//------------------------------// // Lesson 1: Classification // Story: A Primer on Magic // by SuperTaster //------------------------------// Night Wing was getting flak, in the sort of schoolground mockery that foals were want to deliver upon their foes. He was used to this sort of thing, as people would often deride him for being a ‘bat-pony’. Thestrals were more common in Canterlot with Luna’s return, but they still tended to live up north, and were a rare sight in the daytime regardless. He retorted with a declaration that maybe he would wear a Batpony costume to school, and how would they like that? This confused Shu (the lone human in the class), who saw a mental image of Batman as a pony, but the rest stopped their jeering to ask if he really had a Batpony costume, because that would be really cool. The class was an elclectic mix. Rainbow and Sam formed the ‘old ponies club’, because to little fillies, anyone over 20 was an old fart. Twilight did not approve of this designation, even less so when Rainbow pointed out that she could technically be considered Spike’s adoptive mother. Additionally, the trifecta of Sam, Shu, and Night Wing formed the ‘wierdos club’, as they weren’t the usual sense of gifted unicorns. Sam, for his part, noted that if magic didn’t involve travel or flying, he was absolute rubbish at it, and thus he probably wasn’t good for a ‘gifted’ class in general. Still, it was the easiest place to learn, and Rainbow Dash could use the company. Rainbow had never actually given thought towards applied magic. She flew really fast, and nothing else was needed! Still, the princess ritual ensured that she had an abundance of ways to channel the power usually reserved for flight, and this was a good way to learn new uses for rainbow magic. Today’s lecture seemed to be a bit different, though. There was a small cardboard box with holes in it sitting on Twilight’s lecture table. The ponies were curious. Did it, perhaps, contain some horrible quiz that they would be forced to defeat? Strange monsters and vicious beasts! “Alright everypony, settle down. Now, since we had a talk earlier about the application of magic in regards to different species, I figured it would be a good idea to talk more about how those are defined in Equestrian terms.” Twilight turned towards the board, and flipped it over to reveal a few crude drawings of a pony shooting lasers out of its eyes. She had used this previously, in a lecture regarding The Stare, as per amplifying the latent Kindness in a target to make them feel regret and remorse over their actions. That was a different topic, but the picture was still useful as a placeholder. “At the top end of the spectrum, we have what we consider a being. This is somepony who bears Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, variations of which I shall explain momentarily using our first example.” She lifted the box lid magically to reveal a small alligator. Gummy stared at the class with unblinking eyes, taking them all in. He was not technically the first choice for Twilight’s lecture, but Pinkie Pie did have some work to do preparing for this year’s Gala, and she was more than happy to bring the little lizard along. The students pondered Gummy’s strange nature as he observed them. When the time was right, he would devour them all, but it would not be this day. He got as far as deciding that Shu was probably licorice flavored before accepting that the distinction was academic at best, since he would not be allowed to eat any of Twilight’s friends. Alas. “Now, here on the other end, we have Gummy.” “That’s a stupid name.” Gummy gave a petulant ‘baaah’ back at the unicorn, and she faltered. Crystal Star, if Twilight remembered correctly. “The name isn’t important now, Crystal. What is important are the three traits I just discussed. Gummy here is what we consider an animal, but he doesn’t rank at the bottom of the spectrum, because to do so would be lacking in all three. Let’s look at each in turn.” “Intelligence! Gummy here, unfortunately, isn’t all that bright. He can’t hold too much information in his head at any given time, it takes longer to calculate things out, and so forth. Intelligence is the power of the brain, the strength if you will.” “Wisdom! Here, I daresay, Gummy has you all beat.” The ponies were taken aback by this. Some were shocked, while others were merely indignant at losing to an alligator in mental statistics. “Wisdom is the ability to comprehend and apply information. If Intelligence is the speed, Wisdom is the volume. Right now, Gummy is more than capable of discerning all sorts of things about you. He may lack the language or structures to articulate his knowledge, but it is in fact there.” “Charisma! This is the will, the impetus. A pony’s ability to exert their mental faculties on the world is just as important as the power of their mind and the depth to which they can draw from. These three come together to form the mental attributes.” Notes were jotted down, in various fashion. Sam simply wrote with fingers, though the rest used a carefully applied telekinesis. Shu looked over at Night Wing to see that he had a peculiar habit of dragging the pen by its tip with his brain, rather than the whole pen. Even so, it was his eyes that glowed when the telekinesis was applied, lacking the horn of the other ponies. “Thus, Gummy as an animal has low Intelligence. We note that he is exceptional among his species in Wisdom, though this does not really preclude him towards sentience. He is of average Charisma, able to exert his will when he wishes, but generally accepting of the inputs that come towards him.” Gummy wandered over to the other side of the table, because it was warmer. “So our primary sense of sentience is a creature that can have at least moderate attributes in all three of these. Since Gummy is lacking in the intelligence department, he fails our test to be a fully cognizant being. Very good, Gummy, you can go back in the box now.” Gummy did not want to go back in the box, but would tolerate it anyway. The eyes of the ponies would be removed from him, at least. “Now, it is important to note that these traits don’t have to be similar across a species. There are other alligators, for example, who would not place so highly on the Wisdom test. This can cause issues, but I’d like to introduce our second guest before discussing them.” Twilight pulled out a scroll, on which Sam noted was a portal marking. She was warping someone in for class? How… precise. Pink energy flowed as Twilight cast, and out came… a rabbit. Oh goodness, it was that one. Fluttershy’s, with the sense of entitlement and the keen eye. Rainbow Dash was terrified, but Sam gave a series of ‘shoosh’es and paps on the head to calm her nerves. The class was still under control. “This is Angel Bunny. Normally we would associate rabbits with a similar fashion to Gummy, but here it is not the case." She posted up the Int/Wis/Cha rating of Angel, and he noted that there was a very nice artistic likeness. The ponies, meanwhile, were not convinced. “Are you sure you got that right?” Crystal had spoken out, a little confused. Here was a paper showing that Angel was top-notch in terms of Intelligence and Charisma, and with a moderate application of Wisdom to boot. Angel glared at her, and she melted in her seat. The bunny nodded, and clapped his hands. Ponies were so easy to train. You just had to get them early. “Yes, I’m quite sure. Angel here is a being by every measure of the mind. Most rabbits aren’t, which can cause problems in regards to classification. At what point does a creature stop being an animal and become a being?” “In the traditional sense, there was a measure of capability applied. Even if a creature had great intelligence above and beyond the norm for their species, most ponies viewed them in regards to what they could actually do. Angel here is the assistant at the Ponyville Animal Clinic, but he can’t actually tend to the other animals himself, and serves mainly to manage the affairs of business. Yes, Spirit?” A unicorn colt was waggling a hoof in the air. “The traditional sense?” “Yes. Modern magic is allowing for a revision of such ways of thinking. Two, in fact. Sam, Shu, could you come up here?” Shu awkwardly did a little half-jog to get up to the front of the room. Pony buildings were far bigger than human ones! Sam, for his laziness, simply floated up out of his seat, and tumbled oddly through the air to the front of the class, eliciting a bit of amusement from the peanut gallery. Rainbow had clearly been teaching Sam some tricks where flight was involved, though the ability to do it without wingflaps to channel the energy was a talent of his alone. Having never gone to flight school, yet being possessed of a Travel magical focus, he was a prime star for Twilight’s attempts to get ponies to use magic in non-biological ways. “The first is the idea of a crossover. If we’re talking in terms of ability, this moves horizontally. Shu here is a human, while Sam used to be. Shu thus would be the original, while Sam is the crossover.” “What’s the term actually come from?” “In a sense, the magical field in Equestria has its share of racial concepts, and when Earth’s field was developed, it grew some of its own from cultural traditions and mythology. That said, a crossover is simply taking one person, and translating them to the magical field of the other world. In Sam’s case, this was rather involuntary, but nowadays you have to do it intentionally.” “Why is that?” “Originally, Earth didn’t have a magical field, so when Sam was exposed to ours, it pushed the process on him naturally. Now that the people of Earth are acclimated to magic, there’s less of a vacuum, and people don’t just slide concepts simply because there are others out there that would fit them well. Thank you, you can sit down now.” Sam see-sawed through the air to the delight of the cheering urchins, while Shu simply goggled at the strange barrel-rolling lion. “Now if a crossover is a horizontal movement, an uplift is a vertical one!” Twilight whipped out another poster, showing a diagram of Angel on the left, and O’Hare on the right. Angel, for his part, was insulted by the comparison. He was far better looking. “Here we have Angel, an Equestrian rabbit, and over here we have a pooka! This is an Earth concept, formed rather recently, and while the man in the picture is of a crossover, the process of moving from a rabbit up to a pooka would be an uplift. You take a gifted member of a species and transfer them along to another, similar species with abilities more apt for their gifts and graces.” Rainbow Dash was nervous at this proposition. “You’re not going to be doing it here, are you?” “What? Oh, no. Angel here still has a week left before we’ll actually have everything in order.” Oh dear. While she was safe for the moment, Rainbow now knew her days were numbered. Angel did too, as he smirked and made Godzilla poses towards the alicorn, as if to say “Rawr, I’m coming for you!”. Sam simply ‘shoosh’ed and papped the nervous princess back into a state of decency. They were not to die in their beds yet. Not this day. “Alright, I think that’s a good lesson. Everypony, go get some lunch, and meet back here by the bell. We’ve got a quiz waiting for you!” The herd panicked and fled. There was danger here, and they wanted none of it. Angel couldn’t care less, and simply hopped up into Gummy’s box to rest on top of the lizard. The portable throne was odd, yet comfortable. He would miss it.