Point Flare's Perspective
There was a short warbling noise as the portal shifted from translucent to transparent. The 'warehouse outpost' out in the Hollow Shades became more visible as Misty Scarlet canceled her spell.
"Good work."
Misty tilted her head down in light of the exhaustion but smiled anyway, "Thanks, I'm glad Silver told you to come with me."
Point Flare glanced around the floor. Floor as in 'factory floor' or 'large room' rather than the slab of crystal they were standing on. "Why do you think she wanted me to come? It's not like I can help."
"Why does that mare do anything?"
Flare rolled her eyes, "Point taken, but seriously, what do you think?"
Misty hummed to herself as she inspected the portal edge. The golden ribbed coil stretched around the barrier glowing faintly where her red and black aura brushed against it. After a couple of moments of channeling she nodded to herself, seemingly talking in her own head. Something she'd visibly started doing since Silver started teaching her the in's and out's of Emotion Casting.
Flare simply waited, Misty was always like this. It was usually just because she was shy, instead of focused like now.
"Probably... stability?" Misty said to herself as she pulled her aura away from the portal
"How so?"
"Well... Silver always says not to practice Dark Magic without supervision. Maybe it's not just a safety precaution... maybe..." Misty stared off into space again, "It does feel a little easier... to resist the mental effects of Emotion Casting when my friends are here."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I wonder if it's because that's how it actually works, or if it's just because I've convinced myself that it helps, and the magic follows that trend in response?"
Circular spell amplification?
"Who knows. We're done here though, let's go back, get some lunch." Flare rested a hoof over Misty's shoulder as she spoke, Misty shook her head and blinked a few times before nodding and smiling at Flare's comment.
The two walked across the floor, and Point Flare used her telekinesis to trigger the gemstones that would mark the portal gate as operable again. They walked out into the open hallway between the stacked floors and storage space that was the main warehouse.
The warehouse was separated into three sections. The Empire side transportation wing, the portal and storage wing, and the office wing. The three sections were arranged in four tiles, with half the warehouse being taken up by two tiles of portal and storage, the tile near the front of the building used for offices and management, and the back end of the building taken by the transportation wing. There was a ring around the whole building of open space and bathrooms with indoor plumbing, water fountains, and all the amenities of one of those new fangled product factories out in Manehatten.
The massive crystal slabs that made up the floors, walls, and indoor structural supports, and metal and plaster walls was a good reminder that this was a workplace.
It certainly won’t be winning any beauty contests, that’s for sure.
Where the two mares were right now was the second floor of the portal wing. They walked past the high-vis-vested ponies going about their business, either shoving things through portals, putting things in boxes, or putting things on boxes that were going to be shoved into portals.
"What are you gonna have for lunch?"
Point Flare shrugged as well as a quadruped can shrug while in active motion, "Whatever's around, honestly."
"I'll make us sandwiches."
"Hey..." Flare gave Misty a concerned look, "You doing okay?"
Misty wore a frown on her face, and looked to be deep in thought, "Dunno, dealing with those portals is always so... weird... practicing on my own is one thing, but the magic in those portals is something else."
"You wanna talk about it?"
Misty nodded, but kept her frown, her face morphing from upset to hopeful; with a twinge of the previous mental hang-up present, as the mare clearly didn't know where to start.
They took a break in the conversation to walk down the open stairs down to the first floor. Once they reached the bottom, Misty picked up the pace to stand next to Flare once more, and began to struggle to explain, "It's like... like... When I'm casting spells on my own. It's always me that feels like doing it more"
Point Flare wasn't really adept when it came to Emotion Casting, but she understood the premise. The danger, of course, was that as you opened the pathways in your soul and mind to draw more and more emotion into you, those pathways would stay open, and alter the way you thought. Very similar to normal chemical addictions. Hence why Silver referred to it as the 'drug' of magic casters.
"When I feed those portals... it's like... there's another voice, still mine, and it whispers for... something I don't have. Not like egging me on to feel more and corrupt myself, but..."
"Like encouragement?"
Misty shook her head, "I don't know. It's just really strange."
"Well as soon as you start thinking it's not strange, I'll let you know." Point Flare added a smirk and an eyebrow wiggle to hopefully try and lift Misty's spirits.
Success!
Misty smiled and nodded, "It's surreal. A month ago, we..."
"We sucked." Point Flare explained succinctly, leading Misty to snort in laughter.
"We did, and now we're joking about going insane, when it could really happen."
It is surreal
The two continued making their way past the shelves, carts and ponies, out towards the office space that held the transfer field back towards their bunk. Unlike the portals, which Silver had assured her that she had in limited supply. 'Transfer fields' were more like, in Silver's words: 'convincing reality that it was actually over here'.
Once they stepped into the depressingly monotone hallway and its repetitive doors, they quickly ducked into a door Misty unlocked at range, and stepped through the runic pathway just on the other side and into Silver's home.
Once they both stood next to each other, Point Flare directed her attention down the flight of stairs that lead into the lab. "I'll tell the bossmare that we're done while you make lunch?"
"Sure thing, thanks Flare."
"You got it Misty."
With that they parted ways, Misty heading to the kitchen, and Flare descending the 'non-spatial respecting' staircase and into the metal lab. Her hooves clanged on the non-reflective gray metal, and the smell of 'clean' bothered her nose for a moment before she inhaled deeply, and the sensation went away.
She wandered into the lab, and glanced over all the random widgets, gizmos, and gadgets that sat around the lab equipment.
"Boss?" She called out into the room
"Yes?" Silver said from directly next to her
Buck!
"What in Tartarus!" Flare exclaimed, instinctively backing away from the sudden presence of the mare
Silver frowned
"You can't keep sneaking up on me like that."
Silver didn't lose her frown, but turned away and went back to a flask full of purple liquid, "Stop letting me."
Flare rolled her eyes
"Are you and Ms. Scarlet finished with your task?"
"Yup."
"Good. I have the next hour free, I'm going to start you on Chaos Magic."
Point Flare went from idly glancing around the room to laser focus at Silver, "Wait, just like that?"
"No."
Flare sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness, I thought you were-"
Silver held up the volumetric flask full of purple liquid "I just have to wait for this to finish oxidizing, then we can start."
*confused horse noise*
"How?" Point Flare took a challenging step forwards, "I don't think I can just 'pick up' chaos magic like it's a hobby."
"I don't expect you to. I expect you to-" Silver mockingly repeated, "Pick it up, like the tasks I've been having you complete for me. Same as anything else. It is work. You will do it. End of story."
Silver's harsh verbal dressing down was punctuated by her brushing past Flare with the flask balanced on her wing. Body language wise ignoring the mare's worry. An act of which Flare was unaware was intentional.
"Okay." Flare said, her confidence waning.
"Good, step over here, please." Silver said in a clipped tone, far away from the conversation mentally.
Flare stepped around the island towards Silver, and an empty beaker.
"This also serves as a little bit of a lab safety lesson, but it's far besides the point." Silver lifted a lighter in her levitation, something which still boggled Point Flare to no end, and lowered it into the beaker. "Tell me, what is the difference between this," Silver punctuated the phrase by lighting her hoof on fire using magic, "and this?" while simultaneously sparking the lighter, to which a previously invisible flammable gas caught flame inside of the beaker.
Point Flare glanced between the two flames, "One is magical, the other one is chemical?"
"Chemical?"
"Uh... chemistry, sorry, I know I'm not quite as well versed a-"
"Don't second guess yourself, you're right, but that wasn't the answer I was looking for." Silver snuffed out the flames. "True, one was magical, one was a normal, 'chemical' fire." Silver said, creating air quotes with her primaries, "In truth, however, there is no real difference. It's all energy, just expressed differently. Chemistry and Thaumaturgy are just such different sciences that they're generally referred to as different forms of energy, but in the end, this and this," Silver lit the flames again, " are exactly the same. I don't have the time to get into the details, but just think of them as two ends of the same 'energy' spectrum that exists within the bounds of what is possible."
Point Flare nodded along slowly.
"So... That begs the question."
Silver lifted over the flask full of a now pink swirling liquid, and turned it over so a dollop landed in her frog.
"What is this?" She said, her voice rising from a dead lecturing tone, to have that twinge of wonder that comes from showing off as a spark set off a wild flame that surrounded Silver's hoof.
Obviously the flame was different. It wasn't burning Silver's hoof to ash, but it was still creating smoke, and consuming oxygen.
So... wait...what is that?
"Not a rhetorical question, if you know the answer..." Silver led
"I don't think I do."
Silver lifted her hoof, and gently deposited the flame onto the beaker, where the fire began to lick at the fuel inside as the glass on the outside of the beaker began to heat, glowing as it cracked around the rims.
"This is elemental fire. A kind of living fire tied to what fire actually is."
As Silver spoke, Point Flare watched the flame eat away at the beaker
"Fire is a force of destruction and growth. Breaking down the unbreakable to create something new. A cyclical force for Change, tangential to the means of Life and Death, and bound to that of Energy."
The beaker exploded into shards, or more accurately, 'melt-sploded' into shards as the fire took the place of the jar.
"Now tell me Point Flare. Why?" Silver breathed out the word why like the question was the answer in it of itself. The direct comment breaking Flare out of her mesmerized state to intelligently say:
"Uhm"
"In short, the answer is: Because."
"Because?"
Silver gave a shit eating grin, "Yup, just 'cause. That's how the universe is. When reality formed, and Eternity subsumed space-time, reality stabilized around a few central concepts. Things like mass and energy, life, magic, change, time, cause and effect, knowledge, etcetera. At the time, things that were 'alive' were more or less deities, Discord is one, lesser, example of this phenomena, and the god of fire-" Silver tapped her hoof against her chin as she thought, "I forget her name, but I know Kirins worshiped her, eventually equally destabilized as the universe settled and became a 'living existence' of experience, physics and magic as a central node within Eternity."
"Wait... You're talking about the beginning." Flare looked on as the gears in her mind turned over into maximum gear ratio.
"The beginning of everything. Yes."
"The beginning beginning."
"There's only one, so yes, that one."
Point Flare stuttered, half in excited wonder, half in indignation at the casual dismissal of the power of such knowledge "How do you even know about this?"
"The same way you're learning about it, someone told me."
"Who?"
"Do you want the rest of the lesson or not?" Silver gave Flare a sideways smile
"Yes. Sorry."
"Where was I?" Silver pressed her hoof down over the elemental flame as she thought, snuffing the thing out. "Ah, right. Chaos magic, formerly known as the art of 'wizardy' long, long ago when magic was different; equally known nowadays as 'convincing the universe to do what you want' and a casting form I personally refer to as: 'World Diplomacy'."
Point Flare studiously nodded along, drinking in Silver's lecture. Both the surreal nature of just sitting on the floor and learning about the dawn of her world, and the fact that she wasn't writing any of this down itching in the back of her head as she tried to focus.
"In short, things that exist, the more powerful fundamental forces that are tied to 'old magic', for a lack of better term: are alive, and want things. They have motives, and intent. Elemental fire seeks to consume. Water seeks to flow, plants grow, sun shines, and so forth. Chaos Magic, is the art of convincing those things to instead do as you command, channeling their power and will for yourself."
That sounds impossible... but I guess it was always going to sound impossible...
"In order to do this, you must Understand the things of which you are trying to command, or they will consume you instead."
"Consume me instead?"
"Ever wonder where fire elementals come from? Or lightening pegasi spirits?"
Ah... I guess that's enough clarification
"It's a kind of..." Silver tossed a hoof, "Think of World Diplomacy as a kind of 'realer' fey magic"
"Okay."
"It will eat you, as soon as you let it."
"Noted." Point Flare nodded at Silver's heavy look, intent on showing she understood the gravity of what she was just told.
It's not like I didn't understand the risks I was dealing with.
"Earth ponies do this constantly. Life and certain kinds of Elemental Earth magics fall under the umbrella of Chaos magic. Coaxing plants into sprouting early, and convincing trees to shed their leaves so they can stay healthy as fall comes are all examples of subconscious chaos magic."
"Wait... Really?"
"Mhm. Earth ponies tend to lean towards passive chaos magic more than the other two races, though you see plenty of Pegasi with wind or water or sky affinities, same with Unicorns who have ice or magic affinities."
"Magic affinity?"
"Magic at its core is a kind of living chaos magic. Something fundamentally different, and not something I'm going to explain at the moment."
Flare hummed at the deflection.
"For now, you're going to practice creating elemental fire."
"I am?"
"Yup."
Flare glanced up at her horn. Her new horn.
"You have a kind of affinity for flame, so that's a good starting place for learning the basics without killing yourself."
Point Flare glanced down from her horn at Silver's encouraging look, "How do I-"
"It's simpler than you think. It's all will driven, but you must understand the purpose of the fire when you create it. You must Understand it in order for it to burn."
"Okay" Flare closed her eyes and tried to focus
"I'll be right here in case you blow yourself up, so don't worry about safety, just try and have it click."
"Okay, okay, stop distracting me."
Silver went quiet, and Point Flare focused her magic to the tip of her horn, her white magic coating the surface as she channeled.
Understand the fire huh? Simpler than I think. Okay, I can do that. What did she say?
Growth, Destruction, Life and Death, Change, and Energy
Flare shifted the magic around in her core, trying to draw the mana out into her horn to spark something into working. The air, and the ambient mana around her horn shifted as she tried to force some kind of spell into existence.
Nothing happened.
"Can I have a hint?"
"You don't need nearly that much mana." Silver said quietly
Flare scrunched her closed eyes and nose in concentration as she dissipated the mana she'd gathered carefully.
"Even less."
She let more of the mana go
"Less."
and more
"Still too much."
Flare's face morphed in confusion as she lowered the mana in her horn down to where she wouldn't even be capable of basic levitation.
"That oughta do it."
"Really?"
"Mhm. Now focus."
Focus on what? Just the concepts?
Flare dragged the tip of her horn through the air as she focused on Energy. The swish of the air around her horn, and the energy it contained twinged at the edge of her mind like a whisper.
"I think I... I think I feel it."
She focused on Change, and the Energy whispered songs of smoke and desires of Life.
"You're feeling the flame yet to be. Calling backwards to you through the inverted nth-dimensional topology of time."
"So how do I actually make it real?"
Silver answered, still lecturing quietly "All of the components of the flame are there, you merely need to evoke it with intent, and under your control."
Evoke? Like... Like casting a spell?
The sensation of actually casting a spell wasn't a describable sensation, even to other unicorns, just how feeling thermals, or hearing the soil were incomprehensible sensations to unicorns. The best explanation Flare could come up with was: 'it's like swallowing backwards, but through your horn, and you're vomiting soulstuff; but a little less visceral.'
Instead, she projected that sensation outwards with her mind, and dragged it along the awaiting Energy floating in the air. An arc of magic jumped from the tip of her horn to the section of air as something connected, and an unstable flame caught as Flare gasped.
Suddenly her horn was ablaze, her eyes wide as her heart jumped into action
Oh my Celestia
Flare laughed shakily as she heaved a breath inwards. Her entire mind went into overdrive as some alien sensation shook her to her core.
"Take some deep breaths. That's flame sickness. The elemental effects of channeling fire." Silver said calmly, resting a hoof on Flare's shoulder.
Flare looked up at the flame on her horn, burning around the same size as her head and laughed again, not realizing how quickly she was breathing, "Sickness?! I feel! I feel incredible!" She took a few more shuddering breaths.
"Calm down Point Flare."
Flare's eyes snapped to Silver and moments after glazed over as the flame she commanded told her of the Energy present within the teacher.
"Flare."
Point Flare no longer felt incredible. Point Flare was scared, she was heaving breaths like she was drowning, and she still didn't feel like she was getting enough air, her hooves were shaking, her tail was lashing uncontrollably, and the heat from the flame on her head barely matched the rising temperature of her blood she could feel at the tips of her ears, and pounding through her heart.
"Flare. Your mane is on fire."
That was it.
Flare panicked as the fire started to greedily snake it's way down her horn and onto her head. Her instincts warned her of the imminent death or heavy injury she was facing just as her body decided that now seemed like a great time to do literally anything.
Luckily, a moment before she could start running around in circles, she was drenched in water, a wave splashing from the forward direction, coating her front half; her uncontrollable gasping caused her to sputter and cough as she inhaled a mouthful of water. A moment later it happened again, and she felt the flame on her horn, damaged by the first wave, get snuffed out.
Flare flopped over, and tentatively poked at her smoking horn.
Silver stepped over her, "You're okay. Just fed the flame just a bit too much."
Her horn was still evaporating the water on the floor, and her mane was singed around the edges, in-between gasps as her heart rate lowered, Flare said, "I don't know if I can do that again."
Silver chuckled, "Sure you can. Get up." and held out a hoof.
Guess I'm skipping lunch, sorry Misty...