No Guns in Equestria

[twilightpony]

I've noticed that "guns", which use an explosive chemical reaction to push a projectile, seem to be a weapon of choice in your euclidean universe. In Equestria, that would not be practical. The explosion is too fast for most ponies to guide the projectile in a way that it can reach its target with any force or accuracy. Shooting arrows or launching spears and rocks gives a pony a lot more control, consistency and distance. If you depend only on a split-second detonation to push a projectile, the 'path' (choice of distances) it takes from point A happens at random, and it could end up at just about any distance in the direction it was heading. Due to gravity, its displacement through the air is not in a straight line, it follows a curve. That means at every instant, its "vector" (to use the euclidean term) has a different slope and thus a whole new infinite selection of 'paths' (distances from A to B) that it will 'follow' at random. A pony would do much better to just throw a rock, thereby maintaining control of the 'path' of the rock the whole time it's in flight.

Party cannons, like those used by Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie, employ a spring. A spring launcher is slower and lets the party pony control the path of objects fired. That way Pinkie can use a party cannon to set tables and launch balloons and confetti.

Comments

[flareblitzfury]

Ah, I see! Very interesting!

[algernon97]

A gun is slightly more complicated than an explosion launching a projectile. Most guns have something called "rifling" inside their barrels. This spins the projectile as it exits the barrel, which increases accuracy (don't ask me how, I don't know the science behind that). Not to mention the various kinds of guns, some of which fire their projectiles at subsonic speeds, some of which utilize compressed air to launch their projectiles, and some of which shoot rockets instead of bullets (but that thing never really saw much success).

However, these are probably moot points, since the world of Equestria doesn't really use a lot of the laws of physics we have in our world. For all I know, that spinning of the bullet could make it follow even more random paths.

I do wonder if artillery and tanks would be operable/useful in your world, though. They're similar to guns, but are much larger and intended to be used as suppression and/or large target elimination weapons instead of the smaller targets guns are used for.

[twilightpony]

The problem is two fold. Speed of the launch and distance traveled. The impetus given to the projectile is chemical, not mechanical, thus it is independent of pony control. A pony firing a gun has to anticipate the exact instant of the explosive gas expansion to latch on control of the speeding bullet and guide it. It would be like firing a gun at yourself and catching the bullet in your teeth, only faster. The gyroscope-like spinning of the bullet improves distance and accuracy in your world by keeping the bullet from tumbling. And you guessed right, in Equestria, an unguided spin would increase the wobble during flight and greatly reduce accuracy. The bullet would zigzag through the air. Apart from the wobble, the bullet will fly in the direction the gun was pointed, but the distance, or instant by instant distances, it will travel is random as it navigates Equestria's non-euclidean geometry. Chances are so low that a pony could hit a target using a gun that it wouldn't be worth her trouble to take aim.

You want destruction? Throw a big rock. Rainbow Dash told me that Maud Pie is really good at throwing big rocks very far. A trebuchet is another choice.

[algernon97]

I think we use nuclear weapons for ultimate destruction. We're trying to stop doing that, though. It isn't all that good for the environment.

[twilightpony]

Ah. Controlled implosion devices. A bit harder to set up in a non-euclidean universe. We have other potential ponymade environmental disasters dangling like the Spear of Damoneighs over our heads. Such as the Windigos, such as the corruption of the powerful and what happens if nopony changes the seasons. We have to be nurturing and to get along or we all die. Developing bombs is suicide. That's why the Tree sends us on these Friendship missions. We're restoring Harmony and keeping our world from going dark.