Sharing Kisses and Combining Magic (Magic Systems, baby!) - Development Blog #5

Power up, boys!

There's something stupid fun about the idea of two characters combining their magic to get entirely new powers. Hell, in the show all about the power of friendship (and shipping), it's especially fun to see it reflect what's unique about their relationship.

And in Equestria Girls, we've been given a few different explanations for how the magic works the way it does. The girls pony-up when they play music, or whenever they demonstrate "the truest parts of themselves," plus they have the geodes which could either be this world's Elements of Harmony or maybe are just similar to the other mundane objects that have been hit by Equestrian magic (like Vignette's phone or Juniper's mirror)???

Emotion is Magic

I've always found magic is tied to my emotions. Whatever I'm feeling fuels whatever I'm doing, and the stronger the feeling, the stronger the magic.

I've always liked Starlight's explanation for how her magic works. It's simple, and if you want, it can easily be used to explain a lot of things about magic in Equestria Girls.

If magic is based in emotion, all their different methods of powering up make sense. Music and the camaraderie of playing together is an outlet for their emotions. Showing the truest parts of themselves are also the things that make them extremely happy and/or relate to the values that deeply matter to them. Even the Equestrian magic in their geodes might be responding to their emotions as a power source and generating their different superpowers based on who they are.

A lot of demon transformations or magical object use are based on emotional issues like isolation/feeling invisible, perfectionism, or even just straight up power-lust. It's all emotional. And friendships/relationships play such an important role in their emotions.

Relationships and Combining Powers

I used that emotional magic system in The Exes Club, but then Bevin and I started theorizing about how fun and cool it would be to have more of the characters combine powers.

In that story, we briefly saw Sunset and Sci-Twi share magic with each other: empathy + telepathy = a healing power. The logic being that these two understand each other's pain and have since Sunset reached out her hand to Midnight Sparkle at the Friendship Games. Also something something girlfriends are cute.

This super simple magic system opened up so many possibilities that we'll get to figure out along with the characters in Empathy for the Devil, but I'm so curious: What do you think some of these combos could be?

Writing Update: Milestones
Current Total Word Count: 91,955
Estimated Final Word Count: 100,000 – 110,000
Chapters Completed: 12
Total # of Chapters: 15

Progress... we're getting closer and closer... (stay tuned for the next blog when I finally reveal the release date).

- Marvel

Comments

[The Voice in the Water]

I like this idea. Hmmm, some combos that come to mind are:
AJ & Fluttershy = Florakinesis - communicate with plant life, combining Flutter's connection to living things with AJ's bond with the earth and plants.
Rarity & Pinkie = Photokinesis - generate and control light, combining Pinkie's ability to release stored energy with Rarity's ability to create structure and focus (a gemstone's crystalline lattice). Can be used to create "photoworks" (firework like effects composed of pure light) or rays of rainbow light.
Twilight & Rainbow = Aerokinesis - Control movement of air, combining Twilight's ability to alter kinetic direction with Rainbow's inherent connection to the air.
Fluttershy, Rarity & Sunset = Zone of Peace - Supresses and removes all hostile feelings within the area, by connecting Fluttershy's peaceful nature and ability to communicate with living things with Rarity's ability to generate structure and Sunset's ability to directly touch a mind.