.OPERATION LOADLINE — NLA's Climactic Battle — Spoiler Zone

Arriving at the climax of NLA became quite the challenge. Sober and I generally don't outline things. We just see where the words take us and use RP logs in spots where they are relevant. However, we both knew fairly early on that the end of Book 2 would see a heavily corrupted Sombra face off against the full Mavericks' Wild. Given that this would mark the first time that Barrier, Tail, Wing, Trigger, and Amora would occupy the same space at the same time, the scene had to rise to the moment.

My own vision of Tail's arrival complicated the matter as well. I imagined her bursting onto the field in a dramatic, late entrance that shocked her friends and turned the tide, but that would require a reason for her not traveling with Barrier in the first place. I craved the cliché, but I did not want the maneuver to oppose the buildup in character development. For example, one early option had Barrier just leaving without Tail. He'd leave a note in the night and just go, but that would have amounted to a huge slap in the face because the couple spent over 100,000 words growing closer, building trust, and specifically not keeping secrets from one another. In the end, I used the horror of the pandemic as my muse and had Tail come down with a case of the feather flu. This felt like the right move since it preserved the relationship growth and made use of a show-canon ailment.

As the chapters grew, we settled into a storyline where Barrier, Trigger, Shining Armor, and Cadance would make up the first wave of the force to meet Sombra and others would follow. This led to the case where there were three streams that needed to converge at the same moment to make Tail's arrival feel realistic. To attack this, I had the stopwatch app open on my phone for about a month, and I would act out character movements and dialogue for each branch. Wave 1, Tail's illness recovery, Wing's rendezvous with Tail, Bonecrusher, and Indar; and the travel that got Tail to the battlefield were all timed to ensure alignment.

We've shared these timing notes below. "xx" indicates where I only noted the nearest minute. Lines where the seconds are listed correspond to specific notations. As you can see, there was a bit more that went into the battle chapters than one might expect.

Evolution of Operation Loadline:
A+00:00:xx: Alarm to E.I.S. > Summons for Waves 2+3 > Teleport Team to Throne Room
A+00:13:xx: Wave 1 Deployed (with some time flexibility)
A+00:23:xx: First Contact
A+00:25:xx: Amora, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Soarin to L.Z. [Cady Extract Decree]
A+00:28:xx: Trigger Senses Sombra
A+00:29:xx: Wave 1 Engages Sombra
A+00:32:xx: Refugee Teleport + Array Destruction + First Battle Seq. End
A+00:33:00: Elements and Autumn Tea to L.Z.
A+00:33:30: Tail Awakens
A+00:34:00: Wing leaves + Second Battle Seq. Begins
A+00:35:30: Gear-Up
A+00:36:xx: ERA
A+00:38:xx: Mt. Canterhorn Arterial Transformation Begins
A+00:39:xx: Wing Arrives at Tail's Lab
A+00:40:xx: Wave 1 Combatant Enslavement
A+00:41:xx: Wave 2 Arrives at Armistice
A+00:42:xx: Trigger Enters Sheriff Star State > Armistice Launches
A+00:43:xx: Second Battle Seq. Ends
A+00:44:xx: Third Battle Seq. Starts
A+00:47:46: Armistice Arrives at Crystal Empire Modified D.Z.

.The Science of Magic in the NL Books

Tail's development of magical munitions served as the driver of the NLD storyline. It's why she needed training. It's what led her to Barrier, but that was only one piece of her journey. To be able to reach the end of NLA and become a legitimate threat on the battlefield, Tail had to develop techniques that went beyond her engineering talents. The "Bullet Flash" and "Synchrotron Cascade" might sound fancy, but those maneuvers are actually anchored in a mathematical construct for magic that I developed leading into BronyCon 2019. I briefly presented this in the Physicists Invade Equestria panel, and now I'll touch upon some of the core principles here.

k₁▽·E + k₃▽²α = ▽·M — Electrothaumic Equality Theorem: The strength of the Magic Field (M) is related to the strength of the Electric Field (E) plus the contribution from a scalar field (α). When I derived this construction, I found it beautiful and insightful because it actually explains several things from MLP Gen 4. Why does Cheerilee teach vector calculus? Because the mathematical formalism actually matters to ponies. The relation between the electric field and magic? It might very well be on Cheerilee's chalkboard, and it fits well with unicorns having an appendage that literally radiates light and pegasi interacting with weather. That scalar field? Well, it explains how earth ponies interact with magic as well. Everything is neatly tied together, but there is more!

[ M = k₂(∂C/∂t) + k₃▽α ] and [ A = ▽⨯C ] — Thaumic Field Construction: There are three magic-related fields in this framework: the Magic Field (M), the Casting Field (C), and the Auguric Field (A). The setup here mimics the interplay between Electric and Magnetic Fields in our world. A changing Casting Field in time will produce a Magic Field—as will a sloping scalar field in space. A curling Casting Field will produce an Auguric one.

[ ▽⨯M = k₂(∂A/∂t) ] and [ ▽·A = 0 ] — Auguric Field Principles: Just like the Magnetic Field, the Auguric Field has no monopoles. It can be viewed in a similar light as the byproduct of an oscillating current, which would produce a changing Magnetic Field in our world. We can then use the Thaumic Field Construction, as well as an additional analogy to Maxwell's Equations, to derive the primary Auguric Field Principle. A changing Auguric Field in time will produce a curling Magic Field.

▽⨯A = k₄S + k₅(∂M/∂t) — Spell Current Density: Finally, the last Maxwell-Equation parallel establishes that a Spell Current Density (S) and a changing Magic Field in time will produce curling Auguric Fields.

Alright, Wing, that's great and all, but was does this have to do with the story? Well, after Tail finds Wing's notes in the Princesses' Private Library, she uses the physical consequences of the math to develop her advanced combat methods. The Bullet Flash produces a very high Electric Field divergence that, as a result of the Electrothaumic Equality Theorem, also produces a large local Magic Field divergence that is capable of penetrating Shining Armor's shield. Likewise, the root of the Synchrotron Cascade is the formation of current loops that create fields that can bend spellcasts and serve as sensors to detect inbound magic.

Yes, these are technical specifics that normal readers just don't know. To me, this was a way to grow Tail's abilities in a manner that made sense given her physicist qualifications. She didn't suddenly gain S-Tier powers out of thin air or through some psychotic power-up. She developed those skills by returning to her scientific base and going to town.

Hilariously, I think there is some evidence in the show that points to my framework actually being a "show-valid" construction. For starters, the gibberish from which I created the Electrothaumic Equality Theorem is on Cheerilee's board. Twilight repeatedly shows fundamental equations of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics over the course of the series, and the math here even explains the value of unicorns having spiral channels in their horns. Take, for example, a curling Casting Field produced along the spire groove. Moving from base to point, the curl changes as a function of time, yielding a ∂A/∂t that produces a curling M. If an Auguric Field is channeled along the groove, a Spell Current Density and changing Magic Field are established. We can take the biology angle a step further and look at evolution for evidence. Magic vanished from Gen5, and the maximally efficient spiral pattern on unicorn horns shifted into a cluster of random patterns. Of course, the time gap between G4 and G5 is probably not long enough to actually trigger an evolution condition, but it is an interesting take all the same.

.The Science of Tail's Weapons

Tail's magical munitions developments are a bit less abstract than the general guiding mathematical expressions for magic. The underlying method is simply resonance. Ponies can channel their latent magic through a circuit in the weapon. Each round contains a crystal that stores some collected magical energy, and a coil creates a means for the user's magic to interact with the round. It is like pushing a swing. The better you time your push frequency to the natural frequency of the swing, the bigger the response. If a user can resonate perfectly with the round, the output damage can exceed any zeroth-order expectation.

The diagram shows the layout of the revolver mechanically and electrothaumically (at least to the best of my drawing ability). The circuits and resonance coils are shown—along with a mechanical doodle of how the firing mechanism would function. The sleeve is worn over a pony's foreleg, and the crescent-shaped trigger can be slid/flicked under the hoof/wrist to enable firing.

.The Thanksgiving RP — A Snippet

In this RP instance, we arrive at a scene where B+T cutesy snuggles have been put on hold. The duels these two are known for were all notched up at the time at 2-2, and Tail was being a sassy mare in need of a rubber match. Instead, what ended up happening was the sweet scene I mentioned on the About the Authors page, and it is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced in a roleplay. Here, we jump into the climactic moment. Fair warning, what lurks below was not edited.

'I've called you my cadet for a long time, despite your graduation from my course Faust knows how long ago…' His voice takes on a deeper tone, his true age seeming to shine through. 'Ponies retired far earlier in my era. For lack of a better way to say it, I was nearing my expiration date. Ponies in my… role, I suppose, were expected to choose their own successors. Initially, my hopes rested on Ember. She wasn't too much younger than me, but she had this… presence. This fire. Same as you.'

His horn flares to life, dragging an extremely familiar—and ancient—flask. He takes a short drag before replacing it. 'When I lost her and returned to this time, it seemed I no longer had to choose a successor. I'd given up. And then, Luna sent you and I barreling into each other.' He takes a deliberately slow and deep breath.

'It may not mean much to a lot of ponies, but I think you'll understand the value of what I'm about to say.' The unicorn straightens his form and hardens his gaze, age becoming all the more apparent. 'I name you my successor, in every sense of the word. In my eyes, you have surpassed me. The degree of respect I have for you is above even that of the princesses. To me, you are now Captain Tail, Right Hoof of the Crown and Captain of the Executors. The rank means little these days, but to me, and every captain before me, you are worthy of more respect than any other, including the princesses.'

Barrier takes a sharp breath before throwing up a crisp salute. 'Captain.'

Tail's eyes water up as the words sink in, and sink in again, and then re-sink in. She stands up and trots to him slowly—that fire somehow still burning despite the tears that continue to accumulate. She throws her forelegs around his neck, utterly bypassing the salute because… she needs to feel him. 'I love you, Barrier,' she whispers in between sniffles, and there is no way in hell she is letting go any time soon. Her heart is racing to the point where Barrier could probably feel it.

He smiles—his own eyes watery—as he returns the hug, resting his chin on the back of her neck. 'And I you, Tail. You're the sun to my sky…and always will be.'