Our industry began with the Smith, Rusty Iron... but it didn't end there, oh no! As mud-brick, wooden-log, and thatched-roof homes began to be replaced with those of golden forged Psi-Steel, old Rusty became so busy that he needed to take on several apprentices. The Psi-Steel - made from a single block of the true stuff, gifted to Rusty by our Prince and then passed endlessly through a replicator in his new Forge - wasn't just used in the construction of buildings. 'Scrap' (though the small pieces of the wondrous metal could hardly be called such) that Rusty couldn't use wasn't wasted; it was instead recycled by being given to the tinkers and jewelers among us and with it we crafted the most beautiful items. Clocks, clockwork automatons, mechanical toys powered via small cores of synthesized khaydarin, brooches, necklaces and rings, amulets, and mane clips... if it could be made with the wondrous Psi-Steel, you can bet your hooves we made it!
At first, Our Prince was, of course, quite cautious about us all working with the Psi-Steel - he only allowed trade of the golden-metal items within our settlement. To facilitate trade within our fair city, the Prince minted his own special coins; hardened discs of khaydarin which glowed with their own inner light! When I questioned him as to why they did this, our Prince told me that the coins - since they were made of khaydarin - actually absorbed local psi-energy, similar to the Pylons starting to appear about our growing settlement, and the great Power Core of Equusweyr. At this I expressed my alarm - the energies swirling within the Pylons and Power Core of the Nexus were utterly astronomical - and as such I envisioned these coins being used as throwing weapons by unscrupulous ponies. At this, our Prince started to guffaw in silence; shortly thereafter, once he was able to regain control of his faculties, he told me that the amount of psi-energy in each coin was but a drop, enough to create light but little else.
And so the coins were minted. They were called "Psions" and each possessed an image of the Nexus - Equusweyr - on the front with the number of their value beneath (5, 10, 15, 20, etc) and a picture of our beloved Prince upon the back. Of course, as with all things, some ponies did try to counterfeit them... and our Prince let them! I asked him why, and - chortling with mirth - he said (during one of his rare speaking moments), "Each Psion has its own unique psychic signature made by the tiny amount of energy within each coin. Ponies can't duplicate it with magic. The Weyrmind will know, as will I." He was right, and shortly after attempts to counterfeit the Psions began our Prince's Templars crushed such operations as soon as his Observers caught wind of them. Ponies involved were named and shamed.
Later, when we began export of Psi-Steel outside of the Everfree Princedom to the rest of Equestria, our Prince altered the value of the Psion to be equal to that of the more common Equestrian Bit, and made it law that the currencies were interchangeable; Bits could be exchanged equally for Psions, and Psions could be exchanged equally for Bits. With the benevolent hoof of our Prince guiding us, our settlement flourished... but the wonders he showed us didn't end with just Psi-Steel and the beautiful Psion Coins. One day, as our Prince was walking about our City (for then it was a City, though not the grand Metropolis it is today) he asked to partake of the food grown in the thriving communal garden. He was of course, immediately given leave to do so and so he carefully extracted from the garden a single large carrot. After 'washing' the vegetable with an application of his power - with bated breath - we ponies watched as he took a bite of it.
The beatific smile he had upon his face told us everything; we cheered for our Prince loved it. After finishing off the carrot, so pleased with it was he that he softly asked for a table to be assembled and a full meal prepared. Overjoyed we raced to do so; but when the table was assembled and the meal prepared, as the Prince sat down to eat he looked about, a frown upon his muzzle, for there was no one at the table but him. Frowning in dismay, he gazed at the Earth Pony Gardeners - those whom had grown what he was about to consume - and he asked, "Why are you not all sitting here with me? Come, sit with me, and eat what you have made. Noponies are more deserving of this than you. Come; I do not bite!" And so we did. Our bodies aching and damp with the sweat of work, our hooves barely washed - as 'high' class ponies (self-proclaimed high-class ponies, for they certainly weren't nobility) looked on in horror, our Prince ate with us.
At first, we were unsure about him - this finely dressed, diminutive alicorn among us - but he drew us out as it were; he talked to us about that which we loved: the garden. Our Prince questioned us about its origins, and asked how long the garden had been here; then he was asking us about growing techniques, irrigation, harvesting times... everything, and he wasn't just making light of it, either! No... our Prince seemed genuinely interested in everything we had to say. Talk, laughter, and of course drink - Sweet Apple Acres Cider, imported from Ponyville - flowed freely. Soon we all were somewhat tipsy, and that was when our Prince really began to open up to us. Behind his painful shyness, a Pony lonely and wanting genuine friends was laid bare. As it turned out, our Prince was possessed of a terrible biting wit; his ribbing and mocking of 'the noble pony' had us near falling off our seats with laughter. He also was skilled in an unusual self-taught art he called 'beat-boxing'; making drum and other percussive sounds using only his mouth!
We scoffed at this - we'd never heard of such a thing before - until, after much gentle ribbing on our behalf, he let rip a tune, made up right there on the spot! Needless to say... we were shocked into silence--and then, as he hid his head beneath a wing and blushed, we all erupted into thunderous applause! When he was persuaded to 'beat-box' again we joined him, thumping our forehooves upon the table as he belted out the tune! When at last, the meal ended our Prince thanked us profusely; it was the best food and company, he said, that he'd shared in a long, long time. Never had we mortal ponies felt so proud. With that, our Prince retired to Equusweyr to sleep. Little did we know what he had in store for us as thanks...
The next day, with his Templar escort at hoof, our Prince returned to the communal garden whereupon he took several of us Earth Pony Gardeners and returned with us to Equusweyr. Therein, he fitted us with Neural Transceivers and we were welcomed by the Weyrmind. Warmth, love, and comfort was broadcast to us all from the ancient mind of that great ship within... and then, we began to learn! Did we ever! Under the gentle guidance of both our Prince and the Mind of Equusweyr we were taught of plant growing techniques that blew our minds with their implications! We were taught the sciences of hydro and aeroponic growing, taught how to modify plants to achieve amazing things from generation of light, to creation of electrical power and other effects; then it was on to vertical farming, irrigation, grafting, greenhouses and growing seeds where it was impossible and/or they had no right to grow!
Needless to say, our fair city became all the more grand after than, with Psi-Steel buildings being supported by plants or having plants grown within, or plants being grown as the frames to which the metal would be attached. Everywhere was green and gold not to mention the flowers, fruit trees, and vertical farms towering high into the sky. So much food did we grow that we ended up with a surplus, some of which we stored and much of which we sold to greater Equestria, though carefully so as not to disrupt other food producing businesses and ponies throughout. Eventually, some pegasi chose to move from the (somewhat crowded) cloud city above Equusweyr and live within giant 'eyrie trees' that they themselves had grown for that purpose, based on our Prince's teachings! Several generations later, these tree-dwelling pegasi were fondly dubbed 'Treeponies'--and they looked it, too; their adapted bodies were lean with muscle, and all sported great raptor and eagle-like wings and thin, beak-like muzzles! But the wonders our Prince taught us didn't end there, for he taught yet more Earth Ponies - builders, this time - the secret of what he called 'Earth Ships...'
These were amazing self-sustaining 'off-the-grid' homes; they required no Pylons or connection to Equusweyr at all and instead utilized a combination of our own pony magic and solar power to provide electricity whilst heat was generated by the use of 'thermal mass construction.' Water, too, was dealt with; being collected via rain, snow, and condensation, then funneled into a cistern before being used again, and again throughout the house. Some of these Earth Ships were even buried within the earth of the Everfree! Thanks to our Prince, never had we Earth Ponies felt so connected to our land. Still... things weren't all sweetness and light for us. Our Prince wasn't a very 'hooves-on' pony; he merely taught us - set us on the path, give us the tools we needed - and then let us do as we would, only intervening if things we did might lead to harm, of us and the environment. Still... there was one thing he absolutely wouldn't allow.
He would not allow Pegasi to control the weather.
At first, said Pegasi were deeply angered - why could they not do what they had always done in Equestria? - but our Prince took them into Equusweyr and explained exactly why. He told the Pegasi of a time before Ponies, before even the mighty Alicorn Sisters, when there was a "natural order" to the world; when the Sun and Moon rose and set on their own and the animals, seasons, and other environmental things ponies now controlled didn't need pony intervention! Then, said he, came Discord, and soon after, the rising of the Alicorn Sisters. Taking them to a place within Equusweyr called the 'Psiodeck', our Prince showed the Pegasi what he spoke of, and the things they saw blew their minds... The Big Bang, leading to the initial creation of the Universe. Proto-Planets forming from cosmic dust then smashing into each other only to reform again and yet again as endless eons wheeled and passed... until Today. "With the defeat of Discord, the natural order might have restored itself, but now..."
Some pegasi refused to believe it, but those closest to the Prince knew it to be true; to think that by defeating Discord to restore harmony unto the world, the Princesses had instead disrupted their world's 'natural' harmony instead! It was a horrible, near inconceivable thought! Having lived so long within the Everfree Forest, all pegasi of Everfree Princedom now possessed a deep connection to the natural order within... and the thought that they'd been stunting or outright breaking it... and that the Everfree Forest was the only place where this natural order remained... it was enough to bring the Everfree Pegasi to tears. Finally, the two ponies whom were the leaders of the Tree and Sky Pegasi looked to our Prince in desperation. "What are we to do?" They asked. Our Prince, of course, helped them. The Everfree Pegasi, instead of controlling the weather, would become post-ponies and couriers; "first response teams" for medical, fire, and other disasters should they ever occur; stealthy scouts and spies should they be needed; astronomers; and engineers whom would design and build the most advanced space-faring vessels ponykind had ever seen.
As I said... things weren't all sweetness and light for us. Years of living within the Everfree Princedom - being exposed to the 'natural order' of the forest and the incredible psionic power of Equusweyr has changed us; we are to our normal brethren what alicorns are to them, and they look upon us with suspicion and fear, despite the fact we are still ponies; still peaceful stallions and mares of Equestria. Everfree Earth Ponies are 'mammoth tanks'; giants twice the size of a 'normal pony' of Equestria. Not only do we possess tremendous strength, but we have developed... unusual traits. We whom live in Earth Ships beneath the earth have developed hardened, stone-like skin beneath our fur, whilst those of us whom are close to wood have developed fur that is "wood-colored" or even tree-like in texture. Finally, those of us whom live on the grassy plains have developed "green" fur with chlorophyll like abilities; we can absorb sunlight along with eating normal food for energy. Even more fearsome are the Everfree Pegasi, with those of the trees having developed cloven 'hoof-talons' and birdlike wings and muzzles, and those of the clouds possessing element-resistant bodies and other abilities related to the weather they once controlled.
Everfree Unicorns, too, are far hardier than their 'normal' Equestrian brethren; living either within Equusweyr itself or near it in their pyramid homes of homage, they have developed fur that possesses a near-metallic sheen. All Unicorns are trained in basic combat techniques. Some choose to journey further down this path - learning to channel their magic throughout their bodies in order to increase their strength and endurance to unpony levels; then, fitting themselves with cybernetic grafts, and powerful armor, weapons, and technology to become Templar Guard. Other unicorns eschew the path in order to better master enhanced magic! Some among the Everfree Unicorns even possess a "double horn" - literally two fluted horns that spiral around each other to terminate in a single point - enabling them to wield a balanced combination of both magic and psionics.
And then... there exist the Weyrtouched. These Unicorns are particularly frightening to a normal Equestrian Pony for they choose to follow the very path our Prince walks and become High Templar where they replace the 'carbuncle' - the organ responsible for magic - with one gifted by Equusweyr. Once this is done, they no longer are capable of magic, but are able to wield pure psionic power. Once he or she feels they are ready, a Weyrtouched Unicorn will head into the Equusweyr Clinic where he or she will have a pair of vat-grown wings - along with the neural pathways required to use them - grafted unto the body; effectively becoming a pseudo-alicorn, akin to our Prince himself! The golden-furred, winged, Weyrtouched Unicorns are looked upon with awe and reverence by other ponies of the Everfree Princedom for they have chosen to 'ascend' in order to be as close to our Prince as they can be. Unfortunately, Weyrtouched Unicorns are rarely seen venturing outside the Everfree Princedom, for they are often mistaken for true Alicorn Royalty, and Princess Celestia frowns upon them.