[Magic Camp] A Brief History of Magic (Finished)

[Lux]

Lore Weaver stood in the empty classroom, making sure that everything was ready. Thankfully Princess Twilight Sparkle had prepared things in advance of everypony's arrival, providing an abundance of materials to an extent that the stallion couldn't fathom running out of anything. As he traversed the rows of desks, a feeling of nervousness began to overtake his mind. This was the first time that he would be teaching ponies about magic, something that although he studied he wondered how well he could translate study into teaching. He didn't want to upset the Princess who worked so diligently for this event and had enough faith in him to come and teach or in Ingrid Marie who was the current director. Most of all, he didn't want to confuse the ponies who took time out of their lives to learn magic.

"Ok Lore, you can do this. You know magic and you're just teaching the basics to this group. Just talk to them like you'd talk to other ponies in town. It's your time to shine."

After giving himself a little pep talk the stallion waited for the ponies to arrive in class, hoping for a fun experience where then ponies could learn things.

[SilverSwirl]

Timid Star was the first one to arrive in Lore Weaver's classroom. He hadn't met the stallion, but from what he remembered at the start of camp was that he was the cantrip tutor. He was a smart unicorn, but that incident during the cloud diving contest still stuck with him. His lack of experience with spells beyond the very basics he could learn while on the island had caused a real problem. He shivered as he recalled the heat of the flames that had blackened his mane and tail that day. The scrawny looking golden colt waved a hoof to Lore before taking a seat near the rear of the classroom.

"Oh, hi, Lore...", he said softly as he nervously twitched his ears. It's not that he was overly shy, in fact he was quite excited to be hear now. He just didn't know how to properly express it. His eyes stared at Lore blankly, as if he was looking through him.

[Lux]

For a moment, Lore Weaver wondered who was assigned to his class. An empty class would not bode well for the teacher, whom he was sure that his class would be well attended being that this was a class covering the basics. Just when he was about to look outside for anypony waiting, a colt walked into the classroom briefly saying hello before heading towards the back of the class. From what the purple unicorn could tell, this pony was a little on the shy side, not really knowing how to interact with others.

"Hello there and welcome to my class and to Magic Camp. We'll be starting soon, hopefully after more ponies from camp show up. In the meantime, what's your name and what kind of magic do you do?"

[Bellosh]

Without a word uttered, Flakey Shards was the next little pony to find a seat in Lore Weaver’s classroom. So far, Magic Camp hadn’t been living up to her expectations at all… namely because unless regular summer camp, colts and fillies actually had to go to classes and all that icky stuff. Flakey didn’t whine to her parents day and night just so she could go to a non-mandatory summer school!

Good news though; because she was a crystal filly, Flakey Shards would be able to sit out anything that required students to do spellcasting, which meant less work for her. In turn, the bad news was that the remaining eligible classes for her were all those boring history and lecture courses, the likes of which she always flagrantly made a mockery of back home. With a name like “History of Magic”, Flakey knew she wouldn’t learn anything from it.

As she entered the room, Flakey moved over towards the most distant back-corner seat she could find and sat down in it. The filly gave off a yawn, intent on giving that teacher a hard time if he tried bothering her.....

[RarityDash]

Tourmaline Glass just shook her head as she followed her fellow crystal filly through the classroom door. She too was disappointed by this so called magic camp so far. It was just too rudimentary. She half wondered if she wouldn't learn more about magic from your average unicorn's magic kindergarten. Really it was probably about the same. She surely wasn't learning what she wanted to learn. She still didn't know enough about magic to understand any of the events that had happened in her kingdom. What we're Sombra's secrets? How does an average unicorn attain a power so dark and absolute? What of his curses which disrupted the very flow of time? They were skimming the surface of an otherwise fascinating subject. It was tedious and nothing if not frustrating.

But who knew, maybe this class would teach her something interesting. A History of Magic? Maybe the events of 1000 years ago would come up. Either way, there was promise in the concept. If nothing else, perhaps she'd learn something about the time lost to her and the empire. There was some promise in this, though in all likelihood it would just be another dumbed down waste of time.

Noticing Flakey taking a seat in the back corner, Tourmaline gave a sigh. "Honestly, I really do wonder why you bother to stay here sometimes. Surely you could have just found tedious places to take your naps back home." she said as she shook her head and continued along toward the front of the class, but off to the side. She didn't even look at her teacher or the other students. She just relaxed into her seat and gave a preemptive eyeroll. She was ready to not be impressed.

​

[Lux]

As he waited for Timid's response, two more ponies filed into the class, making him breathe a sigh of relief that there would be more attending his class. These two fillies were Crystal Ponies, ones that while the stallion had heard about never actually saw in Ponyville or in Canterlot. They were interesting to look at, like a walking crystalline statues. Their appearances made Lore rethink his lesson. If there were going to just be unicorns in his class Lore would help them to practice their magic and teach them new spells. But with Crystal Ponies he didn't think they had the type of arcane magic that unicorns like him possessed. Actually he didn't know what type of magic Crystal Ponies had although he thought he remembered once hearing something about emotions.

The first pony had a look on her face that she didn't want to be in his class at all or even perhaps at the camp. He could guess that it was the filly's parents that encouraged her to go, something that Lore wasn't sure was a good idea forcing a pony into a camp. The second filly, who he could tell was friends with the first bored looking filly appeared a little more interested in the class.

"Good morning to you two. I am Lore Weaver, and I will be teaching this class today. I must say that you are the first Crystal Ponies that i have met. Perhaps I can learn as much from you two as hopefully you can learn from me."

[Bellosh]

"Honestly, I really do wonder why you bother to stay here sometimes. Surely you could have just found tedious places to take your naps back home."

Stupid Tourmaline, thinking she was such a smartalec. She really needed to eat her own words; in fact, Flakey Shards defiantly resolved to do just that! “Pffft,” the snobbish crystal filly stuck out her tongue at the other; “You really think I’m here to sleep? I bet that I’ll know more magic than you by the time we get back home." A bold boast indeed, considering how Flakey already knew that crystal ponies couldn’t cast unicorn spells. But if it antagonized Liney.....

"Good morning to you two. I am Lore Weaver, and I will be teaching this class today. I must say that you are the first Crystal Ponies that i have met. Perhaps I can learn as much from you two as hopefully you can learn from me."

Oh. The teacher talked to them. Lacking any respect for the Magic History instructor, but also wanting to publicly show up Liney, Flakey Shards used this as an excuse to relocate to the desk right in front of her gloomy friend, and flash the fakest smile at Mr. Weaver; "Oh, I'm sure to learn more about magic than any crystal filly you'll ever meet....."

[SilverSwirl]

Timid raised his gaze to Lore Weaver as he spoke to him. He asked him what magic he did and what his name was. Before he could answer, two Crystal fillies entered the classroom as well. No sooner did they see each other that the words and rivalry between them kicked into gear. He made a mental note to give them a wide berth and could tell this was going to be a long class at camp with these two causing distractions. To distance himself from the pair, he approached the teacher. He didn't care if they thought he was sucking up to the teacher by getting close enough to whisper in the teacher's ear.

Touching the teacher's shoulder, he frowned a little. He really didn't have a specialty yet or something he was particularly good at. He was better than Snips and Snails or at least that was his own estimation based on experiences with them. "Mr. Lore, I have no specialty, yet... I just try lots of stuff but my telekinetic spells are top notch... I should spend more time in the Library but I tend to get chased around so studying can be difficult....", he answered softly, pawing the earth with a hoof sadly. "But, I don't plan on disappointing you! That was in the past and I can't change it but I am going to give it my all to become strong. I want to make my parents and home island proud of me.", he added with a determined gleam in his hazel eyes. Ever since that nightmare that Luna had appeared to him in, he'd changed for the better.

[Lux]

"Oh, I'm sure to learn more about magic than any crystal filly you'll ever meet....." the pony said in a very sweet tone as she moved next to the other pony. There was something about this crystal pony filly that made Lore Weaver wonder, like he was unsure that she was telling the truth entirely. But he wasn't planning on judging her until she actually made a bad move.

As he pondered the motives of Flakey Shards, the unicorn in the back walked up to Lore as if he had something to say. Leaning down so the colt could whisper, he told about how he was not very talented in magic but he had the desire to grow with his ability.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that you will find your magical abilities one day. And you don't have to prove yourself in class, so don't worry about that. We are just learning some basics today and the theory behind magic. I'm glad to see that you aren't giving up though, as you always need passion for anything you want to do."

Hoping that the colt was satisfied, Lore then turned to the class. There were only three, but he guessed that it was better than nothing.

"Alright ponies, welcome to my class, A Brief History of Magic. My name is Lore Weaver and I will be your instructor. Now I'm not going to bore you the entire hour with a history lesson or some lecture, but I hope I can give you a little insight on magic. I promise that you will have plenty of time to ask questions during this class as the more we learn from each other the better. Now who can tell me what magic is?"

[RarityDash]

“You really think I’m here to sleep? I bet that I’ll know more magic than you by the time we get back home."

Tourmaline gave an amused snicker. Flakey truly was a ludicrous little thing. She had her cutie mark already, but she was really still such a child. Honestly, did she truly see the need to make every little thing into a competition? How immature. At the same time, it would be something of a laugh forcing Flakey to actually pay attention for once. Celestia knows she was hardly one to pay much mind to the lessons back home... not that she was to blame for that. The things they learned in the Crystal Empire schoolhouse were so banal and useless you'd have to be some kind of imbecile to even consider paying attention.

"That is a bet I'm more than willing to accept," Tourmaline said haughtily, sticking up her nose. "It'll hardly even be a competition."

​

"Good morning to you two. I am Lore Weaver, and I will be teaching this class today. I must say that you are the first Crystal Ponies that i have met. Perhaps I can learn as much from you two as hopefully you can learn from me."

"Oh, I'm sure to learn more about magic than any crystal filly you'll ever meet....."

Soon the lecturer had noticed them and Flakey was quick to start her annoying suck up act. She rolled her eyes and slumped over in her chair. How terribly obnoxious. She hardly needed to sacrifice her dignity to learn something. No, to get ahead Tourmaline only needed to be herself...

​

"Don't worry, I'm sure that you will find your magical abilities one day. And you don't have to prove yourself in class, so don't worry about that. We are just learning some basics today and the theory behind magic. I'm glad to see that you aren't giving up though, as you always need passion for anything you want to do. Alright ponies, welcome to my class, A Brief History of Magic. My name is Lore Weaver and I will be your instructor. Now I'm not going to bore you the entire hour with a history lesson or some lecture, but I hope I can give you a little insight on magic. I promise that you will have plenty of time to ask questions during this class as the more we learn from each other the better. Now who can tell me what magic is?"

Without a second thought, as the class began and the teacher asked his first question, Tourmaline's hoof shot up. Without waiting for a reply, she then began to speak.

"What we know as 'Magic' is the quantification of a certain aetheric energy present in all life, but present in such levels as to influence the world in immediate ways only in ponies and a few select other intelligent species. The manner in which the energy can be applied varies greatly from species to species, but can be used to effect nature in the case of earth ponies, weather in the case of pegasus ponies, emotions in the case of crystal ponies and the tactile world through direct interplay in the case of unicorns. Varieties of what we would call magic have also been observed in zebras and other, rarer species such as changelings and dragons, but the most fascinating of magics remains unicorn magic, which is limited only by the capacity of the spellweaver designing the spell and can be used to create awe inspiring magic and curses, powerful enough at times to single-hoofedly lay conquest to an entire empire," Tourmaline spoke all in one go, not stopping for a moment. When she was through she just gave a nod and closed her eyes before slouching back down into her seat.

​

[Bellosh]

"What we know as 'Magic' is blah-blah-blah I am a dorky teacher's pet blah-blah-blah I whine all the time and I need a life..."

Bah, look at Liney, being that bratty know-it-all who thought had every answer. Flakey Shards was prepared to gag at one point during the long answer. Too bad for the moody crystal filly though that Flakey’s bet was about knowing more magic; not knowing more about magic. That meant Miss Shards could still one-up Liney if she managed to pull off some crystal pony magic during Magic Camp. As Flakey’s rival had yet managed to use magic despite her lamey smarts, the more rotten filly figured she still had a chance to come out on top. Right now however, Miss Shards stayed silent as Liney finished speaking, politely waiting for the opportune moment to present itself... whatever that was.....

[Lux]

Lore Weaver had expected a response from any of the ponies that was just a general understanding of magic. After all the three in class were young and did not have the magical knowledge or experience that time brought older ponies. He smiled as a black Crystal Pony raised her hoof, being a willing participant. The last thing that the unicorn wanted was an unresponsive class as things would get boring very fast.

To his surprise the filly said an exposition about magic that amazed the stallion. This wasn't the first time he misjudged something, and chances are it wouldn't be the last.

"That is certainly correct. Magic does indeed exist everywhere in all natural things, and this is the first lesson that you should know. In fact magic is so closely tied to the essence of life that without magic life would cease to exist. There is magic to be found in plants, animals, the sky, even in all of you. You are also correct that there are only certain species that can actually interact with magic, bending it to their needs or desires. And this is another important lesson."

With a flourish Lore Weaver took a piece of chalk from the tray and wrote on the blackboard:

Magic cannot be created or destroyed but shared.

"This is very important my little ponies. When say an earth pony is using magic to work the land or a unicorn to create magic, they are not generating their own magic but are essentially borrowing their magic from the world around them and from inside them to accomplish something. Now would any of you like to share an experience of you using magic?"