Twilight isn't all that special

[MyLittlePonyTales]

I was thinking about how Twilght's talent is supposed to be magic. That makes her seem a lot more special than any other ponies in the series. But I got to thinking about it, and realized that Twilight really ISN'T super special.

Her talent is magic, we all agree. But what not everyone takes into consideration is the meaning of that.

Her talent is actually SPELLS. Spells=magic.

As we see, Rarity's talent is clothing making. That is something that Twilight cannot do, however, as we see in A Dog and a Pony Show, Twilight CAN copy Rarity's "Gem Finding" spell. Why? Because that's a spell, not a talent.

Twilight's talent is learning and being able to remember spells, but not having a specific talent, per se. Twilight's talent translates to simply magic because her talent is spells, but that technically isn't really something specific.

Trixie's talent might seem similar, because her talent could be spells/tricks. However, she hasn't done extensive research or training as Twilight has, thus her powers are not as strong. As Twilight gets older, she will learn more spells, but in order to have a specific skill in something, she would have to hone her skills according to a specific job.

Thoughts?

[Skye]

I think another thing to take into consideration is potential, as well. While Trixie and Twilight may have similar capacities, the difference between them becomes greater when you take into consideration their magical prowess. Twilight may have much more potential and capacity, which enables her to learn and do other spells even as she does. In Winter Wrap-up, we see that sometimes they don't always work like they're supposed to, but for Twilight she's still able to do it. It may simply be that Trixie is unable. After all, while any one of us 'could' lift two hundred pounds over our heads, not all of us are strong enough to do so, and some of us aren't even capable of exercising enough to be able to do so no matter how hard we try.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

I disagree, I think that with repeated practice and training anyone (excluding those with physical handicaps preventing them from doing so) could potentially lift 200 pounds. Twilight has devoted her life, seemingly since birth, to study and practice, but not of any specific skill. With Trixie, we don't know her history. Also, she travels around, and therefore does not have access to books or time to practice as much as Twilight does.

All ponies are probably going to make mistakes at times, regardless of what their talent is. Twilight, with practice, could perfect her "Come To Life" spell, but she would need to hone that particular spell skill.

[Skye]

I disagree, I think that with repeated practice and training anyone (excluding those with physical handicaps preventing them from doing so) could potentially lift 200 pounds. Twilight has devoted her life, seemingly since birth, to study and practice, but not of any specific skill. With Trixie, we don't know her history. Also, she travels around, and therefore does not have access to books or time to practice as much as Twilight does.

All ponies are probably going to make mistakes at times, regardless of what their talent is. Twilight, with practice, could perfect her "Come To Life" spell, but she would need to hone that particular spell skill.

That's just what I mean, some people with physical handicaps, or physical deficicies that prevent them from training (weak bones, bad joints, slight builds and such) are naturally not predisposed to reaching that, much less more weight. Twilight has definitely devoted her life, I think this is what makes her such a magical powerhouse. She was predisposed to that kind of thing, and there's no telling how many other ponies -could-, but haven't applied themselves in this way. I think Trixie's talents lie in showboating, and her magic is related to that (Hence, Trixie or Trick-sy, like stage magic) and has never thought to or applied herself...or maybe she's just not predispositioned to the same amount of capacity that Twilight has. Twilight's reserves could be bigger which naturally give her the ability to reach as much as she has while Trixie may not.

[Hippo]

Ahh, the good ol' nature vs. nurture debate.

I think it can be a little of both. However, I would side more with the fact that she doesn't have a clear talent and that most of the things we've seen so far are the things anypony could learn. Twilight is a leader, and leaders don't have a specific talent in any particular thing, they usually tend to have a large array of general knowledge. Not everypony can be a leader.

In thinking about ponys' destinies and their cutie marks and motivation, I would say that some ponies have natural abilities and talents that make them special (nature), while other ponies have to work hard to find out what is so special about them (nurture).

This is another terrific example of this show's moral character and an attempt to help the viewers understand these ways-of-life for themelves. And this theme is riddled throughoout the CMC episodes.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Trixie and Twilight are two perfectly healthy Unicorns.

Thinking more on this, I may have come up with a better way of explaining things. It is my belief that all Unicorns posses the talent to become as powerful as Twilight is. Considering things, Twilight isn't really that much more powerful than other Unicorns.

The reason no other Unicorns have ever become as powerful as she is is because they all have to have jobs.

Equestria is a working society, therefore everypony must contribute to society in order to generate income. Twilight Sparkle is a different case, because she doesn't need a job. Celestia trained her from a young age to practice magic and to devote her time to studying. Now that Twilight is older, it seems that Celestia must take care of any expenses she has, since she does not technically have a job.

[Hippo]

Fat and lazy Twilight!

GET A JOB!!!!

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Fat and lazy Twilight!

GET A JOB!!!!

SO TRUE! Twilight even recruits her friends to help clean up her library when it's too much work for Spike to do. Can't she even pick up her own books? Did no one teach Twilight to "leave things cleaner than she found them"?

[brianblackberry]

I disagree, I think that with repeated practice and training anyone (excluding those with physical handicaps preventing them from doing so) could potentially lift 200 pounds. Twilight has devoted her life, seemingly since birth, to study and practice, but not of any specific skill. With Trixie, we don't know her history. Also, she travels around, and therefore does not have access to books or time to practice as much as Twilight does.

All ponies are probably going to make mistakes at times, regardless of what their talent is. Twilight, with practice, could perfect her "Come To Life" spell, but she would need to hone that particular spell skill.

However most people, no matter how much effort and training they apply to themselves, will never be professional athletes, because they don't have that inherent ability to reach that level of physical skill. Twilight's special skill is spell casting magic, and most of her ability is likely built around a lifetime of dedicated training, but she have one of the greatest potential in raw ability in addition, a "pro-athletes" level of magic using ability.

So I would say she is special in one area and especially talented in that area to a level many couldn't reach (although Trixie may be the same if she applied herself). Still she has disadvantages, she has little physical strength, and even if she physically trained herself, she probably will never reach Dash or Applejack level of physical skill (even if she could become very fit and athletic).

[brianblackberry]

Fat and lazy Twilight!

GET A JOB!!!!

Or she is expecting a little pony, yeah, I said it.

[Teh_Brawler]

Fat and lazy Twilight!

GET A JOB!!!!

Or she is expecting a little pony, yeah, I said it.

Oh that Big Mac :3

[Derpy]

While a pony's identity is tied to her Cutie Mark, she isn't necessarily defined by her Cutie Mark. The Cutie Mark is just a symbol of a skill or hobby that the pony first discovered they were very talented with or passionate about.

For example...

Pinkie Pie:

Cutie Mark - Balloons (talented at throwing parties)

Hobby: Baking cupcakes and other sweet things.

Rarity:

Cutie Mark - Jewels (talented at finding gems with her jewel-finding spell)

Hobby: Sewing and making clothing.

Twilight Sparkle:

Cutie Mark - Magic (talented at learning and applying magic)

Hobby: Reading and studying.

Etc., Etc.

That being said...

The OP's argument is that because Twilight's magical abilities are tied to her knowledge of spells, she is no more "special" than any other Unicorn who takes a similar interest in magic (like Trixie). While it is possible that Trixie matched Twilight in magical ability, one lesson we learned from the same episode was that Trixie's abilities were no replacement for Twilight's knowledge (about the Ursa) and critical thinking skills. It was Twilight's study of the Ursa that enabled her to analyze the situation and make the best use of her magic to resolve it. Twilight's strength in magic may be limited by her knowledge of spells, but it is her passion for reading and learning that sets her apart and makes her special.

[Skye]

Very good points, Derpy. I think we may be somewhat biased towards thinking of Twilight as special because of her role as central figure in the show. Though it remains to be seen how she will develop in later episodes. The one thing that sticks to me was how she got a tiara like Princess Celestia's during the second episode after the use of the Elements of Magic, and it took Twilight's abilities to do it (I wonder if Rarity might have been also...after all, the beginning set-up did say 'used her unicorn magic', so maybe it could have been possible!) which suggests maybe Twilight has a destiny other than the one she already fulfilled. You're right that the show reinforced that it was Twilight's calm and cool approach and knowledge and her studies (Going to school is good, kids!) helped her show up Trixie and deafeat the Ursa. But I think that Twilight likely has more potential by definition than perhaps any other pony at least, thus far. Though we haven't actually seen her use anything particularily spectacular since Boast Busters. Even in Dog and Pony Show, all she really did was copy a known spell.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

I noticed something of a pattern when it comes to Twilight's magic. When she's just practicing, using it as a shortcut or for selfish reasons, she often has a hard time with it and sometimes it even turns out disastrously. But when she's using her magic to help out her friends to do the right thing, she manages to pull it off, sometimes effortlessly. Perhaps this is due to the relationship between magic and friendship.

She has trouble teleporting every now and again, but when she was trying to convince Applejack to accept her help, she teleports around without breaking a sweat. She tries to fix the parasprite problem, ignoring her friend Pinkie Pie or tries to help clean up winter, ignoring her friend Applejack and things get much worse.

Perhaps that is why Trixie turned to stage magic, because she had never let true friendship into her heart. or something...

[MyLittlePonyTales]

hi hi

I noticed something of a pattern when it comes to Twilight's magic. When she's just practicing, using it as a shortcut or for selfish reasons, she often has a hard time with it and sometimes it even turns out disastrously. But when she's using her magic to help out her friends to do the right thing, she manages to pull it off, sometimes effortlessly. Perhaps this is due to the relationship between magic and friendship.

She has trouble teleporting every now and again, but when she was trying to convince Applejack to accept her help, she teleports around without breaking a sweat. She tries to fix the parasprite problem, ignoring her friend Pinkie Pie or tries to help clean up winter, ignoring her friend Applejack and things get much worse.

Perhaps that is why Trixie turned to stage magic, because she had never let true friendship into her heart. or something...

That actually makes a whole lot of sense.

Also note, that if Twilight is focusing on her friends, she's not so focused on herself or her magic. It seems that Twilight uses magic best when she just doesn't think about it. Kind of like an adrenaline rush, I guess, where, if she's caught in the moment, magic works better.

Like when she accidentally teleported in The Ticket Master. She was sort of thinking about herself, but she was more focusesed on getting away. She even tells Spike, "I didn't even know it was going to happen!"

[brianblackberry]

hi hi

I noticed something of a pattern when it comes to Twilight's magic. When she's just practicing, using it as a shortcut or for selfish reasons, she often has a hard time with it and sometimes it even turns out disastrously. But when she's using her magic to help out her friends to do the right thing, she manages to pull it off, sometimes effortlessly. Perhaps this is due to the relationship between magic and friendship.

She has trouble teleporting every now and again, but when she was trying to convince Applejack to accept her help, she teleports around without breaking a sweat. She tries to fix the parasprite problem, ignoring her friend Pinkie Pie or tries to help clean up winter, ignoring her friend Applejack and things get much worse.

Perhaps that is why Trixie turned to stage magic, because she had never let true friendship into her heart. or something...

That actually makes a whole lot of sense.

Also note, that if Twilight is focusing on her friends, she's not so focused on herself or her magic. It seems that Twilight uses magic best when she just doesn't think about it. Kind of like an adrenaline rush, I guess, where, if she's caught in the moment, magic works better.

Like when she accidentally teleported in The Ticket Master. She was sort of thinking about herself, but she was more focusesed on getting away. She even tells Spike, "I didn't even know it was going to happen!"

It could be a "universal constant" in Equestria, that magic works best in the service of others, or at least that may be implied by the show as shown by the above statements. It could explain why Twilight has so easily exceeded Trixie in ability while their potential power may be rather close. Trixie has yet to apply here abilities in any way other than to serve her own selfish wants and desires.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

The opening narration mentions that harmony is the most powerful known magic, but I'm pretty sure that implies that there are other types of magic as well. Given that there are non-unicorns that embody the elements of harmony, I suppose you might make the case that the various types of magic can be found everywhere in some amount. Perhaps when a Unicorn uses magic, she draws upon some of what is in those around her and her surroundings, and depending on what kind of magic resonates with that particular spell, it might effect its power and success?