Remember Back when Rarity Could Do Magic? · 1:14am Aug 26th, 2014
Okay, so does anyone else remember when Rarity actually had magic? And no, I don't mean telekinesis, because any ol' unicorn can do that. And I don't mean dark magic like the inspiration manifestation spell that made her go crazy. I mean actual other spells besides that, that are totally cool and not evil.
When was the last time that Rarity used a magic spell to do something OTHER than telekinesis?
Well, back in season one, if you'll remember, Rarity was quite gifted at magic.
Boast Busters: Rarity could turn a stage curtain into a beautiful dress.
Look Before You Sleep: Rarity was able to turn a log into mini pony figurines.
A Dog and Pony Show: Rarity uses her magic to hunt for gems.
Suited for Success: Rarity uses her magic to put on a dazzling light show.
But those were the last times, to my knowledge.* They totally nerfed Rarity starting in season 2, and it got so bad that in Inspiration Manifestation in Season 4, she had to consult dark magic just to fix a stupid puppet theater. Back in season one, she would have just cast a spell on the puppet theater using her regular, natural, non-dark, totally sanitary magic. She would have pimped that theater out without a second thought. And it would have been okay and nopony would have been hurt.
Meanwhile Twilight has gotten so absurdly powerful that it's not even funny. I mean, she's always been good at magic, but remember back in season one when it actually strained her to make a even single set of wings appear on a pony? But in season four's It Ain't Easy Bein' Breezies, she can SHRINK DOWN SIX PONIES ALL AT ONCE AND CHANGE THEIR SPECIES WITHOUT EVEN BATTING AN EYE. I mean, I know that she's an alicorn in season 4, but even still, give me a break.
Did the writers take what little magic that Rarity had and give it to Twilight? Or am I just being a conspiracy theorist?
*EDIT: I have been reminded that, in fact, Rarity uses a mending spell on a broken wagon wheel during her "Generosity" song in Rarity Takes Manehattan in Season 4. It still doesn't hold a candle to all the stuff she could do back in season one, but it is still something, and I'm willing to admit I was wrong on that point.
Twilight's been draining Rarity of her magical powers.
2401286
^ This
Twilight is a magic thief.
2401287 Tirek Sparkle
2401287 She's already drained the background ponies, and even some of the secondary characters. Why do you think you never see them again.
But no, she won't stop there. She's gonna move onto her brother, and then Cadence, and eventually the two Royal Sisters. She's gotten a taste of what power is, and she doesn't wanna give it back -- much like when someone hands you a megaphone.
You're right. I liked Twilight better when she was a unicorn.
2401298 And when the writers didn't feel the need to make her seem so special and unique that they had to take magic away from other ponies like Rarity all while making Twilight god mode powerful, so much so that most of the plots no longer make sense when you consider that she could've magicked them away in about five seconds. Yeah, I hear ya.
In light of all of that, they're simply assigning whatever they like to the characters as the needs of the plot and/or presentation of the show call for. It's unfortunate for canon, but there it is.
2401307 It's total garbage. That's not why I started watching the show. I watched it because they actually gave a shit about canon and the world that they had created. But now I guess they just throw it all away because... reasons, I guess. It's certainly not to sell more toys, because there's ways that they could write it that are less contrived than how they've done it.
2401305
Twilight needs to get her ass kicked in season 5. Maybe give her an opponent who could match her in magic. Err, I dunno.
2401321 Who possibly could? Tirek certainly couldn't.
Seriously, name one thing that Twilight can't do with her magic. One thing. ONE SINGLE THING. You can't, because she's god now.
it's like most shows. Characters gain and loss powers as necessary to further the plot. Just the way it is.
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i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag48/stiggerzz/Untitled_zps1c961317.png
WAKE UP, SHEEPLE, TWILIGHT'S ON A MAD RAMPAGE FOR POWER.
2401326 I know, but I have come to expect better from MLP, and as of season four the show writers have really let me down. You gotta admit that it's at least a little bit annoying.
Headcanon accepted
2401317 I absolutely agree. I think in many ways the show is an unfortunate victim of it's primary demographic.
2401324
Star Swirl the fucking Bearded!
But yeah, maybe he could match her. We need him in season 5. Ian McKlellen should voice him.
And no, Twilight ain't a god. I'm sure she gave Celestia, Luna, and Cadence back their magic when she defeated Tirek. And there's a lot she could do without magic. Look at Winter Wrap Up.
2401349 Maybe I should rephrase my question. Name one spell that she is physically incapable of casting. She was perfectly able to use magic during Winter Wrap Up, (and in fact did try to cheat at one point) but the "tradition" said that she shouldn't.
2401346 The writers probably got lazy and realized that they didn't need to work as hard since it's a kids' show so who cares, right? Faust actually gave a shit since the show was her baby, but I don't think any of the new people do. Just my opinion, though.
The show hasn't really been "amazing" since season 2 when they exhausted all of Faust's plotlines. It's still been pretty good since then, but not "amazing" at all. And I just plain didn't like season 3 at all. Season 4 was only marginally better. Hopefully in Season Five they get their act back together.
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Look at the season 2 premiere where she had her horn taken away. She was able to lift a boulder and strategize on how to catch Rainbow Dash.
But seriously, we need Star Swirl the Bearded.
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These are also the same people who made Daring Do real. I'll just take what I can get.
2401370 You still didn't answer my question. Oh well, I give up.
Starswirl would be nice but I honestly don't even trust the writers anymore not to mess it up.
I now want to write a story about how Twilight's been unknowingly slowly sapping the magic f ponies in ponyville because that's what her cutie mark is: magic; she naturally absorbs it from her surroundings, including fellow ponies where it's most concentrated. Unfortunately,
Rarity has spent more time with her than any other unicorn, so it's effected her the worst. Hmmm, I like this idea.
2401387 That would actually be a great idea. We should totally co-write it together.
2401324 The Smooze. After all, nothing can stop the Smooze!
Given that this also applies to what 2401321 said, how about we get an episode where somebody other than Twilight, even if he or she is a minor character, saves the day for once without using a rainbow laser? It'd make things more different and exciting, but the odds of that happening are exactly zero.
Anyway, I do want to see Rarity use her magic in more episodes, because it doesn't make sense that she'd use magic in Season 1 and avoid using it after that. It kind of goes back to the point I made before in that it could be Rarity who saves the day instead of Twilight. Wait a second, I'm becoming increasingly bitter about the direction the show is going. What monster have I become?
If Rarity had solved the problem without the book, we wouldn't have gotten this scene:
This is the first time we've seen that Rarity did what she could to make something good, felt she'd done her best to make something good, and got told her design was crap. It was like a vice on her creativity. I know plenty of authors who shrug off early criticism, but tolerate it less and less as time goes on. I still really miss darf's stuff... that's exactly what happened to him.
Apart from that, Rarity's special talent relates specifically to design and fashion. Every usage of her magic relates almost directly to her love of things beautiful. I guess the writers could have gone out of their way to invent Rarity new spells related to fashion, but I can't imagine why they'd need to. She's a fashionista, not a magician.
Honestly, if you're referring to this as a symptom of the decline of the show, as it seems you were in the comments, that's kinda sorta just a little pathetic. It's like saying Mark Hamill's career got nerfed after Star Wars. It's ridiculous to say and has no foundation. You have to make up things like this to complain about.
2401472 Rarity knew exactly what to fix about the theater since the puppeteer TOLD her exactly what she needed to fix. She could have fixed it in five seconds back in season one with her regular old magic. Indeed, she would have, because she's a pleaser.
Instead, fast forward to season four and she had to go look for dark magic because... I don't know. You tell me. Why couldn't she have used a spell like she did in season one to get rid of the log in Twilight's library by turning it into mini pony figurines? That's got to be harder to do than just fixing a theater.
Rarity hasn't used a single non-telekinetic spell since season one, even when it would have been advantageous for her to do so. Which is strange because we already know she's capable of it. Instead, the writers have bulked up Twilight to the point where if they tried to do half of the plots in Season One over again, they wouldn't even work anymore just because of how powerful she is at this point.
When the show writers throw previously established canon and characterization out the window for no reason, I'm sorry to say, but that's a decline in the quality of a show.
I still like the show, don't get me wrong, but it's past its peak.
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That's why Season 4 was my least favorite season in my honest opinion. While no season is perfect and each one has their ups and downs, Season 4 had a number of downs that infuriated me, and the retconning of things for no reason was one of the most annoying flaws. As you said, Rarity is a pleaser, and in Season 1 she is shown to have some knowledge of magic. Not as vast as Twilight's, but enough to where she could do a number of interesting things with it.
2401436 I'm down for it!
2401585 PM me.
Although I haven't seen season 4 yet, I must admit the most interesting thing I've seen her do since season 1 is control weather - for a limited time.
2401785 I wouldn't count that, since that was while she was under the influence of thinking that her cutie mark was weather control. After her cutie mark got switched back, I doubt if she could even do that spell again if she wanted to.
2401945 Well, that was kind of my point -- she was only allowed to do something special for the wrong reasons and only for a limited time at that.
2401317 if they merely wanted to sell more toys, they wouldrelease world wide hooves down?
Furthermore, why not make more of a deal of the ponies, other then the maim six?
You could have sold hundreds of different pony figurines, just by that.
If any pull out the coppy right, that's a big pile of bull.
the only possible reason is US, not any with copy rights or the like.