Variant Pony Races: Psionic Ponies and Empire Gryphons

[Silverhoof 2,844]

Psionic Ponies

Appearance:
These ponies look like unicorns, but they have NO magic at all. They are Psionic Ponies. The lack of magic means they will never have cutie marks, and can never learn true Equestrian magic. They are all white, or light gray, and the only (pastel) colors are in their manes and tails.

 

History:
Psionic ponies are the result of generations of ponies enslaved to the Gryphon Empire (another variant race, detailed later). The magic was simply bred out of them. The gryphon enslavement was brutal and harsh. All the Empire wanted was telekinetic ability. Magic was outlawed. No pony ever died of old age, when their usefulness began to wane; they were murdered and eaten by their masters.

 

It would seem that resistance had been bred out of the race. But appearances were deceiving. In the generations of slavery, telekinetic powers became innate to the ponies and awoke other disciplines of psychic abilities. In secret the ponies began to train each other and prepared for a mass escape. 600 years after they had been enslaved, they joined minds, and as a group, teleported to safety. It was a feat of such power, that a hundred Psionic masters burned out their life forces and died.

 

Today, the psionic ponies live on a pair of islands about the size of New Zealand. The population has soared to 6 million. A number of wars have been fought with the Gryphon Empire. But the Psionics have remained a free nation for 400 years.

 

Psionic Ponies live in a free society. They have not forgotten their past. A capitalist economy and a bill of rights forms the basis of govt. Leaders are elected to 4 year terms of office. They will have no king or master. The individual is cherished. Hard work brings success is their motto. The rich will have butlers and maids, but these positions are among the best paying jobs in their society.

 

Powers:
Psionic Ponies are not as versatile as Equestrian Mages, but 100 percent of them are trained to use the powers they do have. They may be limited, but they are powerful in what they do have.

 

Typical ponies are strong in Telekinesis and one of the disciplines below. It is not unusual to have two disciplines. It is possible to have more disciplines, but only one or two will have any real strength, the others will be good for parlor tricks only.

The power rankings are as follows:
Weak
Good (standard power ranking)
Strong
Powerful
Master Class

The Disciplines:

 

Telekinesis. This is the strong point of the race. They were bred for this power (literally). As such all Psionic ponies have this power. The average pony can life 3 times his weight, and manipulate up to 3 things at once.

 

A pony trained in this discipline can be devastating. Trained ponies can manipulate 10 items at once and lift at least 10 times his weight. Further, they’ve learned to hurl pebbles and small bits of metal as fast as a bullet, 10 at a time, every second.

 

Stong, Powerful and Master Class can hurl boulders, and even attack with invisible telekinetic punches that can shatter stone castle walls. For all the usefulness of telekinesis, this is the primary military discipline.

 

Only three Master Class Teleikinetics ever existed, but they all had the title, “Earthshaker.”

 

Creatives:
Ponies born with this discipline have illusion powers. They can take on illusionary guise, create illusions that affect all the senses including touch. The more powerful among them and cast illusions with an area of effect, immersing the audience.

 

Entertainers mostly, they also serve as spies and deceivers for the military. The Gryphon Empire hates this kind most of all.

 

Clairvoyants.
These ponies can send their sight and hearing far afield. They are the reason the ponies have won the Empire wars thus far. The greater the power, the farther they can see. A good clairvoyant and turn his vision small as well looking amongst the insect world.

 

A clairvoyant with the creative ability can act as an instant communications agent, creating an illusion to give and receive messages. These ponies unite all the Psionic pony nation.

 

Teleport:
Teleporter ponies also serve to unite the nation. Acting as couriers, covert spies and nearly instant travel for anyone anywhere.

 

A standard (good rating) can teleport 15 miles and port 3 times his weight (There are porter stations every 15 miles along major roads. Crossing the country takes about 15 minutes). Further, he can port without regard for relative velocity...In other words he can port from a moving train to the ground without suffering the effects of inertia. This is psionic and it overrides physics.

 

The stronger the teleport, the greater weight/distance he can port.

 

Healers:
Psionic healers are just that. They can mend a broken or hurt body. They cannot cure disease, but can greatly enable a body to resist. A healer cannot cure poison. Age cannot be reversed, but the elderly body can be strengthened to the point where frailty is not a problem.

 

Provider.
These ponies possess the most mysterious and least understood of the disciplines. Power rankings are useless and new abilities appear all the time. No master class provider was ever born.

 

A trained provider can conjure clear cool water but needs a container to hold it. Food likewise can be summoned in the form of a nutritious (but tasteless) gruel. A pony can live on this indefinitely. Providers have been known to summon a bee, start campfires, and summon various amounts of white cloth.

 

Stronger providers have summoned suits of armor, and even metal animals to protect themselves. One provider can summon various fine wines. Another can summon ghostly mares in maid’s outfits. No two providers are the same.

 

Providers tend to be eccentric and gather in conventions to compare powers and abilities.

 

Sample Character: Ambassador Silverhoof

 

Silverhoof was sent to the court of Celestia to represent the Psionic nation.

Silverhoof is a powerful Clairvoyant, a strong Creative, and a weak Provider (He can fill his canteen with iced tea). He has the standard TK abilities listed above.

 

With Silverhoof acting as an intermediary, Celestia and his president can have a live conversation. A mirror illusion of the president and Celestia enables face to face communication.

The Gryphon Empire.

Appearance:
These are variant Gryphons, slightly different from the standard race. They possess a limited magic: they can breathe fire like a dragon. The feathers of their heads are black, not white. They are ruthless slavers.

 

History:
The Empire is a mere shadow of its former glory. At one time it conquered a vast continent. Now it is a small nation surrounded by other gryphon nations, all of whom hate the Empire! An emperor still rules, but he maintains his secure position with poison and keeping his enemies fighting each other.

 

Slavery was the backbone of his power. He has conquered a pony nation, the Pegasus were all killed. The earth ponies worked to death. The unicorns had useful abilities, so he kept them alive in brutal misery.

400 years ago, his pony slaves escaped en masse. The economy crashed, and his remnant of an empire tottered on the brink. The military conquered a diamond dog nation, but the new slaves were not the same-and tasted terrible.

 

60 years later, the Empire discovered their former salves living in freedom on a pair of islands. Numerous wars followed. But in every case, the Empire was stymied, the slaves knew every move in advance, and spies were everywhere.

 

20 years ago the slave nation counter attacked. The Empire’s capital city burned and the Emperor was killed. The ponies did this with military dirigibles allowing them to match the gryphon’s flight for the very first time.

 

The new Emperor has sworn revenge. He will kill the ponies, enslave their children and restore the Empire to its former glory. Should the Empire ever discover Equestria, the slavers will instantly attack

Powers:
Empire Gryphons can breathe fire just like dragons. Their armies use this to devastating effect. Only the psionic ponies have successfully countered them.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Silverhoof