Meet King Diomedes, the ruler of the lost fourth Pony tribe, the Thracians, and the father of four daughters, Terri Belle, Shining Light, Blonn Di, and Swift Foot (the Mares of Diomedes). He is a ruthless tyrant, even to his own children, treating all as his minions. His merciless nature emanates as foulsome as his intolerance towards failure as he sees Blonn Di and Shining Light as useless fools and shamelessly reprimands Swift Foot for being tardy thanks to her sisters deliberately delivering his summons to her late.
 
But Diomede’s one personality trait that stands out the most is his deep hatred for the other pony tribes and Equestria. Ever since the ancient King Thrace was not welcomed by the founders of Equestria for some unknown reason, leaving him to fend for himself in the Windigoes’ storm and on the inhospitable island he claimed as his kingdom, his descendants inherited a social Darwinist mentality while carrying a torch that would burn with the hatred towards all the other ponies. With a burning resentment to match “The Lion King 2’s” Zira, Diomedes desires to conquer Equestria and the other ponies through any means necessary to avenge his ancestor. And to go with his enmity towards the pony kingdom, he also despises friendship, seeing it as the worst kind of weakness. Despite his kind being “left out in the cold,” Diomedes would make it clear that the Thracians endured or thrived without friendship through their hardened, survival of the fittest existence. He also believes that Equestria’s reliance on it would be it and the other ponies’ downfall, and as Equestria falls without its guiding value, he and the Thracians will sweep in and “cull the herds of the weak.” And one day, it seemed that he would get his wish.  
King Diomedes decided to conquer Equestria by destroying its friendship with each other and the other races. To this end, he sent his eldest daughter and most trusted soldier, Terri Belle, as a spy and learned that Princess Twilight was hosting the Feats of Friendship competition. Seeing this as an opportunity to destroy Equestria’s friendship, he ordered Blonn Di and Shining Light to summon his youngest daughter, Swift Foot to him, which they purposely took their time doing so she would be late. After scolding Swift Foot for being late, he expressed his desire to conquer Equestria and demanded that Swift Foot infiltrate Twilight’s School of Friendship in order to make this desire possible, since Terri was too old and the middle sisters too incompetant. Though hesitant of this, Swift Foot accepted this mission in fear of her father’s wrath. During her stay at Twilight’s school, Swift Foot would make several reports to her through a telepathic link the Thracians seem to possess on her successful infiltration. However, after seeing how powerful friendship can be when she teamed up with the Young Six, Swift Foot returned to Thrace to try and sway her family to embrace friendship. It is doubtful, however, that he will accept this. So I’m sure we all have an idea that he and his mares will return to cause more terrorism…
 
 
Ever since we were introduced to the Thracians and Diomedes and his daughters, they became very interesting antagonists. A lost Pony tribe living in a harsh, unforgiving, disquieting land contrasting the peaceful and welcoming Equestria, the ruler being an anti-friendship villain, and his daughters a reference to the legendary “Mares of Diomedes” or “The Mares of Thrace,” the terrifying man-eating horses owned by the mythological king of Thrace, Diomedes. At the same time I am intriguied by all this, a part of me is not too pleased with their Greecian attire; the actual Thracians weren’t dressed as Greeks. It would’ve been even more incredible and less repetitive if the pony Thracians had outfits either similar to the real Thracians or as a sort of Lord of the Rings mix, like with the Easterlings and Haradrim. Although the comic didn’t delve deep in what makes the Thracians unique, apart from their telepathy, it might be possible that they’re carnivorous ponies, just like the Mares of Diomedes themselves. That would be really interesting but probably disturbing at the same time.
 
And if he were to appear in the cartoon, I believe Richard Newman (Cranky Doodle Donkey) would’ve been the perfect voice actor for him. One of his performances includes several fearsome and ruthless characters, like the Snakeman General Rattler from “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” and the owl General Brutus from “Silverwing.” Newman would provide an authoritarian and fear-inspiring delivery while giving off the sinister vibes he gave to the mentioned characters.
 
I’m sure some of you don’t really like this hateful monarch because he seems about as interesting as the Storm King to those who dislike him. Well, I do agree that since he’s so blinded by his hatred towards Equestria and friendship and his lust for power, it IS possible that he might actually be the red herring in this sage, like Chancellor Neighsay was in the show’s season 8. And judging by what happened to the mythological Diomedes, his pony counterpart might meet a fate even he didn’t expect.
 
 
I was been planning on making a vector of Diomedes because his history, personality, and hatred towards friendship and social Darwinist mindset are shared by an OC villain I’ve been to create for my upcoming fanfic; he might actually supplant said OC instead. Thank Gameloft for finally including Diomedes and his daughters into the game. And after finding a really great reference of him I got to work on making his vector. I admit that I was in for a challenge. Thank Celestia I wasn’t going to work all the way like Richard Williams (the legendary creator of “The Thief and the Cobbler”), but I nonetheless pushed forward. I will say that the mane and tail, and the intricately designed gauntlets, were painstakingly arduous. I guess it’s a good thing Diomedes didn’t appear in the show, there’s too many details to animate him with ease.
 
And now that they also have show-style designs, I’m planning on doing vectors of the Mares of Diomedes. However, only their manes, tails, cutie marks, and outfits will be traced from the game sources. I’m gonna create new poses for them, and make some “small” changes to one of them. However, because of this, it will take time to work on them. So until I bring them into my gallery, be patient.
 
Based on King Diomedes from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comics-Feats of Friendship
 
Traced from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Gameloft
 
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic created by Lauren Faust, comic issued by IDW Publishing, and owned by Hasbro Facebook
 
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