My Little Pony XXXIX: There is no Pegasus Mafia!

[MCerberus]

Colonel Derpy.

Is this general Derpicus the BA Derpy from the fanart or just the average mailmare defending the universe?

Personally my first thought was Vanguard Pinkie, but then she'd sing and start a civil war somewhere...

[Gamerlord]

So crazy thought for the day:

Mass Effect 3 Pony DLC. You'd get a portable OFC weapon and a new squad member! But who?

Either Rainbow Dash or Twilight Sparkle.

[Kairaven]

Is this general Derpicus the BA Derpy from the fanart or just the average mailmare defending the universe?

If it's MA3 I suppose which Derpy/Ditzy you get would depend on your character interaction with her.

Antagnistic action: Sad Galactic Post Master Ditzy Doo
Cooperative action: General Derpicus Warhooves
Romantic action: NO! just no!, platonic hugs only.

[Lix Lorn]

Is this general Derpicus the BA Derpy from the fanart or just the average mailmare defending the universe?

BOTH

[Beacon of Chaos]

Bioluminescence?

Can you get bioluminescent snails?... Huh, a Google search says yes. Cool.

I'd say that all unicorns can use some magic beyond TK, though its generally specialized enough that they just use TK outside of work. They can learn a small number of spells naturally (like Rarity's Gem-Finder), and they can study other spells depending on their cutie marks.

For example, a unicorn miner might naturally know a spell that reinforces tunnels automatically. Gem-finding is related pretty strongly to mining, so if Rarity managed to get over her aversion to all things dirty, she could probably teach him the Gem-Finder spell relatively quickly. Conversely, turning mice into terrifying abominations has nothing at all to do with mining, so it would take a prohibitively long time Twilight to teach him that spell she used in "Best Night Ever." Twilight and Trixie, of course, can learn any spell at the "perfectly matches the cutie mark" level.

Yeah, that was how I thought of it. If it matches your talent, you learn it quicker.

Makes me wonder how they handle things in magic kindergarten, since each student would probably be learning completely different spells. Perhaps there are some basic lessons on focusing that can be taught.

As for the magic books: I'd imagine there are a number of spellbooks out there teaching a variety of spells in a related field for practical reference by unicorns whose talents lie in that field. Twilight, however, is probably studying historical examples of spells in the past or worked examples of magical theories. I'd guess most spellbooks are collaborative works or compilations of writings by a number of unicorns ("Boast Busters" implies that unicorns with a "magic in general" talent are pretty rare). Most spells probably arose naturally as young unicorns spontaneously manifested them; that being said, I do like to think that unicorns who study magical theory can develop spells of their own (if only because the thought of a young filly waking up to find "unicorn destiny magic" forcing her to cast the Want-It-Need-It spell is too horrifying to contemplate).

Yeesh, yeah. Which begs the question... what pony first used that spell? Was it part of their special talent (in which case: creepy!)? Or... did Twilight invent it (in which case: double creepy!)?

As for OCs...

Midnight and Lixie would win, as the only acceptable method o warfare between all parties would be Hug-offs. While everyone is distracted, Bleakbane moves in and claims victory, saying Equestria is now his. His orders; keep doin' wot ya doin'. Everypony obeys explicitly (or ignores him, probably the first one though). Lix claims double victory as an ally of thr AOTRS. Raz, myself and Thanqomponents continue causing small amounts of strife because our convoluted schemes lead to hilarity as we fail, with the occasional heartwarming moment to explain why we haven't become moon colonizers. Lix adds triple victory as she is also sided with us, as guild-members and ne'er-do-wells. Thanqol claims quadruple victory because Lix is Thanqol, and they both pull off masks ScoobyDoo style. Several bystanders then pitch in to develop algorithms to see if the Thanqol-Lix-everypony feedback loop ever reaches some form of conclusion or plateau.

And then ponies.

Sounds like a good idea for a fic.

Or a crazy dream of some kind.

Also, hullo! Welcome! Stay a while, and listen Pony!

I see what you did there!

Also, if Twi's comment about "magic kindergarden" is to be believed, there appears to be some sort of basic magical education system for unicorns, even if it's only in Canterlot.

If it's Canterlot only, that might explain why Sweetie has never done magic, or why Snails had such a hard time with what I assume would be a simple spell.

Aye, this would be easier if I knew more than two lines of the song by heart >>;

What is this place
Filled with so many spoilers,
Churning and gushing like big venting boilers?

eBay full of plushies, and tales sand and funny...
So why won't Hasbro just accept my darn money,
Mooooneeeeey~

Oh~ what a maddening place,
Where I can see ponies kissing with a plot for a face!
If I knew Equestria Daily had so much up its sleeve
I'd have dodge the spoilers, and gone to leave.

Yes, I
Know
Everything!

I'm terrible Bard. *turns in his harp, harmonica, and didgeridoo*

Nonsense, I thought that was pretty good.

If you are over a barrel, you are in the same physical position as if someone took you over their knee to spank you.

Okay, I get that. How does it relate to the episode? Who was "over a barrel" in that?

Did we see her put on a magical light show? It was in a boutique. She may actually own lights to that effect.

It was definitely her magic. The whole light show came out of her horn.

Magic is an innate ability, ponies have altitudes rather than binary yes/no powers. What sets Dame Sparkle as unique is her bus. The amount of power she can put out at any given instant is phenomenal. But that didn't stop Celestia from undoing her spell, because that requires finesse. Similarly, Star Swirl seems to have been a contemplater, astronomer and and sage (all associated with the stars) rather than a magibattery like Twilight Sparkle.

So, Twilight has great magic reserves, rather than being naturally skilled at magic? Actually yeah, I guess that makes sense. That's why she studies so hard.

Am I the only one who really dislikes the idea of earth pony magic?

*snip*

I'm sure you're not the only one, but earth ponies certainly seem to have some special talents that other ponies don't possess. Besides the examples of bucking trees and Pinkie Sense, there's also the Hearth's Warming episode. It's stated that only the earth ponies could grow food. Later, we see Smart Cookie (AJ) pick up a pile of dirt, and as soon as she does a sprout grows out of it (and yes, it was just a play, but I think it counts). It's not just a talent for farming, plants simply grow better around earth ponies. It's possible they don't grow at all when earth ponies aren't around (Remember Bridal Gossip when the ponies were clearly afraid of the idea of trees that grow by themselves?)

Earth ponies may not have any kind of flashy magic, but I think it's clear that Equestria simply couldn't survive without them.

[thubby]

ok, its 2pm and im jonesing for pony.

top 3 fanfics, go.

[erikun]

ok, its 2pm and im jonesing for pony.

top 3 fanfics, go.

I don't know about top three, but have a random good three.

Sepia Tock
Mort Takes a Holiday
The Old Stories

[Mewtarthio]

Twilight points out that zebras are not ponies, although I don't know if that discludes them from some sort of magic. You could argue she's good at alchemy, but we've seen more potion-making from Applebloom than we've seen from Zecora. Either potions is Applebloom's real talent (much as talking to animals is Fluttershy's, despite it being an "earth pony thing") or anyone could make potions without too much trouble.

We've all seen how well Applebloom's forays into alchemy went. I think it's more likely for her special talent to be poison-making than potion-making. Granted, "Show Stoppers" is probably supposed to be the canon reveal of what everyone's talents are (carpentry, in the case of Applebloom), but that's the boring answer.

As for Zecora, bear in mind that all her "potions" are made from natural plants and the like, plus she can recognize dangerous plants such as Poison Joke on sight. I'd guess that her talent is herbalism. It's tough to tell, though, given that her "cutie mark" is just an abstract symbol. It's also possible that zebras don't have "special talents" in the same way ponies do. It's pretty tough to speculate with only one zebra character on the show...

Re: Earth Pony magic:
Bear in mind, a lot of the flora of Equestria are seriously outre. The zap apples are the best examples. Perhaps Earth Ponies are just good at sensing the natural magic of such things, making them uniquely well-suited to working out the bizarre rituals needed to get the most out of them. Maybe even "mundane" plants have a certain degree of magic in them. That could explain how apple-bucking works, and it could also explain why Twilight doesn't just cast her Mega-Harvest spell every harvest season (just like how zap apples make better jam when you yell at the jars, maybe regular apples are higher quality when they've been properly bucked).

It also works out fine for all of you who like to think of earth ponies as the underdogs, since they really only have the advantage when it comes to harvesting food (and maybe a few other naturey things). An earth pony whose talent is pretty much anything else has to work extra hard to make up.

[Pokonic]

Can you get bioluminescent snails?... Huh, a Google search says yes. Cool.


Makes me wonder how they handle things in magic kindergarten, since each student would probably be learning completely different spells. Perhaps there are some basic lessons on focusing that can be taught.

1. Yep. Kinda cool looking, realy. Huh, if we go by this and say that Snails has some sort of weird link to the little critters, wonder what crazy stuff Snips would get. The ability to cut thru almost anything, possibly including metaphorical stuff? Imagine a pony that could cut your supply to magic, for instance.

2. Likely, they are taught the basics in a group, and then there path for futher study is split for higher learning in special related groups or put in with the rest of the pony class

[Kairaven]

Remember that unicorns used to raise the sun and moon before Celestia/Luna. My take is that for large scale and epic spells requires a number of unicorns to work together for the effect, barring super talents like Twilight or god like power of Celestia/Luna. Unicorn school therefore teaches focus and cooperation.

In my mind's eye I can see magic circles of unicorns attempting complicated spells. Individual spell casting will have to be simple spells or spells related to your talent.

Also judging by the Dragon hatching Kobiyashi Maru, I suspect a unicorn's spell strength is dependent on self confidence and natural talent. A conceited unicorn like Trixie therefore has a faire amount of self confidence that give her a minor edge in spell strength and variety. Which makes me wonder if she would have lost some of her spell strength if her self confidence received a crippling blow after the event of boast busters. Though judging by her parting words she still retains a good amount of self importance. There probably has been fanfics that explore such premise already. I wouldn't know since the only Trixie fic I read are Esper's

[Eakin]

ok, its 2pm and im jonesing for pony.

top 3 fanfics, go.

Erikun's are good, I'd add
On a Cross and Arrow
Past Sins
The Rummy Tale of Old Bluey
And the blueblood/groundhogs day one (edit: it's "The Best Night Ever")

[Geno9999]

I just thought of the possible plotline of Season 2 Finale:

Spoiler

Show

Twilight goes Brides(maid)zilla on everyone trying to make the prefect wedding.
Why? Let's look at the wedding:
1: Shining Armor is Twilight's Brother.
2: Princess Candence, is either foreign, and/or *le Pinkie Gasp* a relative of Celestia/Luna.
Twilight is now pressured from two sources to make everything perfect. And you know how she reacts to pressure for perfection? She cracks like an egg(head.*rimshot*)

[Sadistic Seraph]

ok, its 2pm and im jonesing for pony.

top 3 fanfics, go.

I dunno about No. 2-3 but No. 1 has to be Fallout Equestria. Hands down. No contest. Seriously. It's awesome

It takes a village is pretty good too.

[Gamerlord]

I just thought of the possible plotline of Season 2 Finale:

Spoiler

Show

Twilight goes Brides(maid)zilla on everyone trying to make the prefect wedding.
Why? Let's look at the wedding:
1: Shining Armor is Twilight's Brother.
2: Princess Candence, is either foreign, and/or *le Pinkie Gasp* a relative of Celestia/Luna.
Twilight is now pressured from two sources to make everything perfect. And you know how she reacts to pressure for perfection? She cracks like an egg(head.*rimshot*)

Spoiler

Show

Remember that the season finale is a two-parter, and I doubt they would spend two whole episodes on that. More likely then not, some villain will appear.

[Kurgan]

*Ducks into thread, looks around*

Happy Birthday Trixie!

Spoiler

Show

*Ducks back out of thread*

[Siosilvar]

Next up on my list: Learn to draw. Welp, this one'll probably take a while.

[Anarion]

Happy Birthday Trixie!

Remember that unicorns used to raise the sun and moon before Celestia/Luna. My take is that for large scale and epic spells requires a number of unicorns to work together for the effect, barring super talents like Twilight or god like power of Celestia/Luna. Unicorn school therefore teaches focus and cooperation.

In my mind's eye I can see magic circles of unicorns attempting complicated spells. Individual spell casting will have to be simple spells or spells related to your talent.

Also judging by the Dragon hatching Kobiyashi Maru, I suspect a unicorn's spell strength is dependent on self confidence and natural talent. A conceited unicorn like Trixie therefore has a faire amount of self confidence that give her a minor edge in spell strength and variety. Which makes me wonder if she would have lost some of her spell strength if her self confidence received a crippling blow after the event of boast busters. Though judging by her parting words she still retains a good amount of self importance. There probably has been fanfics that explore such premise already. I wouldn't know since the only Trixie fic I read are Esper's

I like this interpretation. It makes sense too, since we saw the pegasi all work together to clear all the clouds during winter wrap-up and we've heard that they use magic for it in Canterlot, so the idea that major magical effects are done through many unicorns working together seems very plausible and in keeping with the other pony types.

I would also note that there do seem to be some limits to telekinesis, in particular that it can't hit moving targets very well. That to me explains why Twilight had to create music first to keep the ursa minor in place, and why she couldn't catch that sheet of paper that blew out the window with her magic and needed Owlicous to catch it for her. It also probably has a range limit and a weight limit, but not a target limit.

Other magical effects have been stated by Twilight to relate to that unicorn's cutie mark, and there is some evidence from the way that Rarity makes clothes and can move many things at once that unicorn magic gets stronger when the unicorn is engaged in activities related to the cutie mark.

Now, as for earth pony magic, I think we're getting caught up here on what the definition of magic really is. Earth ponies have the skill and know-how to grow all the crops and they're as a rule stronger than the other types (although Rainbow Dash demonstrates that pegasi can at least approach the strength of an earth pony). But, do their abilities count as magic? They can do some things better than any others, so...maybe?

[Zevox]

So crazy thought for the day:

Mass Effect 3 Pony DLC. You'd get a portable OFC weapon and a new squad member! But who?

Vanguard Rainbow Dash.

Sonic Rainboom Charge!

Zevox

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Happy Birthday Trixie!

Now, as for earth pony magic, I think we're getting caught up here on what the definition of magic really is. Earth ponies have the skill and know-how to grow all the crops and they're as a rule stronger than the other types (although Rainbow Dash demonstrates that pegasi can at least approach the strength of an earth pony). But, do their abilities count as magic? They can do some things better than any others, so...maybe?

Pinkie Sense is the big one, really. Although Big Mac's strength is something else too.

Vanguard Rainbow Dash.

Sonic Rainboom Charge!

Zevox

Yessssssssss.

[Thanqol]

Next up on my list: Learn to draw. Welp, this one'll probably take a while.

You're in good company; look at how many 'Learn to Draw' threads are out in the Arts&Crafts forum. (Though some of you guys are slacking!)

Purple hooves are still madness but this is otherwise a good palette

[OracleofWuffing]

and oh god stop these rhymes, why am I speaking in rhymes?!?!

Shortly after I had left the door, I thought to myself, "Man, I shoulda tacked on a 'bonus points if you provide the answer in Zecora-ish' note." Thank you for brightening my day, it was a brutal Customer Service-Wannabe day for me.

We've all seen how well Applebloom's forays into alchemy went. I think it's more likely for her special talent to be poison-making than potion-making. Granted, "Show Stoppers" is probably supposed to be the canon reveal of what everyone's talents are (carpentry, in the case of Applebloom), but that's the boring answer.

Ehhh... I'd call it closer to Apothecary than Alchemy, myself, but danged if the latter word hasn't been completely twisted and torn apart in colloquial usage. Hooray, semantics!

Also, haven't the CMC already got their cutie marks already? Apple Bloom's special talent is breathing air, seen at the end of Cutie Pox, Sweetie Belle's special talent is turning invisible, seen at the public lecture at Putting Your Hoof Down, and Scootaloo has the most unique and special cutie mark of all: not having a cutie mark.

Over all, I guess it just means I need to watch more ponies. Which, you know, I guess I'll have to meet that oh so dangerous challenge sometime.

[PhantomFox]

ok, its 2pm and im jonesing for pony.

top 3 fanfics, go.

Well, I can't let this go by without plugging my own works.

Sunny Skies All Day Long

My Faithful Student

[Siosilvar]

Now, as for earth pony magic, I think we're getting caught up here on what the definition of magic really is. Earth ponies have the skill and know-how to grow all the crops and they're as a rule stronger than the other types (although Rainbow Dash demonstrates that pegasi can at least approach the strength of an earth pony). But, do their abilities count as magic? They can do some things better than any others, so...maybe?

Shadowrun has a thing called Adepts. Basically, they have magic, but it's not magic in the spell/potion/etc form - they get to put their magic points into enhancing their various abilities. Maybe earth ponies are somewhat similar? They don't have "magic" the same way unicorns do, but they DO have special talents and... cutie marks.

Hmm. An experiment comes to mind.

[PrinceAquilaDei]

*Ducks into thread, looks around*

Happy Birthday Trixie!

Spoiler

Show

*Ducks back out of thread*

Oh, so this is happening now? Happy Birthday to the best hostpony!

Have a drawrequest!

Spoiler

Show

In my mind's eye I can see magic circles of unicorns attempting complicated spells. Individual spell casting will have to be simple spells or spells related to your talent.

I'm going to draw the SAOSE Advent victory screen with ponies because of this.

You're in good company; look at how many 'Learn to Draw' threads are out in the Arts&Crafts forum. (Though some of you guys are slacking!)

Picture will be up in about two hours, stop yelling at me!

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

Happy birthday, Trixie! Birthday wishes for the best pony!

[otakuryoga]

sigh.... cant even look at the new drawfriend because they have a bunch of spoiler stuff in it

why couldnt they have held that stuff til tomorrow like they have done the past few weeks

[Athaniar]

So crazy thought for the day:

Mass Effect 3 Pony DLC. You'd get a portable OFC weapon and a new squad member! But who?

Celestia all the way. Overpowered? Naaaah.

Vanguard Rainbow Dash.

Sonic Rainboom Charge!

Zevox

I could definitely support this as well.

ok, its 2pm and im jonesing for pony.

top 3 fanfics, go.

EsperDerek's fics (and those in the same continuity) have to be mentioned, of course, starting with Out in the Cold.

*Ducks into thread, looks around*

Happy Birthday Trixie!

Spoiler

Show

*Ducks back out of thread*

Happy Birthday!

[Eakin]

Well, it looks like Pinkie Pie can hack Google Chrome.

Happy birthday, Trixie!

[Pokonic]

On top fanfics:

It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door is one of the best things the fandom has produced. Someone even made a nice map to go along with it. Read it. Love it.

[Gamerlord]

Happy B-day Trix!