What are earth ponies good for?

[Soaring Symphony 372]

what role do earth ponies play in Equestria?  We know that the unicorns are capable of direct magic and because levitation would allow for much more precision then thier hooves or mouths, most of the biggest inventors and engeneers are probably unicorns.  We already know of the pegasi's role as well.  They control the weather.  Aslo They can fly and can therefore pull the flying chariots, helping flightless ponies with long distance travel.  The question is, what do earth ponies do that no other race could?  We know that their the farmers, except that there's no reason that unicorns or pegasi couldn't farm themselves.  In fact, there was a short clip in "super speedy cider squeezy 600" (correct me if I got that wrong) where Twilight used her levetation magic to harvest an entire apple orchored in a matter of seconds.  So, I repeat the question, what do earth ponies do that no other pony race could?????? 

[RaritySparkleArtist 1,244]

@,

 

The ponies of the earth, are more resistant and strong, this can vary both mentally and physically, because they are more versatile, they can expance their limits, thus moving the entire universe on the technology or food are the same , even though they are the simplest.

 

As I said earlier, The pegasus control the time, but do not seem to have the strength to make that land ponies they do, they have their advantages in the air ...

 

The unicorns has its limits determined by the energy and its magical power, and magic is not unlimited, the same can not be said of the versatility of an earth pony that is best suited to all conditions imposed on him.

 

The land Pony is good at everything he just get used to the condition imposed on it. 

Edited January 24, 2015 by RaritySparkleArtist

[Sir Xarthas VI 470]

Go watch Season 2 Episode 11 "Hearth's Warming Eve"

Edited January 24, 2015 by ~ Kirigaya Kazuto ~

[Pastel 7,630]

We know that their the farmers, except that there's no reason that unicorns or pegasi couldn't farm themselves. In fact, there was a short clip in "super speedy cider squeezy 600" (correct me if I got that wrong) where Twilight used her levetation magic to harvest an entire apple orchored in a matter of seconds.

I'm not sure... In Hearth Warming's Eve, the unicorns and pegasi were starving, so I still think earth ponies are the only race able to farm and grow food.

[Pinkamena-Pills 6,839]

Well, if Pinkie & Maud are any indication..

They're good at screwing the rules. 

[Imperator Knoedel 58]

Earth Ponies, huh yea! What are they good for? Huh! Absolutely nothing, oh hoh, oh!

[Guest]

In Twilights Kingdom part 1, Celestia tells us what would happen without them.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU-XiQd3EBU#t=230

[Castle Bleck 19,333]

While there presumably are Unicorns and Pegasi that can farm and stuff, they're too few and far between, whereas stuff like that is far more common and natural for Earth Ponies.

 

Or, to put it simply:

 

Earth Ponies = strength.

Pegasi = speed.

Unicorns = projectiles.

Edited January 24, 2015 by A.V.

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

In "Hearths Warming Eve", it's explicitly said that both Unicorns and Pegasi got their food from the Earth ponies, which means that even back them Earth ponies were capable of growing enough to food to feed themselves, as well at two other tribes entirely.

 

Living in cloud cities like Cloudsdale would make farming all but impossible and while Unicorns could likely grow food with their magic, it's possible that the Earth ponies connection to the land, coupled with their innate physical strength causes it to yield to them easier, leading to a higher quantity and quality of food produced.

 

In short? No Earth Ponies = severe food shortage -> famine -> starvation.  

Edited January 24, 2015 by PoisonClaw

[Dulset Tarn 441]

There are a lot of probable answers regarding food, but to be totally fair there's no ACTUAL canon answer. Even the earth pony "connection to the land" is completely non-canon. I actually have my own theories.

 

But here's the actual question: What does it matter? Do earth ponies NEED something totally unique to them? Do the NEED to be completely necessary? I mean with the princesses around to make day and night, it's not like Unicorns are totally important to life.

[Drunk Cheerilee 130]

Well, Earth ponies make pretty good markspon:

 

 

 

And they have access to the best weapon of all: Apple Pies

[Gernia 691]

Knowing their physical traits, Earth ponies are good at anything that requires physical labor such as farming. There might be more, but that's all I can think of.

[Blue Moon 6,341]

They're good at making artist's lives easier.

 

But in all seriousness, Earth Pony's are good for doing a lot of farm work or heavy duty stuff like construction. They have a better knowledge of planting and are presumably much stronger than pegasi or unicorns in the physical sense.

[RainbowTashie 378]

would it be really inappropriate and degrading if i were to say ploughing

[Soaring Symphony 372]

would it be really inappropriate and degrading if i were to say ploughing

yes!!!!!! yes it totally would!!

[Dulset Tarn 441]

My primary response is up above, but I do have a headcanon about the subject.

 

Basically, unicorns tend to have talents based around magic, and pegasi tend to have talents based around weather and flying, with relatively few exceptions. Meanwhile, only a small majority of earth ponies are farmers/bakers etc, and their talents have an enormous range covering basically everything that isn't magic, flying, or weather. They might even have the possibility of getting much more rare and valuable talents, like "victory".

 

I mean, look at all these statues.

Notice something? ALL earth ponies!

[Gearbox10mm 794]

Hearth's Warming Eve explained it pretty well. Without earth ponies the other two tribes would starve. Earth ponies do everything the others can't or won't do.

 

I look at it like this. The pegasi are like government employes. The other races pay them in the form of food or money to control the weather and for protection.

 

Unicorns are basically upper class city dwellers. There's nothing stopping them from growing their own food but they wouln't know the first thing about how to do it. Besides, they'ed rather let those filthy mudd ponies do their dirty work for them.

 

That leaves earth ponies, the blue collar, middle class of the ponie world. They grow the food and do the manual labor that the other two races need but don't do for themselves. Their job is not flashy or exciting but without them the others would be totally lost.  

Edited January 27, 2015 by Gearbox10mm

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Now here's the REAL question.

What the heck were Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, and Chancellor Puddinghead thinking trying to make a new kingdom for only one race? I mean I know they hate each other but what, did they just fantasize that they wouldn't need help with the weather, or the food, or the sun?

[AlbaTross 1,586]

Earth ponies have more physical strength, tactile tails, and it's debatable whether or not they're the fastest. Also, as has been established, they have a connection with the earth that nopony else has, although that seems to apply more to agriculture since Fluttershy is better than the lot of them with animals. Pinkie Pie seems to have special mane that she can hide stuff in, but that's something I've only seen her make use of, so it's debatable whether that's an earth pony thing or just a Pinkie thing. The race that's truly the most useless IMHO is the Crystal Ponies, as it hasn't been established what they have going for them other than their beautiful fur and mane. Seriously Rarity, don't be jealous of that, because it's all they have.

 

@Dulset Tarn: Well, the lesson was that they obviously need one another, but yeah, the three leaders were pretty dumb. If they were anything like they were portrayed by Pinkie, Rarity and Dashy, it's clear that they weren't known for looking at the big picture and focusing too much on their personal agenda to care about the consequences.

Edited January 27, 2015 by Tross

[Justin_Case001 4,881]

So, I repeat the question, what do earth ponies do that no other pony race could?????? 

Short answer: nothing.  Nothing at all.  Yes, they seem to have talents the other races do not, but of course there's nothing they can do that the others can't.  But that doesn't matter.  It doesn't diminish their worth.  It's no different, really, than saying a person is worthless because they can't do anything that no one else can.

[Soaring Symphony 372]

The race that's truly the most useless IMHO is the Crystal Ponies, as it hasn't been established what they have going for them other than their beautiful fur and mane. Seriously Rarity, don't be jealous of that, because it's all they have.

 

The Chrystal Ponies aren't useless.  Celestia herself said the following.  "If the empire is filled with hope and love, those things are reflected across all of equestria.  If hatred and fear take hold........".  Celestia never said what would happen but it was strongly impied that it couldn't be anything good.  Bassically, from what I can tell the Chrystal Heart effects all of Equestria and because the Chrystal Ponies directly connected to the chrystal heart, the state of equestria is dependent on their colective state of mind.  if the chrystal ponies are happy, everythings fine and dandy in Equestria.  if they are miserable, everything goes to $#!%.

Edited February 1, 2015 by The thoughtful brony

[True Rarity 1,240]

Earth ponies seem to have the most strength and hard-working spirit out of all the ponies. That's not to say others don't have strength; but I think that's how they are.

 

Also, my brother and I have a theory that earth ponies have a subtle magic that helps with farming. In "Hearth's Warming Eve", AJ scoops up a hoof-full of dirt, and a plant sprouts from it immediately. Nopony else can do that!

 

Twilight might be able to harvest apples in a matter of seconds, but I don't think there's any book or magical spell that could teach her to grow the best apples in all of Equestria. That takes patience and plain old earth ponies to "work their magic", har-dee-har-har.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Also, my brother and I have a theory that earth ponies have a subtle magic that helps with farming. In "Hearth's Warming Eve", AJ scoops up a hoof-full of dirt, and a plant sprouts from it immediately. Nopony else can do that!

Nnnnneither can Applejack (or Smart Cookie). She was specifically demonstrating that the soil is exceptionally fertile, the scene would make no sense if she did that herself.

[KokuraiNoSenshi 3,463]

How about FEEDING EVERYONE!? Seriously I don't know any farmer pegasi or unicorns (Rarity and Trenderhoof's little experiment not withstanding) and if you look at Appleloosa and the Apple Family I don't think there is a single non-earth pony in the entire mix. I'd say that's quite the important role!

[Cwanky 17,571]

Its all in the name folks.  It's not a coincidence that earth ponies have the word EARTH in their name.   All the attributes that the show has consistently attributed to earth ponies, growing food, manual labor and strength are tied directly to their connection to the land as stated in A Hearth's Warming Eve. As mentioned by others their natural strength is also mentioned in Twilight's Kingdom by Celestia herself.

 

A Hearth's Warming Eve even goes as far as to suggest that only Earth ponies can grow food among the 3 races, though I think this is to be interpreted as that earth ponies are the most efficient and capable for agriculture, among other things.