Steela Oresdotter

Steela Oresdotter, sometimes spelled Steela Oresdottir, was the captain of the Mighty Helm during the Age of Heroes. She lived in a village in High Desert, Northern Equestria next to a High Desert volcano. A rough, strict and somewhat unpleasant mare, Steela is highly respected by just about all who know her. Although a leader and not technically a soldier, Steela has been shown to be more than willing to fight on the frontlines in order to protect her village and people. At heart, Steela is a brave, courageous and kind soul but she runs a tight ship and will even manipulate her soldiers in order to make them work harder.

The legend of Rockhoof
After Rockhoof saved her town for destruction, Steela offered him the key to the village, though he refused. All he desired was to become a member of Mighty Helm, a request Steela honored. She offered him a sword, but he refused and decided to use his shovel instead. Steela found it odd but let it be. The following day, Steela found Rockhoof at the Mighty Helm obstacle course early, asleep. Steela believed Rockhoof to be slacking and demanded him to pull himself together before his training properly began.

The following day when Steela was doing roll-call, she berated Rockhoof for being late.

Days later, the High Desert volcano erupted endangering her village. The Baron requested Steela to get Rockhoof to deal with it but by this point, Rockhoof was far too obese for the job. Steela questioned if he was sick or at all fit for the job but ultimately allowed him to at least try. When Rockhoof failed, she brutally scolded him while mockingly calling him a hero. Whether intentional or not, her scolding is exactly what Rockhoof needed to get back in shape. Days later, Steela herself decided to scale the volcano to save the town but was accompanied by Rockhoof. Together, the two eventually solved the crisis by reuniting the Cherufe in the volcano with its child.

Days of Stygian's quest
Life hasn't been good for Steela. The volcano was acting up once again and an pack of Lumber Bears was making life difficult. It was implied that Steela even lost some of her soldiers in an attempt to repeal such beast. Such events wore on Steela's spirit, making her appear downtrodden and sad in contrast to her typically hardy spirit.

As the supply of Filter Fish, magical fish that clean water, was running low to do the Lumber Bears, Steela struggled to come up with a way to protect the fish and stop the bears at once. Steela was incredibly hostile towards Stygian, telling him to "take a hike". Steela refused to let Rockhoof join Stygian as he was simply to valuable to her currently. She was also quite rude towards Rockhoof, albeit not much ruder than she usually was. It was clear she didn't trust Stygian's abilities nor did she ever really give him a chance. Rockhoof convinced Steela to give Stygian a chance, but when Stygian's plan involved moving the river, neither of them were convinced of his abilities. Regardless, Stygian managed to convince them to give his plan a chance. Calculating if they built the trench before the bears arrived, they could save the fish and block off the bears. Coming around, Steela okay'd Rockhoof to dig a path.

The plan was going well but a flaw quickly became apparent. The bears were early. Stygian ran to save Rockhoof, leaving Steela to battle against the Lumber Bears herself. Steela effortlessly defeated the bears by destroying them in a single punch and even when it appeared she would've been sneaked attack by them, she managed to buck them into destruction. Proud of Stygian and Rockhoof's abilities, she allowed Rockhoof to go on his quest.

Captain of both armies
Life has been good towards Steela after the prior incidents. The village appeared to be peaceful and her soldiers were happier than ever. She even managed to briefly become the stand-in captain for the Royal Legion by jovially manipulating Flash Magnus becoming like one of her soldiers. Obviously having the time of her life, Steela treated the Royal Legion no different than her own men, that is by berating them and pushing the to reach ever greater heights. She managed to organize an obstacle course in which Flash Magnus, Nimbus Dash, Bella Breeze and Grimhoof had to fly into the volcano and back to test their heat resistance in case of another Dragon-Pegasus war.

Legacy
While not revered as a legendary hero, Steela's life was documented in various books and stories such as Rockhoof and the Mighty Helm. While the books are beloved, Steela's placement in Equestria's history seems sadly lacking.

Personality
Tough as nails and as rough as they came, Steela was an unpleasant mare and somewhat overbearing leader. Although she was gruff to a fault, her strict leadership had an undeniable level of fairness to it. While she would scold her soldiers harshly for messing up, she would be just as willing to show them a warmer, gentler side if they impressed her. It's clear Steela cared for her soldiers, even if she showed it incredibly sparingly. She was also extremely brave, constantly throwing herself into harms way to protect her town and her soldiers if they couldn't protect themselves. Although she had a good heart, she was still a rude, condescending and hostile pony who lashed out at just about anypony unlucky enough to cross her. It's unknown how much of this was her actual personality and ho much of this was from stress however, as she mostly demonstrated such behavior on bad, stressful days.

On a good day, Steela demonstrated a much more jovial and fun personality. Make no mistake, even in these days of levity, she was a strict and commanding leader, but she would be more willing to crack a smile and play jokes on her friends. She was great at manipulating others, but ony used that ability for good. She always tied to push her soldiers to their absolute limits so they could break them and become eve stronger, faster and more skilled. These traits made Steela an incredibly respected and feared leader among both Mighty Helm and the Royal Legion.

Equipment

 * Sword: A Mighty Helm sword Steela uses in battle. She hasn't used it much in combat as she primarily fights by bucking, but the word is presumably quite powerful in its own right.
 * Armor: Steela is almost always seen wearing weather armor ad a helmet, she rarely takes her helmet off, even in social settings.

Abilities

 * Superhuman strength: Steela was incredibly strong. She was powerful enough to shatter Lumber Bears in a single punch, much less a buck.
 * Swordsmanship: Steela was a skilled sword user, though seemed to use her hooves more often.
 * Leadership: Steela was a great leader, able to push her soldiers to their limits and beyond on numerous occasions.

Behind the scenes
Steela first appeared in the semi-canon comic book as the secondary lead character next to Rockhoof. Steela would become one of the few recurring characters within, and arguably the most important one as she would later play major roles in both and Legends of Magic Annual 2018 though her importance diminished in each subsequent role.

Much like the rest of Northern Equestria, Steela was based off of Celtic cultures. Her Cutie Mark resembles that of Celtic imagery and her design appears to be reminiscent to modern depictions of Boudicca of the Iceni.

Appearances

 * Legends of Magic Annual 2018
 * My Little Pony: Magic Princess
 * Legends of Magic Annual 2018
 * My Little Pony: Magic Princess
 * My Little Pony: Magic Princess