[Herd] Travellers Blessing.

[Trixster]

Science is FUN, lets all just get our geek on and to some MORE science
Also They should Make a "Magic Power" mesurement... would Bring some fun For us unicorns 

[Ahaut]

But wasn't dihydrogen monoxide a hoax?

Lol nvm

[The Wandering Magus]

Science is FUN, lets all just get our geek on and to some MORE science
Also They should Make a "Magic Power" mesurement... would Bring some fun For us unicorns 

yesh "what's that unicorn's power level?!" <insert overused meme here>

[Trixster]

yea... but i think that by a magic power test twilight would be as good to magic as RD is at Flying... or just rather near 16.3.
but that is also gonna be her base unicorn power... not amplified by emotion or the elements of harmony. how the test should work im not shure but im guessing something like what presure you can magically apply to the Mesurment tool.

just throwing out as a thought

[Ahaut]

It's over 1!!!

[The Wandering Magus]

hmm... wall of text mode activated

"Thaum was the conventional means of quantifying magic in Classical Magic Studies, yes.  There were also Resons, Primes, and other systems of measurement.  However, most recently it has been discovered that the most accurate means of quantifying what we perceive as magic is by Magitrons, each of which is approximately 3.189 x 10^-32 milliPrimes.  That would be about 2.10 x 10^-53 Thaums for those of you who prefer using the more traditional system.  The reason for the shift is fundamental to the understanding of modern Magitronics and Inter-Magical Forces."

An image of a Thaum appeared, with the rapidly vibrating Resons within.

"Now, the traditional model up until a few decades ago stated that Resons were the smallest building blocks of Magic.  However, study has shown that individual Resons themselves are further separable into individual Magitrons.  Each magitron has only two states, In and Out.  Each Reson is composed of approximately twenty magitrons, which determine the 'flavor' of the Reson by their state."

Images of infinitesimally small particles appeared inside each darting Reson.

"Now, due to the nature of Inter-Magical Forces, every single spell, every single bit of magic in the universe, can be predicted through six simple equations which determine the state of the magitron."

The six Scroll Equations appeared.

"As usual, variables in the equation can be denoted by either the letters of the modern Equestrian alphabet or Ancient Equestrian.  Quantities here are expressed in the Modern system rather than the Traditional system, for reasons that will soon become clear.  Any questions so far?"

These magitrons, then, create very specific quantifiable effects on their surroundings, by the generation of Spell Fields.  An individual magitron of magical energy mu travelling at a speed v in one direction creates a Spell Field whose direction is clockwise around the direction of the velocity vector of a magnitude given by the first Scroll Equation.  These Spell Fields, which occur naturally in magnitudes too small to affect any save the tiniest particles, are the basis of all spells and magic effects.  In potions, for instance, solutions and mixtures of various substances create minute channels of magitrons all clumped together inside the particles which make up the alchemical components.  Without going into too much detail, the net effect of the interacting Spell Fields is to alter and interact with specific organic compounds, cells and substances within range of the potion in specific manners determined on a macroscopic scale by the components and on a microscopic scale by the behavior of the individual magitrons in relation to each other as defined by the Scroll Equations.  Another example of the power of the Spell Fields of a large number of magitrons interacting with each other may be seen in Unicorn and Pegasus abilities.  The actual effects themselves have long been observed and examined on a macroscopic scale, most notably by the quantification of the magical energy necessary for each spell by the traditional methodology, but the microscopic interactions have never been fully understood until now.  As you all probably know or will learn in Biology, wings and horns in ponies and other magical creatures contain specialized mana glands which concentrate the mana absorbed through food and breathing before channeling the substance into resonance coils.  Now it is at these coils that the overlap between biology and Magitronic theory occurs.  Traditionally, it was thought that the mana being channelled was somehow dependent on the biology of the wielder, as previously stated.  In simpler terms, the magic, or so it was thought, was completely different due to being a unicorn or a pegasus.  But according to Magitronic Theory, all Magic must be fundamentally the same.  How to solve this apparent contradiction?  The solution lies in the discovery that the specific Spell Fields produced, and their resonance, are directly proportional to the ratio of the two possible states of the magitrons being channelled.  That proportionality is found to be precisely as stated in the Second Scroll Equation.  Now, when the specific Spell Fields within the coils are produced, they create a sort of push-pull action on neighboring fields.  The magnitude of the effect is related to the frequency, and when multiple fields oscillate at a specific frequency, a resonance fields is produced.  These fields in turn affect neighboring fields, and the net effect may be observed as a macroscopic Magic Field.  Depending on the states of the magitrons as mentioned before, the Magic Fields may then manifest physically as flame, antigravitational force, or other observable effects.  Now, the process of converting magical energy to physical effect is not always entirely efficient.  In fact, it has been discovered that it is impossible within the limits of our world to have 100% efficiency.  I say "within the limits of our world" because beyond our world there exist entities which do in fact have 100% efficiency or greater, but the study of such creatures is both beyond the scope of this course and currently prohibited by Equestrian law to anypony not bearing a research licence.  Returning to the subject at hoof, however, the result of this inefficiency is the conversion of some of the magical energy into physical energy, whether that be in the form of heat, light, or a force pushing a unicorn into the ground.  You may be wondering what any of this has to do with magitronics.  In fact, Spell Matrices were originally designed specifically to attempt to increase the efficiency of spells to the known limit.  It has long been known that inscribing certain materials, such as jade or onyx, with specific symbols, generates a flow of mana.  What was not known was that when placed together in specific patterns, these "runestones" were actually capable of changing the state of the moving magitrons.  By very carefully connecting these runestones, then, it was theoretically possible to convert one type of magic to another, generate spells, or, most importantly, amplify the power of spells.  It turns out that the preciousness, efficiency, power and complexity of a spell matrix are all directly related to each other.  This should not be surprising, since more complex matrices will have more points at which energy loss is possible, an imprecise matrix is prone to be inefficient, and inefficient matrices tend not to be as powerful as efficient ones.  One interesting phenomenon that has been observed during the development of Magitronic research was the fact that Magic Fields themselves were capable of a sort of "resonance" similar to that of Spell Fields.  This discovery led directly to the modern understanding of Magitronics, whereby actual Inter-Magical Forces, or effects of particular Magic, Spell and Resonance Fields on each other and on the state of magitrons, are utilized to create powerful macroscopic effects.  Now it must be stated that the concept of a Spell Matrix is not strictly a modern invention.  Indeed, official statements released by the Royal Court reveal that the binding spells which froze Discord and sealed Nightmare Moon were, in the most basic sense of the term, Spell Matrices.  That is, they utilized multiple spells interacting with each other to create a net effect greater than would normally be possible given an equivalent amount of mana.  Many seals and bindings are in fact of this nature.  The key difference between the modern Spell Matrix and these ancient traditional matrices is that modern matrices are a direct result of our analytical understanding of the basic principles of magic rather than divine knowledge, oral tradition, trial and error, or idealized macroscopic equations.

[Julius]

Spoiler: Wall! • show

[quote author=The Wandering Magus link=topic=1648.msg352323#msg352323 date=1347642970]
hmm... wall of text mode activated

"Thaum was the conventional means of quantifying magic in Classical Magic Studies, yes.  There were also Resons, Primes, and other systems of measurement.  However, most recently it has been discovered that the most accurate means of quantifying what we perceive as magic is by Magitrons, each of which is approximately 3.189 x 10^-32 milliPrimes.  That would be about 2.10 x 10^-53 Thaums for those of you who prefer using the more traditional system.  The reason for the shift is fundamental to the understanding of modern Magitronics and Inter-Magical Forces."

An image of a Thaum appeared, with the rapidly vibrating Resons within.

"Now, the traditional model up until a few decades ago stated that Resons were the smallest building blocks of Magic.  However, study has shown that individual Resons themselves are further separable into individual Magitrons.  Each magitron has only two states, In and Out.  Each Reson is composed of approximately twenty magitrons, which determine the 'flavor' of the Reson by their state."

Images of infinitesimally small particles appeared inside each darting Reson.

"Now, due to the nature of Inter-Magical Forces, every single spell, every single bit of magic in the universe, can be predicted through six simple equations which determine the state of the magitron."

The six Scroll Equations appeared.

"As usual, variables in the equation can be denoted by either the letters of the modern Equestrian alphabet or Ancient Equestrian.  Quantities here are expressed in the Modern system rather than the Traditional system, for reasons that will soon become clear.  Any questions so far?"

These magitrons, then, create very specific quantifiable effects on their surroundings, by the generation of Spell Fields.  An individual magitron of magical energy mu travelling at a speed v in one direction creates a Spell Field whose direction is clockwise around the direction of the velocity vector of a magnitude given by the first Scroll Equation.  These Spell Fields, which occur naturally in magnitudes too small to affect any save the tiniest particles, are the basis of all spells and magic effects.  In potions, for instance, solutions and mixtures of various substances create minute channels of magitrons all clumped together inside the particles which make up the alchemical components.  Without going into too much detail, the net effect of the interacting Spell Fields is to alter and interact with specific organic compounds, cells and substances within range of the potion in specific manners determined on a macroscopic scale by the components and on a microscopic scale by the behavior of the individual magitrons in relation to each other as defined by the Scroll Equations.  Another example of the power of the Spell Fields of a large number of magitrons interacting with each other may be seen in Unicorn and Pegasus abilities.  The actual effects themselves have long been observed and examined on a macroscopic scale, most notably by the quantification of the magical energy necessary for each spell by the traditional methodology, but the microscopic interactions have never been fully understood until now.  As you all probably know or will learn in Biology, wings and horns in ponies and other magical creatures contain specialized mana glands which concentrate the mana absorbed through food and breathing before channeling the substance into resonance coils.  Now it is at these coils that the overlap between biology and Magitronic theory occurs.  Traditionally, it was thought that the mana being channelled was somehow dependent on the biology of the wielder, as previously stated.  In simpler terms, the magic, or so it was thought, was completely different due to being a unicorn or a pegasus.  But according to Magitronic Theory, all Magic must be fundamentally the same.  How to solve this apparent contradiction?  The solution lies in the discovery that the specific Spell Fields produced, and their resonance, are directly proportional to the ratio of the two possible states of the magitrons being channelled.  That proportionality is found to be precisely as stated in the Second Scroll Equation.  Now, when the specific Spell Fields within the coils are produced, they create a sort of push-pull action on neighboring fields.  The magnitude of the effect is related to the frequency, and when multiple fields oscillate at a specific frequency, a resonance fields is produced.  These fields in turn affect neighboring fields, and the net effect may be observed as a macroscopic Magic Field.  Depending on the states of the magitrons as mentioned before, the Magic Fields may then manifest physically as flame, antigravitational force, or other observable effects.  Now, the process of converting magical energy to physical effect is not always entirely efficient.  In fact, it has been discovered that it is impossible within the limits of our world to have 100% efficiency.  I say "within the limits of our world" because beyond our world there exist entities which do in fact have 100% efficiency or greater, but the study of such creatures is both beyond the scope of this course and currently prohibited by Equestrian law to anypony not bearing a research licence.  Returning to the subject at hoof, however, the result of this inefficiency is the conversion of some of the magical energy into physical energy, whether that be in the form of heat, light, or a force pushing a unicorn into the ground.  You may be wondering what any of this has to do with magitronics.  In fact, Spell Matrices were originally designed specifically to attempt to increase the efficiency of spells to the known limit.  It has long been known that inscribing certain materials, such as jade or onyx, with specific symbols, generates a flow of mana.  What was not known was that when placed together in specific patterns, these "runestones" were actually capable of changing the state of the moving magitrons.  By very carefully connecting these runestones, then, it was theoretically possible to convert one type of magic to another, generate spells, or, most importantly, amplify the power of spells.  It turns out that the preciousness, efficiency, power and complexity of a spell matrix are all directly related to each other.  This should not be surprising, since more complex matrices will have more points at which energy loss is possible, an imprecise matrix is prone to be inefficient, and inefficient matrices tend not to be as powerful as efficient ones.  One interesting phenomenon that has been observed during the development of Magitronic research was the fact that Magic Fields themselves were capable of a sort of "resonance" similar to that of Spell Fields.  This discovery led directly to the modern understanding of Magitronics, whereby actual Inter-Magical Forces, or effects of particular Magic, Spell and Resonance Fields on each other and on the state of magitrons, are utilized to create powerful macroscopic effects.  Now it must be stated that the concept of a Spell Matrix is not strictly a modern invention.  Indeed, official statements released by the Royal Court reveal that the binding spells which froze Discord and sealed Nightmare Moon were, in the most basic sense of the term, Spell Matrices.  That is, they utilized multiple spells interacting with each other to create a net effect greater than would normally be possible given an equivalent amount of mana.  Many seals and bindings are in fact of this nature.  The key difference between the modern Spell Matrix and these ancient traditional matrices is that modern matrices are a direct result of our analytical understanding of the basic principles of magic rather than divine knowledge, oral tradition, trial and error, or idealized macroscopic equations.

[/quote]

Now I know why Twilight reads so much.

Say, where'd you find all of this? I'm curious now.

[Ahaut]

I don't usually tl;dr, but...

Tl;dr.

[The Wandering Magus]

I don't usually tl;dr, but...

Tl;dr.

Spoiler: Wall! • show

[quote author=The Wandering Magus link=topic=1648.msg352323#msg352323 date=1347642970]
hmm... wall of text mode activated

"Thaum was the conventional means of quantifying magic in Classical Magic Studies, yes.  There were also Resons, Primes, and other systems of measurement.  However, most recently it has been discovered that the most accurate means of quantifying what we perceive as magic is by Magitrons, each of which is approximately 3.189 x 10^-32 milliPrimes.  That would be about 2.10 x 10^-53 Thaums for those of you who prefer using the more traditional system.  The reason for the shift is fundamental to the understanding of modern Magitronics and Inter-Magical Forces."

An image of a Thaum appeared, with the rapidly vibrating Resons within.

"Now, the traditional model up until a few decades ago stated that Resons were the smallest building blocks of Magic.  However, study has shown that individual Resons themselves are further separable into individual Magitrons.  Each magitron has only two states, In and Out.  Each Reson is composed of approximately twenty magitrons, which determine the 'flavor' of the Reson by their state."

Images of infinitesimally small particles appeared inside each darting Reson.

"Now, due to the nature of Inter-Magical Forces, every single spell, every single bit of magic in the universe, can be predicted through six simple equations which determine the state of the magitron."

The six Scroll Equations appeared.

"As usual, variables in the equation can be denoted by either the letters of the modern Equestrian alphabet or Ancient Equestrian.  Quantities here are expressed in the Modern system rather than the Traditional system, for reasons that will soon become clear.  Any questions so far?"

These magitrons, then, create very specific quantifiable effects on their surroundings, by the generation of Spell Fields.  An individual magitron of magical energy mu travelling at a speed v in one direction creates a Spell Field whose direction is clockwise around the direction of the velocity vector of a magnitude given by the first Scroll Equation.  These Spell Fields, which occur naturally in magnitudes too small to affect any save the tiniest particles, are the basis of all spells and magic effects.  In potions, for instance, solutions and mixtures of various substances create minute channels of magitrons all clumped together inside the particles which make up the alchemical components.  Without going into too much detail, the net effect of the interacting Spell Fields is to alter and interact with specific organic compounds, cells and substances within range of the potion in specific manners determined on a macroscopic scale by the components and on a microscopic scale by the behavior of the individual magitrons in relation to each other as defined by the Scroll Equations.  Another example of the power of the Spell Fields of a large number of magitrons interacting with each other may be seen in Unicorn and Pegasus abilities.  The actual effects themselves have long been observed and examined on a macroscopic scale, most notably by the quantification of the magical energy necessary for each spell by the traditional methodology, but the microscopic interactions have never been fully understood until now.  As you all probably know or will learn in Biology, wings and horns in ponies and other magical creatures contain specialized mana glands which concentrate the mana absorbed through food and breathing before channeling the substance into resonance coils.  Now it is at these coils that the overlap between biology and Magitronic theory occurs.  Traditionally, it was thought that the mana being channelled was somehow dependent on the biology of the wielder, as previously stated.  In simpler terms, the magic, or so it was thought, was completely different due to being a unicorn or a pegasus.  But according to Magitronic Theory, all Magic must be fundamentally the same.  How to solve this apparent contradiction?  The solution lies in the discovery that the specific Spell Fields produced, and their resonance, are directly proportional to the ratio of the two possible states of the magitrons being channelled.  That proportionality is found to be precisely as stated in the Second Scroll Equation.  Now, when the specific Spell Fields within the coils are produced, they create a sort of push-pull action on neighboring fields.  The magnitude of the effect is related to the frequency, and when multiple fields oscillate at a specific frequency, a resonance fields is produced.  These fields in turn affect neighboring fields, and the net effect may be observed as a macroscopic Magic Field.  Depending on the states of the magitrons as mentioned before, the Magic Fields may then manifest physically as flame, antigravitational force, or other observable effects.  Now, the process of converting magical energy to physical effect is not always entirely efficient.  In fact, it has been discovered that it is impossible within the limits of our world to have 100% efficiency.  I say "within the limits of our world" because beyond our world there exist entities which do in fact have 100% efficiency or greater, but the study of such creatures is both beyond the scope of this course and currently prohibited by Equestrian law to anypony not bearing a research licence.  Returning to the subject at hoof, however, the result of this inefficiency is the conversion of some of the magical energy into physical energy, whether that be in the form of heat, light, or a force pushing a unicorn into the ground.  You may be wondering what any of this has to do with magitronics.  In fact, Spell Matrices were originally designed specifically to attempt to increase the efficiency of spells to the known limit.  It has long been known that inscribing certain materials, such as jade or onyx, with specific symbols, generates a flow of mana.  What was not known was that when placed together in specific patterns, these "runestones" were actually capable of changing the state of the moving magitrons.  By very carefully connecting these runestones, then, it was theoretically possible to convert one type of magic to another, generate spells, or, most importantly, amplify the power of spells.  It turns out that the preciousness, efficiency, power and complexity of a spell matrix are all directly related to each other.  This should not be surprising, since more complex matrices will have more points at which energy loss is possible, an imprecise matrix is prone to be inefficient, and inefficient matrices tend not to be as powerful as efficient ones.  One interesting phenomenon that has been observed during the development of Magitronic research was the fact that Magic Fields themselves were capable of a sort of "resonance" similar to that of Spell Fields.  This discovery led directly to the modern understanding of Magitronics, whereby actual Inter-Magical Forces, or effects of particular Magic, Spell and Resonance Fields on each other and on the state of magitrons, are utilized to create powerful macroscopic effects.  Now it must be stated that the concept of a Spell Matrix is not strictly a modern invention.  Indeed, official statements released by the Royal Court reveal that the binding spells which froze Discord and sealed Nightmare Moon were, in the most basic sense of the term, Spell Matrices.  That is, they utilized multiple spells interacting with each other to create a net effect greater than would normally be possible given an equivalent amount of mana.  Many seals and bindings are in fact of this nature.  The key difference between the modern Spell Matrix and these ancient traditional matrices is that modern matrices are a direct result of our analytical understanding of the basic principles of magic rather than divine knowledge, oral tradition, trial and error, or idealized macroscopic equations.

[/spoiler]

Now I know why Twilight reads so much.

Say, where'd you find all of this? I'm curious now.
[/quote]I made it up as I went along   The inspiration was a single reference to Discworld's Thaums, and my half-forgotten memory of sitting through physics lectures.

[Ahaut]

Did anyone see the Questria trailer? It's on Equestria Daily. Looks pretty good and action-packed, but I'm not sure if that's an MMORPG or an MMOAG (Massive Multiplayer Online Action/adventure Game). LoE might be having some competition here.

[Rissian]

They have some gameplay in this link.

http://www.equestriagaming.com/2012/09/questria.html#more

Judging by the gameplay video it may play like Diablo or something, they also said it would be 4 player so it's probably not gonna be an MMO if they only keep it 4 player.

[The Wandering Magus]

huh.  the teams should swap notes sometime, would probably benefit both games.

[Morgan Sententia]

Hey you guys, been awhile. I wanted to show off my RP called The Legend Of The Cursed Moon Of The Sea. http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=4548.msg355842#msg355842 It's my first time so go easy on it. and tell me what you think?

[The Wandering Magus]

Hey you guys, been awhile. I wanted to show off my RP called The Legend Of The Cursed Moon Of The Sea. http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=4548.msg355842#msg355842 It's my first time so go easy on it. and tell me what you think?

you'll have to be very, very careful with keeping it within the forum rules for being G-rated and child-friendly, unfortunately.  Even a Hunger Games based RP was repeatedly shut down until the players just decided to do it on another forum.  I'd recommend looking at the rules one more time just to make sure, or if you're really unsure to just ask McSleuth whether he thinks it's appropriate, and how to make it appropriate if it's not.

[Morgan Sententia]

Hey you guys, been awhile. I wanted to show off my RP called The Legend Of The Cursed Moon Of The Sea. http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=4548.msg355842#msg355842 It's my first time so go easy on it. and tell me what you think?

you'll have to be very, very careful with keeping it within the forum rules for being G-rated and child-friendly, unfortunately.  Even a Hunger Games based RP was repeatedly shut down until the players just decided to do it on another forum.  I'd recommend looking at the rules one more time just to make sure, or if you're really unsure to just ask McSleuth whether he thinks it's appropriate, and how to make it appropriate if it's not.

I already know.

[The Wandering Magus]

that's good

As for my personal opinion, and I hope i'm not being too harsh, I don't think it's... well, I think it's a bit grimdark for the Equestria that's presented in the show.  Perhaps it could be... lightened up, somehow?

[Trixster]

I don't usually tl;dr, but...

Tl;dr.

Spoiler: Wall! • show

[quote author=The Wandering Magus link=topic=1648.msg352323#msg352323 date=1347642970]
hmm... wall of text mode activated

"Thaum was the conventional means of quantifying magic in Classical Magic Studies, yes.  There were also Resons, Primes, and other systems of measurement.  However, most recently it has been discovered that the most accurate means of quantifying what we perceive as magic is by Magitrons, each of which is approximately 3.189 x 10^-32 milliPrimes.  That would be about 2.10 x 10^-53 Thaums for those of you who prefer using the more traditional system.  The reason for the shift is fundamental to the understanding of modern Magitronics and Inter-Magical Forces."

An image of a Thaum appeared, with the rapidly vibrating Resons within.

"Now, the traditional model up until a few decades ago stated that Resons were the smallest building blocks of Magic.  However, study has shown that individual Resons themselves are further separable into individual Magitrons.  Each magitron has only two states, In and Out.  Each Reson is composed of approximately twenty magitrons, which determine the 'flavor' of the Reson by their state."

Images of infinitesimally small particles appeared inside each darting Reson.

"Now, due to the nature of Inter-Magical Forces, every single spell, every single bit of magic in the universe, can be predicted through six simple equations which determine the state of the magitron."

The six Scroll Equations appeared.

"As usual, variables in the equation can be denoted by either the letters of the modern Equestrian alphabet or Ancient Equestrian.  Quantities here are expressed in the Modern system rather than the Traditional system, for reasons that will soon become clear.  Any questions so far?"

These magitrons, then, create very specific quantifiable effects on their surroundings, by the generation of Spell Fields.  An individual magitron of magical energy mu travelling at a speed v in one direction creates a Spell Field whose direction is clockwise around the direction of the velocity vector of a magnitude given by the first Scroll Equation.  These Spell Fields, which occur naturally in magnitudes too small to affect any save the tiniest particles, are the basis of all spells and magic effects.  In potions, for instance, solutions and mixtures of various substances create minute channels of magitrons all clumped together inside the particles which make up the alchemical components.  Without going into too much detail, the net effect of the interacting Spell Fields is to alter and interact with specific organic compounds, cells and substances within range of the potion in specific manners determined on a macroscopic scale by the components and on a microscopic scale by the behavior of the individual magitrons in relation to each other as defined by the Scroll Equations.  Another example of the power of the Spell Fields of a large number of magitrons interacting with each other may be seen in Unicorn and Pegasus abilities.  The actual effects themselves have long been observed and examined on a macroscopic scale, most notably by the quantification of the magical energy necessary for each spell by the traditional methodology, but the microscopic interactions have never been fully understood until now.  As you all probably know or will learn in Biology, wings and horns in ponies and other magical creatures contain specialized mana glands which concentrate the mana absorbed through food and breathing before channeling the substance into resonance coils.  Now it is at these coils that the overlap between biology and Magitronic theory occurs.  Traditionally, it was thought that the mana being channelled was somehow dependent on the biology of the wielder, as previously stated.  In simpler terms, the magic, or so it was thought, was completely different due to being a unicorn or a pegasus.  But according to Magitronic Theory, all Magic must be fundamentally the same.  How to solve this apparent contradiction?  The solution lies in the discovery that the specific Spell Fields produced, and their resonance, are directly proportional to the ratio of the two possible states of the magitrons being channelled.  That proportionality is found to be precisely as stated in the Second Scroll Equation.  Now, when the specific Spell Fields within the coils are produced, they create a sort of push-pull action on neighboring fields.  The magnitude of the effect is related to the frequency, and when multiple fields oscillate at a specific frequency, a resonance fields is produced.  These fields in turn affect neighboring fields, and the net effect may be observed as a macroscopic Magic Field.  Depending on the states of the magitrons as mentioned before, the Magic Fields may then manifest physically as flame, antigravitational force, or other observable effects.  Now, the process of converting magical energy to physical effect is not always entirely efficient.  In fact, it has been discovered that it is impossible within the limits of our world to have 100% efficiency.  I say "within the limits of our world" because beyond our world there exist entities which do in fact have 100% efficiency or greater, but the study of such creatures is both beyond the scope of this course and currently prohibited by Equestrian law to anypony not bearing a research licence.  Returning to the subject at hoof, however, the result of this inefficiency is the conversion of some of the magical energy into physical energy, whether that be in the form of heat, light, or a force pushing a unicorn into the ground.  You may be wondering what any of this has to do with magitronics.  In fact, Spell Matrices were originally designed specifically to attempt to increase the efficiency of spells to the known limit.  It has long been known that inscribing certain materials, such as jade or onyx, with specific symbols, generates a flow of mana.  What was not known was that when placed together in specific patterns, these "runestones" were actually capable of changing the state of the moving magitrons.  By very carefully connecting these runestones, then, it was theoretically possible to convert one type of magic to another, generate spells, or, most importantly, amplify the power of spells.  It turns out that the preciousness, efficiency, power and complexity of a spell matrix are all directly related to each other.  This should not be surprising, since more complex matrices will have more points at which energy loss is possible, an imprecise matrix is prone to be inefficient, and inefficient matrices tend not to be as powerful as efficient ones.  One interesting phenomenon that has been observed during the development of Magitronic research was the fact that Magic Fields themselves were capable of a sort of "resonance" similar to that of Spell Fields.  This discovery led directly to the modern understanding of Magitronics, whereby actual Inter-Magical Forces, or effects of particular Magic, Spell and Resonance Fields on each other and on the state of magitrons, are utilized to create powerful macroscopic effects.  Now it must be stated that the concept of a Spell Matrix is not strictly a modern invention.  Indeed, official statements released by the Royal Court reveal that the binding spells which froze Discord and sealed Nightmare Moon were, in the most basic sense of the term, Spell Matrices.  That is, they utilized multiple spells interacting with each other to create a net effect greater than would normally be possible given an equivalent amount of mana.  Many seals and bindings are in fact of this nature.  The key difference between the modern Spell Matrix and these ancient traditional matrices is that modern matrices are a direct result of our analytical understanding of the basic principles of magic rather than divine knowledge, oral tradition, trial and error, or idealized macroscopic equations.

[/spoiler]

Now I know why Twilight reads so much.

Say, where'd you find all of this? I'm curious now.

I made it up as I went along   The inspiration was a single reference to Discworld's Thaums, and my half-forgotten memory of sitting through physics lectures.
[/quote]
Amazing anyways... this actually made it sound Legit...

[Julius]

I don't usually tl;dr, but...

Tl;dr.

Spoiler: Wall! • show

[quote author=The Wandering Magus link=topic=1648.msg352323#msg352323 date=1347642970]
hmm... wall of text mode activated

"Thaum was the conventional means of quantifying magic in Classical Magic Studies, yes.  There were also Resons, Primes, and other systems of measurement.  However, most recently it has been discovered that the most accurate means of quantifying what we perceive as magic is by Magitrons, each of which is approximately 3.189 x 10^-32 milliPrimes.  That would be about 2.10 x 10^-53 Thaums for those of you who prefer using the more traditional system.  The reason for the shift is fundamental to the understanding of modern Magitronics and Inter-Magical Forces."

An image of a Thaum appeared, with the rapidly vibrating Resons within.

"Now, the traditional model up until a few decades ago stated that Resons were the smallest building blocks of Magic.  However, study has shown that individual Resons themselves are further separable into individual Magitrons.  Each magitron has only two states, In and Out.  Each Reson is composed of approximately twenty magitrons, which determine the 'flavor' of the Reson by their state."

Images of infinitesimally small particles appeared inside each darting Reson.

"Now, due to the nature of Inter-Magical Forces, every single spell, every single bit of magic in the universe, can be predicted through six simple equations which determine the state of the magitron."

The six Scroll Equations appeared.

"As usual, variables in the equation can be denoted by either the letters of the modern Equestrian alphabet or Ancient Equestrian.  Quantities here are expressed in the Modern system rather than the Traditional system, for reasons that will soon become clear.  Any questions so far?"

These magitrons, then, create very specific quantifiable effects on their surroundings, by the generation of Spell Fields.  An individual magitron of magical energy mu travelling at a speed v in one direction creates a Spell Field whose direction is clockwise around the direction of the velocity vector of a magnitude given by the first Scroll Equation.  These Spell Fields, which occur naturally in magnitudes too small to affect any save the tiniest particles, are the basis of all spells and magic effects.  In potions, for instance, solutions and mixtures of various substances create minute channels of magitrons all clumped together inside the particles which make up the alchemical components.  Without going into too much detail, the net effect of the interacting Spell Fields is to alter and interact with specific organic compounds, cells and substances within range of the potion in specific manners determined on a macroscopic scale by the components and on a microscopic scale by the behavior of the individual magitrons in relation to each other as defined by the Scroll Equations.  Another example of the power of the Spell Fields of a large number of magitrons interacting with each other may be seen in Unicorn and Pegasus abilities.  The actual effects themselves have long been observed and examined on a macroscopic scale, most notably by the quantification of the magical energy necessary for each spell by the traditional methodology, but the microscopic interactions have never been fully understood until now.  As you all probably know or will learn in Biology, wings and horns in ponies and other magical creatures contain specialized mana glands which concentrate the mana absorbed through food and breathing before channeling the substance into resonance coils.  Now it is at these coils that the overlap between biology and Magitronic theory occurs.  Traditionally, it was thought that the mana being channelled was somehow dependent on the biology of the wielder, as previously stated.  In simpler terms, the magic, or so it was thought, was completely different due to being a unicorn or a pegasus.  But according to Magitronic Theory, all Magic must be fundamentally the same.  How to solve this apparent contradiction?  The solution lies in the discovery that the specific Spell Fields produced, and their resonance, are directly proportional to the ratio of the two possible states of the magitrons being channelled.  That proportionality is found to be precisely as stated in the Second Scroll Equation.  Now, when the specific Spell Fields within the coils are produced, they create a sort of push-pull action on neighboring fields.  The magnitude of the effect is related to the frequency, and when multiple fields oscillate at a specific frequency, a resonance fields is produced.  These fields in turn affect neighboring fields, and the net effect may be observed as a macroscopic Magic Field.  Depending on the states of the magitrons as mentioned before, the Magic Fields may then manifest physically as flame, antigravitational force, or other observable effects.  Now, the process of converting magical energy to physical effect is not always entirely efficient.  In fact, it has been discovered that it is impossible within the limits of our world to have 100% efficiency.  I say "within the limits of our world" because beyond our world there exist entities which do in fact have 100% efficiency or greater, but the study of such creatures is both beyond the scope of this course and currently prohibited by Equestrian law to anypony not bearing a research licence.  Returning to the subject at hoof, however, the result of this inefficiency is the conversion of some of the magical energy into physical energy, whether that be in the form of heat, light, or a force pushing a unicorn into the ground.  You may be wondering what any of this has to do with magitronics.  In fact, Spell Matrices were originally designed specifically to attempt to increase the efficiency of spells to the known limit.  It has long been known that inscribing certain materials, such as jade or onyx, with specific symbols, generates a flow of mana.  What was not known was that when placed together in specific patterns, these "runestones" were actually capable of changing the state of the moving magitrons.  By very carefully connecting these runestones, then, it was theoretically possible to convert one type of magic to another, generate spells, or, most importantly, amplify the power of spells.  It turns out that the preciousness, efficiency, power and complexity of a spell matrix are all directly related to each other.  This should not be surprising, since more complex matrices will have more points at which energy loss is possible, an imprecise matrix is prone to be inefficient, and inefficient matrices tend not to be as powerful as efficient ones.  One interesting phenomenon that has been observed during the development of Magitronic research was the fact that Magic Fields themselves were capable of a sort of "resonance" similar to that of Spell Fields.  This discovery led directly to the modern understanding of Magitronics, whereby actual Inter-Magical Forces, or effects of particular Magic, Spell and Resonance Fields on each other and on the state of magitrons, are utilized to create powerful macroscopic effects.  Now it must be stated that the concept of a Spell Matrix is not strictly a modern invention.  Indeed, official statements released by the Royal Court reveal that the binding spells which froze Discord and sealed Nightmare Moon were, in the most basic sense of the term, Spell Matrices.  That is, they utilized multiple spells interacting with each other to create a net effect greater than would normally be possible given an equivalent amount of mana.  Many seals and bindings are in fact of this nature.  The key difference between the modern Spell Matrix and these ancient traditional matrices is that modern matrices are a direct result of our analytical understanding of the basic principles of magic rather than divine knowledge, oral tradition, trial and error, or idealized macroscopic equations.

[/spoiler]

Now I know why Twilight reads so much.

Say, where'd you find all of this? I'm curious now.

I made it up as I went along   The inspiration was a single reference to Discworld's Thaums, and my half-forgotten memory of sitting through physics lectures.

Amazing anyways... this actually made it sound Legit...
[/quote]

I thought it was. 

[The Wandering Magus]

I don't usually tl;dr, but...

Tl;dr.

Spoiler: Wall! • show

[quote author=The Wandering Magus link=topic=1648.msg352323#msg352323 date=1347642970]
hmm... wall of text mode activated

"Thaum was the conventional means of quantifying magic in Classical Magic Studies, yes.  There were also Resons, Primes, and other systems of measurement.  However, most recently it has been discovered that the most accurate means of quantifying what we perceive as magic is by Magitrons, each of which is approximately 3.189 x 10^-32 milliPrimes.  That would be about 2.10 x 10^-53 Thaums for those of you who prefer using the more traditional system.  The reason for the shift is fundamental to the understanding of modern Magitronics and Inter-Magical Forces."

An image of a Thaum appeared, with the rapidly vibrating Resons within.

"Now, the traditional model up until a few decades ago stated that Resons were the smallest building blocks of Magic.  However, study has shown that individual Resons themselves are further separable into individual Magitrons.  Each magitron has only two states, In and Out.  Each Reson is composed of approximately twenty magitrons, which determine the 'flavor' of the Reson by their state."

Images of infinitesimally small particles appeared inside each darting Reson.

"Now, due to the nature of Inter-Magical Forces, every single spell, every single bit of magic in the universe, can be predicted through six simple equations which determine the state of the magitron."

The six Scroll Equations appeared.

"As usual, variables in the equation can be denoted by either the letters of the modern Equestrian alphabet or Ancient Equestrian.  Quantities here are expressed in the Modern system rather than the Traditional system, for reasons that will soon become clear.  Any questions so far?"

These magitrons, then, create very specific quantifiable effects on their surroundings, by the generation of Spell Fields.  An individual magitron of magical energy mu travelling at a speed v in one direction creates a Spell Field whose direction is clockwise around the direction of the velocity vector of a magnitude given by the first Scroll Equation.  These Spell Fields, which occur naturally in magnitudes too small to affect any save the tiniest particles, are the basis of all spells and magic effects.  In potions, for instance, solutions and mixtures of various substances create minute channels of magitrons all clumped together inside the particles which make up the alchemical components.  Without going into too much detail, the net effect of the interacting Spell Fields is to alter and interact with specific organic compounds, cells and substances within range of the potion in specific manners determined on a macroscopic scale by the components and on a microscopic scale by the behavior of the individual magitrons in relation to each other as defined by the Scroll Equations.  Another example of the power of the Spell Fields of a large number of magitrons interacting with each other may be seen in Unicorn and Pegasus abilities.  The actual effects themselves have long been observed and examined on a macroscopic scale, most notably by the quantification of the magical energy necessary for each spell by the traditional methodology, but the microscopic interactions have never been fully understood until now.  As you all probably know or will learn in Biology, wings and horns in ponies and other magical creatures contain specialized mana glands which concentrate the mana absorbed through food and breathing before channeling the substance into resonance coils.  Now it is at these coils that the overlap between biology and Magitronic theory occurs.  Traditionally, it was thought that the mana being channelled was somehow dependent on the biology of the wielder, as previously stated.  In simpler terms, the magic, or so it was thought, was completely different due to being a unicorn or a pegasus.  But according to Magitronic Theory, all Magic must be fundamentally the same.  How to solve this apparent contradiction?  The solution lies in the discovery that the specific Spell Fields produced, and their resonance, are directly proportional to the ratio of the two possible states of the magitrons being channelled.  That proportionality is found to be precisely as stated in the Second Scroll Equation.  Now, when the specific Spell Fields within the coils are produced, they create a sort of push-pull action on neighboring fields.  The magnitude of the effect is related to the frequency, and when multiple fields oscillate at a specific frequency, a resonance fields is produced.  These fields in turn affect neighboring fields, and the net effect may be observed as a macroscopic Magic Field.  Depending on the states of the magitrons as mentioned before, the Magic Fields may then manifest physically as flame, antigravitational force, or other observable effects.  Now, the process of converting magical energy to physical effect is not always entirely efficient.  In fact, it has been discovered that it is impossible within the limits of our world to have 100% efficiency.  I say "within the limits of our world" because beyond our world there exist entities which do in fact have 100% efficiency or greater, but the study of such creatures is both beyond the scope of this course and currently prohibited by Equestrian law to anypony not bearing a research licence.  Returning to the subject at hoof, however, the result of this inefficiency is the conversion of some of the magical energy into physical energy, whether that be in the form of heat, light, or a force pushing a unicorn into the ground.  You may be wondering what any of this has to do with magitronics.  In fact, Spell Matrices were originally designed specifically to attempt to increase the efficiency of spells to the known limit.  It has long been known that inscribing certain materials, such as jade or onyx, with specific symbols, generates a flow of mana.  What was not known was that when placed together in specific patterns, these "runestones" were actually capable of changing the state of the moving magitrons.  By very carefully connecting these runestones, then, it was theoretically possible to convert one type of magic to another, generate spells, or, most importantly, amplify the power of spells.  It turns out that the preciousness, efficiency, power and complexity of a spell matrix are all directly related to each other.  This should not be surprising, since more complex matrices will have more points at which energy loss is possible, an imprecise matrix is prone to be inefficient, and inefficient matrices tend not to be as powerful as efficient ones.  One interesting phenomenon that has been observed during the development of Magitronic research was the fact that Magic Fields themselves were capable of a sort of "resonance" similar to that of Spell Fields.  This discovery led directly to the modern understanding of Magitronics, whereby actual Inter-Magical Forces, or effects of particular Magic, Spell and Resonance Fields on each other and on the state of magitrons, are utilized to create powerful macroscopic effects.  Now it must be stated that the concept of a Spell Matrix is not strictly a modern invention.  Indeed, official statements released by the Royal Court reveal that the binding spells which froze Discord and sealed Nightmare Moon were, in the most basic sense of the term, Spell Matrices.  That is, they utilized multiple spells interacting with each other to create a net effect greater than would normally be possible given an equivalent amount of mana.  Many seals and bindings are in fact of this nature.  The key difference between the modern Spell Matrix and these ancient traditional matrices is that modern matrices are a direct result of our analytical understanding of the basic principles of magic rather than divine knowledge, oral tradition, trial and error, or idealized macroscopic equations.

[/spoiler]

Now I know why Twilight reads so much.

Say, where'd you find all of this? I'm curious now.

I made it up as I went along   The inspiration was a single reference to Discworld's Thaums, and my half-forgotten memory of sitting through physics lectures.

Amazing anyways... this actually made it sound Legit...

I thought it was. 
[/quote] thanks.

I thought of it / made it up as a sort of explanation for my OC Feather Scroll's cutiemark talent, which was creating Spell Matrices, and then got detailed for my RP Royal Academy of Magic where I was supposed to teach the subject.  Ponies got more and more inquisitive, so every question I got more detailed, until it kind of became almost a science   So that ^ happened, and many walls of text were had.

[lurk852]

Oog... I thought it wouldn't take that long to catch up on the threads I missed, having not checked the forums much for two weeks. In retrospect, I can be pretty gullible