Spotlight On: Unicorn and Alicorn Magic

I've decided to use my 'Spotlight On' as my analysis label, so here's my first analysis on a concept from the show.

General and Utility Magic

While all of the pony tribes have their own magic, Unicorn and Alicorn magic is the most overt and obvious since they are enacted as spells. They are therefore 'active' and require focus/concentration, and sometimes even incantations and/or ingredients. An example of an incanted spell in canon is when Twilight finished Starswirl's ascension spell. An example of a spell that could require ingredients (not confirmed) is the Gossamer Wings spell Twilight used on Rarity in 'Sonic Rainboom.' Although they are not technically Unicorn spells, Zecora's potions all require ingredients to act as catalysts.

The most common spells that Unicorns possess are telekinesis and illumination. Most Unicorns are shown to be able to use their magic to pick up and move objects and other beings, using magic in a mundane manner and replacing hands. They can also illuminate an area around their horns, although that area varies depending on their strength in magic. Guard Unicorns are shown to be able to alter their spells to illuminate only certain arcs of an area around them, like a flashlight.

Unicorn magic is also commonly used to power items that would use electricity in our world, and is thus likely responsible for Equestria's schizophrenic technology. One example is the light switches in the Golden Oak Library, one of which gets demonstrated in the pilot.

Before Celestia and Luna took over stewardship of Equestria, groups of Unicorns used to raise and lower the sun and the moon, however doing so takes a massive amount of mana, usually leaving these Unicorns drained. The princesses took over after Starswirl tried to do this solo, and ended up aged. Celestia's and Luna's Alicorn magic is proven to be in an entirely different order of power, even to the extent of being able to rejuvenate Starswirl somewhat, and restore magic to the drained Unicorns. Unicorn magic is still necessary to raise and lower the sun and the moon, however the royal sisters possess enough of it to do so by themselves.

Talent-Related Magic

Rather than having elemental affinity, most Unicorns have a limited number of spells related directly to their special talents. Rarity, for example, has a talent for 'finding and bringing out the beauty in objects and in other beings,' so while she possesses the standard TK and illumination spells, she can also find gemstones, fuse and blend cloth together, and create illusions (most people seem to forget about this -- it happened during her fashion show in 'Suited For Success).'

Another example is Luna's dreamwalking ability, one of her talents as the Guardian of the Night. As far as we know, Celestia has not done this, but Luna can walk along a corridor containing doors to anypony's dreams. Even in the comics, Nightmare Moon required help from the creatures residing on the moon to access dreams. In her interactions with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Luna has shown limited ability to interact with, change, and/or guide dreams or their dreamers. This is an extremely potent magic, and makes Luna one of Equestria's most powerful telepaths, in my opinion.

Combat Magic

While most Unicorns do not seem to possess elemental affinities in the way that we are used to from adventure series and anime, some of the combat magic shown in FiM may fall into this, most especially what we have seen from the Alicorns. Unicorns also possess magic blasts, however we see them most often from Celestia, Luna, Princess Twilight, and Queen Chrysalis -- as well as Tirek, who is a centaur. Beside magic blasts, most combatants also possess a personal shield, and while it all manifests as beams or orbs of light, it could be said that Luna uses Dark Magic because she is the Princess of the Night, while Celestia and Twilight (remember when she 'evolved into Rapidash?)' use Fire/Light and Cadence uses Light (and Love).

Cadence, by the way, is an interesting case because she was born a Pegasus, and yet 'Three's a Crowd' clearly shows she's at least as powerful as Twilight in offensive magic, and she has studied magic thoroughly enough since becoming an Alicorn that she can fish out spells like her Health Shield and Crystal Growth at need. She also possesses one of the most overpowered and dangerous abilities in the whole franchise, in my opinion, being able to alter other ponies' feelings at will. This from the pink princess whom Hasbro demanded DHX write in for merchandising purposes.

Dark vs Light and Emotions In Magic

Now here is a most interesting concept, and one of the main reason for this blog entry: it has been proposed, by DRWolf among others, that the type of magic one uses at a given time can change based on one's emotional state: cast a spell in a state of anger, panic, or frustration, for example, and you begin to tap into Dark Magic. Take, Twilight's case from 'Lesson Zero' as a prime example. As her Sanity Slippage progressed, her magic aura seemed to become murkier and murkier. Luckily she snapped out of it when she got hit, but that remained a frightening point until deeper Dark Magicks were introduced.

As an aside, Dark Magic use as a result of corruption is different here: Trixie, when using the Alicorn Amulet, had her aura change from a light blue to red, and the red darkened as she became more corrupt. Rarity, when using Inspiration Manifestation had her aura completely overwhelmed by the dark spell's bright green aura -- and while we don't get this sense about the Alicorn Amulet, Rarity implies rather directly that the spell is at least semi-sentient, talking to her like the Venom symbiote.

The deeper Dark Magic belongs to Sombra, and is signified by a green and purple aura limned in grey or black that even extends to and affects the eyes. According to Celestia, this magic comes from a place of 'hate and fear,' so that when Twilight focuses on those emotions she can use it too. Sombra himself inspired a great amount of fear in his subjects, and seemed to become more powerful as more Crystal Ponies became aware of his return, until he finally regained his physical form. Sombra's dark magic was able to manifest dark crystals in a way that Cadence would imitate in 'Princess Spike.' Sombra was able to also stop Shining Armour from being able to use his magic, after he had found a way to cancel out the latter's Shining Protection spell.

Now here's a subject of major interest to me: the ability to use a certain element usually indicates an affinity for it, that at that person's core they match with it well. Poor compatibility could result in major blowback and even injury. I think of it in similar terms to how Magia Erebea works in Negima. Magia Erebea translates as 'dark magic.' It is Vampire Sorceress Evangeline AK MacDowell's original technique from back when she was 'super-weak,' according to Chachazero. It allows the user to absorb great quantities of magic into themselves, even that of their enemy, and use it as a boost, or to even equip that energy and supply element-specific boosts. In order to be used successfully, however, the user must possess a core darkness within a deep memory, otherwise the blowback happens -- in Jack Rakan's case, he spontaneously got cut all over his body, and if it'd been anyone else, he would have died, but Rakan is a rule-breaking Broken Character with absurd strength. Negi's core darkness is the memory of the demon attack on his home village, and his ambition to become strong enough to protect those around him. There are other prerequisites, of course, since Dark Evangel's Vampire blood allows her to use Magia Erebea, and Negi fulfills that requirement in an entirely unique way. But because Negi possesses such a darkness, he can use Magia Erebea, or rather according to Rakan, his affinity is even a little too perfect. Despite this, because Negi is not a Vampire like his master, he suffers from magical poisoning before reaching Magia Erebea's perfect state.

As another sidenote, according to Evangeline, there is no good or evil magic, only good and evil mages. This means that the manner in which a magic is used defines whether it is 'good' or 'bad,' therefore with control, access to Dark (or Light) Magic is not necessarily a bad (or good) thing. I rather like stories where characters can have a choice that straddles the Light and Dark, so I appreciate how Celestia and Twilight can use Dark Magic and not be corrupted by it. Negima was the first series I encountered that did this, with Negi choosing the Grey Path. This means that I inevitably compare anything else I see or read to that.

With all this in mind, let us return our thoughts to Celestia and Twilight, both of whom have used Dark Magic that appears very similar to what Sombra uses. What, then, might be the darkness that lies at their heart of hearts? Celestia is the easier one to answer: she has a deep regret and guilt toward the necessity to banish Luna to the moon, even though she was Nightmare Moon at the time. She also probably feels guilty for being unable to see the warning signs and talk Luna down before she succumbed and changed. The comics best lets us see these dark emotions in the Reflections arc, when it affects her so badly that she seeks safety in another realm, with reflections!Sombra, who is a good king.

Twilight's core darkness is going to be far harder to find. We know that as a filly she was inspired to study magic when she saw Celestia raising the sun at a Summer Sun Celebration. She put a lot of effort into her studies, some of which were aided by her brother. Ultimately, when it came time for her entry exam, she buckled under the pressure, and would have failed to hatch Spike if it wasn't for a timely Sonic Rainboom. After that, we know little about her studies under Celestia, who saw her potential. We do know that Celestia puts a lot of faith in Twilight and her abilities, which also means she has high expectations of the then-Unicorn. That can be a lot of pressure, especially knowing that she was failing from the outset. This could be part of her darkness, especially given what her fear was about in 'Lesson Zero.' Yes, Twilight is constantly afraid of disappointing Celestia and failing to meet her expectations, even after she becomes an Alicorn herself. It is entirely possible, given how similar her personality is to Negi's, that she is simply afraid of failure. It's why she has most of her meltdowns, after all.

What do you think?