The pony leading the boarding party was a pegasus stallion as stern and well-muscled as a pony could be—which still meant he was a little shorter than she was. No firearms on his belt, not even a musket. But then, none of the birds on her ship had firearms either. Gina had made very sure that the monks didn’t get a chance to try and smuggle anything back with them, despite their protests.
The officer handed her seal back a moment later. “My name is Captain Skysword, Equestrian Navy. As I understand the treaty, no Accipian vessel is permitted in our airspace. I trust you’ve got a good explanation.”
As they spoke, his soldiers were rushing up and down the line of griffons, down into the decks, turning over everything they could. Of course, she already knew they wouldn’t find anything. Except for what was obvious.
“We do,” Gina said, replacing the seal around her neck. There was one mildly satisfying thing about talking to pony soldiers over griffons—Skysword hadn’t even mentioned she was female. “Emperor Gaius discovered that some members of house Vengeance were… stranded in your territory after the ban. This vessel was sent to retrieve them.” She gestured back at the monks. “Once you permit us to leave, there will be no griffons acting under the authority of any of the great houses dwelling in your lands.”
“That is… good, I suppose.” Skysword took a step back, giving her a little more space. “We’ll see if that story checks out. If there’s no contraband aboard—if you really are just on your way back with some monks, this shouldn’t take long. I’ll have to report this… need your names for the record… but that’s all. Assuming you’re telling the truth.”
Perilously close to the words that would invite violence from a male. Females rarely fought so openly—though often their retribution could be as swift. Unfortunately it wasn’t just the two of them here. Gina could feel the weight of many birds suddenly watching her then. Questioning her honor was the same as attacking the reputation of the ship itself, since she was technically commanding it. If she did not react, one of these sailors might.
“I must’ve misheard you,” she said, straightening a little. “Surely you didn’t mean to question my word, Skysword. You know we Accipians don’t speak just to hear the sound of our own voices.”
Skysword hesitated. His body tensed, perhaps on the edge of an angry reaction. Maybe he saw the birds all watching him, because he seemed to think better of it. “Of course,” he said lamely. “I’m not making any accusations. Let us see what the search turns up.”
They waited in awkward silence for several minutes. It wasn’t just the sailors that were searched—the ship was turned upside-down. Compartments had their contents scattered on the deck, barrels were poked into, and unicorns cast various spells wherever they went. They’re looking for guns, Gina realized, recognizing the technique. They were searching anywhere that powder might’ve been stored, any containers large enough to hold it. Not that it would matter on a ship without any guns.
Of course, the one thing that Gina knew would upset these ponies was not hidden at all. About five minutes into the search, one of the pony navy men led Isabel over to where they waited.
Isabel shifted uneasily on her hooves, seeming like she kept thinking of running away. But where could she go? Even if she was one of the best spellcasters on any Accipian ship, that didn’t mean she could go up against trained warmages. She knew it just as Gina did.
“We found her,” said an earth pony stallion in a low voice, nudging her forward. “She’s branded, Captain. They were hiding pony slaves.”
Gina snapped back before Skysword could respond. “If hiding is standing someone in plain sight aboard the upper deck, we aren’t terribly good at hiding things.” She rolled her eyes, casting a contemptful glance back at the naval pony. “This is Isabel. She’s a member of my household.”
“Is that true?” All of the captain’s harshness had gone from his voice, all of his anger. He took one step closer to Isabel, speaking entirely for her. One of the other soldiers stepped between Gina and Isabel, resting one hoof on her rapier. Fools all if you draw it. You ponies are outmatched if Gideon decides to disobey me. And she knew he would be watching every moment, just waiting for a justifiable infraction. He couldn’t just defy the orders of the emperor. But if they were acting in self-defense against an unreasonable enemy, well… that was something else.
Isabel nodded vigorously. “It’s true. I have been with Gina for a long time. Ever since she saved me from house Victory.”
“You’re branded,” said Skysword, voice still low. “You know that… Equestria does not recognize slavery as legal status for any of its ponies. If you’re a prisoner here…” He glanced briefly at Gina. “We can take you to safety. Take you away from them. You’ll never have to see another griffon again.”
Isabel didn’t seem to have to think about the offer very long. “I am a member of Gina’s household,” she said again. “My help is important. She couldn’t do her duty without me.”
Skysword’s voice was barely a whisper now as he leaned in. “Are you her slave or not, pony? I need a clear answer.”
Isabel shrugged. “I am not an unwilling captive in Accipio. I don’t want to be taken away. She’s not forcing me, and I’m not afraid. I don’t need to be ‘saved’ by some barbarian.”
That did it—her words seemed to hit the captain like a physical blow. “We’ve seen ponies like you,” he muttered. “Stockholm… you’ve clearly been mistreated. But we have treatments for all of that. You don’t have to be dependent on your old masters.” He gestured with one hoof, and one of the soldiers nudged her towards the bridge.
“Captain says you’re coming with us.”
That was when Gina stepped forward. “You will not be taking a member of my household against her will,” she said, her voice firm. It was as much an instruction for the other members of the crew as a warning for this pony. “The treaty does not permit you to kidnap any ponies who fly through Equestria.”
“No,” Skysword agreed. “It permits us to take anyone who passes into Equestrian airspace without permission as prisoners of war. We’re well within our authority to lock you all in irons, impound this vessel, and drag you all to the Canterlot dungeons.”
There was a sudden silence on the deck of the Lapwing—the entire line of griffons watched closely. Many adjusted themselves in small ways, settling claws under them, or making it easier to jump and grab for weapons.
“I would… suggest against attempting that,” Gina said. “Or threatening my crew again. We aren’t ponies, Skysword. Accipians do not appreciate being spoken to that way.”
“No, we don’t,” Gideon said, shoving one of the pony guards sideways and approaching them at a slow walk. He wore only the light robe of his office, still untied from the search. As he walked, he eyed the ponies making to stop him as though they were utterly beneath his contempt. “I think it’s time for us to be leaving, Gina. Why don’t you tell this pony to cast off. Turn their tails for their own cities and leave the Lapwing to its mission.”
Gina had a few precious moments to hope for one of the pony-males they were always hearing rumors about—the kind that could judge the weight of their statements the way griffon females did. The ones who thought before they acted and didn’t accidentally start wars.
Her hope was misplaced. “Officer of the watch,” Skysword said, gesturing imperiously. “This prisoner has not followed instructions. We’ll be taking him as well. Clasp him in irons.”
“Unity forgive us,” Gina said, retreating one step from Skysword.
“What was that?” The captain asked, glaring at her. “Be thankful that’s all we’ll be taking. You can have your citizens back once that slaver emperor of yours—”
At that moment, the burly stallion who was apparently the officer of the watch made it to Gideon with a rusty set of manacles. The griffon remained still, frozen and tense in a stance Gina could recognize, even if she couldn’t replicate it herself. He was poised to strike.
As soon as the pony got close enough, he did.
Maybe this fight might’ve been more evenly matched. Had they been on the ground, where earth pony magic was strongest, a trained earth pony would be a serious adversary. But this high up…
Compared to Gideon, he might as well be a blind child. The griffon moved in a blur, stepping directly towards the pony and smashing a knee up into his face. His second blow shattered a bone in the pony’s leg, sending him sprawling sideways across the deck.
Sheaths echoed as ponies all over the deck drew their weapons. A few of her own crew dove for theirs as well, or anything heavy-looking they could reach. Most of the monks didn’t even bother, just rising with their claws at the ready. Their tools couldn’t be taken away in a simple search.
Isabel dodged out from behind the ponies, back towards the griffon side of the ship.
“Leave now!” Gina shouted, her voice loud enough to sound over the chaos. This was the last chance they had—any further, and there would be blood. Her crew could accept humiliating the ponies this way as victory enough for the way they’d been treated. But if the ponies fought back… “You don’t want to fight us today. Believe me.”
“No, you don’t,” Skysword whispered, his voice low and dangerous. “Surrender now. Every one of you who raised a weapon will be taken into custody, and—”
Gideon stepped forward towards him. There were three ponies between him and the captain now, weapons at the ready. Gideon was still unarmed, except for his claws. He looked completely unafraid. “Fly away, little songbirds. You’re not meal enough for me.”
They didn’t fly away. A few seconds later, and the deck descended into chaos.
Gina had been in the center of brawls before, but this was different. Ponies and birds fought, shouting sounded from the nearby ships, pegasus ponies filled the air. A limp pony trailing blood went rolling away from her along the deck, even as a massive metallic sound shook the air and a huge harpoon flew over her head, smashing directly into the Lapwing’s mast.
She lacked the training to gage which side was winning, though her involvement no longer mattered. Gaius is never going to give me a mission again. Assuming she even made it back to Accipio after this.
Isabel was at her side as they retreated below-decks, trying to get as far away from the battle as possible. Ponies didn’t follow them—the fighting was all above.
“You could’ve let them take me!” Isabel shouted over the melee. “My life isn’t worth this!”
“I protect my own,” Gina answered, her voice quivering. What would they do if they lost? Screams of the dead and dying all sounded the same to her, no matter their species.
Isabel’s horn glowed as they made their way to the lower-decks, to the coal-bunker. Beside it were the barrels of lantern oil and alcohol, both equally precious. Damn ponies had dumped a whole barrel out onto the deck. How desperate did they think Accipio was to hide gunpowder?
For obvious reasons, there were no lanterns down here, not where a single spark might mean death for everyone aboard. She could smell gas gently rising in the room, filling the air around her. It made her head spin.
For a few quiet minutes they hid there, together, listening to the battle unfold aboard the deck. Eventually the screaming died down, and a dim outline appeared in the gloom ahead of them. Someone was bringing a lantern down here. Were they completely insane?
“Hey, Imperator?” Gideon’s voice, sounding low and grave. “Are you down here? Someone saw you flying down here like a female.”
“I am a female,” she said, emerging from behind a large container of coal.
“Good.” Gideon was on the stairwell, looking down at her. His body was covered with deep red stains, soaking through his robe all over. “Makes this simple. Can’t have you flying back to Gaius to sing stories about this, can we?” He held the lantern high above his head, then tossed it with all his might, towards the barrels of oil.
Gina’s whole world became flame.
Okay, so we're going with the stupid, undertrained, incapable ponies in this story. Despite being better armed, with superior numbers, and otherwise even terms, they were still slaughtered.
At least I can see why the ponies are so afraid of the griffins, if they're this weak. Goodness knows how they remain unconquered.
Oh. Fuck.
This was a multi-layered setup.
8925444
These are also literally the best griffin warriors in the world, who train their entire lives to be experts in combat, permitted by the ponies to get right into close quarters with them before the fight began. This isn't an example of how a conflict between armies would work out.
Disgusting griffins as usual, and woefully inadequate ponies, also seemingly as usual. With the way this chapter ended,it's unlikely Equestria will hear about this in time too. I doubt Gina and Isabel are dead though. Isabel will probably magic them to safety somehow, either in Equestrian or Accipian hands. I won't lie, I'm disappointed with how this battle seemed to play out. Not only did the ponies get annililated, they probably couldn't even get the word out. This isn't a Fall of Equestria fic in disguise, is it? Anyway, looking forward to seeing what happens next.
HOLY SHIT THIS IS GETTING AWESOME!
8925467
They were also unarmed, unarmored, severely outnumbered, and had no defense against magic or magic of their own.
If the unicorns had shields, stun-spells, or any other kind of useful offensive or defensive magic, this battle would have gone differently; which means that these abilities are either too cumbersome for battle or are relegated to "main characters only." If the pegasi had weather-magic that was actually useful against non-stationary targets, this battle would have gone differently; despite being able to harness lightning and other weather effects, the heaviest armament for their ships are harpoons. And Earth ponies are useless, since Griffins have superior long-ranged weaponry and never need to actually land, so the superior strength that gives them a battlefield advantage will never come into play.
We may not have seen the typical griffin soldier, but we did see the typical pony soldier, and on that basis the ponies have no chance.
So, in very specific circumstances, in large, pitched battles, the ponies might give a proper account of themselves. But the griffins would have to be colossal morons to ever allow that. Simply fly around the slow, clumsy, useless pony armies and cut them to pieces.
I am ... amazed. At the absolute impotence and incompetence of the pony soldiers. Normally it would take deliberate effort to lose from the position they were in, but they managed regardless. Impressive in all the wrong ways? How have the ponies managed to remain unconquered again if a gryphon soldier can manhandle them so trivially? If this is the combat capacity of their soldiers, that's probably the most important question the story needs to answer. And is this a trend we can expect going forward? Because honestly, if this is going to be one of those "Equestria is so incompetent they wouldn't know how to tie their own shoelaces if they actually had shoes" stories, well ...
Man, people are losing their shit over the griffons winning a single fight.
8925561
It's been pretty heavily implied by the author that this is all just a massive fakeout to make the griffins look threatening. That these griffins are just so unbelievably good at fighting bare-clawed that they make killing scores of trained pony soldiers look like child's play, so that when griffin soldiers struggle later on we can be suitably surprised.
8925587
It's the context. This is the first time we see ponies and griffins clash, and the ponies were seemingly slaughtered to the last with ease, despite having a vastly superior tactical position.
Basically, the ponies are painfully obvious jobbers being fed to the griffins.
8925591
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect
Lol
8925601
Pretty much. I'm guessing it's also the reason why Gina fled downstairs, since if she was actually witness to the battle we'd have to ask ourselves how the tactics the ponies use later are so ineffective here.
8925601
8925591
8925587
To be fair, we don't know the full outcome of this battle. Could be only a few monks made it out alive. Plus, we have no idea how the ponies were armoured. A soldier in a gambeson should laugh at talons, honestly.
If you ask me, another problem is that it comes after so many instances of the Accipians, both Griffons and Isabel, looking down on Equestrian ponies. They mock them again and again, and then the first battle, it seems like they do wipe the floor with them. So, it kinda feels like they actually had a point. That's rather uncomfortable.
8925587
Hmm I can see why. First impressions are important, but we never got to actually see the fight, just the gryphons winning. Given the advantage the ponies had (numerical superiority while fighting unarmed opponents), that doesn't paint them in a good light. After all, if gryphons can win a fight like this without weapons, what kind of carnage can they wreak when properly equipped?
Another issue in play is that, while it is terribly unfair to judge a story by the standards of others, it's not uncommon for stories to have a completely incompetent Equestrian military (arguably not helped by the series itself worfing the Royal Guard so the heroines can save the day). Combine that with the above, and people get nervous.
As for my own views... well I kind of expected this. Having the bad guys win the first engagement is pretty much writing 101, though I'd have noted the Equestrians gave as good as they took to avoid the above. As for Gina, I think Isabel is going to save her. It'd be a shame for the two of them to end so ignobly, after all. Maybe they'll end up in one of those many villages they passed over and the two are going to experience what actual Equestrian culture is like.
8925467
So... One small crew of Griffons vs 3 equestrian airships? Moderns ships of war? And it was just a complete facestomp?
8925616
We know that the battle is over, and the ponies aren't moving to secure the ship. Gideon is absolutely soaked with blood, but also apparently unharmed. Also, Gideon expects Gina to be the one to inform the emperor, which she wouldn't be if the ponies had won.
And yeah, you kind of hit the nail on the head. This was almost a metaphor for the conflict in ideology between the callous, fractured griffins and the compassionate, united ponies. And the ponies were slaughtered.
8925621
I'm withholding judgements until we see the outcome as best I can. But if it's going to turn out that it was just a no holds barred 1 sided slaughter, then I'll be a bit miffed. Three armed equestrian warships (modern ones too) getting overwhelmed and wrecked by One smaller ship full of unarmed griffons?
I'd question why the Griffons need a military. Just send in a few unarmed griffons to kill all of equestria.
Well...that escalated quickly
I wasn't expecting the ponies to win but I figured they would have faired slightly better.
Clubbing.
8925591
A war is going to be a struggle for BOTH sides. No one can curbstomp the other. This won't be representative of the war. Like starscribe said, this was a battle between equestrian regulars and accipian elites in close-quarters. Such an outcome should be expected in this part of the battle.
I don’t expect the coast guard to win while boarding a boat filled with marines. Especially when weapons capable of making one individual a decisive force aren’t involved.
It’s fair to say it’s tropish, but that isn’t exclusive to the story being really good. Considering the story took place from Gina’s perspective, and she didn’t see everything, im more than happy to keep reading to see how things go. :)
Not knocking on your opinions of course, just presenting my own. Unless we want to pull out DBZ power levels or something, a lot of things can happen in a very short time in a fight.
*Edit*
My apologies if my comments came off as disparaging to members / friends / family members of the coast guard. I was trying to make the analogy for the purposes of purpose / context / training between the two groups. It was not intended to be disparaging whatsoever, and I am sorry again if it came off as such.
8925700
A small ship of unarmed Elites versus three armed war ships is kinda my sticking point on this.
8925700
It shouldn't be expected at all. A battle between Equestrian regulars and Gryphon Elites ending with the later's decisive victory? Sure.
Outnumbered and with zero equipment? It's the elites that should have been defeated in any reasonable situation that didn't involve the pony soldiers being criminally impotent and incompetent.
And yet they stomped all over them. It says a whole lot about the Equestrian military - they are an embarrassment. If the elites manage a trivial victory in such conditions then there is no reason to expect that the regular soldiers would do any worse if they actually have their combat gear and anything approaching even numbers.
8925700
Why not? Remember, these were unarmed, unarmored griffins fighting what I will conservatively call three times their own numbers in armed, armored equestrians, in the open. They didn't have ranged support, artillery support, or magic on their side. And they killed the Equestrians handily.
That should tell you some things; that unicorn regulars don't have effective battlefield magic (or it's easily countered by griffins who have never fought against it before), that earth pony regulars are ineffective outside of close quarters (and little more than cannon-fodder onboard ships), and that pegasi weather manipulation isn't practical in small-scale skirmishes.
Put that together, and you have earth ponies who will be slaughtered by mobile, long-ranged griffin regulars, we have pegasi that are only have the advantage in pitched battles that the griffins will never fight, and we have unicorns that can't make up for the deficiencies of the other two.
8925510
Almost nothing you just said is accurate. But it's not really the way I do things to try and supplement the writing with the comments section. I encourage a more through examination of the actual facts involved, but beyond that I'll say no more.
8925738
8925741
There's no reason to think the battle would have ended with the ship not getting blown out of the sky by the three destroyers. It hasn't really even ended yet.
But again, we've only really seen the battle inside the ship, between highly skilled griffon soldiers and government issue ponies with probably no combat experience. It wouldn't be hard to think that the ponies could be overwhelmed in an environment that benefits the griffons.
That being said, the intial battles of a possible war will see griffon armies sorely underestimate pony tech and defenses. Expect heavy losses on the griffon's side until they adapt. Then it'll probably resemble a bloody stalemate until the griffons ultimately lose from resource depletion. Both sides are formidable. And they can bring their power to bear.
8925561
It is not that sort of story. Beyond that I can only suggest you examine the actual circumstances of the "battle" to understand what happened. This is not a troop carrier of marines. This is a ship full of sailors that enforce trade laws. Against quite possibly the best griffin warriors in the world, who have been plotting for at least nine months to go to war with ponies.
I don't really want to say more, except that Accipio has consistently failed to invade Equestria. That truth conveys all the information we need about Equestria's competence.
8925782
I'd go over the list of facts and ask you to point out where I might have made incorrect assumptions, but since you've made blanket statements regarding my wrongness and said you don't intend to elaborate, there's not any point.
I will say, though, that based off of the tone of the comments, I don't think I am the only one making incorrect assumptions.
8925738
What made you think they were warships? Griffin cannon technology has been known to Equestria for at least two years now. Starlight Glimmer knew enough about gunpowder to make a spell to scan for it. You don't think a culture with plastic and radios and electricity and who knows what else couldn't crack that one in that much time? None of those ships had cannons.
It wasn't three warships against one ship of unarmed monks. It was the crew of three coast guard ships against the most powerful warriors in Accipio.
8925792
I think the problem is that the scenario doesn't really convey that these are just sailors rather than soldiers, and I think that's because we've been on the gryphon side of the perspective for the entire event. Sure, the gryphons are going "pff, these ponies aren't true warriors" but then the gryphons have been snubbing everything Equestrian, so them looking down on the boarding party doesn't exactly tell us anything about the level of skill of the ponies in question.
8925757
Assuming this is true equestria can still win ala battle of stalingrad/leningrad style. With alot of pony bodies. But honestly, one battle (especially one with the opening shots) will not dictate the capabilities of the combatants or the ultimate course of a war. There are far too many real life examples to prove that.
8925792
I get that it wasn't exactly the Pony SAS, but at the same thought, there were THREE ships, clearly expecting or prepared for Griffons smuggling guns or slaves. In an Equestria that has put itself on a war footing, to the point where they refered to taking 'Prisoners of War.'
People not expecting a fight don't go out wearing scale mail, or openly carrying crossbows.
8925811
There was a distinct implication of them being armed, modern, and the implication of 'odd shaped hulls' put together with 'rumours of cannons'
8925811
Navy =/= CG.
8925837
Wait, so you're assuming that the Equestrian military is going to name its branches the same as human nations in our world do? I'm helping you understand the equivalent from our world for the sake of grater comprehension, I'm not suggesting that the three ships actually formally belonged to an organization called the Equestrian Coast Guard.
8925834
Actually I suggest you reread those things you just quoted, because you just made my point much better than I could. Even pony cruise ships have magical engines, we know that even if they don't. So that's no sign of modernization. Then you described a ship crewed by soldiers with armor and weapons that are both centuries out of date and would've made them completely unprepared to fight a war with the abilities of the griffin empire.
IE: Do you really think the equestrians arm their warships with crossbows and ballasts and give their soldiers metal armor that will slow them down and not stop bullets?
8925834
Because so far griffons in this story have been completely up to date on Equestrian developments.
But yes, I can easily see readers getting the wrong idea from what you quoted.
8925792
I'm afraid it really doesn't at all, assuming it's true (that Accipio has made consistent attempts at invasion that have been rebuked) - at least as of this moment it's running pretty solidly into the show vs tell pitfall. We don't know anything about these alleged past invasions and how they went, the circumstances and the scope of them or how serious they were.
What we have actually seen, and thus what will ring a whole lot more true, is the confrontation we bore witness to right now - where the ponies were powerless to do anything against butt-naked gryphon warriors. Powerless as in, the way the massacre was described was so one one sidely helpless the curbstomp song might as well have played in the background. The gryphons have been thumbing their noses at the ponies the whole time - and turns out they were actually right.
Maybe these weren't the best pony combatants, and in inverse those were the best gryphon combatants, but those were still heavily outnumbered, butt-naked gryphon combatants. And it wasn't even a fight. With a discrepancy in ability being that insurmountably enormous, the obvious question is: what amazingly extenuating circumstances were present during those previous invasions that prevented the gryphons from rolling right over Equestria? Certainly wasn't Equestrian competence from the looks of it.
Again, show vs tell - because after showing us a fight as one sided as this, when by all rights it really shouldn't have been even taking elites vs non-elites into account, simply telling people that ponies totally got this and that's all we need to know doesn't sound very convincing I'm afraid.
8925853
Crossbows and Bows and Metal armour were still in use during the time of Muskets on earth, and metal armour can and will stop a ball from a musket.
We haven't been shown the capabalities of the Equestrian Military in this story yet, not really, so i don't have anything to go by.
Your words and description were what led me to believe these were warships.
8925857
I don't want to get into the habit of using the comments to supplement. I'll just say again to look at what was actually shown, and less at assumptions, and maybe that will paint a clearer picture. And if not, then simple time, with more actual evidence on the table. Mostly I just hope seeing a negative story beat people didn't like doesn't discourage people enough that they don't long enough to see what actually happened. That would be a shame.
8925813
I believe there is also something of an expectation that griffons should be utterly incompetent given all the arrogant boasting they do and lack of understanding they have of the ponies, their magic, and their tech.
Obviously they aren't paper tigers.
I suspect the previous failed invasions drew at least some equestrian blood.
8925870
Muskets? I suggest taking a look back at the griffin chapters, because you apparently missed that too if that's what you think they were using. They've been using cartridged repeating rifles for the entire story, though they've had a handful of older guns still in circulation as always happens when you advance the technology of war. Put on some metal armor light enough to fly in and let someone shoot you with an 1894 Winchester and let us know how that goes.
Muskets are so primitive compared to the griffin point of view that he only time the word appears in the story is in this chapter. As an expression of how woefully underdeveloped the pony crew would be as soldiers. "The pony leading the boarding party was a pegasus stallion as stern and well-muscled as a pony could be—which still meant he was a little shorter than she was. No firearms on his belt, not even a musket." A clear and obvious distinction between what griffins think of as firearms, and the lesser, primitive guns of the past.
In the same language as a policeman might say "the perp came at me growing. But I couldn't see a weapon on him, not even a knife."
8925888
So if 'muskets' are the griffon's equivalent of Knives. Then there is truly no hope for the equestrians, if they're arming their navies, even their anti-smuggling/piracy vessels, with equipment that is Centuries behind their enemies.
The equestrian ships were written as 'modern' vessels and manned by the Equestrian 'navy. '
You wrote this language. Don't get mad because I drew conclusions based on incomplete information presented.
8925853
Point taken, and I will give you that the Equestrians likely didn't see a need to create a separate branch, given their history. At the same time, that means that a "coast guard" ship should just be a patrol ship crewed by regular navy. Which means, I would think, they should be trained and equipped to the same standards as the rest of the Navy, and that there should be at least some Marines aboard.
Granted, I'm probably way overthinking this.
8925888
Unless I missed something, the only references I could find indicated that they were using black powder flintlock rifles, not repeating rifles.
8925853
Kinda, Yeah. Because the story so far has told us next to nothing about the Equestrian military. It's been extensively focused on the gryphon military but we've seen neither hide nor hair of the Equestrian military beyond hearing gryphons mocking it. We've had absolutely no reason to expect this to be a severely underarmed force. The story hasn't given us any indication that Equestria was equipped to handle a
flintlockpost-flintlock era military, given that the last known conflict was centuries ago and we've not heard Equestria making many improvements beyond a theoretical magic cannon.I think there's a bit of a disconnect here between what you as the author know, and what we as the readers know. You know how capable the true Equestrian military is in handling the gryphon threat. We don't. To us, these guys were Equestrian military, because we have no idea how advanced Equestrian military is since we've never seen them.
8925929
During the arena, reference was Consistently made to 'rifles'. There were rifled flintlocks, but not many.
8925940
I scoured a bit and found this.
So there is a base level upon which it is set.
8779481
So:
Presuming that neither ponies nor gryphons are all utter idiots...
The least convoluted explanation is that the prior attack was defeated swiftly, decisively, and indirectly - with relatively little involvement of the pony populace or military.
Ergo, the Gryphons have convinced themselves that whatever caused their prior defeat either was not enemy action even if it favored the enemy OR is not repeatable.
Still, at the moment, it looks like the most likely scenario for Equestria "winning" the last war (or at least taking much less damage from it) is that Celestia simply used the sun to set fire to gryphon encampments, outposts, and cities until the gryphon empire had too much trouble at home to attack any more. Given that she wouldn't have to be nearby, and the sun (thanks to being controlled by a living entity, even if the Gryphons deny that) is blatantly irregular in it's motions anyway, it would be possible for that to pass as a series of accidental disasters once a little denial set in. Of course, repeating that tactic will kill many innocents, cause vast destruction and misery, and would probably be considered a war crime - likely making Celestia extremely reluctant to do it again. Thus the current attempts at a more or less diplomatic resolution.
I don't see many other ways to keep the background consistent though.
8925946
You're right, and I've updated my comment accordingly. It doesn't change the point, though, since a flintock isn't a repeating rifle, and there have been no references to repeaters in this story. At the very best, it's a breach-loader, which would make it the equivalent of a Ferguson, which predated repeating rifles by the better part of a century.
8925952
Oh dear, there's a lot wrong with that.