So this is something I’ve wanted to bring up for a little while and now that the season 7 finale has aired as of this post (albeit in Canada) I feel it’s an opportune time to bring it up.  Now MLP plays it pretty loose with how magic works, but on top of this, Twilight’s power has been in flux every now and again.  The most recent example of this is in the finale when she defends her idol, Starswirl the Bearded from the Pony of Shadows

 “This one is almost as strong as you Starswirl,”

 Excuse me?  ALMOST as strong?  Are we forgetting how when Celestia, someone who knew Starswirl personally, first met Twilight, she said she’d “Never seen a unicorn with [her] raw abilities,”? And that was when Twilight was a foal.  And now here she is, years later and now an alicorn and suddenly she’s only almost as strong as a Unicorn?

 I’ve had this same issue in the season 5 finale.  How does Starlight, a predominately self-taught unicorn able to match an Alicorn Princess who studied magic her whole life under the tutelage of a Princess and with access to all the magical knowledge at her disposal?  This has left me flummoxed for quite some time because we’ve seen Twilight do some pretty crazy stuff with magic.  So what’s been nerfing her all of a sudden?

 Then I considered something.  What if it’s her?  What if she’s subconsciously holding herself back?

 Let’s look at SciTwi, Twilight’s human counterpart in Equestria Girls.  Her first experience with magic was in the Friendship Games and it turned her into Midnight Sparkle, making her go mad with power.  In Legend of Everfree, the movie after that, she fears the magic inside her and wants to just try to hide it.  Even when she starts using it, she fears losing control and to turn back into Midnight Sparkle, thus keeping her from using it to her full potential.

 What if it’s the same with this Twilight.  Her first serious use of magic was during a complete loss of control.  Afterwards, Celestia herself told her she needed to learn to tame her abilities.  Even if this Twilight loves magic, this experience likely cemented in her head that she cannot lose control again, even if it means limiting herself.  This mentality likely cemented itself further after her ascension as now she’s packing alicorn magic.  She may have developed mental blocks that keep her from realizing her full potential.  As such, other talented unicorns like Starlight and Star swirl who show significantly less self-doubt when it comes to magic, are able to keep up with her.

 Here’s hoping we get an episode about Twilight overcoming her mental blocks in season 8.