The Study of Magical Humans
What happens when you take an Element of Harmony into an alternate world?
When I asked that question just a few months ago, I thought I knew the answer.
The Element of Magic, a direct conduit to the otherwise untapable arcane energies interwoven into the very fabric of our universe. This unparalleled artifact was, for the last millennium of Equestrian history, left as an almost complete mystery. Less than a myth, but so much more than its sister elements, the only hints to its existence lay within the pages of unique texts found only in the private collection of Princess Celestia herself.
As compassionate as she is, her collection is important to her and the Princess would only allow a very select few the privilege of reading those books. Subsequently, as her faithful student, I abused the heck out of that privilege.
When I first discovered that the elements had been found, I was ecstatic. My time spent in the other world had given me an understanding of its workings, and I believed wholeheartedly in my hypothesis... Or rather my 'scheme' as it soon became, that isolating the sixth element in a world apart from its siblings would unlock the constraints on its power. Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, Kindness and Laughter. Without them, Magic would have no limits, no moral prerequisites to its use and no master... Save for whoever could first lay their hands upon it.
When I stole the crown and took it to Canterlot High, I thought I knew exactly what I was doing. Power. Unlimited and unstoppable. That was the answer that was burned into my mind, fueled by an obsession that neither world had been able to satiate. A power that I thought would be mine to control.
From the very moment I placed that crown on my head, it became abundantly clear that I couldn't have been more wrong.
So what happens when you take an Element of Harmony into an alternate world?
I have absolutely no idea.
“Come on, Twilight, hurry up, I’m starving over here!”
Twilight Sparkle glanced irritably at her dog, feeling her glasses drop down her nose as she poured dry, meaty biscuits into a small bowl.
“You know Spike, with your newly-increased intelligence and problem-solving skills, it should be entirely reasonable for you to feed yourself instead of dragging me away from my work.”
The dog wagged his tail, licking his lips at the small mound of delicious Gem-yum dog treats appearing before his eyes.
“Yeah, of course. Which is why my newly-increased intelligence is telling me that there’s no point in getting it myself because I’m a dog and I can just train a human to get it for me!”
Twilight rolled her eyes and stopped pouring, instead adjusting her glasses as Spike dove in to begin his meal.
“You give a dog human-level speech and social skills and all it ever does is snark at you. How’s that for ‘man's best friend’?”
“Well they do say that dogs take after their owners.”
Walking back over to their work table, Twilight shot her friend a withering look.
“Very funny, Sunset.”
Having occupied one of Canterlot High’s science labs, Sunset and Twilight had been taking a break to collect their thoughts after yet another fun-yet-fruitless afternoon of test-oriented band practice.
Driven by their shared curiosity towards the inexplicable magical phenomenon of their transformations, Sunset and Twilight had called their friends back for an encore experiment in the hopes of discovering some lead in the impact and application of their school’s unexpected arcane sorority.
As it turned out, the musical aspect of their afternoon had turned out to be more than just an incentive to attend. Even though the girls had discovered how to induce their ‘pony’ forms without the aid of their instruments, ‘showing the truest part of themselves‘ was fairly difficult to reliably replicate in lab conditions, so using music as a crutch was found to be an acceptable substitute.
Now that their part in the experiments were over, the less-nerdy ‘founding’ members of the Rainbooms had departed for the school’s music room, leaving Twilight and Sunset to pour over the results and build on their hypotheses.
Sunset ran her hand through her hair and sighed. It was only due to the insistent efforts of Rarity that her fiery waves had been mostly tamed after yet another... Stressful afternoon of testing. Looking again at the notes on her clipboard, Sunset was once more forced to flinch at the notes and numbers scrawled across the page.
Contrary to what the Sirens had believed, this was not Equestrian magic, or any kind of magic that either world had ever seen. This was something new. Something that didn't fit into the collective knowledge of two realities. It couldn't be rationalised under Newtonian Physics, Starswirlian Sorcery, conventional mathematics, Zebrican Alchemancy or even the relative nonsense of the Discordian or Quantum theories.
It was certainly magic, but it didn't seem to follow any of the same rules that either world had set out for it.
“Urrrgh... This new magic was already confusing enough before it started changing its own rules! This is a completely different set of readings from the last time I tried to research this!”
Watching Sunset throw the clipboard onto her desk, Twilight approached her with a nervous laugh.
“I suppose that we can chalk that up to being... Well, my fault. If your magic is derived from the bonds shared between your group of friends, then adding another friend to the group would surely change the entire resonance of the EM waveform.”
Twilight adjusted her glasses feeling a sense of awkwardness about her hypothesis.
“... And, after all the magical events that have been happening here... plus those holes I tore in reality, I guess even the entire school could be filled with enough magical residue to skew our results.”
Twilight suddenly perked up, her love of science overtaking her.
“Hey! We should consider running our tests in a different, untouched environment to test for that possibility! I’ll start looking for possible locations!”
Seeing her lab partner explode in a frenzy of excitement, Sunset chuckled and shot her a supportive look.
“Maybe first we should focus on organising our observations so far.”
Twilight immediately froze and, with an eager grin, dropped herself into the lab chair waiting in front of her desk.
“You had me at ‘organising’.”
After shooting each other a quick smile, Sunset looked back her notes and resumed her train of thought. Tapping her pen on her clipboard, Sunset paced back and forth while dictating her thoughts out loud.
“So we’ve ruled out my original theory about the instruments serving as a magical focus point, like unicorn horns, or pegasi wings... It seems more like ‘expressing’ yourself through music serves as a trigger for the ‘truest self’ prerequisite.”
Scratching Spike’s ear with one hand, Twilight’s eyes followed Sunset’s pacing as she nodded. Heedless of the conversation, and having finished his meal, Spike just leaned in and enjoyed the attention, mumbling in contentment.
"Oh yeah, that really hits the spot..."
Switching over to the other ear, Twilight raised an eyebrow at Sunset’s description.
“I’m with you so far, though I’ll have to take your word for the ‘pegasi and unicorns focal point’ thing.”
Sunset flipped from one page to the next, looking over another set of notes as she continued.
“Instead of having focus points, it seems like in order to use magic, humans need to undertake some form of physical transformation... though the exact nature of the transformation varies depending on the individual, the amount of magic used and the intention and emotion behind the act at the moment of physical change.”
She looked up, pointing her pen at Twilight as she continued.
“When I first transformed, the transformation was shaped by my ambitions for power and rulership, and so it turned me into a version of myself that was completely consumed by those desires. When you transformed, the magic responded to the lust for knowledge which drove you to release it, and then turned you into a version of yourself that was incapable of caring about anything other than learning more and more about magic.”
Twilight deflated a little.
“Thanks for reminding me...”
“Yet when I transformed during the Friendship Games, my only intention was to try and bring you back and save you from repeating my mistakes, so I changed into a version of myself that was capable of getting through to you. The transformation was different than when I usually ‘pony up’, most likely because I wasn’t just using my magic to change, but also the magic of all my friends as well.”
Thoughtful, Twilight reached down and pulled Spike into her lap, humming in consideration.
“It’s certainly really dangerous, how our mental states can be so drastically altered by our foremost feelings when we try and change... Hmm, maybe that explains why you all have instinctually developed the ‘truest self’ limiter on your magic. If the trigger for the transformation is the emotion of you all being your truest selves, then the magic can’t use that emotion to change you into something that isn’t yourself... So instead just keeps you the way you are, but more magical!”
Sunset smiled, looking over her fellow prodigy with pride. For someone who had never had any magical education, the local Twilight had taken to the study of the subject like a pegasus takes to clouds. Her fresh perspective, combined with the research she had undertaken prior to her school transfer had proven invaluable for unraveling the mysteries of human sorcery.
“Good thinking, Twilight. At least now we know one thing not to do with magic.”
Sunset bit her lip, moving the tapping pen from her clipboard to her forehead as she something occurred to her and she became lost in her own thoughts.
“Truest self... Truest self... I wonder, could it be related to cutie mark magic?”
Sunset resumed her pacing, oblivious to Twilight’s response.
“Ok, now you lost me, what’s a cutie mark?”
Twilight was saved from the lack of a response by insistent beeping from the computer next to her.
"Oh, the DNA tests are done!"
Sunset raised an eyebrow as she strode over to Twilight's side.
"You ran a DNA test? I didn't think CHS had that sort of equipment."
"They don't. this is from home."
"... Why do you have a-"
"Sunset! No talk. Science now."
“Right...”
As Twilight became absorbed in the data on screen, her faithful dog rolled his eyes and hopped out of her lap.
"Urgh... She never gives me any belly rubs when she's like this. I'm off to see Fluttershy. Heh, one cutesy look and she just can't help herself."
A long moment passed where neither girl payed any attention to the dog leaving the room. Resting her hands on Twilight's chair, Sunset leaned over her shoulder and frowned.
"Hey Twilight, I'm not as familiar with human DNA as I am with the pony kind, but... Is it supposed to look like that?"
Twilight swallowed nervously.
"No... No it isn't.
With school hours already over, the hallways of CHS were mostly empty. This suited Spike just fine, as it meant he could walk through the empty corridors with impunity, confident he would not be caught.
Reaching the school's music room, Spike padded up to the door and nudged it open. The rest of Twilight’s friends were sitting around and chatting after their afternoon of scientific band practice. While Applejack seemed content to sit on one of the school-provided chairs while tuning her guitar, the rest of the girls had not followed suit.
Rarity had substituted one of the the school-bought plastic fold-outs for a plush, velveteen loveseat of her own procurement. Opposite her, Pinkie was rocking back and forth on the arm of a used sofa she had pulled out of... somewhere, while Dash was occupied in pacing the room, ranting on about whatever random thing had sparked her irritation.
Spike only had eyes for one human however, and instantly made haste to Fluttershy, who was sitting on the floor by AJ so she could better reach the small crowd of bunnies and kittens vying for her attention.
Bounding forwards, Spike rolled onto his back and waved his paws in the air.
“You don’t mind sharing the love a bit more, do you Fluttershy?”
Smiling sweetly, Fluttershy reached down and scratched at his tummy.
“Of course not, Spike... You don’t mind, do you Angel?”
Deprived of his owner’s affection, the rabbit glared at Spike with the burning intensity of a forest fire now provided ample conditions to spread and consume countless acres of woodland.
Spike panted with happiness and gave the bunny a smug look.
“Yeah, he doesn’t mind.”
Angel squeaked in adorable protest and furiously hopped away to sulk. Seeing the rabbit’s silent torment, Spike once again thanked his magic-crazed owner and this beautiful pet-loving goddess for collectively transforming him into the lone talking animal on the planet. Being able to be heard was a wonderful thing.
While Spike drifted into a scratch-induced pleasure coma, Rainbow Dash was continuing on with her Scratch-induced frustration rant.
“-All I’m saying is that she needs to stop acting like the rest of the world isn’t worth her time! All I asked was where and how she got a car awesome enough to transform like that, and she just completely blanks me! It’s so annoying!”
Rarity tutted with a shake of her head. Having set down her keytar quite a while ago, she was now wearing her red work glasses as she intently sketched out designs for the upcoming fashion season in her monogrammed notepad.
“Rainbow, don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh on the poor dear? She has been extremely helpful to us.”
Rainbow flinched as Pinkie skipped past, almost tripping over the pink menace as she did so.
“-And she’s always up for DJ-ifying all of my parties! Even the ones that happen without any prior warning!”
Halting her pacing, Dash scowled and clutched her guitar more tightly.
“I know it’s not my thing to get so angry at someone so cool, but it just pisses me off that we’ve been in the same class for two years and I still can’t tell if she actually can’t talk, or she just never responds to anything anyone ever says!”
Kicking back and idly strumming on her bass, AJ raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
“So the girl is in her own world more’n half the time. You’re pretty much the same when it comes to sports. Get you talking about your soccer teams and nothing on earth’ll get you to change track.”
Tilting down her hat, Applejack gained a mischievous smirk.
“Yet somehow, despite neither of ya paying the slightest lick of attention in class, Vinyl still manages to get better grades than you.”
Rainbow Dash waved her hand in dismissal.
“Pfft... Whatever, Applesmack! If you could witness the kind of incredible ideas I come up with when I’m snoozing in class, you’d be left in awe of my awesome... Awesomeness!”
Applejack shuddered, through her face bore a smile.
“Take a look inside‘a Dash’s head? I think I’d rather take a bite out of the south side of a north-facing skunk.”
Fluttershy clutched Spike close to her chest as she gasped.
“The poor skunk...”
Before anyone could console Fluttershy on her sudden horror at the concept of a partially-devoured critter, Sunset came stumbling into the room, trailed by a similarly-distressed Twilight.
While Twilight continued to look through her notes with a distant, distracted expression, Sunset made her way over to Pinkie’s couch and sat down, holding her head in her hands.
Re-taking her perch on the sofa arm, Pinkie set her smile on full-beam and kicked her legs in the air.
"Hey, Sunny! What's causing that frown? Is it just because you didn't learn anything about our musical-pony-pop-powers?"
Groaning, Sunset lifted her gaze and moved her hands to her lap.
“We learned something... But it only serves to demonstrate how little I really understand about all this.”
On Sunset’s other side, Rainbow Dash flumphed down into the other seat, nearly launching Sunset off the cushion as she carelessly flung herself into place, setting her electric guitar down by her side.
"C'mon Sunset! You’re really letting that get you down? Even if our awesomeness was too much for your science theories to handle, we still got some sweet practice in, right? Our next performance, we're gonna be rocking it!"
Sunset ignored the not-quite playful punch on the arm and gave her a serious look.
"I'm sorry Dash, but this is important. Too important for me to come up empty like this. If I can't understand what's happening to us, this whole world could be in danger from a force no one outside of our two schools even knows about."
Bouncing in front of her, Pinkie rocked back on her heels and bent almost double until her face intruded into Sunset's personal boundaries.
"Awww, you worry too much! So we get all glowy when we get in the groove, that's no reason to get all frowny! Actually, it's kind of the opposite of what should make you frowny!"
Dash chipped in, resting her hands behind her head as she lazily leaned back and rested her legs on top of her schoolbag.
“Yeah, and it's even better for you, now you don’t even have to pick and choose between your crazy magic pony powers and the technological conveniences and, might I add, awesome humans you’ve come to know and love in our world!”
Both Pinkie and Dash immediately clammed up when Sunset suddenly stood up off the couch and walked into the middle of the room, rubbing her forehead in frustration.
“I’m not thinking about myself right now, Dash! The repercussions of discovering a new form of magic would be incredible even in Equestria, but here? The effects are unimaginable!”
Watching Sunset’s distress, Rarity and Fluttershy shared a concerned look before Rarity tried to calm her down.
“It’s certainly a rather big change, Darling... But I’m afraid I don’t quite follow how the note of ‘doom and destruction’ I hear in your voice factors into all this. A magical high-school band is still just a high-school band, is it not?”
Setting her bass across her lap, Applejack frowned at the dismissal.
“Sunset wouldn’t be getting this worked up over nothing, Rarity. She ‘ain’t Twilight, after all.”
"Hey!"
She turned back to Sunset, a slight smile on her face.
“You might wanna let us know what we’re missing here, Sugarcube.”
Seeing that the eyes of all of her friends were now glued onto her, Sunset took a deep breath and began to explain.
"You girls need to understand. Until now, magic didn't exist in this world.”
She paused, opening her palms and moving them in front of her to try and convey the severity of her words.
“Do you really understand what that means? I straight-up created a new fundamental force of the universe! Thanks to my megalomania, I've changed the basic laws of reality! That's like trying to hammer a jigsaw piece into a slot that it's not supposed to go into. We're lucky the universe isn’t breaking apart right now!"
Hiding behind a curtain of hair, Fluttershy squeaked.
“Actually, that does sound really bad...”
On the opposite end of the spectrum as usual, Dash just ‘phhhft’ed and dismissively waved a hand while she rolled her head to the other side.
“Oh come on, you thought a couple of musical rainbow lasers were gonna make our atoms fall apart, or gravity stop working? Please, our universe is made of tougher stuff than that! We can take as much of your lame magic as you can throw at us!”
Sunset shot her the stink-eye before continuing with her speech.
“Like I said, we’re lucky this universe adapted to magic rather than rejecting it, but this comes with its own problems. The only thing I’ve been able to conclusively prove with all my tests is that this isn’t Equestrian magic that we’ve been using. It’s your magic and we’ve no idea what it can do.”
Rarity chuckled, nervously teasing her hair as she interjected.
“Pardon my ignorance Darling, but I thought this... gift we all share was just the leftovers from when we all used the other Twilight’s crown. Surely it's just our connection to that Twilight that’s letting us use her crown’s magic?”
Rarity turned her head to the local Twilight, who answered her in an oddly grim tone.
"If you had just been using magic that was left here, then you would have been left completely without it after my pendant drained it out of you. Yet by the time I went bezerk, your magic had completely restored itself."
Fluttershy gasped, almost dropping Spike as she chipped in.
"Oh! The same thing happened when we fought the sirens, remember? They drained enough magic out of us to transform, but when we needed to use it, our magic had restored itself!"
Sunset nodded with great certainty.
"It may have given you your powers, but it isn't maintaining them. I know because when it was sent back to Equestria, its influence on this world was completely severed. Unlike my journal, the Elements can't reach across realities. They're too integral to Equestria's magic. That's why bringing one here had such catastrophic effects... And I'm only just starting to grasp at the consequences for what I've done."
"Now, Sunset it surely can't be all that ba-"
"You're mutants."
Rarity choked on her own platitudes.
"Buh-whu-I... Excuse me, Darling?"
Sunset waved a hand over her gathered friends, her expression serious enough that even Rainbow and Applejack began to nervously play with the straps of their guitars as they squirmed in place.
"The magic inside of you... It's not just when you're 'ponied up', your bodies are naturally producing magical energy all the time, as a simple byproduct of cellular respiration. Channeling the power of an element of harmony has... changed you somehow, and magic is as much a part of you as in any Equestrian creature... Perhaps even more so.”
Applejack folded her arms, trying to hold back the knot of worry building in her throat.
“And what does that mean, exactly?”
“As far as I can tell, the mutation is on a genetic level, meaning that this magic won’t just die out when we’re gone. All of your offspring will have magical powers, a trait that will keep spreading and diversifying until eventually you will become what I can only imagine is the next step of the evolution of humanity."
There was a pause, filled with tension, where Sunset just stood there, silenced by the weight of her own words. She took in a deep breath and let it out.
“Whatever happens from this point on, I know for a fact that everyone in this room right now will completely change the world.”
Just as yet another suspense-filled moment of silence was beginning to form, Rarity daintily reached up and removed her work glasses. Looking Sunset directly in the eyes, she leaned forwards in her seat and clasped her hands in front of her.
“So, if you’ll allow me to digest what you have so directly informed us of, you’re saying that I am no longer strictly speaking, human, yes?”
Sunset stuttered, going weak at the knees as she felt the weight of her friends eyes boring into her, a feeling she had scarcely felt since the Battle of the Bands, and would have gladly never experienced again.
“Rarity... I-”
“-and you are also saying that because of you, I am a mutant, and my children and grandchildren will also be mutants, is that right?”
Sunset felt like throwing up.
“I... I’m sorry.”
Rarity let out a deep breath and returned to a straight-backed posture.
“No, no. Don’t be, Darling. I’m just... a little overwhelmed, that’s all.”
Sunset blinked.
“You’re not... mad?”
Rarity flinched, realising what Sunset must have been thinking.
“Oh heavens no, Darling. I could never- ahem... it was not my intention to give you that impression.”
Rarity held a hand to her chest, closing her eyes in thought.
“It’s just that, when one is an artist, you have a tendency to get hung up on certain thoughts about just what it is that you can give to the world. This... This is a contribution beyond anything I could have ever imagined that I could provide. I’m feeling more than a little flustered at the opportunity here.”
Standing loose-jawed, Sunset just sort of stared at her, leaving Twilight to fill in the empty air.
“You’re excited, then?”
“Well... It does sound incredible."
Fluttershy eeped as all eyes turned in her direction.
"Oh, I'm sorry if that was insensitive... It's just that we're always being told that we're constantly evolving, but this is the first time it's ever been so noticeable... and not just happening in our lifetime, but happening specifically to us. It's kind of... Breathtaking."
Applejack nodded her head and glanced around at the others.
“Shy’s right. This is a mite more consequential than anything I was thinking of doing with my life, but it ‘aint anything to get our reins in a tangle about. It’s just who we are now, and we gotta make the most of it.”
Sunset raised her hand to her head in bewilderment.
“You too, Applejack? You’re not even a little disturbed by this?”
"Nothing doing, Sugarcube. If you ask me, it don't matter whether any kin of mine have fuzzy ears or tails or whatever. They're Apple family and that's what's important."
“Question!”
Sunset glanced over to Pinkie’s raised hand with a quizzical look.
“Yes, Pinkie?”
“Does this mean we need to dedicate our band to protecting a world that hates and fears us?”
“No Pinkie.”
“Aww.”
Rolling her eyes at Pinkie’s pout, Dash kicked her legs off of her bag and clapped her hands together.
“So, we’re all cool with the mutant thing?”
A chorus of various affirmatives sounded back at her.
“Cool. I’d love to stay and listen to more nerd stuff, but I got soccer practice in a few, soooo-”
“You’re excused, Darling.”
“Sweet. See ya!”
With that, Rainbow kicked off the couch and sprinted from the room, guitar bouncing as she slung it across her back. As the rest of the gang either followed after her or began to pack up their things, Sunset threw her hands in the air and yelled.
“AM I THE ONLY ONE FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS?!”
Twilight raised a timid hand.
“I still kind of am.”
Pausing in the middle of putting her guitar away, Applejack sighed and rubbed her forehead.
“Sunset, how exactly did you expect us to react to this?”
“I... I don’t know. Just... More. I at least expected you to react more.”
She tilted her hat back and gave a smug smile.
“Like saying you ruined our lives and we never want to see you again?”
Sunset looked away, her frustration crumbling under the mirth of AJ’s stare.
“...Maybe.”
Applejack sighed again, her disappointment mirrored by everybody left in the room.
“Really thought you’d know better by now, Sugarcube.”
Pinkie popped up from behind the couch, flicking through a notepad filled with bets made by various students and staff of Canterlot High.
“I dunno, the top bid right now is that she gets at least three more crises of confidence before she learns her lesson.”
Spike’s ears perked up.
“Hey, can I get in on that?”
Pinkie shrugged.
“Hey, I’ll take bets from anyone who’s got candy they’re willing to spend.”
While Twilight began to lecture Spike on the dangers of gambling, and more specifically, the dangers of gambling with anything that, by necessity would have to come from her allowance, Applejack walked up to Sunset and laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Look, Sunset... If we're all gonna be magical-pony-people permanently, it would make sense for us magical-pony-people to stick together right?”
Cheering up, Sunset chuckled and mischievously flicked Applejack's hat down over her face, antagonizing her like she used to do back before they were friends.
“Must be those herd instincts kicking in... Once you start eating hay and flowers, we’ll have you fully assimilated!”
AJ repositioned her hat with a slight smirk.
“Har har.”
She paused.
“... That can’t actually happen, right?”
“...”
“Sunset?”
“We may need to run more tests.”
It all comes back to that one question.
What happens when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world?
Even now I still think it’s a mystery.
When I first learned about how magic had altered my friends, I was horrified. I felt as if my last act as the old me had left a permanent scar on their lives. My curiosity gave way to desperation and I sought to understand the phenomenon as best as I could.
However, after learning that Pinkie can stomach a lot more grass than a normal human should be able to, and learning that Rarity can stomach a lot less... I was pressured by my peers into discontinuing this line of scientific study.
Like in my previous studies, my results are inconclusive. Even with the strides Twilight and I have made, we still barely understand how our magic works, or how it will impact the rest of our lives.
I’m still eager to know the answers to my questions, but unlike before... I’m not afraid of what the answers might be.
So what happens when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world?
It might be that it changes your life forever, making you into a whole new you. It might be that what you took to be unchangeable, fundamental truth changes into something you hardly recognize.
It might even be that the repercussions of what you’ve done can change the entire world.
It might be an Element of Harmony. Or that might just be what happens when you find what it means to have true friends.
Author's Note
After watching The Science of Magic, I wrote down some ideas about how magic might work in EQG. After the Friendship Games, I wrote down some more.
Some time since then, it wound up turning into something that kind of looks like a story. Y'know, if you turn you head and squint a lot.
