Pre Equestria Pony lore for a tabletop setting

 

The Earth Ponies are masters of survival and land cultivation. They had to learn to defend themselves from the common beasts that would try to pick them off in the night, more so than the other two tribes. This makes them favors having large families, often called a clan, to watch over each other.

 

Unlike the other two tribes, the Earthpony clans commonly make their home in forests and open flat lands. Some smaller clans may even be found in areas where land is infertile to gather resources like stone and ores. Even smaller ones may even be nomadic, with a larger focus on gathering, mercenary work, or trading. The common Earth Pony clans tend to build smaller huts made from earth and thatched roofing, along with fences on the perimeter of their village. In more established villages, you can even find larger barns and walls to keep danger out. These buildings still tend to look ramshackle to the other two tribes.

 

Artisans and the like among earth ponies aren't unheard of but are certainly rare, For intricate tools, they often depend on trade from unicorn towns.

 

While the other two tribes don't care to socialize much outside of ponkykind, especially Unicorns, Earthpony clans can be seen trading resources with minor races such as sheep, donkeys, and cows.

 

 

 

 

Useful for keeping the sun off your back when it's time to work, and being living water irrigation. Being the buffer between unicorns for trade is nice too. They pride themselves on their military, but they don’t help their brethren and heroes once they become frail. They can’t comprehend how they can push their foals out of the sky to their own deaths, even if it’s the only way they teach them to fly. Sometimes they can even find the mangled forms of Pegasai on the ground, left to rot in the sun. If they haven't seen this, then they’ve definitely heard tales of it.

 

Useful for their star signs when it comes to navigation and unparalleled craftsmanship. However, the rare chance they can meet a sane Unicorn they're treated as if they're less than the dirt they cultivate. More commonly they'd meet a crazed hostile unicorn banished from the mountains, driven mad by the use of magic. Tales of these unicorns stealing foals and causing havoc spread through clans like wildfire.

 

 

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Pegasai have a very stratocratic society and those who show great cunning and bravery in battle may rise in their ranks and status with no repercussion. They able to ward off almost any danger by, strength, cunning, and high level of mobilization... only if it was a possible danger to them. They believe themselves too important to risk endangering themselves to lowly ground tribes, and are keen to leave Earth Ponies and Unicorns to their own defenses.

 

Their infrastructure, like the Pegasai, is highly mobile in of itself and entire cities tend to constantly move. If a pegasai should be so unlucky that they turn up handicapped or are too weak to even learn to fly at a certain age. They often eventually fall to their deaths, or are left behind, as saving them would shame them further than death.

 

Fillies and Colts of high ranking officials may have access to better and more focused flight, tactic, combat training, and equipment at a young age. While those born of weaker parents are often grouped up with a bunch of others with no special attention often being educated in big groups. Should the colt or filly of a higher prestige be weak or rebellious due to pressure, they are usually in for strict discipline until they learn.

 

They will only send their best and brightest down to mingle with the other tribes when it comes to trade, though those of lower ranking may be ordered to control weather over the towns and villages of the other tribes as well as help with the shipping of goods.

 

There are those that don't conform to the way things are run and go awol, these pegasai can become sky pirates, and bandits or just try to make their way on their own in smaller cloud villages.

 

 

 

 

Maybe if they had a sense of organisation, and wouldn't help the dregs and leeches of society, they wouldn't get picked off by predators.

 

They live in a society of wasted potential. Keeping possible would-be competent artisans, mages, and the like down, just because they have a low social class.

 

 

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The Unicorns control the Sun, Moon, and Stars, or at least a small percentage of them do. Largely they make up artisans and mages and servants for those stationed above them. Their society is based on a strict caste system, as they believe magic potential is hereditary.

 

The lowest of society might be servants to nobles, street cleaners, chimney sweeps, artisans, building hooves, and the like. These lower class unicorns, make up nearly seventy percent of the unicorn population and they are the backbone of society. While some get treated like sub-unicorns and hate their lot in life, others are happy to serve their betters, content that they are in their own way helping Unicorn society push forward.

 

The average Noble might be knights, mages, artisans, scientists, philosophers, historians, chefs, ect. Unicorn nobles are usually the most powerful of magic users. Unicorn nobility often work relentlessly with their craft, having a few trainees and servants to help them in any aspect in life as they do so. Noble Lords, the rarest of the unicorn population, the highest of unicorn society would often be chosen to raise the sun, moon, and stars. Three main houses for each respective object. The most powerful house, would control the sun. The second and third are tied off.

 

Each greater noble house has their own grand palace that sits on the highest peaks of mountains, where they might get a better view of the celestial bodies. While the lesser citizens would build their houses around the base of the mountains.

 

 

 

 

These ponies are highly barbaric, and probably practice a lot of in-breeding within the clans. They are very crass, stubborn, and generally don’t know how to interact with anyone and couldn’t hold up a proper civilization if they tried. Their architecture is also just as crude as they are.

 

While their trade and transportation of materials up the mountain is useful, They’re not much better than Earthponies. Controlling the weather isn't that impressive, the unicorns can control the sun and stars, after all. Weather is just a step away. Pegasai society will never progress because they allow untrained, unnoble commoners to reach into high society just because they can smash their head through a wall.