Luna stood in front of Chris lecturing,
"In order to cast a spell, you must first open your screfula. Do you know where your screfula is?"
Chris looked down and poked his abdomen,
"Somewhere near my stomach, right?"
"Yes, in fact it sits right behind your stomach. Yesterday you explained how it worked, so I can skip that, seeing as you already have a working knowledge. That being the case, today you will learn to open your screfula. You will not be casting any spells, merely practicing opening and closing your screfula." Luna explained.
Chris frowned,
"Well that doesn't sound fun at all."
Luna smirked,
"It isn't. It is boring and tedious. This will be an excellent demonstration of your patience and tenacity. While you practice opening and closing your screfula, there will be no talking. You will stand in place silently while you practice." Luna took a breath and continued, "For this first part, I will have you flex different muscles in your belly while I monitor your screfula. Once I see it open and close, I will let you know so you can repeat the motion until it becomes second nature." she squared herself up in front of Chris and lit her horn so she could monitor his movements, "Now, begin flexing."
Chris had some trouble figuring out which were individual muscles in his stomach region so instead he flexed them all simultaneously.
Luna rolled her eyes at the attempt,
"Good gracious, do all Humans have such poor..." she trailed off as she noticed Chris' expression dropping and she suddenly realized what she was about to do, 'I was about to berate him over something so small. Why? It is no reason for me to lose my patience. I am the instructor and he is here to learn. I must demonstrate absolute self control in all things.' Luna cleared her throat, "Again please, this time try to proceed at a more casual pace."
Chris planted his fists on his hips,
"I could use some pointers here. I've never tried to flex only a single muscle at a time."
"Try relaxing and closing your eyes then picturing each different muscle. Many Unicorn foals have the same trouble and the most widely accepted method of learning this is visualization."
"So... it's like meditation?" Chris asked, "Cause I've done that before a couple of times."
Chris sat down on the stone floor and crossed his legs taking the lotus position, and closed his eyes. Luna quirked an eyebrow but charged her horn and monitored Chris' muscle movements. With his eyes closed he focused his attention on feeling out his body piece by piece. He imagined looking at a diagram of his stomach and its accompanying muscles. He began trying to flex the different groups of muscles one by one. It was difficult. He was used to moving them subconsciously so attempting to consciously and intentionally was a difficult prospect. Nevertheless he began flexing the different muscles as best he could.
"Hold it!" Luna suddenly interrupted, "That last muscle, flex it again."
Chris concentrated and tried to remember which muscle it was he had flexed. He tried one but Luna said nothing, he tried another.
"That one!" she quickly spoke, "Do it again please."
Chris flexed the muscle, dedicating it to memory,
"That's it. Remember that muscle. It opens and closes your screfula." Luna smiled down at Chris, "Alright, I want you to form the habit of opening and closing it. Flex the muscle continuously while we talk. I can only assume you have questions about magic."
Chris stood up and began flexing and relaxing the muscle, it took a bit of concentration,
"Well, let's start with an explanation about the different Nouns and Verbs."
Luna cocked her head to the side,
"What is it you wish to know?"
"I'm curious about how some combinations work, but first explain one Noun to me: Spirit. How does it work, what does it do?" Chris asked.
Luna smiled slightly,
"Ah such curiosity. It is good to ask questions. But I would also like to encourage you to think for yourself. In this case, what do you think Spirit is?"
Chris pursed his lips as he continued flexing his muscle,
"The name seems to imply something with a soul perhaps. Does it have to do with the soul?"
Luna seemed to consider his words,
"Let us make sure we are referring to the same thing when we say 'soul'. The soul is the part of any sentient being which is an energy manifestation of who you are. It is the... energy which fuels your thoughts and which inhabits your physical body. It is what makes you 'you'. Spirit and soul are one and the same in this case."
Chris nodded,
"Looks like I was right then. So what can you do with the Noun? Can you Create souls?"
Luna nodded,
"To a certain point, yes. What it actually is, is molding Thamaturgic Energy together and giving it a purpose which is driven by your desire. It is commonly used to cast a spell then leave it to carry out an assigned task. It is not a real 'soul' as we think of it, but it does have sentience. It was considered a serious taboo until about three hundred years ago if I remember from my history lessons. It was thought that the 'souls' created with magic were like normal souls and treated the same way. It was a crime to create a soul by using magic. It was considered a horrible practice, but the previous Arch Magister proved that creating a soul in such a way is not cruel at all. In an illegal act in the middle of a meeting, he created a soul that could speak and answer questions. He was monitored to ensure he had not created something to simply spew his points of view, the other Unicorns were very suspicious of him. Anyway, the soul answered every single question the Unicorns asked. Apparently souls created for the purpose of continuing the work of a spell were created for that purpose and found their brief existences extremely fulfilling and delightful. They were created to fulfill a purpose and after doing so they expired when the energy wore out, but they did so knowing they had fulfilled their purpose. Did I explain that well enough?"
Chris nodded,
"Yeah, but what about other Nouns used in conjunction with Spirit?"
Luna puffed out her cheeks,
"This is where things become somewhat blurred. The first Verb is Create and we have already covered that. The second Verb is Destroy and yes, Destroy Spirit does exactly what it sounds like... or close to it. The first spell of Destroy and Spirit is called Soul Knife. It partially severs the connection the soul has to a corporeal body. If the soul is completely severed, the body enters a catatonic state and slowly dies while the soul is left unable to act without its physical counterpart. The soul eventually burns out and looses its memories then it returns to whence it came." Luna held up a hoof to forestall the next logical question, "I do not know where it goes, so please do not ask. Rest assured that souls of those who pass are quickly taken to a realm or place or plane which is beyond even our comprehension. We have seen the Pale One and he does exist, but he is not one to talk or speak of anything, however Celestia and I have both watched as a soul was taken from where its body died and taken elsewhere. The soul looked exactly like the Pony did in real life and it seemed happy to go with the Pale One. It almost looked excited honestly. But using Destroy and Spirit in a spell is a horrible thing to do to somebody. It hurts them in a way that cannot be healed with medicine or eased with drugs. It is a torture on the very spirit and Celestia and I have declared its use as only justifiable by doctors to aid in the painless passing of an individual who is beyond all other help. It is not commonly used and for that we are grateful."
Luna took a breath and continued,
"Change and Spirit are tricky as a combination. How does one change a Spirit? By altering it at some level. It is extremely dangerous for if you make a mistake, you will have a Spirit of a different being, one which is not aligned with your body and your body will likely reject the spirit and could kill you. The uses for Change and Spirit in combination was mainly to fool mindful spells and barriers that would only let in or bypass the spirit of the caster. It is not a heavily studied art. Now Control Spirit is extremely useful. Say for example you have a patient who is going to undergo a risky operation and might die in the process. Control Spirit could be used to 'tie down' the soul to the body in case the worse does happen. In those cases, the body dies, but the spirit is tethered to it and stays put long enough for the doctors to make the proper repairs and then have a Medimage come in and help the soul reattach to the body safely. There have been a few who attempted to harvest souls and imprison them in crystals, such as King Sombra. While there is a way to attach a soul to an inanimate object, there is no way that we know of, to harness the energy of a soul so the practice was short lived. Now there is a wonderful use of anchoring a soul to an object. The object, normally a medallion, has the soul of the wearer attached to it and it stays anchored for some time. In the event that the wearer should perish, their spirit would stay tied to the medallion so that if and when the wearer's body is found, it may be restored to health and the soul may be returned to it. I have heard that the process is traumatic and horrifying, but useful. Unicorn explorers used to use it frequently if they were venturing somewhere dangerous."
Luna stretched her neck and looked back to Chris,
"Keep flexing please. Now Comprehend Spirit has only a few uses. It will tell you if a spirit is present or allow you to see or hear it. The terms 'see' and 'hear' are only a rough description of the effects. The soul has no vocal chords so it cannot truly speak, but it is still capable of communication just on a different level than we are used to. Continuing on, Repair Spirit can help to reattach a soul to a body, but that is about it. Sustain Spirit is an unusual combination for any spell but it can have its uses. For example, say a spirit is anchored to an object, but the spell has only a limited amount of energy. Using Sustain will increase the potency of the spell without using too much extra Thamaturgic Energy. To use it to anchor a soul to an object permanently is a crime of the highest caliber and is one of the worst crimes anybody can be accused of." Luna looked pleased with herself, "Did you have any other questions about magic?"
Chris thought for a moment,
"Not right now, but I'm sure I'll think of something later."