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Jackarunda
#305176
1 year ago
I had always imagined that using magic would take a large amount of energy from your body, like the ability to manipulate objects at a distance would come at the cost of being very energy-inneficient compared to the traditional human arm and finger movements to manipulate the same objects in the same ways
Drasvin
#305201
1 year ago
@Jackarunda That makes sense. Though I have a feeling that there's more to it than just that, namely because both Twilight and Rarity are able to lift many objects at once with little to no effort. Rarity is was all her dress-making supplies doing the Art of the Dress song, so that might be able to be explained by the objects being light and/or being related to her special talent. Twilight, on the other hand, lifted the apples off of numerous trees at once.
Anonymous
#305225
1 year ago
It probably rests on an individual unicorn's abilities. Things like health, fitness, natural talent, learned ability, and practice will all contribute toward how much energy a unicorn's magic takes, and how long a unicorn can utilise certain spells at full capacity.
Anonymous
#305267
1 year ago
It bears mentioning that, as far as I can tell, ponies lifting objects with magic doesn't defy gravity, as with other forces. It just puts all the force on the pony. For evidence of this, consider Twilight's feet being rammed into the earth as she lifts a water tower full of milk and a giant, astral bear - it's possible that she doesn't feel the full weight of it, but she clearly had to tense every muscle in her body while performing the spell, and showed a distinct difficulty in keeping her head up.
Anonymous
#305409
1 year ago
octavia hasn´t horn damn!!
Lancer
#305418
1 year ago
@Anon267: Good points. I'd guess that with continued training, she could exert an opposite force at the same time to compensate. Maybe that's how Celestia and Luna move astral bodies. Where the actual power originates is a question for philosophers, though.
Have you noticed that none of the unicorns are ever seen lifting themselves? Instead, they create fairy-wing spells. There's got to be a clue there.
Anonymous
#305519
1 year ago
Perhaps Unicorn telekinesis isn't actually making an object weightless, but is actually a force battling against 'natural' forces such as gravity.

That would mean a Unicorn using telekinesis is like a creature physically lifting a target object. Since creatures in real life can lift objects several times their own weight, such as ants, it is logical to assume that a Unicorn can lift an object much heavier than they are.

Going by basic physics and logic, no matter how much weight an individual can lift, one cannot lift themselves up - even if they can lift things heavier than themselves - this explains why a Unicorn cannot lift itself up and effectively 'fly'.

Of course, this is mostly up to interpretation. Since physics isn't the same in Equestria as it is in real life, there is the possibility that I am completely wrong. Fan fics such as Fallout Equestria theorise that Unicorns CAN lift themselves up and 'fly', but it is an extremely draining and difficult maneuver to attempt - only the protagonist, Little Pip, can do this for a very sort period of time, and she is the most powerful Unicorn in the Equestrian Wasteland when it comes to telekinesis.

Either way, I figure it is simply easier to use a 'give me wings' spell to generate all the lift a pony needs to fly than to exert oneself in self-levitation.
nemryn
#306356
1 year ago
519: Right, you can't lift yourself up. Which is why you try to 'lift' the ground instead.
Anonymous
#306604
1 year ago
About the exerted force when unicorns lift things and not being about lift themselves: I'm pretty sure neither Rarity or Twilight used any kind of telekinetic powers while in Cloudsdale, perhaps out of fear they might push themselves through the clouds despite the wings/cloudwalking spell.