...Right, so I've been thinking (yes, just because I don't update in Celestia only knows how long, doesn't mean I don't think about what I'm going to do), and I think I'm going to make some changes to the abilites of the Equestrians, especially the artifacts they will eventually receive.

Twilight: Her artifact will now be the Sage's Stone, which, aside from acting as a fairly powerful channel for her power, also acts as a database for any spells she comes across, letting her know information about the spells and getting her on the road to both recreating them and countering them.

Rarity: Her artifact will be the Jewel of Ramiel, which allows her to form AT-Fields and channel her magic into a blast. For those who don't recognize these abilities, it's pretty much an artifact version of the Angel of the same name from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Also, I'm thinking of having her eventually branch out into metallurgy and metalmancy.

Rainbow: No Thule Medallion for her, I'm afraid, as that would be overkill. But with enough mastery of Lightning magic, she might eventually produce the Lightning Armor of Naruto fame...

Fluttersy: Her artifact will be the Auream Coronam de Spinis Bestiae Deus-- the Golden Thorned Crown of the Beast God. Basically, it's the gold spikey ring Arceus has. Abilities include the ability to summon stone tablets as shields or projectile weapons, and the ability to summon-- what else?-- Pokemon, though I'll have to give them a different name (I'm fairly certain they wouldn't refer to themselves as "Pocket Monsters"). This change comes on the heels of a rather startling revelation I had: most of the possible summon sources I listed before had humanoid summons, which wouldn't really fit with Fluttershy's skill with animals. Pokemon, on the other hand, is chock full of animals ranging from cute and fuzzy to big and mean, which kinda fits the range of animals Fluttershy has been shown to deal with.

Applejack: Her artifact will be the Tenchi no Ken-- the Sword of Heaven and Earth from Tenchi Muyo. The main reason I'm giving her what is essentially a light saber is because it's a weapon made of wood, though this also has the nice benefit of letting her fit her role as the team's tank a little better-- she can now conjure Lighthawk Wings and can summon a suit of highly effective armor, for all that it looks like a colorful jumpsuit. Also, I'm fairly certain I can spin it in such a way that she figures out how to use it as a whip, thus letting her put her rope skills to good use.

Pinkie Pie: Her artifact will be changed to the Concínnant de Opificis-- the Forge of the Artificer. It's essentially the pack the Engineer from Torchlight II wears, and allows Pinkie access to the spells from afore mentioned class: spider mines, gun turrents, heal bots, battle automatons, immobolization copters, etc. etc. While battles will no longer be costume parties for her, it fits her role as the Engineer/Unorthadox Genius better.

Luna: Her artifact will be the Crown Shield from "Beet, the Vandel Buster." It's a shield that can turn into a spiked ball and chain, and has the ability to heal status afflictions and minor injuries. I find it fits particularly well with Luna: in its ball and chain form, it can be taken as a full moon, in its shield form, it can be taken as a cresent moon, and the ability to heal fits with Luna's affinity with White Magic. Also, I think I'll have her take the Reverse Cecil Route, inspired by Camlio-- she starts out as a White Mage, and gradually learns to harness the powers of her darker side.

Celestia: Her artifact will be the Sol Blade, from Golden Sun, as I've decided to give the Lightbringer to Luna Lovegood, since she's an angelic descendent and all.

To anyone reading this, a question: What magics should our beloved ponies learn in my fic: "In a Strange Land"?

So far, my ideas are:

Twilight Sparkle: Red Mage (Final Fantasy, with some Negima thrown in for good measure); either Eight-Trigram Gembox (cross between Marisa Kirisame's Hakkero and the Soul of Thamasa from Final Fantasy VI... so basically an artifact that allows her to either cast any spell twice simultaneously, half mana cost of any spell, or cast Master Spark) or Nanoha's Raising Heart.

Rainbow Dash: Boramancer, Thule Medallion (Wolfenstein!), Armiger Milliplex (Negima!)

Rarity: Geomancer; Enchantress?; Runes Mistress? (last two would definitely be useful after everything is said and done), Jewel Golems, for sure.

Fluttershy: Either Shun Shun Rikka (which leaves both the questions of what the fairies would look like, and if Fluttershy has the assertiveness to tell the world to be nicer [THE STAAAAAAAAAAAAARU!!!!]), or the Lighthawk Wings paired with White Magic. Either way, she's the healer and support of the group. Summoner? She certainly seems the type-- if she were to ever summon one of her animal friends for aid, I'm fairly sure they would come running. Not that much of a stretch to apply that to summon creatures, as well. Of course, that leaves the question of what she should be able to summon? Final Fantasy espers/aeons/whatever they're calling it these days? Duel Monsters ("Screw the rules! I have money!" "How. Dare. You!" *STARE*)? Golden Sun summons (Iris meets Celestia... that oughta be interesting, huh?)?

Applejack: Geomancer/Floramancer, with apple theme? Treants, for sure. Perhaps some stuff from the Night Elves of Warcraft?

Pinkie Pie: Chaos-Sight (She breaks the fourth wall on a regular basis. Might as well make use of it.); Spark (The Girl Genius type, which makes her a mad scientist inventor. I'm thinking of having her build a Baneblade Tank for the rematch against Discord...); Bibliothecarius Ironicus (battle becomes one big costume party for her, and I'm sure she could find some uses for it afterwards)

Celestia: Fire Magics, definitely. Light, but leans more towards offensive White Magic (Holy, Dios, Flare [counts as Light in this case], etc.) than defensive White Magic (only defensive light spells she is especially skilled in is Raise and Re-raise); thinking of giving her the Lightbringer (cast Holy with no mana cost, or cast a suped-up Holy... cast Ra Tilt? Or gives her capabilities of the summon Alexander?)

Luna: Light, again, but more towards defensive Light magic (Cure branch, Heal, Shell, Reflect, Sheild, anything else I can think of) than offensive. Can use defensive Black Magic (status affecting spells, like Imp, Frog, Bio, etc.)... maybe Gravity branch and Instant Kill spells (X-zone, Black Hole, etc.). Should I give her the Silence Glaive? A bow and arrow set (you know, Artemis the Hunter, etc. etc.)? A rapier of some type? What kind of moon-themed weapons are out there?

Opinions would be gladly received!  ^_^