Terra Firma was born and raised by Earth Pony parents who owned an apple farm and lived in a town with a library. He grew up both with strength and slightly above-average intelligence. From a young age he was In-tune with his innate earth pony magic. Born in the tropical regions of old Equestria, if he was not helping on his parents’ farm, he was off fishing and exploring the lands around his home, sometimes staying out over the night only to return bright and early in the morning to aid on the farm. More often than not he was found with another young colt, not much older than himself, named Northern Skies . North was gifted with an inventive mind, always tinkering with this or that.
Though earth ponies were common in his tropical home, North and Terra were near inseparable as they got older. When he was settling down for the evening, Terra was nearly always buried in books about Martial Arts, History and Science. he took to Martial Arts mostly, and so learned about something called “Samurai” from the time of humans. They were incredible warriors, living by a strict code of honor and pride in one’s emperor and self. They were said to have extraordinary powers. They wielded a pair of blades known as “Daisho”, which consisted of one short blade, called a Wakizashi, and a longer blade, named a Katana.
After he had grown a few years, Terra had the town blacksmith forge a single blade for him. He realized that the samurai had to have been much larger and stronger than most ponies, and so were able to wield two separate blades, but he was a pony, so he found these weapons extremely difficult to wield. He never thought conflict would exist in his happy little world, but Terra was quite diligent in his practicing. It gave him something to do when he got bored of exploring and reading, and who knows, the skill may have come in handy at some point.
As the years passed, Terra grew to be quite a strong and powerful Stallion. Soon, the local Security Force took notice of him, and he was recruited to protect and serve his home. He gladly accepted the invitation, and began training with the force, and excelled at matters that required bold, brash decision making, and tumultuous negotiations. Also, Northern Skies had offered to join into the security force to be beside him. After all, Terra was his best friend, and he wanted to protect him as much as Terra wanted to protect others. And they never let rank or merits get in the way of being on equal footing with each other. Although Shadow outranked North by several measures, North had his merits as well, especially his gifts of navigation and tactics. Navigation was North’s main talent, as signified by the golden and blue Compass Rose on his flank.
By this time, several years had passed, North and Shadow had earned their Spirit Marks. Shadow’s was a golden pair of scales, which stood out quite well against his Earth brown mane, and forest green coat. He felt that this meant he was supposed to be a type of negotiator or arbiter, and it showed in his mannerisms and actions. Oftentimes he was always trying to find peaceful solutions to several types of conflicts, from minor spats between young fillies and colts, to land and territory arguments between families. By this token, he became known for this while in the Security Force. He also proved to be a competent leader when the situation called for it.
Within five years, he was given his own mission and his own partner to carry it out. To this end, he immediately requested North's assistance. He was to be an exploratory liaison for his home, charged with mapping out the routes between the civilizations of Equestria. He is sometimes credited in the history books of New Equestria, as the first cartographer of the land.
This fact was often credited to another expeditionary team formed several years later. But where there was exploration and gaining of knowledge, there was also conflict and arguing, sometimes ending peacefully, other times not. These conflicts were where Terra really proved his mettle. His constant practice with his blade proved useful sometimes. He never had to kill any pony, thankfully, but it still upset him to pull his weapons on a fellow Equestrian. Usually a few good hits would chase away agitators, other times a simple exchange of coins or gifts satisfied the other Tribe leaders or ruling party. In this method, Terra and North made their way North and Northwest.
The pair would often find themselves bickering over routes, but would usually always resolve it peacefully
North and Shadow often traded with other ponies with their same intentions, establishing routes that would develop into modern trade and postal routes. Also on their wanderings, Shadow and North were eventually joined by a pair of pegasi twin brother, aptly named Speed Razor and Sky Razor. Speed Razor was quite fast, though not horribly nimble or maneuverable, and Sky Razor was his exact opposite, Agile both in air and on foot. They grew into roles mainly as scouts, and helped quite immensely on the off chance that North got lost. Their incessant bickering often grated on Terra's nerves, but sometimes, they were right to be bothered about a given situation. This turned the team even closer, as there were times that the party was saved by Speed or Sky's judgment.
The Razor Brothers proved to be apt combatants, coming from a Pegasus family of warriors and hunters. Sky Razor was jet black with a shocking red mane, and Speed Razor was a crimson red with a black mane. Speed Razor’s mark was a black arrow, and Sky Razor’s mark was a red arrow. Speed Razor was more quiet and introverted, always thinking or looking ahead into the distance. Sky Razor enjoyed doing flips and loops and such while flying, and was reflected in his playfully competitive, though well meaning demeanor. Soon a cook also joined their entourage, often providing entertainment, food, and occasional insight. A bard by trade, Silver Platter enjoyed nothing more than feasting, and was not a very strong combatant, which was offset by his nature lore of healthful, healing herbs and plants. Even after a rough day of exploring, oftentimes every pony went to bed well fed and sleepy, and woke up refreshed, usually with mint tea.
If Shadow Foot’s negotiations went sour, often Silver Platter’s meal’s would smooth over differences. The others of the expedition swore he was hiding some type of other magical skill, which wouldn’t surprise them considering he was a snow-white stallion unicorn with a mane of fiery orange.