“Creatures' magic is the largest category of magic, divided into various subcategories and schools. Whether it's a basilisk or somepony of us, we all are using magic in a similar way: converting internal energy into the magical and releasing it with a simple magic.
“Methods of release are already different. For example, basilisk is unable to release its magic in any way other than attempt to turn other creature into the stone or back. For them such, let's call it "spell", is easy to use due to the brain structure. For any unicorn a petrification spell demands practising and learning. And it's interesting, but our counterspell is unable to remove basilisk's petrification, which shows the difference between our spells. Though, there are some stories about unicorns who were capable to do that, but, I'm afraid that we won't be able to teach you such things. You always can try to create you own spell or counterspell, we surely will provide you all needed support.
“Anyway, primitive creatures' magic has very narrow scope of use. Their magic is not so primitive though, but for them it is as easy as manipulative levitation spell for us. Thus, we divide creatures' magic into the subcategories:
1. Passive magic.
2. Natural magic.
3. Spellcasting magic.
“Let's start from passive. All creatures have it. It's very hard to use and even harder to study. Even the oldest and wisest unicorns usually are unable to affect it. One of the good examples of such magic will be our Princess Luna's dream walking. Nopony knows how she actually does it, but at least it was scientifically determined that Princess creates a connection on the passive magic level via the spellcasting.”
“Is it possible to protect from that?” a question came.
“I told you, it's not studied. In theory if you will create some kind of magical field around yourself then Princess won't be able to find you. At least it is what happened during the tests. But we shouldn't be afraid of our Princess, aren't we?
“Let's continue. Next is natural magic. I already mentioned basilisk as an example. Another good example will be dragons firebreath, deer's magic or the changeling shapeshifting. In the past our manipulative magic also was a natural one, but as the time past our horn changed a bit and now, we can use spellcasting magic much easier than our ancestors could, but we had to sacrifice our natural manipulative levitation for that. Every foal has to learn how to lift objects today, but still, it is very close to natural due to the bare simplicity. But unlike other species, we are leaned towards spellcasting magic, which we will talk about right now.
“Spellcasting. It's what all our spells are. Levitation, fire, blast, magical projectiles, healing, illusions, smoke, water, all what you'll be able to remember. Here we have a huge variety of different schools, all of which demand studying and practising. School of manipulation, elements, illusions, healing, protection, martial arts and other less known ones. I hope you all heard about spells, which allow to temporarily change age, enchant object to do a certain action and so on. These are the highest-level spells that even the best wizards might not be able to cast.
“Let's change the course a bit. Since we are talking about us then we need to clarify our aptitude to the certain schools. Why aren't we equally capable of studying and using magic?”
“Because we cannot hold the same amount of magical energy.”
“Correct. The amount of stored magic varies from unicorn to unicorn and depends on the age. It increases with us getting older. Thus, old wizards are able to use powerful spells, but their stored magical energy restoration is very slow. While the unicorn is young, his internal energy swiftly converts to the magical, especially when he needs it. Over time the speed of this conversion decreases, making our fatigue more perceptible. It's not the only factor though. We also spend more magic on the simple spells than needed because this action basically becomes automatic. This is true even for the manipulative levitation.
“But still, it doesn't explain our aptitude to certain school. Where this comes from?” Total silence. “I guess nopony read recent scientific research on that topic. Well, scientists hypothesised that it depends on our ancestors and schools they studied. If, for example, you grandfather was a healer, then healing spells can be easier for you to cast. Of course, there are always some exclusions.”
“And how Princess—” somepony wanted to ask a question, but lecturer continued this question himself.
“And how Princess powers aren't limitless, right? Let's say first that she is not a unicorn, she's an alicorn. Yeah, she is capable to use magic the same way we are, but there are not so much alicorns to be able to study them. Alicorn princesses are one of the mysteries, which we still have to solve.”
“And what about King Sombra?” another student asked.
“King Sombra is a more interesting case. Sombra explains his age by the unique artefact on his neck. His necklace is considered to prolong his life. If King will take it off then, in theory, he's going to immediately die. Sombra is not getting older, thus his magical energy is not changing. He's only able to hone his skills of the spellcasting. Almost the same can be said about Princess Luna, though we have no idea on whether she's aging or not.
“Now, that we dealt with our dear exclusions, we can continue with the enchantments next time to finish categorising the magic.”