spoiler Why are all "Crystal Ponies" "Earth Ponies"?

[Shady Mist 55]

Why are no crystal ponies unicorns or pegasi? The only crystal ponies that are unicorns is Radiant Hope and Princess Amore from the comics, no other crystal ponies are unicorns nor pegasi. The crystal guard is also strange because the only crystal ponies that are guards are from the Equestria Girls movie. There are other crystal guards being pegasi but are NOT crystal ponies you can tell from their eyes they're not crystally like the crystal ponies eyes are. Also why would the Crystal Empire have guard/jousting armor that would have wing holes?

 

[ShadOBabe 18,984]

Maybe they are around, we just don’t see them.

Kind it like how there were always plenty of stallions in Equestria, but season one crowd shots made them look like a rarity.

[SharpWit 2,472]

Two things. The first is that a pony's magic tends to connected to physical actions or a thing. Earth ponies are more in tune with the earth, and a crystal is ultimately derived from the earth, so perhaps this is why Crystal ponies lack wings and horns.

The second, is that the Crystal Empire acts as a protectorate of Equestria. With the rulers being an Equestrian Princess and the Captain of the Royal Guard, they nation is heavily dependent on it's neighbors support, particularly in defense. It makes sense to bring along soldiers from your birth country as you're familiar with them and they already have the necessary skills to keep you and others safe, with the advantage of experience that can be used to train new soldiers or bring those who were banished for a thousand years up to date.

As for the wing holes in the jousting armor, this has a few explanations as well. They either have varying sets or general jousting armor that is accommodating so as to not exclude pegasi from tournaments. Competitors could've come from all around, and a pegasi is more likely to travel the distance and want to participate. It could also be that the armor was made for pegasi to begin with and was just imported with no alterations made. King Sombra was also in charge long enough that he could have drafted a few pegasi into his slave army and they actually escaped. It really could've come from anywhere, but there're several reasonable explanations.

[Latecomer 438]

They aren't.

Sombra just found winged or horned slaves more trouble than they were worth. The lucky ones escaped to Equestria, where their bloodline was diluted over the centuries. 

[Lucky Bolt 34,914]

1 hour ago, Latecomer said:

They aren't.

Sombra just found winged or horned slaves more trouble than they were worth. The lucky ones escaped to Equestria, where their bloodline was diluted over the centuries. 

 Never noticed that one! Also nice theory.  

[Bastian 13,319]

I think that there are 4 kinds of ponies:

-earth ponies.

-pegasi.

-unicorns.

-crystal ponies.

And I would say that their magic is related to crystals or something of the sort.

 

[Latecomer 438]

9 hours ago, Bastian said:

I think that there are 4 kinds of ponies:

-earth ponies.

-pegasi.

-unicorns.

-crystal ponies.

And I would say that their magic is related to crystals or something of the sort.

 

Then what's the pony on the left in the above pic?

[ShadOBabe 18,984]

On 12/2/2019 at 12:46 PM, Latecomer said:

They aren't.

Read @Shady Mist‘s OP again. They don’t believe that’s a real crystal pony because he doesn’t have the crystal eye highlights.

I’m not sure I agree with that assessment, but they’re looking for evidence other than that specific pegasus.

[Latecomer 438]

53 minutes ago, JingLBabe said:

Read @Shady Mist‘s OP again. They don’t believe that’s a real crystal pony because he doesn’t have the crystal eye highlights.

I’m not sure I agree with that assessment, but they’re looking for evidence other than that specific pegasus.

Hmm... I suppose there's also the phenomenon where all ponies, regardless of tribe, turn crystal in the light of the heart. That's the main reasons I assume it's a mod on top of one's tribe, rather than a tribe of it's own. 

[Bastian 13,319]

6 hours ago, Latecomer said:

Then what's the pony on the left in the above pic?

Oops, my bad.

[fare67t 242]

In my opinion, its because the super frigid winds of the north don't really lend themselves well to the life style of a pegasus, and unicorns couldn't be bothered to move up somewhere so far from their birth place

Or both of the other races were like "eh, Earth Ponies are strong, let them shovel all this snow and deal with it~"

and it kinda just stuck after centuries.