This story is a sequel to The Unity Pact 2: Shaking Foundations
Between Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 of The Unity Pact 2: Shaking Foundations, Chris Vacca becomes Princess Luna's first pupil and Luna becomes Chris's first tutor. This side story is meant to expound on that event and the sessions which follow as Chris and Luna lean more about each other's worlds, each other, and themselves.
This is the place to post any and all questions you may have regarding magic and how it works in Equestria (at least according to the world of The Unity Pact).
Chapters (8)
Great work, as usual. Excited to see how this one plays out. Is it going to be a bit more comedic focused than your other two active stories?
By quite a bit. The problem is that in order for this to progress, I need questions to answer. I need the readers to ask any and all questions they have about magic and how it works.
Most of the Nouns are fairly self explanatory, except Spirit.
What happens to a person when Verbs get used on their Spirit?
Is affecting a person's Spirit covered by the same laws as Mind magic?
5296701 Aha! Excellent question! And I do mean EXCELLENT. This will be discussed!
So no intelegent blades
Hmm...I think...he could potentially make a bag of holding, if he can solve the sharp edge problem.
The implications and potential applications of Create Spirit are staggering.
The Ponies have skipped right over traditional computing technology and invented true Artificial Intelligence. The fact that they can make these things using their own biology eliminates the need for circuitry, heat dissipation, and all the manufacturing innovations for fabricating those things.
And they don't even realize what they're sitting on.
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Serious question: why are unicorns not the undisputed rulers of the whole planet?
Question: magic safety features.
In Chapter 9 of UP2, Catalyst explained that spells fizzle out if the will behind the spell doesn't match the elements of the spell. What are the limits on that? how deliberate does the will have to be? Could someone accidentally do something really destructive, something they'd never consciously want, if they panic for just a moment?
Are there any other built-in safeties?
5338444 Aha! I believe I see the topic of an upcoming chapter!
Some of the new humans being scared of "witchcraft" and Beacon wanting to remove his own horn got me wondering.
Is there a reasonably safe way for a human, or unicorn to have their magic permanently deactivated? Something like a surgical procedure, or a change flesh spell in the vicinity of their screfula organ?
What if they just wanted to disable one particular noun, or verb?
-I thought I distinctly remembering Celestia stating that Chris had to set a time limit otherwise Luna could end up wearing this forever if he passed away in the main story.
I quote from chapter 8 of TUP 2
given Luna's explanation I guess that Razor Wits concerns about the soul blade spell she was taught might not being that legal may have some weight then, since Luna states only doctors are to know that spell
You are blessed....for now.
I take it right after this chapter the intermission from the Unity Pact 2 kicks in correct?
5420884 Yep.
How does thaumaturgic energy reserve affect normal biological processes?
Chris passed out, the first time he used magic, but he had already been fighting for a while. Luna and some of the weather ponies were similarly incapacitated after they overtaxed their magic. Luna said Chris could potentially slice the world apart. Can his body actually store and release that much energy? Safely? Could a person with one really high noun or verb exhaust themself to the point of death, by using their magic at full power?
Animals in Equestria are intelligent because of the magic they absorb from their environment? One of the pony doctors mentioned thaumaturgic septicemia. If a magic human doesn't cast spells, does their body find some other outlet for the energy, by using it to fuel some other biological process, or does it turn toxic in their blood?
5478870 Ooh! Excellent questions! I shall use them!
5478921
I figure it could become very relevant to the new humans from Argentina, in the near future. When they were living as hunter/gatherers, they would have been unknowingly minimizing their R.U.T.E. intake. Now that they're settling down in NHV, cooked animals are off the menu, and fresh produce is grown in their backyard, instead of foraged from wherever.
That and they seem to take an unfavorable view of that "brujo" stuff.
There we go! With a monopoly on the teleport network you could make New Humansville into the largest trade hub in the known world.
Edit: Also, this beat the crap out of the airships I mentioned a few chapters back.
Chris, thy name shall hence forth be Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Damn. These ponies have so much cool shit, and are so bad at coming up with new applications for it.
5497903 As was subtly hinted at through Luna's dialogue. The Ponies have a fantastic array of tools and materials, but little inclination to use them because magic for them is a sort of crutch. Humans are innovative and creative to a fault.
Ah fun with transporter pads. The Trekkie in me is pleased.
"Most impressive." Last bit should say "Most impressive."
Asheram, I voted for the Airships, in concert with the telepads.
Luna's title should be Princess of Tactlessness.
And incapacitating enemies with nonlethal portals can only end in hilarity.
I think I see what the problem is here.
Back in the old days, all soldiers were stallions, and all stallions were sex slaves. Luna's training methods are 1,000 years out of date, and they reflect that time, more about keeping the stallions in their place than teaching them anything useful.
And she's too old and proud to learn the rules of a new age. Also kind of dense.
5510759 You are surprisingly close! It isn't so much Luna trying to keep Chris 'in his place' so much as it is that both she and Chris have extremely different expectations and both assume the other will do certain things. And while they are both very intelligent, being smart and creative you can still be dense as they both are.
Was Chris exploiting the Natural Magic that makes mares afraid and submissive from intimate actions to terrify her?
5512269 That's the thing, the only Human who even knows about that is Artex. Chris was only trying to prove a point.
5511773
What exactly did she expect to gain by humiliating him in front of everyone in the castle?
5512609 It never even ocured to her. Worry not, nobody laughed at Chris.
5512648
If you're trying to write her as socially awkward, you're way overdoing it. Shes coming across as someone with almost no empathy or conscience.
5512738 She has empathy, but she is still adjusting to a world where such emotions are shown as openly as they are now. You will see sir.
So thaumaturgic energy doesn't last long in organic containment systems.
How does it do in inorganic things? How long can magic doohickeys go without maintenance? How long do power crystals hold a useful charge? Can magic things be made self regulating by applying some programming logic to spellcraft, or using a create soul spell? Are there devices for soaking up ambient thaumaturgic energy that could be used to recharge things?
To me, it appears as if they both have different ideas as to how things will be done. Luna wasn't expecting Chris to react as he did to loosing his senses, and certainly not to kiss her. Chris wasn't expecting her to just blank his senses like that, and he has no idea how ponies work when it comes to intimacy. So, you've just got a recipe for disaster. Misunderstandings following over-reactions over misunderstandings.
Luna may be 1000 years out of date, but I believe the stallion-revolt thing happened before her banishment, else she would have most likely been exempt from it, due to being on the moon and all.
5515800
5515943
All valid points, these points will be addressed, some sooner than others.
Not exactly a magic question, but relevant to the story.
That kickass armor that Luna had made for the CWG, that comes in 4 legged versions as well as 2 legged versions, right? So far the story spotlight has only been on Chris and Eduardo showing off what the armor can do,
Will the Royal Guard eventually get a matching set, or would it be too labor intensive to fabricate them in such a large quantity? Sounded like Luna spared no expense making them.
5519034 Not quite, that armor is unique to the C.W.G. the E.P.U. Guard have their own and the Civil Guard do too. The defining difference between the E.P.U. Guard, Civil Guard, and the C.W.G. are their purposes. The Civil Guard is primarily meant to keep the peace or deal with the odd criminal and the E.P.U. or Royal Guard function like a combination of the Presidential Protection and Army. The C.W.G. keeps the peace and they serve as firefighters, emergency first aid responders, and quick response military. They need the best armor because of their wider range of responsibilities. (That and Luna was easing her guilty conscious and wanted to do something constructive and help out New Humansville).
5519333
Seemed like a thoughtful gesture on Luna's part. A lot of the trouble that the humans went through was because of the princesses being unwilling to give them the benefit of the doubt. Making the New Humansville peacekeepers the best equipped fighting force in the country is a huge show of trust on her part. Works not only as an apology but as a pledge that she's done judging the humans for things they might do, rather than things they've actually done.
Also the armor is just plain cool, in a Robocop/Iron Man kind of way.
Don't know what Celestia's secret construction project is, but it's going to be hard for her to match Luna's gesture.
5519400 I would have thought it was obvious. Chris used his boon to start up a transportation center between New Humansville and Canterlot, and Celestia is going to expand the transport centers to each of the villages, towns, and cities in Equestria. Her gift is financial stability. Imagine how rich New Humansville will be after news spreads that goods can be moved from one place to another almost instantly and that Humans were responsible for the teleportation pads and the telegraph. Investors from all over the world would would be clamoring to throw money at any Human idea.
5519429
Eh.
Luna is still Best Princess.
5519441 Chris likes her the most, I rather like Cadence.
I hope Luna is going to get a severe talking to or punishment for this.
5522567 There are consequences you have not seen yet.
That black mineral that Luna's anti-magic necklace is made of, can they get more of that stuff?
I'm picturing bullets tipped with the stuff that could let their conventional soldiers bring down the most dangerous villains, from a safe distance. No more gambling the fate of the kingdom on 6 untrained civilians and their rainbow cannon.
Of course, that would mean sanctioning the creation of a weapon that could be used to assassinate the princesses.
5523418 The material the necklace is made from is common, but not weaponized. There are plenty of other things to use as weapons. I do agree with you though, the Mane 6 need a break. There is finally the possibility of somebody being capable of doing so.
His
At least she admits it, unlike Celestia.
Plot hole: how does Luna keep what she did to Chris a secret? There would have been too many witnesses.
Fridge logic strikes again.
5528724 No, just that Celestia hasn't said anything about it yet.
5522567
Morris Dancing bells on her legs! She'll be the most festive horse evar!