The following is an excerpt from a published correspondence between Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s most prized pupil, and the interdimensional being known as John Blake. The contents of this excerpt have not been altered in any form, and are presented in their original form.
It is on this contention that I believe that you are incorrect in your assumptions on how much magic affects your world and your society, Twilight. The more I learn about your culture and your history the more I come to find that magic has woven its way into every part of your society.
Take for example your crop production; it would be very easy for Applejack to increase her production at the farm by utilizing several cheap and easy to use industrial processes, including those tractors that I know exist from my travels through Equestria. Yet, she refuses to adopt such actions due to the feelings with the land that she has, the magic permits her to sense what the land and the plants require, a sense that is integral to how she lives her life and makes her living. Where I am from a farmer does not have an attachment to the land in the same manner, it is not intrinsic to them. They gain that attachment to the land through years of farming, working, and watching the plants and weather around them; they would not hesitate in many instances to utilize newer technologies to aid them in their routines.
What I am saying, what I’m arguing rather, is that magic is as much of a force of nature, a necessity to your existence, as gravity or the sun is. It’s not that you wouldn’t be able to survive without magic, thought that is a distinct possibility, it’s that magic has been such an integral part of your society for so long that it is quite possibly impossible for you to understand a world without it. Magic as an idea has been around in my society since the beginning of time, but my first true sight of it was when I awoke my second day in Equestria. I had inklings of what it could be, other than illusions of course, but I had no idea of its true potential or abilities until I began to study it in earnest; just as you have problems understanding technology that is detached from magic entirely.
As time has continued and my study of magic as a potential stabilizer or catalyst for the experiment I cannot help but realize how much our two societies have deviated from each other with the addition of one additional environmental agent such as magic.Whereas on Earth we took the route of relying upon technology and scientific development for everything from farming to even simple reading, here you would infuse magic into every part of your society, which in turn changed it into what we see today. This shining example of peace and hope for all.