.

If you look closely enough, it almost seems like Celestia is saying “Oh god dammit!”

Ouch man. That’s not good for the wings.

SHIEEELD!!!

@Pinkbeardedpony  
Thanks for the advice :)

@infinita est lux Solis  
If you were to change “organ” to “organelle,” then I could get on board with your schema. You ought to incorporate emotions and axioms in your layout, as both concepts have canonical support for influencing/bolstering magic. Thanks for sharing.  
へ_(‾◡◝ )>

@Pinkbeardedpony  
Looks like i might need to rework the way magic works in my headcanon/fanfics, because this is the way I’ve always understood magic: magic is a group of specialized sub-atomic particles that exist in the universe, there are types, the first is fire particles: they heat things they interact with, the second is water particles: those cool things that they interact with, the third is barrier particles: they project kinetic energy in a certain direction, the fourth is chaos particles: they can interact with an atoms number of electrons, protons, and neutrons to change the chemical composition of that atom, the fifth is fake particles: these “pretend” to be regular mater and even have all of the properties of the particular mater, such as weight, size, shape, color, ect… but exist magically, and the final type is strange particles: those change the proprieties of normal mater, such as their weight, size, shape, color, ect…
 
because of this behavior, magic can even be bound together into pseudo atoms, and even into solids and liquids.  
magic exists in space naturally, and is somehow generated from nothing, ponies use the natural magic by absorbing it into their body with the help of a magical organ that exists bound to their heart, this organ injects small amounts of the magical energy it accumulates into the ponies blood, when tirek steals ponies magic, he is actually stealing the magic that exists inside that organ, and in the fanfic “the rainbow factory” the spectric combine is harvesting magic energy to use as a fuel source.
 
the magic in their blood is what gives ponies color, and by extension cutie marks, when starlight takes ponies cutie marks in season 5, she is actually altering the organ that gives them magic. changelings where once driven from their homeland thousands of years ago and sent to the island of necropolis, necropolis is naturally radioactive, and the radiation changed the changeling’s DNA resulting in them being transformed into big black alien-insects, because of this transformation the organ that gives changelings magic was broken and they needed to gain magic directly. however because of a magic rebound when devouring the magic of another changeling, a huge pulse of energy was released, and that fixed the changelings DNA, restoring their bodies and fixing their magic organ.

@Miss Shy  
I love giving little Glimmy Wimmy different pet names. I was inspired by a similar tradition with the wrestler Brock Lesnar.
 
@infinita est lux  

Thanks to Barfly Grimalkin we know a little about how magic works. If memory serves, spells are constructed using Latin phrasal templates. Don’t get me started about Dim Dumb Dimmer being the pony to introduce the concept or being able to levitate herself like it was nothing. In addition to romance language mad libs, you’ve also got emotional and/or axiom-based based power sources for magic. One of the reasons that Twi-lite Hedge-trimmer was so powerful as a villain was her frothing, insane rage (I have dubbed her a Rage Mage). The show would have you believe that love and friendship are where it’s at, but apparently any sustainable and overwhelming emotion will work wonders for your mystic-mojo.

Every posted image and comment about said image on this site is demonstrably pointless. Watching cartoons is definitely pointless. Flights of fancy are certainly pointless. Life itself is regrettably pointless. Don’t be a Debbie Downer, droog.  
(⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃

@ExistenceNull
 
@infinita est lux Solis  

@infinita est lux Solis  
Yet she never does.

@ExistenceNull  
Well the incompetence of the guard could be because of 1: bad leadership, 2: lack of resources/funding, or 3: lack of training.
 
and if warhammer 40k or D&D has taught me anything, to kill discord or tirek, find a magic weapon that’s good against them or send enough soliders at them until they can’t fight anymore, celestia did say back in season 3 that she had a spell that prevented discord form effecting something, so cast that on the guard!!!

@Beau Skunky  
Thats kind of my point.  
With their ageless, so far, nature they could barely practice at all and still outstrip even the most dedicated scholar.  
I can’t take their lack of skill as much more then laziness because of that.

@infinita est lux Solis  
Well, Discord and Tirek made those armies a death sentence to fight so their not present here.  
Not to mention the guard is generally worthless as it stands.  
And concidering the elements weren’t their first attempt at any of the major bads in canon, yeah, I’d expect them to not be the equivalent of an Archmage power wise with the skill of a toddler.

@Pinkbeardedpony  
I love how you said Game Grumps’s name right only once.

@Pinkbeardedpony  
Keep in mind that we don’t know much about how magic works in canon… perhaps celestia can’t make spells, or perhaps her magic works in such a way that she can only use certain spells at certain times (almost like the D&D cleric magic system) what if the time of day effects her magic potential, what if emotion effected her power, or it could work like warhammer 40k psychic abilities where she must use an outside power like the ethereal realm to focus magic
 
there is a lot we don’t know about magic, so arguing about magic is always strange, difficult, and ultimately pointless

@infinita est lux Solis  

Currently, none of the ponies you mentioned are students. Twilight is a princess (i.e. a politician), and Glimba Glomba just finished her remedial friendship course. Glimmer was also a politician prior to her stint as a super villain and wham-bam-I’m-good-again reformation. You might claim that Twilight and Glimenstein both retain the personality of a scholar, but if Twilight and Glumgold can wear many hats, I think you should also permit Celestia the same flexibility.  

Celestia was present for and actively participating in the battle against Rey Sombra in the alternate timeline that bears his name. She was not sitting on top of a hill, sipping tea while watching the battle with a pair of binoculars. You could argue that Sombra forced her to fight by personally entering the fray, but Celestia does not seem to mind wading into combat.
 
Also, I think Celestia practices her spellcasting consistently, albeit infrequently. 970 years of occasional practice should be worth more than one unique spell, don’t you think?

Y’know, even Lauren Faust herself doesn’t consider them “deities,” or “goddesses,” so it’s nice to see they aren’t perfect, or all-knowing, and such. Some fans oddly mistake them as such, so they get mad whenever they show a weakness or flaw.
 
Not to mention, Glimmer a normal (yet somewhat powerful) unicorn was able to use magic on them. So they aren’t invincible either.  
(Cue “Glimmer is OP, plz nerf!” jokes.)

@ExistenceNull  
I doubt she was the sole defender of the realm, what king doesn’t have an army:

@infinita est lux Solis  
And yet she was supposedly the sole defender of the realm for decades.  
No wonder they needed the Elements.

@Background Pony #C9D3  
Exactly. Although we didn’t see Luna’s flops at Celestia’s duties reach a dire level, the implications of failing were clear. If accidentally scowling in a photo is enough to ruin an entire fundraiser, one must wonder how much damage a larger failure would result in.

@Pinkbeardedpony  
Well twilight is a scholar, and glimmer is a student, they should be experimenting with magic. celestia is a politician, i doubt she needs many combat spells…

“No fighting in the castle! You’re ruining the drapes!”

@Pinkbeardedpony  
I can imagine her with Sunset Shimmer.  
“Oh, thank me. I finally get a protege with a sun cutie mark. We have so much in common already, I hope we don’t f*ck this up somehow.”

@ExistenceNull  

Didn’t you know? Only Purple Smart and Glimmy Glams are allowed to cast new and interesting spells (with the lion’s share going to glimmel glummer)! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
 
Narrative favoritism notwithstanding, Celestia has one unique spell under her belt, says I.
 

 
Lesson Zero had her dispelling Twilight’s “Sympathy” spell, a feat not accomplished before or since (least if memory serves). Not Flashy at all, but singular.
 
Also, I would like to think that Celestia has the double secret probation special talent of being able belch gouts of flame, citing this episode as my source. (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧