16/11/2021 - Starswirl's Second Law of Thaumium Growth · 9:16pm Nov 16th, 2021
It's been a while. Chapter 19 of Moondust is trucking along. No set date, as usual, but it'll definitely be out before Christmas, and it'll be the largest chapter by far, so hopefully it'll be worth the wait!
For now, here's some worldbuilding talk. I want to explain a concept that I won't have the chance to properly explore until Golden Ghost Library: Thau-nuclear Force, or "TNF". Colloquially known as magic.
Essentially, this is the foundation of the power system within my version of the pony world, Epona. "Thau" comes from "thaum", which is a common fantasy term used to refer to a single unit of magical energy. However in this case, I'm using it to describe a process, rather than a particle.
First, the ground work.
Everything in the pony world, up to and including the planet itself, is made of Magic (note the capital 'M'; scientific term rather than colloquial), this world's equivalent to physical particles. Though everything is still "physical" as we understand it, the difference is that reality is a fair bit more... malleable. Things hold their shape and are still subject to natural processes, but the world around a magic user is open to being completely changed at the drop of a dime, should a unicorn decide to change the colour of a particular rock, or an earth-pony to encourage a flower to grow faster. Clouds are a little bit more fantasy-ish; they lean toward natural formations, but will change without conscious input from a passing pegasus. Given enough time and a high enough population, seeing naturally-occuring clouds could become a strange, unique experience for the ponies of the future.
So that's "physical" Magic. Now for the "magical" kind of Magic.
The magic within a living creature is normally not visible until it is in use. This is because a pony's magical stores exist just beneath the Material Layer, or physical world, in a kind of limbo. Not quite as deep as the Spirit Layer, but just enough to keep it out of view. Otherwise everyone would look like a light show 24/7. This kind of magic is what has been processed by the individual and absorbed into their system, either for the sake of supporting their basic life functions or for use in spells. In other words, a pony eats a burger made of physical Magic, and digests it into magical Magic. Yes, this can be done with literally anything made of Magic. Yes, I have considered the horrifying implications of this. That's why Gaia's Abandonment is a thing. One loose end later and the local king could start eating war slaves to show his dominance.
Anyway, so "non-physical" Magic exists in a sub-dimension, while "physical" Magic is normal reality. So, what's TNF?
I said before that Thau-nuclear Force represents a process. To put it simply, it describes how the non-physical stuff flows into the Material Plane, and it can be used as a numeric representation of that process. TNF-rating tests are generally done every so many years, on demand, or after major medical operations. The test judges how quick and how strong your flow is. The faster the flow, the quicker one's magical metabolism. The stronger the flow, the higher one's resting mana.
A weak flow is not necessarily a bad thing. A low resting mana with a medium-low metabolism is the basis for a very powerful Nature Magic user, for example. Mark high on both numbers and you're probably suited to Spirit Magic, since the debt you incur will be paid off much faster. A slow metabolism with a strong flow rate is well suited to heavy-lifting levitation and bigger spells. Got a high metabolism but a tiny flow rate...? You're probably an extremely powerful earth-pony with a huge amount of stored magic, not necessarily destined to do great or spectacular things, but you'll definitely live a long time.
Note that a faster flow does not translate to a faster casting speed, only to how quickly one can replenish used magic. Faster casting is generally accepted to be associated with the pointiness of one's horn. A Nature Magic specialist can still benefit from having a sharp horn. Artificially sharpening one's horn does not change anything.
To help illustrate this entire thing, I've come up with this scientific diagram to show the whole process:
1. Pony eats delicious hayburger-and-fries meal deal
2. The food's physical stuff passes through the pony's body as normal, but the "spirit" of the thing flows into the pony's power center, the heart, and begins to be processed into useable energy.
3. Absorbed Magic finishes converting and is sent into the sub-dimension. Some will stay behind to support the physical body in the form of resting mana.
4. Pony wants to do a thing with its horn. Energy is drawn from the sub-dimension at a rate matching that pony's flow. The heart serves as both the entrance and exit of the magical sub-dimension.
5. Energy travels through the pony's aether veins and out through the horn.
As one final extra thing, and to make this all super simple to imagine, just think of TNF as power levels. Higher flow speed and strength? Higher power level. Higher power level? Higher bragging rights, assuming you want to be punched in the gut by the generally less magical races.
Here's a list as a general guide for what this all looks like in practice:
Alicorns - 1000+
Ascended Alicorns - 100-1000
Ponies - 10-100
Plants and "magicless" species - 1-10
And just for fun:
Cadence - 200-and-something
Twilight - 127 (as a unicorn)
Rainbow Dash - 72
Rarity - 34
Fluttershy - 29
Applejack - 12
Pinkie - Probably something with three digits.
Ok. That's all for now. Next time I'll probably talk about either the magical styles or about countries and politics or something.
That does sound like some great world building information in preparation for the sequel when you finally finish "Moondust" and get around to it (which I'm not trying to rush - I know quality work takes time).
And yeah, the "science behind magic" stuff is a beautiful detail.
I guess Discord would also be in excess of 1000,
Adult dragons would also be in the lower three digits (flight, great strength and durability, flame breath and occasionally other abilities too),
Changelings would be in the lower three digits at minimum (though capable of reaching four digits when absorbing enough love)
Cheese Sandwich's score would be the same as Pinkie Pie's
Shining Armor would easily be in the lower three digits at minimum (even if not as powerful as his future wife, future daughter or little sister, he is still a fair bit above average for a unicorn)
Tirek would be in the lower two digits WITHOUT feeding (i.e. when the only magic he has is the ability to absorb other magic), but WITH feeding, his score would easily reach into the four digits
Sombra would be in the middle-to-upper three digits/lower four digits.
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Thanks for showing interest in this! Here’s some addendums for extra clarity:
The 10-100 range is, generally speaking, what all equine species fall under. So ponies, changelings, kirin, and most odd subspecies (I.E. Lamias and goo ponies) all fall within this category. It’s easy to forget that Twilight is a major exception to what unicorns are normally like, which is why she breaks the mold.
As a general rule, earth-ponies tend towards the lower end of the range, pegasi to the middle, and unicorns towards the middle-top. Changelings are probably somewhere towards the middle, while subspecies are usually even less magical than earth-ponies. There are exceptions, of course.
You’re pretty much right about Tirek’s numbers. Dragons I see as commonly in the 1000+ category but still below alicorns. It takes thousands of years for a dragon to reach that kind of level, starting at around 50-100, while alicorns often start in the lower hundreds, if not higher.
For Discord… he’s a different story. If we were to put him on this scale then he’d end up with a lot more digits, though I won’t go into detail on that.
Here’s a few more random characters to help give perspective on my thoughts:
Moondancer - 19
Shining Armor - 80
Macintosh - 32
Chrysalis - 530
Trixie - 29
Starlight - 75
Ember - 350
Note that just because a character has a high TNF rating that does not necessarily translate to what they're capable of. It's purely a judge of how much energy they have to work with. Dragons are extremely powerful, but have basically no uses for all that magic, for example.
Even though everything is made of Magic and Magic is what keeps everything alive, griffons exist in defiance of this rule. Unlike dogs, who have a tiny bit of energy, griffons are, inexplicably, completely magicless. There is currently no scientific explanation for why this is, or how their bodies can function without it.