When the TYT episode about the supercharged moon was aired, no one understood how it happened, but the celestial bodies move by themselves. This could be proof that the magical world had been fundamentally changed - so much so, that much of the G4 lore is no longer valid.
It was already proven that the magical world had been fundamentally changed long before TYT’s Moon Festival aired. Remember this line from Twilight’s recorded message in MYM’s Growing Pains?
“Magic is alive. Always changing. Growing stronger.”
And yes, much of the G4 lore is no longer valid. Earth ponies couldn’t magically create plants back then and now they can. Therefore, there are things in G4’s lore that are now outdated. What many people like to point at and call “inconsistencies” are actually just products of the magic in Equestria evolving.
“Earth ponies and unicorns can walk on clouds now without a spell! That’s bad!”
Why? Why is it bad that the magic in Equestria evolving has now allowed earth ponies and unicorns to walk on clouds without a spell? Because that’s not what it was like back in Season 1 of FiM? That’s your only reason for not accepting a simple explanation for why things have now been made easier for the ponies of Equestria?
And yet it has been seen that while the ponies could let the magic remain wild and unregulated in G4, it has been very different in G5, because not only had the magic evolved, it has become stronger - and more uncontrolled than before.
In MYM chapter 1 we had seen how magic became a very serious threat to the surroundings, and in MYM ep. 2 the earth pony magic was literally out of control - it had become too strong for earth ponies. And of course this episode was very logically weak because we didn’t see why the magic went berserk, it just happened by itself, and even less when the ponies brought it under “control”. Opaline explained that the more unstable the magic becomes, the more powerful it becomes. And she, as a Fire alicorn, could assimilate unstable magic without consequences. It is not only when there is discord among the tribe ponies that magic went berserk, it could happen by itself when magic users are inexperienced or careless. This was not witnessed early on in G4, because the magic was not that strong.
We had thought this was only for the tribe ponies - earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi, but that was before Opaline stole the Dragonstone in MYM Ch 4. while the dragons were asleep, and then it was discovered that the dragons also had to regulate their magic through a magical anchor. This discovery makes us start to wonder if there is more than just the Unity Crystals, and that it wasn’t the dragons who had been forced to depend on such artifacts to be able to use their magic, and that the dragonstone had to be dormant while the dragons were hibernating. It wasn’t just to protect the dragons from further attacks from Opaline.
In TYT S1 ep. 59 the moon was so magically strong, that it supercharging pony magic - and possibly all kinds of magic that is so high up in the atmosphere when the moon is at its closest. This could not be regulated at all, and the celestial bodies in G5 could not only break with G4 after all, these could be under some form of control. We had then learned in TYT S1 ep. 12 that the weather control in what is a static weather in G4 had been automated and then it meant that it must be able to be generated with magic. There was little use of magic beyond the pegasi magic in G4, in G5 magic powers the entire weather apparatus in Equestria, maybe the entire world.
And from the SYS Arc in IDW comics we have learned that there are seven magical anchors that work in the same way as the Unity Crystals, but in addition to giving sea ponies/non-sea ponies (sea dragons) personal magic, it regulates the background magic of the seas which is kept calm so the waters will not become turbulent. The magic in the seas in G4 was almost non-existent, mostly around the magically active creatures such as sea ponies, kelpies and others. According to Calla Lily, the magic is so strong that the seas can get out of control and swallow the lands.
Just like in the manga One Piece considering the latest revelations from the last chapter. There it was revealed that the islands were the remains of huge continents that had been swallowed up by the sea, and that these will disappear because powerful weapons that disturb the natural balance are still being used. The seven magical anchors in the seven seas are G5’s answer to the ancient weapons in One Piece. We know Twilight had created the Unity Crystals and the Dragonstone, so it is not unreasonable that she had also created the seven anchors.
Logically, one must assume that there must be far more magical artifacts around the world that Twilight could have created, and it was most likely never with Opaline in mind; we know from the Discord Arc and then Spike himself that Opaline had attacked twice, and that the Unity Crystals were created during the first attack to bring the magic under control. In the next few centuries before the final attack by Opaline, Twilight may have observed the evolution of magic and concluded that it is becoming stronger and more unpredictable than before. But then came a time when all magic had to be put under strict regulation like a natural lake had to be dammed because the floods and erosion damage were starting to become too harmful. The Unitt Crystals, the Dragonstone, the Seven Anchors and several others we do not yet know about - have become “magical dams”.
There must have been a starting point, a natural revolution, which made magic much stronger and more uncontrolled, there had been magical civilizations for several millennia without having to have artificial interventions in the natural flow of magic. It definitely wasn’t Opaline. The Windigos may have been the cause, perhaps these had an important role - before Twilight had to exterminate them because they wanted to exterminate all ponykind. Maybe she triggered something that wasn’t unforeseen?
In nature, such drastic changes do not happen by themselves. As with the extinction of the dinosaurs and the ice ages that created humanity in our world. There must have been a trigger - and we don’t know where or how it happened. It is as if a vast dam of latent magic had been extinguished to the rest of the world where the magic accumulates to unimaginable heights. Twilight being the element of Magic had undoubtedly understood this and then began to intervene.
The Unity Crystals which may have been Twilight’s masterpiece were likely the first artifact that could regulate magic through artificial intervention, may have been the predecessor of all magic regulating artifacts throughout the world. But we know from the Discord Arc that at first it was just to put an end to the disorder among the ponies by being able to regulate magic. It was not meant to steal magic from others, although Opaline possibly experienced this during the last attack when Twilight defeated her. As the ponies’ magic grew stronger, the Unity Crystals had to regulate more and more magic - in MYM ch. 1 we saw that these were about to burst because it had become too much, before Sunny plunged into the void and released the earth pony magic. The other artifacts or anchors may have been less vulnerable possibly because these are not so complicated in comparison.
Twilight claims that magic is alive, but then all these magical anchors are in practice chains that had to be used to bind the magic and force it not to blow up the surroundings. She may have understood this, and perhaps it may have made her somewhat depressed as seen last time in the IDW covers. Then she took the crystals apart. We know from MYM Ch. 2 that the Guardians were in charge of the Unity Crystals, possibly chosen by Twilight before she disappeared. The magic will not disappear by taking apart the Unity Crystals even if it becomes unstable, perhaps because it becomes too uncontrollable. Then the guardians got amnesia, couldn’t remember their mission. And the pony magic disappeared through sheer forgetfulness. When Sunny activated the Unity Crystals and released the magic, a lot of magic had built up in the meantime. Hence what we saw in MYM Ch. 1.
The magic had become too strong, so that it had to be regulated in order to have intact civilizations not only in Equestria, but all over the world. Herein lies the big question that has so far not been answered.
What is this about “Why is it bad that the magic in Equestria evolving has now allowed earth ponies and unicorns to walk on clouds without a spell?” I have stated my hypothesis on this, that there are magical clouds with built in spells that allow non-pegasi to walk on clouds and it seemed to only apply to certain clouds with the automated weather machines. In G4, only magical beings with wings could walk on clouds, everyone else needed spells to do the same. This is not uncontrolled or too strong magic, these are magical spells. Very big difference here.
So the question is; where is the big trigger that changes the G4 world?
