"And that's how Equestria was made."
Ponies are magical creatures from the land of Equestria. They are roughly the same size and shape as a shetland pony. Their fur and manes can be any color you might find in an average Crayola box. Everypony develops a "cutie mark" (something like a natural tattoo on their flanks) that represents their greatest talent during their childhood. A pony has the same average stats as a human and no natural weapons (their hooves work just like fists for weapons).
Pony Culture: In Equestria, pony culture is as varied as human culture. Some places may have one type of pony as an overwhelming majority (e.g. Canterlot is predominantly populated by unicorns), while others may have a roughly even mix among the types (e.g. Ponyville doesn't have any significant bias in population). Even so, towns will generally have their own customs and traditions, just as human civilization tends to.
In a normal After Sundown campaign, however, pony culture shifts a bit. Equestria has manticores, and other such creatures that would blatantly tell humans that they aren't alone. This begs the question why the Stellar Oracles haven't done anything about them yet, and the answer is simple: they're secret manticores. Very few people know they even exist except the ponies. So, by that logic, very few people know ponies exist. There are very few places we can put something and have them elude notice. Deep underground is one such place, and opens up a bunch of explanations for why entities like Celestia and the weather-manipulating pegasuses are necessary. You could also place them in the shallows of Maya if you wanted, although then you'd have to deal with people dreaming about candy-colored equines. This neatly wraps up the fact that ponies, which are blatantly supernatural creatures, share the same existence with humans and other supernaturals which have to abide by the Vow of Silence -- of course, you could fix that by simply playing ponies as humanoids like other supernaturals, which offers its own benefits (for instance, hands). No matter what, though, you'll have to come to grips with the fact that ponies have canonically encountered chimeras, kaiju, and other wild supernaturals regularly enough that they're more frightened than surprised when they encounter one.
Regardless of setting, ponies are generally easy-going, although they may be initially wary of outsiders. Still, they'll usually be first to offer the olive branch of peace, love, and/or tolerance.
It's worth noting that, even though only pegasuses have such a power in their basic package, most ponies have some power from the Symphony of Silence discipline in their repertoire, as they are prone to suddenly bursting into song.
Ponies suffer aggravated damage from iron and tend to lose their powers when exposed to alcohol. All ponies have a Lunar power schedule. Most ponies are dominated by Master Passion Greed, which explains the desire of many to spread their message of "love and tolerance" by any means necessary. A pony's cutie mark is largely unique, which lends itself to be a distinctive appearance that a pony wishing to act covertly must cover. Foals who have yet to earn a cutie mark instead have the Minor disadvantage. (This doesn't necessitate that a cutie mark is a right of passage into adulthood -- minors with a cutie mark do exist, and they get an advantage as normal for having both disadvantages, but every pony has at least one of the two.)
Speed: 150m (if played as quadrupedal equines)
Earth Ponies: The Hooves of Tolerance
"That's how you do it down here on the farm."
Earth ponies are the workhorses of the pony community. Where unicorns have more seemingly sorcerous abilities and pegasuses have flight and speed going for them, earth ponies are generally the strong-arms of their kind. They tend the fields and do most of the heavy work wherever they are prevalent.
An Earth Pony has an Astral power source and a Lunar power schedule.
- Earth Pony Starting Powers
- Core Discipline: Coil of Thorns - - Bitter Fruit (Basic Coil of Thorns)
- Grass Rope (Basic Coil of Thorns)
- Basic Powers - - Vigor (Basic Clout)
- Revive the Flesh (Basic Fortitude)
- Tongue of Beasts (Basic Call of the Wild)
- Curse of Failure (Basic Trail of Tears)
- Advanced Powers - - Devastation (Advanced Clout)
- Indomitability (Advanced Fortitude)
Distinctive Flaw: Either Minor or Distinctive Appearance
"Loop-de-loop around, and WHAM!"
Pegasuses are the only ponies innately capable of flight, thanks to their wings and lighter frame. They lend themselves to great acrobatic feats, and many aren't opposed to showing off, as evidenced by the various flyer competitions held throughout Equestria.
Pegasuses are easily able to predict the weather, largely in part due to the fact that, in most provinces, they actually control the weather. They're able to physically interact with clouds, moving around large masses of cloud as readily as other ponies would push around a cart. They're also able to stand upon clouds as though it were solid ground. Sufficient force will permit them to burst through a cloud if they need to.
A Pegasus has an Orphic power source and a Lunar power schedule.
- Pegasus Starting Powers
- Core Discipline: Chasing the Storm - - Howling Winds (Basic Chasing the Storm)
- Rising Mists (Basic Chasing the Storm)
- Basic Powers - - Vigor (Basic Clout)
- Repel (Basic Magnetism)
- Nimble Feet (Basic Celerity)
- Silent Toll (Basic Symphony of Silence)
- Advanced Powers - - Flight (Clout / Magnetism Devotion)
- Tumultuous Rain (Advanced Chasing the Storm)
Distinctive Flaw: Either Minor or Distinctive Appearance
"A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle. A unicorn needs to have style."
Everypony in Equestria has some magic going for them. A pegasus's ability to walk on clouds is magic, as is an earth pony's predisposition to plants and animals (and their brutish strength could be considered 'magical' to some). Unicorn ponies, however, have much more conscious control over magic than their brethren.
Their horns offer intimate control over magic, as evidenced by the glow they emit whenever they actively concentrate on a power. (This is just flavor for already obvious powers, it doesn't make them stand out any more than they already do.) A unicorn's magical ability is restricted in part to the domain their cutie mark would suggest, although they may know a few tricks outside their specialty, and every unicorn has some measure of telekinesis.
A Unicorn has an Infernal power source and a Lunar power schedule.
- Unicorn Starting Powers
- Core Discipline: Discernment - - Aura Perception (Basic Discernment)
- Supernatural Senses (Basic Discernment)
- Basic Powers - - Vigor (Basic Clout)
- Learn the Heart's Pain (Basic Name of the Blasphemies)
- Deny the Gauntlet (Basic Progress of Glass)
- Attract (Basic Magnetism)
-Advanced Powers - - Telekinesis (Discernment / Clout Devotion)
- Psychometry (Advanced Discernment)
Distinctive Flaw: Either Minor or Distinctive Appearance
The following post will include some sample characters, modeled after the main cast (and Applejack is here too). They all graduated from luminaries to supernaturals after Rainbow Dash's first sonic rainboom (so they start off using the In Media Res package). They gained an additional point of potency after purifying Night Mare Moon, and again after sealing away Discord. Somewhere along the line, they each gained a single Elder Power. This does contain sprinkled spoilers for the series, especially for the episode The Cutie Mark Chronicles.
(A note: These write-ups are largely unfinished, as I've mentioned. My plan was to progress them organically once I at least fleshed out their attributes, skills, backgrounds, and powers, but I'm rather hung up on the backgrounds for pretty much everyone save Twilight and Pinkie. The powers, at the moment, mainly serve as a shopping list more than a show of what they can actually do. I also noticed I haven't exactly optimized their skill choices to their disciplines. I'll have to work on that at some point. Top-down design is a pain in the ass sometimes.)
