Let's talk warfare

[ManaMinori 4,143]

In a YT video by PonyPalace, he goes over what sort of weapons are used in Equestria, from lances, to spears, to rope. But one thing in particular has always bothered me- and is given mention in said video...cannons and tanks.  Rainbow Dash's tortoise is named after the weapon, Pinkie has a repurposed "party" cannon, and Cheese Sandwich owns a pretty massive repurposed tank as well, and is aptly named the "cannonball surprise". The shady street pony in "Gift of the Maud Pie" also seems to recognize Pinkie's repurposed weapon, and even calls it by name. Prince Blueblood also gives out mini party cannons to the Yasks of Yakyakistan, in IDW comic Friends Forever #26.

 

So first off- it was established in "hearth's Warming Eve" that the pegasi were the most militaristic race of the three nations. Ok, that's all fine and good, I suppose, but this was BEFORE the founding of Equestria, and BEFORE Luna and Celestia's rule, when the three tribes chose them as leaders some time after the events of the ending of HWE's flashback.

 

In "Best Pet Ever", Rainbow Dash specifically names Tank "tank" because he's apparently just as unstoppable as one. Why do ponies of modern times even know about such horrendous weapons, and their purpose, if they're meant to be living in a peaceful society. Especially Rainbow Dash, who confirmed in "Testing, Testing, 1,2,3" that she wasn't fond of studying or history- even to pass the Wonderbolt's (her most worshiped idols) exam? It scares me to think how she knows this, and just to what extend these machines had been used in the past, if they were labelled as "unstoppable", to where, likely even the Unicorns themselves (if tanks and cannons had been used against them) had no means of stopping them.

 

Secondly, why does it seem like EARTH ponies (Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie), rather than Pegasi, have greater access to and are equipped with these "re-purposed" weapons of warfare? Pinkie has- quite literally, THREE cannons! We see her with a massive sized one named "Big Bertha" in "Horseplay", her normal one, and she sets off two (one is presumably her normal one) in "Marks for Effort". (the two are also referenced in the "Pony Kind of Christmas- Twelve Days of Christmas" song.

 

And lastly, why does Twilight allow Pinkie's Party cannon in the school, at all? We've seen it in there, and seen Pinkie using it to teach. Twilight KNOWS the history of the Wonderbolts, and the militaristic nature of the pegasi, and this is likely their own weapon, even if Pinkie did re-purpose it. It's a cannon being set off in the presence of children, whether it's with cannonballs or pressurized air. Pinkie actively demonstrated using it to shoot Puchwuckies into the stratosphere, in one episode! It can  most certainly be used as a destructive and harmful tool, given the content that it put into it!

Edited September 16, 2018 by Nightmare Muffin

[SharpWit 2,472]

Tanks have been an iconic symbol of war now for a century and the impact they've had is felt to this day in every that's witnessed modern warfare. Rainbow Dash knows about them for the same reason you know about them. Their lives are peaceful sure, but then again so is most of ours. You don't wake up finding yourself in a warzone just because you live somewhere that has a strong military. If anything it's the immense firepower humanity is capable of unleashing that acts as a deterrent against mass destruction on a more conventional level.

Your use of repurposed is incorrect. Their party cannons and "tank" are clearly not original devices of warfare, otherwise they wouldn't be operable. Sure you could set an artillery peice to fire off some confetti but a ridiculous amount of modification would be required while likely failing to get the results you want, and the sheer weight of the thing would make it impossible for even the physics bending of Pinkie Pie to suddenly whip out.

Even if they were actual cannons and such, your sample size of 2 earth ponies is too small to reach any conclusions, especially when considering they both practice the same profession of party planning. It doesn't make sense for Pegasi to be equipped with heavy guns when they're specialized for flight. Although some planes did have cannons onboard, these were far smaller than those used on the ground. You could attempt to use an airship but this only increases your existing problems. It's better for them to travel lightly so they can defend their airspace and assault small targets on the ground before returning to base in a quick manner.

Twilight allows it for the same reason Pinkie Pie is allowed to use her party cannon at all. It doesn't serve as a legitimate threat unless you're worried about getting confetti in your eye. And I hate to be this nitpicky but the stratosphere is 7 kilometers high at it's lowest point which is the north and south pole.

Edited September 17, 2018 by SharpWit

[ManaMinori 4,143]

22 hours ago, SharpWit said:

Tanks have been an iconic symbol of war now for a century and the impact they've had is felt to this day in every that's witnessed modern warfare. Rainbow Dash knows about them for the same reason you know about them. Their lives are peaceful sure, but then again so is most of ours. You don't wake up finding yourself in a warzone just because you live somewhere that has a strong military. If anything it's the immense firepower humanity is capable of unleashing that acts as a deterrent against mass destruction on a more conventional level.

Your use of repurposed is incorrect. Their party cannons and "tank" are clearly not original devices of warfare, otherwise they wouldn't be operable. Sure you could set an artillery peice to fire off some confetti but a ridiculous amount of modification would be required while likely failing to get the results you want, and the sheer weight of the thing would make it impossible for even the physics bending of Pinkie Pie to suddenly whip out.

Even if they were actual cannons and such, your sample size of 2 earth ponies is too small to reach any conclusions, especially when considering they both practice the same profession of party planning. It doesn't make sense for Pegasi to be equipped with heavy guns when they're specialized for flight. Although some planes did have cannons onboard, these were far smaller than those used on the ground. You could attempt to use an airship but this only increases your existing problems. It's better for them to travel lightly so they can defend their airspace and assault small targets on the ground before returning to base in a quick manner.

Twilight allows it for the same reason Pinkie Pie is allowed to use her party cannon at all. It doesn't serve as a legitimate threat unless you're worried about getting confetti in your eye. And I hate to be this nitpicky but the stratosphere is 7 kilometers high at it's lowest point which is the north and south pole.

you very clearly missed the part where I mention RD not knowing jack about history, even about the things that she loves and idolizes. So the question still remains as to how she knows about these weapons to name her pet after one.

the mechanics of them I'm not answering, because regardless, they're heavily inspired by them. The issue of "repurposing" wasn't what I called into question. But thank you.

 

[Will Guide 21,325]

@Nightmare Muffin

Rainbow Dash's pet, Tank was not necessarily named after a war machine. Tank could refer to water tanks which have nothing to do with warfare 

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

Just now, Willusion said:

@Nightmare Muffin

Rainbow Dash's pet, Tank was not necessarily named after a war machine. Tank could refer to water tanks which have nothing to do with warfare 

That is also actually how the military vehicle got its name 

[ManaMinori 4,143]

48 minutes ago, Willusion said:

@Nightmare Muffin

Rainbow Dash's pet, Tank was not necessarily named after a war machine. Tank could refer to water tanks which have nothing to do with warfare 

except Rainbow specifically mentions "the little guy is unstoppable...like a tank!" In no way is a water tank "unstoppable", given the context.

[Passion 3,478]

Let's not try to excuse something that is obvious. Sure, a tank is a tank, and according to the above, RD referred to it in pretty obvious setting.

Nevertheless, I raise you this: What purpose does a tank serve in MLP world? You've mentioned yourself that Cheese has a funko tank for himself and Pinkie's cannon is a 'party' one. Therefore why your initial conclusion is that tanks are used for warfare there? Tanks are used for warfare in our world. In their world, these 'weapons' clearly serve different purposes. The transfer of human understanding into their world is flawing the vision here.

[SharpWit 2,472]

1 hour ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

you very clearly missed the part where I mention RD not knowing jack about history, even about the things that she loves and idolizes. So the question still remains as to how she knows about these weapons to name her pet after one.

Right but if tanks exist in their world then there's no reason for her not to know what one is. Most people have done little research on tanks or have ever seen one in person but they still know what it is. Correct if I'm wrong for assuming you fall into the group of most people, but if that is indeed the case, then there is no reason for Rainbow Dash to not know what a tank is, if you do as well.

1 hour ago, Willusion said:

Rainbow Dash's pet, Tank was not necessarily named after a war machine. Tank could refer to water tanks which have nothing to do with warfare 

The description doesn't match up and the version seen being used by Cheese Sandwich is too exact for it simply to be coincidental.

1 hour ago, bornAgainEquestrian said:

That is also actually how the military vehicle got its name 

Partly due to it's appearance and to sneak them onto the battlefield without alerting the Germans. Also because the original term "Landship" comes off as being more silly than intimidating prior to them establishing an "unstoppable" reputation. Also just picture a ship that's been beached. Comes off as useless. The original name would return for a different class of armored fighting vehicles but their immense size would also result in their demise.

1 hour ago, Passion said:

Nevertheless, I raise you this: What purpose does a tank serve in MLP world? You've mentioned yourself that Cheese has a funko tank for himself and Pinkie's cannon is a 'party' one. Therefore why your initial conclusion is that tanks are used for warfare there? Tanks are used for warfare in our world. In their world, these 'weapons' clearly serve different purposes. The transfer of human understanding into their world is flawing the vision here.

This could be a convincing argument with the Party Cannon alone since firearms did find their origin with celebratory fireworks, but it becomes a bit of a stretch I think with the tank. Perhaps Cheese Sandwich's cannon was too large for him to pull out of nowhere and we do see Pinkie Pie using a crane for a massive piñata shortly after, so he could have been using the track and maneuverability system to move the cannon around, but as I previously mention, it's too exact for it to be coincidental. And with the introduction of Big Bertha, there's no doubt that these devices are based off of ones developed for war.

I really don't think the "horrendous" idea of the ever peace loving nation that is Equestria, implementing modern warfare is so far fetched. Slavery and the selling of body parts appears to be if not common, a fully accepted part of life in some areas outside of Equestria. Blowing your enemies back into the stone age is one means of obtaining a long lasting peace within your country. Not a means to be proud of, but effective nonetheless. They don't appear to be thoroughly in or beyond the first world war technologically speaking so the capacity is there. The Great War was thought to be the war to end all wars. Perhaps Celestia or those under her ensured that it truly was.

[RDDash 18,866]

Helicopters are tanks of the air, at least that how I understand it. So it would make sense for me that RD pet was named tank and she is probably borrowed magic powered propeller from Twilight to make tortoise flyable.

Edited September 18, 2018 by R.D.Dash

[Black Sabbath 2,484]

1 hour ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

except Rainbow specifically mentions "the little guy is unstoppable...like a tank!" In no way is a water tank "unstoppable", given the context.

To be fair, Rainbow could have named Tank after the character role, rather than the vehicle. After all, we know that both dnd-esque games and video games exist in the show so it's not unreasonable to assume that Rainbow would be familiar with the term. 

 

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

56 minutes ago, SharpWit said:

I really don't think the "horrendous" idea of the ever peace loving nation that is Equestria, implementing modern warfare is so far fetched. Slavery and the selling of body parts appears to be if not common, a fully accepted part of life in some areas outside of Equestria. Blowing your enemies back into the stone age is one means of obtaining a long lasting peace within your country. Not a means to be proud of, but effective nonetheless. They don't appear to be thoroughly in or beyond the first world war technologically speaking so the capacity is there. The Great War was thought to be the war to end all wars. Perhaps Celestia or those under her ensured that it truly was.

Sounds more like a fallout equestria scenario though. I also suspect if they had one, it would be much different from what we would think of as a tank. Probably steam powered for one. I don't think there's any examples of petrol or gasoline ever being used. Maybe Pony-powered (i.e. the pedal-copter) if you could put a enough Earth ponies inside and have them running on something to keep the gears turning? Also, if it's older, I could imagine lots of resources being spent on just one massive "secret weapon" juggernaut of a war machine bristling with weapons and armor, with a crew of dozens for some kind of shock and awe display. Feels more pony than having a full mobile infantry when you can just have unicorns that are artillary cannons in their own right. Maybe a nation that had no alicorns trying to devise something that could level the playing field. Given their culture, such a machine would be legendary, comparable to the A-bomb. Even if it ultimately failed.

I just think you need to take a more... ehh... Mage-punk(?) approach to technological development. Tanks could work, but they probably wouldn't have been developed to fill the same role. This is more thought than I really want to put into this sort of thing because I really don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about just how bloody Equestria's history might be. But there's a few things to keep in mind that would make it much harder for technological warfare to be practical.

1. As I already mentioned, the magic. Magic is so prevalent that it sets a very high standard. If humans were fighting ponies I would say it's likely that the humans wouldn't stand much of a chance until they reached AT least late WWII tech. Even then I'd probably still bet on Equestria. Fighting Ponies wouldn't be much different from fighting space aliens.

2. Horses are both strong and fast. They possess the ability to carry more than a human soldier, and can travel comparatively fast over long distances. Slow, lumbering war machines would have a much harder time competing with infantry, particularly when roughly 1/3 of the entire population has panzerfausts attached to their heads (and the ammo is weightless to carry). MAYBE as a siege weapon it (and cannons by extension as merely an upgrade to catapults) would make sense, but overall it wouldn't have much of a practical use for anti-personnel, unless it was SO tough it could just stand there forever while still constantly dishing out firepower. In short, if you're trying to take out soldiers with it, a tank in Equestria might not even have cannons. Better to just have gunports for unicorns to spray magic out from. And really that's what I would think the most logical premise of a tank would be. They wouldn't have called it a landship. The idea would most likely derive from the premise of, "What if a castle could move?" A rolling fortress, if you will.

3. Horses are TOUGH. As far as most land animals are concerned, humans (and primates in general) are some of the squishiest. We have no hide to speak of. Horses on the other hand, can take a LOT more abuse. Also, add some cartoon physics to that, since we've seen Ponies regularly survive things that would easily kill a human. This is another bad blow to the idea of guns of any sort being practical. Horses have hides that are tough, which would mean gun tech would have to develop further to get as much "bang for your buck" as it would if you're making them for humans. What DOES work for tougher animals though? Projectiles that have more kinetic force than a bullet. And what are the most popular ranged weapons in Equestria? Weapons that have some mass to them. Arrows and spears.

Edited September 18, 2018 by bornAgainEquestrian

[RDDash 18,866]

@bornAgainEquestrian

I assume that shotguns would be a standard weapon of choice for any equine.

[SharpWit 2,472]

2 hours ago, bornAgainEquestrian said:

Sounds more like a fallout equestria scenario though. I also suspect if they had one, it would be much different from what we would think of as a tank. Probably steam powered for one. I don't think there's any examples of petrol or gasoline ever being used. Maybe Pony-powered (i.e. the pedal-copter) if you could put a enough Earth ponies inside and have them running on something to keep the gears turning? Also, if it's older, I could imagine lots of resources being spent on just one massive "secret weapon" juggernaut of a war machine bristling with weapons and armor, with a crew of dozens for some kind of shock and awe display. Feels more pony than having a full mobile infantry when you can just have unicorns that are artillary cannons in their own right. Maybe a nation that had no alicorns trying to devise something that could level the playing field. Given their culture, such a machine would be legendary, comparable to the A-bomb. Even if it ultimately failed.

I just think you need to take a more... ehh... Mage-punk(?) approach to technological development. Tanks could work, but they probably wouldn't have been developed to fill the same role. This is more thought than I really want to put into this sort of thing because I really don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about just how bloody Equestria's history might be. But there's a few things to keep in mind that would make it much harder for technological warfare to be practical.

1. As I already mentioned, the magic. Magic is so prevalent that it sets a very high standard. If humans were fighting ponies I would say it's likely that the humans wouldn't stand much of a chance until they reached AT least late WWII tech. Even then I'd probably still bet on Equestria. Fighting Ponies wouldn't be much different from fighting space aliens.

2. Horses are both strong and fast. They possess the ability to carry more than a human soldier, and can travel comparatively fast over long distances. Slow, lumbering war machines would have a much harder time competing with infantry, particularly when roughly 1/3 of the entire population has panzerfausts attached to their heads (and the ammo is weightless to carry). MAYBE as a siege weapon it (and cannons by extension as merely an upgrade to catapults) would make sense, but overall it wouldn't have much of a practical use for anti-personnel, unless it was SO tough it could just stand there forever while still constantly dishing out firepower. In short, if you're trying to take out soldiers with it, a tank in Equestria might not even have cannons. Better to just have gunports for unicorns to spray magic out from. And really that's what I would think the most logical premise of a tank would be. They wouldn't have called it a landship. The idea would most likely derive from the premise of, "What if a castle could move?" A rolling fortress, if you will.

3. Horses are TOUGH. As far as most land animals are concerned, humans (and primates in general) are some of the squishiest. We have no hide to speak of. Horses on the other hand, can take a LOT more abuse. Also, add some cartoon physics to that, since we've seen Ponies regularly survive things that would easily kill a human. This is another bad blow to the idea of guns of any sort being practical. Horses have hides that are tough, which would mean gun tech would have to develop further to get as much "bang for your buck" as it would if you're making them for humans. What DOES work for tougher animals though? Projectiles that have more kinetic force than a bullet. And what are the most popular ranged weapons in Equestria? Weapons that have some mass to them. Arrows and spears.

A lot of this will still match up with the imagery of Fallout Equestria but that's mostly to do with it's popularity and having so many weapons actively used. Think less use of mega spells/atomic weapons and more of firebombing and scorched earth tactics. During WW2 there wasn't much of a surrender from the Germans. The fighting continued all the way into the heart of Berlin. Not quite to the last man but it came close. People often forget that we were fully capable of destroying ourselves before we harnessed the power of the atom. The only difference is it takes longer and there's less radiation. To power a tank you could have ponies pedaling or pushing wheels and such, maybe even use preloaded springs all applying force to a decent gear ratio but even then the tank needs to by as light as possible so lightly armored and it'll end up moving ridiculously slow. I have no clue if they've made use of petroleum but kerosene and coal are definately options. It's not canon but I've always envisioned a sort of electronic set up but rather than batteries you'd insert a crystal that's been magically charged. That's how I envision magic being used as a power source beyond a unicorn sticking it's horn into some device and exhausting itself but magic is certainly an option here. Very few unicorns I think could cast a spell to match the performance of artillery. Most only practice basic telekinesis and what they can do beyond that usually only pertains towards their special talent. With enough training their magic could be cast with deadly force but I highly doubt they could sustain the ferocity and repetitiveness of an actual cannon. An Alicorn however has the potential of shifting the tide in a battle. But there are only so many of those to go around and once they're gone, they're gone for good. The risk is too high until you find yourself desperate.

Initially tanks served as a means for soldiers to get through no mans land. You'd move it in too close for the enemy to be able to use their artillery against it, but it's armored enough to stop most gunfire. You then use it to run over and crush obstacles like barbed wire or pass over the tops of trenches. Meanwhile solders take cover behind it and don't rush out till they have a clear path. The very first ones were just tractors with a box like covering. Enemy soldiers could always rush up and plant grenades or other explosives on vulnerable sections so they armed the tanks with slots to fit your rifle through or even mounted machine guns. This was also where a role shifted for the men outside as they now would be charged with protecting the tank, due in part to the realization that you could mobilize firepower which saw the use of larger guns added in order to take on stronger encampments.  They were still very sluggish and had more affect on moral than in battle but by the time WW2 broke out the designs had been enhanced and new features added so that they were able to rush ahead and break through enemy lines where they could then deliver a fatal blow from behind or continue to charge forward.

1. Magic does set a high standard, but magic is far more limited than technological ingenuity. I've said this before with Muggles Vs. Wizards from the Harry Potter series, that although it would be an immediate beat down, muggles would win out because firing bullets out of a gun is less taxing on the body and as efficient in ending a life if not more so than a spell. I would apply this to MLP as well. If its magic vs. WW2 tech, I'd bet on a guaranteed victory for WW2 tech. I don't see things sliding into magic's favor until we go back to American Civil War era tech. Here is where overwhelming firepower becomes difficult to apply and where strategy and speed are much easier to break.

2. Tanks were/are siege weapons. They play less of a siege role today when an airstrike or missile can be called in, or when naval guns or self propelled artillery could be used to deliver a stronger blow, but these seem to be used less as well, (Particularly with the retirement of battleships and so forth). Tanks have in essence replaced the horse in the role as cavalry. They are able to quickly maneuver around and disperse enemy ranks, but this is nowhere near the case prior to post WW1 which made the horse useless because just like the men sent forward in line formation, they were easilly mowed down by machine gun fire. There was also the pressing issue that trench warfare which already had quite a history all of it's own by this point, was for the most part impervious to such attacks. If you made it past the first line you would find yourself surrounded, and incapable of dishing out much harm without dismounting. Horses are strong and fast, but they're not made of steel and they tire. (Armor will provide a horse protection but in turn you take away it's speed so anything more than a helmet and thick plates covering the most essential areas will result in a quick death. Funny thing about the inspiration of a moving fortress is in part to how we ended up with the dreadnought battleships which in kind would pass on part of that concept to the landship so you're not too far off. But if we're drawing a more distant inspiration from fortresses then perhaps an Iron Clad War Wagon. Funny enough if you search up War Wagon the first thing that'll pop up is an old John Wayne film by that very name that includes a far more modern take on the concept, but it's basically a horse pulled wagon with reinforced walls that you could potentially fold up and out, with slots and sometimes mounts to shoot from.

3. Did you seriously just make the attempt to say arrows and spears are more effective than bullets? I admire that you ended up putting more thought into this than you originally intended but your final point is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Some people still hunt with a bow, but that's because they have an appreciation for the tradition and skills that go into it. Crossbows in particular are like a gun in that they're easy to learn how to use and allow you to use a projectile from a greater distance. There are only 3 advantages this has over a gun though. It's quiet, easier to maintain (doesn't require so much taking apart, oiling and cleaning), and doesn't risk leaving shrapnel behind or tear apart the insides. And the suggestion of hide withstanding gunfire? The reason soldiers stopped wearing old plated armor was because A. Armies were only getting larger and supplying each soldier with armor became too expensive, and B. Guns were becoming ever the more popular and could puncture the armor with little effort. Hide doesn't compare to steel, and if steel can't withstand a bullet then neither can hide. The only reason a bullet will do less damage to a horse is because they're larger and therefore the area damaged is considerably smaller. Something I should also mention is that for over 150 years we've had handheld rifles that were designed to successfully take down fully grown elephants.

One of the actions participants in the great war took in part to make this the war to end all wars, (done voluntarily by the victors) was to reduce the size of their militaries, ban certain weapons (primarily chemical and those which were intended as unnecessarily cruel over lethality) and place limits on both the size and quantity of armaments. This resulted in us exploring every possible loophole and designing some very unordinary weaponry. This goes a tad bit off topic but there were limits to what size guns could be placed on certain ships but this didn't include submarines so the French built one with a twin 8 inch turret as part of it's armament. Anyways, the order could have been given for nearly all military weapons to be turned in and destroyed, and they returned to older weapons and armor in order to be less destructive but still make a show of force.

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

14 hours ago, SharpWit said:

3. Did you seriously just make the attempt to say arrows and spears are more effective than bullets? I admire that you ended up putting more thought into this than you originally intended but your final point is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Some people still hunt with a bow, but that's because they have an appreciation for the tradition and skills that go into it. Crossbows in particular are like a gun in that they're easy to learn how to use and allow you to use a projectile from a greater distance. There are only 3 advantages this has over a gun though. It's quiet, easier to maintain (doesn't require so much taking apart, oiling and cleaning), and doesn't risk leaving shrapnel behind or tear apart the insides. And the suggestion of hide withstanding gunfire? The reason soldiers stopped wearing old plated armor was because A. Armies were only getting larger and supplying each soldier with armor became too expensive, and B. Guns were becoming ever the more popular and could puncture the armor with little effort. Hide doesn't compare to steel, and if steel can't withstand a bullet then neither can hide. The only reason a bullet will do less damage to a horse is because they're larger and therefore the area damaged is considerably smaller. Something I should also mention is that for over 150 years we've had handheld rifles that were designed to successfully take down fully grown elephants.

One of the actions participants in the great war took in part to make this the war to end all wars, (done voluntarily by the victors) was to reduce the size of their militaries, ban certain weapons (primarily chemical and those which were intended as unnecessarily cruel over lethality) and place limits on both the size and quantity of armaments. This resulted in us exploring every possible loophole and designing some very unordinary weaponry. This goes a tad bit off topic but there were limits to what size guns could be placed on certain ships but this didn't include submarines so the French built one with a twin 8 inch turret as part of it's armament. Anyways, the order could have been given for nearly all military weapons to be turned in and destroyed, and they returned to older weapons and armor in order to be less destructive but still make a show of force.

There's a reason I also mentioned cartoon physics. Just remember, if you're building weapons to kill Ponies, this is the kind of physical resilience you're trying to get beyond.

Yeah, a more "down to Earth" version of MLP, if they ever did it like (Celestia forbid)... I don't know, the 90's live-action TMNT films, it'd be much less complicated. And yeah I haven't thought about the size being just as big of an issue with how much gunfire a horse could take. I just remember more than one war story about a wounded horse essentially being used as a meatshield for soldiers to hide behind, and the horse actually recovering from the encounter in the end.

But in Equestria, yeah, they have some degree of "toon" armor with how much it takes to actually deal a serious injury. But that also makes me wonder just how much science it would take to make a weapon more powerful than something being wielded by a Pony with magically-enhanced strength. Thinking on the kind of thing Earth Ponies are capable of, for instance. Pulverizing a giant boulder with just their hooves, or bucking a tree hard enough to knock all the fruit out of it. That's some scary serious potential energy, at least as much as a basic cannon charge has. The only way I could see personal arms outperforming a trained Pony hurling a javelin is in the rate of fire, but certainly not the velocity or amount of damage per shot. One swift kick from AJ might even be able to tip over a light tank, and who knows what other innate abilities might be useful against armored vehicles (if they can get within a reasonable range). Then you have the Pegusi with enough magic strength to get up to near the speed of sound (and the exception that can exceed it). The question of Unicorns being good at magical combat though is ambiguous. Maybe they're just not trained for it in the modern age because there's no real need for it, but I wouldn't say that means they would tire too quickly if used as "riflemen." It's safe to assume the amount of energy they can put into their magic is comparable to that of the other two tribes, and for example the Apples can work the harvest nonstop all day, so Unicorns shouldn't have a problem keeping the pressure on in battle once they know how. Either way, my gut is just telling me that MLP probably generally follows Anime logic. Swords do far more harm than guns, because body strength > gunpowder. Even with Twilight for example, she's a student of both magic and science, but more often than not, it's the magic that wins out in the end.



 

Edited September 18, 2018 by bornAgainEquestrian