//------------------------------// // Feel the Power // Story: My Own Wings // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// It didn't take long for Krystal to find the source of the cry. Her first impression of Sunset Shimmer was, to put it mildly, abjectly terrifying. The tiny filly was in the center of an etheric vortex that had ripped several things up from where they had been welded down. Her horn was glowing brightly, as were her eyes, and her mane and tail were waving in the air behind her as she screamed in a mix of pain and demand. But that was just visual impression. Krystal was able to actually sense the strength of the magical field Sunset was producing, and it was orders of magnitude beyond what she was capable of even with all the boosts from her tattoos and gear. If she was to get Sunset under control, she'd have to get her calmed down. She quickly made her staff shrink to the size of a baton before strapping it to her back. She then held her hands out in front of her as she carefully walked forward into the maelstrom, trying to project as much calm and comfort into her aura as possible, desperately hoping to influence the little filly somewhat. As she watched and pushed forward, the glow started to fade from Sunset's eyes. Sunset stared at Krystal for a time, then let out a happy squeal. The bits of equipment caught up in the cyclone dropped to the floor with a loud clang, and Krystal found herself surrounded in a bright blue magical field before being dragged over to where the little filly hung suspended in the air. Sunset then dropped, landing half buried in Krystal's exposed cleavage as the vixen moved her arms to catch her. Then Krystal's fingertips touched Sunset's horn. It took all of Krystal's self control not to vomit from the sensations that shot through her body just from touching Sunset's horn as she pulled her finger back. "...no wonder you're in such a state," she murmured softly. She then turned to Fox. "I need an opening into space with a unidirectional shield, preferably pointed towards the sun with no planets, moons, or other space debris in the way. And quickly." Fox tilted his head in confusion, but nodded. "Okay, we can do that." It took about ten minutes to arrange Krystal's request, during which she continuously stroked Sunset's mane to keep her calm. Once it had been arranged, Krystal stepped up to the open gate with the shield. Leveling her staff at the opening, she concentrated and fired a single magical fireball, about the size of a baseball. It passed easily through the energy shield and careened into space for a time before losing cohesion and fading. "Here's hoping this works..." she murmured softly. Keeping the front end of the staff pointed out the opening, she touched the butt of the staff to Sunset's horn. A beam of pure magical sunfire shot out the front of the staff, roaring out into space like a demon. It was at least a foot thick, and so tightly focused that it didn't dissipate until it was swallowed up by the fires of the sun. The beam maintained itself for a good minute before petering out, at which point Krystal dropped her staff and quickly blew on her hand. The staff was smoking and sparking, and her hand smoked as well. A good amount of fur had burned away, and the skin underneath was burned...though thankfully only first degree. "What was that?" Falco gasped in absolute terror. "Magic buildup," Krystal explained as soon as she could talk through the pain in her hand. "Most creatures with magic naturally release the magic they don't use into their environment...but Sunset's magic aura naturally interacts with her environment, causing a recursive loop if her environment is magic-free. That's what caused both the surges and the pain in her horn. I've drained off most of the buildup, but her magical aura is strong. Stronger than anything I've ever seen before." She glanced down at her still smoking and sparking staff. "And I doubt my staff will be up to another drain by the time she needs it. I'm going to need to do maintenance just to use it as a focus again." "So we need energy collectors attuned to magical energy, and arrange them around Sunset's crib to collect the magic she naturally releases into the environment before she reabsorbs it?" Slippy asked curiously, taking notes. "Basically, yes," Krystal confirmed. "But I doubt you'll be able to-" "I should be able to pull it off with some old solar panels," Slippy interrupted as he collated his notes. "The hard part will be attuning them to Sunset's specific magical frequency, and I was able to collect that data between the fireball and the solar beam passing through the shield." Krystal raised her eyebrow skeptically, but let it pass for now. "We've got maybe six hours before the buildups start up again. During that time, there's a few things I need to tell you about what I've learned so far once Sunset's resting peacefully...and then we need to discuss my fee." Fox, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy exchanged glances. That was one part of the discussion they really weren't looking forward to. Once Sunset was curled up in her crib, Krystal sat down with the group to explain what she'd learned. "First I need to give you some background information on the nature of magic, as I was taught," she explained softly. "Magic is a force that is part of reality...but at the same time not. In small amounts, it can be used to change reality but is still bound by physics. It's most readily controllable and predictable this way. In larger amounts, however..." She flexed her burned hand, glad to see her inner magic was already healing it. "Well, it becomes exceptionally dangerous. "The original understanding of this on my homeworld was the result of the work of a scientist named Professor Harmony(1), including a system for measuring magical potential...the Harmonium Scale. All things in existence have some level of magical field, though it's generally less than one Harmonium. It takes that much to leave a measurable impact on magic. It takes a field strength of five Harmoniums to manipulate the magical field enough to directly influence the world...to 'cast spells', as some might put it. Between one and five Harmoniums simply grants some magical abilities." She sat back. "My base rating is four Harmoniums, granting me telepathy and mystic empathy. My garb and tattoos are designed to enhance my field, boosting it to eight Harmoniums. My staff is designed to collect the magical energy my body doesn't use, giving me a store of power that can boost it to ten. "The dangerous boundary is at 12.5 Harmoniums," Krystal continued. "Below that rating, magic is still bound by the laws of physics. Above that rating, and magic ignores the laws of physics, and is instead bound by will. Nothing's ever been measured to be above that rating in the history of my homeworld, so everything else I'm about to tell you is pure theory...but you need to know." She paused long enough to see everyone was paying close attention. "A magical field in an individual between 20 and 30 Harmoniums would allow them complete control of their environment, up to the size of a city. Between 30 and 40, and said being could control everything over which they hold sway, such as a whole country, or even the planet on which they live if its magical field is strong enough to sustain such power. Between 40 and 50, and they'd be able to command the celestial bodies in their system, willing moons, planets...or even the sun to move. "Above 50..." She paused as she braced herself to explain this part. "Above 50 Harmoniums, and you have a living god, with reality itself bending to their whims, unless a stronger power is present. The only limit being their imagination and mental discipline." Dead silence greeted this last statement. Fox was the first to finally speak up. "And...where would you rate Sunset?" "Bare minimum, 15 Harmoniums," Krystal stated flatly. "And a field that strong in an individual is only going to grow as she gets older and learns to control it. Conservative estimate? No less than 25 Harmoniums by the time she hits puberty. And the more often she spikes or experiences buildups, the faster she'll reach that point." "Then it's a good thing I've finished designing the panels!" Slippy spoke up, carrying a few large black panels with odd circuit patterns on them towards Sunset's room, cables leading from them to large canisters. "Time to test..." The group followed, watching as Slippy entered Sunset's room. The moment he got close enough to the crib, the circuits on the panels began to glow the same blue as Sunset's magical aura. He carefully arranged them around Sunset's crib, then silently made his way back out. "These are just prototypes," he spoke up calmly, "but they should work for now." "Someone will still need to teach her how to control her magic once she has some conscious command of it," Krystal pointed out. "Guess we'll need your services for quite some time, then," Fox murmured with a smile. "I can't say it'll be unpleasant to have you sticking around. Quite the opposite." Krystal smiled back despite herself. "In that case, it would probably be best now to discuss my payment." Fox rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah...about that...we don't exactly have a...steady income..." "Is that what the ad meant by 'pay questionable'?" Krystal asked, feeling her hopes - and prospects - sinking. "Yeah...we don't exactly have many credits to our name," Fox admitted. "And what we have, we're going to need to spend carefully to take care of Sunset..." Krystal leaned on her palms, grumbling under her breath. "That's going to be a pain..." she murmured irritably. "My ship's barely flyable as is. How am I supposed to get fuel and repairs to continue my mission if you can't pay me?" Fox's eyes lit up. "Perhaps we could trade services?" he offered hopefully. "The Great Fox mostly mines fuel sources from stray unclaimed comets and asteroids. We could easily provide you what you need that way. And Slippy's great with all kinds of tech, so he could repair your ship easily." Krystal thought about that for a time. "Well, he did manage to get the tech needed to prevent Sunset's magic buildups amazingly quickly..." "And we could help you with your mission, if you want!" Peppy added helpfully. "The Star Fox team is a freelance flight team, ready to offer services when needed, but more readily mobile and actionable than the Lylat Fleet." Krystal rubbed her chin. "Tell you what. We'll call a refuel, repairs, room and board fair trade for the first few months. I'll see how your team operates in that time, and decide then if I want help with my mission." Fox smiled widely. "I can agree to that deal," he offered warmly, holding out his hand. Now knowing how to handle that gesture, Krystal returned the handshake. (1) Much of the concepts presented in the following discussion borrowed/in tribute to the amazing comic "The Birth of Equestria" by Shieltar. The comic can be found here.