Different ponytipes and their standard abilities

[Bright Glow]

Sorry for the long title. This topic was inspirated by lilithiannah's RPG:
mlplexicon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rps&action=display&thread=123

Let's talk here about what we think, what kind of standrd abilites do the different type of ponies have, like every unicorn can winking.

[sparkler]

Hrm, I think this varies universe to universe, but in my version of ponyland...

- Unicorns usually have one BIG power (like Sparkler's lightening) as defense, and then they have the standard other unicorn powers. Which, like I said, in my version are:

• Winking
• Healing
• Shapeshifting
• Telekinesis

However those four powers can be interchangeable, and can come at different strengths. Winking is a standard power that's universally strong among the entire Unicorn species. Telekinesis would be the second most powerful and universal among Unicorns, but it can come at different strengths. (For instance, a Unicorn that practices it regularly is probably pretty strong, whereas those who only use it occasionally won't be as strong... it'd be the equivalent of a bodybuilder trying to lift a bus, vs. a regular dude.) Healing is probably the third most prominent power, but again, can come at different strengths, depending on how regularly its used. (Or if the pony is, in fact, a healer. See Healers.) Shapeshifting is one of those powers, either you have it or you don't. It's mostly a fun thing among those that do, or used to escape enemies.

Magic is not always limited to Unicorns, however. There are a good many non-Unicorns in my version that are magical as well. I'm thinking that as long as you have some magical blood in the genepool somewhere, that you have at least a CHANCE of one of the descendants being magical. There are two specific kind of ponies that it doesn't matter what kind of pony they are, they are magical.

• Healers
• Dark Mages (AKA: Chaos/Destruction Elementals.)
• Twinkle Eyes

- Healers can be any sort of pony, their symbol is usually an indicator of what their specialty is. (For instance, one of my characters, Amanita, is a healer of poisons. Her symbol is a poisonous, amanita, mushroom.) Their powers usually show up in childhood, usually well before a pony's power is supposed to show up. (At the age of 12, the 'yearling' age.)

- Dark Mages: These guys are my own invention but since they do play a big role in my story-verse, I thought I'd discuss them here. They have a special power, that of destruction, so if they're a Unicorn, they are proficient in all the normal unicorn powers except for healing, it's absent from them and replaced by destruction. Their shape-shifting ability is stronger than normal, but they are limited to one animal. (A 'second form' if you will.) If they are a non-Unicorn pony they get the destruction power, and the second form, but nothing else. (Except maybe being extremely hard to kill... Spectre mentioned that in one fic awhile back.)

- Twinkle Eyes: Twinkle Eye ponies, they're kind of overlooked by most fanon/canon but ever since I was little I thought they were something pretty special. So when it came time to give them a power in my fanfic-verse, I knew it had to be cool. They have night-vision, they can see in the dark, they can also see spirits (these two things I borrowed from LM's version of ponyland), and what my version added to that was a special defense power called Thrall. (No, not like a vampire! >_>) Thrall is a defense power, it is mostly telekinetic-based and is used to toss things around when a pony feels threatened enough. (And if that means other ponies, so be it.) The other side of thrall is mind-control based, so it can be used to convince ponies of certain things that, maybe aren't there. (Comes in handy during poker games! XD) Most ponies usually AREN'T proficient in this type of thrall, and most ponies who are on the up and up don't really want to be. (Though, there are some... >_>;

- Alicorns/Unipegs: Yeah they exist in my world. But they're sort of a paradox. None of them are good at both flying AND magic, so most are good at either one or the other. If the pony is good at magic, then chances are it will SUCK at flying, and vice versa. The most magical Unipegs fly like albatrosses, if they fly at all. The most talented Unipeg flyers couldn't perform magic to save their lives. So while they do happen, they're not as all-powerful as some people may think.

As for other ponies:

Earth Ponies (Including Clydesdales): They are very strong and very atheletic, they can jump higher, run faster, and are just generally good at everything physical.

Pegasi: Good at flying, but... easily squishable because of hollow bones. D: (The hollow bones part I borrowed from LM's version of ponyland.)

Flutter Ponies: I've never really given too much thought to this one, but, utter-flutter's pretty damn good IMO. ; Like I said, I've never given too much thought to flutter ponies.

- Summer/Windy Wings: They live in trees and can speak the language of birds, and some insects. (Or if not speak, at least understand.) I haven't thought about their powers other than that in a very long time, so for now I'll leave it at that.

Keep in mind that these powers sound more spectacular than they actually are. ^_^;; Nobody is unsquishable, trust me.

-§parky

[sunstar]

Sunstar has control over fire, Electricity, and can control the sun. her twin sister, Riverstar, has the power of water, controls weather and the moon. they both can wink and go invisible at will. It reflects off of their parents, Flamingstar, and Sunriver. Flamingstar has control over fire and electricity while Sunriver has power over water and the earth. Sunriver can also effect the weather. Flamingstar winks and can go invisible at will. Sunstar inherited her fathers powers while Riverstar inherited her mothers water power and weather control. Winking is a basic unicorn power while invisibility is a royal power. any pony born with a horn can master winking has can a high powered earthling or pegasus although it is rare. Sunstar shares telepathy with Riverstar as part of the twin bond.

Let me try to clarify it better. this is how I see it happening, by the way.

Magic is not decided by genetics much like coat color or eye color. Instead, it is decided by the parents magic type. say the mother is a high powered pegasus specializing in weather magic while the father is a unicorn specializing in fire magic. the child will likely display the mothers magic over the fathers magic as weather is stronger then fire. it depends mainly on the strength of the powers in play. some magic is weaker then other magic. the strongest kind of magic is Flow magic. this is only found in the Guardians of the Flow. The Flow is where all Magic exists and it's source is where all magic begins. the strength of the magic in play depends on how far removed from the Flow your parents are. to explain, most of pony kind and magic was destroyed when the Flow went through a catastrophic collapse. those with the strongest magic died first while those with little to no magic survived. after the collapse, Magic all but disappeared and pony kind forgot about magic. the Magic would return slowly as the Flow healed. Also, the Magic would decide when it was time to create a new Guardian. as the generations passed, the Magic began to return to more and more families. the sooner the magic returned to your family, the closer you are to the Flow.

Magic comes in three levels with many types.

Level One
basic magic. this is where you will find powers like winking and doing simple magic such as spell magic. here, you'd find most earthlings and pegasi.
Level Two
Strong magic. this is where you'd find most royal powers and elemental powers. Royal powers are powers found in royalty. to be considered a royal power, the power has to have been in the royal family for 6 generations without any generation gaps. here is where you'll find most unicorns, some pegasi, and some earthlings.
Level three
Deep Magic
here is where you'll find powers closest to the Flow. most Alicorns, some unicorns, pegasi, and earthlings may be found here.

Sorry, I rambled. This is just my idea of how magic works.

[NumiTuziNeru]

Vox Nexyma :
Also known as Vox Æthernalis, commonly referred to as simply Vox.
It is considered the 'original' Vox and is one of the most important of the Ixil Layer.

It is absorbed into the bloodstream through respiration and has the odd feature of staining the blood slightly indigo and metallic - or, in the case of the Endetu, completely black.

[In Nyaldy, the effect of Vox saturation is different from that of Endetu - a human under the effect of Vox will effectively begin to change colour.
This is recognized in a general 'chart' of sorts - normal 'earthly' eye colours [blue, brown, etc.] are considered ordinary, eyes with a distinct plum hue are fairly unusual and may signify latent powers, and completely white are extremely rare and are known as 'magus eyes' - they are signs of a person with highly-developed powers.]

However, its most recognized trait is the seeming ability to imbue creatures with a certain unearthliness - mostly merely a strange but natural hair or eye colour or body markings that were there from birth.

But the most dramatic are the powers of Ætheria - pure, undiluted magic.
In Nyaldy this is rare, but in Endetu practically everyone uses magic in one way or another.

---

Mind you, even with all this, magic still isn't really 'magic'.
It is simple physics and manipulation of the elements.

Pyrokinesis, for example.
Vox doesn't give you the ability to make fire out of nothing.
Fire is merely oxygen or another oxidizing agent subjected to heat.
So, with pyrokinetic powers, you can either

• manipulate any fire around you by use of surrounding atoms that will essentialy force the fire to move wherever you want it to
  

or

• gather any atoms and molecules of combustible material and force them to vibrate, generating heat and therefore fire.
  

Even things such as making objects appear out of nowhere can be explained with physics.

In essence, Vox does not bestow the power of 'real' elemental control upon the user, but rather telekinesis on an atomic level.

---

An unfortunate trait of Vox, however, is the natural dependency the body forms after prolonged exposure - although a Nyaldy will survive on Orbis because of biological roots [albeit problematically] an Endet or any other native Luxarell life-form will die without proper Orbis-faring equipment.

---

Ixil Layer : The Other Universe
Endetu : Ponykind - imagine something between a human and a horse
Nyaldy : Humans who live on Luxarell
Orbis : Our Earth

---

...wow.
I think I'd nead a whole THREAD just to explain this.
Go fig.

[Lili]

Ok, as the thread was inspired by my fan-fic, I think I should post my version then, huh?

Magic in my universe (all of it) is energy. Energy of life that was just merely changed into another energy (physics: energy doesn't come out of nowhere and does not disappear, it only changes to another type of energy). So basically magic is an ability to do just that - change one energy to another.

In the RP, where ponies are already anthropomorphic, this all is known to the scientists and alike, so all the ponies "know" what they are doing.
In my fan-fic, where ponies are still four-legged (my theory is that anthro evolved from normal ponies) the magic is explained only by "a blessing of dragon gods to each race and each individual".

Magic uses stamina and requires a strong will to use in full potential. Magic uses your energy, thus if a untrained pony uses a strong magic more than three times a day he can end up in a coma or die.

Elements of ponies are kind of a type that comes in naturally, that requires the least energy to use. In reality, in my ponyverse, a pony can learn to use any type of magic, but it requires a lot of training and many years of devotion, so basically nobody bothers too much.

Pony breeds have abilities that are considered "normal" to the breed. Though in the RP the breeds have mixed so much that some traits of a pony are kind of irrational.

The "normal" abilities:
Ponies with wings mostly have extra sensitivity to the air movement, extra sight, as they have to feel and see another pony flying in the skies so not to crash into one another, but they can't hear too well. They also have a natural compass. Pure pegasi are a bit smaller than other ponies, but have a very well built muscle system.
Ponies with horns - mostly have the "winking" ability, that is mostly just teleportation. Their bodies start to move at a speed of light while their bodies are in a molecular state, so they can move through hard objects. Pure unicorns are slim, slender, but tough.
Dragon-like ponies - will mostly have fire breath. They have a little third lung in which methane concentrates. Then, when they breathe out, a certain chemical element is produced in a gland above their front teeth and fires the methane up. Pure dragon ponies are bigger than earthlings and mostly have very sharp features.
Twinkle eye ponies - A rare thing to happen, but mostly they have an ability to see in thermostatic (is it a right word?) vision. Also they have very good reflexes.
Feline-like ponies - if a pony has feline eyes he will most probably be able to see in the dark (not pure darkness, but he will see clearly in a very dim light), but his sight in daylight will be blurred. Also, if the body is feline-like, the pony will most probably be very fast and will be able to walk and move very silently. Also they will have a sharp sense of smell. Pore felines are high and slim, but tough.
Wingers and flutters - these ponies have those regenerating pretty wings... They will mostly have an ability to glide and a love for flowers, knowledge and sunny days. This kind has extra sensitive hearing and high intuition. Wingers and flutters sense the weather changes very well, but they all are very vulnerable. Pure wingers/flutters are smaller than other ponies.
Earthlings - Tough and strong. Earthlings have no special abilities, though they can use magic as well as other breeds.

[NumiTuziNeru]

LOL, I can't help but find it amusing that the two people from the Baltic Eastern Europe thought about it in terms of physics and science, and the others consider magic a force all of its own...

I think that's supposed to say something, but I can't figure out WHAT...

[Lili]

Means Baltic people... Have no FAITH in magic? D:

We are rational and we believe everything can be explained... Other people don't need explanation D:

We fear what we don't know x.x

[NumiTuziNeru]

GAH DAYUM


Well, if it makes things any easier, I was on a bit of a 'make-your-own-universe-and-do-it-properly-like-what-JD.Reitz-does' kick when I came up with that idea, soooo...

[Lili]

Idk, I always interested myself in how things work.. And basically I always write a through-out description of everything x.x

[Marbletoast]

Wow, you dudes really thought this out. :3

My ponies just don't have magic. xD

Actually, I guess that's not true. I am more in the "scienfitically explained" park, however. There are certain races of paeli (ponies) that have excessively developed 'power' we'll call it. I read once that we only use something like ten percent of our potential brain power. I don't know if that's TRUE, but it inspired my version of 'power.' Derkins, Sataris, and Dajun-Kai all have greater chemical access to the bits of their brain that normal paeli have no conscious access to. This affords them varying abilities in telekenetics and telepathy (control of the physical and interpretation of the intangible).

- Dajun-Kai: the strongest of the three, and also extinct. They were powerful spiritually as well as physcially and mentally, which lended itself to much undefined abilities--none of which could quite be called magic, but did have a certain supernatural flavor.

- Derkins: currently the most powerful race, strongest mentally as well as being powerful physically. What this means is they have mental connetions that are nearly on par with verbal communications, in at least among derkins. Control of thought, interpretation of private thoughts, etc. are all skills which few ever develop. They also have telekenetic powers which can be honed into healing. Like Sparky's, all of this varies with training.

- Sataris: the weakest of the three now because their bloodlines are mingled with non-dataris, they are strongest physically. Mentally, they typically cannot train beyond a degree of emotional empathy--being able to 'read' the emotional output of thought. Physcially, they tend to develop into powerful telekenetics, including the ability for some to move themselves through space (somewhat like winking).

All of these are intended to be calculatable, graphable, scientifically provable in my stories, and very much limited like any 'power' of muscle and bone. So while they are often interpreted as "magic," they're really chemical anomalies.

[goldenchopper]

I love how you guys think! I play a lot of World of Warcraft, so naturally my sense of magic is somewhat derived from there, combine with a little of what's left from MLPs in the 80s.

Basically for me, magic is split into 4 schools, namely:

-Elemental (fire, water,earth..etc)
-Divine (holy light vs fear & darkness)
-Celestial (astronomy related, sourcing power from distant stars and planets)
-Arcane (magic so intrinsic, ancient and mysterious that even magic can't explain!)

In order to cast magic, all beings need MANA like in many RPG games. Unicorns are by far the most magical since they are believed to be made up of the very essence of mana itself. pure and raw magic are considered arcane. However, the arcane cannot exist in our physical world alone, and needs to fuse itself with other schools of magic to continue existing in our world.

Magic is sentient and conscious, and should not be controlled. Many wizards, witches, warlocks and sorcerers have sought to learn how to bind and control powerful magics using spells, incantations, sacrifices, mediums...etc, but as they rise through the tiers, they start to find the arcane hard to bend to their will. The arcane does not however choose between good and evil. It always sought to maintain balance.

The unicorns know this, which is why they always strive to help keep balance in nature.

I know it sounds too abstract, sometimes I even have problems understanding it myself.

Some examples would be:

Moondancer - by some natural anomaly, a small consciousness of the arcane was accumulating near a lake, and when a beam of moonlight fell right on top of it one fateful night, POFF, there was a quiet explosion of silvers, pearls and glimmers, and a baby unicorn was born out of pure moonlight.

This is why Moondancer has the ability to glow at night. ^^

Glory was born when a shooting star fell towards earth, big enough to blow up the whole Dream Valley. In order to save the land, the arcane fused a small part of itself with the star, and in some ways, the star was neutralised and POFF, Glory was born!

Glory's power is starfire.

Powder was created when a blizzard penetrated an ancient ruin. There was a crystal ball, whose creator was long dead, and had some arcane magic trapped in it. When the ball fell off its stand and hit the ground, a rush of arcane magic was released and fused with the snow, and POFF, Powder was born!

Powder has minor frost abilities and is a snow fader! It means, she has the ability to disappear in the guise of the snow.

Winking, Telekenesis are somewhat all natural basic abilities that unicorns have. Buttons is kind of unfortunate in that, her arcane essence was melded with.... a BUTTON! I mean what special abilities does a button have? Therefore, she's ordinary. She doesn't assume much intrinsic magic from her physical host, but she at least has all the basic unicorn abilities! Ribbon is a halfling. However, both of them make it up with their wonderful looks and personality.

Moonstone was actually not from earth. She's considered an alien pony. She started out as a piece of rock from the 2nd moon of Saturn that was given to Rowena by her cousin, the girl living on the moon. Her cousin lives on the moon orbiting Saturn. Excited, Rowena brought the rock to ponyland to show all her pony friends. However, the rich magics of our world infused themselves with the rock the moment Rowena set foot in Ponyland, and POFF Moonstone was born! Moreover, she's born an adult, not a baby.

Some say Galaxy is a "clone" of Twilight, because on a night when the great star dipper was highly visible in the sky, exerting maximum celestial magical influences on all things that its starlights could reach, twilight came out to study the phenomenon. As usual, Twilight would make a wish under the stars, and unknown to herself, she was releasing a lot of magic from her body. She made her wish, it came true and she left. The residue of magics that she left behind started swirling and growing, absorbing all the magic the great dipper had to offer until a baby galaxy was born!

Feel free to ask me questions and contribute.

[Marbletoast]

Buttons is kind of unfortunate in that, her arcane essence was melded with.... a BUTTON! . . . Ribbon is a halfling. However, both of them make it up with their wonderful looks and personality.

XXDD!!

I love anticlimactic magical prowess.

[Caelum]

Oh boy, this is a FUN topic! I'm really enjoying reading everyone's takes on Ponyland and magic. ;D

Since this is a worldbuilding-type post, I'm gonna move it over to Brainstorming. If anyone has any worldbuilding-type topics from now on, I think it'd be best if they went to Brainstorming.

Unfortunately, I haven't really given much thought to the nature of magic in my Ponyland yet. It's just...magic. I should probably sit down and pound it out one of these days. I know the basics, at least--it's got a lot to do with the all-important concept of Balance, and there's quite a bit about the Rainbow and deities and demi-deities and so forth. And probably a bit of inspiration from Star Wars and the Force, too. Yeah, I really should figure it out...

Goldenchopper, I really like your version. Buttons was a button? XD It makes sense...

[sunstar]

Myself, I combine pure science with the belief that Magic is a living thing. The Flow can materialize itself into the form of a Breezie named Flurrie to help the Guardians in hard times. Flurrie speaks in whistles and chirps more like an insect then a pony. She can say simple words but it is mostly words she hears much like a parrot. Flurrie can change her shape and can merge with Sunstar against powerful foes. Flurrie can also track magic and has, while merged with Sunstar, exibited some control over Sunstar. this is more noticed when Sunstar is knocked unconcious. Magic can do many things.

[Peace]

Hmmm. This is a complicated topic. I shall see if I can add to things.

I try and think of it from an RPG standpoint. Mostly because I have a MLP RPG half-written. One of these days I might finish it ~_^

Every pony in my world has a 'talent' specific to their breed. Butterfly ponies have 'speedy flight'. Clydesdales have 'heavy hooves'. Earth ponies have 'normal' (yes this IS a talent). Flutters have 'utter flutter' (for obvious reasons), while pegasi have 'light on their feet' and unicorns have 'magical' talents.

Then there are other talents that can be different from each individual pony. These include Beautiful/Handsome, Child of Color (rainbow pony), Corageous, Cute, Decisive, Divine Shine/Sparkle, Expert Winker, Grab (manipulate your hooves like human hands), Graceful... I could go on.

Magic works much like magic would in an rpg. More experienced a pony, more powerful magics they have access too, but each unicorn only has access to one type of magic (unless they choose a talent allowing then to do otherwise). These types are Elemental (fire, water, air, earth), Light, Shadow, Plant, Animal, Transformation and Manipulation.