Variations of Magic

[Forlong 1,725]

There seems to be different kinds of magic in the show.  Friendship is magic, but so is chaos.  And what about that freaky magic from The Crystal Empire?  Here are all the different types of magic I've been able to detect in the show:

 

Common Magic

The magic we see the unicorns and alicorns use all the time.  On it's own, it is not particularly powerful, but using connections with others allows the power to be amplified.

 

Luna's Magic

In Luna Eclipsed, she specifically says that she had "dark powers".  This implies that she's a master of dark magic.  This magic is more powerful than traditional magic, but does not seem to take power from bonds with others.

 

Discord's Magic

Discord is insanely powerful, yet all that power comes from within.  As such, his magic is very different from the magic of friendship.

 

Sombra's Magic

Like Discord, Sombra expressed intense power.  However, it is implied that he sapped some of that power from the Crystal Ponies.  Which is like combining light and dark magic.

 

Thoughts?

[Mywas 687]

I think that there is all types of magic in MLP. sadly since The Show never got to explain it we have alot of plotholes that we need to fill in when we do our headcanons.

[Orablanco Account 3,706]

I think "Luna's Magic" can be recategorized as "Alicron Magic". My head canon is that each alicorn has some sort of ability unique to them that fits their general personality. Luna is the princess of the night and she seems to have affection for the children for Equestria, so her ability would be to enter dreams so she can protect them while they sleep.

[SCS 7,443]

@Forlong, your idea about King Sombra sapped energy from the crystal ponies is interesting, I have never thought of that before. However, I would disagree that it would be a combination of light and dark magic. Forcibly removing energy from someone would be harmful to them, which is a negative act, so therefore it would be dark magic. 
 
I'm not sure if Sombra actually literally sapped energy from the ponies, or if they just became depressed by being enslaved by him. Regardless, your idea is interesting. 
 
Now, I will share my own ideas about the nature of magic in Equestria.

 
 

A Theory of Magic

 
A suitable first question to address when building a theory of magic in Equestria would be, what is magic?
 
Magic seems to be a force that operates by laws separate than the physical laws governing the 3 + 1 realm that is Equestria: three spatial dimensions, and one temporal dimension. This force, while existing independently of the physical universe, is able to act upon it in profound ways. 
 
If this force is not grounded in physicality, then in what form does it exist, and from where does it originate? 
 
It is possible that this force, magic, exists in a fourth spatial dimension that operates by the laws of emotion, expectation, and intent. By channeling your emotion, expectation, and/or intent you can harness and direct the energy that exists in this dimension to perform various tasks.
 
Now, given the wide spectrum that is all possible emotions, expectations, and intents, we can assume that there is in turn a wide spectrum of magic. This is demonstrated throughout My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. 
 
Drawing from magical events portrayed throughout the show, it seems that the different kinds of magic can be sorted by its underlying emotion. Magic arising from negative emotion can be classified as dark magic. Magic that does not necessarily involve emotion, and is not necessarily used for either good or evil, is neutral magic. Magic involving supposed chaos is also neutral, as it can be used for either good or evil, as chosen by the wielder. Magic arising from positive emotion can be classified as light magic.
 
Dark magic is magic that arises from negative emotions, such as hatred, fear, jealousy, and greed.

 

In the show, Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra have all been shown to use dark magic to different degrees.

 

Nightmare Moon's dark magic would be of the lowest order, as it is not truly evil. Instead, her dark magic was a result of her, at the time, being unable to deal with negative emotion in a responsible, positive manner. Therefore, instead of her magic being true malice or hatred, it was more a release of pent up anger, jealousy, and frustration that went out of control.

 

Queen Chrysalis's dark magic was evil, and was therefore of a higher order of dark magic. This is due to the fact that the focus of her magic was sapping love from a pony until they had none left. Her magic was grounded in hatred, but even then it was not as malicious as King Sombra's.

 

King Sombra's dark magic was evil to the highest order, to the point where usage of the magic visually distorts the user. It seems that prolonged usage of the degree of dark magic that Sombra uses can result in permanent visual distortion of the user, due to the fact that Sombra looks far more malevolent than any other character, even the other villains. The foundation of his magic was pure hatred and malice. 
 
Examples of the uses of dark magic include  the creation of dark crystals, deceptive magic designed to prey on fear, and the sapping of love from a being including mind control.
 
Neutral magic, in general, is far more common. It is magic used to complete ordinary tasks, and does not necessarily involve emotion. It is also not necessarily used for good, or for evil. 
 
Examples of the uses of neutral magic include levitating an object, opening a door, writing with a quill, or teleporting yourself somewhere.
 
Chaotic magic, an acroamatic subset of neutral magic, is highly uncommon.  Chaotic magic is neutral, due to the fact that it is neither inherently good nor evil, and can be used for either one, as chosen by the wielder.

 

The only beings that have been shown as capable of this magic in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic so far are Discord and Pinkie Pie.  

 

Discord, before he chose to become good, used his chaotic magic for evil.

 

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, used her chaotic magic innately, as it seems to be an inherent aspect of her personality. However, she has chosen the path of harmony, so any purpose she uses it for is harmless.
 
Examples of the uses of chaotic magic are transforming your physical form into something else, operating independently from the laws of physics, transforming any matter into anything, altering reality at the expense of others, and temporarily altering the personality of others.

 

An interesting aspect of chaotic magic is whether or not it is actually devoid of order. It is possible that chaotic magic does have an order to it, but that order is simply too complex for most to be able to understand.
 

Light magic is the magic of friendship, and the magic of harmony. It arises from positive emotions, such as love, joy, laughter, courage, and kindness.

 

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Prince Shining Armor, Princess Twilight Sparkle by herself, and Princess Twilight Sparkle along with her friends using the Elements of Harmony, have all been shown to use light magic in the show so far.

 

Prince Shining Armor used light magic to protect Canterlot from Queen Chrysalis and her changelings. I would consider his light magic to be of the lowest order, due to its close resemblance to neutral magic. However, as it was used to temporarily keep darkness at bay, I consider it to be light magic.

 

Princess Twilight Sparkle used light magic by herself in The Crystal Empire: Part 2 when overcoming Sombra's door that lead to your darkest fear. Her light magic seemed to be young and new, less developed, and not at the fullest order to which it could be used. I am not minimizing its effectiveness, wisdom, or truth by saying that: I am only saying that Twilight was new at using light magic. As such, I would consider her use of light magic alone to be a lower, but not the lowest, order of light magic.

 

Princess Cadence's light magic specifically involved the spreading of love and light to other ponies. As such, her light magic would be of a higher order, due to the essential nature of love in life and reality.

 

Princess Luna's light magic has a primeval, fundamental, and abstract quality to it, as it is representative of the night. Her light magic is of one of the highest, but not the highest, order.

 

Princess Celestia's light magic also has a primeval, fundamental, and abstract quality to it, as it is representative of the day. Her light magic is one of the highest, but not the highest, order.

 

Both Luna and Celestia are able to use light magic that is close, but not quite, at the level of the Elements of Harmony in order. This is represented by their eyes turning completely white in some situations where they were using magic.

 

The Crystal Heart, when used by the Crystal Ponies channeling their light and love energy into it, is of the second highest order, almost right alongside the Elements of Harmony. I do not view it as quite as powerful as the Elements of Harmony, due to the fact that it seems to have less capabilities. It seems to destroy the body of anyone who chose the path of hatred, while reinvigorating the spirits of those who chose the path of love.

 

Twilight Sparkle and her friends uniting and using the Elements of Harmony is light magic of the highest order. The Elements of Harmony have the power to heal, and to imprison. Whether or not they have the power to destroy is currently unknown.

 

Examples of the uses of light magic include banishing hatred, fear, and darkness, healing a dark entity, imprisoning a dark entity, transporting someone to a non-physical dimension, and spreading love and light to others. 

 

It is made evident in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic that light magic, by far, is the most powerful form of magic, as it has the ability to defeat both dark magic and dark chaotic magic. Any user of dark magic sets up their own downfall, due to the inherent self-destructive nature of not only dark magic, but of evil in general. While dark magic may seem attractive to those who want total power and control over others, its inherently ignorant and selfish nature will always lead to the wielder's downfall, unless they choose to stop practicing dark magic, and become good. While light magic cannot alter reality like chaotic magic can, it does have the power to defeat wielders of chaotic magic when necessary. 

 

Light magic is the most powerful due to its inherent nature of love, empathy, compassion, selflessness, and service to others. Its pure nature will lead wielders who stick to its spiritual values into great wisdom.

 

Magic in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is immensely powerful. It is wise to use it for good.

[RrVPfX9cPtw59FpC 1,296]

This is really interesting! There's also the magic of friendship, the magic of the elements of harmony, Pinkie's future sight, and I think Discord's magic has two parts: Psychological and actual magic. He changed all the ponies through psychological magic (Other than Fluttershy) and used his real magic to transform ponyville.

[CT-1138 3,180]

Also, don't forget the other races of Equestria possess their own forms of magic. Pegasi are capable of walking in clouds, creating weather, and using magic that coincides with magical stunts such as Dash's Buckaneer Blaze, or the contrails that follow behind the pagasi when they fly (the Wonderbolts use a form of contrail magic that's stormy). The sonic rainboom seems to be an incredibly powerful bit of Pegasus magic that is capable of amplifying even fundamental pony magic, as shown when it trigger's Twilight's raw abilities during her entrance exam. Fluttershy's stare seems to be a rather primitive form of magic both unique and rare, though is impervious against Discords' magic. Earth ponies too have magic. They seem to have a special connection with the ground, and Pinkie Pie would be exemplary of how magical earth ponies can be. Finally, Zebras (or at least Zecora), have an affinity for physical magic such as the use of potions.

Edited July 31, 2013 by Dinos4Ever

[Scootalove 10,684]

There are a lot of variations of magic besides Common Magic, Sombra's Magic, Discord's Magic, Luna's Nightmare Moon Magic, and Celestia's Magic. Pegasi magic when it comes to controlling weather, Earth Pony magic when it comes to agriculture and connecting to the ground when it comes to farming. Neutral magic that is used when ponies don't know whether to be evil or good ponies using evil or good magic, also Element of Harmony magic when they use the Elements together.

[Party Cannon 874]

The one "type" I am surprised you didn't mention was Friendship. It apparently is the greatest magic of all.

 

Interesting list though. You can probably consolidate it to just normal and dark magic, or maybe into just one. The magic in the show seems to be similar to the force in Star Wars. It is all the same, however it can be manipulated to do simple things like move a rock or major things like create life.

[NavelColt 22,876]

The one "type" I am surprised you didn't mention was Friendship. It apparently is the greatest magic of all.

 

Indeed. Much magic in the show is based off emotions, at least the majority of magic used by ponies and similar creatures.

 

If we go by that, then regular magic is just honed through practice; calmness and focus seems to be key to maintaining it, as is to be expected.

 

Then there's dark magic, as shown by Sombra and Celestia and Twilight, which seemingly is regular magic, twisted and turned 'evil' by hate and powerful, negative emotions.

 

The magic of friendship is an ultimate in the world of regular (non-dark) magic, I'd say. Friendship, feelings of love and community; these are core values that make the magic strong. Perverted versions of it like dark magic are strong as well, but they can't fully measure up.

 

Chrysalis' and the Changelings' magic is somewhat vile-ish, and probably unique to the Changeling species. I'd say it's most similar to Sombra's dark magic. It's safe to assume that 'regular' and dark magic are actually overtone definitions; there's probably many more sub-categories of magic, that still fall under a light or dark theme, based on the users' personality and even overall species.

 

Then there is, what I like to call, nature magic. This includes the built-in ability for pegasi to walk on clouds, earth ponies to have a good connection to growing crops, etc. In my opinion, nature magic is probably even a power source behind Discord's magic, as he's apparently an embodiment of a law of nature itself; chaos. Nature magic is probably the most powerful kind, other than incredibly pure magic concentrations like the Elements have demonstrated. It isn't as concentrated as dark magic or regular magic, but it's everywhere, in everything, all the time, and like I said, Discord is the most powerful creature in the series thus far, and I believe his magic stems from it.

[Toa of Ponies 259]

There are many, many types of magic in Equestria, like the Pegasus ability to walk on clouds, Zecoras Magic and of course,Friendship.

 

But, I also believe that everyone of the elements of Harmony is in itself, a division of magic.

 

Each Mane six have a element in their own right, perhaps this is what drives their heightened Skills that relate to their element. Like a "force" that drives through their blood.

 

Although, I may be stretching things a little

 

Anyway, Equestria is truly a magical place