Average Unicorn Magic?

[SparkleChord]

In the early seasons of the show, Twilight mentions that the average unicorn only has a little magic related to their special talent.  What do y'all think would be a reasonable number of spells for an average unicorn to know based on that line?  Since the main magic users in the show seem to be particularly well versed in the craft, it's hard to gauge what would be considered average.  My guess would be 3-7, but I was interested to know what everyone's opinions were on the subject.

[Ferro_the_King]

That's hard to tell, because there are very few occasions, where we see an untrained unicorn (Whose talent is not magic, like Twilight, Trixie, Sunburst, Starlight etc) perform any other spell then telekinesis.

The only three exceptions to that would be Flim and Flam using their magic to run machinery (but that actually is a sort of telekinesis), Shining Armor performing his "barrier" spells (but somepony probably taught him those spells as a part of training + according to his cutie mark this IS his talent) and Rarity with her gem finding spell.

So may be the real number should be telekinesis + sometimes one or two "real" spells, which the pony either discovered by accident (Rarity), or was taught by his/her mentor (Shining)...

[Asriel]

I have thought a lot about this question, actually.


Rarity is certainly not average by any sense of the word, but she can give us something.

Sweetie Belle's difficulties with learning magic can also give a general idea that all unicorns are at least taught and expected to learn basic levitation.


It all comes down to cutie marks, I think. Rarity's cutie mark demands quite a bit of precision, as well as the manipulation of lots of smaller objects. The common opinion is that she cannot lift as much weight as Twilight, but she can do a lot more with less.

Rarity isn't seen casting any other spells, but her cutie mark does not require her to.



In general, I think unicorns know levitation, one or two spells related to their talent, and some academics might know one or two additional spells that differ from their talent, but with no real power behind either of them.


And guards, with their talents, would have one or two combat spells. Usually related to their cutie mark, of course, but with study, I believe all guards could at least manage a stun spell. (Or equivalent.)

[Ferro_the_King]

Rarity isn't seen casting any other spells

She actually posess the gem finding spell...

[Asriel]

She actually posess the gem finding spell...

Oh, right! Yeah.

That makes even more sense, as that is related even more to her cutie mark. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Stardust Dragon]

This is a great question I've been mulling over for a while now.  It's unfortunate we mainly have magic aficionados to look at for judging "normal" magic talent.  I've been trying to write my characters with this in mind, and it's kind of rough with so little info.

I agree with the telekinesis and maybe a hoofful of spells useful for the talent idea, though I'd also include that if there's a spell somepony really wants to learn for some reason, they could probably add it to their repertoire with repeated use (such as Trixie's teacup obsession) with proper study.

[Ferro_the_King]

Well, I always thought Trixie is one of those unicorns, whose talent is magic. She just wasn't properly trained yet...

[Asriel]

Well, I always thought Trixie is one of those unicorns, whose talent is magic. She just wasn't properly trained yet...

Yeah, it seems like one of the main differences was raw power or lack of formal education.


I like to think she was more a specialist in illusion magic, though.

[McClaw]

Well, I always thought Trixie is one of those unicorns, whose talent is magic. She just wasn't properly trained yet...

Personally, I'd list Trixie's talent as "showponyship", i.e. putting on an enjoyable performance. She'd have learned lots of little magics to support that, but nothing actually potent. "Most magical" would then be a reference to her versatility, not her power -- and Twilight outshines her in that, too.

[Ferro_the_King]

I think she actually is quite powerfull for a unicorn (though not as much as Twilight or GlimGlam). Her main downside would be lack of concentration and proper training. She actually has problems learning the transformation spell (teacup), but once she does it for the first time, she then casts it without even slight difficulties. And she is able to cast teleporting spell relatively easily (Even if that's a misfired one). Only Twilight and GlimGlam are seen using it.

[Master Masher]

not so i have seen Starlight glimmer use the teleportation spell in season 7.

[Stardust Dragon]

I think we're kind of narrowing things down to two different scales: raw magic potency, and a focus.  Twilight and Starlight (and probably Sunset if she were also Celestia's personal pupil) seem to have both: strong magic affinity and a focus (study) for magic.  I think it'd be reasonable to say then that unicorns can have strong magic potential even if they don't tap it regularly.  That's kind of how I set up one of my OCs: she's got strong magic, but since she doesn't identify her skills solely by magic she's nowhere near on Starlight or Twilight's level.

In that case I think "number of spells" is at least halfway based on how much a pony wants to know magic.  Twilight went to school explicitly for magic, so she's naturally better suited to the subject than Rarity.  Conversely my character went to school for geology, so her strong magic is put to use only for the healing spells she learned to weave into her gems.  She doesn't know anything about duplication or transfiguration.  But again this is just my 2 bits on the subject, how I see magic working.

[Ferro_the_King]

not so i have seen Starlight glimmer use the teleportation spell in season 7.

S07E14, about 15:00 time mark (Just before the song)
S06E21, multiple times at the beginning
S06E25, after they narrowly escape changelings at the castle

[SparkleChord]

Gosh, I really should check this thread more often o.o

Glad to see so many people are interested in the subject ^^ for awhile I thought I was the only one curious about this kinda thing ^^;  I actually ended up writing a short essay type thing on DeviantArt about unicorn magic based on a random idea I had one night xD if y'all are interested you can check it out here:

Average Unicorn Magic discussion

TL;DR I came to pretty much the same conclusion you guys did xD my guess is that unicorns could probably learn as many spells as they want, but their power level is what either enables or prevents them from performing spells.  The rest relies on the individual's desire to actually learn the spells.  The article has a lot more detail

[Master Masher]

I try bringing logic into what ever topic i think about but sometimes overload myself. Then i forget all logic all together.




(sorry i can't find a way to get my OC in the picture slot. I don't know how to put a picture there.)

[Spectral Spirit]

I was discussing this topic in a discord chat recently !! We thought that there was some basic spells that unicorns are expected to know, but unicorns have unique spells that match their talents.  

You mentioned rarity and shining armor, but there's also cadance's love spell, starlights cutie mark removal spell (?), and im assuming raising the sun and moon are unique to celestia and luna.  

Not sure if there's super solid canon base for this, but it was fun to talk about

I couldn't think of what twilight's "special spell" would be, but my take was she's just really good at copying spells or learning quickly.

Another sort of related thing: all unicorns seem like super speed-readers, so maybe speed-reading is another spell that unicorns have to learn!

[Master Masher]

She is the element of Magic so maybe she can master every spell known to all pony kind. Maybe even more.

[ArtisSparx]

I think it's safe to say most Unicorns have a sort of, base line of spells they can use. Levitating/manipulating objects being the most basic. The rest likely comes down to their cutie marks, and the usefulness of the spells.

Unless they're studying magic itself, the average pony wouldn't have any use for many of the spells we've seen. Like the one Twilight uses to give facial hair. Unless you're working in a salon, who'd need that?

If a pony is involved in the military or perhaps has a dangerous occupation, they might have more combat/defensive spells. The average Unicorn might find a few defensive spells useful too, for emergencies. But that seems like a personal preference, just like any human would consider learning self-defence.

[tulubu]

No way!