Yeah, trying to gauge what is normal for unicorns with Twilight Sparkle is like trying to gauge what's normal for humans with Captain America.

Considering "Buckball Season" showed that the majority of Ponyville's unicorns are too incompetent to operate a basket with their magic, I think it's safe to say the average unicorn is far less magically capable than Twilight or Rarity.

I didn't write any of that.

The Triptych Continuum goes with Rares having mediocre magical field strength but great dexterity- and indeed has her something of a Combat Pragmatist to compensate, if only for the sake of Element business.

There is no beginning. There is no end. There is only... Hooty.

Yeah, I get the impression from this show that MOST unicorns have rather limited magical abilities mostly restricted to their specific talents. Even Rarity is not all that talented with magic in general, she is just good with spells involving fashion design and sewing. Twilight is amazing at unicorn magic, not because she is so much smarter than other unicorns, but because her TALENT is pretty much "being good at studying and developing magic". Its the difference between being good at driving a car, and being a great car mechanic/designer. Also, the show has made a point of pointing out that MOST unicorns simply cannot just easily learn new spells from books alone, and Twilight is a bit of a huge exception to the rule.

Optimism is a duty.

From the start Twilight basically won the Superpower Lottery. Becoming an alicorn only boosted her further.

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Practicality of unicorns using telekinesis in combat in general. Somehow, everyone got fixated on just Rarity.

In a life and death situation, you do what you have to do or you end up the one bleeding out on the floor. Aside from that, the kind of blunt trauma typically inflicted is hardly that much different. It's potentially less lethal, but it's still the kind of thing that can easily cause death or permanent injury, especially when they're going for head shots, like happens in many of these fights.

Again, this also isn't entirely about Rarity.

This needs to happen now.

I guess generations of no longer having to operate the sun as a team made them slothful and useless.

FE:3H Maddening Banes Only 7PM PT Sun, Mon, Fri; Valkyria Chronicles 4 7PM PT Wed, Thurs: http://www.twitch.tv/kuroitsubasatenshi

Rarity's hooves are natural weapons. Why not use them for combat?

Because most natural weapons are 1d6 or lower, so she'd have to take at least 11 levels in monk to make them worthwhile?

What matters in this life is much more than winning for ourselves. What really matters is helping others win, too. - F. Rogers.

Wait, when was that shown?

If ponies couldn't learn new spells from books, there wouldn't be ponies writing books with spells in them.

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In the first season there were a few lines that alluded to the idea that Unicorns basically just 'developed' spells based on their talent, more akin to a magical Knack than anything you'd find in a grimoire. It was gradually phased out though, and it really doesn't appear to be the case anymore.

But one could say that there have been many Unicorns throughout the years who have had a talent for magic—in the same way that there have been many people who have a talent for physical skills, or academics. I mean, there's an entire school dedicated to gifted unicorns.

Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.

Isn't it just the unicorns who are specifically implied to be powerful magicians who have used their magic for anything other than telekinesis (or shields in Shining Armor's case)? With the exception being Trixie, which was a very bad idea, Starlight.

Loves feel-good animation a whole lot.

I think there have been other non-TK examples, though it's hard to remember them off hand.

I do remember Snails using his horn like a flashlight though.

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You know, now that you mention Trixie, she's a pretty good counter-example for the idea that unicorns can't learn spells other than whatever their talent is.

We see in "All Bottled Up" that Starlight's teaching new spells to Trixie. It's rough going, of course, because she's only just started learning, but it's still occurring. And she is decidedly not one of the super-talented magic ponies swept away to Celestia's school.

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Hypothesis: Learning a magic spell is really flipping hard by default. There are a few ways to make this easier (and even then, you still need to put the effort in).

• Have a talent related to the spell. Rarity has an easier time learning magic that relates to clothing, so that's the kind of magic she knows. Twilight's talent is magic in general, so she knows a great deal more about all the spells compared to the average unicorn.
• Have someone who already knows the spell teach it to you. Like the previously mentioned Trixie learning transfiguration and teleportation from Starlight.

So maybe it's possible to learn a form of magic unrelated to your talent, but it's hard, and if it falls outside your interest range, you probably won't even have the inclination to bother trying to.

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

Yeah, based on the fact that teaching magic still exists, I took that tol mean it's technically possible for any univcorn to learn any spell, but the less closely related to their talent it is, the more exponentially difficult it is for them to learn, so most unicorns know around five spells max.

EDIT:Incidentally, Word of Faust is that Trixie did attend Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, though that has probably been changed now.

edited 20th Oct '17 1:14:32 AM by Sereg

Keep in mind even Twilight isn't that consistent and is left helpless in problems she proved she could easily solve with her magic.

The fact that practically every unicorn is a bastion of neuroses might have something to do with it, making it harder to control. I also notice most of the rare times the allicorns screw up or become fallible is when they lose their composure (hence Twilight and Luna breaking things more often with their magic and not being able to reverse it).

edited 20th Oct '17 3:24:31 AM by Psi001

That does make sense. From what we've seen so far even basic magic appears to require a great deal of practice or concentration, so it would stand to reason that if someone were panicking or worried, it would be more difficult for them to use any kind of advanced or powerful magic.

Which would make combat-specialist mages, if they exist at all, very interesting ponies, I'm sure.

Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.

I figured learning new magic was more like learning a new language, it takes a lot of time, practice and exposure. So with that analogy, Twi and Starlight are like the polyglots of Equestria. This could also explain Starlight's sudden upsurge in magical potential: she always had the ability to learn magic easily, but since she was so obsessed with her cult, she only studied a limited range of magic. When she was seeking revenge, she would have been motivated to learn more powerful magic, which she was able to do relatively fast.

Another way she is a reflection of Twilight perhaps: a gifted unicorn that fell through the cracks.

edited 20th Oct '17 5:23:31 AM by Redmess

Optimism is a duty.

Post of the Day #1975

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play

Blessed with Suck is a trope for a reason.

Also, that person skipped 6?! But that's the best one!

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I think you meant to type 9.

This song needs more love.

Or 10.

Pinkie Pie and flugelhorns are a bad combination.

Speaking of which, my playthrough of FF 6 is linked in my signature if anyone is curious. /shamlessplug

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play

I've only ever played 1, about half of 2 before getting stuck, and the Tactics games.

And to keep this on topic, what FF job/class would the Mane 6 (or other characters) have?

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

• Twilight Sparkle - White Mage
• Applejack - Warrior
• Rainbow Dash - Lancer/Dragoon
• Rarity - Monk
• Pinkie Pie - Dancer
• Fluttershy - Summoner
• Starlight Glimmer - Black Mage

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I'd say Red Mage for Rarity. Not as good at magic as the Black Mage or White Mage but has an awesome hat to make up for it.

This song needs more love.