"Special Talent"? But 2 of them an do it...

[Ashton]

I was thinking about something... Twilight said in ACW that Shining Armor was the only one who could make a force field, that it was his special talent... but in Ponyville Confidential, Twilight creates the exact same forcefield to keep the CMC out of the library...

Continuity error? can "special tallents" overlap? Other ideas?

[Angie Cakes]

I always figured the agreed upon answer was that Shining Armour is the only one who can create a force field the size of a city. Twilight can make a smaller one because her talent is magic.

I assume that ponies can perform or learn tasks that are other ponies' special talent, but aren't as good at it naturally.

[RarityDash]

Yeah. There's a pretty huge difference in terms of scope there: a single library vs all of Canterlot.

Until we see Twi shield an entire city with her magic, I'm going to assume Shining Armor is better at that particular spell.

[Thoth]

I'd have to echo Angie's thoughts.

I figured that Shining Armor just had more ability in protection spells such as the force field around Canterlot. I had noticed the two force fields looked exactly alike, but I pinned that down to the idea that Twilight, as well as other unicorns, were capable of making those sorts of protection spells.

I suppose, what my theory is, is that Shining Armor's special talent essentially is performing protection spells at a much higher skill level and efficiency than other unicorns can.

[Davroth]

Twilight was able to learn Rarity's gem searching spell, too.

Twilight's special talent is magic, so maybe that means she can learn the otherwise unique magic of other unicorns? Just a thought. ^^

[Skye]

Twilight was able to learn Rarity's gem searching spell, too.

Twilight's special talent is magic, so maybe that means she can learn the otherwise unique magic of other unicorns? Just a thought. ^^

This is pretty much how I see it. Because Twilight's talent -is- magic, she's got an affinity to learn it. Where as much of the rest of us may be really good at something, it takes a lot of effort to learn how to do something as well as someone else who may come by it naturally, and generally it takes a lot of effort to be able to do something that doesn't come to you naturally. Some, though, may be good enough to have a natural talent for a lot of things often undiscovered, and I think Twilight is one of these. She's the most powerful in that she has this ability to learn, but she may not have her own 'brand' of magic like other unicorns do that do it really well. Rarity's talent is finding gems, she's just also good at being a fashionista as well that allows her to put it to use, but as we've seen she can struggle with some spells too, and Twilight's the only one we've seen teleport with any regularity up to this point.

[starswirlthebearded]

Twilight probably learned it FROM her brother, like she learned the gem finding spell from Rarity. She seems she can learn any magic she sets her mind to.

However the scope and duration is up to debate. Could she theoretically create a city sized forcefield with her power? Probably. Would she be able to maintain it over long periods like Shining Armor? Probably not. To me its not only the size, as we know Twilight can cast at least town scale spells, but duration. Shining Armor probably has an affinity as others have stated and know the spell better than Twilight. However, when Twilight is using her full magical potential? Who knows what she is capable of (glowing eyes). We have seen her go into that state maybe two times if memory serves. She seems to have near limitless power in that state, seemingly uncontrollable (Like with Aang when he first triggered the Avatar state, which is why I called it the Unicorn Avatar State). But I doubt that state is maintainable for long periods of time.

She can learn anything she sets her mind to, unlike other unicorns, however I do not think that is the meaning of her special talent being "magic." My theory is this... Magic being the special talent does not mean you can LEARN any sort of magic, unique or not, but rather she can create spells that can be used by any sufficiently talented unicorn (IE graduates of Celestia's school). In fact, Celestia may have founded the school to find unicorns like Twilight whom could further the magical potential of unicorns by contributing new magic, and taking them under her special tutelage and having them research all magic. We know that Star Swirl the Bearded created spells, and I think that is Twilight's ability.

[Ashton]

Twilight probably learned it FROM her brother, like she learned the gem finding spell from Rarity. She seems she can learn any magic she sets her mind to.

However the scope and duration is up to debate. Could she theoretically create a city sized forcefield with her power? Probably. Would she be able to maintain it over long periods like Shining Armor? Probably not. To me its not only the size, as we know Twilight can cast at least town scale spells, but duration. Shining Armor probably has an affinity as others have stated and know the spell better than Twilight. However, when Twilight is using her full magical potential? Who knows what she is capable of (glowing eyes). We have seen her go into that state maybe two times if memory serves. She seems to have near limitless power in that state, seemingly uncontrollable (Like with Aang when he first triggered the Avatar state, which is why I called it the Unicorn Avatar State). But I doubt that state is maintainable for long periods of time.

Makes sense... and actually we've seen it 3 times: 102, 202, and Cutiemark Chronicles when Twi had her flashback (as a foal when she 'awoke' her eyes turned while while her magic went wild)

She can learn anything she sets her mind to, unlike other unicorns, however I do not think that is the meaning of her special talent being "magic." My theory is this... Magic being the special talent does not mean you can LEARN any sort of magic, unique or not, but rather she can create spells that can be used by any sufficiently talented unicorn (IE graduates of Celestia's school). In fact, Celestia may have founded the school to find unicorns like Twilight whom could further the magical potential of unicorns by contributing new magic, and taking them under her special tutelage and having them research all magic. We know that Star Swirl the Bearded created spells, and I think that is Twilight's ability.

I'm gonna reply to this later, I'm too tired to do it right now lol but a very interesting theory

[Lux]

Having played four unicorns, I feel that each unicorn has their own special magical ability like healing or creating ice. Shining Armor can create defensive magic as his main ability. Now, unicorns can learn other spells, but it takes more time and effort to cast those and they will not be nearly as proficient in them as their primary ability.

Twilight is the special exception. Being that she is the Element of Magic, she can learn magic as easy as if it were her primary ability. She can also cast and be as proficient. Her main ability I would say is teleportation as no other pony so far has been seen to be able to do that.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

All those books on magic aren't just for show, you never know when cross training will apply some special insight to your own special talent. Like how having an understanding of engineering might help an artist draw really nice cityscapes, or conversely, having an understanding of artistic aesthetics might help an engineer create some very attractive buildings.

Part of friendship is helping others, and if you're doing something for someone else, understanding their special talent will make your contribution that much more helpful. Like writing a book, you need to know your audience.