Candid Canned: How Does Magic Work?

[@Tillyard86]

I have always thought that the unicorn are saying magic words inside their head, and since their horn is connected to their head, it picks them up. If they wanted to they could say them out loud but that since unicorn are casting magic all the time, it would get a bit annoying to have to listen to them constantly muttering incantations, so it's just seen as not polite to say it out loud.

[@cannedcream]

That's actually rather clever. The thoughts are transferred directly to the horn without need to verbally announce them. As for getting annoying.... yes, I can see that happening. The more I think about it, the more my mind keeps turning back to Raven in Teen Titans. You know; "Azarath Metrion Zinthos". As Dr. Light once told her; "Find shorter magic words".

[@adolfodef]

cannedcream Good comparison, as the magic of Raven is powered by emotions (the words themselves means nothing, but they call back strong feelings from experiences of her childhood). Something similar happens in the entire Disney franchise; were all spells & incantations are designed as a "recipe" or guide; to focus thoughts and feelings in a coordinated sequence, to control a more basic "rewrite, add or edit" something from the fabric of reality. The new "Once upon a Time" crossover even fixs the gaps (or retcons the plotholes), from the old movies like Snow White to improve the logic and coherency of the series [by the use of "equivalent exchange" like a law of thermodynamics for magic]. Back to MLP:FIM Some "standard" but very complex unicorn magic, like the temporary butterfly wings for Rarity (episode S1E16 Sonic Rainboom), requires Twilight reading a book once, (to memorize the basics of the spell), then concentrate on figure out how to "translate it" [to her very personal mindset in a positive way], then closing her eyes to avoid any external distractions, (like Pinky Pie); and finally releasing energy while mantaining control over all the process. Other spontaneus (not wanted) spells like "group teleportation" (episode S1E03 Ticket Master) when fueled by neutral emotions like *panic* can have unexpected consequences; as Spike was a little "damaged" by it, and both end up few hours into the future (it changes from full daylight chase running, to complete nightime when they end inside the library). Negative feelings of despair and sadness, from failure and the dissapointment of others (combined with a perturbation on the magical background field) can create very strong and unpredictable chaos magic (like what happen to Filly!Twilight in episode S1E23 Cutie Mark Chronicles).

[@quanariin1290]

Unicorn magic has been seen to fatigue it's user on extended use, meaning that magic taps into the energy that is usually used to walk, talk and generally just move.

[@fringolm]

Revelation!!!!! Thank you CC!! You know in princess twilight sparkle when zecora tells Twi that the potion "only responds to alicorn magic" and we were all confused because Twi somehow takes this to mean "use some dark magic on the potion"? Well now I know why!! She didn't! Since she was so worried about the princesses and anxious about having to direct the royal guards, the magic she was trying to use came out as dark magic!! Thank you canned for being so smart and coming up with theories for us to build on. :-)

[@thetrinitycomplex2122]

In my head cannon, I see there being different branches of unicorn magic such as Abjuration (which allows for the user to create barriers and wards, which is what Shining Armor is good at), Invocation (summoning, illusion, transformation and conjuration magic fall under this category), Divination (which Celestia and Luna were hinted at having this is Twilight's Kingdom) and Elemental magic (the primary four of fire, water, earth and air and the secondary duo of energy/electricity and ice) However I also imagine there being two dark branches: necromancy and blood magic; necromancy differs from blood magic in that there is no blood required to power the spell, rather all is needed is a corpse, the spirit of the deceased and raw power while blood magic required the blood of the user and can be used to brainwash a person, bind someone and even cause curses. I also see there being magic that can be used in a non natural way, that being artifice (magical artifacts) and nature magic (calling upon certain powers to create a potion or cast a spell). Yeah..lots of info there, but then I've always had a WAY too creative mind...

[@sarahbertram8227]

He said 28 times "Magic" I'm not counting magical or nothing like that. I did shots of chocolate milk 😂 gotta love that video btw :3

[@randomperson1714]

Nice excuse to drink chocolate milk.

[@suzanneoesch6407]

Yeah, you would be dead if it wasn't chocolate milk.

[@strawber3seal_77]

Shots of fizzy water for me!

[@angelshark8305]

Who is addicted to watching these kinds of mlp videos?😂 👍🏻If you do

[@meriamfaizaslib3907]

Lpsyandere Lover1987 i

[@katiebeaton465]

Lpsyandere Lover1987 😂👍

[@candacescorner3141]

Me

[@minecraftmadison462]

Me

[@jiffycook]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@zoetheepic1125]

Hmm... Drinking game? YOU HEARD HIM SILVER QUILL! DRINK UP!

[@oddballsoddities9785]

lol

[@annkirstine4772]

OMG 40 🤯 W T F Rip silver quill

[@SnailonCloudNine]

But what if the unicorn's horn breaks?

[@cannedcream]

That... is actually a good question. I suppose that would mean that they could no longer create magic. I wonder how hard it is to break a horn. Does it hurt? Can it grow back? I... really want to know this, now.

[@SnailonCloudNine]

Yeah. I think the horn is more of a tube that channels the magic and with it broken it causes the magic to be uncontrollable and cause sparks. Or something like that.

[@epeman1954]

Distorted Marionette like a wizards wand?

[@SnailonCloudNine]

In a way.

[@Sparrow9612]

cannedcream - The way I see it CC, the horn can grow back if broken. It will almost certainly be very painful and take a while (like a lost fingernail), and in the mean-time the Unicorn will not be able to use magic. If they attempted to do so, there might be consequences, like magical feedback or a critical build up of energy that could prove dangerous or even fatal, like pressure building up inside a reactor. The results would not be pretty.

[@NoMercy745]

As for where natural magic comes from, I believe that every creature has a mana pool within them. They draw upon this pool to fuel the spell. These pools range in size ,metaphysically speaking, from ocean size for Unicorn Twilight to kiddy pool size for someone like Trixie. However, beings using this mana must never let the pool run dry, for if they do the spell they are using will use anything to keep itself running... even the body of the one casting the spell. As for friendship being magic, being true friends allows one to draw from a friends mana.

[@TiMoThY211991]

The want it need it spell was used intending to cause a fight over the object. What was unintentional was the exposure of the doll to the town. She naively assumed that it would only affect the fillies but by asking Big Mac for help the number of ponies affected began growing exponentially, and the problem grew to beyond her power to solve.

[@BudCharlesUnderVlogs]

"You will be dead... unless you're Berry Punch."

[@randolphrosenberg2994]

you do realise everypony can do magic, but even greater catigories then you think. mind magic, which is clearly unicorns, body magic, which is earth ponies because of there talents that link to it, and spirit magic, which links to pegasai, because without will and beleving in urself, u will never be able to fly, and its no suprise that, since an alicorn is a combonation of the three types of ponies, alicorns use all three kinds, cuz together theyre stronger.

[@Nothin2seehere-e4z]

I believe that all the ponies have magic DNA in them.

[@levikarkiainen331]

join the dark side....we have cookies

[@zinostria]

LOL never, i would rather die!

[@levikarkiainen331]

Wight Star YOU WILL.....IT IS YOUR DESTINY!!

[@zinostria]

Levi Karkiainen you wish, my destiny is to link science to every thing i see. I figured that out years ago and i am only 14

[@levikarkiainen331]

LOL then swear to yourself you will accept true science and not the ignorant hateful crap where you generally think you are right and no one else is XD you see science ...real science is based off the more humble approach that its impossible to actually know anything. there is no such thing as a fact in real science just the opinions and assumptions we make with our ever so limited ability to comprehend our environment ^_^ NOTHING is beyond the scope of possibility not even religion or science fiction. everything and nothing is possible at the very same time... nothing can be proven or disproven. this is what makes a real scientist a wise and worth listening to man OwO BE THAT MAN!!!!! or woman I cant really tell from here lol

[@zinostria]

Levi Karkiainen "NOTHING is beyond the scope of possibility not even religion or science fiction." this is very true and i have found ways to explain both of thees things using scientific theories (ones made by credible scientist aka not Steven Hawking) i have even been able to explain most things in almost every TV show fiction or not. its not relay not that hard.

[@iieiwjwsehhwjwjwjw3601]

What do they do to float things use their eyes or

[@beccawilkinson9037]

Canned cream: that's some strong damn Magic Captain America: language

[@RedCordPlayer]

Wow great review. I had a lot of questions about the magic of MLP and you did a good job going over them. I look forward to checking out more of your videos during MLP season 4

[@dawnheart4436]

what would happen if pinkie became a unicorn then?

[@cannedcream]

Ragnarök.

[@dawnheart4436]

cannedcream XD that would actually be pretty funny seeing that happen.

[@tootierollpop]

The world would explode

[@dawnheart4436]

Shelly Kirby lol

[@cipherfresh]

IM WRITING A FANFICTION ABOUT THAT. THE WORLD EXPLODES.

[@Sparrow9612]

As Kyle Katarn stated about the Force, the same can be said of magic: it is neither light nor dark, but depends on how and for what one uses it.

[@rubysapphire3335]

hey cc everybrony knows foals have bursts of their respected skills but when they get older they forget how to do it.

[@Springtime562]

My theory on the poison joke is it has 2 stages that work over 8 hours but for simplicity were using twilights dose of it like 1 stage is the prank witch happens over time and stage 2 is disabling the abilitys of the host

[@Springtime562]

Also i think your right but theres like 2 vessels like the horn but somthing before it like the brain or a cloud of spells like the unicorn thinks of a spell and the brain figures out how to make it with a compilation of feelings and thoughts and memory

[@bubblygumartist4923]

Maybe there's a magical connection from another place away from Equestria? What I'm saying is that a magic princess/prince is keeping track of all the magic that people are using, all of the workers are tracking every piece of magic and putting it in a secret file and stash is away in a filing drawer thingy

[@spoileralert6556]

My personal theory is that Unicorn spells are indeed written spells like the one Starswirl the Bearded (almost) wrote. After all, most of the spells Twilight uses were learned from reading books. But since we don't hear the unicorns whispering incantations, I think the spells are said in their heads. This would actually work with cannedcream's emotional theory, as the words to the spell could be a way of forming and directing emotions. It also explains the need for focus, as a distracted unicorn couldn't concentrate on what they were thinking.

[@truesailorcomet]

i can see the want it need it spell working possibly for medical/health reasons, like an undesirable taste in medicine used on a picky eater when they really need to use it and they refuse like a sick kid, pet, or someone suffering from an eating disorder, as long as the item desired can also be desired to be eaten and not just coveted, it can be rather useful

[@tetsiga45XxX]

I think the tier system could use reworking. Alchemy and enchantment magics do have the potential to be on par or even more powerful with any unicorn magic given the right conditions. Such as the alicorn amulet enhancing ones abilities (something I am almost positive doesn't exist as its own spell). Or the love poison which was shown to be more powerful than Cadances love magic (perhaps purposefully).

[@scarletlightning565]

Interesting thoughts. I like the idea of the spells being powered by emotion. I have written up my own interpretation of magic (though I haven't gone over it in a while) Note: this is going to be a long one. MLP Magic Colour: Nature of spell type The Elements of Harmony White: Solar; Time; Sonic. Super powerful; can only be handled by the most powerful and strong willed. Celestia is the only true master Blue: Illumination; Location; Conjuring; Emotional. Not as rare as White, but still very hard to master. Cadence is a master, Twilight is a level 3 Emotional (possibly higher as she was impaired during testing), and Rarity is a level 3.5 Conjurer. Able to purge Shadow magic, as well as spread Light and Joy through Crystals. Green: Suggestion; Illusion; Stealth. Requires specific training. Changelings have a natural ability. Purple: Levitation (Gravity); Teleportation; Defense; Offense; Animation. Above Levitation requires a curtain ability not possessed by most. Only Twilight and Luna have mastered this form. Shadow: Shape shifting; Hypnosis; Corruption; Deception Able to counter Dark magic, possibly more. Countered by Blue Emotional. Can create Dark Crystals and command them. Can be quite chaotic. Level: minimum ability to perform spells of a curtain category (1=low 5=high) 1: Illumination; Levitation 2: Conjuring; Defense; Sonic 3: Teleportation; Stealth 4: Emotional; Illusion 5: Time; Animation; Solar Shadow exempt from classification Spells: Blue Conjuring; Twilight’s Growing spell; Trixie’s Flower spell; Rarity’s Clothing spells (used by Twilight as well); Twilight’s Wings spell Emotional; Twilight’s Want-it-Need-it spell; Changelings’ Love Syphon spell; Cadence’s Love spells; Twilight’s Memory spell; Illumination; Twilight’s Lighting spell (also used by Snails); Rarity’s ‘Lightshow’ Effects Location; Rarity’s Gem Finding spell; White Solar; Celestia’s Sun Beam spell; Immortality; and Solaris Connection; Twilight’s Fail-safe spell Time; Starswirl’s Time Warp spell. Sonic; Luna’s Vocal Enhancement spell. Green Illusion; Changelings’ Mimic spell; Trixie’s special effects; Nightmare Moon’s Shape shifting; Twilight’s Cinderella spell Suggestion; Twilight’s Hypnosis spell; Changelings’ Mind Control spell; Stealth Dawn Twilight used it to revile the true doorway from Sombra’s Deception spell Purple Teleportation; Twilight’s basic Teleportation; Celestia’s Warp spell; Nightmare Moon’s Teleport Vortex; Spike’s D-Mail (Dragon Mail) spells Levitation; Basic Telekinesis possessed by all Unicorns; Passive Levitation used by Pegasi; Twilight’s Cloud Walking spell (Gravity); Twilight’s Gravity Flip spell Offence; Twilight’s Magic Missile (used by Shining Armour) and De-Cloaking spells; Nightmare Moon’s Lightning spell Defence; Shining Armour’s Shield spell (used also by Twilight); Animation; The Come-to-Life spell (used by Twilight and Luna); Individual Ability Twilight (unicorn) Purple Overall; Level 5 White; Level 2 Level 4 Time; Unknown Solar and Sonic Blue; Level 3 Level 3 Illumination; Level 3 Location; Level 2.5 Conjuring; Level 3 Emotional Green; Level 2.5 Level 2 Illusion; Level 3 Suggestion; Unknown Stealth Purple; Level 4.5 Level 4 Levitation (Level 2.5 Gravity); Level 4.5 Teleportation; Level 4 Defence; Level 3 Offence; Level 2 Animation Rarity Blue Overall; Level 3.5 White; Unknown Blue; Level 3.5 Level 4 Illumination; Level 4.5 Location; Level 3.5 Conjuring; Unknown Emotional Green; Level 2 Level 3 Illusion; Unknown Suggestion; Unknown Stealth Purple; Level 2.5 Level 4 Levitation; Unknown Teleportation; Unknown Defence; Unknown Offence; Unknown Animation Trixie Green Overall; Level 3 White; Unknown Blue; Level 2 Level 1.5 Illumination; Unknown Location; Level 3 Conjuring; Unknown Emotional Green; Level 3 Level 3.5 Illusion; Level 3 Suggestion; Unknown Stealth Purple; Level 1.5 Level 1 Levitation; Teleportation, Defence, Offence and Animation not applicable Luna Purple/Blue Overall; Level 5 White; Level 5 Level 5 Solar; Unknown Time; Level 4.5 Sonic Blue; Level 4 Unknown Illumination; Unknown Location; Level 4 Conjuring; Unknown Emotional Green; Level 3.5 Level 3 Illusion; Unknown Suggestion; Unknown Stealth Purple; Level 5 Level 3 Levitation; Level 5 Teleportation; Level x Defence; Level x Offence; Level 4.5 Animation Chrysalis Green/Blue Overall; Level 4 Unknown White Blue; Level 3 Unknown Illumination; Unknown Location; Unknown Conjuring; Level 4 Emotional Green; Level 5 Level 4.5 Illusion; Level 4 Suggestion; Unknown Stealth Purple; Level 3 Level 2 Levitation; Level 3.5 Teleportation; Level 2 Offence (boosted to Level 4); Unknown Defence; Unknown Animation Cadence Blue Overall; Level 4.5 White; Unknown Blue; Level 5 Unknown Illumination; Unknown Location; Unknown Conjuring; Level 5 Emotional Green; Unknown Purple; Level 3* Level 3.5 Levitation; Unknown Teleportation; Unknown Offence; Unknown Defence; Unknown Animation Shining Armour Purple Overall; 4 White; Unknown Blue; Level 2* Green; Unknown Purple; Level 3.5 Level 2 Levitation; Unknown Teleportation; Level 3.5 Offence; Level 4 Defence; Unknown Animation Crystals; Respond to Blue and Shadow magic. When exposed to Blue, the crystals glow with a brilliant rainbow hue and spread happiness and light. When exposed to Shadow however, they turn into Dark Crystals and spread misery and hate through shadows and other crystals. Note on the Alicorn Amulet: The AA is a charm or relic of Red magic. This is a very rare kind as it requires other forms of magic to sustain its self. If this source is a pony, the Red magic taps into their emotions to feed its self and at the same time corrupts the bearer to make sure it remains on the pony. Think 'the Symbiote from Spiderman'. It's the same deal: You get all this POWER, but you're going to lose yourself. Anomalies Fluttershy- Pegasus Anomaly; Possesses a rare Level 3 Suggestion (the Stare) Daisy- Earth Pony Anomaly; Possesses a Level 1 Levitation despite not having any magical training. (Look Before You Sleep) Pinkie Pie- Earth Pony Anomaly; Pinkie Pie So, yeah. That's my take.

[@adolfodef]

I think Daisy needs to use a Flutershy-similar (not-blinking) direct "Stare glance" at the branch to channel telekinesis trough her eyes, because the lack of a horn prevents her to apply a more simple "levitation" enchantment. Another theory says Daisy is a unicorn with a permanent ilusion spell on her horn like invisibility, (o more likely a "somebody else problem" perception filter). Lyra Heartstrings is another anomaly, as she can walk over clouds (episode S1E16 Sonic Raiboom), unless she invented the spell and teach it to Twilight in the same episode.

[@fluffleluna2348]

Wow. Books on a youtube comment

[@dragonwolf9084]

That mega's sens

[@ino-plays_simcraft5751]

After two minuets of shots I was almost drunk. On Dr pepper

[@oddballsoddities9785]

lol

[@JuliaPurin]

I doubt that is possible

[@awesomesause4836]

Woosh

[@gracedirig7603]

I agree with your thoughts on strong emotions but would it be possible to have dark light magic like if sombra was thinking super duper happy thought it would be really awesome. Highly unlikely though what do you think?

[@cozmicjules]

How does magic work? It works... the way magic works.

[@kayleek7321]

omg best analzest ever lol

[@BNuts]

You clearly made this video before 'Twilight's Kingdom,' which canonized that all pony tribes have magic. Earth Pony magic most likely relates to their natural affinity toward tending to the earth and its plants. They get things like strength, endurance, and stamina boosts and an almost elemental connection to the earth that tells them where and when to plant crops to get the best harvest yield. This magic is most likely passive, and thus always 'on.' Earth Ponies likely do not have any control over when or where it happens: it just does. This is observable, perhaps, in the volume of apples the Apple family can safely harvest all at once, and in Granny Smith's observation and cultivation of the zap apples. The way Dash gets tossed around and crashes, quickly recovering with very little injury, if any at all, shows that Pegasi do not have hollow bones like birds, which they would otherwise need in order to fly. Their magic, therefore, includes flight magic, but also weather manipulation. It seems probably that not all Pegasi hold both magic, as Scootaloo has yet to fly, but can use her wings to propel her scooter whereas Fluttershy can fly, especially when properly motivated, but we have never seen her so much as push a cloud. Likewise, we see fillies younger than Scootaloo give flower wreaths to Luna at the end of 'Friendship is Magic, pt 2' by flying to her. Pegasi magic is either passive and always on like Earth Magic, or the Pegasi turn them on whenever they need them, but don't notice doing it because it's so natural to them, like walking or running. Unicorn and Alicorn magic is the most overt and complex. My theory is that Alicorn magic mixes at least Pegasus and Unicorn magic (it could also include Earth Pony magic), and the resonance between them makes their magic stronger than it would be if they were just Unicorns. Alicorns also seem to be able to use multiple magicks, including Cadence who has used defensive and health shields, offensive blasts, and of course that scary-as-Hell 'Change of Heart' spell of hers. Unicorn and Alicorn magic require strong focus / concentration both on the in-gathering of the mana required for the spell, as well as on what one wants the spell to do. It also seems to require a horn, much as most fantasy magic requires a wand or other spell medium to channel the mana (my theory is that the horn/medium is not strictly required, but if pressed to cast without one, the caster will inevitably use some of his/her own vitality/health together with mana). Unlike your theory, CC, I think magic in MLP does require some combination of an incantation, motions, and ingredients in order to work. Most of the time we see somepony using their magic, they can do the incantation silently, or use the spell unincanted. That does not, however, mean that the usual Words of Power are not there. These are very likely included in the recorded details for a given spell, which a Unicorn like Twilight would then spend the time studying and memorizing. Incantations are specific, laying down precisely the spell requirements, as well as what the spell does. This is how Twilight would be able to tell that ' Gossamer Wings' is a difficult spell. From Twilight's comments in 'Magical Mystery Cure,' we can also tell that incantations are supposed to rhyme, and that they don't make sense unless they do (thus her addition to Starswirl's spell makes more sense). Most of the spells we see Unicorns use require only the incantation, focus, and mana so it seems that Unicorns don't usually carry spell ingredients around with them. When a Unicorn or Pegasus casts a spell, they gather in mana from their surroundings, internalizing it through their horns before using that energy to bring out the effects of a given spell. In order to do so, they must possess the capacity to hold and manipulate the required amount of mana, therefore each Unicorn or Alicorn has a manapool of a defined size. As that caster practices with magic, they can increase their casting capacity and efficiency. Twilight as an Alicorn also would have a larger manapool than she did as a Unicorn. My theory would also have had her manapool vastly increase as a result of the Triboost in 'Twilight's Kingdom.' Of course, all of this does not mean that Unicorns and Alicorns do not possess their own mana: all living, and perhaps some non-living, things possess mana. In the case of Unicorns and Alicorns, their own mana could be their last resort, to be used in emergencies, like Cadence did in 'The Crystal Empire.' And the final, last-ditch resort would be their own vitality, so they would be sacrificing their own lives for a final strike in such a case. Also, it has been proven that magic auras, including the 'rainbow connections' are not visible to normal ponies. I have it in my fanfics that some Unicorns do possess a spell that would allow them to do so. My OC, Gearhead, learned 'Shift Focus' from members of the Conclave of Flowing Shadows, the ancient Unicorn clan that lives near his family's farm. He then teaches the spell to Twilight because he wants to know if his aura has changed during the time he accidentally and temporarily transformed himself into an Alicorn colt. His aura is the same, because he is, in essence, the same pony. Artifacts are special items that hold their own magicks. They can also be charged with spells, or used to conduct magic through them, the way the Elements of Harmony are used. It takes a special breed of pony to create an Artifact, in my opinion. They must be gifted both with working the materials and with magic, and of course they must be clever as Artificers. Gearhead is able to create gemstone daggers using his geomancy, and they respond to the wielders need by changing form or size in a limited way. His own geargem dagger can also be used to conduct mana, and a gemstone dagger can only be used to its full potential by the wielder for whom it was intended, so he cannot use the one he made for Shining Armour. Artifacts like the Alicorn Amulet are clearly designed to enhance one's own magical talent, assuming one already has some talent. Unfortunately in this case it uses dark magic, as does the 'Inspiration Manifestation,' although the book seems to be more of a container for the dark magic between hosts (I'm thinking of the symbiotes from 'Spider-Man).' The Elements of Harmony are unique among Artifacts because, until we know otherwise, it seems like they were grown as the fruit of the Tree of Harmony. Their design and uses are therefore supernaturally-defined. I think they can be used flexibly, to bring down whatever karmic punishment the target might deserve, and that's why they could banish and then purify Luna, and petrify or release Discord. The Elements also cannot be used if one or more Element and/or Holder are missing. If you watch the energy when they activate, the light from the energy seems to come from the pony wearing them, and then that is focused through the Element of Magic. This would track with a use of mana/vitality because after the first use the Mane 6 appear exhausted. Conjuration of the type Zecora practices may be a slightly unique case, since I doubt she uses up any of her vitality in her casting. It seems more likely that she requires more potion ingredients to cast spells, and besides that she is a potionsmaster of high skill. In this way, it is not as though she does not use a spell medium, because her ingredients are her spell medium, and she is using the mana that already exists within them. And she does that voodoo that she does so well VERY well. As we've seen with Apple Bloom, potionsmaking can be learned by a member of any pony tribe, but Earth Ponies and their relatives are probably uniquely suited to it. Speaking of Earth Ponies, I see Crystal Ponies as a special tribe among them. Crystal Ponies probably have a higher and more selective connection to the earth that relates to finding and manipulating gemstones, thus explaining how they can build entire structures made of gems. Further, as living gemstones they can gather, focus, and redirect high volumes of mana, as they did when they powered up the Crystal Heart. These abilities could give them an interesting and important role in my fanfics, as Gearhead works well with gemstones. He even uses them as a way to generate energy for various purposes. One such would be the defensive array he will be building to help Cadence keep Sombra out of the city.

[@JulianaVasko]

i have always thought that unicorns have to use emoshion (dont know how to spell it ) and words in there head and after using the spell 1 2 maybe 3 times then its incaved in there minds and can do it instantly.

[@augustdavis7333]

Yeah, Pinkie is caught looking at the viewers and breaks the fourth wall MANY many many times.

[@rachaelross9965]

What ep is 6:37 ?

[@tabithaalphess2115]

I actually think that magic in unicorns is dependent upon how much energy they have, since in the Crystal Empire we saw that Cadence was overusing her magic, she was exhausted and had very little energy, and the same could be said for Shining Armor in A Canderlot Wedding. Though I would like to know if this magic would eventually draw off their lifeforce when their energy is depleted.

[@lpsfoxstar8454]

There is one broblem for me. In the season something finale, four, i guess...we see twilight use dark magic to the potion while not being angry or sad. Worried at the most but apperetly she willingly tried to use black magic soo...do i have a point?

[@the1exnay]

i think that natural magic uses emotion OR words. as based in the instances where they have simply read words from a book without understanding the spell and it still took place. i think these two types of magic are exclusive as we see incredibly powerful spoken spells with no more concentration required than reading. hor have we seen any emotional magic require words to operate.

[@lechugalexx1738]

Got really drunk but im 45% sure im still alive.

[@CharlotteLamb01]

thats a low number (comment by Charlottes daughter)

[@drwho8333]

I do believe that it is mood but I also think personality like how flutter shy is shy so she wonto do to much with her wings or how vynle scratch is pretty smooth and fast with her Magic so no ponies are waiting for the music to turn on and then not hearing any.zecora is calm so she has calm magic to help others

[@sweetappleapple4011]

I agree that magic is affected by emotion. Because we can see in the episode bad seed that one sweetie Bell got excited she was able to use a bit of her magic just concluding that magic is affected by emotion.

[@owllover2319]

Can you update this to account for the events of Twilight's Kingdom where Tyrek is able to suck the magic out of all ponies, including earth ponies and pegasi?

[@Springtime562]

4:32 yeah! My headcanon of poison joke was that it had 3 stages of infection! 1. Nothing. Spores just got on ya. The jokes deciding what to do to you (happens on the way home and to bed for twlight) 2. The visuals come into play. The visual effects come in but they are only for looks. (While twlight is sleeping to after she finshes brushing hair) 3. The actual effects happen. Now the visuals arent just for looks. Truely happened. Just need to take bath

[@pokemnstar]

what about alicorn magic, pegasus magic(flying), and earth pony magic (their strength?)

[@Galimeer5]

Ever since I played Thaumcraft 4 (and 5 to some extent), that's how I see magic working in any universe. Of course, elements of the Force also apply. The "energy" comes from nature, but its use is dictated by the user (obviously) and altered by their state of mind and whatever tool is acting as the conduit.

[@storypupeteer7743]

At 0:15 The though "please don't let silver quill watch this video" came into my head because after watching one of his videos i knew he would make a drinking game out of it.

[@KrG3739]

There were some good arguments here. The detail about conjuring magic and ritual magic seems to hold a lot of water, in addition to the detail on neutral magic. For unicorns, it may be the case that their inherent qualities in neutral magic involves working with matter. This can take the form of telekinesis, levitation, and (from what the character pumpkin pie demonstrated) going through solid matter (likely varying degrees of this). From what is seen with Trixie, it also seems that not all unicorns have equal aptitude in this respect. You had a good observation of "brain rape" magic casting a frequent presence in the series. It seems likely that, although it can be found in ritual items and relics, it likely originates in light and dark magic (emotion based). With exceptions, most practitioners of light and dark magic seem to acquire the skill only after much practice (making it a highly specialized field). While the above may sound disturbing, there may be another factor balancing out chaotic possibilities. Characters who rely far too heavily on light or dark magic (with exceptions) often are cast in an antagonistic light (abuse of power). This includes protagonists (as pointed out for Twilight in Lesson Zero) and antagonists (as you pointed out with King Sombra). If that is a guideline for portraying magic in the series, it may explain why there has been good character development so far.

[@mrpolygon8189]

I like to thing that the magic in Equestria is like a background energy of sorts and that magical aptitude is one ability to manipulate the energy. Unicorn horns, in my mind, funnel this energy into a more concentrated and powerful amount, relics being what is essentially artificial horns. Conjuring magic however has to be focused through the users entire being making less concentrated and therefor less powerful.

[@curtyshamilton2372]

If magic is raw emotion, and the horn seems to be the source of their magic, how do these to things fit together? How would their emotions and their horns relate to make natural magic? And what about the pegasai? Controlling the weather and walking on clouds has to be the work of magic as well, right? Even the Earth ponies, there's just so much to get into.

[@RosaLuxembae]

Why does everypony say Pinkie brakes the forth wall a lot, she does it a bit but the CMC do just as much (for example scheming looks at audience in On Bad Apple)

[@jeremyhernandez1837]

does anyone know how I can get my message to canned cream

[@SilverTune]

i think that this whole thing can be true but to explain why Starswirl's spell was worded, i think that while casting the spell unicorns say incantations in their head, (like some witches/wizards can in harry potter) i think that, instinctively, baby unicorns, like pumpkin, just know the incantation for levitation and other very simple spells, then when they go to school they have things that are like electives, the young pegasi go to a flying class and the young unicorns go to a magic class where they learn these incantations (idk about the earth ponies... they go to gardening class? XD)

[@Spekor]

aaaaactually. about magic.. and i know video is old. but unicorns have spells written down. you only see the one from magical mystery cure being cast vocally because twilight was working it out. it think unicorns are able to focus raw magical power through the horn from the ambiant pool around them and just mentally recite the spell. else every unicorn would have the exact same abilities from birth and there would be no spell books. or every unicorn would have only a specific set of spells they are born with and could never learn anothers

[@thereadingnook6817]

My personal theory is that it's kinda magical radiation, which soaked through from the miror, which has likely existed for longer than Equestria has been around. I think it started leaking magic into the world in some car off land, maybe the alicorn kingdom. Eventually it was banished to a mountainside cave under modern-day Canterlot, in the same caves that Twilight gets banished to during a canterlot wedding. After Celestia and Luna took over, they moved it to the Castle of the Two Sisters until it was sent to the Crystal Empire to be watched over by Cadence. The amount of magic depends on how long the pony was exposed to it, or how much time a place had the mirror. Like how Canterlot is populated by mostly Unicorns, or the alicorns are so powerful. The zap apple trees

[@flashtferrer819]

I like your perspective on how magic works. I'd like to say just one thing first. It's not just emotion, but imagination that powers magic. Magic itself is one's imagination made real. Emotions, thoughts, feelings, these all affect magic like paint affects art.

[@gabitron9000]

4:22 good job using the weird scene that shows Twilight using magic even though she has the messed up horn XD

[@Namikaze091]

37 shots and also glad I'm not the only one who is kinda really freaked out by cadence and love magic brainwashing

[@sing6125]

Most of the magic of unicorns is the same color of the eyes of an unicorn... right? So what about flurry heart and Celestia i understand that they are alicorn's but Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn ... and i also understand she was a unicorn before but... Celestia states that the birth of a alicorn has never been seen in Equstira so why is Celestia's magic a yellow/gold color and not pink?

[@meilee5769]

Isn't the real question how do unicorns cast spells?Like twilight saying WAIT rarity did show me how to do her gem finding spell how could rarity show it to her is a spell just the patterns an their horn and that's why when twilight used a lot of magic her Aurora was huge on her horn maybe idk

[@aria_daize9926]

what about nightmare moon?

[@aceranderson7956]

Using your description, I can infer that maybe there are certain spells that you can cast within different types of magic. However, while the spell would technically be the same, depending on the emotion of the one who cast it, the result and effects on the rest of the area can vary. For example, if this is true, maybe Sombra's and Celestia's crystal growing spells are actually the same spell, just powered by different emotions, therefore, they have different results. When powered by feelings of love and happiness, the crystal is white, light pink, light blue, or light yellow. However, when the spell is cast using feelings of hate, sadness, anger and envy, the crystal will be black or red. This is why Celestia was able to cast Sombra's version of the spell. Maybe she was, as you stated, afraid of the king, or maybe at that moment she was thinking about the sadness or hatred toward herself that she felt when she sent Luna to the moon.

[@analeighwilliams3756]

Cc what test?

[@confettiveda2460]

*took shots of apple juice* ... *throws up*

[@picses76]

4:23 You do realize that you used a clip of Twilight using magic to brush her hair to say that she couldn’t use her magic, right? The fact that her horn looked sickly is all the reason Twilight would need to stop casting magic for the rest of that episode so as to not make the situation with her horn worse.

[@NoMercy745]

The Cake twins powers were due SURGES in their natural magic abilities. This was even stated in the show. As they get older the flying and floating would cease until they relearn those skills as a colt and filly.

[@twitchywitchy413]

A unicorn's horn is like a human's wand. Just a thing to conduct said magical power. Everyone has at least a bit, like CC said, from emotion, but not all know how to conduct it.

[@meshijahbeazley9311]

I think you got the magic "spectrums" right but look at the book spell rairity uses the spell makes her magic dark and corrupts the user by wrapping around the indentations in the horn kinda like a wrap which means that magic needs to follow a path around the conductor or in this case the horn. I also think you were close about the fact that it comes from emotion but the emotion just determines the spell what it comes from is the brain kinda in like in Harry potter they said some words to cast the spell the ponies probably do the same thing except in their head just clearing their mind of everything except the object and moving it. The thing I think the ponies do to cast magic other than levitation is certain images and words just thought up. Back to levitation, how it's possible to levitate multiple items at once is putting it in a different mind frame and like on a security camera look at all of them at once but in this way moving them all different ways at random would be extremely hard that's why in magic duel at the end she was straining to move the animals in patterns considering her extreme magical talent. The animals are probably harder to move because they move and they are oddly shaped.

[@RosaLuxembae]

I think using unicorn magic is a bit like the force, basically telekinesis caused by something in the body (ie midichlorians)

[@AerielArt]

Wow! Great headcanon!

[@FANacht-dy3tb]

i would be lead to believethat they think of the spel its just that they memorize therefore the lack of need to say it. but there is also a possibility that they use bth for specific types of spells. thats whyshe was reciting the spell in mystical magical cure and didnt in the one with the ursa minor, it is a possibility that she had memorized the spell therefore didnt have to speak. yet emotion wouldnt have worked due toher feeling nervous about casting the spell yet she made it sleep so not all are geared towards emotion

[@NoMercy745]

What is your opinion on all three tribes having their type of magic?

[@mattiekarwin3667]

Okay, I know this is a weird thing to ask from a youtube comments section, but I'm looking for an MLP fanfic that actually follows the idea of headcanon magic use. I can't remember what it was called, but there was a dub of it somewhere on youtube. It also described there being three types of magic, though the classification it used was instinctual (levitation, flight, strength, zebra rituals), glyphic (spells, curses, hexes, etc. Runes were a subset of this), and...a third one. I don't remember what the third was, but I've been going crazy trying to find out, as I'm writing a story that was going to use the concept. If anyone knows what the third one was, or even just knows the name of the fiction I'm talking about, it would be much appreciated.

[@theautumnstarr810]

Wiye do you hav no cutymark?

[@samanthahenney8699]

my headcannon, which is based off of the season four finale, is that all ponies have their magic, the more magic a Pegasus had, the faster he or she is, the more magic an earth pony had, the stronger he or she is, the more magic a unicorn has, more more powerful he or she is.

[@LunaProtege]

I've kinda gone on record as repeating the mantra "Magic is born of the Soul", which is pretty close to what is said here. So yeah. However, since all ponies have some extent of magic, I've also got a mantra of "any pony can learn and master magic if they train for it". Because if Dragon Ball Z has taught me anything, its that even the least magical species can learn to shoot laser beams if they exist in a world of magic and train for 1 year. Speaking of: Twilight's Gravity Spell... Anyone think its got a "Hyper Gravity" variant? That would totally be useful.

[@scottwilliams846]

While I believe the concentration thing is true for most spells, not much is actually required to keep more than one thing going. Emotion... That isn't nearly as straight forward... While it CAN have its effects in magic, it only affects certain spells, such as a form of brainwashing, like what Cadence used to make the couple stop arguing. Yes, the "want it, need it" spell is also an example of this, but it's a weaker one than Cadence's because that shares her current emotion with the spell's recipient, Twilight's spell has a guarantee for going after the object the spell is focused on, but emotion plays a key role in how the spell makes the group of individuals achieve the goal. Also I believe with the right state of mind, and the right knowledge, it might be possible to manipulate enchanted objects to do something other than their intended use. We kind of see this in Equestria Girls when glasses human Twilight accidentally harnesses the magic from the portal statue and the others and releases it upon herself... She was able to turn that previous enchament to destroy things, but the enchanted statue was only meant to be a stavle means of interdimensional transport. Most Einstein-Rosen bridges wouldn't be stable without a negative matter holding it open, like if one were to stabilize a warp engine, or a black or white hole, which make up the ends of the Einstein-Rosen bridge. Magic still had to follow the laws of science, such as the laws of conservation of matter and energy, which is why most unicorns I'm the show don't use telekinesis on more than two objects at a time, and the powerful ones become tired after a powerful spell, such as giving Rarity wings, or turning the mane six into Breezies. If you recall, the spell that switched the mane six's marks and memories made Twilight want to go to bed earlier than she was planning to, for the same reason Violet from The Incredibles passed out when fighting the Omnidroid... It drains their energy, both physically and mentally. I suppose a diet consisting of more caloric intake COULD help with fixing the problem, but we don't want everyone to become chub-chubs, so to fix that, high caloric intake to solve physical energy drainage, but they would need to constantly be exercising like a professional strongman from our universe, but the main way to fix the mental energy problem is to make sure everyone's well rested and relaxed, but also ready for anything, which means occasional study sessions in addition to daily practise to keep sharp. So if you're a magic user and happen to read this, please put my theory to practice and let me know if it works.

[@marionette8739]

Suddenly, A Wild Shadow Play Appears!

[@renaxakai3]

Enchantment! I'll be saying that for a week now. Oh we'll, gotta love that kid, he is adorable.

[@BoxQueen]

all ponies have magic in them, confirmed by Twilight's Kingdom (I saw him, Hasbro! You will never be able to hide Braeburn from me!), so I think the "enchanted items" simply release said magic, not increase it. Also, the thing with emotion powering magic is actually very likely, though I'd say the reason for Celestia's magic becoming temporarily black was because of sadness and regret rather than fear. In The Crystal Empire, you see Celestia looks disappointed for a moment after Sombra is defeated, almost as if she wanted Twilight to reform or uncorrupt Sombra, not kill him.

[@tabasam2429]

I think they just have to have powerful imagination to picture it so the unicorn can use thier horns to cast it but they have to want it or it could be weak or not work

[@Rose-yx6jq]

By saying "drinking game" I wanted to tag silverquill

[@xxhiddenwafflesxx3414]

What would happen if dark and light magic where combined?

[@MorningDusk7734]

7:15 OBJECTION!!!! Scootaloo is half earth pony, thus she has solid bones. Most pegasi have hollow bones, like birds, and so scootaloo's parentage and reason for not flying is revealed.

[@MorningDusk7734]

BECAUSE I'VE BEEN THERE!!!! oh, wait, oops... wasn't supposed to say that. . .

[@RealmsCrossMyths]

When I ask my friend how they can slice down a tree with a huge sword that their character doesn't look like it should be able to lift, how a land mass is just floating in the sky, why their spaceship is never refueled, even when characters suggest they refuel, or how their character is swinging on a artifical web that isn't logically connected to a supportive object, if any object, overhead, and so on; they always reply "it just works." It's quite possible that the magic is inside them, and is i such vast ammounts that, unless the spam the mother-loving heaven out of their magic, they'll never run out. Or it's pulled from the planet… Or it just semi-exists… Or Pinkie Pie is magic incarnate… Unless the show goes into detail about it, we won't know.

[@GUILLE832]

What are your thoughts on Discord´s magic? Clearly he works in a different way than any other kind of magic we´ve seen. His powers don´t seem to originate from a specific source, but his very being. Bedsides, like Twilight´s Kingdom, his magic has a unique form, like the Alicorn magic. I used to have the theory that Discord was made of magic, but that episode proved me wrong, since if I were right Discord would be dead by now (dissolved into nothingness, quite kid friendly...) So he obviously has magic within him. I wonder now if immortality is a secondary effect of the quantity of magic you possess. If that´s the case, he´s probably going to live forever. Anyway, Discord can manipulate reality with ease, and using it has or not effect on him. Let me explain. There are occasions when he conjures something that a white light accompanies it, while others don´t. I can´t help but remember the lighting he used during his first corporeal appearance and his general proclivity to show off. Maybe the white sparkles are just a part of the show, who knows? What we know is that during Twilight´s Kingdom Celestia wouldn´t fight Tirek because he had Discord by his side and that would have been too much to handle, so Discord is obviously powerful. Damn, maybe he has to destroy a part of reality and replace it with his own every time he activates his magic. Who knows, he could do the same things that spell by Star Swirl did and replace the entire existence

[@jeremyhernandez1837]

dear canned cream I would very much appreciate if you can do a video and analyzing how spells really work in equestria. I mean we see there horns glow and boom something magical happens. but there where to occasion's where words were used such as in inspiration manifestation notice how the spell was spoken and usually the spell tells you how to break it like the final line of the spell says it can only be broken by words of truth I would very much appreciate if you could look deeper into that your friend as subscriber

[@tobystank5963]

I honestly think that every pony has the same amour of magic. But for each race, it's distributed to different types of the body. All of a unicorns magic is contained inside of the horn, with a pegasus the wings and earth pony throughout the body. However, some pony's have an exception such as flutter shy that has lost pegasus magic to make her able to speak to animals, and for rarity, the creative part of her mind to have the ability to think up all the dresses. Maybe it's possible that they have earth pony relatives for this to happen.

[@ADerpyReality]

A lot of magic seems to be powered by desire, Rather than pretty magic when Zecora gets twilight to use Alicorn magic dark magic is the first powerful magic that comes to mind. When taking all alicorn magic her power became dangerous and hard to control like dark magic or misused good magic. Note... First powerful magic to come to mind, seen above.

[@RoundRobin0]

I believe that Pinkie Pie spoke the rhyme to gird her own courage and that it was NOT a requirement to use the pond. A pool that only duplicates females would only be useful if at least 3/4 of Equestrias population was suddenly 'gone'.

[@archerestarcher]

You said 'magic' 33 times! Well done for making people 100% drunk for life!

[@neorenamon]

Well, Zecora is an interesting case. Normally all the magic she does is herbalism and "natural alchemy". Yet she filled a glass by running her hoof around the rim? Perhaps it's just me, but I think she had to have been "palming" something under her hoof that Twilight (and therefore the viewer) couldn't see. After all, the whole of the episode was about defeating powerful magic with tricks and friendship instead of raw power.

[@Sera666]

Actually, when twilight steps in the poison joke she IS able to use magic as seen by the brush

[@katiebeaton465]

Hey has anyone but me noticed that in magical mystery cure pinkie gets her "cousin" Applejack's cutie mark and Applejack gets the one pony in the group Rarity's cutie mark who is the exact opposite of her. Not to mention Flutter Shy and how she got Pinkie Pie's cutie mark. Anyone?

[@2vectors708]

the problem is, twilight intended for them to fight over the doll so she could fix the problem and "teach" them to share. also that falls under your 3rd tier, twilight enchanted the doll, and who ever saw it fell in love with it.

[@Kartoffelkamm]

well, i have 2 unicorn OCs, who bothe have a very unique kind of magic. one of them, Hidden Shadow, has mental manipulation as special talent. and since he is my anti-hero part (most of my OCs represent a small part of my personality, which they have as main personality), he became a spy. he also learned how to see the magical field of Equestria, means this spell wont work in, lets say, Yak Yakistan, and thus is able to use his levitation spell on things in his range, but not visible to him. best example: the inner parts of a lock. yes, he put together a spell that allows him to open locks. he has to constantly concentrate on it and depending on the difficulty of the lock it takes more or less time, but yeah. my other unicorn OC, Riff, is my little metalman part. he has a so called double cutie mark. it represents 2 special talents, yet it is 1 cutie mark. he has a burning guitar, which, obviously, means he is skilled in pyrokinesis and music. one time, when he practiced a new song, he burnt 77 houses completely and 34 partly. guess how i got these numbers and win a role as lead animator for my project Steam Ponies. in an outdated fanfic, they were best friends, but noone wanted to read so much capslock and "!", so yeah. :) anyway, congrats. u made it down here safely. now add kevinhamann2 on skype, and dont forget to tell me how well you can animate in your contact request. u can have a Patreon account and i can link it under every video we make. if it ends up nearly half as awesome as i think it will, u wont need to work anymore when we r done...

[@WTT1978]

unicorn magic might just be like how we can just say move our arm when we want to

[@BudCharlesUnderVlogs]

I wonder why Equestria's weather and wildlife is controlled by ponies, while the Everfree Forest and Frozen North behave in a way much more similar to Earth. Is there possibly a deliberate magic spell that was cast on Equestria in the ancient past to make it that way? Or is it just that the overwhelming positive emotion of the ponies actually casts its own magic on the land and sky around them, granting them the power and responsibility of controlling the weather and the wildlife?

[@In_Spired]

[@cobalius]

50 times. I guess even water would drive you crazy drinking it that often in only 10 minutes.

[@thesadisticskitty]

I have played this drinking game twice. Once with a juice box and once with raspberry soda water that probably tastes about as good as alcohol, being completely disgusting.

[@claire1391]

nope i COMPLETELY agree with ur theory

[@davidhsonic]

This is pretty much exactly the conclusion that I came to.

[@reifuTD]

After Season 2 all the magic glows a uincorn cast changed colors. If I rember right in Season 1 all magic was the same color. Season two they switch the colors to the primary color in a cutie mark. Like Cadence has a blue heart and her magic is blue. Twilight maroon star so she casts maroon colored magic. Celestia a gold sun so she casts gold color magic. There are some expections, in those cases eye color is defult. But the cutie mark thing seems to be a the rule.