The Hippogriffs could be using an integrated force where ranks are the same in all services with no differentiation between army, navy, air force, etc. The Israel Defense Forces do something like this with it’s army, navy, and air force all having a ranking structure reflecting the NATO equivalents of the army ranks, albeit compacted down.
 
This logic can likely be applied here to solve this little conundrum. Or not, I don’t really care one way or another, it’s an ultimately insignificant detail. That’s just a headcanon I’d use.

@TexasUberAlles  
That’s a good point, but we’re missing something important here: commanders of ships are always addressed as ‘Captain,’ regardless of actual rank. They could have avoided all this confusion if they had done this, but they didn’t so now here we are.

@SorryNeverSorry  
I win!

@GanymedeSkies  

@SorryNeverSorry  
You didn’t get my pun?

@GanymedeSkies  
It’s not.

I think it’s just a general term.

@TarivGy  
True. You could be right. It could be that the writers chose to make him a general instead of an admiral. If that’s the case, I simply say they shouldn’t have, in my opinion.

@SorryNeverSorry  
My proof that that’s the case is that that’s what it says in the show.  
You guys made the claim that there was an issue. The burden of proof is on y’all.

@TarivGy  
Prove that that’s the case and the writers weren’t just wrong. Personally I just think the latter was more likely.

@SorryNeverSorry  
And magically the hippogriffs use different terms because they can.

@TarivGy  
Society in general on the show is analogous to human society, just with magic.

@SorryNeverSorry  
@Furtive Tactics  
These are hippogriffs though, not ponies.

@TexasUberAlles  
Of they didn’t reclassify General McArthur. In your own words, he only commanded “a couple dozen” ships. Anyway, I wouldn’t call that an appropriate comparison since we don’t know whether or not the hippogriffs have an army.

@SorryNeverSorry  
Why? The US didn’t reclassify Douglas MacArthur an admiral just because he had a couple dozen US Army ships under his command in WWII, and most of those ships were crewed by Army and/or Army Air Force personnel. The US Army’s current fleet is crewed by soldiers, with soldiers’ ranks.

@TexasUberAlles  
I think they’d still differentiate between those who captain and crew the ship and the ground troops aboard the ship.

Has it really never occurred to anyone that a species which is equally at home in the air, on the ground, and under the water might not have a concept of the difference between a navy and a marine corps? This still makes sense if they’re just all Marines by default.

@SorryNeverSorry  
@TarivGy  
They do use the same military ranks as we do. Shining Armor was a captain before becoming a prince. Shining Armor refers to one of his guards, in the Crystal Empire, as Lieutenant. If General Seaspray is in the navy, then he would be an Admiral.

@TarivGy  
Pony society is generally allegorical to human society. They use the same words for rulers as we do (princess, prince, king, queen, mayor, etc.) in the same context as we do. Why shouldn’t they use military ranks similarly?  

@Furtive Tactics  
Who said it has human standards? It was designed by humans, sure, but that doesn’t mean it has human standards.

@TarivGy  
A fantasy culture created by human standards, judged by humans.
 
Imagine that.

You’re judging another culture by human standards.

Yes, but it still doesn’t justify the reeking stupidity of greentext.

To be fair, the hippogriffs have only recently built a navy.  
There’s bound to be teething troubles.

@Background Pony #9B3C  
the character might be in their version of the marines.