Limitless possibilities

"If magic can produce produce this perfect there might be no limit to what we can do! We can't cut off a whole planet of possibilities" – Sunny Starscout

I am done. Done with Canterlogic and its fraud of a research department. The last "project", if it can even be called that, took me and Safron more than a week to complete. A week that we could have spent on studying EPM, progressing the earth pony side of magic. But, of course not, Phyllis needed to save face after years of selling anti-unicorn garbage that half-works only a quarter of the time along with anti-pegasus measures that turned out to be just a damn pack of balloons.

From this point on I'll do my own research, funding be damned. Safron decided to help me, she was never employed by Canterlogic and the Royal Gardening Society really couldn't care less about her business in Maretime Bay.

I'll be moving quite some distance from town to perform these tests in peace. There's an old typewriter there that I'll use to record stuff.

Also, the town's alicorn, Sunny Starscout has decided EPM be known as Flora Magic. I think that it's a great name for a version of EPM, but can't be used to describe it as a whole.

The first test. Are there different expressions of EPM?

Setup: It has been confirmed that the magic allows some ponies, namely the Sheriff, to do things other than grow plants. Our aim here is to figure out if others can replicate that feat or if it is some sort of special talent only available to some.

Result: It seems I am not gifted with this particular magic. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to communicate with wildlife it has been deemed a special talent of sorts. The potential is, of course, quite obvious there. Even the Sheriff sees it, employing multiple critters in his law enforcement duties.

As of yet we've seen no other unique variations of EPM, but seeing the usefulness of the regular EPM makes me wonder what unique abilities could exist.

The second test. Does Flora Magic only affect plants?

Despite the name, we theorize that EPM could be used on living beings.

First attempt: Failure. No matter what we try the magic just seems to run off into the ground. We'll attempt to somehow isolate both the caster and the target from the ground.

Second attempt: Success? We were able to isolate the path the magical energy travels. Instead of going into the earth it goes straight to a crystal and from there, through a process that I lack the understanding of, discharges into the target. The actual power had little to no effect on the target, in this case a weird looking possum that decided to stay after the talking test. I think that the problem might be tied to the crystal itself, it looked like too much of the energy was either still stuck inside or flew off into the air.

Third attempt: Limited success. We've managed to modify the crystal to output almost 50 percent of the energy we're putting into it. This time the possum dodged the discharge, so we might require some sort of chamber to hold the target as well.

Fourth attempt: Complete Failure. I've overloaded the crystal, which was unable to take the strain after the modifications we've done. It exploded all over the lab. Still trying to gather all the pieces. The shards were green tinted right after the explosion, but lost any color minutes after. We're searching for a new crystal. Safron says she knows somepony in Bridlewood who can get us a large supply.

Fifth attempt: Failure. Got the new crystals in. We tried another modification, this time less destructive for the crystal itself, hopefully. It still needs to be calibrated, because too much of the energy is escaping the crystal before reaching the target. The adjustable target chamber is finally complete, it's a small metal cylinder that we put the critter in.

Sixth attempt: Success. Finally. The calibration was just right, the beam didn't miss. The crystal couldn't sustain the power for long, but it was enough. The target was a rabbit. Immediately after getting hit it started to shake like crazy. Its fur quickly became green-tinged. The shaking had stopped roughly a minute after exposure. The rabbit was noticeably larger in size, around 1,6 times what it was before. After a more careful examination we also noticed that its actual skin had become rough like bark.

Test conclusion: After multiple weeks of trying to get it right we have finally succeeded in using Flora Magic on an animal. And the effects are astounding. This opens a whole new area of research and this time it is something I'm very interested in. Safron was very excited as well, she says she has a perfect way to further test this.