Ponies can't stop bullets with magic shields, change my mind.

Okay, ponies can stop bullets with magic shields.

6620211
This.

6620209
it depends on how the shield is being cast. A shield generated by a pony, no. But a shield generated artificially by an enchantment powered by stored energy would. Directly comparing a gun to a shield made by a pony isn't a fair comparison.

6620211 6620213
If they can't stop what equates to a baseball at around ninety miles an hour, how are they going to stop a nine milimeter at 1,700 miles per hour?

6620249
It’s all about kinetic energy and elasticity, y’know. That’s the important thing to consider.

Well I dunno anything about whether pony magic can stop ballistics but what I DO know is that there are only 2 genders

6620209
Why bother trying to convinve when it's true.

IMO, it depends on who is casting the shield. The average pony probably wouldn't be able to stop any kind of bullet, and the average foot(hoof?)soldier probably couldn't stop anything bigger than a 9mm.

An Alicorn or a pony like Shining Armor probably could stop any bullet save something like a .45-70 or .50 BMG. The Sisters might even be able to stop those, even with armor piercing rounds.

As for anything bigger, like a 30mm artillery shell or (Gods forbid) a ballistic missile, it seems less likely.

6620209
Well, I suppose that depends entirely on the one casting the shield. After all, Shining Armor has the ability to place a city-sized barrier that can withhold a pounding from a small army for several seconds. I imagine a smaller, concentrated magical shield could protect against something like a bullet. However, his talent is defensive magic (I assume), so he's a bit of an exception.

6620393
Yeah, this.

6620416
My reasoning is that Cadance failed to block what was essentially a baseball pitch at ninety miles an hour, even if it was magic resistant. So, the only person that has been shown to be able to block a large amount of kinetic force is Shining Armor. So, Shining Armor and maybe Celestia can block medium caliber bullets, or at least one, and larger calibers would have too much penetrating force.

6620211
This is about all it comes down to when discussing this, though I usually lean to the opposite.

No amount of theory changes the complete lack of specifics and the fact that all the theories are nothing more than basic headcanon based on general guesses. No amount of science can add up to a concrete theory when the receiving end is magic that isn't even defined at all by show standards.

6620467
I imagine Shining Armor would be the best bet to block the high-caliber rounds. Cadence isn't the best example of defensive magic, as her powers seem to be geared towards emotional bolstering and modification. Celestia and Luna would probably be able to reflect small arms fire and I imagine Starlight and maybe Twilight would be able to block higher caliber rounds, to an extent. Starswirl might be able to likewise block larger, faster rounds, but not quite like Twilight or Starlight.

Really, ponies can block bullets, but varying degrees, as is to be expected in situations like this.

6620491
She did shield the entire empire for three days, though as you said, that was more of an emotional thing.

6620498
It's mostly speculation; consider that each of the alicorns are extra-powerful in their own fields. Celestia is able to control celestial bodies; Luna can affect the moon and dreams. Cadence is skilled with emotion magic, while Twilight is skilled with general magical theory and power, as well as whatever it is she does with friendship.

6620209
Small arms fire can be stopped by bone. We have no idea what magic shields can consist of, so we have no way of determining their strength; but we can assume small arms fire will do fuck-all. Rifle rounds on the other hand, is up in the air.
Sniper rounds will probably go straight through, though.

6620209
I think it really depends on how you view magic. In Skyrim, wards can only stop other spells. Solid objects like arrows and swords pass straight through. Now let's say someone created a ward that was capable of interacting with physical matter instead of just magical energy. Then it would just be a matter of creating a magical barrier capable of deflecting the amount of physical force exerted on it. Seeing as a bullet exerts a very large amount of force on a very small area, the caster would definitely need to be able to focus a great deal of magical energy in the particular spot in which the bullet makes contact. Given that a pony would in no way be able to accurately predict where a bullet would make contact with a casted ward, that said ward would need to be strong enough throughout a large portion of it's mass in order to even be considered a viable form of defense. So maybe not all ponies could stop a bullet, but one powerful enough certainly could in theory. Celestia and Luna, given what we saw during Twilight's fight with Tirek, would definitely, in my opinion, be capable of doing this.

Of course, this is all assuming that that's how magic works. I'd say what I described above is a pretty primitive and inefficient means of defense, given how advanced the study of magic in Equestria seems to be. Seeing as we dont have any clue as to how magic ACTUALLY works, there's nothing wrong with assuming that a ward would alter an object's physics upon impact, the magic condenses it's energy into a single point on impact, or that there's some other infinitely convoluted ward spell that would be equally effective and far more efficient.

It really all comes down to what lore you accept and deny.

Considering the setting you can also just make bullets do whatever you like as in Devil May Cry, if you're not going for realism at least.

What is more interesting is would ponies be able to stop lasers with magic shields. I mean, those are at least translucent in the visible spectrum...

6620249
Because it's an anti-magic bomb that nullifies magic, and by proxy the shield?