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Illuminating Invitation (MLP: FiM AU)

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I honestly kind of doubt this is an actual gathering of the Elements. I imagine it is mostly going to be Sunset gathering a quirky band of outsiders around her, and helping them work together to reach their dreams or something.

I wonder what Voice could possibly be offering to Flighty here. She does not seem the type to accept the sort of help Voice might offer in regards to power. Maybe some sort of offer of unlimited resources or the opportunity to learn REALLY foreign enchantments?
 
So, I know I've seen some people speculate that Sunset might ascend as the Alicorn of Education. I would propose that she might instead ascend as the Alicorn of Drive. After all, she's incredibly driven, and she strongly appreciates that in others. While she does have some bias for academic and magical drive, she also seems to appreciate ponies who are driven in other fields, even if she's less likely to interact with them, and thus notice or comment on their efforts. It's also not helping teach in general that she likes doing, but rather helping other driven and motivated ponies pursue said drive, and her main complaints with the current education standards are the way it stifles the drive of some students.

owrtho
 
Vilegrave said:
So Voice/VOID is using a different name and naming scheme with Flighty as Devourer/DODD? Is that to obfuscate things or to denote that Voice is using a different aspect of themself in this situation?
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Actually that's a good point. I've noticed the name change but shrugged it off as "oh just another variation". Except every variation was using V. Which is very much not the same letter as D.

Now I'm really curious to see more.
 
...You know, it occurs to me. Flighty has a special talent that appears to be based around enchanting/crafting. And she's currently undertaking a massively powerful and important crafting project, an attempt at creating the pinnacle of her craft, done for her new best friend. Depending on how quickly this relationship develops, we might be seeing an Alicorn ascension before Sunset manages it herself...
 
Vilegrave said:
So Voice/VOID is using a different name and naming scheme with Flighty as Devourer/DODD? Is that to obfuscate things or to denote that Voice is using a different aspect of themself in this situation?
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Huh I missed the different naming scheme ... Are we sure that's nice friendly Eldritch horror void and not one of the predators she mentioned?
 
On the tribe/magic debate, it's pretty clear in this story that the three pony tribes have very different ways of directly applying magic -- unicorns do structured spells with their horns, pegasi do looser, temperamental stuff with their wings, and earth ponies do low-key stuff like passive enhancements and communing with nature -- but at the end of the day, magic is magic is magic. All ponies can use magic and for indirect stuff like enchantments and potions, it doesn't really matter what kind of pony the magic comes from.

It's also been made pretty clear by Celestia that, while difficult, it's possible for any pony to learn how to manifest magic from any part of their body, not just the ones that they use naturally for it. In fact, that you don't actually need horns to do Unicorn magic (it's how Sunset can bypass spell detectors) or wings to do Pegasus magic, it's just way, way, WAAAAY harder, to the point of being almost unfeasible. This also makes it likely that ponies can, in fact, use magic of other tribes with enough effort.
But like, why would they? If you think about it, pony society is all about staying in your own lane, and it's pretty clear ponies of different tribes are expected to fulfill way different roles.
That's why only Unicorns learn structured magic, why only Earth Ponies do most manual labor, etc. Earth Ponies can learn magic, it's just 'not done'.
 
Alivaril said:
Flighty had checked after the last time some heathen gryphon tried to make something of Princess Celestia living in a castle with servants, like She didn't work harder than anypony else.

(That had been a fun fight.)
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Griffin: Celest'a's livin' on the backs o' the 'ard-workin' gommon peep'le, an' das jus' no' roight-

(some time later, in a confessional)
Flighty Flame: so, yeah, I spent the night in a holding cell.

Brother Soliare: Some people wake up and choose violence and incorrectness, and some people are confronted by these people. You have defended Celestia's honor from those who would seek to tar it, go in peace and the light bless you. Praise the sun!

Flighty Flame: Praise the sun!

Kai Merah said:
There are absolutely 4 other ponies out there, who were also inspired by that Summer Sun celebration to find their special talent.
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Here I am still hoping that Second Changeling Infiltrator will be element of kindness. usage of EOH may be exclusive to ponies, but changelings can pass as ponies, so they should be able to use them too!
 
Saphire said:
Actually that's a good point. I've noticed the name change but shrugged it off as "oh just another variation". Except every variation was using V. Which is very much not the same letter as D.

Now I'm really curious to see more.
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Its pretty interesting as it implies that S.M.I.L.E could be severely underestimating Voice's threat rating if Sunsets eldritch meido can shift aspects and powers around by changing their name/assuming new forms.

As S.M.I.L.E might only be seeing the current fingerpuppet of the 'Dream' trespasser (as thats the most consistent word in their name at this point) and assuming that it's the whole entity instead of just a part of it.
 
I would like to note that another reason history doesn't make much note of Earth Pony Wizards is that their propensity for self-enhancement is going to lead to ancient stories of mighty Earth Pony Warriors. I Cast Fist is kind of easily overshadowed by, "oops I invented time travel." It should also be noted that Flighty can only do unicorn-type magic with the aid of charged runestones, which means that any aspiring Earth Pony Wizard of the past was quite limited by how many batteries they had on them, and if any unicorn mage could go, "I've got the horn, I've got the wits, your power stones are now on the fritz," and dunk on their casting that way.
 
Moliblazer said:
This also makes it likely that ponies can, in fact, use magic of other tribes with enough effort.
But like, why would they?
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wrong for this story at least. Sunset only gained pegasus and earthpony magic after summoning V.O.I.D.
Celestia saying that she can cast pegasus magic without wings doesnt mean she can cast pegasus magic without pegasus magic

Unicorn magic CAN make storms and grow things, Pegasus magic CAN do lightning and levitation, Earthpony magic CAN do illusions and enchanting, but that each race can get the same result does not mean that each race approaches it the same or even has the same rules to magic.
 
NounNoun said:
Unicorn magic CAN make storms and grow things, Pegasus magic CAN do lightning and levitation, Earthpony magic CAN do illusions and enchanting, but that each race can get the same result does not mean that each race approaches it the same or even has the same rules to magic.
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Honestly wondering what a Pegasus trying to do Earth Pony magic besides Fluttershy's Dr. Dolittle act would be like. Maybe imbuing their magic into the nearby weather?
 
mythfan12 said:
Honestly wondering what a Pegasus trying to do Earth Pony magic besides Fluttershy's Dr. Dolittle act would be like. Maybe imbuing their magic into the nearby weather?
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Going to need to define what you mean by "Earth Pony magic". Because Rainbow dash is about as good an athlete as Applejack they even had a big competition about it. As for growing things "Earth Pony magic" seems to be subtle enough that it is hard to tell where the line between magic and just regular gardening is.
 
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Viewer Mini-Omake: Reform School
  • Apocrypha
    • Alivaril said:
    Honestly, if Cross was representative of the student population in general, Flighty could see why Sunset viewed them with disdain.
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    Congrats, now I've written an omake on what would happen if Sunset tried to reform that place - because it clearly needs it - by taking it over.

    In song form!

    Well~
    Scantrons burn in infernal fire 🎵
    's been too long, time to retire 🎶
    Motivate morons for the fiftieth time~
    Kinesis six, stuns at nine~
    There's thermite ash in the teacher's mane 🎵
    Sparking blast craters in the window pane 🎶
    Been crazy all day long 🎵
    And it's only Sunset's first day ooonnnn~!
     
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  • Apocrypha
    • fictionfan said:
    Going to need to define what you mean by "Earth Pony magic". Because Rainbow dash is about as good an athlete as Applejack they even had a big competition about it. As for growing things "Earth Pony magic" seems to be subtle enough that it is hard to tell where the line between magic and just regular gardening is.
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    While Rainbow and Applejack are both on the same level of strength, I doubt Rainbow Dash could break a boulder apart with her bare hooves, or move an entire house that isn't made of clouds. But yeah in general I would assume Earth Pony magic is based more on passive effects than the other 2 tribes.
     
    fictionfan said:
    Going to need to define what you mean by "Earth Pony magic". Because Rainbow dash is about as good an athlete as Applejack they even had a big competition about it. As for growing things "Earth Pony magic" seems to be subtle enough that it is hard to tell where the line between magic and just regular gardening is.
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    That's pretty much what Earth Pony magic is, I think. Magic so subtle and passive you can barely tell where it begins. Not something they 'use', but something that's always there, slowly but surely doing its thing.
    NounNoun said:
    wrong for this story at least. Sunset only gained pegasus and earthpony magic after summoning V.O.I.D.
    Celestia saying that she can cast pegasus magic without wings doesnt mean she can cast pegasus magic without pegasus magic

    Unicorn magic CAN make storms and grow things, Pegasus magic CAN do lightning and levitation, Earthpony magic CAN do illusions and enchanting, but that each race can get the same result does not mean that each race approaches it the same or even has the same rules to magic.
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    There's mention of ponies being able to use unicorn magic through any part of their body, and of Zebras using Unicorn magic (or something a lot like it). Basically, the different tribes have different inherent affinities when it comes to magic, but enough effort can bridge the gap.

    From there it's semantics. Let's say that unicorn magic is 'liquid' (it's fluid and easily shaped to what's needed), earth pony magic is 'solid' (mostly static and not easily moved) and pegasus magic is gaseous (less well-defined, not easily constrained). At the end of the day, they're all the same thing though, and with enough effort you can make a 'solid' into a 'liquid' or vice-versa, so the distinction somewhat stops mattering. Alicorns (and Sunset) just get a leg up because they happen to have magic that's inherently in all three states, so they can skip that step.

    Or maybe a better comparison would be something like ponies of one tribe being left-handed and ponies of another being right-handed. A left-handed person can learn to do things right-handed, but they'll still always have an easier time doing things left-handed. And Sunset's ritual just made her into naturally ambidextrous person(pony).

    At least, that's my interpretation from the information thus far.
     
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    Moliblazer said:
    From there it's semantics. Let's say that unicorn magic is 'liquid' (it's fluid and easily shaped to what's needed), earth pony magic is 'solid' (mostly static and not easily moved) and pegasus magic is gaseous (not easily constrained). At the end of the day, they're all the same thing though, and with enough effort you can make a 'solid' into a 'liquid' or vice-versa, so the distinction somewhat stops mattering. Alicorns (and Sunset) just get a leg up because happen to have magic that inherently in all three states, so they can skip that step.
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    You can even take this with Flighty here. Enchanting would basically be freezing a Unicorn's spell into an item, which would fit her natural Earth Pony paradigm of magic.

    Edit: There's also a good example in Rockhoof, one of the Pillars of Equestria who was able to push himself so far into growing physically larger and stronger, presumably due to his own Earth Pony magic.
     
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    fictionfan said:
    By that measure Pinkie Pie is a earth pony wizard. But ignore that bit about slowly or surely.
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    IMO Pinkie Pie can be argued to prove the thing about Ponies not being limited to their tribe's kind of magic,, depending on how you look at things: Twilight tries to study Pinkie but can't recognize what's happening with her, because, rather than using normal Earth Pony magic, she's unknowingly using some other kind of magic no one else knows. Chaos magic, maybe?
     
    Moliblazer said:
    IMO Pinkie Pie can be argued to prove the thing about Ponies not being limited to their tribe's kind of magic,, depending on how you look at things: Twilight tries to study Pinkie but can't recognize what's happening with her, because, rather than using normal Earth Pony magic, she's unknowingly using some other kind of magic no one else knows. Chaos magic, maybe?
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    Or Twilight just doesn't know anything about earth pony magic. Along with most earth ponies.
     
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