Please find your seats, class starts in twenty minutes. Tonight we learn about ley lines!

1523015
*wakes up*
Oh my Luna, there's light in the classroom! And it's not a janitor this time!

Well now...

And let us begin. Are either of you familiar with the Hearth's Warming Eve Legend?

Evening!

1523189 A little.

1523189
Somewhat. You're talking about the legend of the three tribes coming together correct?

1523193
1523195
Correct. In this legend, the three tribes shared responsibilities. This was before Discord and the Alicorns had arrived, as well as Celestia's restrictions on magic. As you know, she is responsible for the state of magic today. Knowing the subject of tonight's lesson, can any of you tell me what the unicorns of old may have used to move the sun and moon?

1523225
Incredible fonts of naturally occurring magic?

1523248
Right. These currents of magic are known as ley lines, and they are not well-understood magic. It usually takes a skilled group of magic users to even attempt to harness their energy, and only the greatest of spellweavers can do so on their own. There is a bit of a cultural resurgence examining these lines, but we still don't know much about them. What we do know is this. They are powerful, dangerous, and can be a hazard to young apprentices such as yourself. As such, we will be reviewing the biggest confluences in Equestria.

1523277
I'm guessing that the resurgence in studying these phenomena is being led by Lady Everstar?

1523289
Correct, as well as Princess Luna and Cadance. Celestia's efforts seem to be more towards cataloging this information, whereas the other three dispatch parties to map out the path of these lines.

1523306 Are they trying to harness the power?

1523306
Are all of them actually involved in this work together or are they somewhat reinventing the wheel with each of their expeditions that they send out to the leylines?

1523306
Do they believe the Shadow could be found lurking amongst the lines?

1523327
1523335
1523340
Lady Everstar is the one nominally in charge of the expeditions, which are officially for academic purposes. By understanding the source of magic, we are better able to understand magic itself.

1523348
Do any of them, Princesses Luna, Cadence, or Celestia or Lady Everstar, personally lead these expeditions?

1523380
Not to my knowledge, though Lady Everstar has a habit of being more "hooves-on" in her work. She is preoccupied with running a kingdom, after all.

Throughout the world, there are magical currents that flow in certain directions and gather in certain places. These are known as ley lines, and the places where they meet are called convergences. The flow of ley lines is incredibly important when considering ritual magic or tapping into the latent energy of an area. Indeed, the paths of major ley lines are something taught to all young magic users once they begin their schooling, so as to avoid magical accidents that can come from unwittingly tapping into these paths of magical energy.

Ley lines themselves have different energies, or specialties. Some are destructive, some are good for healing, and others lend themselves well to growth. There are many different types of ley lines that we know of, and more are discovered as time goes on. The combinations of different ley lines have led to the creation of holy sites and ritual areas that are used today. However, there are only seven major convergences, and those will be the ones we direct our study towards.

There are seven known major convergences, the result of many ley lines coming together in one place. These sites lend themselves well to certain kinds of magic, due to the unique magical signatures of the ley lines that flow through them. For example, the Canterlot Convergence lends itself well to Binding Magic, with an emphasis on restrictive and repressive spells. This is due to the large number of thermal and preservative ley lines running underneath the mountain. Canterlot has therefore used these lines to create excellent defensive magics and preservative runes.

1523474 Would the Everfree Forest then be a convergence of ley lines lending themselves to breaking magic?

1523486
This comes in contrast to the lines underneath the Regia in Starfall, which are highlighted by the enormous amount of life energy. This energy spills out into the surrounding forest, giving it its wild properties and making the land around Starfall very fertile, able to sustain extremely large crop yields in comparison to other areas. In addition to life magic, the convergence below the Regia is host to many different gelid lines, meaning that winters in the area tend to be extremely cold as opposed to surrounding lands. This climate has given rise to a very hardy population, able to withstand great change with little effort. This has proved beneficial in more ways than one, as Starfall has gained a reputation as the “City of Mages”.

1523474
Would each of the current capitols be built on a ley line?

1523474
While I haven't been to Canterlot, I heard it's commonly called "The Impenetrable Fortress". Maybe that convergence had to do something with it.

1523506 Well it's not called Na Sing Sae!

1523501
1523506
Excepting Astropolis, which as previously noted, is on the moooon.

And yes, Canterlot is widely considered to be all but impregnable by conventional forces. Especially after the wards were reconstructed after the Evening Rebellion.

Looks like I'm about half an hour late. Oh well.

1523498>>1523501
Can these lay lines even be found on the moon?

1523513
I don't watch Avatar, so I had to Google that.

1523543 Oh, darn. I was hoping that was a reference. You should check out the show, it's good.

1523534
The moon apparently operates under different rules than Equestria. No discernible ley lines can be found, but magic is perfectly possible there.

1523517
What, exactly, do you mean by "conventional" forces?

1523551
Could just having Princess Luna there cause magic to function with out a ley line considering that the princesses and the lady are all extremely strong magic users and are avatars of a type of magic?

1523557
Seigecraft, soldiers, mages, aerial assault, taht sort of thing. It is in a very defensible position.

1523572
It is certainly possible, but no reliable results have been put forward.

1523573
That makes sense, attacking it would be difficult. How good is Canterlot at holding a prolonged siege?

1523591
As a member of the Evening Kingdom's military, I have no reliable way of knowing that. Estimates are about a year with the current population.

The next convergence is located in the southern deserts, near the ancestral lands of the buffalo. There is very little known about this convergence, as few if any outsiders are allowed into the heartland of the tribes. All that is known is that the convergence is small, but powerful, and that it consists mostly of thermic and aquatic lines.

1523601
Considering it's location on top of a mountain would make growing crops inside the city rather difficult (even with magic) that's still a really, really long time for a large city to be able to go without outside supplies.

1523604
Going off of the descriptive names for the different types of ley lines so far, the convergence in the buffalo lands sounds like there should be a rainforest there.

1523620
As the capital, it holds a large supply of preserved food. Also, the Guard has the ability to requisition food from the merchants and general populace for distribution. Many remark on Canterlot's beautiful gardens, but don't seem to realize that they also serve as a source of food.

1523637
We think it might have something to do with the terra cotta totems they make. The clay has special properties.

1523639
There's a reason why it's called "The Impenetrable Fortress"

The next convergence is located under the Gryphic capital of Ashtar Sharestan, and is the site of the Palace of Five Wings. Though Gryphons are unable to manipulate magic consciously, they are able to use the confluence of emotive and ferric lines to do truly astounding things with metal, as the magic permeates the entire mountain the city is built on. This metal, known as “soulsteel”, is extremely durable, as well as mutable. Once bonded with a wielder, soulsteel weapons are able to imitate the wishes of their wielder, up to a point. For example, a sword made of this material will be able to change forms to a scimitar, khopesh, gladius, or others. However, it cannot turn into an axe, due to the limitations of the metal.

1523651
So is the clay enhancing or retarding the ley lines there? And for that matter then why would anyone want to negatively impact ley lines that don't seem oriented towards a specific magic type?

1523604
Is that the only Lay Line Convergence for the entire southern area, or is there another in the Badlands?

1523637
I think you'd be surprised at how precipitation works in a desert. The yearly average is low, but that is because it will rain or even snow a huge amount all at once and be cloudless the rest of the year.

1523673
As a guy who likes swords, that is awesome.

1523674
It does neither. it is simply affected by the lines. It carries a magical charge.
1523677
Precisely. Flash flooding is a major problem in these areas.

1523685
It is also ridiculously expensive.

1523677 I was thinking like a hot spring.