The Other Perspective
"Okay, I'm beginning the spell. If it gets uncomfortable, let me know."
Aqua heard a shuffling in front of her alongside the almost-silent hum of magic flowing through Raven's horn. Raven's hoof touched Aqua's shoulder. Aqua's back leg began to rhythmically move in nervousness. I really need to break that habit.
Aqua twitched as her shoulder suddenly felt cold. It's almost like a really, really cold shower. The chill seeped through her veins, spreading to her neck, her legs, and her chest. Wow. That is incredibly uncomfortable. But I can do it.
The cold spread, coating everything with artic water as it approached what felt like Aqua's heart.
And when it did, Aqua screamed as reality ceased.
"... Has to have been strengthening it while practising the two spells along with her using Telekinesis more than the average adult pony..."
Aqua was warm.
"So you're saying her mana pool is really small?"
Aqua felt feathers.
"Yes. It's concerningly small. Mine is below average, so I expected nothing to happen, but here we are."
Aqua heard a heartbeat.
"Yeah... At least we finally got this, though."
Sounds like Cotton's.
"What is that?"
Aqua's ears twitched.
"The doctor wanted me to collect a few of Aqua's tears. I know it sounds weird and scary, but look."
Aqua began to listen.
A gasp. "Why are they purple?"
Aqua opened her eyes.
"The doctor wasn't sure but, he said her tear ducts might have a lot of mana building up."
Aqua's chest twinged with pain. "Ouch."
Shuffling. "Oh! How are you feeling, Aqua? Are you okay?"
"Ye-yeah... Hurts a little..." Aqua felt the feathers around her move and likely give the others a better view, while still surrounding her.
Cotton reiterated, "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah... My heart just hurts a little... It's not much... Doesn't stop it from being annoying, though." Aqua hazarded a laugh.
"I'm really sorry, Aqua. I didn't think the spell would hurt you. My... my mana pool is small, so... Anyway. I'm really sorry." Raven, this time.
"It's fine, we gotta take risks to learn." The pain was lessening.
"I'm your mentor, it's my fault. I'll be more careful In the future. For now, though, you need to rest. Your chest is likely going to hurt for a while..." Shuffling. "Probably should stop this spell and practice other ones more first."
"It's magic, Raven. A little pain isn't gonna stop me."
"Hm... Fine. We can try another method next time we meet. Until then, rest."
"Won't hear me complaining... much..."
Shuffling and silence.
"I have to say I'm a little confused, though. Do you have much trouble casting the other spells repeatedly?"
"I mean, for the warmth spell, I haven't really cast it much, considering I just got it down... The other one, the light spell is easy, but it does drain me quickly..."
Shuffling. "Hm..."
"It's a little weird, though. My Telekinesis doesn't even feel draining anymore." Am I just efficient with it?
Shuffling. "That's... interesting... and very confusing. Definitely unique, though." Then Raven whispered to herself. "I should write to the counsellor and ask them what to do..." Aqua heard the scratching of a pencil.
Yay... more counsellors. Fun...
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Thank you very much for this chapter!
So little aqua doesnt have much mana... i guess she's gonna have to go all in with efficiency then, but even then i doubt shes gonna be anle to do any medium/large spells
Sounds like she doesn't have many spell slots yet
Happy birthday, and great story too
11400020
And thank you for reading it.
If one is able to reduce the cost of a spell by 90%, that would be considered highly efficient. If we put mana and mana costs into numbers, a 20-cost spell would only be 2 mana then, a 400-cost would only be 40, and a 10,000-cost would become 1000. There's a small problem, though. You may be able to increase the efficiency of a spell, but if you can't cast it in the first place, you'd find it extremely hard to optimize something you simply cannot perform. Maybe in time, with a lot of practice and theory-crafting, it'd become possible, but that would take a ton of effort.
However, if you could reduce the cost of a spell by a flat amount alongside the % reduction, for example, say 20, the 20-cost spell would cost nothing. The 400-cost would cost only 20. The 10,000 would cost 980. That is, of course, only if the flat reduction is applied after the % reduction. It would be possible to cast higher-level spells than before but, you're still at a major disadvantage if your mana pool is only 80.
With just the % reduction, you could cast the first spell four times, the 2nd spell twice, and the third spell no times.
With both reductions, you could cast the first spell infinitely, the 2nd spell four times, and the third spell no times.
Aqua, though...
11400086
Heh. If only she could level Mind/Attunement or find some memory necklaces.
11400639
Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm not certain how long I exactly want this story to be, but I know for a fact that I'm nowhere near done. So there'll be much, much more to come.
Nice double chapters and yeah gotta work on efficiency or figure out why she's leaking so much mana.
Really no matter how its phrased or justified, there is something distinctly sinister about a doctor asking for someone to get them tears from a child. Sounds like something that would be in a strange and concerning potion.
11400713
I wonder if twilight or a couple craftsponies could create some kind of item that increases mana efficiency? Or maybe an item that continually siphon off a sliver of mana for storage effectively expanding her mana capacity in exchange for very slow mana regen and losing the vast majority of your mana should anyone manage to take it?
11401143
Yeah, I agree. While writing it, I was thinking something along the lines of, "Wow. That really doesn't sound good." Especially since her tears aren't normal. Imagine that: A snake-oil-eske bottle with Child Tears written in bright yellow on it. Getting into some darker magics with this...
Heh... I wonder...
11401176
A Magic Battery.
It's situations like this and those who simply cannot generate mana that this idea truly becomes realized. A classic way this is represented in fantasy media is a sort-of enchanted crystal that can house mana, y'know, like a battery. There likely would be a possibility of constructing even a primitive version of it, given enough experience. That is if enchanting works at all.
Alongside that idea, there are commonly mana potions in fantasy media as well. The idea of an ingredient giving a specific nutrient that your body either makes or doesn't make enough of, isn't unheard of. Frankly, I think the idea is fairly realistic. It's like how eating meat or nuts is an amazing source of protein. Maybe there's an enzyme to generate mana made by an organ in ponies that humans simply don't have? It makes sense to me.
11401054
I can only imagine leaking bodily fluids would be extremely concerning. Waking up someday just to find that your eyes were bleeding forever only for the doctor to tell you, "Oh, don't worry, though. It's a slow enough release that it shouldn't hurt you." That's just plain concerning.
She's definitely got a long, long way to go with her magic. Not just in terms of efficiency.
11401218
With your comparison with magic regen potions and high protein foods, I wonder if potions help expand mana pools with magical exercise? Or do they increase natural mana regen by a couple percent for a couple days? Instead of them being an instant shot of mana, they're more a slow but steady thing... or maybe it could be both but the instant version requires rare and expensive ingredient so isn't common outside the nobility like twilight and celestia?
11401237
Without even entering the realm of fiction, having a [insert consumable] to increase your [insert action] performance is already a thing. Medical drugs, for example. Painkillers, Adderal, or Steroids. They already exist. The idea of something akin to that that helps with generating mana would make perfect sense to me. However, like steroids, medicines directly created in mind to boost performance by a lot will very likely have a large drawback, not even mention addiction.
A potion that would decently increase the regeneration of mana would have a decent drawback, like less efficient food intake to compensate for example, and would be temporary. Increasing your mana power would likely be something akin to a blood thinner, allowing more to flow through the [insert mana version of vein].
To get a large burst of instant mana, I imagine, would be either a mana battery or medicine that would have a major downside akin to a mana debt. The use of a mana battery would be sort of hard to use in an emergency, I believe. There are two ways I could imagine it working: either a physical injection, like morphine, or a sort of magic absorption, think using mana to actually make the stored mana yours. With the medical method, I imagine there would be a sensation where the body simply ignores the DNA-programmed safety to push past a limit. Either that, or it would consume other parts of the body to generate said mana extremely quickly. Fat consumption while on a run, for example, even though the fact that it is a fairly slow method and that most use it to lose fat rather than help them run longer.
Not even mentioning monetary costs, the bodily cost would, depending on the method, be dangerous. The idea of a mana-regeneration potion is feasible and extremely likely to exist in any magic setting. The accessibility of these items, however... Also akin t reality, I believe that other, less dangerous and expensive [insert name of medicine] would be more accessable.
The story is interesting, but weak. I would advise to gain experience from other people. Just read popular stories.
11400713
Sorry to necromance your comment but I was curious. Is mana regeneration a fixed rate or can it be trained. Sort of like using your mana pool up repeatedly? Like how exercise tears muscle to rebuild it more.
Would be interesting to see a low total mana pool with an extreme or high regeneration rate.