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Prelude2,187 words
Act 1: Respite12 words
Chapter 1: An Irregular Discovery.4,463 words
Chapter 2: A Disquieting Awakening5,323 words
Chapter 3: A Royal Tarriance2,930 words
Chapter 4 Pink Strange: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Party4,669 words
Chapter 5: Magic 1013,208 words

Chapter 5: Magic 101

Chapter 5: Magic 101

Max awoke to the sound of chirping birds outside his window of the guest room he was sleeping in at Golden Oaks Library. He quickly got out of bed and did a few stretches and went to take care of his morning business. As Max finished washing his hooves he caught himself staring at his reflection, in particular his horn. “I sure hope I can learn how to use this thing for something more than a built-in hat rack. Never know when I might need to have to defend myself even if this world is more peaceful than Rune,” Max said to himself.

Max opened his door and was instantly met with a pleasant aroma in his nose. Max carefully walked down the stairs to the kitchen where he saw Spike making hearty breakfast of oat pancakes. “Oh good you are awake,” said Spike, “You are just in time for breakfast.”

“Where is Twilight?” asked Max thinking it odd that she would miss a meal.

“Oh she is just getting ready for your first magic lesson, she could barely contain her excitement at the prospect of teaching somepony magic and her leaning yours als, ” replied Spike.

Max had gathered from their brief time together that the mare could get quite enthralled when it came to scholarly pursuits. So, he sat down at the table and started to eat the scruptios looking pancakes placed before by Spike.

About halfway through his first stack of pancakes Twilight in a flash of light at a seat across from Max and took notice of him. “Great you are up. I was about to wake you, but since you are already here that gives us five more minutes to eat before we have to start so that we can stay on schedule.”

“Well good morning to you too, ” Max said with a smirk on his muzzle.

This brought a look of realization to Twilight that she may have been a little lost in her thoughts about joy of learning that about to commence, “oh um, good morning Max. Sorry, I just so excited about what we are about to do. We both get the learn about a new form of magic that is unknown to ponies and humans alike we could be making history here.”

Max gave a hearty chuckle at the mares exuberance. He couldn’t help but think that it was rather cute the way Twilight was going out about something most would find to be a rather dry subject matter. Max having finished his breakfast, replied snarkily, “Well I guess we should get going with changing the world then.”

The sarcasm went right over Twilight’s head, “I know, maybe we should take a picture for the historical record?”

“I think having a portrait made seems a little over-the-top that is rather expensive isn’t it?”, ” inquired Max.

“No, not a portrait just a photograph.”

“What is a photograph?” Max said with a curious look.

“Wow, your world doesn’t have photographs? hmm. Well, a photograph is made with a machine called a camera with a lens like on a telescope. First a glow crystal is ignited to produce a bright light then the camera’s lens focus the image that is reflected back from whatever is going to be in the picture and then magic film is used to capture the image once the film has the image it can be made into a picture with some thaumaturgic solvent and some special paper. it is much cheaper and a higher quality than a portrait.”

“I will take your word for it maybe you can show me some in person so that I can see what you are talking about.”

“Sure, we can do that later but right now we have some important things to discuss,” Twilight led Max into her study where she a couple of blackboards and chalk with diagrams of what appeared to be unicorn anatomy and the other contained some basic arcane rune diagrams.

“For today’s lesson we are going to be discussing the basics of unicorn magic and the arcane constructs used to perform the two most basic unicorn spells, light and levitation respectively. As you are a former magic user in your previous form once you find out how to reach your mana the basics should come very easily, ” Twilight intoned as a Professor.

Twilight lifted a baton and pointed at the board with a diagram of a unicorn’s head. “ As you can see, below a unicorn’s horn is a specialized organ that rests above the brain called the carbuncle. This organ is where a ponies magic is stored for later use. The flow of magic can then leave the carbuncle and then be directed into the horn for the various spells that can be cast. Like any muscle the carbuncle can get stronger with use so a good way to cast more spells is to simple cast as many spells as you can and you will eventually get stronger.”

Max raised a hoof to ask a question, “I thought you said that all ponies have magic so do pegasi and earth ponies have a carbuncle like a unicorn does? ”

“Good question, the answer is yes and no. Neither earth ponies or pegasi have a carbuncle in their heads, however Pegasi have two smaller but similar organs at the base of their wings and earth ponies have many smaller ones in their muscles and hooves with a larger one near their heart that perform a similar function. This allows the other tribes to channel their magic in different ways but because of this unicorns are much better at producing spells that extend beyond the body. Earth pony magic is mostly instinctual and only a rare individual can outwardly channel it to do more than the usual improvement in strength, stamina, and passive plant magic, But Applejack has been able to force plants to grow on command and well Pinkie Pie can do many things that seem like magic, but it is probably better if we do not think about her too much, heh heh ”

“Yeah Pinkie Pie is certainly unusual. So if these carbuncle were removed or damaged would a pony lose his or her magic?”

“Well if it were damaged a pony’s magic would certainly be weaker. However, no pony has ever survived with the organ removed. Our magic is closely tied to our lifeforce. With the source of our magic removed we die. Pegasi who lose their wings can barly manipulate clouds and an earth pony who loses a leg will have much less stamina that one would think.”

“So would that mean that an anti-magic field or mana drain spell or curse would kill a pony?,” inquired max.

“No, they wouldn’t die. they would just be weak and sluggish being able to do very little until their mana flows were brought back to normal. Ok, now that we have covered basic anatomy let’s talk about how a unicorn channels their magic. I want you to empty your mind and try to focus your concentration trying to feel energy with your horn. Imagine that their is a dam holding back water and that you want to open that dam to let the water flow. As you have not used your magic for a few days your reservoir should be quite full”

Max did as he was told and meditated upon his horn and the energy that is supposed to be just below it. He could almost feel it. A mild tingling in his horn. Yet it seemed to be just out of reach. Then he had an idea. He focused on what if felt like to channel a bolt spell but instead of the energy being in his hands he tried to will the energy build-up into his horn. After about half an hour of channeling exercise Max started to get a headache that seemed to build amd build until without warning the dam of pressure in his head burst.

BOOM!

A bluish green bolt of lightning shot out of Max’s horn and strait into the wall leaving nasty scorch mark. Luckily nothing in the library caught on fire.

“WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT!,” Spike exclaimed as he rushed into the study.

Twilight looked a little frazzled with some of her mane sticking up and she still blinking away spots in her eyes and ringing in her ears due to the point-blank plasma discharge. Max had sheepish grin on his muzzle as he was quite embarrassed.

Twilight having gotten her wits about her said, “Well, I guess you were able to find your magic heh heh , faster than I anticipated even, but I have never heard of a foal finding their magic creating such a violent outcome.”

“Ahem, That might be my fault.” Max had guilty look in his eyes “I tried to channel the energy like you said and it just felt like it was out of reach no matter what I tried. So, I thought I would try to channel a bolt spell using runes I was familiar with but instead of using my hands as the focus I used my horn as the focal point. And that didn’t even seem to work for a while then I started feeling this pressure in my head like a headache that started building until it released and then the bolt of lightning shot out of my horn.”

“Well, we got lucky then. Spike can you see about cleaning up that scorch mark over there while I finish my lecture please? ”

“(Groan)Why do I have to clean it up? I did not even make it this time. ”

“Spike now please I have to finish this lecture and Max is the student. Tell you what if you this you can have ice cream for dessert tonight with dinner,” Twilight said with a wink.

“Really?” Twilight nodded, “You got it Twilight one scorch removal coming right up.”

“Anyway, now that you found your magic let’s talk about two basic spells. The first is the light spell as it is the simplest.” Twilight gestured with a hoof to a simple spell matrix on the chalkboard. “As you can see, by channeling your magic through this shape you can cause it excite electrons in the air around your horn causing them to give off photons and thus light. ”

“So, all I have to do it let is flow through my horn in the shape of a single rune.”Twilight nodded. “That seems pretty simple as the bolt spell requires 6 different runes.” Max closed his eyes and focused on the arcane pattern presented. after about five minutes he felt that his magic was flowing as was desired. He opened his eyes and was pleasantly surprised to see that his horn was illuminating the room in a bright light. “Alright now we are making progress,” said Max with a smile on his face.

“Good now let's move onto the other basic unicorn enchantment levitation. This spell also requires but a single rune matrix. The rune allows you to channel magic into force like gravity. WIth it you can push or pull or lift anything. The more force needed the more magic that it will take. As this should be easy after your recent success; I want you to lift this ball off of the table into the air. ” Twilight pointed to a small metal ball that sat upon the a table near the chalkboard.

Max closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt the flow of the energy as before and channeled it through the spell matrix. He then thought about using that energy to lift the ball off of the table. After about a minute of deep concentration Max was about to give up when he heard. THUNK from the ceiling. Max opened his eyes and to his astonishment he saw the metal ball was firmly planted on the ceiling with a golden glow surrounding it.

“Great job Max, now it seems you have plenty of power, but you need to work on your control. I want you to practice lifting that ball one foot off of the table and gently placing it back as much as you can while go help Spike make our lunch. Please try not to destroy anything ok.”

“I will try.” Max then spent the next 20 minutes focusing on making his magic lift and lower the ball with an ever increasing grace.

“Not bad, Now let’s eat,” said Twilight.

Twilight led Max back to the Kitchen where they both had daffodil sandwiches with small salad and Spike a had an RLT- ruby, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.

“I must say Max your magic progress went a lot better than I thought it would considering that you still have trouble walking,” said Twilight.

“Hay, I have cast spells before. Magic is mostly in the mind. Getting a whole new body is very confusing. I would like to see you try to walk on two legs if you suddenly became a human.”

“As if that would ever happen,” deadpanned Spike.

“You’re right Spike that is very unlikely. What a silly idea,” said Twilight with a giggle.

“Maybe after a few more days of practice I can show the two major spells I have mastered prior to coming here,” said Max.

“That would be most informative, but now that we have finished our lunch why don’t you teach me what you can from the tome of Light magic,” replied Twilight.

“Sure, sounds good.”

“Since I cannot read the book and I bet you cannot read equestrian even though we seem to be speaking the same language I think the first step would be teach each other how to read. But, first I was hoping that you could give me an idea as what this book contains.”

“Ok, Why not I admit, I have often been a bit curious as how Light magic works but I have always been too busy fighting or training to find out,” said Max.

“Let’s see the title is Father Cromwell’s Guide to Light Magic

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Basic faerie healing spells for combat.
Chapter 2: Detox spells for purging poisons, diseases, and curses.
Chapter 3: Holy blessings: bestowing the power of the light on champions
Chapter 4: Deflection and reaction spells
Chapter 5: Wind blast spells for blowing away the darkness
Chapter 6: Resurrection and restoration spells
Chapter 7: Advanced healing spells: Aura
Chapter 8: Holy sanctums and binding points

“Wait a second, Max I think I need you to explain some of what that means. What is faerie healing spell and why is it for combat?”

“Ok, so our priests can summon minor sprites or faeries, creatures inherently connected to the light. When they are summoned the light of a faerie can heal the wounds of those of pure hearts. This can used to close a cut or large gash or puncture wound that is nearly fatal”

“Fascinating, spells like that could revolutionize the pony medicine and the uses for the royal guard are numerous as well,” stated Twilight. “Now on this second chapter you mentioned curses. Curses have never proven to exist in scope of Pony magic, surely this is just an exaggeration, right?”

“That would be nice but, at least in Rune curses are very prevalent when one is dealing with dark magics or dark artifacts.” replied Max.

“That is not very comforting,” said Twilight with a sour look on her face. “So what does a holy blessing do?”

“That is the way for a warrior of the Light to be empowered so that he can fight against the hordes of darkness. Each aspirant is given a title to match his or her training. I was given the Title of swordsman when I first started out. As one progressed in training and might the Light can bless you again with a new title and abilities to match.”

“Fascinating, so this ‘Light’ is like a source of energy for good. Kind of like the Elements of Harmony.” mused Twilight. “The rest of the spells seem sensible except for Holy sanctums and Resurrection spells. You can’t be serious about Resurrection spells. I mean bringing back ponies from the dead is impossible except for necromancy which is illegal, and then it is more of a zombie than it being the pony it was in life.”

“Well, thankfully the spells are quite real because having a lance through your chest is quite unpleasant and makes staying alive really hard. I only had to go through it a few times but when you a fighting a war against an enemy that outnumbers you 100 to 1; casualties are inevitable. But with some good holy magic and enough gold to pay for the ritual’s supplies; you can compensate for the losses by bringing back your warriors and restoring them to fighting status.”

“You mean to say you can actually bring any pony back from the dead?” asked a skeptical Twilight.

“No, not anyone. If they died of old age then the spell won’t work or if they died as a result of powerful dark magic than they are too far gone. But, a death due to violence, illness or accident can be undone. However, the more powerful the soul of the individual the greater effort and thus greater cost for the ritual. The reagents needed are not cheap and it was rare that it would be used on a low level soldier or peasant due to the prohibitive cost.”

“Amazing, with spells like that we could greatly reduce deaths in the military or in mares during birth. We simply must translate this book as the highest priority. Now could you please tell me what a holy sanctum is?” queried Twilight.

“A holy sanctum is a place endowed with the light that can be bound to for emergency teleports. It is the location that my mass teleport or Egress spell would take me and the rest of the Shining force. Essentially it acted as an anchor for the teleportation thus greatly reducing the magic needed to safely teleport.”

“Excellent, now that I have some initial notes on the text. I think it would be good for us to over the different alphabets so that we can read each other’s languages. Once that is done Max, you should practice your magic for a few more hours to improve your control, and I will go over today’s notes for proper indexing.”

Max and Twilight then spent the next few hours going over the differences in their written languages. After, Max practiced and Twilight studied. Spike made a hearty dinner of hayburger loaf with a sweet potato casserole.

After a studious day with some amazing revelations for the future Max, Twilight, and Spike called it a day. Unknown to the two ponies and one dragon in the library another had been observing them that day. Another who saw much promise in the magic of this tome. Another who would wait patiently for the day when Twilight had it completely translated. Another who would use this new magic to make their army undefeatable.

To be continued...

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait everypony. Again feedback is welcome so that I can improve the story.
Only, Excuse I can give is video games. Not a good one I know. Laters.

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