Magic filters slowly through the bloodlines of a species. When the deer began at first to harness the arcane energies that filled the space about them, the resulting spells and forces were extremely weak. A deer, even one so mighty as a strongly-antlered elk, would have to strain merely to move one rock from one pile to the next. But magic, at least the magic of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, works rather like a muscle. The more you practice it, the stronger it becomes.
However, it is more precise to state that the magic of the ponyverse acts like a muscle if its gains of strength switched off from being temporal to being most genetic. When a pony- or a deer, or an antelope, or any such creature- has been working with their magic for some time, that magic is much amplified inside them. And then that amplification is impressed upon the very blood and marrow of the creature casting spells. This means that nearly every gain in magic power born from careful effort becomes permanent- and even more than that, becomes inheritable. The very first elk, red deer, mule deer and more who used magic built upon their pitiful abilities through careful effort- and the strength they gained they passed along to all deer that came after.
Now? The deerfolk, and the Elders that are their most mighty remnant, represent the apex of the deer's long bond with magic. FĂ«anor and all his fellow high deer Elders have within their veins the magic of millennia of effort. This has made them mighty far beyond compare, with spells of such a scale that they might shatter mountain ranges and set all the seas to boil. The common deer- the mule deer and the white-tails- are not as strong, but they too on average have far, far more magic than a pony unicorn.
And magic is the strength of life within the ponyverse, which means that once a creature passes one specific level in their arcane strength they turn effectively immortal. Morta, Decima, Nona and the other elders have persisted young and strong for ages- the youngest of them, Glorfindel, is twenty-five hundred years old and still counting. Mule deer and white-tail deer live centuries.
Far beyond what any pony might achieve? Not quite. The ponies are a very young race, their bond with magic less than two thousand years in age. They have, in contrast to the deerfolk, only just begun to tap their magical potential, and the gains of all their elders have already been imprinted on the newest generations. Twilight Sparkle is of special note. Even as a 'normal' unicorn she wielded power stronger than a common deer, and her possession of the Element of Magic cannot be the only explanation. I suspect she comes from some old line of sorcerers, perhaps from deep within Equestria's more primeval past, and the strides they made in magic were transmitted through the years to her. Were Twilight to birth foals, and those foals in the future to have children, eventually a line would rise of unicorns as powerful as high deer. Twilight in her strength is a firm glimpse into the future of the ponyfolk's arcane potential.
Additionally, ponies have one more trick up their sleeve. The high deer are immensely powerful, comparable to gods. But they are not gods- yet Celestia and Luna are. The coming of the Sisters changed the nature of the pony species, giving them, in essence, a long line of golden thread that stretches up to heaven. Sun and Moon have ties to the infinity of all the cosmos, and through them, other ponies have the chance, however rare, to reach godhood themselves. Princess Cadence is the first of this example, and Twilight herself is now the second. Might other ponies, somewhere further down the line, achieve divinity? Time alone will tell.
I don't think many people will disagree when I say this, (at least I hope they agree with what I'm about to say).
After that episode with Discord's "illness", and Twilight and Cadence went to find a Magic Flower that can cure his "illness" (fanxplosion after the episode of bronies and pegasisters alike shouting out that your previous fanfic was cannon At the end), I would say that all of this note (aside from the deer) is in fact Cannon. It makes sense, in a few ways. I mean I too think of magic as a muscle, and the more you use it, the stronger it becomes.
Just my thoughts so far.
I assume the deer still have to work at it to reach their potential?
Twilight wasn't automatically good at magic, though she obviously had the latent potential. She practiced to become as good as she is. I assume any potential not reached then resets the bar? Thus a race could actually downgrade themselves if for some reason they refuse to strengthen their bond for a generation.
kay inersting perspective on how alicornhood can appear I will admit.
4705216 i assume the potential is passed on not the skill in all races
4705162 i completely forgot about that by the time the episode aired but
Just so long as we're clear that magic can be burnt out (sometimes permanently, or at least for a long time) through truly excessive strenuous use. If, for example, the energy required for a spell is far above the threshold of a unicorn and they manage to cast it anyway through extreme dedication and effort, that magical debt is going to reap a mean harvest on them. That's what happened in the Journal of the Two Sisters, when it took Star Swirl and five strong unicorns to raise/lower the sun and moon every day. Star Swirl could take it... but not alone. And when no more unicorns were left to support him (however temporarily) he burnt himself out. In the meanwhile, Celestia and Luna didn't just command the sun and moon with ease, the effort actually strengthened and renewed them from the very first time they tried it. Assuming you haven't already read that book, I'll leave it up to you to untangle the meanings there. I'd say it supports your theory from the right angle, though.
An observation I might have already made in another comment on your story or user page:
After seeing that Tirek's magic manifested itself completely differently from pony magic, it's easy to surmise that every magical species would have their own style(s) of I.M.E. (Individual Magical Effect, stolen shamelessly from the webcomic "Goblins" by Tarol Hunt). Ponies, or more specifically unicorns, demonstrate a very bright and colorful magical aura that is usually highly visible around whatever they manipulate. They value their happy, beautiful colors and sparkly-ness. Even pegasi sometimes demonstrate this with their contrails. Makes me wonder how an earth pony could demonstrate their own brand of magic in a colorful fashion.
Huh. Actually, I'm pretty sure I DID already post this in a comment. But... uh... >_>
I'll just post it again. Just to make sure. I love your "Notes On [---]" pseudo-chapters, btw. Always a fun read, if all too brief.
Do you think minotaurs have magic? Iron Will's horns were quite similar to Tirek's. I'd say "no" but there's an upcoming comic where Iron Will and Fluttershy co-star together, and that could do anything with canon. I don't want to impose my initial fanon assumptions on anything or anybody.
So magic works along similar lines to Lamarckianism.
Question: what does this entail for pegasi and earth ponies? Even zebras, for that matter. They all have magic abilities too, but theirs don't seem to be exercised as consciously as those of a unicorn or deer. Do they also pass on their innate magics through bloodlines, or do they work differently?
This story is so good, that I sometimes get it mixed up with the canon of MLP:FIM.
The latest episode I rewatched was when Fluttershy chased the CMC into the forest while the CMC chased the chicken.
I shit you not, even though I already saw the episode, I was half expecting the deer to come out and help her.
i67.photobucket.com/albums/h318/Shipwreck1/Goddamn%20ponies/1297054388134.jpg
4705162
In all fairness I feel the show and Dangerous Business are borrowing the well worn trope of "Going to the ends of the earth to find a magic plant that save a life/grants immortality" which is itself really just a chunk of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Not to diminish any ones work, but it's something that crops up in adventure epics from time to time. For two to share it is not one taking from the other so much as having similar source material.
All that aside, it was certainly very cool to see the show tell a very similar story, and I'll admit I first thought about Dangerous Business after seeing that episode.
Lysenkoism is real.
Nice clarification. I'll note, however, that I found "Were Twilight to sire foals, and those foals in the future to have children, eventually a line would rise of unicorns as powerful as high deer" distracting, as while given the right magic it might be possible, I don't naturally think of Twilight as someone that would father a child.
4707358
Good point, I changed it to 'birth.'
4705493
I think the magic as muscle analogy can work well to explain magic burn out. If you work a muscle you make it stronger, but if you work it too hard you run the risk of straining or tearing that muscle. Depending on the severity sometimes the function of that muscle is impaired even after healing. Similarly I think that if someone were to use too much magic too quickly or for too long they run the risk of temporary or even perm enact burnout. Even temporary burnout can have adverse affects on the ability to use magic.
Interesting thoughts. In your view, were Celestia and Luna born alicorns, or did they become alicorns like Twilight?
4717117
I'll do a "A Note On" post on the subject at some point, but basically I believe Celestia and Luna came into existence as alicorns. In this universe, they are the second Sun and Moon. Reiziger destroyed the first two.
Does that mean the younger Elders are more powerful, since there were more generations of magic-users before them?
4720996 the easter bunnys been replying...its all part of a chocolate egg conspiracy
4724405
Good points all around, and I agree pretty much across the board.
On a side note though, Spike (and or Fluttershy) did in fact right the letter. But not until they had Pinkie Promised not to contact Celestia. You get to see them ocassionally throughout the story struggling with maintaining Twilight's wish, not wanting to undermined their other friends struggle and not wanting to... well have whatever happens when you break a Pinkie Promise when it's progenitor is sitting in the room.
You already hinted at the rest of the mane six becoming alicorns, so no need for time to tell, you already did.
4705702 This was my first thought too! poor Pony Darwin...
CALLING IT
CALLING IT NOW
Alicorn 6.
-Spirit
So, in MLP, Lysenko was right?
Wikipedia (that invaluable compendium of meaningless trivia & drivel)