hey, I was just thinking, how redundant would a pony centaur be?

I wonder if Equestria actually has an army.

I dunno - there seemed to be an awful lot of them in the season ender.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:06:16 AM by VeniVidiPony

I doubt it. They have the Elements for any large-scale threats.

Larger-than-Celestia-scale threats, at least.

Plus, there's never been a full scale, country wide invasion...the occupation of Canterlot doesn't really count. So I guess they don't need an army...for now.

I expect they do. The Wonderbolts seem to be part of an official Air Force, which fits into their Blue Angels image.

Pegasuspolis had an army, Equestria probably had one too.

Kind of surprised there's no trope page for Blue Angels.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:10:31 AM by Bluespade

@Blissey: On a scale of 1 to silly, pony centaurs are ludicrous (Which is off the scale).

edited 28th Sep '12 10:12:35 AM by edvedd

And Lyra would with she were one...

Perhaps, but that is really not the sort of thing that happens in this show. Most things are there to show how bad the situation is, thus the well armored ponies being subdued is supposed to emphasize that.

Pretty much every fanwork I've ever seen regarding Lyra is based on the whole "she wants hands" thing (which is completely random) or her relationship with Bon Bon. Does anyone ever use the implication that she is a musician? Did the whole fandom just decide that Vinyl and Octavia have monopoly on all musical stuff or something?

It also would have taken time, cutting away from other more important parts of the episode. They already cut Chrysalis defeat short to make time for the party at the end.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:18:29 AM by Bluespade

Lip service is occasionally payed to Lyra's musical career, I've seen the occasional image of her playing her instrument of choice.

I've seen a handful of works about her as a musician in the early days, but for the most part that is the situation now.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:19:14 AM by Mio

I think I've read a couple of fictions that mention her musical skills. There was one in which she lost face with other musicians because she took part in the song that Pinkie sang in the Gala.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:19:34 AM by VeniVidiPony

I think more attention needs to be paid to Lyra's musical talent.

I do recall some fic mention her coming home from a concert she was performing at but I barely remember.

Basically it's all about the humanity, I suppose a pony's gotta have her hobbies outside their cutie mark... though in Lyra's case the fandom may have overindulged.

Here's one: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/618/1/One-Day%2C-They%27ll-Throw-Flowers/One-Day%2C-They%27ll-Throw-Flowers

When it comes to quirks the fandom does nothing but overindulge. It's supposed to be funny after all.

Indeed.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:31:42 AM by Mio

Like the muffin thing?

Is there such a thing as overindulgence?

Is moderation in ponies a virtue?

Moderation in anything typically is.

I totally agree that Lyra needs to get more focus on the musician aspect of her character (which is why I headcanon that her official job is a music teacher), but I can kinda understand why that side of her doesn't get as much focus. There are half a dozen or other ponies (including, but not limited to, Vinyl and Octavia) that are music-related, but only Lyra is associated with the hands thing. It's only natural that people would want to focus on the aspects of her character that are unique to her. The other thing is that Vinyl and Octavia are always shown performing whenever they actually appear in the show; music is a central part of their characterization. With Lyra, she's never actually been seen playing an instrument, so it's easy to drift away from that part of her character.

And yes, moderation (or temperance, if you want to be archaic about it) is certainly a virtue. Any good thing can go horribly wrong if you go too far with it.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:34:53 AM by JapaneseTeeth

At the very least, they could tie the things together: it'd be a lot easier to play the lyre with fingers.

Enthusiasm >>>>>>>>>> Moderation.

Background Pony takes Lyra's musical background and runs with it. Music is magic in that fic, and the only way for Lyra to break her curse is to learn and perform an ancient symphony.

Yeah, I don't think so. It's too way easy to be overenthusiastic about something harmful. Caring a lot about something doesn't make it good.

@Blue: That's usually how I interpret it; she finds the idea of finger intriguing because it allows her to physically connect with the music in a way that telekinesis wouldn't allow.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:38:53 AM by JapaneseTeeth