//------------------------------// // Magic // Story: Friends Forever // by Ryvaken //------------------------------// Twilight hung another chart on the wall. "And this is the magotype of a typical earth pony. Note the wide variance in the natural sympathetics." "The wide what in the natural where?" Applejack asked. Rainbow snored loudly in agreement. Twilight twitched and looked behind her. Pinkie was passed out, a cupcake half in her mouth to muffle her own snores. Rarity had a polite smile below glazed eyes partly hidden behind halfmoon glasses, and was probably asleep, too. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen, which probably meant she had ducked behind the sofa. Twilight sighed. She'd dragged her five closest friends into her castle specifically to tell them about her research. "Come on, girls," she complained. She grabbed them each with her field and shook them awake. "This is important!" Rainbow cracked a huge yawn. "Come on, Twilight, you've been going on about our magical typing thingies for hours!" "It's barely been five minutes," Twilight retorted. "Actually, it's been half an hour," Fluttershy whispered. Nopony heard her. "Yeah right," Rainbow snorted. "At least I don't have to book extra nap time." "Rrrrrgh," Twilight grit her teeth. "Fine. You want the short version?" Her horn lit up and three charts went up on the wall, the others crashing down. "These are the six of us, as of last week. See anything?" "Lots of squiggly lines?" Pinkie asked. "Evidence of overwork?" Rarity tried. "Stuff I can't begin ta figure out," Applejack admitted. "They all have a spike well below the threshold of voluntary magical energy, suggesting a self-generating energy beyond our ability to control or direct," Fluttershy whispered. Twilight stared at Fluttershy, as did everypony else. "Did you actually listen to Twilight?" Rainbow asked incredulously. Fluttershy eeped. "That's exactly correct," Twilight said numbly. She shook her head rapidly and turned back to the graphs. "That spike first showed up...well I don't have magigraphs for you before we met, but mine first appeared when we faced Nightmare Moon and used the Elements the first time. They got stronger when we faced Discord, then mine shot up when I became an alicorn. Then you all matched me at the exact same level after Tirek." Applejack frowned and asked, "Is this something from Tirek sucking out our magic?" Twilight waved a hoof at her other charts. "I've plenty of evidence that it's only the five of you." Rarity frowned. "Darling, my magic hasn't been any more powerful than it used to be," she protested. "The spike isn't in the range for magic you can control voluntarily," Twilight said. "It's also very narrow. This kind of reading specifies a single magical construct or effect outside of your control." "And this is something you got when you became a princess?" Rainbow asked. "Do you know what it is?" Twilight looked away and did not answer for several seconds. "Yes. I do. It took a few experiments on myself...Celestia...Luna...Cadence...Spike..." "Spike?" Rainbow asked. "He has a lesser effect. It, it relates to lifespan." Twilight looked at her friends. Dawning realization, confusion, a hint of denial. She could read their expressions so clearly already. How well would she read them after a thousand years of practice? "Girls, you're immortal. All of you." One was Magic, learned and wise. Touched by forces she did not know, she was unafraid and challenged ignorance with knowledge.