@CrayCraytheCrayfish
You completely missed my point entirely. The point is that these defenses do indeed exist. If you discount that defense by any failure they have, then the Main Six are not a defense either, since they were defeated by Chrysalis in “to Where and Back Again” And by the Storm Guard in the movie
Also, the only force that is guaranteed to always be readily available would be the Royal Guard, as the others often go off to do their own thing, like when Rarity goes to Manehattan to check on her shop and participate in fashion events.
If you are trying to argue that there is no defense, then you’re just wrong. But if you are trying to argue what is the most powerful defense of Equestria, then it would be the Main Six because they have the Elements.
@TheSultanAkbar
You remember when Tempest took down that fishman? He was like three to four times larger than her, and she didn’t even use magic. The logic that ‘they are from really far away’ only holds that they would have some unknown tactic or weaponry that the equestrian would be unfamiliar with (i.e. the magic resistant shields and armor). Any good military tactician/strategist would be able to identify these new variables, see where this leaves his forces lacking, then adapt a new plan to work around it in a timely manner. Seeing as there were no guards at the festival to enact such plans, it’s no wonder that the capitol fell as it did. Plus, I am of the mind that in a world where ‘magic’ is a very tangible and constant force, any military within that world would incorporate/plan around the inevitable use of that force in battle. So, I don’t see how it would be difficult for a nation (especially one that uses a very large array of magic in their daily lives) wouldn’t be prepared for something like magical warfare.
@CrayCraytheCrayfish
Dude, did you see the size of Storm King’s men? They are like, twice the size of a pony! And from really far away, considering most nations haven’t heard of them.
If you think about it, it’s kind of hard to establish a military force in a cartoon’s magical world.
@Hericks
You see, I’d be inclined to agree with you if it wasn’t for the fact that I can offer a counterpoint to all of those examples.
-(the pillars) We saw that they each went off to explore Equestria, so it’s not like they are available at a moment’s notice
~~(the wonderbolts) easily defeated by a greed induce growth spurt Spike when he “tricked” them into flying into an empty water tower and trapped them for the rest of the crisis. Plus, they had to be saved by Rainbow Dash during the Best Flyer’s contest when ‘they’ were supposed to be doing the rescuing of Rarity
~~(Discord) Like you said, he isn’t exactly the most reliable unless he has an incentive (i.e. Fluttershy)
-(Equestria’s Nation Allies) If we go back to the movie, we saw how Queen Novo put the safety of her people before the Equestrians. Granted, that was an isolated example, but the point still stands that the ‘allies’ could be a little unreliable if they have their own agendas
-(the princesses) If we’re just talking about Luna and Celestia, we all know how reliable they are when it comes to defending their country from threats. Cadence has the Crystal Empire to worry about, and Twilight is still inexperienced even if she and her friends have accomplished some incredible feats
Again, it’s not that I want to disregard your points, and I can believe that the guards could be elsewhere and doing so much to protect the nation even if we never see. However, the times that we are shown any capacity of the guards in action are wholly disappointing. I hate to come back to this again, but in the movie, we see Tempest and the Storm King’s force lay siege to the nation’s capitol during the friendship festival, and the only thing I can think of during the whole first five minutes is, ‘Where the hell are the guards?’. For the nation’s capitol to be so severely undefended like that, not even a simple security presence for the festival itself, left me for a loop on what a logistical snafu that was.
@TheSultanAkbar
Yup, the guards are certainly present, but as we’ve seen, not exactly what I call, ‘a force to be reckoned with’. To answer your question on the matchups though, I would have expected a more reliable and competent force to defend a nation. Especially when they should know what to expect for the most part from a world that constantly deals with mythical and abnormal threats (Everfree beasts, malevolent magical forces/artifacts, rogue foreign powers (that one dragon that smogged up Ponyville, a la ‘Dragonshy’), and a few other stuff here and there)
@CrayCraytheCrayfish
My point is that they exist, and they do indeed defend, we just don’t see it on screen for the most part. They just can’t seem to handle the super-powerful enemies that require specialized magic to defeat. Or maybe they do, off screen? Remember, the show follows the Main Six, and not the guard, so of course it is going to appear as the Main six doing most of the work, because we don’t see what the guard does.
Also, the pillar ponies have returned, so Equestria has them as well.
And there are also the Wonderbolts, who are basically the Equestrian Air Force.
And then there is Discord, who is a powerful magic user, albeit not too reliable unless Fluttershy is in danger.
And then there are the allied nations that Equestria could possibly ask for assistance from
And the princesses themselves,
So when you actually stop to think about it, Equestria has several levels of defense, and all over.
@CrayCraytheCrayfish
BS. There is continuity and the guards are present all the damn time! Not terribly usefull but what do you expect wgen you are going up against powerfull magic wielders and big ass beasts!
@Background Pony #36DD
While still failing to take down a demonic centaur. It’s no wonder they all got captured so easily by Chrysy during the season six finale. Once they got rid of the rainbow beam of resolution, They really started to falter on what could be done to keep Equestria safe.
