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[Lore] Deer


Bellosh

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Deer - Woodland Stalwarts

 

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(Art by community artist Captain McDerp)

 

Not many ponies are familiar with their distant ungulate cousins from the deer family. Deer are most easily set apart from equines by their two-toed hooves and the prominent antlers displayed by males, typically not present with females. Part of the reason why ponies have a hard time understanding deer is because this family of creatures come in many physical and cultural flavors. While deer and ponies tend to live separately from one another, friendships between the two groups is in no way uncommon.

 

When most ponies think of deer, they’ll most likely envision the nomadic herds of the white-tailed deer; eponymous denizens of the Whitetail Wood. Like many types of deer, male stags feature twig-like antlers, which are shed annually, which can be employed for the herd’s defense. These herds thrive by foraging for food, and tend very few possessions at all; notably tents or blankets. For the forest-dwelling deer, sleeping under the cover of tree branches is all the protection they need.

 

The white-tailed folk are extremely non-confrontational, fleeing from suspicious outsiders rather than aggressively defending their territory in nearly all encounters. White-tailed deer make every effort to resolve most quarrels between individuals and herds through peaceful means... with the significant exception of two stags fighting for the heart of a doe. By ancient tradition, competing stags are to charge at each other and lock antlers; whoever is the better wrestler is considered the worthier companion to a doe.

 

Many other traditions among the white-tailed deer revolve around rituals intended for the preservation of their woodland home. In many respects, the wisest members of the herds are directly comparable to the shamans of zebra tribes, safeguarding such a deep knowledge of the flora and fauna of the Whitetail Wood that most ponies can never hope to learn. The wisdom shared by the white-tailed herds is most effective at warding off corruptive forces radiating from the Everfree Forest. And make no mistake; these normally flighty beings WILL fight for the safety of their herd and their forest should it prove absolutely necessary.

 

Of course, this describes but one famed variety of deer within Equestria’s borders, and just those ones who've moved out of the woods to live among ponies. Seaddle and the surrounding redwoods for example are home to a significant population of huge moose, renowned lumberjacks with great leaf-like antlers and a greater appreciation for civilization’s comforts. Farther north in the arctic wastes beyond the Crystal Empire, tales horrifyingly speak of battle-loving caribou clans, periodically sending ships and armed raiding parties down south for plunder. Because even females have antlers, travelers purportedly claim that “all-male” caribou do not give birth naturally, but rather spring out from holes in the ground. Caribou are practically as different from white-tailed deer as the night is from day.

~Canterlot Research Journal

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