excerpt II · 12:31am Jan 29th, 2013
Here is a second excerpt, from a hundred years before the fall of Equestria. From her words, you can already see the corruption and decay setting in;
"The gathering darkness clouds in over Equestria, slowly eclipsing the glow of the light of friendship. Since the death of Princess Celestia, our fair land has been plagued by maladies of every sort. More and more townsfolk and small landholders are falling into heavy debt, causing them to fall under the power of the wealthy landholding ponies to whom they indenture themselves to. Inflation is skyrocketing, and mares and stallions who carefully saved their entire lives, now find their hoarded bits suddenly worthless. Greed has eclipsed friendship, as corruption has seeped into every level of society....
....the religion of the great Horsemaster swells in believers, the disillusioned ponies of this land realizing the two great alicorn sisters are all too mortal. Hordes of zealous followers of Zorypontha form mobs in the great cities of Fillydelphia and Manehatten, rushing in to smash and destroy the 'heathen idols' of Celestia and Luna. "Ponygans", they call the followers of the old faith, worshipers of false goddesses who they claim are only ponies like the rest of us. Their churches and cathedrals pack in new converts, while those of us Alicornists who remain watch as our temples and shrines see fewer and fewer visits. The Horsemaster followers tolerate us with a grudging contempt, even as our own numbers continue to diminish.
...the position of Stallions and colts continues to erode, as each new edict strips them of their rights to speak out against a mare, or to hold property. Alternate lifestyles and individual initiative are slowly being abolished, as the ponies who go against the herd are shunned and driven out. Even in our own Ponyville, I have seen a pair of outcast mares turn up drowned, after they had spoken out against the rising tide of strict morality the herd has embraced. And what does Princess Luna do to stop these travesties? Nothing, as she is still wrapped up in the grief of her sister's death. Our princess hides herself in her sorrow, as local noblemares seize power in each region. Loyalty to family and clan becomes more and more important, as friendship is spat upon and ridiculed as an outdated and illogical concept...
... I fear nothing can save our rotten society, even my own foals laugh at ideas the Harmony bearers once held dear. What can I say, when our school's teacher makes despairing remarks about an alicorn Princess who died as other ponies did? What can I do when my neighbors stand against anypony, who dares to speak out against the decay all around us? Our world is changing forever, and I fear it may not be for the better..."
Twilight Glitter, This wicked generation of Equines
BTW: One of the MLP:FiM books suggests that aquatic ponies ALREADY existed in Celestia's time, divided into the merponies and seaponies http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Family_and_relatives Of course being one of the picture books, there's no way to know for sure if it counts as canon or not.
763801
I am aware of that story, I revealed in one of my histories that there were tribes of ocean-going sea ponies before Luna's project. My account is the origin of Ponyland's fresh water sea pony herd.
763985
What I find interesting is that the story makes a distinction between seaponies and mereponies (hippocampus).
If only someone tries to bring back the Golden Age of Equestria.
764740
I am aware of that aspect of the text. In my histories you have;
-Ocean going sea ponies: Tribe in Aquastria, had an ancient rivalry with the Mer Ponies. Driven to extiction by the Merponies during the grogar wars.
-Freshwater Sea Ponies- Created by Princess luna before the tambelon incident, now live in the lakes and rivers of Equestria. Were inspired by the existance of the ocean-going sea ponies, and Inherited thier rivalry with the merponies.
-mer ponies: fish-tailed ocean tribe that predates fresh water sea ponies. Turned militant in the Ponyland era.
764845
Will ponyland ever return to glory? only time will tell...