Essays Index

Borderworld Magic series: Part 1 - Magic types | Part 2 - Souls | Part 3 - Using magic

Using magic:
Channeling points:
While magic is abundant on the Borderworld, using it takes skill, as well as something that not everybody has access to: a channeling point. Channeling points are mediums through which magic is used, whether for passive effects or spells, and they can be either artificial or biological. Artificial channeling points would be things such as wands, staffs, or amulets, whereas biological channeling points would be things such as unicorn horns, pegasus wings, or earth pony muscles.

Not all channeling points function the same, especially biological ones, as they vary in both their versatility and in the kind of magic that they draw upon. Some channeling points, such as unicorn horns, are intended to be versatile, and are capable of freeform spellcasting to achieve a number of different magical effects.

However, other channeling points are more limited, and can only achieve a very specific effect. Diamond dogs, for instance, have channeling points in their claws, but these are only good for spells that enhance their digging skills. Some species have channeling points which are even more limited than that. Ponies, for instance, have additional channeling points in their eyes, but these only exist as a medium for a passive magical effect that colours their irises.

Channeling points, as mentioned, also vary in what kind of magic they use. Some channeling points may require a specific magic type to function, or may be able to do more than intended with a specific type. Earth ponies, for instance, are limited to their typical abilities such as enhanced strength when using harmonic magic, as their muscles are their channeling points. However, an earth pony who channels chaos magic through their muscles instead may have many unusual abilities, such as greater flexibility, prehensile hair control, or even precognition.

It is also worth noting that different channeling points may draw magic from different sources, of which there are three. These are soul magic, wild magic, and device magic, and each are used in different ways.

Soul magic:
While the soul acts as protection for a consciousness, it is also made of magic, and any creature that has a channeling point anywhere on its body is capable of drawing magic from its soul to power a spell or passive effect. The soul is weakened by this use of magic, and this can have potentially harmful effects. In fact, it is entirely possible for an individual to drain their magic completely and destroy their souls, which is called total magical burnout. Most species have evolved protective measures to prevent this, such as how unicorns have a limit on how much magic they can channel through their horn at any given time, but these are not foolproof.

This is why it is important to replenish one's magic whenever possible, which can be done through converting it from psionic energy.

Emotivores consume this energy directly, either by passively collecting it from others or actively trying to bring it out. Different emotivores may feed on different flavours of psionic energy from different emotions, as they can potentially have differing nutritional values to a specific species. Changelings, for example, greatly prefer to feed on love. This energy is collected in its pure form first, and is then either converted into chemical energy through biological processes, much like how plants photosynthesise to feed on light, or is converted directly into magic.

However, emotion is not a food source for most creatures, and is shared freely by almost every sapient species that are not emotivores themselves. The simplest and easiest way to replenish magic, therefore, is just to be social and have lots of friends, which is where the pony mantra of "friendship is magic" came from. This is also why harmony is such a high ideal in pony society, and why ponies remain one of the more powerful races on their planet despite the fact that they use magic almost constantly.

Alternatively, living beings can use the psionic energy that they produce themselves to feed their magic, but this is more difficult to do and requires deep concentration and meditation, since psionic energy naturally radiates outwards rather than inwards.

Soul magic is powerful, as souls often contain a lot of energy, and almost every naturally evolved biological channeling point is intended for using it. Any half-decent artificial channeling point also should ideally use soul magic, at least if it's intended for freeform spellcasting, because even species without channeling points altogether, such as Earth-237 humans, still have souls. In fact, species which lack any natural channeling points would have the largest souls of all, and would most benefit from using soul magic.

For freeform spellcasting, soul magic is almost essential. Spellcasting in this manner requires a lot of mental direction, forming images and structures in the mind's eye, following a framework that defines the spell's purpose and effect. More complex frameworks make for more difficult spells, as greater study is required to memorise the framework and get it right. Soul magic helps with this, as soul signatures are a good basis for spell frameworks, which is how unicorn ponies are able to easily develop spells that compliment their special talents.

However, as mentioned previously, this is mostly just the case for harmonic magic. Both order and chaos magic require different approaches to freeform spellcasting.

Wild magic:
Wild magic is magic that exists in nature, and it saturates the world. There are trace amounts of wild magic in blood, minerals, plantlife, water, and almost everything else. Stars and planetary bodies are hosts to the largest quantities of wild magic, and Equestria's own sun and moon both constantly radiate magic through their light. Because wild magic is everywhere, and wants to affect the world in a significant way, it responds to incantations and bodily motions, and can be directed by them.

Wielding wild magic is difficult, and must be done through one of three ways. Firstly, a standard channeling point such as a unicorn horn can potentially be used to direct wild magic, so long as the user knows how to. Secondly, rituals such as the aforementioned incantations and bodily motions can be used to influence the wild magic, although ritual alone can barely do anything, and must be augmented. And finally, there is the art of alchemy, which involves mixing together natural ingredients that contain specific kinds of wild magic, resulting in a magical brew that bestows a spell effect.

Alchemy is the purest form of wild magic, and requires no channeling point to use, as it is only dependent on the magical ingredients being present. However, alchemy can still be enhanced by use of ritual magic or freeform spellcasting. In turn, elements of alchemy or freeform spellcasting can enhance ritual magic, enabling it to have a more tangible effect.

Ritual magic's primary use, however, is to be used in combination with soul magic. Not only can rituals augment freeform spells, but ritual magic can also be used to cast spells even for species with very limited channeling points. The more limited the channeling point, the more complicated the ritual. To do this, the user channels their soul magic as normal, and then uses the ritual to influence wild magic into redirecting their spell's effect into something else. For instance, an earth pony could channel magic through their muscles for strength, and then use a ritual to turn that strength spell into shield spell.

Device magic:
The final source of magic is device magic, which comes from within an enchanted object. Unlike wild magic, which freely saturates everything in nature, device magic is imbued into an enchanted object by somebody else's will, and is usually there to power the enchantment, whatever that may be. Thus, all enchanted objects from the special Power Ponies comics to the Crystal Heart itself are examples of device magic, because they all have an internal magic supply to draw upon.

Barring special requirements demanded of the wielder, such as how the Elements of Harmony can only be used by sanctioned bearers, anybody can use device magic, regardless of whether or not they have a channeling point of their own. In fact, device magic does not even necessarily require that the user have a soul. For example, a magical staff intended for freeform casting could be used by a completely magicless individual if it was designed to draw magic from an internal supply rather than from the wielder's soul.

Acknowledgements:
-Magical burnout was a concept that I first saw in Fallout: Equestria by Kkat.

The simplest and easiest way to replenish magic, therefore, is just to be social and have lots of friends, which is where the pony mantra of "friendship is magic" came from.

I just love things that connect the dots like this, and there was a lot of that in here. I would support this as official cannon if I could.

3988329

And then season five reveals that magic is actually all midichlorians.

If anybody was wondering why the original part 1 thread became part 3 in the split and rewrite, it's so that 3988329's quote doesn't look out of place. I did not wish him to look foolish, quoting something that was not there, and so I did this for him, FOR I AM A GENEROUS GOD, AND MY MERCY IS INFINITE.