Did pegasi ever militarize lightning?

[Invincible 2,090]

I remember that before Equestria was united under a single banner, the Pegasi tribe had a militaristic society (or atleast seemed that way). Made me wonder if they ever made use of their weather manipulation abilities to hurt the other tribes. They were already suspected to be causing blizzards to prevent crops from growing, which would have indirectly hurt the other tribes.

 

What do you guys think?

[Malinter 3,064]

doubt it, probably because it might get out of hoof like with pegesi-powered tornados

[Lightning-flickr 214]

If so I was not aware they did that to me 

[Venomous 18,814]

This is definitely a possibility.

 

I would have loved to see that in action ! Alas.. We may never know.

[Pastel 7,627]

I think so, creating tornadoes, lightnings, blizzards or droughts could be very effective during a war.

[Malinter 3,064]

tho, the unicorns would just fire a collective ion cannon of magic right back at them

 

or... just mess about with the sun,

[Invincible 2,090]

That's what i think anyway. Given their aggressive depiction during the Hearth's Warming Eve play, they looked like they won't think twice about exploiting their natural abilities.

[Egg 18]

Well since Pegasi can make tornado's It's most likely they could militarize lightning.

in season 4 episode 21,When rainbow dash got upset and laid on a cloud she made the cloud rain and produced lightning.
So maybe if they trained enough they could PROBABLY control lightning and MAYBE did use that power back when everypony was separated into three tribes.

but it's just a theory of mine    
 

[Batbrony 15,994]

I remember that before Equestria was united under a single banner, the Pegasi tribe had a militaristic society (or atleast seemed that way). Made me wonder if they ever made use of their weather manipulation abilities to hurt the other tribes. They were already suspected to be causing blizzards to prevent crops from growing, which would have indirectly hurt the other tribes.

 

What do you guys think?

 

That's a fun subject to speculate upon.  Personally, I myself tend to think, at least in my head canon, that they did, and plan to incorporate that idea in my own fan fiction.  As for others who have toyed with that idea, the most notable I've encountered is Chengar Qordath in his excellent fan fic "The Lunar Rebellion". He frequently discusses the Equestrian military in general in most of his fan fics set in the Winningverse (Cloud Kicker's typically one of his main characters, and in his universe her family's modern Equestria's oldest and most prestigious military clan), and if you're just looking for some good fan fiction in general, then definitely check out Lunar Rebellion and some of his other fics. 

 

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/77470/the-lunar-rebellion

Edited June 13, 2014 by Batbrony

[Justin_Case001 4,858]

Wow, weaponized weather.  I never thought of that, but they could certainly do it.  What a cool idea!  This gives me a great idea--they should do an episode, NO WAIT, an entire season where all the ponies of Equestria go to war with some other species, maybe Dragons.  Better yet, Discord could introduce the ponies to some threat from beyond Equestria (i.e. Q and the borg).  The pegasi would fight with weather, of course.  And by the end of the season, Equestria would be in ruin and most of the ponies we know dead, and then the climax would be a time travel story where they stop the war from ever happening in the first place.  I based this idea on the Voyager episode "Year of Hell."  Obviously, I'm not saying they should literally do this, because it wouldn't be a suitable kid's story, but it sure would be friggin awesome.

[Ribbonfree 2,383]

Well we've seen people get hit by the lightning the pegasi can produce, and it doesn't seem especially potent. Just a charred coat and some pain at most? Maybe they don't buck the clouds to full effect since they're doing it for civilian purposes? I could see weather being weaponized to some extent, given that air superiority is a powerful thing.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Just as @Malinter said, lightning would be too much of a risk, as pegasai hit it may unfortuately, lose their wings 'cause they'd be fried by the lightning strike. 

[Fhaolan 4,468]

Honestly, given the way that in the show pegasi-used lightning is used more as a prank than anything, it's possible that lightning doesn't pack the punch in that universe that it does here. Several of the characters have been hit by lightning in a way that would do *serious* damage in this world, and they just shrug it off like the cartoon characters they are.

 

So there may be a way to weaponize it, but it's not going to be a trivial exercise.

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

They may have militarize lightning, but even if they did, I doubt they would have used it during the Three Tribes Era simply because such an attack would cause the other two tribes to counter, and likewise any other tribe could not use its ability to attack the others without it coming back to bite them (pretty much mutually assured destruction).

 

I don't think the Pegasi ever did militarize it, or if they did the practice was forgotten long ago. The Pegasi response to Tirek was an aerial charge; if lightning was capable of being used as a weapon, I assume they would have used it, leading me to believe it was either never done or proven to be too weak.

[Raven Drakeaurd 292]

I don't see why not. U.S army's doing it.

[cmarston1 5,952]

That sounds like something that could make for some interesting history or lore or what have you if you were to write a Fanfiction about the early tribes.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

I think Dash did it in a scene in Apple a family Reunion, to strike AJ with a lightning bolt

[cider float 2,536]

I guess Equestria ponies are just not about fighting or looking for ways to fight better. They could have tried to make Pinkie Pie's cannons into a weapon. Or used that cannon that Cheese Sandwich used as a weapon but they're all for party uses. Only when pressed for it they would do that. The same goes for the spells unicorns learn to use, they don't focus on developing spells for combat.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

It'd honestly be interesting if they allowed pegasi more weather control abilities as part of their racial magic; Things like the ability to make Hail or Lightning on demand would be very cool things to give them, and would be a nice contrast to the crazy crap that Unicorns can pull out randomly.

[Goat-kun 2,500]

Where is a conventional mad scientist when you need one. They already have steam engines and magic turtlecopters, so making an emitter with bottled lightning ammo wouldn’t take much. Be advised, the projectile can be a bit unpredictable. I’d rather use lightning grenades.

 

Also be advised that pegasi ain’t exactly adapted for severe weather conditions. Any disastrous weather phenomenon, natural or pony-made, would hurt them far more than it would a ground army. See a bunch of pegasi starting a twister? Throw a bag of sharp shit in their general direction. Winner, winner, burgers for dinner ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[KatonRyu 1,026]

I'm pretty sure the Hearth's Warming Eve play was the suitable-for-kids version of history. I wouldn't be surprised if the three tribes had waged cataclysmic wars with one another, using the full power of the weather, insane magic, and....um....catapulted rocks for the Earth Ponies? They've got freakish strength, anyway, they'd make it work.

[sweetolebob18 724]

The season 3 episode Wonderbolt  Academy they were shown being trained to handle hurricanes as part of their military training.  This implies they still use weather control in combat.  "Why didn't they use lightning against Spike in Secret of My Excess?"  It was in town & they didn't want to risk civilian casualties

 

So, if they are not using lighting, they are missing a bet.