KaityKat

[[edit] I know this is really old, but I felt like giving my two cents, anywho. Hope it helps somebody]

Like Szalhi said, patience is a virtue.

In more areas than one, and writing is certainly no exception.

One thing that really helps to get my ideas on paper/screen sufficiently, is to eliminate distractions. If there an annoying dripping sound in the faucet, fix it. If There are people talking, ask them to quiet down, leave or leave yourself. Anything that distracts you should be gone. If music helps you focus, use it, if it's distracting, don't. I use it for drawing, but not for writing.

That's another thing, some techniques that work really well when you do one kind of art might not work as well for another. And it's not the same for everybody. You just need to tailor your work environment to yourself and the medium you're working with.

The biggest piece of advice any artist can give another artist, regardless of medium, experience, or talent, is something you'll likely not feel helps much. But it's as true as it's ever been.

Practice, practice, practice.

You've heard "practice makes perfect". Well, if the shoe fits....

But it's not just practice. It's intentional practice. If you just do the same thing over and over, you'll just get yourself used to doing it the same way. But if you internalize everything you learn, and you actively try to improve, you'll get better with time.

You should snow your works to others, and expose it to review, which brings me to the last thing I can tell you. always take criticism. Even when it's generally unhelpful, or meant to be hurtful, if you look at it with the eye of someone wanting to use it to improve, odds are, you can find a little kernel of useful advice in it. Whenever someone critiques your work, listen to them. Try to find what it is they didn't like, and decide for yourself if it's something you can/want to change. BUT do NOT let criticism be the reason you give up. Don't take their word for it all the time, the part of "decide for yourself if its something you can/want to change" is important.

So always take criticism.... with a grain of salt. Let it give you a second perspective, but don't let it define your work.

*Submitted for judging*

Thunderhoof figured this event would be a good way to get a little exercise. He didn't figure a sack of potatoes would be much of a challenge to him, but any exercise was always good idea. Needed to keep in shape to pull the Caravan.

He stretched his hunches, and cracked his neck. This was going to be a piece of cake.

He trotted up to the signup booth, when he realised there was one problem.

"Hello, and welcome to the 'Longest Yards' competition of the Iron Pony. Name, please?"

Thunderhoof frowned. Normally, he'd have his best friend Stage with him, and he could talk for him, but this time, he was alone. His friends could understand his hoof scratches, but it was a special code Stage Lights helped him make. Most ponies won't understand him. He thought for a minute.

"We need a name, sir, if you want to compete...."

The pony at the booth was being patient, but Hoof was taking a lot of time.

He pointed at the scar on his neck and gave him a "sorry" look.

"Oh, I see. Um...."

Hoof held up a hoof and waved it.

"I'm sorry, I don't understa-"

He stomped it on the ground, shaking the booth, sounding like thunder.

"Wow!" he exclaimed "It's like thunde- Oh! I remember you! You competed at the obstacle course! Thunderhoof, right?"

He smiled and nodded.

"Alright, just be ready when they announce your name."

Hoof nodded in acknowledgement, and made his way to wait by the others waiting their turn.

He watched as the other competitors did their rounds.

He recognized Thunderlane from the wonderbolts, and he watched intently as he took on the challenge.

He always admired Thunderlane's tenacity and endurance. He was one of his favourite Wonderbolts, after all.

He watched as he shifted the weight of the pack to give himself a better edge. At first, he didn't realise that was what he was doing, but when he did it again, he could see him get a boost to his stamina. He smiled. He certainly wasn't clever enough to come up with something like that, but he could definitely understand Thunderlane being that smart.

He wondered if he should come up with a strategy, but sighed soundlessly to himself. He didn't feel like he was that clever. He didn't do strategy. Mostly just pure brute strength. And sometimes a little finesse, when it counted.

While he stood musing, he heard his name called.

"Next up is Thunderhoof!"

The announcer called.

Hoof took one last deep breath and walked casually up to the starting line.

The ponies with the pack came up, but they paused. Thunderhoof was so tall, they couldn't figure out how to reach over him to attach the sack. He gestured with his head to say that it was alright if they jumped on his back.

One of them jumped up, and the other hoofed over the sack. It was laying on his back, but the ponies couldn't reach the straps around the big stallion.

This sack was not made to go on somepony of Thunderhoof's stature.

Hoof pointed to his neck.

"But... Your scar..." the pony questioned

Hoof shrugged. It's never really bothered him before. He always pulls the Caravan with a yoke on his neck, so this shouldn't be any worse. It just looks bad. It's an old scar.

The pony on his back scooted the weight up his neck, and attached it there. He had to tighten it to a relatively small size, but it sat snug without choking him. Then the pony jumped down and started whispering something to the other about Thunderhoof's sheer size. He got that a lot. He frowned slightly. He may be big, and he is pretty strong, but he's really not scary. He decided a smile should help them feel better, and tried to emulate one of Flaire's warm smiles he gives everypony. They smiled back and waved as they left.

Hoof heaved the weight on his neck a little. It was different when the weight is pulling down on his neck instead of holding back for him to push forward. He noted how it ruined his sense of balance, but there wasn't much he could do about that. He wondered how that Thunderlane would've dealt with this problem. but before he could think of anything, the announcer called

"On your mark! Get set, Go!"

 Hoof started running, and almost face-planted from the imbalance the weight gave him, but he corrected, and started running just a bit slower. It seemed this was going to more about balance than strength, for him. He wasn't the best at balancing, but he could manage.

He realised as he ran that even tho he had to lessen his pace he still moved faster than most because of his big long legs. But, the weight being on his neck, he also noticed his front hooves were tiring much faster than his haunches. He remembered what he'd seen the other contestant do. But how could he shift the weight? It was tied to his neck. Just then, he came up to the turnaround. He wasn't paying enough attention and nearly ran into a fence. He lifted his head to miss the fence and felt the weight shift a little on his hooves.

This gave him an idea.

He turned around and ran back, but this time, he held his head as far back as he could reach it. He didn't think about how weird it might look. Also, it kinda backfired. Holding his head up like that used a lot of muscle. He ran awkwardly unable to see where he was going with his head up.

When he reached the end, he only knew because he heard the pony standing there let out a yelp as he barreled toward him. He skidded to a halt just shy of the finish line, put his head back down, and stepped gently over the line.

Then he collapsed on the ground with a thunderous   W H U M P !   

His legs weren't too bad, but his neck was sore. So, so sore. He should not have tried that strategy.

He felt like he probably made good time, but he was going to regret it for... probably a week.

He pouted silently to himself Stage won't be happy when he can't pull the Caravan, tomorrow. His neck hurt too much.

D'you want me to make an rp, or would you rather?

I have a character who's half changeling. His heritage can sometimes be a sensitive subject, tho he's largely grown out of worrying about others' opinions of him. Tho, sometimes, he feels resentful to the changelings for creating the reason for the stigma. He understands they've changed, but he still harbors a little negative feelings. It could be good character development for him to meet an honest-to-goodness changeling

Also, there is the remote chance that somewhere, out there, is a changeling that knows his dad. He doesn't even know if his dad ever went back to the hive. Or if he wants to know.

*This Post submitted for judging*

Thunderhoof stood watching the ponies get covered in mud. He loved seeing them struggle against the rope.

He'd thought about entering, but the idea of competing just didn't seem as fun when he couldn't just think about Stage joining in. That poor stallion had heard mud was involved and ran for the hills. He must still be traumatized from the last competition he entered. He'd taken so many baths, Hoof thought he'd wash his coat right off his body. He laughed silently to himself at the thought. In any case, Thunderhoof just liked watching, more than anything. He was content just seeing the others have fun.

"Hoof! There you are!" a familiar voice called "We brought snacks!" Flaire was approaching, accompanied by Lilly Quille, the Itailian artist of their group. The beautiful unicorn was carrying a bunch of candy apples in her magic. and Flaire was coming up empty hooved. Hoof laughed soundlessly. she always has been better at those ring toss games.

"I  may have gone a little overboard playing the Apple Ring Toss game." she blushed slightly

"I gotta admit, it kinda hurt my ego a little to loose so many times then see her win so easily." Flaire said "But she agreed to share, so.... all's well that ends well, eh?"

Hoof drew in the ground with his hoof a little, using his only means of communication.

"Well of course you get some, silly."

Just then, another pony face planted in the mud.

"That looks like fun. Hoof, why don't you give it a go. See how long the three will last before you pull them into the mud."

Both Flaire and Lilly laughed, while hoof smiled. Flaire was only half kidding. He honestly felt Hoof was strong enough to yank them off their hooves, but he'd be too nice to do that. He'd probably just stand there holding the rope until they gave up.

Thunderhoof drew on the ground again giving an evil smirk. Then pointed at Flaire.

Lilly laughed out loud "This, I gotta see!" she said. "Do it, Flaire!"

Hoof stomped in agreement.

"Alright, alright!" Flaire gave in "Fine, I'll do it. But only if I get to do it my way."

Hoof drew in the ground again

"He's right, Flaire. You can't change colors. I'm sure they'll count that as magic."

"But it doesn't give me an edge. It's just a bit of fun." he sighed dejectedly "Oh, you're probably right. Fine. No Colorshifting." he pouted

Hoof slapped his back in a "you've got this!" gesture, which kinda hurt with his big hoof.

"You'll do fine. Besides, it's just for fun, anyway, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. You know, you guys are gonna have to make this up to me. I expect to have my spa day paid for, tonight."

Hoof waved, dismissingly

Once the next pony had finished his go, which seemed to take an impressively long time, Flaire made his way up to challenge the three others. He smiled weakly at them and waved.

"Could you, maybe, go easy on me? I'm not vey strong." Flaire begged

The one in front answered "Sorry, sir. For it to be fair, we have to give you the same challenge we give Everypony else." He and the others picked up the rope "Just pick up the rope whenever you're ready" He offered

Flaire hesitated for a minute, thinking about backing out. But he decided why not, and picked up the rope in his teeth.

The announcer's voice echoed as he called out "Alright! Let's get ready to start in three, two one, tug!"

Flaire strained against the rope as the stallions pulled, giving him a challenge while not outright pulling him in immediately. It was then he realised what the challenge actually was. This wasn't about strength. It was about endurance. He didn't have to out pull three stallions, he just had to hold on as long as he could. He almost dropped the rope with his palpable sigh of relief. He stumbled a little, but regained his balance and pulled again, pulling with force as well as he could maintain. He knew the key to endurance was steadiness, so he tried to keep his pulling as steady as he could, trying not to jerk at all.As he pulled, he thought about changing colors to startle the others and get a good laugh. He'd probably be disqualified, but he didn't really expect to win, anyway. No, he thought, that would be bad sportsponyship. I'll just have to tough it out.

He could feel his grip weakening, and snapped himself back to the task at hoof, yanking ever so slightly on the rope. Which gave him an idea.

He started to relax his grip little by little letting them think they were besting him. They continued pulling the same, and he started slipping, but this was part of his plan. He got real close to the edge, and just before falling in, he pulled together all the strength he could muster and yanked on the rope like his life depended on it, trying to catch the others off guard.

Unfortunately for Flaire, they were a little more practiced at this than he. They easily compensated for the sudden change and yanked back, sending Flaire sprawling into the mud.

SPLASH!

He quickly stood back up and began laughing his head off.

"Well, that backfired, didn't it?" He laughed "You guys are pretty good at that." He gave them his signature genuine friendly smile "Thank you for the challenge, sirs." He bowed to them, and made his way back to his friends.

Flaire could see Spike's reputation for letting the Crystal Empire get to his head, just in Rarity's reaction to his praise. He decided that was enough ego building for the day. He was just excited to have met not one, but two pon- er creatures he admired in one day. Though he was happy to note that he'd refrained from such boasting this time around, that would've been embarrassing for both of them. He bowed gracefully to Rarity as she excused herself "It was a pleasure meeting you, Rarity. I hope we will get more time to chat another time when it's not so late." He would've asked her to keep along, but it was apparent that her expertise was needed elsewhere, and he didn't want to keep her from her friends.

"Thank you, Spike, for offering me a hoo- uh claw, tonight. I really appreciate it." He smiled warmly at the dragon.

When they'd arrived at the press, he apologized to the staff for bringing such a late job, and offered to pay extra for keeping them later than usual. When they'd collected the posters safely in Falire's saddlebag, Spike had asked about his other to-dos.

"Well, let's see." He looked over his list one more time, and recounted it to Spike.

"Well we need some grease for a squeaky wheel, makeup for our actors, we use a lot of that. Some food, we usually just get oats, but I hear Ponyville has the premiere apple orchard of Equestria, so we can't exactly go without some of those apples." He winked "We need some minor costume adjustments, but I'll be taking care of that with Rarity in the morning, and some real beds would be spectacular, so if you know of a hotel, in Ponyville, That would be really helpful." he chuckled "We don't need to get everything done in one night, tho, so just whatever can still be done tonight, and if you point out where the other things are, I can take care of them tomorrow." He hated being such a burden on anypony, especially somecreature as readily helpful and selfless as Spike. He kind of felt like he was taking advantage, and he didn't like that. But, he did need help, and he was grateful that there was somepony willing to point him in the right direction. He gave Spike one of his signature friendly smiles, and said "I really appreciate your willingness to be so helpful to somepony you only just met. It speaks volumes to your character." Flaire remembered he'd decided earlier to lay off the butter, and silently chastised himself for forgetting.

Okie dokie.

Well, you know what they say. practice makes perfect.

Remember that if at any time, you feel like the rules in WoE (World of Equestria) are a little out of reach because of your being out of practice, the FFA (Free For All) section is much more lax, and you can use it to get yourself back into the swing of things.

If you like, you can pm me and we can discuss an rp to help you hone your craft.

Another thing that helps is to read novels or other WoE rps. When you get used to reading good writing, it makes writing it come more naturally.

Lilly Quille

Roleplay Type: WoE
Name: Lilly Quille
Sex: Mare
Age: Young Mare
Species: Unicorn
Eye colour: blue
Coat: pink
Mane/Tail: purple
Physique: Average
Residence: Nomadic, currently stopped in Ponyville. (Tour d'Equestria)
Occupation: Actor in the Tour d'Equestria travelling theatre. Also their resident artist.
Cutie Mark: A quill topped with a lilly drawing a golden ratio spiral
Unique Traits: Lilly is a highly talented artist and visual designer. She is also a pretty talented actor.

History: Lilly was born and raised in Roam, Itaily. She grew up in a house-full of pasta chefs. Everypony was just so into the family business. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but the thought of making pasta just didn't really appeal to her. Her mama always told her whatever she ends up doing, she should always follow her heart. She loved her mama more than anything in Equestria. One day, she was watching the family restaurant from outside, just sketching in her sketchbook, she was drawing the restaurant with ponies going to and fro. She loved drawing. It set her mind free to wander, without worrying about who she wanted to become. While she was drawing, a pony came up behind her, and exclaimed in a heavy French accent "You have quite ze talented horn, non?" she looked and saw a young, blue stallion. He introduced himself as Stage Lights. He said he was looking for volunteers to audition in his play. And he added that he needed an artist to draw up some flyers to spread the word. Adding "I know talent when I see it, little filly, and you have have it in spades!"

So she drew him a poster to have copied at a printing press to spread the word about his auditions. While she drew, she felt the most joy she'd ever felt knowing that ponies really appreciated her work. Just then, her cutie mark appeared on her flank, and Stage, who'd been watching said "Hon, hon, I told you, did I not? I am never wrong about these things. Now go. Show your mama. I am certain she will be ecstatic."

She ran home and showed her mama her new cutie mark.

Later, Stage Lights was still in town, putting on plays with his newly auditioned actors, and Lilly was helping with some of the art. She loved drawing for Stage's theatre, but she also loved watching the plays. One day, Stage asked her if she wanted to play a little filly character. She did.

Lilly was okay, at first, but with Stage's help, she grew into a very talented actor relatively quick.

 One day, Stage told her he was planning to move on to the next town. He said "It has been fun, in Roam, get me right. But my dream is to travel Equestria. I will be back, someday, do not worry. You could come with me, if that is your desire? It would be good to have some actors to travel with that are already experienced."

She talked with her mama saying she loved acting in the plays at the Tour d'Equestria, and drawing for Stage Lights, but she didn't know if she should go.

Her mama just laughed "It sounds like your mind is already made up, Lilly. You love acting and drawing for this pony from Prance, don't you? Have I not told you to always follow your heart?" she'd questioned.

 Lilly packed up, kissed her mama goodbye, and went with Stage Lights on his trek across Equestria. Learning and growing on the way. She met lots of new ponies, but always remembers her home and her mama who she loves and writes to often.

Character Personality:  Lilly is a sweet and kind mare who cares deeply for her Tour d'Equestria family. She would do anything for each and every one of them. More than that, tho, she loves her mama. She writes to her every week.
Character Summary: Lilly Quille is a talented artist and actor from Itaily who loves deeply and cares genuinely. She loves her adopted family, and her mama more than anything.

Pics:

Magic Sight

There is only one recorded instance of somepony having the Magic Sight condition.

Thousands of years ago, long before the reign of the sisters, a unicorn was born blind, but developed an alternate sight.

He claimed to be able to see magic.

Not much is known about him except that he couldn't see what most ponies saw, but saw differently. He saw enough to function, and claimed to see some things others could not. He was written off as a madpony, and only mentioned briefly in history.

He could not read or write due to his affliction, so he never wrote about his condition. Most knowledge of it was lost to time.

Nowadays, there's another pony who has the same condition. Tho she's not well known.

What's known about her condition (mostly by her since she doesn't have anyone else doing research or experiments) is still fairly limited, but I'll give a sneak peek into what is true but unknown (after I say what she knows).

As far as Myth knows, she is the only pony alive with this condition.

She does not see light and color like most ponies. Anything that relies on that, she cannot see (like images and words on paper, or painted billboards and such).

Magic doesn't always make the exact shape of what it's in. It's often more fuzzy or holds shapes outside of the thing (like the magic of a lost limb might still be present, for instance).

Magic has qualities hard to describe to regular sighted ponies. but mostly, she settles on relating it to color (although it's vastly different (which she notes))

Her sight can allow her to see many things invisible to others.

Like dreams. She can't tell what ponies are dreaming, but she can see them drifting about, and can even tell when Princess Luna enters one.

She can also see the difference between who's magic she's seeing and what kind of magic it is. Down to the spell being cast (tho she'd have to have seen it before to know what spell it was).

She can see how much matter magic is holding things together, or in other words how dense it is. A pile of mud and a pile old rotten apples (all the life magic faded) would look the same.

Each pony has their own, entirely unique "color" of life magic, tho families have enough similarity for her see.

Also when another pony is important enough to somepony, she can see it in their love/friendship magic.

The things unknown to Myth that are true about Magic Sight are

The capacity for magic sight is rare, very few are born with it. Even those who are may never know it, for it only can be used if the pony is also born blind. It is weaker than regular sight, so if the pony can see light, she won't be able to see magic because she's gotten used to seeing light.and after seeing light, magic sight will never make sense to a pony's mind, and so it will be ignored subconsciously. This makes the ability to actually see and comprehend magic incredibly rare. The pony from olden times was not the first pony to have the condition. In even more ancient times, there were others, but there is no record of them. There have times when more than one had it at the same time. The most at once was four. They were regarded as shamen in their ancient ancient tribe. However this was before recorded history, so there is nopony who knows about this.

Today, there is a chance, however small, that there could be one or two others with this condition.

(btw, yes, that last sentence was an invitaion. If you're interested in making a character with magic sight, just make sure there aren't too many already, and just adhere to what I've written here. Also, I would love to see your characters, so don't forget to PM me a link)

[Edit] Here's my Magic Sight character, Mythic Vision, for reference if you're interested.

Love Magic

All creatures have love magic. Love magic is given with varying degrees of readiness. Some creatures may feel a longing for love magic. It is an essential part of life. When a creature is starved of love, it can change them. Over long time periods, it can even cause them to physically change as a species. The changelings being a prime example.

Friendship is one of the forms love magic can take. Touted as "the most powerful magic of all". Love magic is the only magic that can consistently dispel dark magic without fail. It is what imbues the elements of harmony, and tree of harmony. As well as the castle of friendship and its map.

Love magic can be imbued upon any other kind of magic except dark magic. The two cannot exist together. They may vie for control of a body, but will never occupy the same space.

In fact, dark magic can be looked at as an absence of love magic, tho it's not the same thing, it is similar.

Flaire smiled and took the prizes "Well I'm not sure what a 'Zap Apple' is, but judging from the smells coming from your booth, I'm sure it's fantastic!" He gave the curious confection a bit of a sniff, smiled, and took a small bite, wanting to leave a bit for later.

The flavor that filled his mouth was nothing short of amazing! He'd never tasted something so vibrant and shocking. He was amazed at how much flavor could be packed into such a tiny morsel. He couldn't resist chomping down the rest of the apple.

"That. Was. Simply amazing!" he beamed "I have to know where I can get more of these apples! I've never tasted anything like it! You've got me sold!"

He overheard the mention of Babs being a hairdresser, and he smiled "A hairdresser, eh?"  He chuckled "I'm sure stage is gonna need one after he finally gets his mane clean. That stallion fusses over his mane so much, you'd think his talent was mane styling." He laughed.

When the new pony came in and greeted Apple Bloom, Flaire smiled. He could see this colt's crush from a mile away. He didn't do a great job at hiding it. Sometimes, he wished he had somepony he could feel that way about, but he was content with the Theatre. He decided he'd let him do his best with the object of his affection. He still had three more rings he paid to toss, but honestly, the one apple was well worth more than both bits, so he left his rings on the stand and said. "Sorry, I'll have to go early. I'll definitely be finding your farm, later, tho, Apple Bloom. These apples are well worth a trip. I'll leave you guys to it, shall I?" He winked a wink at the colt that said "go get 'em, Tiger" and made his way back to the caravan.

((sorry, I'd do a better job, but I'm kinda busy irl, rn, and I get real nervous about rping with lots of characters at once. ))

Dark Magic

The magic of fear and hatred. Dark Magic is very powerful and hard to control. It consumes those who try to harness it, and all in its path. It is surpassed only by the magic of friendship. Its direct opposite.

Chaos Magic

Chaos Magic breaks all the rules. It takes many forms. It can imitate other magics. or it can be an entirely new magic unlike anything else.

It creates things where there weren't any, it alters the way that reality behaves, it even creates dimensions of space-time.

Only one being is known to possess significant amounts of Chaos Magic, and he is himself created by it.

Chaos Magic is believed to be the origin of all other magics and subsequently the origin of everything. The oldest and second most powerful magic.

Matter Magic

The basic elements are held together with matter magic. Matter Magic is a very basic kind of magic that just holds things together. It's one of the easiest kinds of magic for a unicorn to manipulate.

Manipulating this magic can levitate objects, push, pull or squish things or, with more difficulty, teleport.

Celestial Magic

Celestial Magic, or the magic of the sun, moon, and stars is a very powerful kind of magic that is not accessible to most creatures. It resides in the heavens, above the sky, and into space.

The celestial bodies are made up of celestial magic. Celestial magic can sometimes affect the other magics in some ways. Sometimes is very minor or even unnoticeable. Sometimes, it has effects felt the world over.

Only two ponies are known to possess the ability to manipulate Celestial magic to a significant degree. Both are very powerful alicorns, and can only control one type. The sun for one, the moon for the other.

The sun provides the energy for life magic, and the light necessary for ponies to see.

The moon presides over the night, and guides dreams to their destinations, and it rejuvenates tired magic. The magic of the moon also reflects light from the sun when it's not visible.

The stars hold powerful magic that amplify other magics. They are constantly present, but more visible at night.

The Magic of Sky, Weather, and Air.

Clouds are made of water, right? They are simply clumps of vaporous water.

That's only half true.

Clouds are made of water held together with magic. The magic that holds them together is that of Sky, weather, and air. The magic that holds together clouds, creates rain and snow, and can hold other things in the sky.

Pegasi can control this magic with their wings and hooves. They feel they are controlling the clouds, but don't often realise it is the magic they control.

They have an innate ability to interact with the sky magic as a solid object if so chosen. Standing on clouds like they're solid ground.

Like the Earth Ponies and their magic, this happens without having to think about it. however, they can will it not to happen or manipulate the magic in different ways with intention.

Again, unicorns can cast spells that manipulate Sky magic, but it does not come naturally like it does for pegasi. Alicorns, however, do possess the same innate abilities that pegasi do.

Mind Magic

(I forgot to add a comment for this, so I'm putting it in here. I'm still thinking about how this one works, and I may change it completely, idk)

The Magic of Life and the Earth

All life, plants and creatures alike, contains this magic. It is what gives life to all things. The trees, the crops, the animals and even the soil. This is the second most abundant magic after matter magic. It gives things a spark that is otherwise just not there.

Earth Ponies have an innate ability to manipulate this magic without thinking about it. When they till the earth, they imbue the soil with their own life force. In essence, the plants grown there are a part of them. They give of themselves to make it happen. A very spiritually in tune being will be able to feel, in a plant, the spirit of the pony who planted it.

This is an ability specific to Earth Ponies, and difficult for even unicorns to achieve. Aside from Earth Ponies, only Alicorns can do this innately.

This magic is very free-willed and generally has a flowing nature. It responds well to many kinds of stimuli, including sound, vibrations, and light. It is mysterious in many ways, and doesn't like to be contained. It always finds a way to persist.

(if you have any questions or comments, feel free to PM me. If needed, I can always edit what I have or add what I don't)

The Basic Theory of Magic

and how it works in daily Equestrian life

A perpetual work in progress by Kaitlyn "Kaity Kat" Johnson

This thread will be composed of a preface in the main post, and replies for each main category followed by a bit on so-called "magic sight".

Be warned. This may get to egg-head levels of pedantry. It's also not generally useful. So it's really up to you if you're interested.

Anywho, have fun reading or not.

Preface:

Magic is a very strange thing. It's fickle in some ways, and it's structured in others. Sometimes, it seems to have a mind of its own.
It is probably one of the most complex things in all Equestria, and the lands beyond.

That said, it can be broken down into a few categories. Each of these categories can be further broken down, and so forth.
There is:

The magic of life, and the earth.

The magic of the sky, weather, and air.

The magic of the mind and the ethereal.

Celestial magic

Matter magic

The magic of chaos

and dark magic.

These categories are present in all things, and all creatures. Some creatures have more access to some categories than other creatures, but there is not a creature alive that doesn't have some magic.

The creatures best known for possessing powerful magic reside in the land known by its inhabitants as Equestria. They are the ponies.

Three main races of ponies exist, each with their own main source of magic.

The earth ponies are the race with the lowest noticeable magic. Their most powerful magic is that of life and the earth. Earth Ponies can use this magic with limited effect, and it happens innately without intention.

The pegasi have more control over their magic. With a little effort, they can use some sky magic to manipulate the weather. Part of their magic is a passive ability to interact with clouds.

Unicorns have the most obvious magic. That of mind and the ethereal. Tho the magic unicorns possess is mostly intentional. It comes in the form of spells cast to manipulate the other forms of magic. Unicorn magic is the only magic to be readily visible when used. Showing as a thin aura of mist that surrounds what it affects. The hue is specific to the pony using it, but not necessarily unique.

whew! That was doosy.

Never had to include a TL;DR in a character application anywhere before. lol

Amway, I hope that's not too much, or anything. Just lemme know if I can improve anything, and I'll be on it.

Mythic Vision

Roleplay Type: WoE
Name: Mythic Vision
Sex: Mare
Age: Young mare
Species: Unicorn
Eye colour: Green with clouded pupils
Coat: Light blue
Mane/Tail: Lime green with grey
Physique: Slightly smaller than normal, but average aside from that.
Residence: Las Pegasus
Occupation: Magic study (Sergeant Specialist at STAR)
Cutie Mark: Eight long thin triangles in a sort of "poof" shape.
Unique Traits: She is blind to the light. However, she has Magic Sight (explained in detail below).

History: [This has been updated to better reflect her original backstory from before Canterlot.com]

Mythic Vision was born blind. She lived in a dark world, afraid of everything. Having grown up in Canterlot, she came from a family who valued their social status above most all else. Her grandmother, Jeweled Vision, was very judgmental and looked down on her. Her parents didn't voice it much around her but they didn't agree with the family's unicorn-elitist history. When Myth came of the appropriate age, she was made to apply to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It was expected of every member of the Vision family to be "an exemplary student" of the school. However Myth was at a disadvantage. Being blind, she never learned how to read or write, and another, more serious problem. She couldn't do magic. When she took her entrance exam, she failed miserably. She couldn't do the simplest magic for the practical exam, and she couldn't even take the written exam. It was also at around this time that she'd begun to get the beginnings of her sight. She started to see cloudy shapes that she barely knew how to distinguish. She hadn't yet had the chance to tell anypony when her grandmother came to visit. She was beyond disappointed in Myth's failure. Myth overheard her say the words "What good is a blind unicorn who can't do magic?"

That was her final straw. She couldn't live with this family any longer. If they didn't want her blind, they couldn't have her seeing. So she ran away. Despite her disadvantages. Despite her fear of the world.

Over time, her magic sight developed. She began to be able to discern more and more things, and she found that she loved magic. She loved to see the intricacies of how magic worked and she loved how it seemed to have a life all its own. She began to regard magic as her closest friend. It was what had gotten her through her toughest days and it was always there for her.

It was one day while she'd been out on her own that she'd somehow been able to subconsciously cast an illusion spell to make herself invisible to avoid some thugs that were chasing her. When she'd gotten away, her vision was accosted by a brilliant flash from her flank. She was too worried about her pursuers noticing to realize she'd just gotten her cutie mark! When she did, however, she instantly forgot about her immediate problems for a while. 

Throughout her life she's studied magic closely and has loved nothing more than to be right there to see magical events and to study them and examine them.

Character Personality: Easily excited, and slow to anger. She doesn't get mad or annoyed very easily, and she is not scared of much. She is obsessed with magic. She understands how things work on a magical level. Sometimes, this can come off as eccentric, she has her ways of doing things, and they make sense to her.
Character Summary: Myth is a gifted unicorn who has a very unique condition. She cannot see light, how most ponies see. Instead, she sees magic. She can see the magic that makes things up. It's not as accurate as normal vision, but it has its perks. She studies magic, and is obsessed with it. Her perspective of the world is so different, sometimes, she can come off as eccentric, but there is a method to her madness.

 Magic Sight

TL;DR: She can see some of the same things other ponies can, but not others. She also can see some things others cannot. Her effective "sight" is like poor eyesight, and no color or shades (like black vs white).

Magic Sight is a condition so rare, only one pony was ever recorded to have had it. Sometime in the pre-celestia era. Not much was written, but it was obvious that this sight was both a blessing and a curse. The pony afflicted had no perception of light at all. Could not fully understand the concept of color.

however, he was gifted with the unique ability to see magic. Not just the magic aura that surrounds a unicorn's horn when they cast spells, but all kinds of magic. Even that which holds the very matter of the world together. This unicorn didn't write anything himself, mostly because he couldn't read because reading required regular sight.

Myth has the same sight this pony of olden times had. She sees what he saw.

She can see some things other ponies can, but it looks very different to her. She doesn't see colors, and the magic doesn't always make very exact shapes. She can see vaguely pony-shaped clouds of life magic that move about. Each with their own distinct character. She can recognize you by your magic as well as your voice or smell.

She can see the sun, moon and stars, as they are all made of pure magic. but again, they look very different. As does everything.

There are many things she cannot see. She can't see pigments. Like paint on a billboard, or letters on a page. She can't see textures, or fine (even semi-fine) details. She knows nothing of colors the way you and I do.

There are also things she can see that most ponies can't. Most ponies would not be able to imagine what she sees, because it is so entirely different.

She can see what kind of magic it is.

The magic of life and the earth, which Earth ponies have in abundance and resides in all kinds of life. The pegasus' sky magic which helps them fly and control the weather. Unicorns' mind magic which they use to cast spells. Cutie Mark magic has its own appearances, too. Each pony's magic is unique, and easily distinguishable.

Also, the magic of matter. It holds things together and gives them their properties. This is much harder to distinguish apart. She can see the difference between densities, but that's about it.

She also can, on occasion, see dream magic. At night, if she watches carefully, she can see ponies' dreams drifting about. She can certainly tell one dream from another, but because she's never known what a pony was dreaming, or had anything to compare them to, so she can't tell what they're dreaming. Although, every once in a while, she can see if it's a happy, sad, or scary dream (if the feeling is intense enough, she can feel it a little too when she focuses). She can even see when Luna has entered a dream. It burns brighter, and with Luna's magic.

edit: The sharpness of her magic sight is nearsighted. If she can get things real up close, she can see more details, but at normal distance, she only gets very basic shapes. at longer distances, she sees very little except very large features like landmasses and large landmarks.

"Yes, exactly!"  He exclaimed excitedly "As a result, I have quite an extensive library, at home. Some of it is completely unrelated things that I doubt I'll ever need. but hay. One can never have too many books, amirite?"

Stellar was impressed with Tranquility's claim to be writing a book. He dreamed of one day writing a research book that became an industry reference remembered for years to come.

He had to admit, he was very curious about their telepathy, and if he didn't think it would be unpleasant for them, he'd probably be tempted to experiment with them. Although, his specialty was more in the stars, his inquisitive mind still wanted to know more.

"That's fascinating! To be able to communicate over large distances would be utterly incredible. You know, if you actually are interested in having somepony help you experiment with your telepathic abilities, I have a friend who is an expert with all kinds of magic." Stellar paused and cautioned "She's kind of obsessed, tho, so you'd have to be careful with her. But she has a very unique perspective that could be incredibly helpful, I think. Plus, she's a unicorn. Better suited for magic studies than a pegasus like me." He rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "We pegasi have our heads in the clouds, and I'm no exception." He  laughed some more.

Flaire chuckled "Seems simple enough" he agreed. He gave the filly a couple of bits to get six rings to toss. He wasn't exactly confident in his ring tossing ability, but he sure wanted one of those tasty apples. He went ahead and tossed a ring at the apples, but it just bounced right off and back into his face.

Flaire laughed "I knew I'd likely need more than a few goes." he smiled he concentrated hard and threw his second ring which sort of slipped right between a couple apples. "Third time's the charm?" he bargained with the ring.

He looked intently asst the apples willing one of them to catch his ring, he reeled his hoof back and just before he tossed, he saw something that made him stifle a laugh, he lost hold of his ring and it flew up. The ring coasted down flipping in the air as if in slow motion. It bounced off one apple, then another before rolling to a stop around a third apple. Tho on accident, he'd managed to ring an apple!

"Ha ha! I guess third time really is a charm!" he laughed.

Then he called over to behind the cart where a couple of very muddy stallions were walking by, one covered head to toe, and the other so tall, he was only covered up to his mind flank.

"Hey, guys! did you get lost?" he called

The big one just gave Flaire a look, and the shorter one said "I have never been this dirty in my whole life!" Flaire couldn't tell if Stage was angry or excited "Hoof and I are going to go get washed. You can come back to the caravan whenever you are ready." He tried again to pull some mud out of his mane, but managed only to pull his hair. The two left, and Flaire waved at them.

I'm sure you've noticed the art is different than most of my posts. This one is not my art. She was an adopt I got forever ago from somebody on Google+ (before it died). I'd credit the artist, but I've long since forgotten who that was.

[edit] Well, the cutie mark is mine, but that's splitting hairs, lol.

Cocoa Nut

Roleplay Type: WoE
Name: Cocoa Nut
Sex: Mare
Age: Young mare
Species: Earth Pony
Eye colour: Golden Orange
Coat: Brown
Mane/Tail: Reddish brown and red
Physique: An adorable amount of chub.
Residence: Recently moved to Ponyville
Occupation: Chocolateer and confectioner.
Cutie Mark: Chocolate bar and cocoa beans
Unique Traits: Cocoa Nut may have a screw or two loose, but she is a genius when it comes to chocolate and candy. She can make almost literally anything your heart desires. She does sculpting, unique chocolate flavors or colors, you name it.

History: Cocoa Nut was born to the name Cocoa Butter. When she was a filly, she would play jokes on others excessively. She thought she was just being funny, but she had to learn the hard way that sometimes pranks can go too far. One prank was so bad, she was labeled a madpony and sent to a psychiatric hospital. She learned there that sometimes, she needed to curb her craziness a little, and not go so nuts. She adopted the name Cocoa Nut to remind her that she can be a little eccentric as long as she keeps track of it doesn't let it get out of hoof.

While in the hospital, she got a hold of the kitchen, and they let her do some cooking. She didn't really care much for most of it, but when she discovered chocolate for the first time, she could do nothing but make chocolate all day for weeks. They had to revoke her kitchen privileges because she wasn't doing anything else.

When she was finally released, the first thing she did was go to her kitchen, and furiously prepare the biggest batch of chocolate in history (Not literally, but she felt like it), and she got her cutie mark right then and there. Since then, she's always been experimenting and discovering new ways of making chocolate interesting, and even healthy sometimes.

Character Personality: Cocoa Nut is a bit eccentric. Unpredictable, really. She loves subverting ponies' expectations. Her favorite thing, aside from chocolate, is to see ponies laugh. She's not above a prank or two if the setting is right, and she finds the perfect opportunity.
Character Summary: Cocoa is a bit of a madpony who loves chocolate more than probably any pony shou5ld. After her love of chocolate, what she enjoys most is making ponies laugh. A genius in the kitchen with chocolate and candies, she has a unique bag of tricks for the pranks she likes to play.