spoiler A thing about the Hippogriffs....

[Heavenly Inexplicit 309]

The Hipppogriffs are "sea horses". Yes, they could indeed be called that.

The genus of a real life sea horse? Hippocampus.

The fact that Celestia called them that, seems to imply that she already knew of their current state. Perhaps even their past. Not much of a stretch, I would say.

But

Remember, the Hippogriff princess says "We were the Hippogriffs!". So they were called that even when they weren't fishy.

They must have gotten that name somehow, and their default forms don't seem too "sea horse-ish" to me.

I think that they must have used the pearl before. They got that name because they were known to transform into sea horsies.

I'm thinking that Celestia knew of the pearl, and wanted to use it on her subjects.

An extreme measure. It goes to show how much of a looming threat the Storm King was in her eyes.

OR

This is an update.

I've just learned that Hippogriffs are a mythological creature, Greek.

This means that I could be wrong about Hippocampus-Hippogriff name connection. It could have been an intentional (and clever) pun, or a coincidence.

 

I don't want to feel like I'm absolutely correct. If you have something to add, add. If you think that I'm wrong, tell me that I'm wrong.

 

Edited October 29, 2017 by Heavenly Inexplicit

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

Umm... I do not think you know what a hippogriff is. They have nothing to do with the ocean or sea horses. They are half eagle, half horse (Like they say in the movie).

This is a hippogriff:

I quick google search would answer your question.

[Steve Piranha 28,769]

Well, it's a bit mistaken. You may have gotten into that conclusion with the hippopotamuses (or hippopotami is the correct plural  ? who knows  ?). Thing is, hippopotamus derives from the greek "hippo", which mean horse, and "campus", from sea monster, greek origin as well (it's also the name of the actual seahorse genus). In other words, you're half right, but only hippo has anything to do with horses. So, if you see any word having "hippo" in it, that means they either have something resembling horses, or are reminded of horses for some reason (like hippopotamuses). So those creatures are called hippogriffs, because they have something related to horses, namely, their rear legs

[Brainstorm 4,092]

I wonder if the Hippogriffs and Griffins either get along or not, cause they're both half eagle, but one is part lion and part horse?

[Widdershins 9,955]

Well, technically speaking, you're half right. We are talking composite creatures here after all.

 I do believe the Hippo in the naming of horse species has something to do with water. A Hippopotamus basically translates to water-horse. Old legend used to say that Posiden, the god of the seas, was originally the one who made horses and laid claim to pretty much any & all roving herds of them wild or tamed. In fact, oddly enough very many mythological horse species like the Kelpie or Knucklavee are related to water, often carrying off riders to their drowning deaths or being formed out of seafoam as a gift from Neptune himself.

  I think, however, that it was intoned that even Celestia hadn't known how they had escaped notice of the Storm King, only that they did. After all, it does make more sense to refer to them as the species they were born as, not became.While I find myself wishing to see how Luna & Celestia would have talked the reluctant kingdom to their sides, this does raise an alarming notion of Equestria's leaders knowing full well the Storm King's war, yet deciding to throw a party instead of stopping a threat before it hit their capital...

 Besides, never once was the word Hippocampus used. Or merpony, I think...

[TBD 17,228]

Hippogriffs and hippocampus are two different creatures. I think these writers doesn't know what they are talking about.