Upheavology: Non-ponies in Upheaval · 11:45pm Oct 23rd, 2019
Fenrir - one of the Wolvenaar, and King of Wolvengard. He is the youngest of the wolvenaar princes, and came to the world-within-the-void after his older brother was called back to prepare for ascendancy. It was his eldest brother who was charged with trying to replicate how the first ponies came about when the wolvenaar discovered the situation regarding the world-within-the-void, both as a precaution should the Eternal Herd attempt to utilize their seemingly malformed children and as a way to stake a claim on the world-within-the-void should the Eternal Herd attempt to annex it. He was called in to watch and reign over the resulting wolven.
Fenrir is attracted to Princess Luna’s power of moonlight and physical appearance and had attempted to woo her early on when the three royal siblings arrived. He seethed for a while when he was rebuffed, but the growing restlessness and aggression of the wolven under his watch provided him with opportunity. He eventually declared war on Equestria, as well as the other nations that Wolvengard share the world with, mostly to give direction to the endless aggression inherent in wolvenkind, but also as an opportunity to either impress, or simply take away Princess Luna.
After the most recent wolven defeat in Equestria, Fenrir has recalled the remains his army to Wolvengard and has focused heavily on defending his territory from the fierce counterattack he expects from the Legion.
Hasrok - the leader of the advance reconnaissance pack sent to signal Lunalux Umbra and the scout out Fangbreaker’s strength. He deferred grudgingly to Regiskra’s wish to spare Vanguard Clash, and expressed doubt in the invasion’s reliance on a shadowy entity and visions. When the siege of Bastion City failed, he ate Regiskra as punishment.
Kilrok - Commander of the raiding fort Alundrik, and a berserker. He was tasked with protecting a valuable painting of Princess Luna while Fenrir came to claim it. When he failed to stop the Blackmoon Blades from taking the painting back, he was eaten by Fenrir.
Old Regiskra - a wolven shaman with the rare gift of visions. She received a vision that a wolven-eyed pony known as the breaker would be instrumental in shaking Equestria to its foundations, and came to believe it was Vanguard Clash. When her reconnaissance pack captured Vanguard, she insisted on letting him go despite Hasrok’s protests. Her visions also granted her the knowledge that Lunalux Umbra was starting to act. Later on, with the failure of the siege of Bastion City, she was eaten by Hasrok.
Sekiskrei - a wolven shaman stationed in the raiding fort of Alundrik. She served as second in command of the fortress’s shamans and the apprentice of Old Nakiskra. When the Blackmoon Blades assassinated Old Legrok, she warned Kilrok of their nature as fanatical assassins. When the Blades successfully took back the painting of Princess Luna, she was eaten by King Fenrir.
Taskra - a wolven bolter stationed in the raiding fort of Alundrik. After the Blackmoon Blades succeeded in taking the painting of Princess Luna, she was killed by Kilrok.
Naralrak - a wolven brachyurus who commanded the forces besieging Bastion City’s southern gate. He was able to bring down Rainbow Dash and gravely wound Applejack before being slain by the combined efforts of Vanguard Clash, Twilight Sparkle, and Tailwind.
Gelrok - a wolven brachyurus commanding the forces besieging Bastion City’s northern gate. He was ridiculed by the other brachyurii for allowing the pegasi to raid his supplies. He was later killed as the siege broke.
Nakiskra - a wolven scout working for Naralrak. She warned him of the incoming attack by Bastion City’s defenders, then suggested that they call for reinforcements. She was eaten by Naralrak for doing so.
Old Legrok - a wolven raider who has made several successful forays into Equestria. During his last one, he acquired a painting of Princess Luna he knew even King Fenrir would adore. He sent it over to Alundrik for safekeeping before going home, only to be assassinated in his sleep along with his pack by the Blackmoon Blades.
Dulrak - a wolven berserker in Alundrik and Kilrok’s second in command. He was killed trying to protect the razor-wind site that would have prevented the Blackmoon Blades from escaping with Princess Luna’s painting.
Old Raskra - the lead shaman of Alundrik. She headed the razor-wind ritual that would have kept the Blackmoon Blades trapped in Alundrik, but her site was attacked and overwhelmed. She was slain trying to fight the Blackmoon Blades.
Velrok, Zudrak, Nagrak, Devrok, and Nilrak - wolven under Kilrok’s command. They died fighting the Blackmoon Blades.
Rafrak the Exile - one of the rare male wolven shamans. He had to flee Wolvengard after several attempts by other shamans to kill him. He escaped to the Great Delve and became a mushroom farmer, learning to subsist on woodland animals and mushrooms. Through experimentation, crossbreeding, and some application of wolven shamanism, he was able to create a breed of mushroom that he swore tasted just like pony meat. Shortly after, he succumbed to moon rage and was killed attacking his neighbors, who later acquired the means to produce this special mushroom and sell it as novelty food.
Arugek - the King of Ursinium and one of the few remnants of a broken, nameless, heavenly realm that had been consumed almost completely by the demiurge. Disgusted by the plight of his surviving brethren, Arugek took the opportunity to travel to the world-within-the-void, after learning of its existence, in an attempt to start something new. He attempted to replicate Oceanus’s accidental spawning of ponies by bringing with him some of his father’s blood, creating the first ursans.
Gro-Bor-Haf - an ursan patriarch and one of the main commanders of the third ursan extermination campaign. After a prolonged offensive on Equestria that was halted by Black Rose, he was killed by his second, Dro-Reg-Rob.
Dar-Sa-Haf - an ursan matriarch currently on the rise in Ursinium’s court. She has come to believe that the extermination campaigns can only succeed with the augmentation of ursan troops. This should include magic and other means.
Dro-Reg-Rob - second in command under Gro-Bor-Haf. He grew dissatisfied with Gro-Bor-Haf’s leadership after their Clan was unable to defeat Black Rose in several engagements. His ego boosted by some minor victories against Black Rose’s troops, he challenged Gro-Bor-Haf for leadership and killed all those who opposed him. Shortly after his victory, he and his troops were killed by Black Rose’s legionnaires.
Gra-Gel-Huf - an ursan warrior who was captured by Flight Shatterspine during the second attack on the village Southwind. After he divulged Dar-Sa-Haf’s plans, he was killed by bleeding out.
Sesyth - the Emperor of Ophidus and one of the Q’tzal. A highly skilled and famous scholar in his heavenly realm, Sesyth departed for the world-within-the-void to gather as much information about it. He gained permission from Huitzsyth, current King of the Q’tzal, to replicate Oceanus’s spawning of ponies. Though initially preferring to observe the different races created by the empowered blood, he eventually decided to step in. He has styled himself Emperor of Ophidus, uniting all the different ophidites under his authority and channeling their cunning and ambition to spread out and take over the world-within-the-void.
Hassyth - a coatl noble once famous for the quality of his racing pegasi. He lost his fortune when a Legion raid on his secret stable-laboratory resulted in the escape of all of his prize racers, including Scarlet Rabbit, whom he assumed has been killed. Disgraced, he was forced to leave the capital city of Nazcatania for the border city of Ervan Reis. When he received news that Scarlet Rabbit was still alive and in the company of a pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane, he dispatched his majordomo to acquire both. When Hashimyssa failed and sparked severe Legion reprisals for her efforts, the further disgraced Hasyth was forced to flee to a secret manor to the west. There, he worked with some ursans under Dar-Sa-Haf, trying to salvage some sort of extravagant lifestyle by ingratiating himself with the Ursinium court. His plans were cut short when he was killed by Scarlet Rabbit and Rainbow Dash.
Formysath - Hasyth’s cousin and an upstanding member of Nazcatania’s coatl nobility. She arranged for a decent home for Hasyth when he was forced to leave Nazcatania for Ervan Reis. When Hasyth was forced to flee, she told him of a secret manor she discovered to the west, warning him that it would be the last time she would help him.
Saifsyth - a coatl and a former baron of Ervan Reis. He was a firm supporter of pony slave rights and campaigned vigorously for the banning of pony meat consumption in the Empire. He was assassinated by pro-consumption coatls during his birthday party.
Sakylthos - one of the current Imperial Champions, known as “Grasp of the Empire”. Exceedingly strong even by constrictor standards, Sakylthos started making a name for himself by crushing the necks of ursans with his coils and battering several legionnaires to death using the body of another legionnaire. He was granted the title of Imperial Champion after massacring several dozen legionnaires in the battle of Scale Grove with only a handful of vipren and cobrahn support. He later acquired a mysterious chain that he swiftly mastered, later discovering that it was the legacy of Apple Slice, who was known as the great Bear Wrangler among the ophidites. He attempted to secure Apple Slice’s legacy, even going up against Applejack, and later on Apple Slice himself. Though he ultimately failed in this mission and lost the chain, Sakylthos has survived and has only vowed to become stronger and more efficient.
Nefszen - a cobrahn imperial hunter who was charged with hunting down the tikhana known as Safaszan. He managed to infiltrate Equestria to reach Mount Moaning Top, where Safaszan was supposedly going to make an appearance. Though he successfully killed Safaszan with Legion help, he was discovered and slain in battle shortly after.
Nifiszen- a scholar from the Nazcatanian Library. He was known for his work on dragons and tikhana.
Ifaszen - a cobrahn scholar who suggested that coatl births had similarities with brachyurus transformation. He was executed shortly after making the suggestion.
Seshimyssen - a vipren and former stable master. He left the Empire for Equestria, partially because his reputation for relations with slaves made it difficult to find gainful employment, and partially because he wanted to be near ponies.
Hashimyssa - majordomo of Hasyth. She successfully infiltrated the Heartland with Black Rose’s help and kidnapped both Scarlet Rabbit and Rainbow Dash. Before she could escape to Ophidus, however, she was intercepted by the Legion and captured.
Tasimyssa - an imperial hunter and Nefszen’s second in command. She managed to hit Safaszan with envy venom-laced arrows, but was killed in retaliation.
Kasamyssen and Sohomyssa - imperial hunters and members of Nefszen’s group. They formed a separate group to accompany the legionnaires who has made their way to Moon Basin. They were discovered soon after and killed.
Alfszen - Nefszen’s son, and a promising cobrahn spellcaster enrolled in Nazcatania’s Magic Academy during the Moaning Top Incident.
Hensath - a coatl noble known for her experimentations on homosexual ponies to “cure” them after accidentally buying a pair for studding. Though her efforts were unsuccessful, she is a well-regarded figure in Ophidus’s pony breeding profession.
Fasamyssen - a rogue vipren slaver known for selling slaves of dubious condition and sources cheaply to nobles.
Seethe Scale/Lanfadora - a wrath kirin in Prince Terrato’s service. Though her village initially tried to accept her, Seethe Scale was cast out early on for fear of attracting the wrath of dragons. Seethe Scale carved out a harsh and solitary living out in the wilderness, surviving through wit and brawn. Unfortunately, she was discovered by the Draco’dim, who immediately began hunting her. Fortunately, her plight also came to Prince Terrato’s attention. He agreed to pay the Draco’dim a great sum of treasure for her life. To the present, Seethe Scale remains as Terrato’s personal agent, protecting the citizens under his rule when he has no specific task for her, as she believes that she owes him a debt that cannot be paid. She is currently tasked with guarding Spike and helping him go through a dragon’s growth, though Terrato has also asked her to facilitate other tasks in the process.
Safaszan/Sassy Saffron - a pride tikhana who fled the Empire. Safaszan made her living as a rogue slaver, acquiring and selling slaves without going through proper imperial channels. She had made frequent trips to Equestria before, but a renewed effort from the Empire and a botched raid on a stable forced her to flee to Equestria for a more permanent stay. She attempted to sell some colts to the Moonlight Rondo, but she was discovered and slain during the Moaning Top Incident.
Spike/Seifralhadar - younger brother to Twilight Sparkle. Ever since her magic broke the temporal stasis upon his egg, Spike has been a part of Twilight’s family, serving as her assistant all throughout her years as Princess Celestia’s student, and later on as a librarian in Ponyville. He has accompanied her in most of her adventures, and easily joined her when she and the rest of their friends were banished to the Barrier Lands.
During their initial time in the Barrier Lands, Spike found himself largely helpless in aiding his friends as they adapted to their new surroundings. He was not able to join the Legion as they did, and he could do little to prevent the rifts that grew among them despite his best efforts. He found some work assisting in Hammer Chain’s smithy as well as other odd jobs in Bastion City. Later on, he was tricked by Black Rose into providing a great deal of information on his friends, as well as agreeing to use a magic jar device of her crafting that would temporarily hold Twilight’s soul and facilitate Black Rose’s grand deception. Because of this, Spike considered the theft of the power of sunlight as largely his fault. Guilt-ridden and desperate to be more useful, he accepted Terrato’s offer to travel to the Western Barrier Land to learn under Seethe Scale about his dragon potential.
Afralhadar - leader of the Draco’dim, an alliance of pride dragons that currently rule over dragon kind. Afralhadar is the biggest and strongest of the Draco’dim, and has taken it upon himself to settle in Reinfadora’s old lair near the peak of the All-Mountain.
Reinfadora - the self-styled Queen of Dragons, and the only known Sin Dragon. Reinfadora was born bigger and stronger than any of her siblings, allowing her to dominate and devour them with little trouble. She would grow up as a relentless tyrant, flying across Equestria and beyond to visit the lairs of dragons and demanding tribute as queen. Her blatant shows of power lessened in frequency shortly after she discovered Drellhadar, who she became a mated pair with.
Though her “rule” of her kind was brutal, she decreed a cessation of all dragon infighting, declaring that any dragon seeking to kill other dragons must face her first. She also forbade attacks on large settlements of ponies, ursans, wolven, or ophidites after talks with the various leaders of each race. With Drellhadar’s help, Reinfadora was able to keep track of dragonkind without constantly flying about, and was able to keep them in line without killing them.
Eventually, Reinfadora came down with a terrible wasting sickness and died, allowing the Draco’dim to take over.
Drellhadar the Malformed - A strange dragon, seemingly outside of what could be classified as a dragon. Drellhadar had no legs and scales, and was born nearly blind and with fragile, gossamer-like wings. He was an outcast among dragons , ridiculed for his appearance and hated for how strange he was. He possessed magical abilities, able to cast various spells of great power, an ability he relied heavily on to keep him safe.
Due to the constant persecution, Drellhadar grew to despise other dragons. He devised various means to kill dragons easily, and frequently sided with other creatures in killing and driving away dragons. His lair became a place to be feared and hated as he was known to experiment on those who fall under his power. Later on, Reinfadora would smash through his lair’s defenses and seize him by the throat, forcing him to swear allegiance to the dragon queen. Drellhadar swiftly discovered that staying on Reinfadora’s good side has many perks beyond not being killed. He was able to work on his experiments with ease and had access to a great many more resources. He and Reinfadora became a mated pair, and he was given a partitioned area of her lair in the All-Mountain as a permanent laboratory.
When Drellhadar received his half of Reinfadora’s clutch of eggs, he placed one under temporal stasis and sent it over to Equestria for vague reasons. The rest, he experimented on. The lone egg would much later hatch into Spike.
Shortly after Reinfadora died, a unified assault by the Draco’dim overwhelmed Drellhadar, killing him.
Himfadora - an envy dragon and former servant of Reinfadora. She was among those who saw Reinfadora’s reign as an improvement of dragonkind’s condition. Long after Reinfadora’s death, she still plots to find someone to fill what she sees is the throne of the dragon queen. Recently, she has found Spike, who Terrato has offered as the true heir to Reinfadora.
Drezhadar - a pride dragon and member of Himfadora’s “Old Guard”, despite his youth. Drezhadar is dissatisfied with the way the Draco’dim have been ruling and has thrown his lot in with Himfadora, believing that a proper dragon monarch is a superior choice to a collection of posturing pride dragons.
Nazhadar - a sloth dragon who has sided with the Old Guard, having found the Draco’dim too bothersome and intrusive in his easygoing life.
Minfadora - the youngest of the Draco’dim. She plotted to assassinate Spike using ponies, but he was able to survive the attempt. She was later hunted down and captured by Himfadora, only to be spared and released by Spike.
Nilhadar - a pride dragon and Reinfadora’s son. He believed himself the true heir to Reinfadora’s legacy and fought his sister over it. He was slain in the resulting clash.
Sanfadora - a pride dragon and Reinfadora’s daughter. She was confident that she was going to be the next dragon queen by virtue of heritage and fought her brother when he challenged her. She was slain in the resulting battle.
Lok’horus - former captain of Oceanus’s enforcers, known as the Equos de Abysso. He grew to despise the corruption of Oceanus’s power of water and severed ties with Oceanus. The resulting madness drove him and those who joined him into a frenzy, causing them to attack the pony spawn of Oceanus. They were eventually defeated. Lok’horus survived Pansy’s experimentations and merged with a mortal body passing on through the generations until ending up with Fluttershy.
Ag’thelos, Mina’ros, Cos’tys, Mene’tys, and Er’bos - the other enforcers of the Equos de Abysso who severed ties with Oceanus. After being defeated, their essences seemingly dissipated and their fates are unknown.
Ag’nim’nus - Captain of Celestia’s enforcers, known as the Equi Ignei. He is an impetuous force of rage, violence, and desire to conquer to such a degree that even Celestia fears summoning him.
Av’norhus - one of Sanctus Dominus’s enforcers, known as Solis Equos. Known for being particularly gentle and soft spoken, and considered by many as a manifestation of Dominus’s patience and tolerance.
The Reverbwraith - the warped spirit of a dead musician from the Old Kingdom. It manifested first as mere music, then as bloody guitar strings wrapped tightly around a vaguely pony shape. It killed most of Red Stone’s expedition, but was destroyed by Warsinger.
Anektor - a crocodilian mercenary hired by the Crocodilian Rebellion to negotiate with Equestria. He is an old friend of Seshimyssen.
Maldaktor - a crocodilian shaman and the leader of the Crocodilian Rebellion. He was one of the few survivors of the attack on their hideout.
Kanaktor - a warrior for the Crocodilian Rebellion. He was killed by Sakylthos and his identity stolen.
Zecora - a zebra shaman residing in the Everfree Forest. Though initially wary of her, the citizens of Ponyville have come to appreciate her expertise in herbs and potions.
So were the dragons spawned like the others by a heavenly race, or were they naturally appearing?
I also believed you have at least made reference to Zecora and she did help tbe legion make a cure for that cutie mark problem
By the way, how did non-pony creatures (griffons, zebras, changelings, donkeys, etc) came to be in the Upheaval universe? From the blood of Oceanus?
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You can assume that if there’s no mention that a race is born of an outsider, then it’s native to the world-within-the-void.
Out of curiosity, Vis, when you first started writing this series, why didn't you do anything with griffons? I mean, I get that you had all these other creative ideas for Equestria's enemies, but as one of the few other races canon had established at the time that could've actually worked in a setting like the Barrier Lands, I'm surprised in retrospect that you didn't use them at all.
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I had assumed that the griffons resided entirely in the canonical Equestrian map, placing them inside the Heartland and within the pacification enchantment of Celestia’s Barrier. I recall deliberately not doing anything with them because, like diamond dogs, they were the traditional fanon enemy race of ponies at the time.
Within the story, I have mentioned in passing the United Griffon Aeries in the Heartland now becoming more warlike. I was thinking of having most of these aeries French with a couple of them being outcast and laughed at for being French-Canadian. Hell, one of the aeries is supposed to be called Quebeak. It’s just not something I’ve bothered with too much as I am juggling a lot of things as it is.
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So you wanted to avoid cliché then. Fair enough, I guess. And French is a good fit for the griffons, given Gustav's appearance.