Cookies for Heaven

[letteropener]

Who: Princess Celestia
When: October 14-21st
Where: All around the Far Shore
What: Princess Celestia brings cookies and, perhaps more importantly, wellness checks to the temples of the Far Shore.


Two things circled each other in Celestia's mind, forming a taijutu symbol in the way each completed the other: A lot of people in the Far Shore really needed some personal attention, friendship, and care; and she had, thanks to practice and effort, gotten quite good at baking cookies.

So each morning, Celestia cheerfully moved dough into her oven on sheet after sheet, the entire kitchen in Inti's temple animated in golden light like Merlin himself had set it all to baking-- and each afternoon, Celestia took wing above the Far Shore, traveling from temple to temple to seek out the inhabitants therein.

So at some point, an alicorn will come knocking at your door, with a bright smile on her face and a basket of cookies floating by her side.

Comments

[letteropener]

[The spell is simple and complex all at once. Simple because it is merely analysis and telekinesis -- understanding the presence of, stresses in, and limits of the rock, then lifting it into that formation. Complex because both components require an incredible amount of finesse and skill to do all of that so casually.]

Pony magic is not necessarily so complicated, I think. We cast spells by transforming mental energy into magical energy through our horns. But to do so, we have to very carefully pattern the mental energy first to achieve the desired results.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Simple but also complex and detailed is a good way to put it, and Judar can see that. ]

You can't say it's not complicated and then point out having to 'very carefully pattern' everything. Then again, it's kind of the same with what I'm doing, but there's a bunch of stuff that I'm learning is way more complicated than other spells. Like this one that I think is supposed to teleport people or things from one place to some other.

[ Okay, he really can't talk about someone explaining magic as something simple but also careful and potentially complex. ]

[letteropener]

Hmm. I suppose I should say they are not complicated in terms of contemplating complex formulae and so forth. There are, of course, spells that require that, and if you wish to write a spell down so that others can learn it, the process is often quite complicated.

The truth is, most pony spells are developed intuitively by those whose talent suits the spell, and it is difficult to describe or translate them to those who do not have the knack. Teleportation, for example, is a powerful magic that takes a great amount of natural ability to perform, and I do not know if anypony has ever managed to successfully write a general all-purpose teleportation spell.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Unfortunately, while there's a couple of things Judar understood and everything, there's only one part that he actually takes to respond to. If it were possible for a human to preen with nothing more than pride, than he was managing it right then. ]

No one, huh? Well, you'll know someone once I finish and start practicing this one. Still not some pony, but someone powerful and talented enough to figure it out.

[ Technically you didn't, Judar. You have an entity you absorbed to get the information. ]

[letteropener]

I'll be very interested to see if what you write is compatible with pony magic. [She isn't lying, either. Though she doesn't expect it will be, she can't rule out the possibility, and that would be very exciting if not revolutionary.]

[She might even show a little more excitement if he didn't seem so arrogant.]

If you'll permit me to look it over when you're done, of course.

[kuroi_taiyo]

Depends on whether or not you can read it.

[ He had to give someone else a quick rundown and idea of what some of the things he wrote meant, and Lavi has a lot of memory and book skills to utilize to figure it out faster. ]

Even if it's not directly, it will probably be enough of a guideline to let you figure the rest of it out yourself.

[letteropener]

Really, it most likely depends on whether or not the mechanics by which your magic functions can be translated into the mechanics by which pony magic functions -- and if, in doing so, it creates a pattern which a pony can hold in their mind effectively. I'll be very interested in seeing if it can.

[kuroi_taiyo]

If I can hold it in my mind and your kind can't, then it sucks to be a pony.

[ Judar, that's not how it goes. ]

Stick around and I'll be back. What I'm working on will take a while longer, but I've got plenty of things.

[ He's literally filled out books on this already. Which is why he's going to float on away and over one of the buildings to get to the main building where his things are. Just enjoy the temple of another sun god(dess), Celestia. Say hello to the perfectly normal horse that's free to wander the area. ]

[letteropener]

[She wonders if he is missing the point deliberately or simply obtusely, but it is not her place to lecture him. Instead, she moves as far away from that perfectly normal horse as possible as she enjoy the sights and splendor.]

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ It's almost guaranteed to be a deliberate choice of how to interpret things. That seems to be what happens when you're magically and spiritually depraved. Just as he won't accept the idea of bonds affecting magic.

It's a little while longer before the magi finds Celestia again. While he's got the notebook, there's a bit of surprise in his eyes. ]

Huh. You actually stuck around.

[letteropener]

[Celestia would love to see him explain how Princess Cadence and Shining Armor defeated the changeling invasion, then.]

[At his comment, she smiles.] Should I not have?

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ He wouldn't, and would instead dismiss the whole thing due to not understanding what she was talking about. ]

It's not really about should or shouldn't. Nothing's really keeping you around, and I pretty much abandoned you. Don't you have better things to do?

[ He's looking around and it's not like anything was disturbed. Save for him. It's almost like she trusted he'd return. Which he did, after a while, but still. ]

[letteropener]

You did say 'wait, and you'd be back'. That's hardly abandoning me, now is it? [First things first, since an argument over what consists of better things seems like trouble more than anything they can reach common cause on.]

[kuroi_taiyo]

Yeah, but after a while it should've been obvious that I went to do whatever and ditched you.

[ Not that he actually had, but he wanted to make it seem like such. He doesn't like the idea of believing he'd do the decent thing and actually return. It feels weird. ]

[letteropener]

Oh, well, I am very patient.

[Being several hundred years old tends to give one perspective on such things.]

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ With the look in his eyes, he's obviously having trouble getting why she's patient and giving this 'chance' at all. So he gives up the argument and opens the notebook- A lot of it being written in a language not so easily understood (given the way his world was designed,) but there's a distinct pattern to how things are written. Instead of a formula as one would naturally thing to see on paper, it's similar to how magical circles (most particularly Solomon's Seal) are designed.

This one is 'simpler', just like the spell it's meant to be, so there isn't quite the amount of 'noise' and detail that the full Solomon's seal would have. ]

This is what I mean by formulas. This one's easy and just translates to floating and flying around.

[ Which is simple and easy enough that Judar doesn't even need to have his wand in hand for. ]

[letteropener]

A very interesting way to design it. It appears that symbols and geometry are important to your magical style.

[Which is good. Pony magic often works much the same, since a complicated shape or sigil is often easier to hold in one's head than a long formula.]

[kuroi_taiyo]

I guess. It's just the way that seemed like it was supposed to be written.

[ It comes with the way that all of the formulas were pounding around in his head. ]

[letteropener]

So you are working mostly from instinct when it comes to writing these spells? [That isn't surprising... She can imagine Twilight doing something much the same.]

[kuroi_taiyo]

I guess. It's just been pounding in my head since I showed up, so I've been rolling with it.

[ He can consider that instinct, sure. ]

[letteropener]

Well, you clearly have a knack for it. This is quite remarkable. [Celestia is never stingy with compliments when they are deserved, after all. She looks over the paper again, though with a slight laugh.] Now, I admit I'm not at all certain what this spell would do to pony who can already fly.

[kuroi_taiyo]

Yeah, and you've barely seen anything at this point.

[ Compliment taken, but it seems that he's got a bit of a naturally high ego, so that just adds to it. ]

If they can fly already, then obviously they won't need this spell. It's just an easy one to show compared to this one.

[ He'll turn a couple of pages to show another that's set up similarly, but with far more details and extra notes around it in a language that couldn't be immediately read. It's a lot busier, that's for sure. ]

[letteropener]

Of course they wouldn't need it, but what if they were cast anyway? That sort of thing could happen, after all...

[She trails off at the sight of the next spell, making a pleased and intrigued little noise as she sets her brain to the task of deciphering it.]

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ After a bit, Celestia would realize that deciphering it would be impossible until she knew what certain symbols meant, and what kind of component they were meant to be. Which is also about how long it is before he closes the book up again. ]

Casting it still requires the control and sense of directing it, so that might end up being a moot point if they just float around to fly anyway.

[letteropener]

[Celestia doesn't feel any particular urgent need to try to decipher the spell out of context and clues at the moment, even if she thought she'd get the chance.]

Well, you certainly do have an interesting magic system. Similar to ponykind's and yet very different all at once.