bad does have a point, though. In a straight up fight, the Pegasi would have the advantage because of their combat experience. Earth ponies have the food advantage, though. They could probably stall out the fight until the pegasi were exhausted. Maybe align themselves with the Unicorns to be able to reach and finish them off.*

They're both better than pegasus-es-es-es, anyway.

They were throwing pies at them, Bad. They weren't trying to kill them. Also, they managed to knock them out still. With PIES

A farmer's militia is actually a frightening force. A significant portion of the martial arts of the world were developed by farmers trying to defend themselves, and a huge chunck of the kung-fu armory were modified farming implements. Consider that a farmer has natural training with things like spears and pikes(because of their pitchforks, not to mention axes, which were one of the most common medieval weapons regardless of what Hollywood will tell you.

This is, of course, completely setting aside how absurdly strong they are naturally. Armour is effectively useless against you when you can drag a house. Even AJ's basic kicks would be enough to seriously damaged armour, and that'll shake you up a fair bit. Add in steel weaponry and their a forced to be reckoned with.

Their added strength puts them on at least equal footing with Pegasi, and any semblance of military strategy that will get them in close quarters with Unicorns makes them a pretty significant threat.

@ Ginger: I said they'd think they were good. Not that they were. That they might focus on long range, being almost completely worthless to anything that was next to them.

I didn't interpret that the pegasi were the only ones with a standing army, I just thought that they were possibly an extension of the fact that a the aggression that seemed to be the norm if Commander Hurricane was in fact meant to be indicative of pegasus culture.

@Surprise: The humans did this "pets" thing to themselves a couple hundred years ago and they stopped it. Seriously though, where are you getting the humans?

Actually, she said they had less than a minute.

Just because Pegasi military culture is pervasive doesn't mean the others don't have a military. We also have no idea if the Pegasus military is really more experienced since we don't know when their last battle was.

edited 7th Jun '12 4:35:20 PM by Mio

@ The Doctor, I agree we should check this out.

I imagine the Earth Ponies would be good at guerilla warfare. Using the land to their advantage and setting ambushes. (like in vietnam)

They might also have holdfasts built into the sides of mountains or in caves

@Orion: Well, ah... aheh... while 'pets' are officially outlawed, it still happens. With... some frequency, in fact. All under the table, of course.

Oy Kegisak. I may need your strategic thinking a year or so down the line when my story gets to the epic battles I have planned.

@Death

I remember that in the 90's cartoon spiderman became a real giant spider for a while

Pies can be dangerous: apple, cherry, Pinkie...

I'm sorry; that was mean of me, wasn't it?

edited 7th Jun '12 4:39:10 PM by Pipsqueak

had an idea for a fanfic series, basically have the Mane 6 read and give their reactions to other fanfics/fanworks.

I still think that Earth Ponies could be stealthy too.

They might even grow poisonous foodstuffs to weaken the Pegasi from within

@Seraphem: Ooh! How would the mane 6 react to Fallout Equestria in your fic idea?

@ kegisak

Yeah I totally agree.

Case in point, the Warhammer was developed to crack open plate mail...I could easily see a big EP's kick being like an armour cracking hammer hit.

To be honest, it's the Unicorns who are probably the worst off in a war. How many Unicorns are actually powerful mages? I reckon they would rely upon magical barriers to keep the enemy back.

Nuke pies.

Imagine Earth Ponies scouts luring Pegasi into the forests, laden with traps galore

or not, clearly no one likes the idea of stealth E Ps

edited 7th Jun '12 4:43:00 PM by gingerninja666

Applejack wearing horseshoes with squat metal spikes, like what you find on a meat tenderizer hammer◊ only bigger, would crack plate armor like a sledgehammer on a tortoise shell.

edited 7th Jun '12 4:44:21 PM by CDRW

I was trying to figure that out, but it's only an idea, not realy sure HOW they'd react yet.

Brasshooves yes, I would like that.

No I could see E Ps going all guerrilla warfare.

Which, btw, has proven time and time again to be incredably hard to beat.

edited 7th Jun '12 4:44:22 PM by ApplelightLimited

Don't go all Mousa on us. How could you?

@Seraph I imagine a few of them would quit at chapter 2. Another few would quit around when we start seeing how the mane cast were during the war.

but the one who keeps reading (Rainbow Dash?) calls the others back the further she gets into it, saying that it's actually pretty awesome and sweet