their experience and confidence in their abilities gives them more than the edge they need to win a conflict...and if Twilight is this powerful after only 15 or so years of study... He almost shuddered to think of the terrible power that Celestia and Luna could wield...then again, they could move the sun and moon...and he'd been hugging one of them like it was nothing not two days ago. He had to fight off a tiny bit of nausea for a moment before nodding at Twilight to continue.
"That's why I waited until you accepted the situation you were in, Volare. For without accepting your environment, how can you accept yourself and reach your potential within that environment?"
"I see what you mean, Twi," he nodded. "Sorry for being so impatient and snappy earlier...and getting blinded by delusions of grandeur, heh-heh..." Thanks alot, Dashie...then again, I've only got myself to blame I guess...but dammit it all, I was so stupid!!
"It's totally fine; like I said, live and learn," she chuckled and nudged him with a warm burst of magic. "So now that you know how magic works, and what it takes to build on it, are you ready to continue?"
"Yeah, let's go," he grinned and pumped a hoof. "This is pretty awesome."
"Heh, that it is," Twilight laughed lightly, for the umpteenth time being reminded of herself back under Celestia's tutelage years ago. She suddenly felt much older than she ever had before, and it made her take pause for a moment to reflect on just how far she'd come herself, how far she still had to go...and how close Volare now was to taking flight once again. She shook off any sense of doubt she felt creeping up on her and raised her head in confidence. "Alright! The next lesson in this is the application of magic amongst the pony races."
"Hey, real quick before we move on, Twi," Volare interrupted her. "Since we now know how magic works, should we keep calling it "magic", since that word was used because it wasn't understood in the first place?"
"Hrm, you know, I've considered that a few times myself, Volare," Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully. "And I've even tried to come up with alternate names and acronyms for it, but all of them just end up being overly complicated explanations that seem to only cause further confusion, rather than comprehension. I mean, for example if I called magic "Manifestation of Air, Ground, and Intelligence Components", would you have any idea what I was talking about?"
"Nnnope," Big Mac spoke up for everypony, causing them all to burst into laughter.
"Guess that answers that question, sugarcube," Applejack chuckled. "Besides, magic's just easier ta say and remember it by, right?"
"That's exactly the conclusion I came to, AJ," the Unicorn nodded. "So to answer your question Volare, unless you just really want to call it by something else, we'll just continue to refer to it as "magic." Sound fair enough?"
"Works for me," he replied. "Now then, what sort of applications are we talking about here?"
"Well, they're fairly race-specific; Unicorns perform a more direct form of willpower extension, while Earth Ponies and Pegasi conduct theirs through the mediums of the earth and the atmosphere," Twilight replied. "We'll start with Earth Ponies since we have two excellent subjects right here."
"Aww shucks, Twi," Applejack pawed at the ground modestly. "Whatcha need us ta do?"
"Just stay here for now, AJ. Now Volare, in reference to what we've already established, Applejack has quite a bit of experience with apple trees and applebucking, so much so that she can literally exert her will through the tree and up into the fruit itself with little effort, causing it to drop from the branches without the need for smashing at the tree with unnecessary force," Twilight explained.
"Heh, that probably wouldn't feel too good on mah hooves either," Applejack chuckled. "So , good thing fer magic, eh?"
"Mhm. That's one way for Earth Pony magic to be utilized," the Librarian then turned to the red stallion still standing in the shade of his appletree. "Big Mac, would you kindly demonstrate how you remove apples from the trees?"
"Eeyup," the large pony nodded and spat the hay stalk before trotting slowly over towards the trio of smaller ponies. He turned and eyed an isolated group of apple trees waiting to be bucked, did a few quick calculations through his head and nodded before suddenly raising up onto his back hooves. The towering stallion was an imposing sight, and Volare felt Twilight tense up against himself despite having likely seen this before; hell, it was all he could do to not jump back a bit himself! With a mighty THUD!, Big Mac crashed his massive front hooves down onto the ground, sending a tremor through the earth that ran up the appletrees, shaking them like a small earthquake and causing them to dislodge all their fruit in a veritable downpour of apples that completely filled the buckets within seconds. Big Macintosh gave the three smaller ponies a modest shrug of his shoulders and returned to his spot under his tree, tapping the trunk with a back hoof and knocking down an apple for him to silently munch on.
"Wow, that was...holy shit," Volare couldn't help himself as he continued to try to process what just happened. "How did you do that, Big Mac?"
"Heh, havin' big bones helps," the cryptic red pony replied with a wry smile and continued to eat his apple and observe the others.
"Well, that's the simple answer, but by the look on your face, simple's just not gonna cut it, eh Volare?" Twilight smirked and nudged him playfully.
"No, ya think?" the Pegasus chuckled and bumped her back. If this was just "simple" Earth Pony magic...no wonder Twi won't let me read that Pegasus Flight book yet!
-----------------------------
Notes: Tune in next time as we learn just how Pony Magic can be applied! (I was gonna include it in this chapter, but I promised myself no more uber-chapters unless absolutely necessary!)
Please feel free to ask as many questions as you need to if you need a better explanation of how their magic works. I promised no arcano-babble and I meant NO arcano-babble!
Credit for the Vitruvian Pegasus goes to Ironhooves on Deviantart!
Extra credit/inspiration goes to this fic: BIG FREAKING MACINTOSH
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1373118 LOL I guess they would
1373989 Possibly
1374077 I hope you like the explanation I've come up with in the newest chapter!
1375112 Uh-oh
1376125 You're welcome
1380406 Hope the newest chapter fixes that
EKG/fax/WTF machine
Oh, so Celestia and Luna are really good at magic because they have a thousand years of confidence?
Does that mean Celestia took a hit when Chrysalis knocked her down so easily?
just looking at the video thumbnail tells me this is also an alternate universe and human story 2. Hmm, put on read later
Thank you sir you have made my day...
Edit: This has been a really great chapter, but I must say it did end rather abruptly. The flow of the chapter went along smoothly, and just as I had gotten into the story BAM... the chapter ended and I was sad. I know you promised not to have epic chapters, but I don't mind them at all... that being said awesome job keep it up!
Amazing chapter. And this is the longest I have ever waited for a shipping, not to mention not even knowing what the pair is!
Damn thats a while to wait, and even more so for future chapters leading to the shipping! 
I mean, 400,000+ words?
You say it like we won't understand obscure magical theory or something !
Methinks you mean "series" yes? Anywho, wunderbar chapter my friend! Now if only Dashie would get back. . . Ohh lord, she'll show up as Volare starts playing "Loyalty" thinking no ones around won't she. . . And his secret is getting closer to revelation! How much longer can he last?! Stay tuned to find out!
1381946
How can you tell it's an alternate universe story?
Again...
thebrokencog.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/aww-yeah-meme.png
multiple jets are hard as shit to get though an interdimesional portal. i would no
Great chapter! Love, love, love, love world building!
Hmmm... Approved of chapter content, already faved, already thumbed up... What do? Leave comment! 1:15 am not a great time for excellent philosophical and critical comments. Therefore:-
So from reading this chapter I can only think of one thing about the way they do magic.
Ponies are a lost chapter of the Green Lantern Corps.
I'm ok with this.
In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!
Hmn, I mildly have to object to Mac's apple bucking technique in this chapter. We've seen him do it in the show (Hearts & Hooves episode IIRC), he uses a kick from a single back hoof.
Other than that, interesting approach to how pony magic works. I really like your theory on how it evolved.
Damn, so many Dashie-related moments! I WANT HER BACK IN PONYVILLE!
GUYFACE SMASH!
chocolateseo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/1337575154hulk-smash-gif.gif
This chapter was simply screaming in my ear "BECAUSE SCIENCE!" and I loved every moment of it.
“Heh-heh, Scoots, you’re adorable, but not that adorable,”
I beg to differ.
--------------------------------------
Good job with the lyrics insert there with RD.
--------------------------------------
The physical manifestation of willpower reminds me of FMP's Lamnda Drive, while certain portions later on (including what Volare did during his fight with the two jerks) reminds me of hotblooded anime mechanics.
All in all that was a great yet relatively simple explanation you gave there, nice work.
For some reason, I have this image stuck in my head:
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw3384-1330797714533_1.png
HOORAY!! SCIENCE CONTENT!!!
congrats on your 50th chapter of this great story, I love how even though things are indeed growing darker on the horizon, you take the time to kinda step back from it all and give us a nice "tutorial", if you would, about the basis of magic and it's applications. You have done a very good job with what you have explained thus far in this chapter and previously, and you continue to add levels of complexity that help this story and the world of Equestria grow in leaps and bounds.
Now, we all know that Volare has indeed accepted that he may very well never leave Equestria and that it is now home for him. If I recall correctly, Twilight confessed having feelings for him previously, although I do not recall the exact chapter / scene. Will Volare now believe that he can have a relationship, and if so I am hoping you lean towards Twilight, as everything in the story so far has kinda shown that he in much more in sync with her rather than Rainbow, plus the feel from the story is more of a rivalry than a romantic interest (thus far). With the Romance tag, I'm sure I'm not the only one that has been speculating and wondering since the inception of the story, so figured that it seemed a good time to bring it up to you.
Most excellent job, thanks for sharing another great chapter and hope to see a new one sometime soon!
Awesome!
I really love the science based chapters. It's always great to hear new theories on how things work in Equestria. I can't wait to see how magic applies to the Pegasi race. As always, great chapter and looking forward to the next. 
Oh-oh, Twilight heard Volare talking about shows and titles and them being in it. This be some bad juju for you, Volare, mon.
*Twilight science mode activated*
Another good chapter.
If Twilight "is" a Yoda/Morpheus combo then Volare is legitimately screwed.
See's the warning! I hear by accept said challenge!
Reads it.
That... makes a lot of sense actually. I really get that stuff. I wonder if magic does exist now.
Also, I think now would be a good time to watch Star Wars and the Matrix again. Then I just call out "MAGIC!" whenever they do stuff.
Which again makes a lot of sense. HA! Challenge completed! OOOOOOH Yeah! I love SCIENCE AND MAGIC!
The world will never be the same.
Great chapter! I love getting to understand more about magic!
Ah was enjoying that!! Why would y'all end it so abruptly! And it's not even a cliffhanger!
If I ever write a fanfic,it's Equestria would have your physics and stuff in there. YOU, are INSANE. In a GOOD way. And now,I feel good reading those stuff.
Oh god, I love the disclaimers in this story. Sex, drugs, violence? Nah.
WARNING, SCIENCE AHEAD!
This is awesome. I wake up on my birthday, go to school, check for new chapters, and this shows up.
Has Twi ever considered something that would be relatively KISS like calling magic, "Will". Seems to fit fairly well. Or we could go with Volare's idea and call magic, "The Force" (not to mention you get to basically flip off all of the copyright laws and say "Screw you Lucas!" at the same time).
BTW: how screwed up is Fimfic's systems to still not have the email issue fixed? I didn't notice this updated until I realized the number of unread chapters of stories I'm tracking went up.
Tune in next week as volare learns a "different" kind of magic, courtesy of catfights between everypony in ponyville as he accidently triggers a biological version of the want it ned it spell
For Science!
A lot of that was really interesting and it makes sense. Was all of that something that has been on your mind for a while or were you just BS'ing your way through it?
Ya know AJ, I think that there is a certain multi colored pegasus that would disagree with your statement.
Ohh yah, ohh yah, a thought ran across me the other day. They use willpower in this right? For magic and other stuff? I'm going to say it once. . . and only once! Katekyo Hitman Reborn! and Ponies. THATS what it seems like to me. The powers I mean, not the plot. All its missing is legendary baby hitmen, rings of extraordinary power, and other stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if "Will of the Dying" were to show up. Anyways, thats my daily nonsense quota met.
Wait, that was enough to merit a "warning"? Whaaaaaaaat?
View of physics and stuff=Changed.
Taking some psychology lessons, may be able to make a psychology report or something later.
Pretty simple stuff (magic). Just think of it as electricity (your body is the battery), and you can control how to and when to release the energy. Pegasi have a perma-"buff" on themselves that makes themselves "hardy" and "lightweight", as well as able to control clouds.
Earth ponies have a perma-"buff" on themselves that makes them strong, well-connected to the earth, and gives them lots of endurance, as well as able to direct the power towards other earthbound objects.
Unicorns? Kinda obvious. Their horn is a conductor that allows them to be able to control their magic and manipulate it into a physical form, as well as be able to manipulate other dimensions.
“Nah, they didn’t worry about the water; they just let the mother-bucker burn,”
Omg None Piece
Um I don't want to sound like an a** but isn't a "rock" guitar called an Electric guitar?
I seriously love the direction you're taking with this, giving magic a "practicality" all its own. I'm pretty psyched to see how you explain Pegasus magic.
for celestia's sake, this wait between stuff is killing me~!
1381822 um is there ever a time where the six see him on a flight mission on earth eather trough a spell or maybe he gets footage somehow it would be priceless to see their reactions to him bombing a target or watching him in a dog fight
Woot another great chapter! Also yeah for the Star Wars references, there's going to be episodes 7, 8, & 9 now!
The Vitruvian Man. That's the name of the Da Vinci painting you were referring too. Not even done with the chapter yet and felt the urge to say that....wierd.
i like this chapter even though an itch inside my foot/toe area is making the whole reading process unpleasant. happy 50th chapter btw
1385161 happy late birthday, pinky sends her regards as she is busy doing community service for repeatedly breaking the 4th wall. have a brohoof instead/)
(btw whats up for the lack of brohoofs on brony websites nawadays?)
Here is a good combo of classical tecno and rock try it,
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NzzGWfPI2YU&list=PL642D5114CD75FB09]
there is no such thing as a lack of fear, only the courage to push past fear.
TWILIGHT IS A GREEN LANTERN
I fucking love you dude XD The interpretation of 'magic' that I've just finished reading has sparked so many delightful theories in my head =D My brain is in over-drive and I am high on imagination right now! I wonder if pinkie pie feels like this all the time XD!
Its a good theory all in all for the magic but, the problem is after having seen the S4 finale it leaves a few gaps and holes like "exactly how does one steal another's willpower?" or for that matter give it to somepony.. it means that there has to be something physically existent other than sheer force of will which is built onto by one's willpower rather than being willpower alone.
(P.S. I know this was released before season 4)
So based on the rules of magic that’s been established here, and general tropes of ‘humans are survivors,’ ‘humans are warriors’ and Flyboys fight will Jill and Ray… A human with magic, who is protecting their loved ones, would be something to not fuck with.
and another word for 'magic' as its been described here would be 'Psionics'...
sounds like something the US Military or NASA would use
oh and so far most if not all of your theories actually sound completely logical and true. 
Totally should have had Volare make a mass effect reference and call it biotics. Also: Damn, Son! Big Mac is a badass