Could Unicorns stop bullets with their magic?

[Azureth 687]

So I was thinking even though as far as we know no guns exist in Equestria (despite RD having a line about being faster than a bullet in the song with Fluttershy), I do wonder if a Unicorn; at least high level Unicorns such as Twilight, Celestia, etc, could stop bullets if they were shot at them.

 

I was thinking if so it could be kind of like Neo in the Matrix:

 

[Castle Bleck 19,334]

Only if they had their barriers up.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,375]

I bet some of them could, but it owuld require either immense power (Sombra, Twilight, Celestia) or specific training for stopping things at immense speeds. Like bullets. 

[TopQuark 409]

Maybe an extemely powerful unicorn could stop a few low caliber rounds (from a hand gun, for example), or maybe even a tank shell if they were ready, but I don't think anypony could handle the spray of an automatic weapon. It's generally accepted that when variables like speed, volume, and mass increase, the amount of effort requred is linear, while adding more object is exponetial.

 

Of couse, It doesn't really make sense to try to catch a bullet with telekinesis anyway. A simple shield spell would likely be able to stop many more projectiles before breaking, and without the pony having to expect it.

Edited January 9, 2016 by TopQuark

[MelloSkitzo 57]

I'm not even sure that Twilight is even powerful. In her fight with Tyrek she had all of the princess' powers. Other than that, ya Luna, Celestia, and maybe Cadance would be able to.

[Spanish In Physician 295]

I could definitely see it as possible. Magic that powerful would take time to perfect though. And even then it would still take a great deal of energy to use on a large scale. That being said, I could see Shining Armor having the potential to create that kind of magic.

[PacificGreen 1,163]

Maybe, but they'd have to react pretty quickly.

 

Perhaps unicorn police ponies are trained in stuff like stopping projectiles in mid air.

Edited January 9, 2016 by PGNatsu

[azbat 305]

Any unicorn can stop a bullet. All they have to do is stick their horn in the barrel. Bugs Bunny does it all the time.

[cider float 2,537]

Maybe not unicorns but Twilight was able to stop everyone within that radius. Not sure if she can do it in time though.

 

 

As for the magic shield not sure if it can deflect bullets since it never happened. I mean changelings were able to break through Shining Armor's big shield with enough bashing. From the way Twilight concentrates to use it or when Shining Armor's shield broke so easily could tell one that the shield's durability and duration is based on the willpower of it's user.

Edited January 9, 2016 by cider float

[VengefulStrudel 1,486]

I'd guess it depends on the unicorn. The more powerful one's magic, the more likely they could. Now a whole barrage of bullets like that clip? Maaaaaybe an alicorn.

 

Though, considering tens-to-hundreds of changeling headbutts can break a giant magic shield (even though Shining was weak at the time), I'd say rapidly fired high-velocity projectiles could do the same.

[cmarston1 5,959]

Probably depending on how powerful the unicorn is at using magic.

[Justin_Case001 4,882]

@@Azureth, so, somewhere else on the forums, there was a discussion that got around to this at some point, and I actually posted that same exact Matrix Reloaded clip. 

 

I, for one, absolutely believe that the strongest unicorns/alicorns could definitely go all Neo with bullets.  Or they could go all Magneto First Class with missiles.

[Shanks 10,816]

Your average unicorn wouldn't fare much better than your average human but some particularly skilled unicorns probably could.

[Kivil 1,721]

Well yeah. If Twilight could stop a whole bunch of ponies fighting all by herself I think she can stop a bullet.

 

 

[Malinter 3,064]

Yes. But not indefinately. It still takes strength and energy to keep a barrier active and that will give out under enough firepower eventually.

[gamecubeguy214 2,512]

Yes. Twi has used levitation magic on something extraordinarily heavy before, so stopping an object that moves at a very high speed would probably be easy. Bullets move fast, so, one would need a super fast reaction time, but what if there is a mind reading spell to be able to tell when the person is about to shoot?

[Metemponychosis 1,260]

Neo is able to stop bullets because he just redefines physics AND he has some different perception of the Matrix that "normal people" don't have. That's something Discord could do. But an unicorn's magic doesn't seem powerful enough to meet sheer kinetic energy with a wall of "energy" (which is how I usually see unicorns stopping attacks coming at them.

 

Bullets have A LOT of energy. Specially higher calibers. But because I'm a sucker for this sort of thing... I think that if Equestria needed to defend themselves from someone using firearms of any sort, I think that eventually they'd come up with specific spells, other than the generic shield-thingy designed to stop bullets. But I imagine an unicorn would need to be trained in it. But I don't have a clue about how magic actually works in Equestria... I just think that "brute magical force" is a losing proposition. Specially if we're talking about a salvo of bullets.

 

Holding the bullets with telekinesis like they hold things seems... Uh... Have we seen an unicorn grab something in movement with their magic in the show? Not to mention that bullets are small and move too fast. I don't really see it happening. It's like... Imagine a person catching a bullet with a hand... It's kind like that... The unicorn would miss it or the bullet would have too much kinetic energy or would even be too small and fast to see.

 

I think that armors loaded with enchantments that are designed to counter the energies involved in a shot would be more sensible.

 

EDIT: I decided to expand on my original post because I was kinda off.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Metemponychosis

[El Duderino 879]

If you mean stop them matrix style, then I guess they theoretically could, but it would take the most talented unicorn. It would be much easier to stop them with a magic shield or barrier.

[PiratePony 8,475]

Twilight Sparkle could, as the above gentlecolts stated. Definitely white eyes EOH Twilight. Perhaps Starlight Glimmer, as she is showing tremendous skill. So only the ones who have studied for years or have freakish super magic ability. I don't see Fancy Pants stopping bullets is what I'm saying. 

 

And Rarity could, with the unicorn magic of me leaping in front of the bullet and taking one for best pony. 

[cider float 2,537]

Well the thing most unicorns don't know the magic shield spell, the freeze spell or teleportation. So you take any average unicorn up against a bullet coming out of nowhere he will be dead.

 

And if it was Twilight she would still not be ready for the bullet since she can't keep a magic shield or freeze spell up forever since it takes energy and concentration to maintain it.

 

Gunners can just wait until the shield dissolves and then start firing away.

Edited January 10, 2016 by cider float

[Malinter 3,064]

There is a way for the common unicorn to stop bullets with their magic... move/swag the gun from the enemy with their magic.

 

Twilight can go one better and teleport it out of their hands and then proceed to fill them with their own lead. XD

[Steve Piranha 29,420]

I think there are two ways for an unicorn, and alicorn to stop bullets:

1- Catch them in midair

2-Cast a barrier

 

   Yes, I'm sure these will work on bullets...... on paper any way, as I know well how dangerous and deadly modern weapons are, I still think these hypothetical measures are far more counterproductive, and the best defense is take cover. I'll explain why with the same measures

 

1-Yes, magic can catch a bullet in midair, but, Doesn't that require to SEE the bullet in the first place? This is not a videogame mate, bullets fly at supersonic speeds, way TOO fast for any known living being to see. The bullet will impact you before you realize the gun fired, provided the shooter is exposed, and in front of you. But as you know in modern warfare, that's not very likely to happen.

2-Barriers. Yeah, they have the advantage of casting it in anticipation of a shoot preemptively, protecting the caster. But, I don't think the barrier will last forever with it. First, it takes the caster's magic, and probably drains them physically, while the gunner just lock, load, shoot, run out off ammo, reload, repeat, and you can't expect the shooter to "Process" a single magazine. Besides, with bullets flying at supersonic speeds, producing enough kinetic energy to penetrate human body, will only break the barrier faster.

 

On top of that, in order for the above defense attempts to remotely work reliably, the enemy has to be a single shooter, exposed, in front of you, and to shoot in anticipation, something you can't expect in real combat. Well trained soldiers will attack with tactics far better than going Rambo and charge while shooting and producing pretty explosions. They'll employ ambushes, sneak attacks, sniping, distractions, anything you cant think off

[simba86 1,541]

without already having a shield up i don't think they could, rifle bullets travel faster than the speed of sound, so the unicorn would have to have matrix like vision and see everything in ultra slow motion to see it coming AND have super human reflexes to be able to stop it. when the bullet is going super sonic then that means the bullet is already hitting BEFORE the sound catches up to it, which means it is already going to be getting them before they hear the shot to be able to stop it

[DANUTERCISD 204]

they can't stop snipers, unless, they were paranoid

[LHfunk 422]

It depends on lots of different things. One, how far away is the shooter? At close range, it would be incredibly difficult. Two, what kind of bullets? A small handgun would be easier, but if they took a giant car mounted gun and pointed it at you, I doubt you'd survive. Three, reaction time. You would have to be far away enough that when you react there is still time to stop them. Four, power. You'd need immense power to stop a bunch of large bullets, but much less to stop a small amount of small bullets. So, an average unicorn could probably stop the bullets from a small handgun shooting from a fair distance away.

 

Edit: Other people are talking about different situations and things, but the question isn't asking about that, it's asking whether or not it is possible. I think it is, as long as the conditions are right.

Edited January 12, 2016 by LHfunk