Martial arts protagonist breed

[Steel Accord 6,658]

I have this fic that's been cloying at the inside of my head for a long time now. I've come back and forth to it, it got me started on writing to begin with. Now, my protagonist is meant to travel across Equestria and look for the small bits of lore that refer to philosophical or ideological fighting systems. Hard to do in a world where magic solves most dangerous problems and violence at all rarely comes up in their history. My question is, would it make more sense for this quest to be undertaken by an earth pony, or pegasus? It seems like a comparatively small change but part of it comes from having already written a lot of scenes with the assumption that the hero is a pegasus and only reconsidered later it might make sense for him to be an earth pony. Here's a little this or that.

Pegasus:

-Flying adds new and cool dimensions to fighting.

-Wings are another set of limbs to use.

-Very specifically warrior and athletic cultural traditions.

Earth pony:

-Strong and athletic.

-Folksier traditions lend them to the kind of mastery through repetition frameworks of Kung Fu and really all martial arts.

-The Mighty Helm show they too have a distinct warrior culture of their own. One that prominently features weapons. 

Pegasi have a lot of physical possibility but not much spiritual rooting, while earth ponies have more limited instruments but lend themselves to the ideas a little better. Adding on to this is that there's a subtle soldier vs. warrior angle between the two. Or to put it more accurately, soldier vs. guardian. Pegasi descended from an explicitly Roman-esque society of warriors and conquerors, where the Mighty Helm were more like a chivalric order. It also comes into how they treat conflict. Pegasi are more naturally competitive and looking for a challenge where earth ponies tend to be a little more laid back and only throw down if their homes or families are threatened. Again, that latter viewpoint is very martial arts code of always seeking to avoid a fight rather than go looking for one.

So yeah, I'm kind of torn on this. What do you guys think?

  

[Brobot 1,436]

Honest;y think he should be a Earth pony just with a Pegasus mindset, ya know what I mean?

[Steel Accord 6,658]

5 minutes ago, Brobot said:

Honest;y think he should be a Earth pony just with a Pegasus mindset, ya know what I mean?

I know what you mean but I disagree. The character's not meant to be super-competitive or itching for a fight.

[Brobot 1,436]

2 minutes ago, Steel Accord said:

I know what you mean but I disagree. The character's not meant to be super-competitive or itching for a fight.

Ok so he's either a Pegasus that's not super competitive, or a earth pony that follows the norms.

Then he could be a Pegasus, it could bring up some unique interactions with other Pegasus cause he doesn't fit the normal "competitive conqueror " mindset.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

40 minutes ago, Brobot said:

Ok so he's either a Pegasus that's not super competitive, or a earth pony that follows the norms.

Then he could be a Pegasus, it could bring up some unique interactions with other Pegasus cause he doesn't fit the normal "competitive conqueror " mindset.

It could be. The question I’m struggling with is less the conflict he has or doesn’t have with the wider culture as much as which better serves the character’s goals of pursuing lost arcana of an obscure lifestyle.

[Denim&Venöm 16,454]

I actually would've gone with a bat pony. The anatomy makes more sense, as bat wings are actual hands whereas pegasai wings are pretty much all feather. Plus there's the idea of bat ponies having prehensile tails, so that can be a weapon as well. 

It might also help to try and nail down which fighting style and philosophy you want the protagonist to take and build around those. The old school kung fu route would suit an earth pony as they are in tune with nature and many a fighting style was inspired by animals. their habits of being functional and straight forward would make them good boxers, particularly sluggers or swarmers.  Their strength would also suit them to a grappling style like wrestling, sambo or jujitsu. 

A pegasai or bat would most likely not be as strong but much faster and athletic. Defensive and counteroffensive arts like wushu, aikido or judo, moves that use an attackers momentum against them, would suit a flyer that's one step ahead. Being able to attack from odd angles also suits more unpredictable arts like Capoeria, the fighting style disguised as a dance or drunken fist style, which would look even more bizarre done from the air. 

What I'm not getting is why the search is happening at all. Usually a protagonist seeks to learn a fighting style either 

• Defense against abusers
• Avenging a personal losss
• Martial arts applied to other foms of life
• Spiritual enlightenment
• As a sport

Unless the character is a researcher who tries to understand this long lost art through practice. That could be interesting. Learning a martial art for the sake of the knowledge itself. 

 

[Steel Accord 6,658]

@Denim&Venom

Thanks first of all, for knowing your stuff. Second of all, it was part of your barrage of motivations. Seeking spiritual enlightenment. He just thinks that he can find them in Equestria's hidden corners where the arts were housed and forgotten by a peaceful world that considers such techniques obsolete. Not seeing their non-violent application.