//------------------------------// // Magic Analysis: Unstable // Story: Ashes to Inferno // by Sun Aura //------------------------------// A new year, and new problems. Not anything specific, but Sunset was curious by nature. Magic in this world was strange, to say the least. The only way to figure it out was research, but wasn't going as expected. She’d started with something she was sure would work, and had decided to test it out while everyone was still transformed from band practice. “Sorry dear,” Rarity said, handing the Sapphire back. “I don’t think I can figure this one out.” “This doesn’t make sense,” Sunset sighed, her confusion already creating an Ice Spell in the gem. “It’s just focusing Magic through the gem using emotions.” “Sorry,” she repeated. “Perhaps it’s just a lack of practice.” “No,” she frowned. “I can feel it. It’s like your Magic isn’t built for it, but I don’t know why. It’s like Unicorns aren’t compatible with it. I might as well be asking you to fly.” “Aren’t you a Unicorn, too?” Applejack asked, turning so she sat backwards in the chair. “Yeah,” she said. “But I don’t think it’s a Unicorn ability. When I used gems for spellcasting, I’d focus a specific spell through the gem. But here, I’m focusing emotions through it and it becomes a spell. Does that make sense?” “I think an art studentsaid something like that,” Rainbow said as she tuned her guitar. “Something like ‘sometimes I go to paint trees, and other times I chuck paint at the wall and it looks like trees’.” “Exactly!” she said. “I don’t know how I’m doing it! And I figured if any of you could do it, Rarity could since her Counterpart is a Unicorn too. But apparently it's not because I'm a Unicorn, so why can I do it?” “Who knows?” Pinkie shrugged, plucking the Sapphire out of her hand. “But this thing is really pretty, and you really should let me show these to Maud. She’d flip. Also, this one’s really cold. Huh. Usually when you hold a gem it warms up, right?” “Cold?” Fluttershy repeated. “Let me see that,” Sunset frowned. She didn’t get a chance. When Pinkie tossed it, the gem began to glow. Within the time it took to blink, a small flurry of snow blasted the room. It lasted seconds, but the six were covered in white. “What in the hell was that?” Applejack demanded, shaking snow off her hat. Sunset picked up the Sapphire, having not caught it when the storm begun. It wasn’t cold anymore. Biting her tongue in thought, she came up with a theory. “Pinkie,” Sunset began. “Can you hold this again?” “You sure that’s a good idea?” Rainbow asked as Pinkie took the Sapphire. “Not-not to be rude,” Fluttershy said. “But I agree with Rainbow. That was weird.” “It’s fine,” Sunset assured. “Pinkie, can you think of something sad? Like, a scene from a book that makes you cry?” Pinkie stared at the Sapphire for a moment, thinking of a scene to choose. Her hair lost a bit of its curl, and Sunset could swear that her colors turned just a bit darker as the frown formed on her face. Tears were on the verge, but she seemed to be holding together. Gently, Sunset took the sapphire back, telling her it was okay to stop. The gem itself was as she expected, full of a water spell. “And that’s even stranger,” Sunset mused. “What is?” Fluttershy wondered. “She can do it,” she answered, gesturing to Pinkie. “The whole gems-emotional-magic thing.” “So the snowstorm was her?” Rainbow asked. “Sorry,” Pinkie chuckled nervously. “It doesn’t make sense,” Sunset muttered. “I’m a Unicorn, and your counterpart is an Earth Pony. Our Magic should be wired completely differently!” “Are you sure it’s because of Equestria?” Applejack asked. “Well, the Magic came from there,” she began. “True,” she nodded. “But this is another world. I bet y’all don’t gain magic from singing.” “Well, no,” she admitted. “Only Sirens, but even then singing doesn’t give them magic, it’s just how they cast spells and-“ “And,” she cut her off, “Maybe it’s different. Maybe this gem magic ain’t because of a Pony ability, but something Human.” “Even if it was, I’m still a Unicorn,” she said. “Of course,” she nodded. “But you’re kinda Human too.” “She does have a point,” Rarity said. “You did say that Humans usually can’t use Magic because we’re not ‘wired’ to do so. Perhaps, while we can access magic now, our abilities are based on some traits other than our Counterpart’s? After all, you don’t have a horn when you Pony Up. And Neither do I or Twilight.” “I….” Sunset frowned. “Maybe. I’ll work on figuring it out.” Her further attempts were just as confusing. On one hand, she couldn’t explain what music had to do with anything or why only she and Pinkie could use Crystal Magic. But on the other hand, their Magic mimicked Equestria’s so well. Her other abilities, like being able to feel another’s Magic, proved that well enough. Rarity’s was built like a Unicorn, made to cast spells even though no one had figured out how to channel said spellcasting yet. When Twilight was over, her Magic felt like an Alicorn, which is to say all over the place. Sunset’s own Magic felt a little off. Now that she was looking for it, she could feel what was ‘Unicorn’ and what was something else. But it wasn't new. It had always been there, but she hadn't thought that she had other abilities, so it didn't read differently until now. Others were expected and unexpected. Rainbow and Fluttershy both got wings, and felt like Pegasai. However, Fluttershy seemed to be part something else, a Hybrid. Not a full Hybrid, as her Pony Counterpart looked Pegasus enough, but possibly a grandparent. Oddly enough, that 'something else' was Siren. Applejack was easily Earth Pony. Her Magic actually sort of screamed it, in a way. Pinkie’s was Earth Pony too, but not quite all Earth Pony. Like Sunset’s, there was something else, whatever let her use Crystals. It took a moment for her to put it together, but it was similar to Hybrid Magic. As if the two of them weren’t completely Unicorn and Earth Pony. Even so, she’d never heard of a creature who could do what they could, nor felt anything like this Magic. Even if that mystery was both more and less of a mystery, there was still a lot to figure out. Like why those that should have horns don’t, or why Music makes them transform.Some she could brush of as ‘we don’t completely know how the Magic of Friendship works, as no one’s studied it’. Overall, this world’s Magic felt ridiculously unstable. Not the ‘it will blow up in your face’ unstable, but more like that of a foal. It did what it wanted, what it needed. Sunset couldn’t force it to work with her, that caused a ‘tantrum’ of sorts, but she could coax it into doing what she wanted. It needed to protect this world, so it gave the girls a way to use some Magic. They managed to talk it into giving them Magic when they sing. It almost seemed alive. There had been a few Magics like that, back in Equestria. But the ones she remembered most were the Magics the Princess had used every day. The Magic she used most often had felt like the Sun itself; it had been warm, a gift to light the way, but also a bit mysterious, as you could never look directly at it. It was not some hidden powers, but Celestia’s Magic itself. It was almost as if she and the Magic were one, not that it was a part of her like any pony’s Magic, but as if she were the Magic itself, truly come to life. But twice a day, there was another Magic she used. It was softer, though not in strength. Instead of showing power through an intense simplicity, it created a dramatic display of what it could do. It lit the way through the dark and fought off those that hid in shadows. That was the Magic of the Moon, just as alive as the Sun. The Magic of Friendhship was like that too, as was Dark Magic oddly enough, along with everything in the Everfree Forest. The Magic of this world seemed to be alive as well. But if it were, then saying it was like a foal was very accurate, as the Magic was only a few months old. She only hoped it would stabilize itself soon.