Interesting bit of thought · 1:30am Apr 4th, 2017
You know, someone commented on Hero Souls: Awakening with a joke in regards to Trixie's challenge to Twilight. To sum it up... "I can fly at mach 1. You?"
After laughing, I actually considered that. Then I started doing research. Then I thought of Starlight Glimmer. Then I did some more research.
Then I came to some rather startling conclusions.
Trixie's talent, in this story, is illusions. Yes, I know, unoriginal, but why fix what ain't broke? Anyways, Trixie has a descent well of power, roughly slightly above average by my judgment, and compared to Twilight... well, it would be like comparing a light bulb to a nuclear power plant. However, whereas Twilight has more power, Trixie is exceptionally experienced in the nuances and merciless precision of illusion magic. Her control of her magic is magnitudes greater than Twilight's. If Trixie were to put some dedication into learning levitation, pushed herself to her limit magically and used said magic carefully... I think Trixie may be able to hit mach 1. It would last for maybe half a second, but she could do it.
Now, if the challenge was a matter of who was faster at top speed, Twilight would win hands down. If it was a matter of who could hit Mach 1, it would be a tie. If it was a matter of who could hold mach 1 longer, Twilight would win.
Then I considered Starlight Glimmer, and her apparent similar magical ability to Twilight when she was an Alicorn.
Starlight can levitate, and does so with ease as seen in The Cutie Re-Mark. She could hit mach 1 and likely hold that speed for a while. If she pushed for going as a fast as she possibly could, she'd probably hit mach 2 and hold it for about a minute. Maybe two. Of course, this takes into account the necessary magic that would be put aside for shielding her from the pressure.
Clark Kent could move fast enough to run around Earth once every other minute. Twilight's strength and speed are nerfed due to the meddling of the Ascended to prevent things like the Infinite Mass Punch from being utilized, but it's still pretty ridiculous. She could hold mach 2 easily.
Twilight would trump them in any competition of speed, or at least level equal with them in the correct circumstances, but that wasn't what this was about. I wanted to realistically try and measure out how fast these two Unicorns could go under the power of their own magic... and I'm kinda scared now.
Kinda funny what little comments like that can make you consider.
And somehow some way Bruce is always going to nearly do all that by himself. As best put he will pull something out of his trusty utility belt right when he needs it and point out well he need it.
4482890 I don't know... At that speed the only thing that could hold up would likely be the Batjet, and its' top speed is highly variable depending on both writer whims and which continuum we're talking about. Some versions of Batman relied on technology, others on athletics pushed to the absolute limits, and even more relied on cunning and perception. Very few relied on all of them.
So yeah, possible, but dependent on the version of Batman in question.
I am not sure, but in the movie I saw Superman fly around the globe with fast enough speed to reverse time. That is a seriously fast speed - if not near the speed of light itself.
Personally, I think Trixie could not levitate herself anywhere near mach 1 speed. Otherwise, she would have more than enough magic to defeat Ursa Minor herself.
Twilight already proved levitate yourself is not an easy task. Otherwise, she would do that when she nearly drop from the cliff during Nightmare Moon episode.
In addition, if you can exceed mach 1 speed, you are likely to create sonic boom of some kind. Maybe not Sonic Rainboom but surely special magic-induced sonic boom (but in some fanfic Scootaloo can do the Rainboom too).
Nonetheless, doing something like that surely gonna create an uproar and nopony but Rainbow Dash was credited for that kind of archivement. So I don't think anypony else (so far) could exceed mach 1 or as fast as Dash.
4482962 I said Superman can run around the world once every other minute. Not fly, run. Nobody takes that movie seriously anyways, since it is absolutely bovine excrement that making the Earth spin in the opposite direction reverses time. Making the Earth suddenly spin in the opposite direction would be cataclysmic at best, world ending at worst. I'm getting my research from the episode of The Animated Series where Superman races The Flash around the world multiple times.
Trixie doesn't have enough power to achieve mach 1 through brute force, but that's why I pointed out her better control over magic. Having better control means less magic wasted in the use of a spell, which frees up more power for Trixie to use. She can just barely do it, and only for less than a second, but Trixie can possibly hit mach 1 if she's careful about her magic usage.
Starlight has enough magical power to go toe to toe with an Alicorn. She has also shown to be capable of levitating herself with as much ease as a Pegasus flies, so much so that she fights said Alicorn while levitating. This, following common sense, means her magic is stronger than Twilight's, if only by maybe one or two percent. Breaking the sound barrier with that much magic is easy. And, provided you have proper protection, once you break the sound barrier there is literally nothing stopping you from going faster. Not even air resistance. If she pushed her magic as hard as she could, I believe Starlight could achieve mach 2. Not for long, but she could do it.
4483384 I see. I referred to Superman 2 movie regarding flying to reverse time. I didn't watch the animated one so I didn't know about his race with Flash.
Still, to the topic about using magic to achive speed of mach 1 or more. I believe it eventually come down to the your magic capacity more than anything.
Of course, efficient control also contribute the task. But without enough magic reserve, one could not simply fly for long. I mean you have good control over your power so you can fly fast? Certainly, but for how long? How long will you fly until you archive the target speed? A mile? perhaps two? Will you have enough magic to accelerate long enough to reach that speed? The more you accelerate, the more mass you become, and the more power you need to maintain your speed (even more so to accelerate it).
All in all, I believe Starlight have both the skill and potential to do it. But Trixie? Not so much. (otherwise she won't bother to boost her magic with the amulet)
4483402 Heh. Look at us. We're having a debate about magic of all things. That power that breaks the rules.
Still, I guess Trixie's gonna be the one we don't agree on. Besides. Trixie being capable of hitting that speed is reliant on non-canon stuff, so I guess you're right. I think she could do it, given the proper tools and training in how to best use her magic, but as she is now? Not a chance.
4483402 Though that does raise a question. Would Trixie be able to do it with the Alicorn Amulet? I imagine her control would be shot to hell by the large boost, but there's something to be said for brute forcing your way when it comes to magic. So... maybe?
4483580 In my opinion? Even less likely so.
The Amulet did boost her magic to the whole new level, but that did little about the control. Everyone who got a sudden influx of mass power were extremely sloppy at controlling their new-found power. (hence the extreme training afterward) Blinded by the madness of the Amulet, and you can forget about training to control it - you just want to lash everything with sledgehammer.
Don't get me wrong, I like Trixie character. Although she has a bad mouth, I like the fact that she always aim big and really work hard for it. (She did buy the Amulet legally, not tried to steal it. Thinking about how hard for her profession to earn that amount of money.) I believe she understand her limit well and feel insecure about it. But there is always a way to efficiently channel your talent. It may not the way you dream, but it would give you enough comfort to go on. (my favorite Trixie's character expression is from Georg's 'Letters From a Little Princess Monster'.)
4483575 Personally, even for the magic force that break the rule of physic (and other rules in general), I strongly believe magic itself has rules and always follow the rules. That is why there is always something that magic cannot do - because it simply goes against the rules. (I agreed with Georg's notion in 'The Monster in the Twilight' and BookeCypher's magic concept in 'Magical Mystery Oops')
4484052 give this guy / gurl a cookie! he got the Question of the 250,000 Canadian Dollars to the tee...!
now regarding the capabilities of flight between unicorns, I'd say, yes, Ms. Lullamon has a finer control, but her magical reserves are next to nothing compared to Sparkle Glimmer...
Starlight Glimmer on the otter hoof I don't think she has raw power enough to rival the Alicorn of Magic...it's only that her control far surpasses Twilight's.... and places Trixie in 2nd place on the top 3 regarding control...
and Twilight, regardless of universe, if Twilight Glow is to be accounted for, is the mare with more magic per square inch of the trio.... of course that makes her control of said magic fickle at best (By control I mean using the exact ammount of magic to achieve the desired effect the most efficiently possible)... yes she can cast more spells than the average unicron out there, but she has the raw magic to do so, and plow through any dampening shenanigans her lack of control can cast....
An even more obvious example of this is found on Princess Cadence's Husbando... the stallion that can keep shielded a city of the size of Canterlot for a week.... only to be PWNED by the likes of Discord, Tirek and Angel Bunny... his control might be the desire of the proverbial Ash Ketchum, seeing that During the siege of Canterlot he kept His Shield going for a week all the while Chrissy was sucking him dry of love.... taking, at least 1/3 of his full magical reservoir...