As I said in my most recent blog post, "one of my online frends has been planning a comic set in Equestria and surrounding regions for a while and he's been struggling to work out how to prevent the earth ponies from looking underpowered. My recommendation has been asking him to read my work, but honestly, I understand that he hasn't got round to it yet. It's not like I'm not guilty of doing the same thing. Anyway, he's mentioned this a few times and it also reminde me of how apparently some claimed that an earth pony or pegasus could never provide the same level of threat to the Mane Six which I also think is rubbish. Anyway, we had a discussion where basically I ended up challenged tocreate a group of really powerful earth ponies. So, I immediately began writing out such characters and spent the next three days doing so. I ended up creating twenty eight legendary earth ponies. The response by those whom Ishowed was basically, "Okay, now do the same for the other tribes." We've agreed to let me have a break from that first, though."

So, here is where I decided to put them and future similar characters as the legends are canon to the verse (though how truthful they are is up for interpretation for now). I wrote this mostly as stream of conscious as a speech:

"Well, Star Swirl. You were raised in Canterlot, so you never heard these tales. Tales that are passed from generation to generation through word of mouth. But gather round, and I will tell of the legendary earth ponies who lived in the time before Equestria and why the unicorns and pegasi did well to fear us.

The first of these great heroes in fame if not in order was Steel Coat the Invulnerable. As his techniques were among the most simple, despite its effectiveness considering how far he took it. He rose up against the tyranny of the unicorns and raised their castles. Whispers claimed that he could not be injured. Every arrow bounced off his hide, every spear broke and every blade turned. He tore through the telekinetic auras of the unicorns as if they were made of paper and armies fell before him. The stone walls did not stop him as he charged through them unimpeded as if they were made of air, carving a passage for our hordes of righteous fury. Eventually the unicorns coated him in molten stone. They say that when we truly need him, he will break free and fight for us again.

The second hero of which we speak was Mole Hill the Sandswimmer. To her was given the truest expression of earth. It is through her that we earned the name earth pony and why we must wear that name with pride. To her, the ground was an ocean and she was its fish. She swam through the soil as easily as the pegasi soar through the air. None could follow her, yet no establishment was safe from her sabotage. Eventually the pegasi retreated to the air and stay there still in an ancestral fear of her. She destroyed the foundations of buildings and collapsed them in seconds. At the same time she raised fortifications and dug trenches for her own ponies. But the war was slow and she allowed herself to be captured in disguise and transported to the unicorn capital, where she tunnelled straight into the centre of the Earth, creating a volcano and destroying the city.

The third of these heroes was Open Chasm the Earthrender. Where he trotted, the ground shook, acknowledging him as its master. He would strike the ground and all but him would fall from the quakes. Armies collapsed, cities toppled and supplies were lost. When he was particularly furious, he would open a fissure and order the earth to swallow his enemies whole before having it close up upon them again. He once did this to an entire city. Eventually, when he was old, he claimed that the earth called to him, welcoming him home. That he needed to join it. He opened a fissure and walked down into it on steps he carved with thought. He then closed the way behind him.

The fourth of these heroes was Iron Clad the Crusher. None could prevail before her strength. Even the greatest pegasus warriors died instantly at her hooves, their barding crumpled and useless. She knocked down towers with her bare hooves. She once smashed her hooves down so hard, the shockwave turned the unicorn town she was standing in into an impact crater. Eventually, a lucky unicorn managed to stick his spear into her shoulder. It took thirty unicorns to restrain her. They took her to a large city below the mountain, whereupon she escaped and bucked the mountain, burying them all.

The fifth of these heroes was Black Hole the Leveller. He truly stole the greatest advantage the pegasi had, pulling them from the sky and crushing them under their own weight. Entire cloud cities fell, literally, before his power. When he didn’t feel the need to do the same to unicorns, he’d fling them into the sky and then another direction. Unicorns may have stolen the basics of his ability, but it is us who are the true masters of gravity.

The sixth of these heroes was Creeper Tendril the Treeherd. We are the masters of plants and it is she who really embraced that. When she trotted, the orchid got up and followed her. Her army of trees laid waste to many towns.

The seventh of these heroes was Sudden Impact the Inevitable. She was the perfect assassin. She would suddenly appear, from nowhere, in the room, snap the neck of the unicorn noble or pegasus soldier that was her target and disappear before anypony knew what was going on. No wall would slow her. No locked door would stop her. Not even the cloud cities were safe as she’d appear in midair and be gone before she had time to fall.

The eighth of these heroes was Sunk Cost the Burglar. He would sneak into a unicorn town or Pegasus ground barracks and see where their supplies were kept. After that, no form of security, down to welding the doors closed, could stop them from disappearing and repapering in his home.

The ninth of these heroes was Rock Fall the Wrecker. She commanded the stones to fight for her and they did. From the greatest boulder to the smallest pebble they rolled at her command and charged her enemies, bowling them over and crushing them.

The tenth of these heroes was Stone Wall the Blockader. He raised structures of rock out of the ground. He created effective barricades to stop the unicorns, domes to shield us from the pegasi and stone spears to impale them. His battlefield control was unprecedented and he lifted columns of rock to carry our armies into the cloud cities for raids.

The eleventh of these heroes was Over Throw the Commandeerer. She would warp and control the wood, stone and metal of her enemies’ weapons, slaying the unicorns and pegasi with their own blades or crushing them with their own barding.

The twelfth of these heroes was Second Skin the Untouchable. He pulled rock from the ground and used it to cover his body in it as a suit of barding. One that flexed with his own muscles and hardened with his thoughts. It would grow weapons he could control and thickened as needed. He was untouchable with his impenetrable protection and his stone projections killed many soldiers. Eventually, he sealed himself up completely and became as a statue.

The thirteenth of these heroes was Dust Cloud the Haze. She realised that we needed a match for Pegasus air superiority and weather control. So she lifted the dirt into the air pelted them with its grains. She would rapidly whirl them in storms of sand which tore through any unprotected flesh and eroded buildings away.

The fourteenth of these heroes was Buried Treasure the Deadcaller. He could feel all the ancient objects which lay deep within the ground. He could also pull them up to the surface and used them as resources and weapons. He would even raise the bones of long extinct monsters to assemble into skeleton armies to fight for him.

The fifteenth of these heroes was Mud Wave the Ooze. She added water to the earth and formed pools of mud which would slither, smother and grasp with tentacles at her command. Soldiers would be plucked from the sky, their rank or the tops of their castle walls, whereupon they would be crushed or drowned. To this day, unicorns fear mud.

The sixteenth of these heroes was Hidden Door the Omniscient. There was no better scout, spy or surveyor. He could sense everything the ground touched, even indirectly. Not even being blindfolded would slow him down. Every crevice, every trap, every supply cash, every secret passage, every hidden base and every ambush were all known to him. He was our greatest informant.

The seventeenth of these heroes was Cover Up the Undertaker. At her command, the earth would suck enemy soldiers beneath the ground, leaving no trace of their existence as they suffocated, dying in their premade graves.

The eighteenth of these heroes was Trip Wire the Trapper. He would call to the roots beneath the dirt and have them rise up from the ground and ensnare unicorn legs. They would then entangle and constrict until their captives were strangled or crushed.

The nineteenth of these heroes was First Impression the Dirty. She allowed dirt and rock to climb up her body and mat her coat and ordered plants to grow into the mixture until she looked like a living landscape. One she could alter according to where she was hiding. She could keep perfectly still and was effectively invisible. She was able to sneak past or dispatch any guard. Her body was never found.

The twentieth of these heroes was Lode Stone the Forceful. He wore heavy steel barding wherever he went. By his will, it would magnetise and he could control its magnetic field. Every magnetic material was his to control spears were ripped from the unicorns’ telekinetic grips and pegasi had their barding pull them from the sky. He may have been less versatile than Over Throw, but he was more forceful.

The twenty first of these heroes was Unexpected Guest the Demolisher. She would trot into unicorn cities, look at their stone castles, and order them to collapse and implode, crushing their inhabitants.

The twenty second of these heroes was Hot Streak the Destructive. He could pull magma from the Earth’s mantle up to the surface and control the resulting lava to destroy all in its path.

The twenty third of these heroes was Dancing Leaf the Slasher. She would lift leaves into the air and spin them as whirling blades of death which would slice her enemies apart.

The twenty fourth of these heroes was Exotic Matter the Unpredictable. He could forge nuetronium from any material, including thin air and the bodies of his enemies, whether or not they were alive. He could also render objects radioactive or even dissolve away matter in a burst of radiation. He gave a unicorn town a plague of cancer.

The twenty fifth of these heroes was Double Vision the Mirage. She perfected the art of appearing in multiple places at once. She fought as a literal one-pony army and when her enemies attacked her, they found that she wasn’t there.

The twenty sixth of these heroes was Cast Iron the Instantsmith. He would pull the metal and ore up from the ground and instantly shape it into perfectly formed objects of supreme quality. He could supply an army with weapons instantly or simply have swords burst from the ground and slice his opponent.

The twenty seventh of these heroes was Shrapnel Splinter the Disruptive. She would order metal, rock and wood to explode in a violent spray of iron fillings and slivers of other debris. If the blast didn’t kill her enemies, being impaled by multiple foreign bodies would make them easy pickings.

The twenty eighth of these heroes was Full Metal the Transmuter. He made up for his small size with power. He could transmute any metal to any other. Not only did we never have a shortage of an alloy while he was around, it was an effective strategy to turn the pegasi’s barding into gold, lead or sodium, for example."

(I’ve also been wondering who should be saying this. Granny Smith? Pinkie’s dad? Another canon character? An OC?)

Feel free to discuss.

I was asked to do pegasi second. I decided to change characters narating this though, which will quickly beome obvious:

“Well, of course I know about the ancient pegasus heroes! How did you think I first heard about the sonic rainboom!? Most history is pretty lame, but I’ve got to know what kind of tricks have been done before. Still, I’d think you’d know more about this than me, Star, even if you want ‘a pegasus point of view’. I’m not good with dates and pre-Equestria isn’t exactly the time-period I know the most about, but I guess I could help. Still, back then, we were warriors, not stunts-ponies. So some of that stuff isn’t really my thing. Still, some were pretty cool.

“Like ... I guess I’ll talk about Star Scream the Usurper first. He said that his Commander was a useless featherbag and that he should be in charge to show the earth ponies and unicorns who called the shots. He challenged the Commander to a joust. I think he was named Weather Frond. Anyway, as they flew towards each other, the Commander wondered why Star Scream was flying so much slower than his top speed. But it was all part of Star Scream’s plan! As they approached, Star Scream dodged, and the Commander thought that he was being a coward, but he wasn’t! As he passed the Commander’s head, he accelerated, creating a sonic boom right against the Commander’s ear, deafening him, stunning him and breaking his bones! A new and greater Commander had come! He used the same effective tactic in many battles against many opponents. He was a master of sound. He would even slap his wings together in a mighty whack that tore the landscape apart in a mighty roar!

“Then, secondly, I guess I’ll talk about Hack Slash the Vicious! Her wings could cut through anything! Stone walls! Magic barriers! Metal! A tank! Well ... not my Tank, because he’s awesome, but an ordinary tank.

“Oh! Thirdly, I’ll tell you about Gale Force the Potent. He’d flap his wings and the wind would send everything flying away. Everything tore from the ground!

"And speaking of sharp wings, I’ll tell you about Wind Cutter the Slicer fourth! When she flicked her wings, a burst of razor wind shot forward and sliced her enemies!

"Fifth was Slip Stream the Graceful, His special talent was contortion. He could attack from any angle and change direction instantly, by any angle. None could touch him as he was always in the wrong place.

"Going the other way was the sixth, Final Plummet the Squasher. He would dive into and land on his enemies at supersonic speed, crushing and splattering them. He’d just shake off the impact himself.

"A similar technique was used by the seventh, Package Drop the Retribution. She’d also dive at supersonic speed towards her enemies, but then she’d launch a spear at them. Or a rock or something. And she’d pull out of the dive while they were skewered or flattened.

"Next and eighth was Air Blast the Guarded. He couldn’t be ganged up on. He could take out entire armies by himself! He’d flick his wings and a burst of wind would spread in every direction, knocking back enemies from all sides.

"Ninth was Spin Flip the Driller. She would point a spear and then twist her body at high speed, drilling through anything and anypony in the way.

"The tenth was Thermal Rise the Raptor. He would grab earth ponies and unicorns and lift them high into the air, where they would struggle to breathe, before throwing them back into the ground.

"The eleventh was Heat Wave the Cooker. She was Summer in pony form. She’d dump heat into the battlefield, or even her enemies’ bodies, roasting them alive. We might have been affected by the windigos earlier if it wasn’t for her. It was her death that first brought the cold.

"But we took advantage of the cold while it was there. Like the twelfth. Frost Bite the Immobiliser would coat the ground in ice, freezing his enemies’ hooves in place. Leaving earth ponies unable to defend themselves.

"A similar strategy was used by the thirteenth. But Ice Slick the Opportunist was more about precision than power. And her strategy worked better on unicorns than earth ponies. As they stepped forward or tried to cast a spell, she’d flick her wings and freeze a patch below their hooves, causing them to slip and fall and miscast their spells. Then she’d sweep in for the kill.

"The fourteenth also used ice. Hail Storm the Pummeler would form enormous blocks of ice and then he’d drop them as a rain of frozen boulders on his enemies’ heads.

"The fifteenth was Storm Surge the Wave and she came from the coast. She’d lift a mass of water from the sea or a lake and smother hr enemies with it, drowning them.

"Speaking of drowning, the sixteenth was Rain Curtain the Wettening. He’d make it rain so hard, filling the air with so much water, that the unicorns and earth ponies couldn’t breathe. They were basically in the middle of a waterfall.

"The seventeenth was Fog Bank the Hidden. They say she travelled to the donkeys and learned their techniques. She’d fill the battlefield with mist and slaughter her enemies while they were blind.

"Eighteenth was Lightning Strike the Zapper. He would fire lightning bolts at his enemies, electrocuting them. He could even bounce them between enemies.

"Nineteenth was Energy Field the Fryer. While her lightning wasn’t as strong, she could turn the whole battlefield into a ball of electricity, electrocuting all her enemies at once.

"The twentieth was Tornado Funnel the Ripper. He could make tornadoes all by himself and have them suck up his enemies or knock down buildings.

"Twenty first was Snowed In the Avalanche. She would create blizzards that would cover her enemies in snow that would trap or smother them.

"Twenty second was Snow Flake the Bladestorm. He would carve giant, razor sharp snowflakes that he would fling like huge shuriken to slice up his enemies.

"Twenty third was Arrow Storm the Unmissing. She would fly high into the air and then drop, firing her bow over and over again and peppering her enemies with arrows before pulling out of the dive.

"The twenty fourth was Thunder Clap the Deafening. He was also good with lightning, but he got better results from slamming his wings together next to an enemy’s ear and having the lightning bolt fire next to them and loudly, to make the thunder burst their ears.

"Spark Flash the Blinder was twenty fifth and she used her electricity the opposite way. She couldn’t really fling her lightning bolts properly, so she covered her feathers in bright sparks in a flash to blind her enemies.

"The twenty sixth was Flame Trail the Burning. He could light fires behind himself as he flew and could use them to burn his enemies and their buildings.

"The twenty seventh was Feather Fall the Deathrain. She would harden and sharpen her feathers before flinging them down on her enemies below like a rain of knives.

"The twenty eighth was Gasping Breath the Vacuum. He could suck up the air until the air on the battlefield was too thin for a unicorn or earth pony to breathe.

"The twenty ninth was Feather Light the Thrower. She’d use her tactile telekinesis to make her enemies practically weightless when she grabbed them, before chucking them at high speed."

As I said before, these are AWESOME!

1424266 Thank you!

It's nice to know your efforts are appreciated. You're still welcome to use them. Planning for them to appear/be mentioned in your pre-Equestria fic?

Also, unicorns next?

1431850

Oh! Unicorns! Yay!

My pre-Equestria fic is currently under reconstruction, but I will totally reference some of these characters in my upcoming fics.

1432108 Awesome!

And unicorns it is!