Linked Story: Consequences of Unoriginality

While these are from an in-character perspective, these papers are going to be primarily my own suppositions on the world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, drawing heavily from Xenophillia by the completely awesome Anonauthor. Seriously, whoever you are, write more shit, that was awesome.

I am very open to suggestions, comments, further suppositions and I'd particularly love to include counter-papers by other researchers in the equestrian world, that'd be awesome.

If someone wishes to use this information or world-building for their own equestria, feel free, I would just like to know about such usage because it'd make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that I made something useful

I strongly suspect that the geas involves Name and/or Soul magic.

The change in c is well under an order of magnitude; a more reasonable interpretation of the data is that his estimate of the hooflength/foot conversion ratio is slightly off.

...

The Punnett square assumes an XXY female, which not all breeding mares are. Assuming an initial distribution of P% XXY females and Q% XXX females (where P%+Q% = 100%), we have:

XXY+XYY: 2p/9 XYY; 5p/9 XXY; 2p/9 XXX

XXX+XYY: 0q/9 XYY; 6q/9 XXY; 3q/9 XXX

q=(1-p), so: 2p/9 XYY; (6-p)/9 XXY; (3-p)/9 XXX

The proportion of XXY females in the new population, which call P2, is then (6-p)/((3-p)+(6-p)) = (6-p)/(9-2p). Graphing this equation reveals that low values of P will result in P2>P, and high values of P will result in P2<P, implying that over time the ratio will tend towards a stable middle point. We can find that point by solving p=(6-p)/(9-2p), as follows:

p=(6-p)/(9-2p)

9p-2p^2 = 6-p

0 = 2p^2 -10p + 6

By the quadratic formula:

p = 10/4 +/- sqrt(100-4*2*6)/4

p = 5/2 +/- sqrt(100-48)/4

p = 5/2 +/- sqrt(52)/4

p ~= 4.3 or 0.7

We know we're looking for a proportion, so we want the one between 0 and 1.

QED: About 70% of the mares in Equestria are XXY, and about 30% are XXX.

We earlier calculated that we have 2p/9 XYY (i.e., males), which works out to about 15%, or just under 1/6. So we should expect slightly more than five mares to every one stallion, which is very slightly more than observed.

I would speculate that, since stallions are considered more valuable due to their rarity, it is possible that a mare that has foaled a colt (and who therefore must be XXY) may be considered a more valuable mate. Further research is indicated to test this hypothesis.

>>15706001570600

You.

I love you.

Platonically if you're a guy mind you, but I love you.

On the first one, Yep! Note that "In the modern theory-" line about the magical schools, that's very important. There are other, unnofficial schools of magic, as well as ones that have been absorbed into others, etc. etc.

The thing about c is intentional, though I'm not sure which direction to take it really. The intention is that things like inertia, mass, and other sundry things are altered noticeably, but not world-breakingly. What direction would you take it? My personal knowledge runs out pretty fast on this.

Thank you for doing that math for me! So much. I knew that I hadn't accounted for that, and Emeris would have accounted for it eventually, but I didn't really have the time to sit down and figure out what math I'd have to do to account for it.

And yes, in this world-building exercise, mare's who have demonstrated mothering a colt are more valuable than others.

>>15709051570905

> What direction would you take it?

It seems to me that advanced physics like relativity requires fairly careful study to find out. Unless there's a physics lab somewhere in Equestria, it's unlikely Emeris could reasonably come to justified conclusions about that stuff.

(I don't think Gary couldn't do it, either. Since his dress designs turned out awful in retrospect, we can infer that the GSE made him an acclaimed designer rather than a competent one; that is, it doesn't confer actual competence. If Gary tried to research physics, he'd come up with meaningless drivel that everyone fawned over. He might be able to build a death ray or something though.)

>>15710921571092

You misunderstand what I mean, I meant the speed of light relative to our own

And this isn't caused by the GSE. Emeris is actually extremely competent at this. Note how in Chapter 1 he notes that his calculative abilities had not been affected by the curse in either direction.

Also note how little he's actually confirmed and how much is supposition. He's been using magic as a substitute for technology when it comes to analyzing things (mostly genetics), but careful use of telekinesis and sense-enhancing magics enabled a large number of experiments that he simply does not have the technology or infrastructure for otherwise. As my knowledge of the physics and experiements involved is less than what Emeris' knowledge is intended to be, I cannot give specific examples, though I can try to find some.

The only one that comes to mind is the classic "Electron, Particle or Wave?" double-slit experiment. If you can find a way to generate electrons and fire them in a direction as well as detect them one by one, then it becomes easy to do the experiment.

Or, for a future one that he will do: The power of Celestia's sun. If you know the distance of the sun from the planet and have a bucket of water, a thermometer, and a clock, you can calculate the energy output of the sun. Note that he can (and will) just ask Celestia herself how far the sun is from Equestria and get an accurate answer, the only issue is converting units.

>>15712811571281

I thought you/he were talking about the relative values of c in Equestria vs. Earth; I'm not sure what I said to give an impression otherwise.

If you're inferring the speed of light to mean anything other than how long it takes for light to get somewhere, and Emeris is, then you're working with relativity.

If he has "little more than a rudimentary understanding of physics", then it's not at all clear to me how he would even verify the existence of e.g. strong and weak nuclear forces, unless unicorn magic is capable of examining and manipulating subatomic particles with minimal training.

I think the point I'm trying to make is that Emeris probably understands less than he thinks he does about Equestrian physics, and is jumping to conclusions based on insufficient evidence.

>>15724721572472

We're talking past each other for some reason, probably a misunderstanding on my part >_<

To start off: Yes, he is jumping to conclusions a bit.

The "little more than a rudimentary understanding of physics" line is Emeris selling himself short. While it's not official, he's intended to have nearly had an equivalent to a bachelors in physics by the time he was introduced to Equestria. And while Unicorn magic (in this worldbuilding exercise) is not capable of examining and manipulating subatomic particles, it is capable of doing so with atoms and chemicals given an awareness of and disposition towards such. Emeris was the Alicorn of the Earth for two years and more than capable of getting any naturally occurring mineral or element he so desired.

Doing so over time, he tried to create an Equestrian periodic table of elements... and ended up with something very similar to the one we're/he's accustomed to. As in, basically identical. This is from both the chemical properties of the elements, as well as the size of their atoms and their atomic weights (figured out by taking a mole [or fraction thereof] of atoms of the element, weighing it, and calculating its atomic weight from there). This implies that whatever causes atoms to be... well... atoms... is functionally identical to our world.

Combined with other experiments such as "Does spinning a magnet induce an electrical current?" and the reverse "Does a wound copper wire around something magnetic create a magnet?" as well as others, he has data to support the two world's being nigh identical in function, though the data doesn't explicitly point to them being identical 'under the hood'. That is him guessing and getting overly excited about the ramifications/possibilities.

>>15725371572537

Given those observations -- especially unification of electricity and magnetism -- I'd say the conclusions are reasonable. Also, if he can directly measure the sizes of atoms, he can use that to establish the length conversions.

But, yes, he's definitely getting overexcited -- if the difference in c had as far-reaching implications as he thinks, the modified physics couldn't have produced the same periodic table.

>>15725521572552

I'm trying to read your conversation with the author, but being a teenager who got a 60/100 for physics, can we please just say:

IT'S MAGIC, DON'T QUESTION IT.

>>15725521572552

I (and by extension, Emeris) totally didn't think of using atoms to derive length conversions. Also not sure how you'd go about it to be honest.

I had him over-excited about the difference of c for a couple reasons, the two main ones being it's in character for him, but also because I myself don't know the full ramifications of what a difference in the speed of light (*coughmassless-particle-speedcoughcough*) would have on physics

>>15725771572577

Actually, Hayquill is doing basically exactly what I requested. And this story/sidestory is mostly about the physics of Equestria because of/in spite of magic. In spite of any appearances otherwise, I greatly appreciate Hayquill

>>15725771572577

You can do that if you like. This is a side-document, meaning it's optional.

>>15726011572601

Well my biology finals are in two weeks time, I guess I can read this and tell people I'm studying.

>>15726171572617

I honestly recommend this. Funny, but also informative.

And suddenly, last paragraph says that the human is an alicorn... explanation please?

>>15741191574119

Connected story. Shameless Plug!

Main character, the IC writer of these papers, was once human and through means that will be eventually revealed within said connected story, was transported into Equestria explicitly as a Gary-Stu. The prologue of the story deals with how he becomes instead a "normal" unicorn and the rest of the story deals with the ramifications of having spent 2+ years as a Gary-Stu.

While there are a number of different forms of choosing of gender in my world, this is the only system used by the warm blooded species.

Not actually true. Birds have a similar, but inverted, system, with ZZ being male and ZW being female, and the platypus has the downright psychotic(and currently nowhere near being understood) system that leads to them having five pairs of sex chromosomes.

>>16117281611728

Whoaaaaa, wait, what?

I knew that one about birds, though I thought they were still referred to as X and Y (whoops ), but the platypus one is totally new to me.

To note: This is an explicit case of lack of knowledge IC rather than mine on the part of the birds, but that platypus one's totally blindsided me, say what?

>>16119721611972

I'm serious. Platypus are just that insane.

News on it

Where I initially learned of it.

These things are crazy down to the genetic level.

I bucking love Emeris.

That end note.

>>16195341619534

Though if I may ask: What do you love about Emeris? For future reference and any other characters I may make

>>16198391619839

I think that's going to become Emeris' sort of signature really, a lot like Twilight's "Your Faithful Student" mess

AAHHHHHHH ARRGGHHLLEBLARGLE YOU FUCKING MOTHERFUCKERS

Best Wishes,

Emeris Fillson

Emeris, reports are half way to become the new subject of study in Equestria universities. I even see a book with the picture of him on the cover.

Something tells me that princess Luna is particulate found on this reports, after all she inspire him to write and document all of that and I bet she is eager to help him, explore more of Equestria Anatomy, history, genetic and even the mystery of magic.

Oh please make him and Luna a couple, I can see them together and this time I will win her heart the right way, and not because of the curse. Beside It may help with what is happening with Twilight when she confuse that with something he is planning.

Ah, and remember, he didn't see Luna that often because of the curse, but he admit that he like the night more than the day.      

>>16203961620396

Just kind of Emeris in general? He's an excellent, fleshed-out character (in the other fic) with a nice writing style (in this one).

You wouldn't believe some of the letters Emeris gets, mostly from stupid nobility.

He gets a lot of letters from stupid nobility.

Some are worse twats than Blueblood and try to claim him as one of their own (Emeris-face: ). Delight in Emeris suffering my dear readers, delight to your hearts content.

Lol. Emeris' ALL RAGE MODE activated.

take that racists

Typo alert: Unicorn section, 4th paragraph, 1st line "they're horn". should be their

Also:

You tell 'em, Emmy!

Question, sorry is this is a stupid question, but how Emeris is sending this reports? I thought that the flame spell is very complicated for him.

Also, how did he continue receiving letters? According to the story, ALL Equestria hate him (except Dash…kind off) And even if this bastard snobs still admire him, how did they manage to deliver letters? I doubt Derpy is going to willing deliver him letters.

Also, please, put Celestia more motherly in the future, at the begging you said that she was only testing his willpower, but I don't like much that he keep said to himself that he is a lap dog, and Celestia is still very cold. Did she is putting him in another test? The curse is finally lifted she should be more supporting, like a mother helping his son, walk again after an accident, not a Brat, that is waiting for her toy to be repair (sorry, but Celestia is starting to look a little like that) .

P.S: This is more a question for your other story, did Photo Finish will try to make him a model? I don't mean Gary, I mean Emeris, by the looks Rarity always use him as a model, and the fact that his scars give him some unique treats, i can image her try a new stile with stallions models and he as the face of her new designs.  

Oh Emeris, you hide your feelings so well...

>>17243611724361

Nah, this ain't rage mode, this is frustrated/irritated, RAGE MODE involves stabbing

>>17246221724622

>>17249401724940

This is actually a particularly big rub for Emeris, as while it hasn't been shown in-story, he's a white boy that grew up in a black ghetto. While he was never discriminated against, he saw it happen to his friends and noted how differently they were treated compared to him. It bothers the fuck out of him anymore.

>>17249851724985

Intentional. Emeris 'types' these out with his mind and makes typos, and without spellcheck, he misses them sometimes. I thought I'd had another in there, but I guess not.

>>17261851726185

Question, sorry is this is a stupid question, but how Emeris is sending this reports? I thought that the flame spell is very complicated for him.

The flame spell is impossible for him anymore, and he's sending them through the post or, later, by dragonflame.

Also, how did he continue receiving letters? According to the story, ALL Equestria hate him (except Dash…kind off) And even if this bastard snobs still admire him, how did they manage to deliver letters? I doubt Derpy is going to willing deliver him letters.

This is a bit of intentional disinformation on my part as an author. Emeris, our PoV character, feels like all of Equestria hates him, this is untrue. Most of Ponyville doesn't even hate him. They dislike him a lot for the most part, but they don't hate him. For reasons that will be elaborated on in the next chapter and the one after it, there is very little consistent information about 'Gary' out there.

Also, please, put Celestia more motherly in the future, at the begging you said that she was only testing his willpower, but I don't like much that he keep said to himself that he is a lap dog, and Celestia is still very cold. Did she is putting him in another test? The curse is finally lifted she should be more supporting, like a mother helping his son, walk again after an accident, not a Brat, that is waiting for her toy to be repair (sorry, but Celestia is starting to look a little like that) .

The original tone was a bit of a mistake. Celestia is actually usually rather nice to Emeris. Also note that Emeris not only doesn't mind being her lap dog, the thought of her basically playing him like a political chess piece is actually entertaining to him. Celestia was the way she was to him in an intentional contrast to the way everyone else was acting to him to help him stay sane. Also, the letter is addressed to Celestia/Luna only because of the scientific information it has within, the tone of it is directed primarily at the supremeist fuckwads, whom Emeris expects Celestia to read the letter to.

... she will by the way, just to troll them because they irritate her too.

I apologize if Celestia is coming across that way to you, that is not the intention. You'll probably like her better in the Consequences of Unoriginality (Alternate) that I have planned where Emeris gets all the power and other effects of the curse, but instead of loving him, ponies are made to hate him. Again, with Celestia the only pony able to consistently resist it.

P.S: This is more a question for your other story, did Photo Finish will try to make him a model? I don't mean Gary, I mean Emeris, by the looks Rarity always use him as a model, and the fact that his scars give him some unique treats, i can image her try a new stile with stallions models and he as the face of her new designs.

Photo Finish has not met Emeris yet, though she did try to get Gary to model. Though at least that was just clothes. Other mares tried to get him to "model", as in, in porn.

Rarity hasn't seen him with his additional scars yet, but the mains reason she is using him as a model is that it's a nice way to spend time with a friend and because he's the only stallion of his size in the town other than Big Mac who's off limits. That and for all his grumbling, it does't bother him much and she knows it.

Also to note: While a lot of people try to make scars out to be cool, most of Emeris' scars are deliberately not cool and really rather ugly. The only ones that are classically cool are the ones on his cheek, and even then they will only be so when they are fully healed (Currently, they have ugly scabs over them). Soldiers would consider the ones on his stomach impressive, but otherwise, most of his scars are rather ugly.

>>17265881726588

He does! It's actually a deliberate bit of characterization on my part, the dichotomy between his 'academic' and 'irritated' tone and the tone he normally takes when talking to people (ponies), in particular, cute females.

He is so biased. Thankfully, he at least admits it

>>17273111727311

Ah thanks that explain a lot, so she is acting like that to keep his sanity, now a see, the chess game is only because his mental state, I get it.

Oh, one final question, I know he work for free with the Apples, but other than that, what is his real job? did he is some kind of ambassador or politician of the princesses?

>>17276611727661

Actually, the chess game is because it amuses him personally and because she's a powerful political leader. Celestia is manipulative to a certain degree, but she can be delightfully blunt about it with Emeris because it amuses him considerably and he actively enjoys being helpful. The harshness was (mostly) because of his mental state. That and I can't write Celestia worth a damn most of the time, that's a factor.

And he's currently working for free for the Apples because he promised to, but will eventually work for them for pay. As an alicorn, he actually did not have a job, and was instead given a royal stipend to stay alive, a small one at that because he had an otherwise impossible ability to just pull bits from nowhere to pay for things. Now though, he needs to find a job, and he has found one at the Apple farm. He fully intends to be paid for his work eventually, but is just fulfilling his word about doing work for free.

>>17277121727712

Got it, so for now his work because of the promise I know that but latter one he will actually work for expecting a payment in the farm, I see, je maybe from there will start a love interest with AJ…or maybe Fluttershy or Luna, those 3 look that caught his attention, especially the last one.    

>>17273111727311 Can't Let you do that, StarfoxEmeris!

Givem. . . lets see. . . as many bucks as you'd think I'd like (Which is rather variable ) for me Emmy!

Emeris isn't going to be happy when he finds out that she sent that to the Princesses, those were personal notes

As always, comments are lurved!

>>17656711765671

Well, it's already been pretty well established that Twilight doesn't seem to care about Emeris's feelings due to his eeeeeeeeeviiiiiiiiiiiiiil.

Ah, this makes so much sense- including why all the Pegasis Stallions we've seen in the show turned out to be jerks.

World building, yay! And Twi still doesn't get the 'whole other order' thing, does she? Emmy's old species may still be mammals, but that's about it

Ah, you've changed the name.

It's "scientist".

Love the world building, my favorite chapter of this side series has to be the genealogy of ponies.  Have to ask though, is some of this world building influenced by Xenophilia?

>>17663221766322

(Inspired by both Xenophillia and The Xenophillias Guide to Equestria, two very awesome stories.)

Source: The very first line in the description

>>17659421765942

She does care, she just isn't thinking everything through, something Twilight does

>>17659581765958

Even after having their brains directly linked, it's hard for Twilight to wrap her head around the thought that Emeris is from a world where there's only a single sentient species that has manipulator digits without any form of magic at all. She intellectually understands it, but she doesn't really get it just yet.

>>17663161766316

I had that right the first time I changed it, how the hell'd it change...

>>17663221766322

All of the social (and some of the genetic) worldbuilding is either directly from Xenophillia and its side stories, or built from scratch using those principles. The magic, physics, and genetics is entirely my own work (and thus, probably sucks ).

>>17666391766639

You better not be fishing for compliments, because I found your version of pony genetics to be very workable and fascinating

Ya do good work, boyo

>>17656711765671

I see a payback in the future with Twilight diary and a missing pages.  

>>17667131766713

I'm proud of the initial concept I had for the genetics (Triploid genetics... why not?), but the maths I've done are haphazard at best as shown by Hayquil's additions

>>17667151766715

Oh, it'll be even better than that

>>17668191766819

Also, now that Emeris mentioned, in the last chapter of the other story. Twilight try to avoid his horn by all means because of that or because of the consequence of doing that during a mind reading? Also, I hope that whatever happen is just temporal, Emeris and Twi, now having a cockel of personalities resulting of the fusion of their brain will be EXTREMELY awkward. Especially to AJ and Dash  

>>17668191766819

I have not seen Hayquil's work. Would you mind terribly if you gave me a link?

>>17668531766853

>>17668951766895

See the comments

>>17669321766932

D'oh! Whoops- I had forgotten about that comment. somehow. Still, plausible reason for hugely skewed gender ratio, YAY!

This is an initial report on magic. This is In-Character from Emeris PoV, this is to excuse any adjustments I may need to make based on stuff they do with things in MLP:FiM

That or if someone points out that this contradicts something shown in the series, which it's not supposed to

I couldn't figure out a good way to inject humor into this one until the very end sadly, so there's that. But these were never meant to be the most exciting reads anyways so I'll chalk up the humor I was able to work in as a win

Foolish Emeris, there's no magic runes on the Internet! AND you've given us your real name! Muahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!

Alas, I'm not the author, so I can't pull shit.

Drat.

Question: Are magic and spells exclusive of ponykind, or the other races (griffons, dragons, or specially zebras) can perform it too?

What about Zecora´s alchemy and hoodoo ?

Good job, Emeris. Given my limited understanding of quantum mechanics and biology, I could use de facto reality warping, getting the power for it from a "feedback loop," making a meta spell to cause Wolverine level regeneration, another for "true" shape-shifting and a sub-set to make a "hibernation" state.

>>17865991786599

Actually, you need someone's full name to properly use Name Magic, anything less is basically useless against anything with significant magic resistance, and Emeris has more than significant magic resistance. Emeris Fillson is just his first and last name, not his middle and not the various titles that he has picked up that have become a part of his name. As revealing these titles counts as a minor spoiler, I can't do so, but as a quick and dirty example of the kind of titles I'm talking about: Vlad the Impaler. To affect him properly with Name Magic you would need to use Vlad Dracule the Impaler.

And who says the internet doesn't have runes? You haven't discovered Name Magic yet have you?

>>17878601787860

Note that it very rarely specifies a species in the letter. Something not mentioned is the Foci Requirement for magic. To use magic like a unicorn, to cast spells, or even the obvious magical effects of Pegasi or Dragons require a magical focus. Dragons have their Heart and their Wings, which act as foci through which mana is concentrated and shaped into the "spells" which give them their powers.

Without a Foci of some form, magic is still possible, but the amount of power possible is considerably smaller, to the point that even someone with the raw mana reserves of Twilight could barely cast a Second Circle spell. Creating Foci like wands or staves is a relatively unknown and mysterious art, to the point that few other species know of it. Most other species use Runic magic. Most species have a natural foci of some form, such as a cutie-mark or a Dragons wings, these specific organic Foci allow the creature to work at least one innate spell, and sometimes even more than that. But they normally have little conscious control over this spell, and it merely 'happens'. Casting a spell outside of those that one's Foci allows is no better than casting without a Foci. Unicorn horns are some of the most generalized Foci in existence, but even they have their limitations as noted in the Differences between the Tribes letter, these are caused by the shape and composition of the unicorns horn.

Alchemy is basically Chemistry with mana, acting as a combination of the chemicals, the mana channeling/gathering molocules that allow species to gather/channel mana in the first place, but also the individual "flavors" of mana and in-process spells that most species and things have upon them. Most of this is barely understood by ponies, and as such, Emeris as well. He should have acknowledged its existence in this letter, but he didn't because despite being a smart cookie, he's a bit of a derp sometimes.

>>17880041788004

Yes and no. Wolverine-level regen is possible, but extremely difficult. The complexity of a bounded, trigger-based spell to cause any part of your body to regenerate is ridiculous. And note that there is no way to just pull mana from the air any faster than you would normally, so while you could get mana from burning up your own blood and then heal the damage, you're going to start to run out of mana. Ponies respire mana at a decent rate, but the amount of power to heal like Wolverine is greater than even someone like Twilight could regain in a reasonable amount of time. And a "limited understanding" won't cut it for Biology, you need the equivalent of a Masters degree to do most forms of healing magic, and a Doctorate would be better as you need to understand exactly where the bits and pieces go, what needs to be encouraged to grow, what needs to be stem cells and what needs to be normal cells, the proper ratios of chemicals and so on and so forth. It's hard to do safely, and if you don't do it safely, it usually doesn't even work due to beings magic resistance and survival mechanisms.

"True" shapeshifting falls under Reality Warping, Blood Magic, and Alteration and is very complex, to do so without risking your life is... ah... hard. Even someone like Twilight has trouble with it, though it's easier to do it on yourself than it is on someone else as you can bypass your own magic resistance and can link to your bodies survival mechanisms more easily. Still, you need a serious understanding of anatomy to consider it.

A hibernation state though is more than feasible and there exists several ways to do so, involving either time distortion or biological effects or soul magic. So that one's possible, just having limited usefulness on its own.

>>17882001788200, give back the healing that salamanders keep, increase speed and tame "cancerous" growth. Blood is able to be reformed easily, and can still be used for material, making it a working form of the bull$hit radiation healing of the Hulk. The idea is to reactivate the unstable healing that embryos have and blood cells are the only part of the body that can multiply infinitely. Steam cells would be used to be a "base" for the mass of malformed cells, making cancer cells into the cells needed. And the shape-shifting is a combination of soul magic to keep the mind intact, blood to change the body into what is wanted and "extra" matter is stored in a rune stabilized singularity through time/space distortion. Basally, a necklace for infinite storage. The hibernation state would be done by taking basically every hardening method there is and turning yourself into an indestructible beetle.

>>17883761788376

making it a working form of the bull$hit radiation healing of the Hulk.

Problem: The Hulk's powers are all explicitly bullshitium as he has done feats such as keeping matter and anti-matter separate, affected the core of a black hole, etc., which are physically impossible. These effects are explicitly not bullshitium and work very similarly to normal physical laws, just ones that we don't fully understand.

Now, read the section on Power From Blood a bit more carefully. It doesn't just affect the blood, the blood is normally just symbolic as part of the destruction of cells throughout the affected beings body, breaking them down entirely to provide the power in their chemical bonds for magic. If you could find a way to exclusively use blood-cells, the mass of cells affected would be relatively tiny, and as such, the corresponding amount of energy would be tiny.

Giving yourself back that special "regen" feature that people lose over time would require knowing which gene sequences you are affecting, otherwise it just wouldn't work. And considering the complexity of the pony genome in this verse... good luck.

Increasing the speed of your biological processes without forcing you to eat almost constantly would require a considerable amount of mana, and even if you were converting your own blood into power, you'd be expending far more power than you were getting. Because while your body would bring in mana and energy from oxygen, you would have to expend the mana to reform all of the ATP required to make your body function and create new cells. And if you're just getting back the energy from a portion of the cells you destroyed... basically, it's a lot like this or this, but is really closest to this if you removed the box.

In theory, if you burned up portions of your body such as your muscles using Power from Blood, then you could maintain the regeneration for a limited period of time, but the inefficiency of the magic would still mean you would be losing out and it would cost a significant amount of mana, more so than most ponies can respire. And if you lose control of the spell in the least... well... um... yeah, not good.

So... yeah... wolverine-style regen isn't exactly possible in this understanding of MLP:FiM Magic.

You can't just create a singularity, nor is it so easily stabilized without a very advanced understanding of physics. That and there does exist transformation magic, but it is a delicate and dangerous process if its anything permanent. Soul magic also doesn't work that way for most beings, so aggressively altering your brain is generally a bad idea.

The hibernation is, in theory, possible, but not really practical. The amount of energy you'd expend would be considerable and thus, would limit the amount of time you could stay "hibernating". Keeping the energy costs below your mana-respiration rate would be key to making it last, and most of those methods don't let you do much more than keep your biological processes running without consuming things or deteriorating your body excessively.

>>17885421788542, how is turning yourself into a beetle impractical? And you said that soul magic can be used to bind the soul to an object, so why can't it be used to hold the mind in place? And if there are spells to look at genes and mana, why can't it be used to take genes that tell what the exoskeleton is made of and mix-match materials? The shape-shifting relies on genetic copies, so it should work for things like swapping race and appearance. Genetics is hard to work with for a lot of things, but for materials in structures, it is easy enough. And I'm 14, so I have very little knowledge on the details

>>17886051788605

how is turning yourself into a beetle impractical?

The amount of energy it takes to make yourself basically indestructible is considerable and usually not worth it. You'd be better off being more mobile or having barriers as they're less complex and harder to mess up in the middle of a pitched fight. Impractical, not impossible or even unworkable. Just impractical. The hibernation part of it is the part that makes it really impractical, because to stay like that for a long time, Energy-In must be equal to or greater than Energy-Used (Or Energy-Out to make it easier to think of), otherwise you'd use up the mana you have and end the spell.

Now, if you're referring to actually, physically transforming into a beetle... well.. then you've got the mass issue as well as trying to figure out where the hell your brain and all of its memories go among other things.

And you said that soul magic can be used to bind the soul to an object, so why can't it be used to hold the mind in place?

Because Soul != Mind. They're related, but one does not equal the other (for most beings, there are exceptions). You'd get fragments of who you were, you'd basically be a zombie of yourself in a new body. There are ways around this, but they're extremely energy intensive magics (7th Circle+) which few beings are capable of.

And if there are spells to look at genes and mana, why can't it be used to take genes that tell what the exoskeleton is made of and mix-match materials? The shape-shifting relies on genetic copies, so it should work for things like swapping race and appearance. Genetics is hard to work with for a lot of things, but for materials in structures, it is easy enough.

Because being able to "see" the genes is different from knowing what they do. And in a body with tens of thousands of individual genes, you can't exactly tell what one does very easily, and expirementing with these things is terribly dangerous. Note that the most brilliant minds in the world, who dedicate their entire lives to exactly this kind of thing, have been working for decades to understand the human genome... and still don't really get it worth a damn. And Genetics aren't like Legos, you can't select "Long Neck Genes" from a giraffe for example, it just doesn't work that way, see here for a bit more information on how genetics and genetic engineering work.

Long Story Short: Genetics are unbelievably complex, and the fact that Emeris has figured out as much as he has is supposed to be absolutely amazing when considered in depth.

>>17887141788714, I am thinking of taking the material exoskeleton of one beetle and putting it into another. There is a beetle that requires a hammer and chisel to crack. And when you think about it, magic could be VERY efficient for maintaining the body, because at its base, you can run the body on electricity, oxygen is only needed for the electron transfer chain. The human genome is incomprehensible, but it took one or two years to find the genes for the eyes of mice. And they spent a month or two for fruit flies.

>>17899041789904

I am thinking of taking the material exoskeleton of one beetle and putting it into another. There is a beetle that requires a hammer and chisel to crack.

There's more to having an exoskeleton than one gene or even a set of genes. An exoskeleton is a skeleton for the body, and the weight it would add would be considerable. You'd need to isolate the genes that allow the beetle to grow the exoskeleton, determine what the exoskeleton is made out of, and maintain the exoskeleton, then you'd need to figure out how to modify those genes to work with the different biology of a pony which would take an advanced degree in genetic engineering in of itself, and then you'd need to spread the genes throughout your body (actually the easiest part of this when using magic) and then accelerate your bodies metabolic processes so that you grow the exoskeleton in a reasonable amount of time, all while hoping that it doesn't grow an exoskeleton over your mouth and nose or through vital organs.

It's not a simple process, despite how fiction likes to portray it.

And when you think about it, magic could be VERY efficient for maintaining the body, because at its base, you can run the body on electricity, oxygen is only needed for the electron transfer chain.

The electron transfer chain which multiplies the amount of ATP your body gets by 14 - 18 times, which your body is built upon requiring since without that amount of ATP generation your cells start to die, usually important ones like, y'know, brain-cells.

Sure, you could keep your heart beating with just electricity, but that's because it's a chemical/electrical reaction, it in no way keeps the cells of your body alive, which requires ATP, which requires the expenditure of energy to produce, whether it's mana or anything else. Your body doesn't "run" off electricity, not really, it just makes your muscles work which is a major part of your body running yes, but it doesn't actually cause your body to work.

The human genome is incomprehensible, but it took one or two years to find the genes for the eyes of mice. And they spent a month or two for fruit flies.

And? I've explicitly stated that pony genetics are more complicated than a humans for one. And for another, you'll note that they just say they've "mapped" the genetics of those species, not that they understand them. There are still experiments going on with the genetic modification of houseflies to determine the full effects of changing one gene. Seriously, they tweaked one gene and it caused somewhere around 8 different effects, one of which was eyes growing on he flies butt. They were trying to change the flies eye color if I remember correctly.

Genetic engineering is potentially extremely powerful and useful, but it is unbelievably complex and still barely understood by even the best scientists in the field, don't let science fiction and Hollywood tell you otherwise. (Also don't let that knowledge get in the way of a fun movie or book, but seriously, genetic engineering is an amazingly complex field, it's seriously not as easy as "I want an exoskeleton so I'll get the exoskeleton gene).

Edit: And just to be sure here, I'm not trying to be a dick about this, I just want to make sure you understand that it's (unfortunately) not that simple. While the concept is cool and would be awesome in a work of fiction that didn't (try) to be so rigorously scientific as I'm trying to here, it... well, it doesn't work in fiction that tries to be realistic to the degree that what I'm doing tries to.

Name Magic sort of reminds me of the True Names in the Inheritance Cycle. Concidering what Galbatorix was capable with that, I agree with the erasure.

Gaining power over sentient creatures in that manner is bloody horrific, especially with how simple it is.

>>17926511792651

There's actually a necessary component of Name Magic that has been deliberately left out and no attention drawn to the fact to make it even harder for somebody to figure out Name Magic from first principles. But yeah, Name Magic is much like True Names in the Inheritance Cycle as well as Full Names in the Dresden Files. All of the "forbidden" schools of magic are that way for damn good reasons. While it makes Celestia seem like a bit of a tyrant, she's more than benevolent and entirely justified in her attempts to suppress the knowledge, much in the same way knowledge on how to build WMD's is suppressed as best it can be.

>>17926691792669

Well, you know what they say, knowledge is power, forbidden knowledge has great power, and great power corrupts greatly, unless you find an individual possessing great strength of character. The odds on that are fairly low though. . .

I suppose Equestria was spared in a way, someone with more malicious intents could have abused the Gary Stu/Mary Sue spell. Speaks a great deal about Emeris as well, though as you said, he's still not exactly recovered from that yet, is he?

Can't say I blame him, two years of what seems to amount to constant emotional torture would do that to anyone.

>>17882001788200

The internet has runes, but it doesn't have ink.

>>17926691792669

The knowledge that lets people build WMDs is the same knowledge that lets them build nuclear reactors. In fact, were it not for the former, the latter would never have happened.

>>17941111794111

The knowledge that lets people build WMDs is the same knowledge that lets them build nuclear reactors. In fact, were it not for the former, the latter would never have happened.

Does a third of the population have access to plutonium in amounts sufficient to create a 'dirty' kiloton+ nuclear warhead?

>>17941411794141

No, but by the same token, nobody is rendered incapable of learning nuclear physics in the process of beginning to study it.

>>17941621794162

A full third of Equestrian society is capable of learning and using any form of "black" magic, and some forms of those magics are able to be used by anyone. This is literally the equivalent of giving them all the ability to create terrible bio-weapons, to carry around a gun with hollow-point rounds, the ability to casually drug and brainwash people, and to defile the graves and memory of past loved ones casually. This is in addition to the perfectly valid nuclear weapon comparison. While some of these magics are actively corrupting in the same way drugs such as meth, crack, or heroine are to encourage their use.

There is no good use for Name Magic, none worth the terrible things that it can do. It can make it easier to work on things, to perform magic on difficult to work on materials, but the sheer horror that it is capable of in the hands of anyone who may wish to use it wrong is flat out not worth having to ask someone to help you provide the power to work with this material.

There are uses of some of the portions of 'forbidden' magics, as evidenced by the school of Medicine drawing from them. But Name Magic in particular has no other uses.

To steer this discussion away from Name Magic, what sort of materials would be useful for an artificial magic focus?

I'm reminded of phoenix feathers for some reason *cough* Potter *cough*.

I imagine that those indestructible pegasus primary feathers (thank you Xenophilia) could be useful....

In other words, what'choo makin' wands of, boy?

>>17942931794293

Any particularly magically resonant material or item could be made into an artificial magical focus. Pheonix or Pegasus feathers, dragon bone, wood from a zap apple tree, etc.

The key point is that what you choose for your focus as well as how you inscribe and work it, heavily defines the magics which the focus is capable of casting, or in the case of a generalized focus, what it is good at. Dragon Bone is a particularly good magical focus due to the breadth of magic it is capable of implementing, as is the material a unicorns horn is made of.

The dust from filing a unicorns horn is actually often carefully smelted into metals to make them magically conductive, and during times that the three tribes were at racial wars with one another, it was used as a form of fertilizer to enhance the growth of plants and the effects of magic upon the plants by unicorns to supplement their food production due to not having Earth Pony magics (Pegasi are capable of eating meat and as such, ate fish to supplement their diets). Alternatively, shredded pegasus primaries would have a similar effect, though leaning towards making materials lighter or electrically conductive.

The key point for a magical focus though is that it be resilient, something a bit difficult to get due to the normally organic nature of most magically conductive materials. Crystals are one of the few inorganic, magically conductive materials, let alone common ones. Gold, silver and mercury are all magically conductive to certain forms of spells and can 'store' mana, and while brass and copper are horrendous magical capcitors/batteries, they're good magical conductors. Alluminum is actually extremely magically conductive, especially for pegasi magics (But due to the extreme difficulties in refining it properly, it is almost twice as valuable as gold). Iron and lead are both "dead" materials. Magically non-conductive to the point that they sap magic out of things that they touch, the more 'radioactive' elements actually radiate entropic magic unless properly and dangerously refined.

So yeah, there's a wide range of things that can be made into magical foci, it just depends on what you're going for. For a pony, I'd suggest a, hrm... a necklace (since having to carry your focus with magic defeats the purpose of a focus), with a crystal grown in earth pony blood with unicorn horn dust and pegasus bone. Inset into silver and obsidian glass, heated with a fire stoked with pegasi feathers. Y'know, something like that for a proper, generalized magical focus that would supersede a unicorn's horn.

Humans though would have a far greater swath of things to choose from, yay opposable thumbs (we also have to since, well, no natural magical foci).

>>17943531794353

I remember reading a fic around here a while back that also had aluminium as a thaumic conductor, except the ponies had discovered electrolysis, leading to a magical industrial revolution of sorts. Magical constructs for the win! It was also a severe dystopia where Rainbow and Fluttershy had deposed Celestia and Luna, and Rainbow, using the military might of Equestria was slowly conquering the globe. Yeah. The world building in that story was pretty good, though.

Anyway, I notice that you have earth pony blood and pegasus bone up there, which I rather like. I imagine the magic of the pegasus make their bones lighter than the norm, so their skeletons must be chock full of magic residue. Is the earth pony blood a sort of 'we're a part of this land' sort of thing?

Anyway, what I'm asking is if the horn of a unicorn, blood of earth thing symbolic, or would the bones of an earth pony and the blood of a pegasus be less ideal?

Wow, I'm asking strange questions

"Yo, Twi! Mind if I have a borrow of your horn? It'll grow back!"

>>17944321794432

Pegasus blood would work, but it has less magic than their bones (especially their wing-bones). And Earth Pony bones would work extremely well. Properly used, the dust from filing Earth Pony hooves is a powerful magical conductor as it's how Earth Ponies gain/use their magics. Pegasus blood is less ideal, but Earth Pony bone is workable. The reason I cited them in that order was based on a certain artifact in Season 3, Episode 5

And actually, a horn will grow back as I've noted eariler in this series. Provided it's not cut off at the very base of the horn, nearly flush with the skin. And even then, young enough ponies can grow that back. But it takes an extremely long time, and the horn of one unicorn or another usually isn't all that different or more valuable. Twilight and Trixie are rare examples, as are any even pseudo-alicorns due to their imperfect tri-hybrid status allowing their horns to work multiple kinds of magics normally not possible for unicorns.

Also: By this understanding, spa's are able to operate relatively cheaply compared to the amount of 'power tools' they require to properly work on a ponies tougher materials due to them being able to sell off the dust from horn and hoof-filings of the appropriate two tribes, though they likely have to get the customer to sign a waiver to allow them to do so. This also means that grooming of things like that properly is a major deal for unicorns as well as the more blacksmithing-inclined Earth Ponies.

>>17945661794566

Huh. Suddenly the spa becomes a necessity instead of a luxury. Locus and Aloe must be rolling in it.

>>17952331795233

Except for the expenses involved in things like hoof grinders, new horn-files every month, the cost of heating water in a society without electricity, various expensive oils that are used up constantly, and creams and proper mud...

All of these expenses are considerably greater than what we'd expect since the infrastructure to distribute them isn't up to par. Food's everywhere, but it's a lot more expensive to transport things (like the appropriate creams and oils) significant distances in large enough quantities for the spa to use.

Now, they're still making good money, but their expenses are higher than you'd expect if you think of spas in modern societies due to the (relative) lack of infrastructure.

>>17953541795354

Rail System still developing, then?

Equestria needs canals! Lots of them!

Come to think of it, those little 4-4-0 seem to be in mostly passenger service.

And I bet most ponies don't like water too much (Creatures of the plains on the bounding Main? I don't think so)

>>17943531794353

Oh! Here's a bit of worldbuilding that may interest you (and which seems to coincide pretty well with what you've got here)

http://lurks-no-more.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4flcta

I especially like his description of prosthectic unicorn horns, made of " a copper core, with a crystal mantle and often a gold or silver sheath"

Sounds like a good candidate for a wand, methinks.

>>17900201790020, I'm not trying to give a pony an exoskeleton, I'm trying to make one beetle's exoskeleton have the same material as another beetle's. ATP formation can be sustained with electricity, because the electron transfer chain uses oxygen’s bonding as a conductor for ion formation. And all I'm doing with pony genes is just making a di-hybrid into a tri-hybrid. Basally the same as making a clone of a man into a woman, just a bit larger scale. And if I got anything wrong, I did tell you I'm 14 years old

>>17941991794199

> There is no good use for Name Magic, none worth the terrible things that it can do.

> It can make it easier to work on things, to perform magic on difficult to work on materials, but the sheer horror that it is capable of in the hands of anyone who may wish to use it wrong is flat out not worth having to ask someone to help you provide the power to work with this material.

It seems like you're contradicting yourself here. Is it still evil even if only used on inanimate objects (no good use), or is the problem that there's no way to teach someone the good parts without also enabling them to use the evil parts (there are good uses, but it's not worth the risk)?

>>18066281806628

The latter. There's no way to teach them the good use without enabling them to use the evil parts first. Using it to make it easier to work on magically resilient substances with magic is a more advanced application of the principles which allow someone to control or kill another by bypassing their magical resistance.

Kinda like not being able to build a factory without giving every worker an AK-47 to take home with them to do their work and then paying them in ammo and date-rape drugs.

It's that vs. Hiring some more workers so you have the requisite mana output to work on the materials.

Did the Princesses use the Names of their respective celestial bodies to gain their alicorny attunements, or is that something completely different?

>>18066831806683

I am not touching that one IC or OOC for multiple reasons.

As stated in the paper about Alicorns, there's a difference between a "true" alicorn and an alicorn like the Princesses. The Princesses reside in an intentionally nebulous tier in this world-building exercise, somewhere between "god" and "Immensely powerful". The exact limits of what they can do, how they came about, how old they are, and exactly what they are is intentionally left vague.

They are immensely powerful, apparently immortal beings that are able to draw directly from the wellspring of mana that is their respective celestial bodies as well as exert an amount of influence on said objects. Beyond that, they are at least as strong, fast, and tough as a "true" alicorn (Perfect Trihybrid), maybe more, in addition to centuries, maybe milleniums of experience.

That is literally as much as I am defining them. I have personal notes on these things so I can't contradict myself, but nothing to share unfortunately.

>>17926511792651  

Also i loved this chapter really reminded me of a pathfinder or DnD reference book

I know you mentioned it somewhere before (can't remember), but if you dropped a human in your Equestria can he use magic?

An alien that use to live in a mana free world usually has mix results. Unless they come from a magic world with different rules.

>>18511041851104

In theory? Yes a human could use magic in Equestria. However, we have not been trained in the use of magic, and in order to get any measurable effect one would need a magical focus (something that humans do not naturally have) such as a wand or necklace or other thing to focus the mana through.

However, getting them to the point to where they can use the magical focus that isn't inherent to their body would be very difficult, as we live in a mana-deprived environment. In this understanding of Equestria/our world, mana/magic exist in our world, but the field is so ridiculously weak that it is not worth mentioning. Much in the way that the astronauts on the Space Station aren't actually in zero gravity, but are rather in micro-gravity.

The (current) Micro-mana of our world/reality/dimension/totally-not-telling which would actually kill native Equestrian species with very, very few exceptions. However, as a counterpoint, the mana saturation does weird things to a human body over an extended period of time, altering basic physical composition in strange ways. Emeris is an exception to this because SPOILERZ .

>>18511791851179

Hmm, would a human born and raised in Equestria need a magical focus?

Oh and name magic is used in everyday life. When a mother yells out their child's full name they know they are in trouble.

Pinkie Senses = Clairvoyance at a untamed but high level?

>>18511791851179

Lero would be in the deep shit, though

"Twilight, Dear, the basic fundamental forces of this world have spawned tumours throughout my body"

"Are they magical, friendship tumours?"

"Nope, just the regular ones"

>>18529481852948

Thought I'd replied to this earlier... guess it got eaten.

Hmm, would a human born and raised in Equestria need a magical focus?

Yes. All spells require a magical focus of some kind, even many innate "magics" require a focus. Pegasi, Unicorns, Dragons and so forth have natural magical foci (the pair of wings, their horn, their wings and heart respectively) and as such, are able to convert and focus their mana into active and powerful effects. Earth Pony magic is subtle and generally inefficient, as they do not have a magical focus outside of their cutie-mark, and cultural expectations cause the cutie mark to rarely manifest in a way that would generate any obvious magical effects.

A human, even one raised in Equestria, would be just as "unable" to use magic without a magical foci as one who had not. Humans do not have the natural magical structures required to simulate an Earth Ponies strength, but some particularly magically gifted humans could display similarly subtle abilities as earth-pony craftsmanship or weak precognative or clairvoyant capabilities.

A human raised in Equestria would have two major advantages with regards to spellcasting over one that wasn't, but these have nothing to do with magical foci.

1). Their body would be acclimated to mana saturation and use. Magical-burn-out / Mana-burn could do strange things to a humans body, while generally harmless except at the highest levels, it could make magic do weird and unexpected things. Using mana for spells would inherently involve the movement of mana through the body, which is the main cause of magical burn-out. However, it's entirely possible for a human body to slowly acclimate to the higher levels of mana over time.

2). Mana-sensing would be easier for a human raised in Equestria. Due to the mana-deprived/micro-mana nature of our environment, our mana/magical senses have deteriorated. Not as a species, but as individuals. It can be likened to a person who had been raised in absolute blackness might be blinded by exposure to light, and even if they weren't blinded, be unable to process the sudden wealth of new information properly. It would certainly be possible to "re"-learn this sense, but it would be slow and difficult going. A human raised in Equestria would have developed mana-senses naturally, which would likely be somewhat more sensitive than the average unicorns.

Oh and name magic is used in everyday life. When a mother yells out their child's full name they know they are in trouble.

Pinkie Senses = Clairvoyance at a untamed but high level?

Pinkie in general is a bit weird from a magical standpoint. But yes, her Pinkie Sense would fall under the school of Clairvoyance. Just remember, the "schools" of magic are mostly artificial groupings of spells and spell effects.

---

>>18642311864231

Lero would be in the deep shit, though

"Twilight, Dear, the basic fundamental forces of this world have spawned tumours throughout my body"

"Are they magical, friendship tumours?"

"Nope, just the regular ones"

As was noted by Emeris in Consequenes of Unoriginality, Equestria does not have cancer or anything resembling cancer. There are reasons for this that extend past Equestrian genetics and would affect humans as well.

The high concentrations of mana would make a person feel weird for several weeks, maybe months, before their body acclimated to them, and the sudden change from micro-mana environment to mana-saturated environment could magically blind a person, but the visible effects would be minimal provided the flow of mana was small during the time it took for the persons body to acclimate. In some ways, it's like an electric charge, you can have a massive electrical charge stored in your body and it won't hurt a thing, but the moment the electricity starts going somewhere... you turn into a crispy critter. Something similar but a bit more... chaotic... is true of a human body and mana in such an environment.

>>18643601864360

coolio.

I had somehow forgotten about the non existence of cancer in your world- and that was a little tidbit that I really liked!

Oh well, no one ever said jokes had to be accurate. I imagine that a reaction to a large blast of mana (high powered spell< probably?) in a non acclimatized human would likely resemble the effects of poison joke? Albeit more permanent in nature.

Also: I like how a natural born Equestrian human would be better at sensing magic then a unicorn- presumably for the same reason we're better at tracking type spells then unicorns are? Predator heritage for the win!!!1!