Concerning Capricorns · 4:18pm Jan 11th, 2013
I mentioned in another post that I want to write, at some point, a guidebook to all the different races in Equestria. It would be written as if it had been Twilight's work, from her point of view, and serve as a guide for other writers when inserting other races into their story. To test out the appeal of this, i decided to do a chapter here about the first race I created, the capricorns.
A Guide to the Many Species of this World
By Twilight Sparkle
Race: Capricorns
Homeland: The Mareatine Ocean (main home Tydal’s Keep)
Rulers: Lord Tydal (god of the sea, king of the Mareatine), Queen Merida (goddess of the sea), Princesses Coral and Misty (goddesses of the sea, captains of the royal guard)
Biology: Of all the species I have met, Capricorns may be one of the most unusual. At first glance, they would appear to be quite like ponies: they are roughly our size, with some males being slightly larger than females. The first difference is their horns (yes, plural). Capricorns have two small horns that angle back from their forehead. These are barely more than nubs (much smaller than even a foal’s horn) in the average capricorn. A capricorn’s mane, save for those of the queen and princesses, tends to be quite shorter and thinner than a ponies; it is not uncommon for a capricorn female’s mane to resemble a male pony’s mane style. The colors of a capricorn’s mane tend to run towards blue, brown, and aqua marine. The royal family differs in that they have pink, red and green manes.
Capricorns also have unusual eye structures. The pupil is slit, like a dragon’s, and the iris has mane dark lines that run along it. This gives the capricorns amazing vision, including night vision that allows them to see in pitch black conditions (something needed when they spend time on the ocean floor)
The third, and obvious difference, is their fish biology. It is improper, however, to call capricorns half fish, even though they themselves use the term. Capricorns are more closely related to sharks (a creature most ponies, thank Celestia, have never seen). These shark attributes can be first seen in their teeth: capricorns have sharp canines designed to tear apart meat (yes, as appalling at it is, capricorns are meat eaters… see below). They also have hidden gills that allow them to breath underwater; these gills seal up when they are on land, making them truly creatures of two worlds.
Of course, it goes without saying that the most eye-catching of their attributes is their backsides. Just before their rear legs capricorns’ bodies change from the common coat that us ponies have and becomes that of a shark. The scales of a capricorn, much like a pony’s tail, matches the color of its mane. The flank of a capricorn extends out into a long aquatic tail with a single dorsal fin on the spine and two smaller fins near the end that assist in swimming. The end of the tail at first appears to be fan-like; it is not. NOTE: NEVER ATTEMPT TO TOUCH A CAPRICORN’S TAIL! The ‘fan’ is, infact, what is known as a tail-blade; it is razor sharp and hard as steel. Capricorns use their tail as their main weapon and I have it on good authority from my brother, Shining Armor, that a capricorn can behead a pony with one swing of their tail.
Capricorns, due to their design, are not strong runners. Even their most powerful members are slower than the average pony and are easy to overtake. Capricorns make up for this by being very nimble; they can climb near vertical structures without use of their magic. They are, of course, natural swimmers and can keep pace with a pegasus flying overhead when they are in the water. This, however, leads to the negative tradeoff that capricorns can not handle dry conditions. If not kept hydrated, a capricorn will begin to ‘cook’ in the sun: the scales of their tail begin to burn, they lose the ability to move, and become delusional. This is why it is rare for Capricorns to head into deserts and other areas where there is little water. Capricorns also do not like icy conditions but are not weakened by them; according to my research capricorns can easily survive near freezing temperatures but avoid such areas because of their dislike of the cold.
Capricorns require on average 6 hours of sleep a night in order to function. Unlike ponies, capricorns’ internal clock does not require them to keep standard sleep schedules, as they will remain awake for roughly 22 hours before needing rest. Thus, capricorns function during the day and night and sleep whenever they choose. Their sleeping patterns are quite interesting, as they, like sharks, remain in motion; a sleeping capricorn will thrash, grumble, and shift as if caught in a nightmare. It is very dangerous to be around a capricorn while it is asleep and their rooms have almost nothing of value in them as they tend to destroy much while not awake.
I would like to take a moment to discuss the royal capricorns, or as I have deemed them, royicorns. Much like the alicorns, royicorns differ from their mortal subjects. It should be noted that the term royicorn is NOT accepted by the royal capricorns and is only used here to help identify them. All capricorns consider themselves capricorns and nothing else.
Royicorns, much like the alicorns, are larger than ponies. The largest of the royicorns, Lord Tydal and Queen Merida, stand at Princess Celestia’s height. The royicorns have much longer horns (roughly four inches longer than the standard unicorn horn) and their manes are longer. Lord Tydal, the only male royicorn, also has a small beard, the only capricorn to have one; it is unknown if this is a trait of all male royicorns or if Tydal’s is a genetic fluke.
Diet: As stated above, capricorns are omnivores. I have seen them eat flowers, grass and fruit… I have also seen them consume fish, including sharks (which is a delicacy in their culture). It should be noted that capricorns do NOT eat land based creatures (EDIT: This has been proven false. Capricorns WILL eat land animals, but tend to avoid such animals as fish are easier to catch. Capricorns have been known to consume pigs and dine on griffin meat dishes)
There are rumors that capricorns will drink the blood of ponies. The only reference I have found to this was a story claiming Lord Tydal drank a slushie made of pony blood after a battle. I have been unable to confirm this at this time but nothing I have observed shows this to be more than a slur against the capricorns.
Magic: Capricorns, as a whole, have little to no magic within them. It has been seen that they can manipulate water, moving it and calling it forth, but even then it is on the level of a unicorn first learning to use his or her magic.
On the other hoof, the royicorns have IMENSE magical abilities. Lord Tydal, Queen Merida, and Princesses Coral and Misty educated Princess Celestia and Luna in magic. Lord Tydal alone has shown examples of telekinesis, hydrokinesis, the ability to transform himself into water, duplication spells, energy blasts and shielding. It should also be noted that Lord Tydal, as god of the sea and water, has complete control over water, rival Celestia and Luna’s control of the sun and moon.
Language: Capricorns speak Equestrian, though with their own natural alternations. Owing to their goat-like nature, capricorns refer to their children as ‘kids’, while stallions and mares are bucks/billies and does/nannies. They use the species neutral ‘everyone’ instead of everypony. Their accents are a combination of Equestria and noble Griffish, due to their dealings with both nations.
Society: Capricorns have a very relaxed society with four guiding factors.
The first of these is the idea of ‘pulling one’s weight’. Capricorns do not believe in social standings and frown upon the idea that one’s family or wealth determines their worth (this has caused many issues in Canterlot, with Lord Tydal alone having threatened to murder several of the upper class on 17 separate occasions). Every capricorn is expected to perform a task each day to help the society and those with more power, strength, and wisdom are held as needing to perform tougher duties. Indeed, the royal family are, in my view, the hardest working of the capricorns: Lord Tydal trains all the capricorn soldiers, rules of legal issues, leads the hunt for fish/sharks, and is the chief pottery sculptor in the country; Queen Merida is a preschool teacher and designs all the educational standards for the capricorn youth; Princess Coral is head of the royal guard and an event coordinator; Princess Misty is head of the royal guard and head chef.
The second aspect is their thirst for battle. Capricorns are a warrior race and love nothing more than fighting others, even if just for sport. Indeed, entire wars have been fought against the perytons of Reinssia without a single death, due to both species simply wishing to battle the other for fun. Capricorns will commonly practice their skills
The third aspect is their desire for a grand death. Capricorns hold that life is precious and filled with wonder and that, if they are to die, they would rather die in a way that will be told in song rather than peacefully. This leads to many of their elderly to embark and grand adventures across the globe; indeed, many discoveries in the ancient world were because a dying capricorn sought to fall in a foreign land and instead found a lost temple.
The final aspect is their belief in the defense of the innocence. While capricorns will sneer and look down upon those they view as cowards, those that can not fight, especially children, are guarded and treasured. Indeed, the surest way to die by way of capricorn is to threat a child, even a non-capricorn foal. It is recorded that the capricorn nation slaughtered 2/5ths of ancient Equestria’s armed forces for daring to make a foal (Princess Luna) cry.
Remind me never to tick of Tydal.
I like it. You mention scales on their fish parts but say they are like a shark. I don't think sharks have scales, their skin is smooth in one direction and sandpaper like in the other.
Woot! world building!
Thats really good, I liked it.
700446
Those are Placiod Scales
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermal_denticle#Placoid_scales
Interesting.
Diamond Tiara is a dead pony walking...if Tydal hears of what she's done to the CMC...
Hmm, VERY... detailed.
Granted, didn't know anything since haven't read most of your stories, from before I watched you (and haven't even read stupid Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, Twilight Sparkle! or w/e it's called as of yet, being lazy 
), but definitely paints a confusing and somewhat fearful picture about this species. One little error(?) though:
Shouldn't it be everything instead?
Anyway, hope to see new chapter tomorrow of The Abundance, if there's none going to be released today!
They made Lulu cry?
I would have slaughtered 3/4 of em
What would happen if someone were to make Fluttershy cry in front of a capricorn?
It looks pretty good, just a few things I'd like to point out.
I think you may have meant horns here.
'do' should be 'due'
I think 'also has a small beard, and is the only...'
I'd also suggest making the semicolon a period, and turning
into a sentence by itself.
Other than that, all awesomesauce.
Great job.
Such a proud, noble, and ultimately honorable race, not unlike the warring samurai clans of Japan during the 1600s.
I've said it once before and I'll say it again - Capricorns are freakin' badass.
F*** being a pony, if I ever get teleported to Equestria I'm gonna be a capricorn if given the choice.
Nice world building, but I'm not sure this story is postable. From the rules:
Don't Post
• "Manuals" or "User Guides." (example)
700557
The idea would be that these 'gudies' would be interspaced between Twilight's adventures visiting these places... think of it like a travel book where Twilight would write about her adventures in an area, then there would be a section about the species she visited.
So are you gonna put chupacabras and quetzaquoatles into your stories
700574
The only races I have locked down to cover in The God Squad (and thus would get guides either here in the blog or in a story) are Ponies (all three kinds), Griffins, Perytons, Dragons, and Changelings. I also want to cover camels, if I get a chance. Other creatures... well, that remains to be seen.
700572 That sounds like it might work then, I can think of at least one previous guide book story that was hammered and later came back with a storyline to go along with the guide.
That's an interesting take on Capricorns. I've totally been picturing Tydal wrong though-I was going on the typical goat with a fist tail type description rather than a 4 legged variety with a fishy tail.
700661
Yeah, as soon as I began creating Tydal I decided I didn't want him dragging his butt along the ground... so I went with a four legged design... I figure if there can be 15 variations of griffins in the media, there can be 2 types of capricorns.
I LOVE it.
700927
I think it would awesome if something could force him to take that form temporarily, or under certain conditions he reverts back to that form.
700539 Extinction of the person's race.
I think you should submit this idea for a creature to a company or something. I love how descriptive this is of the entire race, its biology, rulars, and culture! I think I should try world building sometime. I've already tried power building, but can you offer some advice?
Can somepony please tell Twilight that sharks are fish