@Pause  

 
Celestia did not punish him after almost causing war with his behavior when the Friendship school was closed at his request without being challenged. Neighsay was high on the hierarchy of power within the large bureaucracy that is the administration of Equestria. It is known that he was not alone in having xenophobic attitudes - that was before Cozy Glow “cured” him and the students save him - and it is known that non-ponies are rarely seen in Equestria itself. One only has to look back at the history of the zebra and the inhabitants of Ponyville to realize that the ponies have easy to fear something they do not identify. Very few ponies had gone far from Equestria on their own.
 
An isolated country is usually xenophobic, and it is possible that contact with the rest of the world was severely restricted outside of Griffonstone - allowing the Storm King to take Equestria in total surprise after beating the hippogriffs. Twilight had learned from the examples of the griffon, Grida, and the zebra in the Everfree forest that Equestria had to move on. The invasion and experiences in Klugetown reinforced her determination to open up the country, and then spread harmony and friendship to the rest of the world.
 
The ponies are usually friendly, but it is an open question whether they have a strong tolerance for what falls outside their worldview which is largely just about Equestria itself, which is probably as large as Europe in our own world

@Background Pony #6768  

 
How Neighsay alone representation of most of Equestria?

Very interesting. These thracians are very familiar with the internal events in Equestria, which means they have long infiltrated the country and have ambitions to throw it into chaos so they can take over. As they obviously fear Celestia, it’s possible that her announcement that Twilight Sparkle, an unproven princess, will take over the throne - may have given the Thracians the opening of their plans. Their plan to destroy the contest was likely to embarrass Twilight, destroy potential alliances with powers outside Equestria and then create political unrest in Equestria.
 
It is known that a large portion of the population of Equestria is xenophobic as seen with the Chancellor Neighsay, and Twilight undoubtedly has a strong opposition to her plans to pull Equestria out of the self-imposed isolation that we know is canon. When the non-ponies came and helped during the fight against the Legion of Doom, it was very important to break the attitudes of the ponies against strangers.
 
The Thracians had undoubtedly spent a long time preparing to attack the rest of Equestria - I think the island where they live is within the borders of the country - and it may mean that they were active elsewhere far away. Celestia and the authorities of Equestria are probably aware of the thracians, but may have considered these to be insignificant and thus ignored. It will not be the first time a potential threat is ignored. King Diomedes talked about “cull the herds” - it meant that the community of Thracia must have been very brutal as it involved the cold-blooded extermination of anyone considered to be weak.

Howdy

I feel sorry for the Thracians.  
Maybe the three ponies races were not so kind after all

I guess Terri Belle inherits her appearance from her father while Blonn Di, Shining Light, and Swift Foot get theirs from their mother.

@ImperfectXIII  
It hurts so good!

Howdy

@Background Pony #5E1B  

 
Their home is also an alusion to the mares, as they are also known as Mares of Thrace

@ImperfectXIII  
Terrible, even.

>Terri Belle
 
WOW. That is BAD.

Terri reminds me of Lupe the wolf.

Oh no, how will Equestria survive you ruining a school’s sports event?

So Feats of Friendship is now incorporating Greek mythology (e.g. the Mares of Diomedes) into its story.

@Background Pony #5E1B  
and one could easily guess the resolution of this arc because of that.

So now we know that Swift Foot lives in an oppressive-looking environment with at least three older sisters who either bully her or are indifferent to her and a father who demands a lot from her. I’m starting to feel sorry for Swift Foot.

I suppose a big difference between those ponies with the common earth ponies is that these are carnivorous