Could Unicorns potentially fly by lifting themselves with Magic?

[ThePwnyBrony 23]

Seeing Twilight lift Cadence into that mine cart with magic got me wondering if Unicorns could lift themselves with magic to gain flight

:/

[Crispy 5,563]

It's already canon. Mr. and Mrs. Cake's daughter does this in the babysitting episode while Pinkie is trying to round them up.

[Jadefire 2,797]

I prefer to think that unicorns could lift themselves (like Pumpkin Cake could), but the coordination needed and the amount of energy expended would make it more or less impossible.

 

I'd think for a full grown unicorn, telekinesis would be impractical for anything more than to toss themselves a distance or to slow a fall (and that's if they're skilled, like Twilight).

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

Yes, they can, however, it is going to be more of a drift rather than speed. theres a reason twilight teleports herself rather than flying; its just faster.

[vinolent cupcakes 24]

It's already canon. Mr. and Mrs. Cake's daughter does this in the babysitting episode while Pinkie is trying to round them up.

 

Ya, but that was a magical outburst, and usually ponies dont have the power to self-levitate for very long.

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

Ya, but that was a magical outburst, and usually ponies dont have the power to self-levitate for very long.

 

im pretty sure when twilight reffered to the "strange magical surges" the babies have, its the uncontrollable things they do when they are sad or upset and raging. the unicorn foal was completely intending to fly and get those toys. who knows though.

[Starshine 16,334]

twilight reffered to the "strange magical surges"

Yep

 

 

Combine their uncontrollable magical surges and their ultra-small body, you got an easily float-able unicorn. For a grown unicorn it would take a massive amount of magic to lift themselves. Twilight was able to lift Cadance because her magical talent is almost limitless, I rather doubt any normal unicorn like Rarity could do it

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

Yep

 

 

Combine their uncontrollable magical surges and their ultra-small body, you got an easily float-able unicorn. For a grown unicorn it would take a massive amount of magic to lift themselves. Twilight was able to lift Cadance because her magical talent is almost limitless, I rather doubt any normal unicorn like Rarity could do it

 

i think if htey set their mind to it they might have a chance. and you have to remember that these foals have only been alive for about a month when this happened. their intelligence and magic capabilites are at close to 0.

[Starshine 16,334]

their intelligence and magic capabilites are at close to 0.

Their intelligence might be irrelevant, but their sheer feral strength was nothing to be taken lightly

 

Pretty sure those toys are a little heavier than her own body

 

It's more like instinctual behavior in my opinion. At this point she understand nothing, the filly do everything with her horn just because she wants to, but as she gained more weight and more conscious about her magic, her magical_capabilities to body_weight ratio will be reduced

 

We need to see more about this unicorn on season three to be sure @_@

[Crispy 5,563]

Ya, but that was a magical outburst, and usually ponies dont have the power to self-levitate for very long.

 

The question wasn't the amount of control involved, just the possibility.

 

And when you watch, it doesn't just look like an outburst. It looks like a, "Oooh, toys. I'mma get them toys." An outburst looks more like what happened to Twi at her School for Gifted Unicorns exam.

[vinolent cupcakes 24]

The question wasn't the amount of control involved, just the possibility.

 

And when you watch, it doesn't just look like an outburst. It looks like a, "Oooh, toys. I'mma get them toys." An outburst looks more like what happened to Twi at her School for Gifted Unicorns exam.

 

the general consensus seems to be that it wasnt a magical outburst, and you guys make pretty good points about it so i guess that ya, a pony could self-levitate if the wanted to

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

Their intelligence might be irrelevant, but their sheer feral strength was nothing to be taken lightly

 

Pretty sure those toys are a little heavier than her own body

 

It's more like instinctual behavior in my opinion. At this point she understand nothing, the filly do everything with her horn just because she wants to, but as she gained more weight and more conscious about her magic, her magical_capabilities to body_weight ratio will be reduced

 

We need to see more about this unicorn on season three to be sure @_@

 

definitely. it will be cool to see pound cake and pumpkin cake in their filly ages, maybe even see if the unicorn is able to fly then.

[Regality 233]

As others have said, yes, but probably only if they're skilled very skilled and coordinated in magic.

[Batbrony 16,055]

Hehehe, I like what I see going on here!!!

 

OK, kidding, kidding, just kidding, you've all been quite civil so far in this thread!!!! I just love the things we come up with to debate about on this forum; gosh we talk about some weird and random things! But hey, that's one of the things that make Internet fanbases so very glorious!!!

Now, onto the question itself; I agree with a lot of other ponies that while unicorns probably can lift themselves, it probably takes a lot of magic (at least for adult unicorns), but only has a little bit of pay off. They probably can't get around that quickly while levitating themselves, and as such, it's probably not very cost-effective in relation to how much magic they have to expend. Ergo, as at least one other pony mentioned earlier, if unicorns do choose to travel via magical means, they probably opt for telekinesis instead as opposed to levitation.

Edited August 21, 2012 by Batbrony

[pinkieshyrose 58]

they might not be able to do it after a certain age i think the reason i think is the fact when rainbow dash was trying to beat trixies anything you can do i can do better thing trixie didnt fly when a character like trixie i think would be able to even through her magic isnt really as good a twilights

Edited August 21, 2012 by pinkieshyrose

[Jinx 2,292]

Breaking news: Unicorns over-powered, Earth Ponies and Pegasi alike are outraged. Unicorns claim that they were born this way, and have no power to change who they are. Celestia had no comment on the situation.

[pyro pie 68]

I'm pretty sure that multiple examples of unicorns flying has already been shown. There's the episode were rarity gets wings, and then the one were one of the cake twins flies using magic.

 

This just goes to fortify my belief that unicorns are the master race of Equestria, right after Alicorns.

[Batbrony 16,055]

This just goes to fortify my belief that unicorns are the master race of Equestria, right after Alicorns.

 

Master race, huh? Hmmm...

 

Buck me, so THAT'S what's gonna happen in Season 3!!!!! Oh wait, no it won't, cause, well, that'd be stupid. HA!

[TheFabulousPony 102]

Well yeah... that has already happened. But doing it constantly would be a bad idea for a pony to do lol

[Starstream 182]

I think lifting another object, be it either a pony or something inanimate, costs way less magical energy than lifting one self.

 

The way I see it, the basic levitation spell uses oneself as the central axis of the spell. Now imagine a set of arms, they can easily lift anything that is below a certain weight limit. They also have a range limit for the distance of the things they can lift. And the position of the lifted object is relative to the axis that is holding it.

 

Now back to the levitation spell. When a object would naturally be heavier to lift the spell causes more strain and exhaustion on the user, so it's likely that even though the limit is a lot higher, there is still a limit as to how much can be carried. I think it's also safe to assume that unicorns need to either see, know the location of, or be within a certain range of the objects they want to lift (or maybe even all of those criteria at the same time). I also recall a few instances where a unicorn turns around and the objects they're levitating reorient themselves to be at roughly the same relative position as they were before.

 

What are you trying to say?

Well, I believe the basic levitation spell is nothing more than invisible, glorified arms.

 

What does that have to do with anything?

Well, try pushing yourself to a stable levitating state and you might understand what I'm trying to say.

You can't push yourself to a levitation because you yourself are the axis around which your arms act, and similarly a unicorn cant push him- or herself to a levitation through the standard levitation spell, because they are the central axis of their magic.

 

Hmmm... I still don't fully see your point.

Well, what I'm getting at is that the spell needed to levitate oneself is a completely different spell from the one needed to levitate others, and for all intensive purposes, it's probably a spell that:

- Very few unicorns know because it's hard to learn.

- Takes a lot of energy to sustain, so even if you do know it, it can still be considered undesirable over other spells.

- Has it's own physical limitations (i.e.: relatively low top speed) which could make it a fairly situational spell.

[pinkiefan1287 610]

I do believe that unicorns could use their magic to lift themselves into the air. In "Baby Cakes" Pumpkin Cake was able to lift herself into the air and seemed to move well. Now if a larger unicorn tried to do it they would have a harder time. Mostly because they have a larger body so it would be hard to avoid things and it may take a lot of magic to do. Pumpkin is still small and if you ask me she is a prodigy.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

As everyone else said, yes. They could be able to magically fly. I think the reason Twilight doesn't is because teleporting is faster.

[BlimpAtomic 16]

I think they have the potential to, but it would most likely require a LOT of magic. A unicorn would have to reach their "Avatar" state, if you will.

[shotoku 47]

It probably just feels to akward it's not like flying as a pegasus where it is just natural, you actually have to concentrate a bit when using magic, and the extra work might just not be worth it. Also it could be easy to drop yourself if you lose concentration for a seconds =p I don't imagine it would be especially hard, especially if you practice. It is just impractical