@Macaroni C-Pony
Your calculations don’t automatically mean that’s whats going on in the show. Again, nothing has been actually shown or told the Princesses have faster-than-light reflexes. Its all speculation. Maybe what happened with Tempest is just accurate. The fact each of the Princesses barring Twilight were instantly taken out by Tempest shows their reflexes are nowhere near the speed of light. Yeah, because its a pretty big display that shows the Princesses don’t have that level of reaction time. And nothing else on the show displays they have that sort of reflexes.

Actually it does. And how exactly did she “react to sunglight”? It was a moment of comedy.

It is very much like Harry Potter because like in Harry Potter the magic comes from within too. The magic is in the wizard or witch, the wand just channels it like a unicorn’s horn.

However, this does not make wizards stronger or faster than muggles. Their magic doesn’t enhance their reflexes at all or any physical attributes. Magic may defy the laws of physics, but it doesn’t mean the caster themselves are super powerful.

The speed of the spell and the speed of magic don’t necessarily reflect the actual natural speed of the person wielding it.

OK, so that creates a plot whole with Flurry Heart because Celestia and Luna were also surprised she was an Alicorn. Everyone was. If Celestia and Luna were natural Alicorns, then this should not be a new phenomenon.How does that jive with the continuity if both she and Luna were born Alicorns?

Yes, but originally you were pointing out that mentally unbalanced individuals had powerful magic. Also, Stygian had to transform himself into the Pony of Shadows to become more powerful than Starswirl. Originally, Starswirl was much more powerful than him.

Yes, but she has complete control over it.

Or maybe its because Alicorns simply don’t have faster than light reflexes and Tempest was just that quick. Or maybe that Twilight thing was supposed to be a joke. The orb is not faster than light because it relies on Tempest throwing it. Its basically a petrification grenade. So the fact she was able to incapacitate all three Alicorn princesses excluding Twilight shows the Alicorn’s are not faster than light. They are not the Flash. They’re faster than the average pony, but they can be outpaced by even quicker opponents.

Because that’s not them going faster than light, its the spell. Simply because the spell is fast doesn’t mean the caster themselves are. A person firing a gun or a laser is not faster than the bullet or laser, but doesn’t need to be because the weapon does the work for them. Its the same with magic, the caster casts the spell and the spell handles the rest. Even if the magic comes from inside them doesn’t mean the user is fast or strong. And they need to know specific spells for the magic to work.

Um, no they weren’t. Celestia and Luna’s parents would have witnessed their birth, plus dozens of other ponies if they were actually born Alicorns. They may have become Alicorns at a young age, but they weren’t born Alicorns. Flurry Heart is the only Alicorn to ever have been born.

Their magic is also unreliable and unfocused in that state. You are basically saying you must be completely insane to have powerful magic. Cadance also is not mentally unbalanced.

And if she was, she would have easily avoided the orb thrown at her but she didn’t.

Again, that doesn’t apply with magic. With magic, you can bypass all that because, its magic. It breaks all the rules of science.

Were they born Alicorns? I thought Flurry Heart was the only Alicorn actually born an Alicron. The others earned their Alicorn state after achieving great magical feats like Twilight.

Celestia is famous for being in control and stoic. She shows no signs of being mentally unbalanced. Neither does Starswirl, who before Celestia and Luna came along was the most power wielder of unicorn magic. Starswirl and Celestia both are powerful magic users without uncontrollable emotions.

@Macaroni C-Pony
If you’re talking about the human Mane Six getting things like super-strength, the spells cast on them enhance their abilities. But the spellcaster type characters like Twilight, Starlight, Sunburst and so forth are not very athletic in comparison to other ponies. The only three main unicorn characters shown to be very athletic are Tempest, Shining Armor, and Rarity. And none of them got their physical ability through magic.

Yeah, and Luna couldn’t outrun the orbs thrown, meaning they don’t have faster than light reactions. How is it a low showing as it was an Alicorn who got petrified.

Again though, with magic you don’t have to be able to see great distances to move the sun or moon. The spells they use simply are able to reach that far.

Yes, but that can also be attributed to willpower. When ones emotions are out of control, that can weaken the spell. Also, Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded are two of the most powerful magic users in the world. They certainly aren’t mentally unbalanced, they’re in control of their emotions.

@Macaroni C-Pony
Again, magical energy is not physical energy. Being powerful in magic does not require you to be physically strong. While one can use magic to alter or increase physical abilities, ones base strength is not instantly increased by being strong in magic. Even after Twilight got her wings, Raindbow Dash and other pegasi can still outfly her.

Watch the scene again. They weren’t able to dodge the orbs thrown at them. The orbs magic only takes effect once it makes contact. They had room to dodge, but weren’t fast enough.

Again, we don’t know for certain. The sun and moon might not even be as big or as far away as they are in our universe.

She had mental breakdowns, but that doesn’t mean she’s crazy. And no, that doesn’t automatically mean your magic is stronger. It can help with focus, but it can also make you erratic. Trixie for example has strong emotions, but her magic pales in comparison to the much more learned Twilight and Starlight.

Cozy Glow used the bell against Celestia and Luna. Except the Mane Six didn’t use the elements fighting her. There is no evidence the elements have made them stronger or faster. They are still the same physically as we’ve seen them before in the show. Also, Spike doesn’t have the elements, and he was able to catch Cozy Glow off guard as well and even dodge her attacks. And Applejack was able to lasso her while she was flying. If Cozy Glow was faster than light, that would not have happened. Except we’ve been talking about speed as being a major factor. Don’t just backtrack. We are talking about how fast an Alicorn is in terms of speed and reflexes. And the evidence shows not much more than the average pony.

Except the Flash is constantly described as “faster than light.” And in order to time travel, one needs to actually go at that speed. Neither Celestia nor Luna demonstrates that kind of speed. Captain Cold carries a weapon that is capable of actually inhibiting the Flash’s speed. Neither Celestia nor Luna show that level of speed at all. The fact Tempest was able to incapacitate them shows that.

When did Celestia fly so fast she traveled through time? She can use spells for that, but she can’t physically do that. Rainbow Dash is definitely faster than her. Because Rainbow Dash slows down for them to keep up. But Twilight is nowhere near as fast as Rainbow Dash is at top speed.

Except that doesn’t equal their physical traits being enhanced. That just determines how strong the spell is. Otherwise, unicorns should be super-strong like earth ponies.

But once they did, neither Luna nor Celestia was fast enough to dodge them when Tempest attacked them as well. In a pure magical battle yes Celestia would be able to defeat Daybreaker unlike Tempest.

I am aware, but I’m saying Celestia had nothing else to fall back on when her blast didn’t defeat Chrysalis. She didn’t try any other kinds of attacks, she just tried to overwhelm her with sheer force which Chrysalis beat back. No she didn’t expect to win, but it shows that once you get past Celestia’s magic power, she doesn’t have anything else.

Sombra was defeated by the combined power of the Crystal Ponies focused through the Heart.

Also, this isn’t like real life so I doubt the sun and moon work the same in Equestria.

When have either of them been shown to be faster than light? Do you even know what that entails? Faster than light would be like the Flash. Celestia and Luna would be untounchable. But they aren’t, as the show constantly shows.

Rainbow Dash is definately faster than either of them. As she’s not faster than light.

Twilight isn’t “mentally unstable” though. She and Starlight are powerful because they’ve honed their power through study.

Also, Cozy Glow was easily outmanuvered by the Mane Six and Spike who overwhelmed her with constant attacks. Again, you theories don’t match up with what we see in the show. She may have a lot of power, but her reflexes are still the same. Attacking her from multiple directions and using teamwork bested her.