Can The Ponies See Magic?

[Denim&Venöm 19,044]

You know when the unicorns horns glow and theirs an aura over the object their levitating? Do you think he ponies see either of those? Or is it just an object levitating and a horn appearing as it is and the magic is for our benefit? Cause I haven't heard the ponies comment on horns glowing or the color of each others magical auras. 

 

This could be extended to other magic. Can ponies see projected force fields and energy beams? Or to them, is it invisible walls and force blasts. 

[True Rarity 1,240]

I believe so, since we can see it. Perhaps it isn't as noticeable, but I'm assuming there is a colored aura over anything magically affected.

 

I also think unicorns can mask their magic so that it cannot be seen. Rarity's aura was invisible when she closed the curtains in "MMMMystery on the Friendship Express".

[Brotaku 18]

Interesting question. As I recall in Winter Wrap-Up Spike was able to tell that Twilight was using magic to move the snow plow while Apple Jack couldn't tell. It could take some sort of practice, or perhaps dragons have a natural ability to see magic.

 

Perhaps using magic without a visible aura as Rarity did in MMMystery is a skill like using magic without incantations in Harry Potter. It's doable but takes practice. Twilight also seemed to stealthily use magic at the Equestria Games.

[Rainboom Dash 1,056]

I always thought the magic was visible but there's some great points here. Maybe it's only visible to the uni/alicorn using it so they can see what they're using.

[~ Dr. Ocsid ~ 690]

Sombra definitely could see the magic wall closing again, but he was a very powerfull unicorn, so he probably learned to see it. And Spike is a dragon, and since dragons are not ponies (duh...) he doesn´t count. Also, Discord can sense magic, which means that he probably sees it as well. Therefore, I think only very magically powerfull creatures and dragons can see magic.

[Invincible 2,091]

I could bring up Chrysallis, the green glow vs. Cadence's  light blue would've been a dead giveaway to Twilight, she probably knew her magic aura's glow color. But that wasn't what sealed the deal for her. Based on that, I'd guess that either aura colors can change over time (Can they?) or they don't see them at all.

[Carbon Maestro 1,003]

 

 

Based on that, I'd guess that either aura colors can change over time (Can they?) or they don't see them at all.

Maybe ponies are colorblind to some colors?
 

According to About.com, ponies shouldn't be able to see red:

Many people think that animals, including horses, are color blind, only seeing in shades of grey. This is not true. horse do see color, but they may not see it as vividly as we do. This is because they can only see two of the three visible wavelengths in the light spectrum. This is somewhat similar to the way people who are colorblind see. So your horse doesn't see the color red, but they can see blues and greens. So the lovely red apple or the orange carrot you offer as a treat may actually appear brownish or greenish.

[Invincible 2,091]

 

 

Maybe ponies are colorblind to some colors?

 

 

That's actually a very sound possibility. Didn't even know horses are somewhat color insensitive.

 

But i think just the sheen of how Chrysallis' horn glows should have looked alien and off-putting. Twilight clearly shows in a flashback how Cadence's magic glow looked, implying she must have remembered it, wouldn't you agree? Idk maybe i'm just over-analyzing it. :/

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

I've always assumed that they can't see the auras, and it's just only visible to the audience. Otherwise, as stated above, the colour of Fake!Cadance's magic should have been a dead giveaway. It should also be remembered that the magic auras looked very different in Season 1, just being a subtle shiny glow on the object being magicked, and uniformly white.

The fact that we can see Cadance's aura in the flashback doesn't mean Twilight could see it.

[Invincible 2,091]

Maybe it's just something the animators give unicorns to give them a bit more uniqueness. It would look kinda bland if everypony used the same magic.

[Pastel 7,630]

I've always assumed that they can't see the auras, and it's just only visible to the audience. Otherwise, as stated above, the colour of Fake!Cadance's magic should have been a dead giveaway.

Very interesting, but maybe not. Maybe Chrysalis avoided to use her magic in public so nopony can see her green aura.

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

Very interesting, but maybe not. Maybe Chrysalis avoided to use her magic in public so nopony can see her green aura.

She used her magic right in front of Twilight when she was sampling Applejack's cooking:

and a few frames later

and again as she closed the door behind her.

 

Although she never uses her magic in Celestia or Luna's presence, so in my headcanon, only alicorns are able to see magical auras. I have no real proof of that, though.

[Adorkable 2,737]

Hmm, I would believe so.

 

Kind of makes me think that the glow is more visible to us (the viewers), but more faded and unnoticeable to the ponies in-show.

 

So I guess if they're paying attention and actually looking for it, they'll see a horn's magical glow. If not, it could be easily overlooked. ^^

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

It could just be that they see it so often they filter it out. Unless direct attention is drawn to it, they don't notice it. Like the noise of a freeway after you live next to it long enough, eventually you just filter it out and it becomes part of the background.

 

Or it could be just there for the viewers convenience, like the cutaway animations during the song numbers, and it doesn't actually occur in world.

[Invincible 2,091]

It's clear to me that ponies can see magical constructs (i vaguely recall an episode where twilight placed a barrier of some sort around the library - others could see it), as for the more subtle form of magic - maybe stuff like levitation are something they are animated with for viewer comfort, indeed.

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

It's clear to me that ponies can see magical constructs (i vaguely recall an episode where twilight placed a barrier of some sort around the library - others could see it), as for the more subtle form of magic - maybe stuff like levitation are something they are animated with for viewer comfort, indeed.

I dunno. When I watch that scene, I get the exact opposite impression: that they can't see it at all. They walk straight into it, seem confused as to what is happening and Spike has to tell them that Twilight put up a force field.

[Invincible 2,091]

Hmm. When you put it that way...

 

I was struck with the impression that the CMC (was it a CMC episode? I can't recall) didn't quite notice it because of how distracted their minds were. Kind of like not looking where you are going and bumping into a post or something in the street. 

[Jeric 46,851]

I think it's the visual queue used for the audience. A visible glow would also telegraph magic being used, which would be a disadvantage for the unicorn.

 

Though I like to think that the glowing eyes are visible!

[Zygen 6,066]

So I was going to go to bed actually, but I decided to stay up a little longer to make this thread, just because it came to mind and I got curious and didn't want to forget about it by tomorrow(Which knowing me would mostlikely happen.)

 

Plus, I haven't made a thread of my own in a while, so I figured why not.

 

So here's the question I came up with.

 

We all know that Unicorns can use magic correct?(I hope so, if not then you need to explain what you call what Twilight uses then ;p.) And we also know that when the Unicorns preform magic we are able to see this magical aura around their horns. 

 

However... even though we can see it, I have to wonder, can the ponies and the Unicorn preforming the magic see it?

 

I'm not necessarily talking about seeing the effects of the spell, but simply the magic aura that surrounds the unicorn, and sometimes objects. 

 

While I'm not super keen on my memory of the show(especially when I'm tired) I can't say I can recall a time where another pony has recognized the aura around the Unicorns horn.

 

Of course I could just be tired, and there might be an obvious example I just can't recall(if that's the case I'll pay the price for posting a thread late at night).

 

But I'm kind of hoping it hasn't been stated, because that means more discussion, and If you can't tell by my tendency to make really long posts and ramble, I love to discussion stuff and theorize about the show.

 

So, now that I'm done explaining things, that's your que to start typing and post your thoughts, do you think Unicorns and other ponies around them can see the aura they produce when using magic? Or is it just to show us that they are using magic? 

 

Feel free to cite examples and stuff that you find, actually you really don't need my permission for that... so um...

 

You know what just post, I think you get the idea.

 

I'm going to go get some shut eye, so my brain will work again(hopefully) and I can get to replies tomorrow hopefully.

 

Hope to see some interesting discussion going on! 

 

Have a great day/good night, depending on where you are!

[Felix 1,363]

I'm not entirely sure actually. I would like to say yes, since the aura not only surrounds their horn but also when using the levitation spell. Plus the colors are so specific to each character as if to discern and give personality to whomever is using magic. Also, the color of ones magic can sometimes change depending on the spell.

[OptimisticNeighsayer 478]

I think it's pretty clear that they can't.

 

This is actually one of the most frequent plot-hole makers of any MLP:FiM episode.  It's quite obvious given "Green Isn't Your Color", "A Canterlot Wedding" and "Magic Duel", "Mare-Do-Well", and "MMMystery on the Freindship Express", each of which might have gone far differently if somepony had been able to point out the color of some pony's magic aura, that they can't, to the point that it's no longer a true plot-hole as it become an empirically-based explanation of the pony's physiology.

Edited June 24, 2014 by OptimisticNeighsayer

[CT-1138 3,182]

Huh, I ways figured they could but now this thread comes up and I'm not so sure anymore.

[Fhaolan 4,483]

They might be able to see something, but it's pretty apparent that what they're seeing is not what we, the audience, are seeing. The version we're seeing seem to be a lot more obvious and full of recognizable cues that the ponies don't seem able to pick up on. Therefore, they must be seeing something different somehow. Only a limited number of them seem to be able to see the auras at all, and even then those who can aren't remarking on it very often so we don't have a lot of data to compile.

[Nature's Spell 526]

I don't believe other ponies see the aura, but whether the Unicorn casting the spell can see their own magic is an open question. We're often shown things that the characters never see or experience.

[Zygen 6,066]

I'm not entirely sure actually. I would like to say yes, since the aura not only surrounds their horn but also when using the levitation spell. Plus the colors are so specific to each character as if to discern and give personality to whomever is using magic. Also, the color of ones magic can sometimes change depending on the spell.

Well as far as the color goes I don't personally get much out of it besides it tends to be the eye color of the pony, or just a fitting color for them.

 

And I can't recall any real examples of the spell changing the horn color besides dark magic, and maybe if you count it when Twilight banished the Ursa minor and her horn light up brighter to be a bit more white.

 

It's hard to say though, very true.

 

I think it's pretty clear that they can't.

 

This is actually one of the most frequent plot-hole makers of any MLP:FiM episode.  It's quite obvious given "Green Isn't Your Color", "A Canterlot Wedding" and "Magic Duel", "Mare-Do-Well", and "MMMystery on the Freindship Express", each of which might have gone far differently if somepony had been able to point out the color of some pony's magic aura, that they can't, to the point that it's no longer a true plot-hole as it become an empirically-based explanation of the pony's physiology.

I guess that's true. It would seem odd that nobody notices the color of the ponies magic in those episodes, it could be they are preoccupied at the time or something who knows.

 

Or maybe ponies just can't see the color of the magic aura? Maybe they are able to see something, but just possibly not the specific colors. What it is they say is hard to say for sure.

 

Really I don't know, i'm just throwing out possibilities. 

 

Huh, I ways figured they could but now this thread comes up and I'm not so sure anymore.

It's ok, I didn't think about this until I got the thread idea, and I probably would've forgot about it if I didn't make the thread that night ;p.

 

They might be able to see something, but it's pretty apparent that what they're seeing is not what we, the audience, are seeing. The version we're seeing seem to be a lot more obvious and full of recognizable cues that the ponies don't seem able to pick up on. Therefore, they must be seeing something different somehow. Only a limited number of them seem to be able to see the auras at all, and even then those who can aren't remarking on it very often so we don't have a lot of data to compile.

Yeah, it's possible. 

 

However what would make a pony able to see the magic aura? If they are able to at all?

 

There is one time I remember where it seems maybe someone is able to possibly see the magic aura that comes to mind. 

 

In "Winter Wrap Up" during the time Twilight is helping Applejack, and she is using her magic to do so, but nopony has noticed yet. However, It appears that Spike notices atleast something, because he then remarks "That's my girl! Taking my advice!" (or something along those lines) and Applejack responds by saying "And just what advice is that?"

 

This part of the episode seems to imply that Spike can atleast tell Twilight is using magic. Whether it is based on the aura around her horn that he can see, or maybe just being around Twilight enough to somehow know when she is using magic, he seems to know somehow. And on the other hand, it appears Applejack cannot. Because she doesn't seem to come to the realization until she is rolling down hill in a snowball at super speeds.

 

There are probably other examples, but that's just the one I can think of off the top of my head.

 

I don't believe other ponies see the aura, but whether the Unicorn casting the spell can see their own magic is an open question. We're often shown things that the characters never see or experience.

Yeah it's hard to say if they can, of course being able to see their own aura around their horn really wouldn't serve much of a purpose, since they are the ones using the spells, and thus should be able to tell what they are doing anyways. 

 

And it is true that there are things we are shown the characters aren't, the same is true with many stories, TV shows, and the such. It's just a matter of if this is one of those things.