Friendship is Card Games: The FUNdamentals of Magic with Princess Celestia · 12:00pm Mar 27th, 2022
Well, this is awkward. I made an unfortunate assumption regarding the availability (and existence) of the Kindle edition of G. M. Berrow’s Daring Do trilogy, so I have to shuffle the schedule a bit. Let’s dip in to the last bit of G4 video with sufficient content for me to work with.
For those unfamiliar with this series, it’s several short YouTube videos narrated by Sunbutt Sr. herself, detailing certain aspects of Equestrian supernature. Let’s see how much I choose to ignore going forward. 
Notable contrast with what seems to be a portrait of a plush unicorn amid the other artwork. Also, nice to see another Discord lamp.
The Daring Do bobblehead is a bit of an oof given the intended feature for this week.
I imagine building-spanning lasers and smoke coming out of the windows are common sights at Celestia’s School.
On the one hand, I love seeing Dinky in a class taught by Celestia herself. On the other, Snips and Snails being present makes it clear they were using whatever young unicorns were handy… or those two were more inspired by Trixie than I figured.
Calling magic a “mysterious force”… Hmm. This is where my viewpoint can conflict with others. I like to think of magic as laws of physics that don’t apply in this universe, a fifth fundamental force with predictable, reproducible results and methods that we sadly cannot examine outside of the myriad hypotheses put forward in fantasy fiction.
But others present magic as truly mystical, an art rather than a science, an extra-Horatian framework that is undreamt of in my philosophy. Spells are as arbitrary, finicky, and unique as people who cast them, assuming there’s even something as structured as a “spell.” And that approach works. Heck, the two can even coexist; it’s basically the difference between Intelligence- and Charisma-based spellcasting in Dungeons & Dragons.
I suppose my point here is that the centuries-old, philosopher-queen sun goddess calling magic “mysterious” feels a bit disingenuous, but that may be my biases showing through.
It is nice to see Pinkie included in the overview of magical abilities.
Huh. This use of “aura” may be the closest we have to an official term for hornglow.
Double huh. Saying that part of Daring Do’s special talent is locating ancient artifacts leads to a number of intriguing questions. Not least how she found a way to reconcile that talent with the unfortunate implications of adventure archeology after Ahuizotl forced her to acknowledge them.
The closest we’ll ever get to finding out how and why Celestia’s mane constantly flows, while still providing no concrete data. Argh.
Hmm. Another definition of dark magic, one that says that it is the intent behind the spell that makes it dark. Interesting to see something run counter to the usual “seductive power of the Dark Side” trope.
I do wonder how Starlight and Trixie would feel about Celestia using them as visual aids.
Ah. Transmuting an apple into an orange was only the first step. True mastery comes when you can turn it into the MLP logo.
Very nice to hear acknolwedgment both that all ponies are magical and that they’re not the only ones. Later seasons had some issues there.
Also, looks like Philomena’s molting again.
On the other hand, calling dragons “animals” feels a bit off. Likewise timberwolves, but for different reasons. Mind you, bringing up changelings may mean that “animal” doesn’t carry the pejorative connotations I’m thinking of in Equestria.
Tatzlwurm scales being impervious to magic does track. Remember, Twilight and Cadence had to aim for the tongues.
Sassiness isn’t magical, Celestia. Steven Magnet’s just camp. (Well, I don’t think he’s supernaturally sassy, but who am I to judge?)
The polka coming in the moment the subject turned to parasprites is a great bit of musical direction. Also, I’m still not sure if Celestia knew about parasprites before the events of “Swarm of the Century.”
Huh. Looks like Philomena rejuvenated in the middle of the lecture.
… Did Celestia literally bore her to death?
I’m not sure why Celestia brings up incantations. The only example of verbal components in FiM was the destiny spell in “Magical Mystery Cure.” Mind you, I don’t know what the common local tropes are in Equestria, nor how many writers failed to do any research.
Huh. “Spell” here seem to be defined as “any magical effect.” Including “spells” that exist as part of a living species. Very Owl House; magic is such a fundamental part of existence that nature is made of it.
“You might have a little trouble at first,” says Celestia, showing two unicorns getting sucked into the void between worlds.
Given the breadth of the term, I have to wonder what magical conduits there are that don’t count as spells.
“Don’t use spells to cut corners on your assignments,” said the teacher at the school of magic. Staying away from love and time magic is reasonable, but that one’s a bit iffy.
Oof. Apparently the apple-to-orange spell was far below Twilight’s grade level. Or the curriculum’s moved on since she was in this class.
Ah. We’re not counting magical items as spells. Except potions.
Do you think the Crystal Empire sells those miniature replicas of Spike’s statue as souvenirs?
I really hope that’s just a model of the Alicorn Amulet. Leaving the real thing in a classroom full of curious unicorns sounds like a recipe for disaster.
The slide whistle as the Idol of Boreas falls into the Abysmal Abyss is more stellar sound direction.
Again, the implication that Daring Do’s a living divining rod for magical items.
Nice to see the mirror portal in… well, anything outside of Equestria Girls. Though I have to wonder what the Rings of Scorchero were originally meant to do if they’re in the “meant for good” pile. Likewise why the Sapphire Stone/Statue has “more sinister purposes.”
Good lesson at the end: Most magical items are just tools. Regardless of the creator’s intentions, the wielder determines what they do. (Again, most. The likes of the Alicorn Amulet have a say in the matter.)
Pro: Acknowledging earth ponies have magic.
Con: Only mentioning its agricultural applications.
I mean, I’ll take what i can get, but come on. Especially when the very next sentence is about how only unicorns can make magical items. As i said, I will be ignoring some things here.
Interesting that Discord is described as “one of the most powerful sorcerers of all time.” Given that Discord is usually presented as more of a spiritual embodiment of chaos, this presents a number of questions.
Celestia blaming Nightmare Moon on magic influencing Luna sounds more than a little disingenuous. I wonder what Luna thinks about this particular aside.
So, remember what I said about running counter to the seduction of the Dark Side? Yeah, still a good bit of that. Though it does work as a vicious cycle: Intentions shape magic shapes intentions.
That last bit is one part reassurance, one part threat. “Behave or I’ll send the Bearers of Harmony to make you behave.”
An interesting if not especially informative insight into Equestrian magic. But when each video is less than two minutes long, I can’t expect a deep dive into arcane principles. Still plenty of concept fodder to work with. Let’s see what I can turn out:
Thorax’s Metamorphosis 2W
Enchantment — Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.)
I — Destroy target permanent if it dealt damage to you since your last turn ended.
II — Target creature you control gains flying, vigilance, and lifelink until end of turn.
III — Exile this Saga, then return it to the battlefield transformed under your control.
Etching of the Symbiote King
(W) Enchantment Creature — Insect Pony
Flying, vigilance, lifelink
Changelings revered Thorax’s courage, humility, and accidental brilliance until the Ebb of Magic. His memorials still await their return from dormancy.
2/3
Magus of the Idol 2WW
Creature — Griffin Wizard
As Magus of the Idol enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Flying
Each creature you control of the chosen type gets +1/+1 for each other creature you control of that type.
“What matters is what the gold meant.”
1/1
Pillars’ Legacy 3W
Creature — Pony Avatar
First strike, vigilance
Pillars’ Legacy’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of historic permanents you control or the number of historic cards in your graveyard, whichever is greater. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)
*/*
Turn Back the Clock 1UU
Sorcery
Each player returns two creatures they control to their owners’ hands.
“Knock it off while I still have my wings.”
—Twilight Sparkle, to Starlight Glimmer
Treasure Seeker 3U
Creature — Pegasus Rogue
Flying
Whenever Treasure Seeker deals combat damage to a player, that player mills that many cards. Then you may exile an artifact card from that player’s graveyard. You may cast that card for as long as it remains exiled, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any type to cast that spell.
3/2
Magus of the Statue 3UU
Creature — Pegasus Wizard
Flying
2, T: Exchange control of two target permanents that share a card type. You can’t activate this ability during combat.
1U: Untap Magus of the Statue.
“And they wonder why I hate outsiders.”
—Ahuizotl
2/4
Academic Misconduct 1B
Sorcery
Target player discards a card.
Learn. (You may reveal a Lesson card you own from outside the game and put it into your hand, or discard a card to draw a card.)
Every school has cheaters and bullies. Schools of magic just take those tendencies to the next level.
Arimaspi’s Remains 1B
Creature — Cyclops Skeleton
Defender
1B, T, Sacrifice Arimaspi’s Remains: Each opponent sacrifices a creature.
Disturb 4BB (You may cast this spell from your graveyard transformed for its disturb cost.)
The skull stewed in its resentment for years.
0/4
Vengeful Remnant
(B) Creature — Cyclops Spirit
Menace, haste
Vengeful Remnant can’t block.
If Vengeful Remnant would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
When it finally rose from the chasm, nothing was spared.
4/3
Magus of the Amulet 2BB
Creature — Unicorn Wizard
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on Magus of the Amulet, then you lose 1 life for each +1/+1 counter on Magus of the Amulet.
Spells you cast cost 1 less to cast for each +1/+1 counter on Magus of the Amulet.
Infinite power for finite time.
2/2
Chaos Sorcerer 2R
Creature — Chimera Shaman
The first spell you cast each turn has kicker 1R. (You may pay an additional 1R as you cast that spell.)
Kicked spells you cast have cascade. (When you cast a kicked spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card that costs less. You may cast it without paying its mana cost. Put the exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.)
3/1
Magus of the Rings 2RR
Creature — Pony Wizard
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a ring counter on Magus of the Rings.
If a source would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals that much damage plus X instead, where X is the number of ring counters on Magus of the Rings.
2R: Put a ring counter on Magus of the Rings or remove one from it.
1/4
Molting Phoenix 2RR
Creature — Phoenix
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you don’t control an artifact named Feather, create a red artifact token named Feather with “1, Sacrifice Feather: Return target Phoenix card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.”
3/3
Confident Greenhoof 1G
Creature — Pony Druid
Boast — G: Untap up to three target lands. (Activate only if this creature attacked this turn and only once each turn.)
“I can harvest forty acres before you can even count the trees.”
2/2
Wading Hydra 2GG
Creature — Hydra
Hexproof from blue (This creature can’t be the target of blue spells or abilities your opponents control.)
Whenever an opponent casts a spell during your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on Wading Hydra.
Good luck tricking every head at once.
4/4
Magus of the Portal 4GG
Creature — Human Wizard
6: You may put a permanent card from your hand onto the battlefield.
People gathered around each newly found gateway to study the nature of both the worlds and the portals.
5/5
Impervious Tatzlwurm 5GG
Creature — Wurm
Trample, reach
Impervious Tatzlwurm has hexproof as long as it’s untapped.
It’s most vulnerable just before it swallows you whole.
7/7
Lecturer’s Blackboard 2
Artifact
When Lecturer’s Blackboard enters the battlefield, learn.
3, Sacrifice Lecturer’s Blackboard: Learn.
Expertise begins here.
Spiked Flail 2
Artifact — Equipment
Whenever equipped creature attacks, roll a d8. Equipped creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the result.
Equip 5. This ability costs 2 less to activate for each time you rolled one or more dice this turn.
For the discerning crazed berserker.
Interpersonal Dynamics 3
Sorcery — Lesson
Support 3. (Put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to three target creatures.)
“Friendship is magic, both in the wonders it provides and in a very real, thaumalogical sense. Allow me to demonstrate.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Spritely Totem 3
Artifact
T: Add U or R.
UR: Spritely Totem becomes a 1/1 blue and red Faerie Dragon artifact creature with flying and haste until end of turn.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, if Spritely Totem is a creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Purified Amber 4
Artifact
White spells you cast cost 1 less to cast.
T: Add W.
Amoplasm cleansed of Chrysalis’s toxic influence radiates a soothing light and a love for all things.
Bejeweled Accessorizer (rw)(rw)
Creature — Pony Warrior
Bejeweled Accessorizer gets +2/+2 for each permanent attached to it.
Enough protective amulets preclude the need for armor. Anything the spells can’t stop, the sheer density of gems and wire will.
2/2
Novice Polymorphist 1(gu)
Creature — Unicorn Wizard
Magecraft — Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, until end of turn, up to one target creature has base power and toughness 3/3 and becomes an Orb in addition to its other types.
“First, assume a spherical frog…”
2/2
Zebra Alchemist 1WB
Creature — Zebra Warlock
Whenever Zebra Alchemist or another creature you control dies, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
“Every mistake is a lesson, though not always for the one who made it.”
2/2
Daybreaker’s Crown 1RW
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature gets +3/+3 and has first strike, vigilance, and trample.
Equip enchanted creature 2
Equip 5
For the mare who has everything and wants to reduce it to ashes.
Horrendous Mishap 1WUB
Instant
Escalate 1 (Pay this cost for each mode chosen beyond the first.)
Choose one or more —
• Exile target artifact.
• Exile target creature.
• Exile target enchantment.
• Exile target planeswalker.
• Exile target spell.
Terror of the Nursery 2UR
Creature — Child
Alicorn (This card is also a Pony Pegasus Unicorn.)
Flying
At the beginning of each upkeep, Terror of the Nursery deals 2 damage to another target chosen at random.
She’s always up for a game of Zappy-Catch.
2/2
Great 1G//Powerful 3U
Instant//Instant
Great: Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
Powerful: Copy target instant or sorcery spell. You may choose new target for the copy.
I have only the vaguest memory of these videos. I may have only seen the first one before, or none of them. Weird. But I quite like them.
And I'm going to count magic school lessons as Star Swirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever content. Executive decision.
Honestly, "sassy" sounded lile "sexy" on first listen. Took a bit to realize what Celestia was saying about Steven Magnet.
What's this about the "Ebb of Magic," now?
Novice Polymorphist had me laugh out loud.
Never even saw these. The show was too inconsistent with its rules as it was, and willing to break them just for drama (Scootaloo, anyone? Or the Everfree?), so why even bother, is my question. And only Unicorns can make magical items? Well, snart, there goes a whole trilogy, then. It also raises the highly uncomfortable point that Unicorns were supposed to sacrifice their magic for others for a long time in their history. Was the Sun the only thing they had to sacrifice it for or were there some other demands placed on them that the 'Oh, Unicorns are supremacist!' crowd would like to ignore? Food for thought.
I've mentioned this before, but not on here: Earth ponies could have been designed with more magic quite easily. Just model them after the Bayard myth and give them the ability to grow to giant size, done. It'd tie into their innate strength, it'd explain partly why they're agriculturalists (bigger frames means needing more food), and it'd put them more on par with the other tribes in terms of combat abilities, while acknowledging the obvious weaknesses that come with such an ability, especially in urban environments. It's also fairly easy to animate, no? Heck, we already have a tie-in with an easily ponified name in Charlemane. It's right there, unmined creative material ready for the picking.
*ahem*
Anyway, besides all that, the Internet's already done the giant fetish thing, might as well have made it canon to pre-empt it. Watching Apple Bloom learn how master a giant form would have been hilarious, too, and provide some contrast with her fellow CMC's. Ah well, someone will write something with that idea eventually.
I'm of two minds on these different approaches. On one hand, I love mathematically understanding things and being able to tell what'll happen in a given situation. But sometimes you just want magic to be magical, with symbolism and states of mind and runes and all that jazz.
I guess we could split the difference by having the basics of magic be well-understood, but every now and then things that don't normally interact start interacting and we get something as strange as quantum locking, along with some things that just can't be mathematically quantified.
It's all but canon that griffons have magic similar to pegasi. In her very first appearance, Gilda was perching on clouds with Rainbow, even as Pinkie fell through them. Now we just need a griffon who decides to go a step further and learns lightningbending.
It's part of my headcanon that earth ponies in the right state can manipulate the energy of ley lines. (What does that mean? ...I'll get back to you on that.) That might require living in the same place for a while until they know the surrounding land/ley line like the back of their hoof, but they can do it.
To be fair, those issues were "we already wrote that this character would make all the magic go away before we remembered that Cloudsdale exists, and it's too late to change the script" and "we forgot that Faust was dropped because she cared about consistency and ended up with another one".
Along similar lines, consider later seasons' use of "anycreature".
Possibly a backup plan in case Celestia was incapacitated. Possibly a backup plan against the Windigoes. Possibly a deterrent in the nuclear sense that was never meant to be activated.
5646571
That's a reference to G5.
I have a head canon that the Alicorn Amulet isn’t evil in the classic sense. Instead it overloads the wearer with more magic than their nervous system can handle resulting in mental instability. Trixie’s symptoms are a lot like Gloriosa Daisy’s and Juniper Montage’s in Equestria Girls who were channeling intent-less wild magic/arguably good magic in the case of the geodes.
The fact that only the wearer can remove it is just a basic security feature.
There was no malice in its creation, just lack of foresight. The trope of a great wizard/brilliant scientist figuring out how to tap into enormous power but not how to control it.
Considering that the temple where they were to be used was about on the same latitude as Vanhoover, maybe they were to provide a tropical microclimate for mesoequian migrants? After all, "scorching heat" to a Canadian is about 85°F.
I mean, the show itself is vague as all get out on whether NMM is just Luna in a bad mood, a split personality, or a full possession.
And various expanded universe material have run the spectrum on all 3. Which brings an interesting point here; one of the magical objects presented was Daybreaker's helm, and the Ponyville Mysteries book series centers around how NMM's armor still holds her magical powers.
Probably a coincidence but I dig it.
5646634
As a Canadian, I'd hesitate to call that "scorching" but it's certainly an excuse to stay indoors if I don't have anything important to do.
Huh. Hadn't really seen these shorts, so I didn't really expect to encounter an interpretation of dark magic that close to the one I've written - that it's not inherently corruptive, but rather powered by your own corruption (anger, selfishness, malice, etc... - your own darkness). The darker the will behind it, the more powerful the spell, with very few limits. Thus, it doesn't directly corrupt you, it just gives a big incentive for you to corrupt yourself, so to speak.
Maybe there's more stuff worth looking into in these shorts than I thou-
Well, so much for that, I guess.
Also, I'm with you on "mysterious". Though, to be honest, I think it's less about what we do, don't, can and can't know about magic and more about how a pony would think of it. After all, there are plenty of things in our world where most of us don't know how they work - I'm typing this on a computer that I don't know the first thing about the exact mechanics of - and there are some things that no one has any idea about, but we don't think of them as "mysterious", just unknown and difficult to figure out. Thinking about it, I think that "mysterious" kind of has connotations of something not having much interaction and scrutiny being put on it. Generally, when we think of, say, a house being mysterious, it gives the impression that not only does no one know much about it, but no one's actually been inside it (or, at least, been able to describe it afterwards). Maybe that's just me talking out of my rear, but that's how it feels to me.
I guess, in the end, it comes down to the fact that "mysterious" sounds far more like how we, as humans outside this world, would think of magic rather than how a being within it might.
You have an index for your "Friendship is Card Games" posts somewhere, right? Where should I look for it the next time I forget where it is?
5646564
Entirely reasonable stance from the authority on the subject.
Also, each header is a link to its respective video if you want a refresher.
5646571
Strixhaven fit a lot of math jokes into the Quandrix cards, but I'm very glad to have found another one. Especially since Orb actually is a supported creature type.
5646572
Some reason to climb Everest; because it's there. (And because the weekly demand for content must be satisfied, even if that demand is made solely by my own sense of obligation.
) Besides, FiM canon has always been best treated as the starting point, not the boundaries. I have to know the shape of the box before i can think outside of it.
Also, Apple Bloom's Brobdingnagian misadventures are equal parts hilarious and horrifying.
5646573
One idea in my "Okay, but then what?" pile is exploring Twilight's early post-ascension days as a mare with a talent for magic finds it exploring pegasus and earth pony magic whether she wants to or not. Part of it involves her sleepwalking, and only Pinkie realizes she's following the town's leylines.
5646578
Backup plans for the single celestial mechanic on the planet do sound prudent. I wonder how many others are scattered throughout the world...
5646582
That certainly works, and goodness knows we've seen that pumping excess magic into someone doesn't end well. I could easily see some well-meaning artificer making a note in the margins along the lines of "Of course, no reasonable pony would ever use it in a way so obviously beyond its design specifications."
5646650
I do think that's what bothers me about it. This is Princess Celestia lecturing at her personal magic academy. The last pony who should ever call magic "mysterious" is her. Of course, she may be trying to instill a sense of respect for it in her young pupils. Goodness knows she's seen plenty of unicorns' reach exceed their grasp.
5646815
There's a link to it on my user page under "Overlooked Favorites." Or you can just click here.
5646822
I just learned about the "about" page. Clicking on your name just gives me a comments page, and I didn't look further before. Learning!
...for what it's worth, say what you will about Snails not being smart, but he's basically the Forrest Gump of unicorns, in that he showed basic light magic three seasons before Sweetie Belle (someone whose potential appears high based on what she later does) did basic stuff, and showed the ability to self-levitate.
...even the comics (the second below took place around S4-S5, since Sweetie Belle was portrayed as a blank flank who could use telekinetic magic) seemed to nod at them being... surprisingly adept in that area, all things considered.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/8/13/2117324.jpg
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/2/10/1084398.jpg
(that being said, Snips, as horrendously foolhardy as he was in S1, can be argued to not quite be stupid in the same way)
5646650
I've always rather liked that sort of take on dark magic as well. It can be not inherently evil, but the fact that one can be prone to addicting themselves to using anger, hate, to fuel their power, grow to enjoy the power, can leave them corrupted. The Kirin/Nirik situation is something I rather like to think of as a metaphor on that note.
As for artifacts like the Alicorn Amulet, or the Inspiration Manifestation, those kinds of things arguably (depending on its interpretation), through having a dark imprint of its own, leads the user to corruption more readily than the act of casting dark magic will, in and of itself; Celestia didn't give Twilight a "this will corrupt you" warning against dark magic. Though I also argue Trixie's intentions, never really being noble, were something that the corruptive nature of the Amulet could more easily latch onto.
Basically, I kind of see what Starlight does as being in part proficient at channeling magic in a dark magic-lite manner, and that's part of how she's so powerful... and she'd probably have a severe risk of losing control of herself if she did use dark magic proper, if her rage can be like that normally. She'd probably be more than sufficiently aware of this by the point of S9.
Related, something I noticed about the Alicorn Amulet on a rewatch is, Trixie used it to teleport next to Twilight and Zecora after she dispelled the shield, so aside from it enabling age spells... it really can, one way or the other (does it have a bit of a mind of its own, or is it simply due to the sheer power involved), enable intent alone to be enough to pull off spells that the user doesn't know.
5646820
I meant why even bother making the shorts in the first place. Regardless, I'm clearly in the minority with my wants and preferences, but what else is new, right?
You also made me look up Brobdingnagian. I both hate and love the fact that there's even already a perfectly ponified term with the -nagian suffix for this thing, and yet it never caught on. You'd think something like that could be its own AU like we have seen other examples of...
Ah well, "If you don't build it, someone else will," I suppose? "The Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Seal of Charlemane" does have a nice ring to it, and it could tie in with Rockhooves's backstory in a way.
What you're describing here is basically the difference between magic in the earlier seasons and magic in the later ones. I always interpreted magic in MLP as "arcane science" too, not just because that's my preference, but because that's more or less how it was initially presented. Remember when Twilight Sparkle stated with confidence that there were no such things as curses, hexes, or ghosts, certain feats like changing age and sex were solidly defined as more difficult or impossible, and Pinkie Sense was an outlier in how it defied rational explanation?
But come to the later seasons, magic is once again a huge question mark, because what it can or can't do varies from episode to episode. Changing age becomes a casual side effect of Zecora's potions, manes are immune to magic for no obvious reason, artefacts become magical seemingly just from proximity to powerful individuals rather than being shaped by intent, and older magic like Star Swirl's is said to be stronger than modern magic just by virtue of being old.
I don't think this effect is intentional, but there was definitely a noticeable shift away from magic as an empirical science in this world. Celestia's lecture only seems ill-fitting to us because we're old and we remember that magic (and Celestia, for that matter) didn't used to be like this.
5649856
The logical conclusion is that the old magic is more powerful because ponies actually knew what they were doing back then.
5649858
Fic idea I jokingly suggested to a friend a while back: