Is it possible for a pony to be born without magic?

[ManaMinori 4,145]

Could there be just normal, non-magical pastel ponies living outside of Equestria's borders? I mean, thinking about it......the ponies in Equestria (which are all we've really seen) have magic, right? What if, all this magic is granted to them by the Tree of Harmony, which is in the borders of Equestria. (and the Crystal Empire) Twilight, in Magical Mystery Cure, discovered that friendship magic was a thing, and this magic proved stronger than all the power of 4 alicorns, Had it not been for the Elements of Harmony, which were provided by the Tree of harmony, Twilight never would've discovered or unlocked friendship magic through her friends, provided by the Tree. In "Twilight's Kingdom", when Discord's seeds attacked the tree, it was shown that Discord's magic, by extension, was messing with the natural abilities of the ponies- such as AJ not having the strength to pull the vines out the ground, and Rarity and Sweetie Belle's magic being tampered with. If Discord's vines could effect the magic every pony was born with, and the seeds were attacking the tree at the time, then it's very likely that the tree- which was dying-  is what bestows ponies of all tribes with those magical abilities that they're known for, in the first place.

 

So if the Tree's influence and magic doesn't reach beyond the borders of Equestria, then would ponies existing beyond the country's borders just be normal, non-magical ponies?

[The Awesome One 1,315]

Maybe if some villain came along who has the power to remove all magic (kind of like Tirek but a bit different). What that would do is basically remove all magic from Equestria. The intelligence of all the equine races would fall dramatically and they would lose the ability to talk or make logical decisions and basically become animals. They would slowly become like wild horses we see in our world and they would lose that pastel look of theirs and take on more dull colours because they have lost all their magic.

 

However, being born without magic seems to be impossible in Equestria. All ponies just have it.

Edited May 20, 2015 by The Awesome One

[cider float 2,538]

For some reason dragons, griffons or other non-pony but sentient beings did not have their magic taken away by Tirek which could imply all ponies do have magic but non-ponies do not.

[Pastel 7,630]

Could there be just normal, non-magical pastel ponies living outside of Equestria's borders? (...) What if, all this magic is granted to them by the Tree of Harmony, which is in the borders of Equestria.

I don't think the Tree of Harmony has that much magic, but I like your theory and that would be very interesting to see that in the show.

 

I don't think the Tree of Harmony is the reason why ponies have magic.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Blobulle

[ManaMinori 4,145]

Maybe if some villain came along who has the power to remove all magic (kind of like Tirek but a bit different). What that would do is basically remove all magic from Equestria. The intelligence of all the equine races would fall dramatically and they would lose the ability to talk or make logical decisions and basically become animals. They would slowly become like wild horses we see in our world and they would lose that pastel look of theirs and take on more dull colours because they have lost all their magic.

 

However, being born without magic seems to be impossible in Equestria. All ponies just have it.

I feel like you didn't understand my theory/ question. Because you keep bringing up Equestria. What I was asking/ theorizing is if ponies outside of Equestria are born without magic and are just normal pastel ponies. I speculated that the Tree of Harmony is what gives Equestrian creatures their magic, but presumably, the the tree's power only encompases the territory of Equestria (it likely doesn't even reach to the Crystal Empire, since the Crystal Heart's territory is there) So again- I'm not talking within Equestria, but outside of it. All the rest of the world where ponies might be born.

 

I highly, HIGHLY doubt intelligense without magic is a factor to consider. I mean, look at Griffons and Dragons and Zebras. Their lands are outside of Equestria's borders, but still they're pretty intelligence. And looking at Zecora- a Zebra, she doesn't have inherited, Tree of Harmony-bestowed magic like ponies do, but uses potions because she lacks it. Because she came from a place outside of Equestria where the Tree's magic doesn't reach, so she wouldn't have been born with it. Why can't we assume that ponies also outside of Equestria- seeing as how they and Zebra's are cousins- wouldn't have inherited magic either, but still be intelligent creatures?

[cmarston1 5,959]

Well Scootaloo has proven that pegasi can be born unable to fly so I don't see why it would be impossible for a unicorn to be born without the ability to use magic which would be a type of physical disability as well.

[The Awesome One 1,315]

Or maybe there are not any ponies at all outside of Equestria? That includes the Crystal Empire too by the way. Plus even if there are any ponies outside of Equestria they did go from Equestria so it is not like they won't have any magic.

[RarityFan01 2,444]

I would think there could be ponies without magic, but we haven't seen any. Or

have we?

If you go all the way back to g1 with the episode Bright Lights (I believe) there are a lot of ponies with no cutie marks. Knight Shade is one of them. I doubt they would forget to add cutie marks to all those ponies. Maybe those ponies were magicless.

 

I think there are ponies without any magic, but I would think they are just regular ponies rather than earth ponies, and Knight Shade and Sapphire Shores are just regular ponies without magic.

 

As we seen in Twilight's Kingdom, the cutie marks disappeared after Tirek stole magic. So cutie marks must have something to do with magic. Magic allows earth ponies to have excessive strength and grow food, it allows Pegasi to fly and control the weather, and it allows unicorns to cast spells. So I think there are ponies without magic who would look like earth ponies but would also lack earth pony magic.

 

I also think there is prejudice against magicless ponies, so they hide their lack of cutie mark or go into hiding. That would explain why Sapphire Shores always wears clothes.

 

TL; DR: There may be ponies without magic, but they wouldn't have cutie marks and wouldn't expose themselves due to prejudice.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,303]

There most definitely are ponies that lie well outside the bounds of Equestria that were born without magic:

 

 

 

 

[Shanks 10,816]

For some reason dragons, griffons or other non-pony but sentient beings did not have their magic taken away by Tirek which could imply all ponies do have magic but non-ponies do not.

That could be the case for other non pony species but in nearly every depiction I have seen of dragons they have been magical beings so in their case I think it is a combination of Tirek simply hasn't gotten to them yet and the fact that dragons are a lot more powerful than ponies. For all we know there could be some dragons that were even more powerful than Tirek was at the time.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Darth Bane

[cider float 2,538]

That could be the case for other non pony species but in nearly every depiction I have seen of dragons they have been magical beings so in their case I think it is a combination of Tirek simply hasn't gotten to them yet and the fact that dragons are a lot more powerful than ponies. For all we know there could be some dragons that were even more powerful than Tirek was at the time.

Which dragon used magic? They spew fire, are big, have scaly hides but those are just biological attributes. Being powerful doesn't mean they have magic. By biological attributes Dragons could be stronger but they haven't displayed any use of magic yet.

Edited May 21, 2015 by cidershield

[Red Cedar 1,408]

Tirek removed the magic from every pony in Equestria and they remained intelligent creatures, just disabled. Seems whatever makes them the way they are goes a bit beyond that.

[Shanks 10,816]

Which dragon used magic? They spew fire, are big, have scaly hides but those are just biological attributes. Being powerful doesn't mean they have magic. By biological attributes Dragons could be stronger but they haven't displayed any use of magic yet.

Spike has used magic on multiple occasions via his fire breathe to send letters to Celestia on behalf of Twilight and others. I should clarify my previous statement though, I meant that nearly every dragon I have seen depicted in mythology has been somehow tied to magic whether that dragon be benevolent or malevolent or whether that magic be overt as in them being able to manipulate it or more inert. The way the show has portrayed dragons though has been a tad lazy and a huge wasted opportunity though, with Spike being capable of higher thought and consideration I am a bit puzzled as to why we haven't seen any other dragons like that in the series yet. But I suppose that is why I created this topic though people don't seem to have read all I said and simply think I am calling for more dragons in the show when what I am actually calling for is more world building and more diverse portrayals of dragons.

 

https://mlpforums.com/topic/128797-dragons-in-mlp/#entry3764798

[cider float 2,538]

Okay Spike does seem to use magic. He is a bit unique though. He was hatched out of an egg by Twilight by spontaneous magic within Twilight and it seems Twilight released something beyond what she expected. Also she hatched him out with the blast of Rainbow Dash's rainbow and got her Cutie Mark that day. From that day I always thought Twilight had some kind of latent power in her out of her control no doubt it could have influenced Spike as well. I mean it wouldn't be a far cry for dragons to use magic there just has only been one that uses it.

Edited May 21, 2015 by cidershield