//------------------------------//
// Intermission: Writ Keeping 1 
// Story: Land of Friendship and Magic 
// by Archmage Ansrit 
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Notes on universal workings, Preface. (Draft No. 1)


Alright, I am writing down this in case... in case of many things.

There are way too many unknowns in play, and I am writing this to make them less unknown. I have gotten my information from very special sources which have to remain outside of this document for safety reasons; it isn't that important to write about them, anyways.

If you are a friend reading this, you already know about these sources, or are about to be told; if you aren't, then I'm dead, you're reading this because The Breeze placed the book's card in front of you, the fate of the world is on your hands shoulders, and my sources will find you. Either way, you will know the reason for the secrecy.

Before we get to the crux of the issue, I have to make sure you understand the foundation for the phenomenon of the 'Phantoms'.

There are three major components to any world, of any level, that might be present in many different levels of importance. I am talking about Matter, Magic, and Message - commonly referred to as 'information'.

Matter, the Embodiment - I was born in a world ruled by matter. The properties of objects were what they were because the matter said so.

Example: The configuration of electrons in gold make it a good conductor, and prevents those electrons from being taken by a good deal of other chemicals, granting gold the resistance to reactions that make it so popular; the atoms and their configuration grant gold's it's peculiar properties, making it so reflective of electromagnetic waves - visible light included, of course - and so many other things.

If you come from a universe ruled majorly by matter as I did, I don't have to explain much about this; matter is important even here in Equestria, so there should be little need to go into detail. Any important notes on matter (particularly any alterations) will be dealt with in the sections pertaining to the case. Go to chemistry and physics books if you need anything basic or not that specific.

Magic, the Intent - Equestria is big on magic; around as much as matter, giving magicians an enormous influence on the world so long as they know enough about materials and physics (or supply enough magic power), but making purely magical things a little more complicated to them in turn.

Spells are, no matter what system is used in your world of origin, first and foremost a declaration of intent. It does not matter if you have to calculate every variable or know the exact chemical composition of everything beforehand before-hoof; if you cast a spell to turn your cat pink, you are still casting a spell to turn your cat pink because you wanted to. The level of actual conscious control over this varies, from worlds were magic is a wild and dangerous thing because it acts on every little hidden impulse that one would usually suppress or ignore, to the worlds where magic is incredibly difficult because you have to know everything you want to change and all of the hows and whats. It all depends on Magic's own will and all of the things Associated with it by Message.

Yes, magic could be considered semi-aware on most worlds, given its empathy-based components. Equestria among them; that being the reason for the ease of its use, the possibility of non-conscious use of certain kinds of spells the user doesn't actually know, the sheer power of the Elements of Harmony and their varied effects, and - though this is speculation - cutie marks and their interpretation.

Ponies that understand their cutie mark beyond just the starting level of base acceptance of oneself that earned it in the first place are going to have very interesting tricks up their sleeves. The intent is key, and the interpretation of that intent and its associations was very, very important. My sources told me so, so it stands to reason that cutie marks, being magic themselves, are subject to the same principles.

For the point where magic intersects and mingles with matter: A really good pair of examples of magical materials are the materials that curiously share the name of Oricalcos (or Orichalcum), but the runes for one can be read as Sunsteel and another as Sunblood. Sunsteel is lighter than tin (I lack instruments to make a better comparison, and I only have access to an alloy weightier than the pure thing), but is tougher than steel, and shines like gold (it is a magical variant of gold, after all); the armor of high-ranking officers is made of an alloy, because it's rather rare - perhaps in the future it'll be easier to find, extract, and work, allowing more armor to be made. Sunblood deserves its own book, although there might be comments here and there regarding its application on the topic being addressed; it's beautiful like a jewel, can be worked like metal, and glows from within like fire; it converts various energies to magic (or vice versa) depending on its shape, arrangement, and the enchantments placed upon it.

Celestia's regalia is made of both Sunblood runes and circuits on an Adamantine-mesh-core Sunsteel plate enchanted out the wazoo; she, however, has expressed the desire for quieter times that allow her to wear simpler, 'mundane' things like gold so as to avoid having to parade around with a chestplate that's practically a forcefield generator (one of the few views on philosophy I happen to share with her).

Message, the Information - This is big in computer-based worlds and games. In worlds that give high importance to Message, things have the properties they have because the data assigned to them says so - it doesn't matter if it's plain grass with no magic, if the data says that you see it checkerboard patterned, then you dang well believe you're going to be able to play chess on it! This is the realm of most Reality Warpers and some kinds of abilities born from ESP (with the best examples being the kind of Espers that can alter the world through manipulating the values of the parameters that fall under their purview).

Message? That's how I control The Breeze, or even have it act through me. My trip through the Void reconfigured me to be indistinguishable from someone born in a universe ruled by a mixture of Matter and Message - more specifically, an universe created through the use of the game construct that defined my powers. Yes, I am part computer program just like the princesses are part ludicrously-potent magical phenomenon. It causes some problems with the World, though, requiring me to use my sources' help to stay free of the influence of this world's magic (though it's not entirely undesirable, nor does it have any effects that cannot be reversed).

Magic mixed with Message is just powerful. It is the basis of runes, arrays, and diagrams; amazingly stable forms of spell-casting - complicated, yes, but rewarding. I am seriously contemplating getting in contact with some of Equestria's authorities on magic to learn more - not that my sources are ignorant, but having to learn Japanese and Chinese to make use of the Advanced arts is going to take a while.

Some creatures, like Yōkai, are heavily dependent on the mixture of Matter, Message and Magic; they get more power from people's 'Fear' (could also be read as 'Respect', though), unsavory things like eating hearts and livers for their Associations, and some can be given additional powers by, or even be born out of stories that others tell! After having both of my 'selves' take sleeping potions, I 'Dream-traveled' to a world where I met a (rather powerful) monk yōkai that was born out of the stories of poor children about a 'mysterious protector with a thousand weapons under his robe' that kept them safe... chicken-or-egg scenario stuff, that one.