The True Origin of Earth Ponies

by David Silver

1 - How it Began

A small filly sat beside her mother. Her hooves were resting on her mother's foreleg. "What's it mean?"

The mother smiled thinly. "I can't say exactly. The wind whispers gently, but those are old voices, older even than me."

"No way!" cried the filly as if that simply were impossible. "You're the oldest there is."

The mother nudged the filly. "If you weren't my filly, I'd be sore at you. You shouldn't call a mare old."

"But you are..." She tilted her head. "Why shouldn't I say the truth?"

That brought a pause to the mother before she nodded. "It's like my gift. If I shared everything the wind whispered. If I repeated every tremble of the ground, ponies would get scared, or angry."

"Why?"

The mother raised her free hoof to her chin. "You know how mother has a gift?"

"How can I forget?" She hopped to her hooves. "You're super special! Everypony res... rez... respeckles you."

"Respects."

"That! Ponies come from far away looking for Miss Breezy Stone." The filly beamed proudly. "Why?"

Breezy shook her head slowly. "Once, there were many more ponies with my gift. They could feel, see, taste, smell... The world was alive for them, and they knew. They knew even things they didn't know."

The filly frowned at that. "If you don't know somethin', then you can't know it. You're not making sense momma."

Breezy leaned in and kissed her filly's cheek gently. "It didn't always make sense. I can hear when an angry wind is coming, but I don't always know what it will lead to. Things were different... My own grandmother told me this story, passed on from her grandmother."

The filly sat up and looked at Breezy, her attention fixed solidly.

"You know of the pegasi, whose magic lets them take flight with wings far too small for them and keeps them aloft on clouds too fluffy and made of nothing to support a pony. You know of unicorns, whose magic focuses in their head and can be channeled into potent spells with diligence and practice. But what do you know of earth ponies?"

The small pony frowned a little. "We're strong."

"Some of us, but not all of us, not even most of us." She tilted her head. "Would pegasi be known for flight if many could not fly?"

This confused the filly. "Oh... They can grow fruits and veggies!"

"Again, some of them." Breezy reached out and gently tapped her filly on the nose. "But they have something in common, that binds us together. We are all closer to the land. Once, we could all hear its many whispers. We were not farmers, or lifters. We were shamans and leaders. Pegasi could protect us from on high. Unicorns could perform clever magic and delicate work. We would lead the way."

The filly glanced left and right. "If Chief Cherry Blossom heard that, she'd get angry at you."

Breezy's smile turned a little sad. "I'm certain she would. You'll keep this a secret from her, I hope? Be a good filly."

"'Course momma... So why don't earth ponies hear the stuff no more?"

Breezy lifted an ear. "Unicorns decided they were smarter. Pegasi decided they were faster and braver. Earth ponies who heard the whispers less decided they were stronger, and that the whispers were not the land at all."

"What were they?"

The larger mare trailed a hoof across the ground gently. "They decided it was simply the murmur of troubled minds."

"What'd they do to them?"

Breezy looked up. She could hear the faint whisper and the echo of approaching hooves. She knew what was coming. "Daughter... It's time to go. Run to your little colt friend. Run and don't look back."

"W-what?"

"The time for questions is over." Breezy rose to her hooves. "Be a good filly, and don't listen to the whispers."

Breezy wasn't seen again. To appease angry 'spirits', she was removed, and the crop was saved. The town celebrated the return of their livelihood. Her daughter was watched like a hawk for any signs of her mother's deviation, but she never claimed to hear whispers, or show much sign for any talent besides cooking. That was good enough, and she was left alone.

The little filly changed her name when she became an adult. She became Cherry Pie. She claimed it was in deference to their wise chief. She lived well and plainly, and though she never spoke of the whispers that came for her, they did. Guided by invisible hooves, she avoided disaster for herself and her family.

She was not the last Pie, nay, she was the first of many, passing the torch onwards. They passed on the gift that came with the true gift of the earth pony clan. They could hear the planet. The wind, the tremble, the soft twitch of a rebellious limb. It was all ways of communing with the power behind the world. The story of their founding became lost to time, but the thread binding them together ran strongly despite it.

They were not the only family to hold it. Other earth ponies could feel the gentle stirrings of the world around them. Eccentric, mad, unhinged, or just stupid were many names given to such ponies. The insanity others claimed would always shine in their eyes. For many, it became a source of strength, for others, a source of bitterness. The thread bound them together, somehow stronger than even blood.

It was just the way it was meant to be, powerful and invisible.

Author's Note:

Sudden one shot! Yes please.

Some musing on my part. Like, hate? Lemme know.

Comments

[Seeking Dusk]

Huh. It makes sense. Canon wise we have the Pie family with their obscure sense, and Cheese has his as well. Then there is the choosing stone... The Apples are an example too. AJ talks to some of her trees, Granny Smith followed who knows what to accomplish things (like the Zap Apple techniques). One could even say Celestia has traces of it with her insights and plotting. Add to that the ever present slight all the other tribes have to earth pony (Yes, I'm still a tad bitter over most references to alicorns only mention wings and horn...)

I'm more than willing to take this as possible canon.

[badninja]

It is an interesting take I will say. I would hope that Pinkie may know this, but with her I would never bet anything as she is all kinds of unique. It makes me sad for what has been lost by the earth ponies, but continued by the zebras or at least Zecora.

[Emtu]

Earth ponies are weird, man.

who's magic lets them take flight

whose

[Dravkwn]

Don't let Pinkie find this story. I can only imagine how she might react.

[harts fire]

I like vary believable.

[Booster Spice]

Spice Must Flow.

[borgvicugna]

A very unique look at head "party" canon capable of blowing away the fourth wall.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Regrettably believable. Still, hopefully one day ponykind will be ready to heed the wisdom of the land once more.

[David Silver]

7136663
7136084
7136401
That is just what I was hoping for. I saw an interesting angle and tried to take it to its logical conclusion, without getting lost along the way. This felt like the perfect use for my desire to do a one shot. Glad you liked it!

[albedoequals1]

The title is misleading; you don't say anything about where earth ponies come from. You also don't address your description or chapter title since it doesn't talk about any pageants or beginnings either.

Really though, earth ponies don't have an origin. They're the source material. The vanilla version. The only kind of pony there is in some generations. Unicorns and pegasi are just upgrades to the standard model.

[David Silver]

7136786 There are powers earth ponies have that the others don't, and that's what this was about. This is supported in many musings and writings of Faust, and supported in show by many 'touched' earth ponies. Applejack speaks to trees, Pinkie Pie can feel the entire world's machinations, Tree Hugger is clearly in touch with the flow and touch of things. Even Maud can access this flow.

It is an origin story, an origin of a lost heritage. The earth ponies were meant to be gentle leaders and shamans, but that didn't pan out.

[albedoequals1]

7136840 An origin story is when something starts. This was about something ending. (You might want to flag it as either sad or dark, since they kill her mother at the end.)

[MagentaBloom]

It's a nice concept, but lacked depth. You can do a whole lot more exploring with this story. I'd look forward to more writing, continue! Cliff hangers and dead ends are no fun.

[David Silver]

7141364 It is a one shot. Is there more depth? Always. Feeling inspired? Good, get to writing. You'll only make me a happy equine if I can encourage such. I already have a mega-epic going that reaches upwards, already blown past 1 million words.

[Daremo]

the thread that binding them together - the thread that binding them together --or-- the thread that bound them together

*****

This story is at once beautiful and powerful in its simplicity.

It explains Pinkie's powers in the framework provided in the canon series without any glaring contradictions, even though the story itself is cut from whole cloth.

Thank you for writing and sharing it with us!

[David Silver]

7145244 Fixed! Happy to write it, even if it wasn't the happiest story. It goes for more than Pinkie though. The canon has many ponies clearly touched by such things, up to and including Celestia.

[MagentaBloom]

7141426
Cool! Can't wait to read ur story!!

[Nyerguds]

Ahh wow. A real witch hunt, for the "anomalies"... chilling, and brilliant!

[David Silver]

7220836 Glad it provoked some thought.

[Shadow Lance]

7136840 um not sure about apple jack talking to trees, do you really talk to your cat? nope. and half the stuff faust says is so posed to be funny she told every one that thy poop anywhere on the ground, the ones in the air leave literal shit storms and unicorns farted neon, also implied what depys cuti mark was for... im not saying that everything she says is crap but it sounds like tinfoil hat stuff, after all its implied that she is a stoner... and definitely a hippy. but who knows

Next time on shadow verse

[David Silver]

7231696 In the show, she talked to her tree. This has nothing to do with Faust.

[Shadow Lance]

7231795 same thing as talking to your cat, she never did get a reply back, after all it does not reply back to her. some sing and talk to there plants

[That_Delusional_Pegasus]

Sad to think that in that reality, ponies hunt and kill those who still listen to the whispers of the earth.

Or that's just what I understood, and it actually means something completely different that I just didn't notice.

Good one-shot! Very deep.

[shalrath]

That was nice and dark.

[David Silver]

7404857 A good combination.

[shalrath]

7404859

I have a little something along those lines. I believe you may find it to your tastes.

[David Silver]

7404912 How vague.

[Antonyourknee]

What force wanted the earth ponies to be "gentle leaders" and shamans? Is it related to the "whispers"? What do the other ponies races have to do with this force?

[David Silver]

7408069 Force? What force wanted unicorns to have magic? Or wanted pegasi to fly.

[Antonyourknee]

7408570
I don't know. That's what I'm asking you I guess.

[David Silver]

7410787 Nature, evolution, destiny, entropy, god. Take your pick.

[Antonyourknee]

7411444
I pick all of the above with a smidgen of aliens messing around there somewhere.

[Mendenbarr]

I like this take on earth ponies; clearly not everything is sunshine and rainbows in ponyland.

[David Silver]

7446440 Thanks. I like the picture it paints while not conflicting with the canon.

[TheOneAJ]

[David Silver]

11520031
Woo! You've made my day.