Let The Games Begin

[magicademymods]

February Event and Intro Log Orientation Week/Magic Mayhem The campus of Diatu Magicademy stretches out before you, confused and chaotic and surging with energy. Where are you headed? To your dorm or suite, to get settled? Maybe you need some food now? Wherever you head off to as your first stop, you have to deal with the snow. Helpful or proud students are passing out various magical remedies to get you where you need to be -- umbrellas with a nasty tendency to dump snow directly onto other people nearby, an iron tube that projects fire but appears to have no off switch, snowshoes that keep you slightly too high off the snow and thus provide no friction for stopping... Familiar Follies Familiars do not harass or harm each other as a rule -- but that doesn't mean they have no pecking order, and the week of Orientation finds them all jockeying for status and position as suits them. This can take the form of pranks, displays, competitions, or simple physical assertiveness towards each other. The goal is simply to be seen as superior by the student body. New wizards especially may find themselves surprised at this behavior of their familiars... Research On the Sundered With the arrival of the Sundered come those wizards engaged in research on their presence here, now set to investigate what brought them here and how to get them home. All Sundered students are asked to meet with representatives of the research team, to introduce themselves and relate what they will of their homes. In addition, the team requests samples of blood, hair, and skin -- carefully magically collected, and the researchers will sign in the presence of the Sundered a Glyphed contract that forbids them from using the samples for a purpose they know will be harmful. (They quite understand your reasons to be suspicious of this collection! And they will not compel anyone who refuses even given these conditions.) Furthermore, they request to perform a few spells on you for testing purposes. It is, quite regrettably, possible that if you consent to this testing, you will come away with a temporary side effect -- a slight change of hair color, traveling two steps for every one you take, one hand moving about a second behind the arm it should be attached to, or being ridden by a penguin. No need to worry, these changes won't last more than a day! Wonders Await Diatu Magicademy is open to you in all its glory. Have fun!

Comments

[burningbrighter]

"Taking notes about all the weird effects of the magic around us. I'm gonna go to the library eventually, but I figured it'd be more useful if I actually saw magic in action first and then tried to match it up to the theory."

She watched a student careen through the air, can of fire in hand, and sighed. "Looks like it gets out of hand pretty quickly, though."

[bearshermark]

"Yes," he said, uncertain. "I'm worried about that, actually. The students here don't seem very disciplined. Magic like that is dangerous."

He guessed that was the reason for the school, but he wondered about its effectiveness if this was usual behavior. Eleven resolved to focus intently on his studies.

"Have you found anything interesting?"

[burningbrighter]

Sunset glanced down at her notebook. "It makes even less sense than the magic in my world so far, but maybe I'll understand once we go to class. It seems like each type of magic is based on different principles. And it's hard to see that when you've never done it yourself..."

She turned the page, looking at a drawing of a flute. "I do like the music spells, though. I saw dancing puppets!"

[bearshermark]

"Really?" He hoped they weren't the dangerous ones he knew from his own world, but he had yet to see any monsters.

"Magic through music.. I think I'd like to see that. What sort of magic did your world have?"

[burningbrighter]

That depended on which world she was talking about...and maybe it was best not to mention the whole former unicorn thing the first time meeting someone. So she started small.

"Magic is usually pretty small there, not like here...but the strongest magic of all is the magic of friendship," she said proudly. "Singing with my friends, or standing with them...we could break curses and rescue our classmates. I don't think it works like that here, though."

[bearshermark]

A smile tugged at his lips. It sounded a touch idealized, but he couldn't deny that he loved his friends very dearly and that together, they had accomplished so much. The abilities they could bring out in each other when they combined their talents were often inspired.

"It might, depending how you think about it. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without my friends. It definitely felt like there wasn't anything we couldn't do together for awhile there."

That changed swiftly enough, but it had been his own weakness and not theirs that was at fault there. He let them down- let everyone down.

"I wonder if perhaps I relied on them too much, though."

[burningbrighter]

"And then it's hard when you have to stand on your own, right?"

Sunset could relate to that. She had Fluttershy here, at least, but...it was hard to stay strong in the face of so many new challenges.

"But the lessons they taught you will always be with you."

[bearshermark]

He nodded, thinking about everything everyone taught him as they traveled the world. While he has been somewhat relieved to not have to face them up to this point, he missed them all too keenly now.

"I'm pretty lost without them," he admitted. "They always knew where to go, or how to figure it out when we didn't. I think I know why I'm here, but.." he shrugged, a bit embarassed suddenly.

They'd all probably laugh if they found out that the Luminary of all people didn't know what he was doing. He managed to get by solely because he could read a map- and thank Yggdrasil for that.

"I guess we all have things we have to sort out, now that we're here."

[burningbrighter]

Now that was an interesting thought. She'd tried to guess why they'd been the ones chosen by the spell on the trip over, but she'd love to compare notes.

"Why do you think you were brought here?"

[bearshermark]

Eleven glanced down at his hands, then tucked them away.

"There's an important power I lost before I came here. I think the forces of benevolence sent me here to regain it."

[burningbrighter]

Sunset could relate to that...sort of.

"I lost a lot of things before I came here. I regained different magic...and new friends, and that helped. But I hope you find what you're looking for."

[bearshermark]

He smiled, nodding.

"Thank you. I'm also looking forward to making new friends, here." Eleven laughed shortly. "I just realized I don't know your name. Mine is Eleven."

[burningbrighter]

"Sunset Shimmer. It's good to meet you too."

She beamed. Hey, at least she wasn't the only one with a unique name?

"I'll definitely see you around. Lemme know if I can help with anything, okay?"

[bearshermark]

"Sure." He took a step away. "Take care of yourself, and.. good luck with your notes."