Free Worldbuilding and Lore · 8:39pm Jan 1st, 2020
As part of my other projects, here is a list of almost everything my friends and I have come up with for magic and abilities in Equestria among the ponies. Feel free to use these for your own stories, suggest your own, or put together snippets for the E3 fanfic project. And here we go!
-Alchemy: Unicorns can do fairly simple transmutations with their horns, and groups of them can do more complex transmutation, but they use Earth pony alchemic circles to do it. All Ponies can do alchemy with circles, but it was the Earth Ponies who did the math and figured out how to do it first: By channeling their magic into alchemic ritual circles. Alchemy is based on equivalent exchange, naturally: You can't get more out than you put into it, the magic just lets the transmutation happen.
Alchemy was an Earth Pony trump card: Using it in combat let them match the offensive power of Unicorn magic and Pegasi Weather Control. Flame alchemy allowed Earth Ponies to shoot fireballs, ignite the air around targets, or just separate hydrogen from oxygen in clouds to ignite and blow up clouds underneath the hooves of Pegasi. However, the other Tribes soon learned Alchemy themselves and the tactical and strategic advantage was evened out. Earth ponies have to create new alchemic circles or modify existing ones to do new things, while unicorns can simply adjust it with their horns and Pegasi do natural weather alchemy as a base ability.
Today it's used primarily in mass production and industrial applications, and most pony alchemists just know basic math and chemistry for how to do it on an assembly line. But there still exist a few Pony Alchemists who go onto University or the military to practice as experts in it. Most towns, villages and hamlets still have at least one local, dedicated alchemist who can fix broken things as easily as he or she can turn a bit of grass into bread.
-Life Control: Being able to control Earth magic energy is natural for pretty much every Earth Pony. It is used in growing food and healing. But many martial arts were built around its use to harm other creatures-And in the days before Hearthswarming Eve, against other ponies. Ranging from Hoof of the North Star, that could stop a pony's heart (or make it explode) with a touch, to the Drain: A martial art that focused on leeching life energy from an opponent with every touch, increasing your strength and stamina while diminishing theirs.
-Follicle Control: This allows the user to control the growth of their tail and mane, as well as make it move like an appendage. While many ponies can do this technique of all three tribes, Earth ponies have made the most use of it as they are restricted to the fewest means of manipulating objects. -Follicle Control: This allows the user to control the growth of their tail and mane, as well as make it move like an appendage. While many ponies can do this technique of all three tribes, Earth ponies have made the most use of it as they are restricted to the fewest means of manipulating objects. Some ponies can even do this to other pony's manes and tails.
-Earth Control Variants: Earth Control covers many different arts, practices, and even a few formal schools of theory for Earth pony practitioners. The Pie Family's arts are descended from heavy combat arts that emphasized speed and power, but this is not the only such approach. And while not all of these are here at the expo, among the arts here might include:
-"Hold": A basic, but incredible technique once mastered. An Earth Pony is able to stick themselves to the ground and become essentially immovable. They also become far stronger, essentially taking on the rigidity of the Earth itself. It requires constant concentration to maintain (as well as contact with the ground) but it will make an Earth pony essentially impossible to dislodge from where they're standing.
-Dust Control: The ability to extend your Earth magic into dust and sand to control the tiny particles.
-Mudbending: Having an affinity for controlling mud you are in contact with.
-Crystalbending: Being able to make crystals grow, expand and move (while not a focus of the Pie Family Style, it is a part of it).
-Metalbending: Able to manipulate metal easily through physical contact.
-Glassbending: Having an affinity with the structures of glassworks.
-Shockwave: Being skilled at generating mall earthquakes with a combination of physical strikes and Earth magic. Another part of the Pie Family Style.
-Flora and Fauna Communication: All Earth Ponies have a connection to the Earth itself through their magic, but some take it even further and can directly communicate with animals and plants. Fluttershy's unique abilities as a pegasus may suggest some Earth Pony in her background, as many Earth ponies have a talent to understand and direct various living things outside their species. In their cases though, it is usually only a few species at best rather than all of them. Many Earth Pony and Zebra shamans, witch doctors, herbalists and potion makers have the ability to communicate with plantlife, ranging from a subconscious level (to just instinctively "know" a plant is beneficial or poisonous) to a conscious level.
-Earth Magic Control: An Earth Pony hallmark, almost all Earth ponies can control the Earth magic they get from the ground and feed it into other lifeforms-Usually plants. It is because of this that Earth Ponies can settle and thrive almost anywhere on the planet, as long as their hooves can touch the ground. The Apple Family is a prime example of this ability refined to the highest levels. Certain ponies, with a combination of this ability and Flora Communication, can even push plants to move or grow faster for various purposes-Including combat.
Now for the Pegasi and their subspecies, the Threstrals/Batponies:
-Water Control: The pegasi equivalent to Earth Control, this ability allows for various kinds of hydrokinesis as long as you are close enough to affect the substance with your Pegasi magic. All Pegasi have a basic ability towards this, but some are far better at it than others. In the present, most combat-related arts with water are obscure or forgotten but a few practitioners still remain.
-Lightning Control: Another pegasi art, with the ability to generate, channel and direct lightning. Nowadays it is primarily used to generate and manage power for cities and appliances, but in the past it was an entire art with hundreds of schools dedicated to its use in combat.
-Wind Control: Once again, another pegasi art to control the wind. The applications for this ranged from slicing through enemies with wind blades, to perfect stealth, to enhanced flight. Again, nowadays used in civilian weather control but some artists use it in other ways depending on their talents.
-Light Control: An extremely rare ability, the pegasi association with light from rainbows and lightning grew into an art involving generation and control of light itself. This led to exceedingly rare techniques, including rumored invisibility by bending light around a practitioner. It is unknown if any of these practices still exist.
-Darkness Control: A Batpony/Threstral ability. Traditionally a skittish and isolationist sub-species of pegasi, the Batponies/Threstrals had an affinity with the night and darkness. This led to cultivation of magics dealing with the darkness, including invisibility in shadow, and even shadow manipulation. Arts such as these were used by Princess Luna and later, Nightmare Moon. As a result, practitioners of the art were associated with the fallen Princess, and fell into obscurity due to prejudice.
-Sonic Scream: Another Batpony/Threstral ability. Being nocturnal creatures, Threstrals have incredible night vision but even better hearing. Through Pegasi magic, they perfected the art of echolocation, allowing them to navigate or fight in even total darkness. They further enhanced it to be able to emit sonic shrieks, useful as a weapon against enemies. They also have exceptional hearing in different decibel registers, allowing them to communicate at sound frequencies other creatures cannot hear.
And a few Unicorn Arts:
-Empty Hoof: Unicorn magic has incredible flexibility, but its primary use for most unicorns is kinetic. As a result, this fighting style is based around control of that kinetic energy to control others. This art focuses on catching and redirecting strikes, much like the non-magical art of judo. Its techniques include slapping away strikes, evading them, pushing on parts of an enemy's body to redirect their path of travel, and deflection techniques. While the basics are popular, true masters of Empty Hoof are few and far between. The art was originally created for unicorn nobles against bandits and lightly armed opponents, not for front line combat.
-Last Blade: A deadly unicorn art, dated back to the time of Gusty the Great. This art solidifies the kinetic field of a unicorn into an ultra thin blade. With the addition of the unicorn's body movement, more kinetic energy is imparted to the magic blade and allows for clean, quick cuts. As well as allowing the unicorn to stay in motion and avoid strikes more easily. True masters of Last Blade were feared across Equus, with legends of lone unicorn masters slicing through legions of enemies with ease. Now, many of these techniques are used by unicorns in a variety of fields: From dress making to metal cutting. But a few true masters of the art as a combat system exist. Other "invisible sword" type styles of magical combat could also exist.
-Still Way: Based off a unicorn "martial art" in the old fic Xenophillia, this unicorn art involves elegant hoofwork to dodge, and spells designed to stun opponents, or put them to sleep. Again, primarily a defensive, non-lethal art, but definitely effective in the hooves of the right pony. It's another popular art, but descended from far deadlier combat schools.
I wonder what art Maud used to throw that boulder and detonate it in the distance with a force of a least 1 kiloton.
"Hold": I wonder if you can dig up the ground around them to dislodge Terrasi that way
Re: Pegasus
I can't remember where, but there was a thought about how a required secondary power for pegasi was temperature control, or some sort of thermal regulation in regards to cloud formation.
Re: Unicorns
>Pokes head out of hole I dug
Have you considered "Bladecasting."
5178563
I have. It would be pretty cool.
5178558
The Little Mare defense?
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"How is that considered a defense?"
"It tells others not to throw stones at me."