The Importance of Earth Ponies
The Deception
The fields surrounding the Earth Pony tribes were barren. The rivers were dried up, and large cracks covered the earth. Not even the magic of the Earth Ponies was enough to grow anything. Nothing could grow without water. They needed the help of the Pegasi, but Commander Hurricane refused to give them rain.
Smart Cookie walked into a house, specifically, Chancellor Puddinghead's house. Her hooves hit the ground harder than usual. Her brows furrowed, and her teeth clenched. “Who does he think he is refusing to give us the rain?”
“He doesn't understand how crops grow, Smart Cookie!” Puddinghead pointed out.
Smart Cookie rolled her eyes. Does the chancellor need to point out the obvious every time? She couldn't understand why somepony like Puddinghead got elected. From what she read, the Unicorn Princess made a better leader, and she wasn't even elected. She couldn't say the same about Commander Hurricane, though.
“At least the Unicorns continue to give us the sun and the moon,” Puddinghead added.
“Unfortunately, they're useless right now.” Smart Cookie explained.
Puddinghead headed towards the door, “I guess I should tell them to stop giving us the sun and moon.”
Smart Cookie ran toward the door to block the Chancellor, “That's not what I meant!”
Puddinghead stared Smart Cookie straight in the eyes, “You think I'm stupid, don't you?”
“I didn't say that!” Smart Cookie said defensively.
“You don't need to say something to think it,” Puddingehead explained. She smiled slyly, “Don't worry, as Platinum often says, that brute is easy to fool!”
Smart Cookie didn't bother to understand why Puddinghead and Platinum talked to each other. She assumed it was during a trade. She moved out of the way to let Puddinghead leave, but she still had her doubts. Puddinghead returned to grab a bag of seeds and left again without a word. She didn't even ask Smart Cookie to get out of her house.
Puddinghead left the tribe and walked for several miles. She left the map at home, so she wasn't sure if she was going in the right direction. Just as she was about to go back, she walked straight into a cliff. She got back on her hooves and looked up. The top of the cliff was level to the Pegasus tribes. It was strategically placed to make trading easier. Earth Ponies nor Unicorns were able to walk on clouds, so invasions were still difficult. She found what she was looking for.
Using her magic, she grabbed onto the side of the cliff. Her Earth Pony magic allowed her to grab things more easily, even to the point of climbing walls. The magic was still not strong enough to allow her to hang up-side-down, but that wasn't necessary.
Once she reached the top of the cliff, she was greeted by two pegasi guards. She stood there without saying a word. The guards nodded to each other, and one of them flew off. As they waited, they stood in silence. Neither of them liked each other. Earth Ponies and Pegasi couldn't get a long.
After five minutes of waiting, the guard who left returned with Commander Hurricane. The Commander landed in front of Puddinghead but kept a reasonable distance. He knew what she was capable of. While he was proud of his race, he still knew not to underestimate the others. He even taught his troops to fight any opponent as if they were fighting powerful beasts.
“Your Pegasi are very hard workers,” Puddinghead praised.
Hurricane cocked his head. He didn't expect Puddinghead to come up there on good terms. Nevertheless, he still asked, “What brings you up here?”
“I have something for you. It may not be much, but it will help you a lot. You won't need us Earth Ponies again.” She pulled the bag of seeds from over her back and placed them in front of Hurricane. He studied the seeds but refused to pick them up.
“I don't understand what these are,” Hurricane admitted.
“They're food,” Puddinghead explained, “You bury them in soil, give them plenty of water and sunlight, and soon, you will get food!”
Hurricane couldn't say no to cutting off all ties with the Earth Ponies, so he accepted the seeds. He glanced at the guards, and they both nodded indicating they heard what Puddinghead said and flew back to the Pegasi tribe.
Hurricane followed behind him, and Puddinghead headed back to her own tribe. She walked inside her house and found that Smart Cookie was still there. She was writing stuff down on pieces of paper. Puddinghead sat down in her chair.
“How did it go?” Smart Cookie asked.
“It went great!” Puddinghead chimed, “Hurricane will be so mad! Also, there's going to be a lot of water by the cliffs. If we go there by the night, we should be able to get water from the rivers and bring them back here to give to the crops in the morning.”
Smart Cookie didn't understand what the Chancellor was going on about, but she was still happy there was a source of water. She was about to ask, but she knew it was better to wait. Her question would be answered either way, so asking was a waste of breath.
She was right. Puddinghead explained, “I gave Hurricane seeds and told him how to grow them. I told him that he needs water and sunlight. The Pegasi can make it rain, and the Unicorns can keep their side of bargains, so they won't have any problem with sunlight, either. Unfortunately for him, I left out another important thing. Earth Pony magic is necessary for growing stuff!” I didn't give him a specific time they will grow, but I'd imagine he would grow impatient after a year at the very latest.”
Smart Cookie looked at Puddinghead with her jaw hung. That chancellor fooled Hurricane. Perhaps she wasn't as stupid as she thought. The Pegasi were going to ambush them, but they had plenty of time to prepare.
The Importance of Earth Ponies
Ten months later, the sun rose in the sky to bring morning. The Earth Ponies walked outside and found themselves surrounded by Pegasi on all sides. They expected that day to come, and they were ready. They grabbed their spears and swords and stared straight at the Pegasi.
Hurricane landed on the grounds of the Earth Pony tribes. No one made any movement to attack him. His wings were folded, and they knew that was a sign of peace. Puddinghead stood in the center of the tribe. Hurricane made his way towards her and ignored the insulting remarks made by the Earth Ponies.
“Puddinghead, the plants won't grow.” Hurricane explained, “We make sure to keep the soil moist, and they get plenty of sunlight. But alas, the fields are still barren. The fields here seem to be very luscious, however.”
Puddinghead smiled, but she kept her laughter inward. “Hurricane, I may have forgotten to mention a teeny key on growing plants. Only Earth Ponies can grow stuff!”
Hurricane glared at her in anger. He was tricked. No pony tricked Commander Hurricane! That was a lie, but still, he hated being tricked. He wanted to give the order to wipe out every Earth Pony, but he knew that if what Puddinghead said was true, that would be fatal on his part, too.
“We will continue giving you food as long as you continue to give us the water to grow the food,” Puddinghead compromised.
“How are the fields so alive, then?” Hurricane asked.
“We took some of the water from the rivers bellow your tribes,” Puddinghead bluntly stated.
Hurricane sighed, “Fine. We will give you rain. But please, continue to bring us food. We had very little to get us through ten months of famine. Several of the Pegasi have passed away due to starvation.”
Puddinghead nodded her head, and she shook hooves with Hurricane. The Pegasus commander ordered the other Pegasi to retreat. He hated to admit it, but the Earth Ponies were important after all.
The Earth Ponies cheered as the last Pegasus flew out of sight. They won the battle, and no blood was shed. They threw flowers at Puddinghead in celebration. The pride of the Earth Ponies were stronger than ever. They were not to be messed with.
