Balustrade the Faith Wielder: An earth pony mare from the same era as the second set of the Elements of Harmony, she crusaded for, and caused the banishment of the tirek-spawn from the mortal plain.
History & Significance[]
She was originally from a family of masons who built glorious buildings of stone in the city New Amsteerdam. (What is now the city of Manehatten) On her sixteenth birthday, a force of tirek-spawn attacked and razed the city to the ground. Balustrade was one of the unfortunate mares to be captured by the enemy, and was used for a period of a week by her captors.
At the end of that week, her tormentors released her, figuring that her pregnancy would be both a blow to the morale and the resources of her kind. They were wrong.
Finding herself amongst a detachment of unicorns, Balustrade was told by the commander that they were part of a larger force that was retreating from the tirek-spawn army. Angered, Balustrade demanded that they strike back. The commander laughed bitterly at her, citing how they had been decimated.
Balustrade spoke to the division there. "If your commander is too big of a coward to lead you into battle against our enemy, then follow me!" She dressed in the spare suit of armor too big for herself, and took up a sword and spear, and marched out with a force of fifty ponies at her back. They found an encampment of two-hundred tirek-spawn, and slaughtered them to a snake.
The commander was amazed, and joined the rest of his division to her leadership, which won victory after victory, gathering more ponies under her banner.
They waged a nine month campaign against the tirek-spawn, succeeding in backing them up to a Tarterus gate. Before the final battle could commence, Balustrade gave birth to the monster inside of her body, ending her life.
Angered beyond reason, her army flung itself at their enemies the tirek-spawn, and forced the remnants of that foul race into the depths of Tarterus, sealing the entrance shut behind them.