ThePonyTheorist 
[@Incursor](/images/2846594#comment_10062661)
The Tirek Conundrum: Remember, magic is a CHEMICAL which runes instruct. Therefore, Tirek is able to collect this chemical - and since magic in the air tends to condense down into small orbs, to recover you would likely have to catch and consume one of these orbs (or somehow digest gemstones) to recover.
Neighsay's portal artifact: This doesn't dispute my theory. The runes are the programming, the (emotionally charged) chemical magic is the electricity / power source - and the artifact was low on pre-loaded chemical magic.
EqG: Again, my suggestion is that in the absence of runes, high-dose magic creates its own runes at random. This explains all of the behavior we see in EqG, and helps explain babies' magic fluctuations.
1. Possible - but considering that Chrysalis would need one with considerably shorter range, and she's shown to be capable of some pretty complex magic in the past. Going by the details of my rune theory, making intelligent life is going to be VERY hard compared to simple teleportation. Though I could be wrong. It's hard to get concrete information one way or another on this topic.
2. True. Perhaps magic, to some degree, recognizes intent and specifics? In much the same way that Starlight's anger at Trixie carried over to other ponies, who - overwhelmed - believed they possessed Starlight's precise memories that she was angry at.
3a. True, a force field would look similar if it were evenly distributed - leaving the main evidence, Starlight's 'anger cloud'. I'm reluctant to call this a forcefield - if it were, surely the energy would be amassing around her horn, and not floating around above her? It flows much like a gas as well. Similarly, surface tension would imply particles, and not some kind of massless substance (and if it WERE massless, how come Twilight can use energy blasts to literally hurl changelings across Canterlot in the S2 finale?).
3b. As for humans not being harmed - let's think on this a bit more deeply. When Human Twi is being sucked into the orb of magic, steam literally bursts from her finger as she's pulled in (and she screams) - so it's very hot, but for some reason it doesn't kill her. Perhaps this is due to magic's nature in liking low-entropy systems - life is a low-entropy system, so its anti-entropic properties prevent it from damaging it (unless instructed to by a rune) - instead, it merely generates a horn that will allow her to generate runes (feasibly because doing so would allow her to generate a higher-order system than it could alone), forcibly generates runes across her body to have a variety of effects (wings etc), and replaces her clothing with some alternative - feasibly in order to generate yet more surface area to place yet more runes on.
4.1. Remember, magic gains unusual properties when exposed to runes, and carries out the instructions given to it after exposure. A STRONG magnet may be able to interfere with a spell, but not completely hack it - hacking it would probably require the creation of runes on that structure which create an even higher-order demand for the magic to follow. A well-designed shield spell would have countermeasures for this, likely some kind of fractal pattern in the shield which would make disruptions always cause a net decrease in order.
4.2. There are three magic draining methods we've seen. Tirek's magic draining method, Cozy's magic draining method and Chrysalis's throne. Tirek's method originates with the creation of an orb between his horns - this could either be highly ionic, or contain runes which cause a 'suction' effect on magic (e.g. a six pointed star, likely within a square with some more complex coding around it). Considering he instructed Cozy Glow, this is likely rune-based. Cozy Glow's draining method required 6 powerful artifacts to trigger - fueling the rune which caused the suction, dragging more magic in which caused it to suck harder etc. This is purely rune-based...
4.3. Then there's Chrysalis's throne. According to Thorax, it's carved from an ancient dark stone that soaks up outside magic the same way changelings feed on love - and just like that, we have interesting information. If an inert stone can suck up magic - and it can do so despite being chiseled at - it would have to be elements level 'runes carved into it on the molecular level' to work. And even then, the elements broke once they were shattered! The throne didn't, it retained its functionality. This could still be a repeating fractal pattern of runes across the entire structure, I suppose - so true, none of the draining methods need to be magnetic. I'll still suggest that magic is ionic however, at least in its 'activated' form, since Tempest's lightning seems to react to her emotions - she can't control the flow that well, implying that it's closer to the 'raw' form of magic within a pony's horn before it is released.
The Tirek Conundrum: Remember, magic is a CHEMICAL which runes instruct. Therefore, Tirek is able to collect this chemical - and since magic in the air tends to condense down into small orbs, to recover you would likely have to catch and consume one of these orbs (or somehow digest gemstones) to recover.
Neighsay's portal artifact: This doesn't dispute my theory. The runes are the programming, the (emotionally charged) chemical magic is the electricity / power source - and the artifact was low on pre-loaded chemical magic.
EqG: Again, my suggestion is that in the absence of runes, high-dose magic creates its own runes at random. This explains all of the behavior we see in EqG, and helps explain babies' magic fluctuations.
1. Possible - but considering that Chrysalis would need one with considerably shorter range, and she's shown to be capable of some pretty complex magic in the past. Going by the details of my rune theory, making intelligent life is going to be VERY hard compared to simple teleportation. Though I could be wrong. It's hard to get concrete information one way or another on this topic.
2. True. Perhaps magic, to some degree, recognizes intent and specifics? In much the same way that Starlight's anger at Trixie carried over to other ponies, who - overwhelmed - believed they possessed Starlight's precise memories that she was angry at.
3a. True, a force field would look similar if it were evenly distributed - leaving the main evidence, Starlight's 'anger cloud'. I'm reluctant to call this a forcefield - if it were, surely the energy would be amassing around her horn, and not floating around above her? It flows much like a gas as well. Similarly, surface tension would imply particles, and not some kind of massless substance (and if it WERE massless, how come Twilight can use energy blasts to literally hurl changelings across Canterlot in the S2 finale?).
3b. As for humans not being harmed - let's think on this a bit more deeply. When Human Twi is being sucked into the orb of magic, steam literally bursts from her finger as she's pulled in (and she screams) - so it's very hot, but for some reason it doesn't kill her. Perhaps this is due to magic's nature in liking low-entropy systems - life is a low-entropy system, so its anti-entropic properties prevent it from damaging it (unless instructed to by a rune) - instead, it merely generates a horn that will allow her to generate runes (feasibly because doing so would allow her to generate a higher-order system than it could alone), forcibly generates runes across her body to have a variety of effects (wings etc), and replaces her clothing with some alternative - feasibly in order to generate yet more surface area to place yet more runes on.
4.1. Remember, magic gains unusual properties when exposed to runes, and carries out the instructions given to it after exposure. A STRONG magnet may be able to interfere with a spell, but not completely hack it - hacking it would probably require the creation of runes on that structure which create an even higher-order demand for the magic to follow. A well-designed shield spell would have countermeasures for this, likely some kind of fractal pattern in the shield which would make disruptions always cause a net decrease in order.
4.2. There are three magic draining methods we've seen. Tirek's magic draining method, Cozy's magic draining method and Chrysalis's throne. Tirek's method originates with the creation of an orb between his horns - this could either be highly ionic, or contain runes which cause a 'suction' effect on magic (e.g. a six pointed star, likely within a square with some more complex coding around it). Considering he instructed Cozy Glow, this is likely rune-based. Cozy Glow's draining method required 6 powerful artifacts to trigger - fueling the rune which caused the suction, dragging more magic in which caused it to suck harder etc. This is purely rune-based...
4.3. Then there's Chrysalis's throne. According to Thorax, it's carved from an ancient dark stone that soaks up outside magic the same way changelings feed on love - and just like that, we have interesting information. If an inert stone can suck up magic - and it can do so despite being chiseled at - it would have to be elements level 'runes carved into it on the molecular level' to work. And even then, the elements broke once they were shattered! The throne didn't, it retained its functionality. This could still be a repeating fractal pattern of runes across the entire structure, I suppose - so true, none of the draining methods need to be magnetic. I'll still suggest that magic is ionic however, at least in its 'activated' form, since Tempest's lightning seems to react to her emotions - she can't control the flow that well, implying that it's closer to the 'raw' form of magic within a pony's horn before it is released.