The following day, language classes were canceled in lieu of introducing the Humans to the basics of magic. Catalyst had met with Long Wind and they had decided on a rotating schedule of language classes and magic classes. The New Humansville Town Hall was packed with Humans. The Humans were all seated on small couches and had pencils and parchment next to them. The crates of supplies previously lying around the floor of Town Hall had been moved to the back wall of the floor, across from the doorway entrance. The crates had been stacked up next to each other and long planks had been fastened together to make a stage that the Unicorn volunteers and speakers could stand upon to be seen and heard. Every eye was trained on the Unicorn volunteers and Princess Luna who were standing at the front of the impromptu classroom. The Humans understood enough Velensovth to comprehend everything that the Ponies said, but formulating a coherent response was difficult for most. They were all very eager to learn about magic and the environment was one rife with excitement.

Princess Luna had declined from making the opening statement and introduction to the Humans and had allowed Catalyst the honor. The Arch Magister had written a short speech for the occasion and was standing behind a lectern with her notes before her. Her robe constantly shifted and wafted in an absent light wind. Her dark coat and fiery mane made her a striking mare to look at and her startling eyes were all but completely mesmerizing.

Catalyst held up her left hoof to her mouth and cleared her throat,
"Welcome all of you." she suddenly stopped speaking when she realized she had forgotten to cast a spell to amplify her voice, she quickly cast the spell and started over, voice much amplified, "Welcome, all of you. We twenty," she gestured to the other Unicorn mares and few stallions standing on either side of her, "Are volunteers from the School For Gifted Unicorns in Canterlot. We are here to instruct you in the ways of magic. It is our hope that all of you will eventually learn how to not only control your magic, but to use it for the benefit of others as well. We count it a privilege to be with you during this exciting time and we hope that our presence here will help meld our two species closer than ever. During these weeks of lectures, explanations, and demonstrations we will be scanning a number of your Mageriums each day to see what Nouns and Verbs you have. I will call the names of the twenty volunteers and likewise list their specialties and their areas of expertise. There will be several who have identical areas of expertise, that is to ensure that one of them is always available any time there are any questions about magic. Feel free to ask any questions you wish regarding magic, that is the reason we are here after all." Catalyst paused for a breath before she continued, "Flash Point, Star Shine, Corona Flare, Backlash, and Note, please step forward."

Five Unicorns, three mares and two stallions, stepped out of the line of volunteers, Catalyst nodded to them then continued,
"These five are the highest instructors in the School For Gifted Unicorns. Their specialty is nonexistent because they are not only knowledgeable about every type of magic, they have mastered them all. If you cannot find me or if I am unavailable, seek out one of them. They are going to be extra patient," she shot a meaningful look toward one silvery coated Unicorn mare with a cobalt blue mane and tail, Backlash, "They have pledged to be patient with all of you, if you have trouble with any of them let me know and I will ensure they realize how they were offensive . . . "

In the observing crowd of Humans, David leaned over to his left, whispering to Kaneesha,
"That one mare looks like a real hard-ass." he snickered, "I mean is it THAT hard to smile? And what's with that name, Backlash? Seriously?"

Kaneesha giggled quietly,
"Apparently," she held back a snort, "Dat bitch looks 'bout ready to roast a niggah!" she teased about the dour looking mare.

"Hey!" Andrew hissed from Kaneesha's left, "Try to be respectful. They're volunteers, remember? They're not getting paid for this, they came here to help us."

Kaneesha managed to get her mirth under control,
"Yeah, I got ya. She jus' look like she pissed at somethin'. Kinda like she got a corn cob up her ass an' she didn't want it!" Kaneesha dissolved into a fit of giggles once more, "Hell, maybe she did an' it don't fit right."

Andrew couldn't help but to chuckle as well,
"Even so, we still should be respectful. They deserve some respect."

Kaneesha waved him off,
"Yeah, I know."

The three Humans turned back to the speaking Arch Magister just as she finished her speech,
" . . . And so without further ado, let us begin with the basics of magic." Catalyst proclaimed, "Our main method of teaching will be lectures, but there will be demonstrations of magic from the instructors and even some volunteers from all of you when we need to illustrate a point. We would like to encourage all of you to take notes during these lectures and feel free to ask questions during the breaks. We will be taking a break every hour. We are not going to rush through this. Magic is a wonderful tool for every day use but it can also be extremely dangerous as well. So," she paused and looked around the Humans, "Who would like to volunteer to have their Magerium scanned?"

No one immediately stood up, so after looking around for a moment or two Tina Pho rose to her feet,
"I . . . will." she said in heavily accented Velensovth.

Arch Magister Catalyst nodded,
"Very well, please approach the stage."

Tina scooted between other couches and closely wedged people and made her way up to the front, waddling from the weight of her swollen belly,
"Where . . . what do me . . . I need to perform . . . do?"

Catalyst smiled down at the obviously pregnant young Asian woman,
"Just stand there and stay still."

Tina placed her right hand on the stage for support and closed her eyes. Catalyst closed her eyes as well and lit up her horn. She swam through the different Noun and Verb threads that twisted their way through Tina's body and the body of her unborn child. The swirling colors and twisting threads made for a beautiful pattern in Tina's Magerium.

Catalyst opened her eyes and smiled once more,
"What is your name, miss?"

"Tina Pho." the young woman answered.

"Well Ms. Pho, you have every Noun and Verb at a level of two. Would you like to know which Nouns and Verbs your foal has?" Catalyst asked.

Tina nodded and off to the side Princess Luna smiled widely,
"Your foal already has a three in every Noun and Verb." Catalyst proclaimed, she leaned in close and whispered, "Would you like to know whether your foal is a filly or colt?"

Tina rubbed her belly and bit her lower lip for a few moments, then nodded,
"Yes . . . please."

Catalyst leaned closer to Tina's ear,
"A colt."

The Unicorn volunteers all looked at each other in surprise at hearing about a foal born as a three in all Nouns and Verbs. After the discovery of Twilight Sparkle, all Unicorn foals had their Magerium' scanned. Any Unicorn foal born with any Noun or Verb greater than two, was openly welcomed to the School For Gifted Unicorns. The average accepted into the School was a Unicorn foal born with a single Noun or Verb of two. A Unicorn foal with a single Noun or Verb of three was considered actually dangerous because if the amount of power they were capable of wielding. Such cases were quite rare, but the Princesses had proclaimed that the foal and parents were to be given free room and board within the School until the foal was old enough to begin classes. Tina's child was the single most powerful unborn citizen of Equestria to have been discovered since the law was put into effect.

Catalyst smiled down at Tina,
"My dear, your child is wonderfully gifted in magic. When the time comes for him to be born, it would be our honor to have you, your husband, and your son come to the School and stay with us free of charge. He will have every single opportunity to learn from the greatest minds of our time and he is guaranteed to be accepted into the school. Anyway, may I use your Magerium as an example for the rest of the class?"

Tina nodded her head,
"Heef." ('yes' in Velensovth)

Catalyst focused back on her podium,
"Thank you, you may return to your seat." she swept her eyes all around the gathered Humans as her horn lit up, "Let us begin with an explanation of where magic comes from." she projected an internal view of Tina's digestive, circulatory, and muscular systems on the large wall behind her, "Here we have a diagram of a Human body. It is a fact that natural magic is all around us all the time. It is in the air we breathe, it is in the ground we tread upon, it is in the water we drink, and it is in the food we eat. It is self evident how the magic enters our bodies, but how does it become something useful? For this information, I will ask Professor Corona Flare to explain."

The diagram on the wall behind Catalyst showed the body breathing, drinking, and eating. A pale yellow Unicorn mare with a mane and tail of lime green with light gray highlights stepped forward and began pacing around the stage. Her mannerisms were those of an older sister talking to a younger sibling.

"The magic we are taking in all the time is called Natural Unrefined Latent Thamaturgic Energy. The common term for it is 'Natural Magic'. Once it reaches our lungs or stomachs it is called Ingested Unrefined Latent Thamaturgic Energy. To my understanding, the Human world does not have any Natural Magic. I also understand that for the first few weeks you were here, you regularly vomited up a golden colored liquid, but then the vomiting mysteriously stopped. We now understand that during the time you were throwing up, your bodies were developing a special organ to filter out and refine the Natural Unrefined Latent Thamaturgic Energy. The organ is called the Screfula. We who are born in this world have a Screfula from birth, but your bodies needed time to develop one. The Screfula works like the Liver, Spleen, or Kidneys in that it filters out and refines the Ingested Unrefined Latent Thamaturgic Energy and turns it into Refined Unactivated Thamaturgic Energy or R.U.T.E. The R.U.T.E. is released into the blood stream and it them pools in locations from where it may be directed. For all species who have a Screfula, the R.U.T.E. is activated, channeled, and directed by the use of muscles, bones, or the mind." Corona Flare turned toward the diagram on the wall, "As we can see, the R.U.T.E. is pooled all around the . . . arms . . . legs and head. In order to utilize the R.U.T.E. all creatures must have the intention of doing so, must open their Screfula to flow and pump the R.U.T.E., and they must flex and tense the proper muscles." she turned to the class, "May I have a volunteer come up and assist me with a demonstration?"

R.J. Brinsin stood up quickly and hustled up toward the stage. When he was a few feet away from the stage, Corona Flare's horn lit up a lime green color. An aura of the same color appeared around R.J. and he was lifted up and onto the stage. R.J. was surprised and shocked by the development but he took it well. He managed not to flail or yell and Corona Flare set him down, feet first on the stage.

The pale yellow mare turned back to the class,
"What you just witnessed was one of the most simple uses of magic: levitation. I accomplished the levitation by opening my Screfula, flexing the muscles inside my horn, and focusing on what effect I wished to use. In this case I decided to use Control and Flesh. The Control Verb to provide the lift and the Flesh Noun because I needed to lift flesh." the mare smirked and trotted up to R.J., "I certainly hope he is made of flesh," she said poking him in the left side with her hoof, "Otherwise I made a serious mistake."

The attempt at humor was not lost on the Humans and chuckles sounded from all over the room, Corona smiled and continued,
"Let us see which Nouns and Verbs you have. Hold still please."

Corona's horn lit up for a few moments before she opened her eyes again,
"Excellent." she said happily, "Princess Luna spoke of the Human anomaly of passive Nouns and Verbs. I had hoped to see one quickly and you have provided me with exactly what I was hoping for. Your Noun and Verb that are passive are Control and Air. This is an interesting combination because it allows you similar abilities as a Pegasus, a very weak Pegasus, but there is room for development. You can fly, manipulate clouds, and control Lightning. Now, I'm certain that at this point you are rather confused, am I right?"

R.J. nodded,
"Yes. How . . . do I use . . . magic?"

Corona Flare smiled brilliantly,
"Wonderful question! You see your passive Noun and Verb are constantly active so your Screfula is constantly in use. This means your Screfula has had more 'exercise' if you will, and can perform more difficult and strenuous tasks. The only reason you aren't flying right now is because you have not had the inclination or instruction to learn how or to do so on your own. Effectively, since you didn't believe you could do it, you actually couldn't, but that's not the only thing missing. You also need to flex the proper muscles in order to stimulate the R.U.T.E. into doing what you want it to." she took a breath and began walking a slow circle around R.J., "When I scanned your Magerium, the threads for Control and Air were focused in your . . . hands and . . . feet. What this means, I am not certain of yet, so we are going to do a little experimentation. I would like you to imagine yourself floating above the stage then begin flexing your hands and feet, fingers and toes until you manage to rise. I will be standing right next tor you to make sure you do this safely. I will also cast a series of wards around you for every . . . being's safety." her horn lit up and a complex series of symbols appeared on the stage beneath R.J.'s feet.

R.J. looked at Corona dubiously, but then he shrugged and closed his eyes. Corona stepped away from R.J. and closed her eyes, concentrating on seeing which movements manifested the desired effect. R.J. took a deep breath and began slowly, methodically flexing his hands in different positions with matching finger movements. He also began moving his feet and toes as well. The entire gathering was silent and the Humans were on the edges of their seats waiting to see what would happen.

After a few moments Corona Flare spoke up,
"You started to use it for a second there. Try pointing up your . . . toes again and . . . close both . . . hands at the same time. Remember think about rising slowly."

R.J. bent and flexed his hands, fingers, feet, and toes in the way Corona indicated. He began to glow an orange color and his feet slowly lifted off the stage.

R.J. opened his eyes and looked down in amazement,
"YO!" he yelled in American, "Check it out yall! I'm flyin'! I'm fly . . . " R.J. suddenly shot upward like a rocket, heading straight toward the ceiling, "YYYYYEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!" his excited yell quickly became a scream of terror when he realized he didn't know how to stop.

Half a foot from the ceiling, a lime green aura enveloped R.J. and halted his progress. The aura slowly lowered him back to the stage, where Corona was waiting for him with an amused expression and a lit horn,
"I do believe I said to imagine yourself rising SLOWLY." she smirked as his feet touched the stage again, "That did not look very slow to me." she smiled and the gathering of Humans and Ponies chuckled lightly.

"Me . . . I am glad I not try . . . lightning." R.J. said.

Corona smiled warmly at the young man,
"You wouldn't have been able to. You can Control it, not create it. You need a source to pull from."

R.J. pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side in thought just a moment before he rubbed his hands through his short hair then reached out and rested his left hand on the Professor's back. Corona's mane and tail suddenly poofed up and out, standing on end and crackling with static. The Unicorn mare's eyes bulged as everybody, Pony and Human alike, cracked up laughing.

Corona's expression registered utter disbelief as R.J. rubbed his hands through his hair then held out his left hand as tiny arcs of electricity danced between his fingers,
"Source?" he asked mischievously.

This chapter was fun to write and is supposed to be informative and rather light-hearted. Remember to Like if you like.