Friendship is Magic (comic)

Friendship is Magic, or La Magia de la Amistad, is an ongoing magical girl comic written by mauroz. It follows humanized versions of Twilight Sparkle and her friends in an alternate universe, in which the powers of the Elements of Harmony manifest as elemental powers such as water and earth.

Format
The comic is published on deviantART in segments: a single image can range from 6 to 13 pages. Each part is initially uploaded in the author's native language of Spanish, but is later translated into English by English-speaking deviantART users.

Prologue
The story begins with Twilight on her first day at school after she and her family moved to Ponyville, a sprawling city with skyscrapers. On her first day, Twilight meets (and inadvertently befriends) Pinkie, gets into an argument with Rainbow, and very briefly encounters Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. As she enters the school, a dark-skinned girl with long blue hair observes her from a distance.

Later that night, Twilight returns home to find a package from her older sister Celeste. In it, she finds a book, a small disk adorned with six jewels, and a unicorn horn tiara. When Twilight puts the tiara on, her consciousness is transported to another place, where she meets a fragment of Princess Celestia's spirit. She tells Twilight that, a long time ago, the real Celestia and her sister Luna ruled over an alternate dimension called Equestria, which was inhabited by ponies and various other creatures, and maintained harmony. Celestia's spirit goes on to explain about something called the Elements of Harmony, a collection of magical artifacts that Celestia and Luna had used to protect Equestria from evil, and that, centuries ago, she'd left the Elements in the care of an ancient civilization in Twilight's world known as "Bronies". It's said that, after entrusting the Elements to the Bronies, Celestia was reborn in Twilight's world as a human being. Twilight deduces this individual to be her sister Celeste.

The spirit of one of the Elements of Harmony, the element of magic, now resides within Twilight, and she's been chosen to protect her world from an approaching threat. Celestia's spirit tasks her with finding the other spirits of Harmony so they may combat this threat. Meanwhile, the dark-skinned blue-haired girl continues to observe Twilight from afar, taking notice of Twilight's awakening as an Element bearer and wearing a unicorn tiara of her own.

Chapter 1
The next morning, Twilight communicates with Celeste via webcam. Celeste asks Twilight if she made any friends at school. Twilight mentions Pinkie and how annoying she was, but Celeste tells her to never reject someone who wants to be her friend. She also advises Twilight to meet with Celestia's spirit again and start learning magic.

At school, Twilight runs into Pinkie again, and they spend much of the afternoon together, much to Twilight's chagrin. When Pinkie finally asks Twilight if she bothers her, Twilight feels guilty for dismissing her and agrees to a sleepover. Later at Twilight's house, when Twilight and Pinkie are talking, time suddenly freezes, and Twilight is teleported to a nearby park, where she meets the blue-haired girl named Luna. Having taken notice of Twilight's magical awakening, Luna intends to harvest her spiritual power for herself. However, Pinkie is freed from Luna's spell and saves Twilight from Luna's attack. Luna reasons that Pinkie being unaffected by her spell means she bears one of the spirits of Harmony, and attacks her. Twilight's desire to protect Pinkie causes her unicorn tiara to appear on her forehead and a cutie mark to appear on her hip. With her newfound magic, Twilight fights Luna head-on. She channels some of the power of the other Elements, but it isn't enough to defeat Luna because she has yet to find the other bearers.

When Twilight asks Luna why she's doing this, Luna explains it's because of Celestia. She was informed by someone that, in her past life, Celestia had imprisoned her in Equestria's moon. She goes on to explain that Equestria is currently in a state of chaos due to a battle that broke out there. This prompted Celestia to relocate the Elements of Harmony and the souls of her subjects to Twilight's world, so that Equestria may be restored in the future. In response to all this, Celestia's spirit appears to confront Luna and challenge her on the astral plane. However, it was only a distraction to get Twilight and Pinkie to safety. When Luna reawakens, she finds she's been transported to an island on the other side of the world.

Thanks to Celeste's efforts, Ponyville is safe from Luna for one year. She apologizes to Twilight for the burden she's placed on her sister and informs her of the threat that quickly approaches their world: Discord. Celeste, unable to help Twilight further, entrusts her with protecting Ponyville from danger until Discord arrives.

The next day, Twilight gets Pinkie up to speed on everything that happened the previous night and what dangers Ponyville now faces. She gives Pinkie her jewel, causing her to awaken as the bearer of the spirit of laughter. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, an angered Luna is approached by a man wearing a changeling horn necklace. He asks her if she knows of the legend of Nightmare Moon.

Chapter 2
It's been three days since Twilight's encounter with Luna; feral beasts have begun appearing in Ponyville due to Discord's slowly rising power. Twilight and Pinkie's protective duties mostly entail defeating these beasts, extracting jewels containing pieces of Discord's energy from them, and destroying the jewels. They haven't yet found the other Element bearers, but Pinkie has an idea: bring the Elements to school and see which students they get from a reaction from.

The only result their search reveals is Rarity, the class president, as the bearer of the spirit of generosity. After school, Twilight and Pinkie trail Rarity to a soup kitchen. Because of a misunderstanding on Rarity's part, the two of them help out. Later on, Rarity thanks them for their help and explains her reasons for volunteering at a homeless shelter, revealing that the generosity of a stranger saved her mother's life and inspired her to always be generous toward others. With this, Twilight gives Rarity the jewel of generosity and asks her to meet her at a river near the school the next day.

The following morning, Rarity appears on Twilight's doorstep, where she meets Spike. The two of them go to the river, with Spike following close behind, and Twilight explains the true nature of the jewel and everything she herself now knows. At first Rarity doesn't believe a word, but she changes her tune when Twilight transforms. All of a sudden, an Equestrian beast -- a sea serpent -- attacks. Twilight summons the "Architect of Equestria" (a filly Fausticorn) for information on how to defeat the beast. Due to a miscommunication, Twilight mistakenly cuts off half of the sea serpent's moustache, greatly angering it. When it attacks Rarity and Spike, Twilight jumps in front of the attack and gets injured. Upset by this, Rarity awakens as an Element bearer, giving her control over earth and rock. With the Architect's guidance, Rarity heals Twilight, and they team up against the monster.

Understanding the sea serpent's concern about its appearance, Rarity appeases it with a generous gift, using her scarf to restore its moustache. The serpent expresses its gratitude to Rarity, destroying the Discord Jewel inside it, and it returns to Equestria. The Architect commends Rarity for her accomplishment, and before she disappears, she passes along an ominous warning to Spike concerning a heart-shaped ruby.

Meanwhile, Luna observes Twilight and the two bearers she's found. She herself has found a bearer in the girl named Rainbow, and tasks three individuals named the Shadowbolts with bringing the girl to her and destroying Twilight and her friends.

Chapter 3
Four days later, Rainbow is seen practicing for a parkour competition while Fluttershy monitors her and keeps time. Applejack watches from close by as the two have fun and enjoy each other's company.

Later in the early evening, Fluttershy walks home. She decides to take a short cut through an alley, but she's beset upon by a trio of muscle-bound thugs (human versions of the Diamond Dogs, according to the author). Spike tries to help her get away, but the thugs quickly surround them. Applejack steps in and makes quick work of the hooligans. When Fluttershy thanks Applejack for her help and calls her "friend", Applejack snaps at her, saying she isn't and never will be her friend.

"Friendship's nothin' but a farce... [...] They always end up deceiving you..."

- Applejack

Elsewhere, Rainbow is on one last practice run when she observes a hooded teenager who's more skilled at parkour than she is. When she attempts to mimic one of his moves, she nearly falls from a great height, but the hooded teen saves her.

Twilight
The main character. 14 years old. Much like her pony counterpart, is asocial and has a strong fondness for books.

Pinkie
The first friend Twilight makes at her new school. Expectedly hyperactive and talkative, a lover of parties and celebrations. The spirit of laughter grants her control over the element of water.

Rarity
The second of Twilight's friends, and the most popular girl at her school. Generous to a fault and passionate about fashion. The spirit of generosity grants her control over earth and crystal.

Rainbow
An energetic schoolgirl and parkour expert. 13 years old. Seeks to get into Wonderbolt Academy.

Applejack
A socially aloof girl who spends much of her time alone. Openly rejects those who wish to be friends with her.

Fluttershy
Rainbow's best friend of three years. Particularly shy and withdrawn.

Celeste
Twilight's older sister. A world explorer and archaeologist. The reincarnation of Princess Celestia.

Spike
Twilight's adoptive little brother. Has a crush on Rarity.

Luna
The reincarnation of Princess Luna. Seeks revenge against Celestia for things she did to her in their respective past lives.