Sunset checked the notes she’d made the night before as the students of class 2-A filed into the room with various looks of intrigue and confusion on their faces. “Come on in, everybody. Just find a spot to sit down, or stand if you prefer.”
Always the inquisitive one, Zipp was the one to voice the question on everyone’s mind: “Why did you ask us to meet you in the music room, Ms. Sunset?”
“That’s part two of the lesson. Don’t worry about it for now.” Sunset waited for everyone to get situated before going on. “For today, I’m gonna give you an overview of the different types of magic, and then we’re gonna conduct a little experiment to help you get used and more in control of your new powers. To make sure we’re all safe and take down any relevant data, I’ve invited a friend to sit in on today’s class. Twilight?”
Said friend stepped out of the adjoining prep room, wheeling a cart with various scientific instruments in front of her. “Hello, everyone. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’ll be using these to measure the magic that’s coming from you. Let me assure you, these are brand new, non-invasive and perfectly safe. They’re just monitoring devices.”
There was the sudden sound of a cymbal being struck, and Sunset looked over to see that Misty had immediately squeezed herself in between Sunny’s back and a nearby drum set, making herself as small as possible.
Twilight looked over at Sunset and whispered: “Is that her?”
Sunset nodded in response. I hope this wasn’t too early. But she’s gonna have to face her past eventually.
Twilight stepped around her cart and walked over, stopping a few steps before the two students and bending her knees slightly to be more on eye level with them. “Misty?” she asked very gently. “Is your hand okay? I know I certainly bruised my knuckles a few times on that stupid sliding door.”
Misty swallowed hard and subconsciously rubbed her left hand. “… Yeah, … I … it’s fine. Thanks for asking.” She peered out from behind Sunny’s back, but couldn’t seem to meet Twilight’s eyes. She kept them firmly on the ground. “I’m … really sorry for going into your lab without permission and taking your stuff.”
Twilight nodded. “It’s okay. Sunset told me what happened. Machines can be rebuilt, people can’t. So I’m glad that you’re okay.”
Surprised by Twilight’s gentle approach, Misty looked up and met her eyes. “You’re … not mad?”
Twilight wobbled her head a little. “Well, as an adult I should point out that breaking and entering is not an acceptable behavior, but frankly I’m more put out with a certain someone who broke my device into a thousand pieces before I had a chance to examine the modifications you made.” She cast a sidelong glance towards Sunset.
Sunset in return found a spot on the ceiling that looked extremely interesting and began whistling an innocent tune.
“Listen, Misty,” Twilight went on in that same comforting voice as Sunny took a step to the side and laid a hand on Misty’s shoulder, “I know what you’ve been through must have left you scared and confused, but I want you to know that you’re not alone. I’ve been exactly where you are.”
Misty scoffed. “You’ve sucked the magic out of your friends, turned into a monster and almost destroyed the school?” Clearly, the remark was intended to be sarcastic.
But Twilight answered with a perfectly straight face. “Yes, I have actually. And do you want to know who appeared like an angel and saved me that day?” Twilight pointed at Sunset who slightly blushed at the sincerity in which that statement had been delivered. “So I know you’re in good hands.”
“I helped a little, you know!” The voice came from the door where a large purple and green dog, shoulders about the height of Sunset’s waist, sat on his haunches.
“Yes, you did, Spike,” Twilight admitted.
“Whoa!” Sprout exclaimed. “Did that dog just talk!?”
“Seriously? Why is that always the thing people get hung up on when they come to terms with this crazy magic stuff?” Spike asked with a dead-pan stare at the student.
Twilight took a piece of paper out of her lab coat pocket and handed it to Misty. “Misty, I know it’s easier right now to try and forget that night, put up a brave front and put it out of your mind. But that will eat you up inside, so here’s my number. If you want to talk about it in private with someone who has gone through the same thing, you can always give me or your teacher a call, day or night.”
Misty nodded and wordlessly took the note.
Twilight stood up straight and returned to Sunset’s side. “Sorry, Ms. Shimmer. Didn’t mean to derail your lesson.”
“That’s quite alright,” Sunset said, collecting herself to start the lesson proper. “Your surprise at Spike is exactly why I’ve prepared today’s lesson. There’s some fundamental things about magic you need to learn. This is the boring teaching part up front. I promise we’ll get to the fun part soon, so don’t fall asleep.” Taking a piece of chalk, she began to write on the music room’s small blackboard.
-FORMAL
-HARMONIC
-CHAOTIC
-DARK
“These are the four fundamental types of magic. The one you’ve tapped into is harmonic magic,” Sunset began to explain, underlining the word. “But it’s important that you understand the distinction between them. So let me start with formal magic, because that’s the easiest to explain. Formal magic is based on understanding the natural flow of magic in the world and harnessing it through spells, incantations and rituals into tangible effects. In Equestria, mostly unicorns were concerned with this type of magic, because they have the ability to cast their spells naturally through their horns. But there have been a few scholars of other races, mainly working with potions or doing theoretical research.”
“Are you gonna make us learn all that?” Pipp asked with some apprehension.
Sunset shook her head. “No. Like I said, what you’ve tapped into is harmonic magic, not formal. Formal magic is almost impossible to perform here in the first place, because there’s less magic to tap into in this world.”
Zipp arched an eyebrow. “Seems kind of irrelevant to us, then.”
“Yes and no,” Sunset admitted. “You’ll probably never be able to perform formal magic, but it can be imbued into an object, too. In the past, magic artifacts from Equestria have made their way here some way or another. So I’d like you to at least be able to recognize formal magic. But that’s for another lesson.” I wonder if Star Swirl would be willing to demonstrate some of his tools to them. “For now, let’s get back to the overview and harmonic magic. Show of hands, who here has played D&D?”
Sunny, Izzy and Hitch raised their hands.
“I was hoping for a bigger turnout there,” Sunset mumbled.
“D&D is for nerds,” Sprout stated flatly.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sunset could see Twilight, who had also raised her hand, blush and put her hand back down. “I know a guy who plays the pony equivalent,” Sunset said, not willing to let that statement stand uncontested, “he worked his way up to Captain of the Royal Guard, married a princess, and now he’s the co-ruler of an empire. Sound like a nerd to you?”
Sprout opened his mouth to retort, then thought better of it and closed it shut again.
“Anyway, for those of you in the know, you can think of the difference between formal and harmonic magic as the difference between a wizard and a sorcerer.” The three teens in the know nodded judiciously. “For the rest of you, the easiest explanation is that it’s the difference between practice and talent. Formal magic is a learned skill. It takes years to learn and a lifetime to master. Harmonic magic is something that’s innate and specific to who you are. I’ve told you about cutie marks, right?”
Hitch spoke up. “Yeah, you said it was an expression of a pony’s special talent, but you were kinda vague about it.”
“That’s because even ponies don’t fully understand cutie mark magic,” Sunset admitted. “It can still surprise us. Harmonic magic is a fundamental force of nature that doesn’t have the same restrictions as formal magic. Hitch, when you ponied up the other day, that was your cutie mark magic coming through.”
“What? But I don’t have a cutie mark.”
“No, because you’re human. But the same principle applies. It’s the same magic at work that comes out when you’re being true to who you are. If you were a pony, you’d probably have a cutie mark that’s related to taking care of animals, or maybe helping others in a broader sense.”
“What about me?” Izzy asked, raising her hand with a grin.
“Oh, do me too, Ms. Sunset!” Pipp chimed in.
Sunset scratched her cheek and figured she might as well go down the list. “Let’s see. Izzy, Pipp and Sprout, I reckon all your cutie marks would be related to something artistic. Making stuff. Performing. Singing. Painting.” She turned to look at Zipp. “Yours could go either way, either your athletic ability or your investigative skills.”
“Why not both?” Zipp asked.
“There’s nothing stopping you from pursuing both, mind you. Cutie marks are usually related to one thing, but people aren’t defined by just one thing they do. I know a pony whose talent is related to gemstones, but her passion is creating dresses.”
“What about me?” Sunny asked.
Sunset narrowed her eyes for a while, her gaze inevitably drawn to that multicolored lock in her hair. “I think … yours might actually be a talent for magic itself. It’s rare, but it’s been known to happen. Some of the most exceptional mages in Equestrian history had a cutie mark related to magic. Some of them, I even count among my closest friends.”
Sunny beamed at that statement, and Sunset gave her a warm smile before turning towards her final student. Misty looked back a little apprehensively.
“I’m not sure,” Sunset said after thinking for a while. “What do you think, Misty?”
Seemingly surprised by having the question turned around on her, Misty shook her head. “I don’t really know.” She added quietly: “I’m not really good at anything. I just mess everything up.”
“That’s not true, Misty,” Sunset replied in a reassuring voice. “We all have something we’re good at. It’s alright if you don’t know the answer right now. Ponies often spend years figuring themselves out before they even get a cutie mark. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with them, or you. It just takes a little longer for some, but you’ll know it when it reveals itself.”
Misty returned a halfhearted smile and nodded in response.
Sunset clapped her hands together. “Alright, we’ve gotten a little off track here. Let’s get back to the forms of magic. Now, next on the list is chaotic magic. It’s similar to harmonic magic in that it’s a fundamental force of nature with almost no restrictions, but in other ways it’s the complete opposite. It can be completely unpredictable, in both good ways and bad ways, and it’s even less understood than harmonic magic.”
“Oh, I see!” Zipp cut in. “If we’re using your D&D analogy and harmonic is a sorcerer, then this would be a wild magic sorcerer, right?”
“Huh.” After pondering that for a while, Sunset nodded. “I’ve never thought about it that way. But yes, that’s a good way to put it.”
Sprout turned to Zipp and gave her a stare. “Traitor.”
“I’ve never played, but it’s fun to watch,” Zipp defended herself, “and some video games use the same rules.”
“You should totally join our game!” Izzy said excitedly.
“Pass,” Zipp replied without missing a beat.
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Sunny joined in. “My dad DM’s for us. I’m sure he’d be happy to run a one-shot, so you could try it out.”
“… I’ll think about it,” Zipp eventually gave in.
Sunset cleared her throat and went on after making sure that she had everyone’s attention again. “The final category is dark magic,” she said quite seriously.
“Warlock?” Izzy suggested.
“It can be like that. There have been instances where foolish ponies have made bargains with powerful beings. But it’s not limited to that. I’ve told you before that magic corresponds to the will of whoever casts it. If magic is cast with bad intentions, or runs out of control, it can take on a life of its own that can go even beyond what the caster intended. That’s what we call dark magic.”
“You once told me that there’s some magic that is inherently dangerous,” Sunny recalled, “is this what you were talking about?”
Sunset nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. The shadow beings you’ve seen, they’re examples of dark magic, unleashed by someone or something into the world and left unchecked. We thought we’d gotten rid of the source years ago, but …” She shook her head. “Anyway, any of the other three forms of magic can be twisted into dark magic if used with bad intentions.”
“Wait, even harmonic magic?” Sprout asked. “I thought that was the stuff of friendship and rainbows and stuff.”
“Even harmonic magic can be misused, except maybe the Magic of Friendship itself,” Sunset explained while trying to think of a good example. “In Equestria, there’s a race called the changelings. They have an innate ability to change their shape with magic and perfectly imitate other people.”
“Sounds scary,” Izzy murmured.
“It is in a way,” Sunset admitted, “and it’s led to a lot of prejudice in the past. For the longest time, they used that ability to trick other races and steal their love, in part because there was so much mistrust. But it’s still an innate magic ability they have. By its very definition, that is harmonic magic, and it can be used for good or ill. Things have gotten a lot better in recent years as ponies have learned to live with changelings rather than in fear of them.
“Which brings me to my most important point for today: That is exactly why you need to learn to get comfortable with your new magic, to understand it and use it for good. If you’re afraid of it, that may lead you to make a mistake that could hurt you or others. Overcoming that fear of the unknown is important.”
Izzy held one hand in front of her mouth, pretending to draw in a raspy breath and speaking hollowly. “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side, and we all know that the dark side … has all the cookies.”
As the rest of the class erupted in laughter and chuckles, even Sunset couldn’t help but smirk to herself. “That’s more apt than you know. If there’s one thing this world has over Equestria, it’s that deep down, despite all our differences, we’ve all seen Star Wars.” Turning to Twilight, she added: “You ready?”
Sitting on a stool next to her scientific instruments and pushing up her glasses slightly, Twilight nodded. “Ready when you are.”
Sunset picked up the electric guitar she’d prepared earlier and slung the strap around her. “There’s one other way we know of that brings out harmonic magic. Music seems to be a universal conductor of magic here as much as it is in Equestria.” Closing her eyes, she played a few notes on the electric guitar. Getting back into the groove, she closed her eyes and added some sick riffs. When she was done with her shredding, she opened her eyes, noted the lack of pony ears appearing on her head with a small pang and looked over to Twilight.
Twilight gave her a barely noticeable look of compassion and shook her head slightly. Not even a blip, huh? I wonder if Star Swirl was just trying to spare my feelings when he said my magic might recover in time.
Still, the students didn’t seem to pick up on her conflicted feelings. “That was awesome,” Izzy squealed.
“So,” Sunset declared, “as promised, this is the fun part of the lesson: Jam session. Anybody play any instrument, go ahead. And if you don’t, just pick one up that appeals to you and try it out.”
“Do you really think we’ll pony up by playing music?” Sunny asked.
“I’m sure of it,” Sunset declared confidently. “I’ve seen two of you do it already, after all. During the play.”
Pipp and Sunny looked at each other, as if silently trying to confirm something between themselves. “Did we really?” Pipp asked, referring to the dance scene between Hauke and Elke.
“I know I felt something at the time,” Sunny said dubiously, “but I thought I maybe just imagined it.”
“There was definitely something there,” Sunset told them. “I think you would have properly ponied up right then and there if you hadn’t been interrupted. It honestly surprised me a bit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone pony up through dancing alone, but it makes sense. Like I said, magic can even surprise those of us who have lived with it their whole lives.”
Looking around the room, various students settled into different instruments. Izzy picked up some drumsticks and began hammering away with a huge grin on her face, even though it seemed obvious that she didn’t have any prior training. Zipp seemed to know what she was doing, though, as she settled in at a keyboard and began playing around with the settings. Misty waffled around for a bit before picking up a tambourine with a shrug of her shoulders as if to say: Might as well use that one. Looks simple enough.
Hitch had picked up a bass guitar and was strumming it in the corner of the room with a thoughtful look on his face. “You play?” Sprout asked, standing next to his friend.
It took Hitch a moment to answer. “Not for a few years,” he said eventually, “my … dad taught me a few chords.”
Sprout seemed to take note of the gloom, and Sunset realized something for the first time. Despite his tendency to mouth off and say dumb things, he was actually very tuned in to how those around him felt. He picked up an acoustic guitar and stood next to Hitch who was leaning on the windowsill, mimicking his stance and lightly elbowing him. “Here, show me how to do it.”
Hitch looked up as a small smile reappeared on his face. “Here, hold the neck like this. This is a G chord.”
“Like this?”
“Yeah, you got it.”
As the discordant sounds of different instruments being tried out rose into a messy crescendo, Sunset was about to step in, but someone preempted her.
“Alright, everybody stop!” It was Pipp who had clapped her hands with a displeased expression and called everyone to attention. Either recognizing her natural talent for music or by sheer force of personality, the others obeyed and looked to her, and so Sunset decided to step back and let her take the lead. “We wanna play one song together, not seven different ones. Zipp, gimme a pop beat.”
“You got it, sis,” Zipp replied immediately, selecting a beat for the keyboard to play while adding a few notes here and there.
Pipp nodded her head to the rhythm and began to vocalize. “Oh oh ah ah ah.” Continuing to vocalize, she walked over to Izzy and looked at her.
Izzy’s foot was already tapping to the beat, mesmerized by Pipp. After holding eye contact for while and getting a raised eyebrow, she suddenly went: “Oh, I see!” Pipp was actually indicating different drums and cymbals with her hands in line with the beat, and Izzy began to follow the instruction, hesitant at first until her wrists got used to the action, her tongue sticking out as she concentrated on playing her drum kit.
When she was certain that Izzy had picked up the tune, Pipp crossed the room towards the boys. Hitch had already adopted a low counter melody that matched the beat, so she focused on Sprout, clicking her fingers to indicate the strums to him.
Sprout was a little awkward at first, but between copying Hitch and being fed the rhythm by Pipp, he soon found his stride as well.
Nodding in approval, Pipp crossed the room yet again, working in a little pirouette as she went while still vocalizing. “Ohh ohh ah ah ohhh. Vocalize with me, Misty.”
The girl with the blue and teal locks had picked up the beat easily enough on the tambourine, but had been standing very still and awkward. “Oh oh ah?” Her vocalizations almost came out as a question.
“Ohh ohhh yeaaahhhh,” Pipp came back.
“Oh hey yeaah yeaah who-ohhh.” As the nonsensical vocalizations took on the quality of a melodic dialogue as the two went back and forth for a bit, Misty’s posture began to relax, and a smile made its way onto her face.
Pipp gave her a thumbs-up and returned to the center of the room.
Sunny was standing around awkwardly. “Uhm, I can’t really carry a tune, and I don’t play any instruments.”
With a raised eyebrow, Pipp shimmied closer, suddenly grabbing Sunny’s hand with her left and pulling her in around the waist with her right. “Then you dance,” she said breathily.
“Whoa!” Sunny exclaimed as Pipp spun her outwards fast enough to make Sunny’s ponytail fling out behind her.
When they hit their furthest point, Pipp held for a beat, then tugged to make Sunny spin right back into her arms, and when their bodies came together, she once again firmly held the other girl’s waist and actually transitioned into a dip with one smooth motion.
Sunny blinked as she looked at her classmates upside down before lifting her head to look back at Pipp who was grinning at her while giving her a look that made Sunset question whether there was more than just friendship blooming here. “And since there’s no script this time,” Pipp declared in a husky voice, “my turn to lead.”
Sunny actually giggled as Pipp lifted her back up and began to lead her in some less severe yet no less refined dance moves. “Everybody, move your bodies,” she called out to the others, “don’t just hit those instruments like you’re chopping vegetables. Feel the music with all you’ve got!”
Sunset turned to look over at Twilight. Several lights on her equipment had come on and seemed to blink along to the music itself while a mechanical stylus was transcribing a waveform onto graph paper. The two old friends and former lovers exchanged a satisfied smirk, both at the data coming in as well as the memories welling up in both of them.
“Why are you all looking at me like that?” Pipp asked, laughing, as the others all looked to her. “Is there something on my face?” She hadn’t realized that a set of pony ears had popped into existence atop her head and a stylishly curled purple pony tail was swishing to the music behind her.
Sunset leaned against the closest wall, crossed her arms in front of her chest and settled in to watch the show with a smile on her face.