• Member Since 3rd Feb, 2019
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Kadigan


Did you know this description is actually limited to 200 characters? When it says "50 characters left", it's lying. | If you 'watch' me, expect to be interrogated for your reasons.

More Blog Posts3

  • 187 weeks
    World Seeds: Running out of magic

    NOTE: this is a "World Seed" posting - you're welcome to take these ideas and run with them in your own story (getting a credit would be nice, but isn't strictly necessary - though I'd want at least to know there is a story that got inspired by this). See where it might take you. Good luck.


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    1 comments · 255 views
  • 239 weeks
    Weather, Cutie Marks, and the Everfree Forest - in an Equestria with a Source of Magic

    Previously, I have discussed one particular way of merging the idea of a "rational" universe, with Equestria's magic being present. There, I proposed the existence of a construct I have named the Source of Magic - an abstract construct big and powerful enough to be capable of performing feats considered "magical"

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    0 comments · 281 views
  • 254 weeks
    On the subject of magic in a rational universe

    So, I've been reading a lot, and this has been bugging me, quite a bit actually.

    How could the concept of "magic" be explained in a universe that is rational? For example, our universe.

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    6 comments · 393 views
Aug
23rd
2019

Weather, Cutie Marks, and the Everfree Forest - in an Equestria with a Source of Magic · 8:34pm Aug 23rd, 2019

Previously, I have discussed one particular way of merging the idea of a "rational" universe, with Equestria's magic being present. There, I proposed the existence of a construct I have named the Source of Magic - an abstract construct big and powerful enough to be capable of performing feats considered "magical" while doing them only by the means available to everyone through the general laws of physics.

In this posting, I wanted to elaborate on some key aspects of that mechanic, by way of three particular examples - pegasi ability to control the weather, Cutie Marks, and the existence and behaviour of the Everfree Forest.

NOTE: Cutie Marks will be discussed in more depth in a separate posting.



Okay. So it's "common knowledge" that pegasi have several abilities that allow them to perform interesting feats - flight, lightness, speed... The more interesting ability here is their ability to influence clouds, and hence - control the weather. Now, it can be argued that pegasi can at the very least glide thanks to having wings, and thanks to being light (much lighter than any other pony race). But how can cloud interaction be explained?

Well, have you ever heard of meta-tags?

"Meta-tagging" is a process of attaching additional, related information to something else - for example, adding a printed sticker to a box to more easily identify its contents. However, this need not be limited to information you can process (barcodes), nor does it really need to be visible (magnetic tags, RFID).

In the world of computers and software, many file formats allow the recording of additional information to go with the core of the file - the most widely known, perhaps, is the MP3's ID3 tag format which allows one to store such information as title, artist, album, genre, and so on. This information doesn't technically belong to the core data of the file (which is - music samples), but it serves a useful purpose, thereby making it smart to bundle.

What if pegasi have a similar "meta-tag" attached to them? In this particular instance, the tag would come as something like "can-interact-with-clouds".



"Okay, Kad - but why are you going so deep into this, again?" - you may ask. Well...

... because of Twilight's Cloudwalking Spell, actually. In a world with a Source of Magic, it should theoretically be entirely possible to alter these "meta-tags" attached to ponies. In theory, you should be able to flag a pony as "can-interact-with-clouds"... thereby giving you cloudwalking. The fact that the spell doesn't seem to be all that taxing only supports this proposition - otherwise, being able to walk on puffs of water vapour would require immense energies to somehow repel mass.

This raises an interesting question: what other "meta-tags" could be affected in a similar way?

Well... Cutie Marks.

Why not? We've already seen ponies capable of manipulating these on two occasions. Neither one worked up a sweat while doing it. You'd think altering a pony's destiny would require immense amounts of energy, right? Well... not necessarily, as it turns out.

I wonder if receiving the "alicorn" tag makes the entire thing read-only to all other ponies, except those with level of access equal to, or higher, than yours? ;]


NOTE: this is by no means meant to be a complete analysis; rather, I aim to provide a framework of sorts others could use to build a coherent and scientifically interesting world based on MLP:FiM. As such, I have no intention of exploring these ideas fully - that is an exercise left for the writer.



One other thing I wanted to touch upon was the existence and general laws applying to the structure identified as the Everfree Forest. In a world of magical Equestria, this is the one place where neither weather, nor the forces of nature in general, are under pony control - in fact, it behaves much like our world would. Why is that?

Well, "I don't know", but to say that at this point would be a cop-out, wouldn't it? So, allow me to propose a theory on this as well:

The Everfree Forest is, for all intents and purposes: outside of the Source of Magic's defined jurisdiction. Or, specific rules and laws are not enforced by it, at any rate - it is still a home to many magical creatures and plants, after all. In fact, I would be so bold as to say that for whatever reason, the laws the Source of Magic is instructed to enforce are different for the Everfree Forest area.

How could this have come about?

The answer is rather simple: Luna. Or, more specifically, Nightmare Moon. Being an alicorn of some power, it wouldn't be beyond her ability to re-codify how the forest is supposed to be handled. The Source of Magic would dutifully obey any such instructions. Why? The simplest reason coming to mind is: area denial. The Everfree is where the Castle of Two Sisters is located, as well as where the Tree of Harmony grows - these are two excellent targets one would want to deny their enemy, aren't they?

Hell, even Poison Joke sounds like a troop deterrent, doesn't it?


Otherwise, it could've been Discord himself - for the evulz, or just to harass the ponies. Why not, right?

I'm not dismissing the idea that the entire area could've been "thrown out of whack" by Celestia/Nightmare Moon blasting each other to Tartarus and back in there.


Regardless of who is to blame for its existence... if it was created... it stands to reason that it could be reverted to how it probably should be.

In fact, if the Source of Magic has this much influence, any region of the pony world could be affected in such a way - for good or ill... I can imagine what sort of damage someone with the ability to manipulate the Source of Magic this way could do... Can you?

NOTE: you're welcome to use the ideas contained herein in writing prompts. In fact, I encourage such use, as long as the prompt demands strict adherence to the rules outlined in these postings.


You are welcome to use ideas and themes explored in these postings in your stories - up to and including building entire worlds based on them. All I ask is to be credited (please drop a link to your story in the comments - I'd be interested in reading such).

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