The Opposite of Magic · 3:36am Jan 12th, 2013
In Chapter 8 of Flash Fog I made reference to “the opposite of magic” when referring to instances when the Main 6 are acting contrary to their respective Elements of Harmony. You might have thought that this was simply a joke that pointed out how Twilight’s Element is a rather unintuitive choice for a component of harmony. If this is the case, congratulations: that’s exactly what it was intended to be.
However, writing that joke also reminded me of how the way I interpret the show influences the choices I make when developing stories. You see, according to my headcanon,* there is such a thing as “the opposite of magic,” and furthermore, it doesn’t require the massive suspension of disbelief that something like the premise of Petriculture requires.
First, let’s look at the etymology of the word “magic.” It is derived from the word “Magus,” which refers to a sect of Zoroastrian priests who were renowned for their learning, as well as their supposed skills at astrology and manipulating the supernatural. (The wise men mentioned in the New Testament accounts of Christ’s birth belonged to this sect.) Thus, it’s not too much of a stretch to define “magic” as “things that the Magi know.” The second thing to keep in mind is that words have their meanings and connotations change all of the time. “Nice” is a particularly vexing example of this, as it’s had so many meanings in the English language that it’s often difficult to figure out if it’s meant to be a compliment or an insult when it’s used in older works.
Thus, the headcanon: The Elements of Harmony were named when they were first discovered, and those names have not changed, even though the language has. Thus, the Element of Magic doesn’t simply refer to the stuff that lets unicorns create glowy auras, grants pegasus the ability to manipulate the weather, and provides earth ponies with their connection to the soil. It actually refers to something much, much broader than that. To put it simply, the Element of Magic would more accurately be called the Element of Knowledge.
If you are wondering how Knowledge is any more appropriate as a component of harmony than Magic, consider how much disharmony is created by ignorance—and it is “ignorance” which I consider to be the “opposite of magic.” Whenever Twilight Sparkle behaves ignorantly (with that ignorance usually being in the form of unfounded assumptions** about other ponies—particularly Celestia), the results tend to be as problematic as when Applejack is dishonest, etc.
The influence this has on my storytelling is usually rather subtle, but there's at least one instance where it's very easy to spot. In Inscape I said that Luna originally wielded the Element of Magic, which is atypical of fanfiction (at least the ones I've read). Presumably, the reason Celestia usually gets Magic is because she's presumed to be a more powerful magic user. However, if you think of the Element of Magic as the Element of Knowledge, it makes perfect sense why Luna would get it, since I also established that Luna was easily the more intelligent of the two.
Anyway, I hope those of you who have read all the way to the end of this found it interesting enough to be worth your while.
* Even though I think it’s extremely clunky and unwieldy, and even though I tend to roll my eyes in irritation whenever I see it, I’m using the word “headcanon” in this post because I can’t think of a better term for the concept myself.
** e.g., Twilight's assumptions about "Princess Cadance" at the wedding don't count, because in that case, her suspicions were justified.
Welp, it's me head canon now too. At least in the maneverse.
... wow. You are a genius.
I'm happy that I came without such, for now it is impossible to revert from this line of reasoning.
Interesting...
What exactly do you have against the term "headcanon"?
Noramally I'd say you're reading into it too much, but I tho k you might be right. Now I have to rethink my entire view on everything from witch craft to my thoughts on MLP.
702396 - I just don't like it very much. It seems like a longer-than-necessary word for "fanon," except on a personal level, rather than across an entire fandom.
"Friendship is Knowledge" just doesn't have the same ring to it, but I can dig it.
702404 - When Celestia talks about the "magic of friendship," she's using the modern meaning (in a figurative, rather than literal, sense).
702403
Think of Headcanon as shorthoof for "Personal Fanon". It just rolls off the tongue better than Headfanon does.
Obviously the opposite of magic is muggleness.
702416
Duly noted. And what about the other five elements? Has lingual drift corrupted their meanings as well?
This makes so much sense it hurts. You seem to have knack for noticing connections others miss entirely.
702428
Here is a thought... Is ignorance the source of King Sombra's corruptive magic?
Actually, this kind of reminds me of something I found a while back. It was a series of reports detailing how the Elements were more than their names let on. For example, Kindness was actually Empathy. It was pretty interesting, you can find the first one here if you wanna look.
Your version of why Magic is an Element of Harmony is much less horrifically cliche than the generally accepted one of "the title of show is 'Friendship is Magic,' therefore the Element of Magic could just as rightly be called the Element of Friendship." I like it.
702472
Actually, I've heard convincing cases made that Sombra is a metaphysical representation of Depression. Of course, this was shot down by Word of God, but it's still pretty fitting.
Ignorance as anti magic makes so much sense. Always thought that The element of magic was more than just glowy stuff like you are saying. I am glad somebody agrees. Its like harry potter and sorcerers stone vs philosophers stone...well as in they are not the same thing. I came to the conclusion of magic as a conclusive force that exists in Equestria and thus to control magic is to control power. Power is said to come from knowledge and that is how twilight is so good at her element. I like the way you arrived at knowledge better than mine though.
It makes sense in the context of whatever force Discord uses too. Twilight uses logic and reason to help shape the energy she wields, but Discord seems to barely know what he himself is doing half the time. I like this.
702438
That is an interesting notion. That's why I love this fandom. It brings interesting ideas to light that I've never thought of before.
702476
That is totally cool.
I always assumed the Element of Magic was the Spark--the realization that the other five ponies were Twilight's friends. And it's when she realizes (or assumes) they aren't her friends that she finally gets Discorded.
Headcanons, amirite?
I usually took magic to mean friendship based on the "friendship is magic" bit in the title, but your analysis does make a lot of sense as well if you assume the Equestrian etymology (I blame XKCD for making me check that I had the right word here) is the same as what we are familiar with.
Huzzah for ancient Ponyastrians!
I like your interpretation of this. Indeed, knowing your friends well is an integral component of true friendship. If you don't know your friends, if they hide parts of who they are from you, then something is wrong, either with them or with the friendship itself. It's roughly at the same level as the rest of the Elements and their relation to friendship. And it makes sense for this Element to appear now, since apparently Celestia didn't understand (know) Luna all that well before her fall, or at least was ignorant of her problems.
As for the dislike of the word 'headcanon'—while I don't have such a problem, I suggest using 'fanon' in its stead. I like 'headcanon' more myself, but it's personal preference for everypony.
I kinda thought that fit with love more than knowledge, or wisdom even.
702476
Ugh, I'm tired of seeing that pop up. It's basically a big wad of headcannon. Well-presented headcannon, but it's defining the characters in ways that don't quite gel with the show cannon. What really ticks me off about it is that it outright states that many of the things that make each of the Mane 6 special come from their magical mcguffins rather than from themselves.
I liked the comics at the beginning and the end though. Those were cute.
706227
Yeah, fair enough. I can see why not everybody might like it, and I agree that some of it kind of falls flat. I just think it's an interesting take on the characters.
Hey, 702403
Ya might want to fix that. It seems like it should be I hope those.
702583
not just in mlp but in a lot of fictional settings, Chaos magic is often implied to rely entirely on NOT knowing what the spell will do, but rather hoping it will do what you want and being lucky. so, yeah, that kind of fits.
702521
"word of god" aside, i can definitely see that in him. it's also easy to see in him the antitheses of multiple elements. He's cruel, greedy, and treacherous, to start. whether dishonest, humorless, and ignorant can be added to that is debatable, as he doesn't give any direct examples of those one way or the other.
706227
i honestly don't think the element stones are the source of anything. I've always believed them to be nothing more than conduits, amplifiers for traits and abilities their bearers already have. That's why they're so picky about who their bearers are, they can't draw on what you don't have and they can't just create something out of nothing.
I always figured the Element of Magic was also the Element of Friendship, and thus the opposite of the Magic of Friendship is... the Magic of Animosity? Heh. In 'Return of Harmony' Twilight's corruption occurs when she breaks friends with the others ("With friends like you, who needs enemies?"), so her opposite state is to be friendless, or to dislike.
But, dude, in the show, it was Celestia who bears Element of Magic. Season 4, episodes 1-2, scene where they defeated Discord the first time.
1791428 - First of all, this post was written well before season 4. Secondly, the whole Petriculture series was given an AU label a while ago; the only reason the first two stories don't have it is because they did comply with canon at the time they were written.
1791933
Uh, ok, I see. Sorry for bothering.
Amazing.
You get a follow just for this. Seriously.
wow, that actually makes a lot of sense and fills in something I actually thought of as a failing in the show! This is great!
This is now my headcanon.
This is genius.
Makes sense to me.