//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Magic lessons // Story: Equestrian empire: peace in order // by writing dragon //------------------------------// Pulled out of his thoughts Star Swirl's mind returned to the present and the hugging fillies in front of him. "So, shall we go and start your training for today then." "Yes, teacher." The two fillies said in unison. Star Swirl and his students sat outside in the castle's garden, they sat upright in a cross-legged position with their front hooves pressed together, and closed eyes. The sounds of the garden animals all around them. Blue and white were starting to get restless, due to boredom. "Stop moving so much and focus." Star Swirl said, without ever opening his eyes. "But, I'm bored," Bleu whined opening her eyes. "This is important, you must concentrate on your surroundings, concentrate on the magic. Understanding it." "But, why?" White asked, opening her eyes like her sister. "I already understand magic. I recently even teleported!" White said proudly, opening her eyes like her sister. Star Swirl let out a sigh, he never liked explaining something to his students. He was a firm believer that they would learn more if they figured it out on their own. 'I suppose I should get them interested in what I am trying to teach them. Otherwise, we will get nowhere.' "No, you can feel the presence of magic and manipulate it, but you do not understand it." "Yes, I do," Bleu shot back. "Magic is the force that binds everything together. You're more recent theories even suggest that all creatures can use magic to a certain degree." Blue wore a smug look on her face. Star Swirl opened one of his eyes and stared at the fillies. "It is true that you two have an impressive comprehension of the basics of using spells. Which is precisely the issue." He said closing his eye again as Blue and White looked questionably at him. "You understand the basics, you understand how to use magic and use spells. But what I am trying to teach both of you is how to create magic." "What's the difference? Don't we already do so?" Star Swirl shook his head. "Let me explain it to you another way, magic is a tool we can use. Now take telekinesis for example." He said as he lifted a rock with his magic. The rock floated in between Star Swirl and the two fillies in his white aura. "Telekinesis is... like a hammer. Anypony can use a hammer, just like practically any unicorn you see can use telekinesis. Anypony can wack a hammer, but do they understand why a hammer can put a nail through a wall? Can they calculate how much force they need to use to hammer the nail into the wall? Can they even comprehend all the physics, mathematics, and mechanisms involved? Anypony can learn how to whack a hammer, but once they know everything that makes it function they can create something new. Something even better than a hammer." Star Swirls' horns aura intensified and the rock that was being held in his aura changed its shape. First, it became more cylindrical then one side of the cylinder became a sharpened point. The rock then slowly changed from stone to iron. The rock now looked like the point of a spear. "Once you understand everything about magic. How it functions and interacts with the world. The possibilities become endless." He said as he duplicated the spearpoint into two. The fillies gazed at the spearpoints in amazement. "Everything has magic inside of it even this stone. As sorcerers, we are the ones who can use this very magic to change the natural world. With enough control and raw magical power, anything is possible. Even the laws of nature can be manipulated with enough effort." He continued as the two spear points changed again. One became lava and the other became solid ice. "This is the difference between a strong magician and a being without equal." Star Swirl gained a pensive expression as he recalled the moment he learned this difference himself. He quickly regained his normal expression though then he threw the ice spear at Blue and the lava spear at White. The two fillies let out a frightened yelp, but before the lava and ice spears hit them they changed into confetti. Star Swirl panted a little from the magical exertion, but he quickly tried to regain himself so he looked cool in front of his students. "Now, focus. Cast a new spell, one of your own design." Blue and white closed their eyes again and tried to create a new spell. Star Swirl was about to close his eyes again when he felt the chill of magic. The fillies started to float in the air. Four rocks rose alongside them, two had a blue aura, and two had a golden-yellow aura. Star Swirl smiled softly. 'Wonderfull they're starting to concentrate now. Honestly, if they'd just listen to my instructions from the beginning they would easily become powerful sorcerers.' The auras on the fillies' horns intensified. The air started to become denser as the fillies tried to replicate Star Swirl's trick. Star Swirl opened his eyes and stared quizzically at the fillies. 'this is way more powerful than I thought they could achieve on their first attempt. Could it be that their talent is in creating magical spells, like mine? I may actually be able to pass down all of my techniques.' Star Swirl tried not to show his excitement as the fillies poured more power into their horns and the four rocks started to change. Soon the ones in white's aura caught on fire and the ones in bleu's aura were coated in a layer of ice. "Wonderfull that is a very good start, we can stop for now." Star Swirl said, but white and blue were too absorbed in their tasks to hear him. A pulse of magic came from each of their horns, as they tried to bend reality to their will. Star Swirl was getting worried now. "You are using too much force. I told you before you must guide the magic not force it. You must stop now, you are not ready for the next step." The fillies continued to ignore his advice. As the various animals in the garden decided that the best place to be was as far away from the two fillies as they could possibly be. 'Damn brats, listen to me!' He thought trying to remain calm. Then he felt something strange. A strange yet familiar feeling, it was like he was being pulled toward the fillies. But not his physical body, it was something deeper. it was his magic. 'Wait, this feeling. No, it can't be.' Star Swirl recognized this feeling it was something that happened when sorcerers called upon the magic that was naturally present in the air and other creatures around them. This was an advanced technique that sorcerers like him used, it allowed them to cast more powerful spells. However, it was usually the surrounding land that sorcerers pulled magic from. Not other unicorns or living beings. absorbing the magic of other creatures without their permission was a dark magic technique. "Stop now!" It was already too late, Star Swirl was still tired from raising the sun and his magical display from earlier was unable to stop the fillies from casting their spells. He could only conjure up a shield just in time to protect himself as he was hit by a magical explosion. The explosion was so powerful that it pushed Star Swirl back as it smashed into his shield. Creating a streak in the dirt with his hooves. When the dust of the explosion settled, what he saw before left him momentarily stunned. Half the garden was turned into a volcanic wasteland, ash was falling from the sky, and the earth was scorched black in some spots the ground had changed into pools of lava. The few trees that were left were on fire. Star Swirl didn't want to think about what had happened to the birds that were there just a moment ago. But judging from the smell they didn't farewell. The other half of the garden looked like the frozen north, everything had turned to ice. Snow was falling from the sky, threes had turned into icicles. The ground had become hard and the animals were frozen solid in blocks of ice. Star Swirl would have found the site beautiful, the way the garden had changed into two completely opposite biomes so perfectly split down the middle. If it wasn't for the fact that the biomes were still spreading slowly, and were starting to affect the area around the garden. If this kept up half the castle staff would burn to death and the other half would die of hypothermia. Unicorn guards were already using their magic to try and contain the destruction. Meanwhile, the two fillies responsible were looking at Star Swirl with expecting gazes that screamed: 'Praise us'. Star Swirl glared at them. "I told you to stop." He said sighing heavily. "We will discuss this later, I have to help in cleaning this up with the other mages. And you will help too unless you want to be refined to your rooms for the next 100 years." Their expressions darkened immediately and they quickly ran toward the guards to help them with the cleanup. 'Still, this kind of raw magical power. I have never seen anything like it in my three centuries of life. I'm surprised they did not gain their cutie marks yet. And if this is not their talent....' Star Swirl felt a chill go up his spine, he hoped it was just because of the cold wasteland.