As the newly crowned Princess, Twilight Sparkle has published many of her writings from her time in Ponyville. Though her more popular friendship reports are well documented, she has also written many essays detailing numerous subjects. From geography, math, and science, to alchemy, literature, and magic, the Sparkle Essays offer insight into the various workings of Equestria.
This story was written prior to Season 4 and is being edited to fit the canon.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Ok. This is my first story...thing. Please leave constructive criticism, questions, anything. Really I'm just laying the foundation of Equestria for future projects, just adding lore and expanding on what the show tells us. Hopefully I'll be able to explain everything I need to to make Equestria seem more complex.
Again, criticism would be appreciated, just be constructive and courteous.
some of those paragraphs can be mushed together
2679331
Thanks! I'll see what I can do to edit it. That's what happens when you don't have any beta readers to review your work.
I'm liking the headcannon so far.
Chapter 1: I like the idea of atmography. It's probably viable in a world where the weather has to be manufactured. The explanation for the origins of rock farms and rock farmers was especially ingenious. One minor error that happens to be a pet peeve of mine: You used "millennia" when you meant to use "millennium," the singular form.
As for this chapter, not much to add, as much of it recapitulates information from the first chapter or is information that seems fairly obvious. Still, overall, this is most enjoyable thus far. I do enjoy speculative history. I look forward to more.
2682252
Thanks for pointing out millennia. I fixed it up.
I try to make the information feel as if it would work within the confines of the show. That's what gives it the 'obvious' feeling.
Thank you!
Fantastic stuff here, from the history of the region to the sisters' different tactics during the War of Long Night. Only one problem: Look carefully at "Equestrian Alliance of Tribal Holdings." There's no R between the first letters of "Alliance" and "Tribal," so the acronym doesn't actually work. Consider adding "Rightful" or another adjective that starts with R. Just a nitpick, I know, but that sort of thing bugs me.
Oh, and one other thing:
Oh, give me a home
Where the manticores roam
And the animals can't be controlled.
Where plants can play pranks
And you're up to your flanks
In danger during every stroll.
Home, home in the woods
Where for ponies there is nothing good.
But for monsters, you see,
They are all ever free
And they live as nature says they should.
2800304
Oh, you are right.
Thank you for being my sorta Beta-Reader, FanOfMostEverything.
Like the poem too.
I like the juxtaposition of Cloudsdale and Landale, and the connection to rock farming- it seems obvious in hindsight that such rocky terrain must have a lot of precipitation to keep things from decaying into topsoil. Heck, with it raining so much of the time, maybe Pinkie Pie had some weather-induced seasonal affective disorder.
Makes sense to me. Also, a noble attempt at making some kind of sense out of Equestrian naming conventions, or the lack thereof.
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Confound those ponies! They drive me to create unnecessarily detailed explanations to figure out why their names don't make sense!
No problems here.
Though one correction: Several bronies have calculated, from the time it took Rarity to fall from atop the Cloudiseum to nearly hitting the ground, she fell some 2.5 km, so Cloudsdale is probably anchored at 2 km above the Dale.
2878128
Brilliant! I'll make the necessary changes.
Hmm, fascinating!
Suddenly I realize that Shining Armor is totally Sam Vimes. (And now I need to write a story where he arrests a dragon...)
Personally I think it's more likely that the human system of appending family name to given name just doesn't exist in Equestria, and if Applejack were to introduce herself to a complete stranger she'd go with something like "Applejack, of the Apple Family" as separate personal and group identifiers respectively. "Applejack Apple" (and "Apple Bloom Apple" and "Babs Seed Apple" for that matter) just seem so unwieldy compared to acknowledging the use of the family name within the given one.
Hmm. Does Cadance not have the authority to grant knighthoods? For that matter, where the heck did "Mi Amore Cadenza" come from anyway? And what about King Sombra, in the procession of historic royalty?
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You may be right about the lack of a last name, though there are numerous instances in the show that makes me believe that the concept of family last names exists in Equestria.
Mr. Carrot Cake and Mrs. Cup Cake share a family name. While it might have been coincidental that they share the same last name, they are referred to as 'Mr. and Mrs. Cake'. They then went on to name their children Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake.
Aunt and Uncle Orange also seem to share a similar last name, and since they are Applejack's Aunt and Uncle, one of them must have been born into the Apple family, married the other, and adopted the Orange family name.
There are numerous other examples, although you are probably right that Applejack would not introduce herself as 'Applejack Apple'. I may amend it later.
Thank you for the comment!
3752734
I completely forgot about Cadance, but I don't believe she would have knighted anypony prior to gaining control of the Crystal Empire. It's probable that any princess has that authority, though it seems that Cadance wasn't exactly given many royal duties. She was foalsitting Twilight before Twi even got her cutie mark and became Celestia's student.
As for Mi Amore Cadenza, I have no clue. Maybe she's Italian?
As for Sombra, I had an idea earlier that he might have been the father of Princess Platinum. He may have stayed in the North even after the Windigoes made the rest of the ponies go South. Maybe it was around the same time that Discord was unleashed when he took over the Crystal Empire and banished it's ruler, the Crystal Queen (Chrysalis). It was going to go into the next essay, but Season 4 may shed more light on things.
Again, thanks for the comment!
Notice to all (not many) readers:
I only found out that Season 4 was back on yesterday. I have not given up this fic and I do have more stuff to write.
As Season 4 made some of the elements in the essays non-canonical, I will make a few tweaks as needed. Keep in mind that these essays were written by Twilight before Season 3 Episode 13, and she only has the knowledge available to her at that time (common knowledge, books, etc.).
I have to go back to college soon, but I promise to come back from time to time. The next essay may be done soon.
Thank you.
Wow... It's been a long time. Almost all of this story is outdated and needs to be heavily revised. I apologize to anyone reading this thinking it was done with any idea of the amount of new lore Season 4 introduced.
That said, editing takes time. A few major changes will be made.
The War of Long Night probably didn't occur, and I'll have to think of something else.
The Crystal Empire chapter is an unfinished mess pushed out the door to show that I'm not dead.
Tirek and Scorpan exist (awesome). Hopefully Grogar the cruel will be a villain in Season 5.
The ENTIRE history of the Wonderbolts were covered in one episode, which will have to be included in the Cloudsdale chapter.
And so much more work. I'll try, but I don't expect to FINISH every essay until the series is over (hopefully 15 seasons from now).
Thank you for reading!
I'm a big believer in the grandfather clause: If a bit of canon wasn't established when you started the fic, you shouldn't feel obligated to incorporate that canon.
Also, hello, reader here.
And yeah, with the sheer number of cataclysms Equestria has experienced, keeping any kind of coherent historical record is going to be hard. (Heck, I suspect that the Hearth's Warming story is actually various historical figures crowbarred into the roles of a fictional parable, which is why Spartan pegasi apparently coexist with feudal unicorns and earth ponies.)
5514114
This is a pretty cool thing you've got going here. I like it when people really flesh out the world itself.
And despite the fact that your head canon doesn't always fit the show's canon, it still makes sense and is internally consistent, which is what makes it worth the read (besides it being very interesting).
There is, however, one thing I feel the need to mention. A lot of people assume that ponies control all the wildlife and weather in Equestria, which was somewhat implied in episode 1. However, when you think about it, even with Earth Pony and Pegasi magic, there aren't enough ponies to control and maintain all the weather and wildlife of all of Equestria. There would be a lot of wilderness areas besides the Everfree that have no nearby pony population and which would subsequently have to be left wild.
Not trying to come across ass too critical, just wanted to point it out. It's still a pretty cool fic.
5515608
I never really thought about that before... I do think that pegasi have a general sense of guidance to the weather and would only fine tune their control around cities and towns, but wildlife is different. Perhaps the wildlife in the Everfree is completely untamable as compared to more calm creatures elsewhere.
It's something to think about, perhaps in another essay.
5515433
Thank you, FoME! Although I don't feel obligated to change it to fit current canon, I really want to. What I envision this as is a (completely unofficial) companion piece to the show, as much for my enjoyment as it is for my reader(s).
And as for the lack of history, I have a sneaking suspicion that Celestia, the one being who remembers all of this, wishes it to remain secret. Is it for the protection of Equestria that she never told anyone about Discord, Tirek, Sombra, or an entire Empire? Probably.
It's something to think about. Maybe in another essay.
5516666
I kind of like to think of Earth Pony magic and Pegasi magic as partly like radiation. I mean, partially, it's due to physical touch: pegasi push the clouds around and Applejack hits the apple trees to make them drop all the apples, but none of the leaves, directly into the assembled buckets. But I wonder if the other part of their magic has to do with them being in an area. When they move into an area, their magic spreads out and gets infused into the sky/ground or whatever. For example, the Apple's farm, which is worked by earth ponies, is infused with a lot of earth pony magic which makes the trees super healthy, negates the need for fertilizer, and stops weeds from growing in the area. Perhaps pegasi magic "calms" the sky in an area somehow similarly.
As for the Everfree, I would imagine it has some sort of aura which negates earth pony/pegasis magic somehow so that they would be unable to affect anything in it. Although unicorn magic seems to work fine there though... darn overpowered unicorns...
5516943
Excellent observation! I was going to write the next few essays about the physiology of the pony subspecies and you and I have similar ideas regarding involuntary magic use.
Though Earth Pony magic, in my opinion, works differently. Not only are they naturally fit and resistant to damage, but some ponies seem to funnel it in different ways. Every single nurse in Ponyville is an Earth Pony. Though Ponyville is primarily composed of Earth Ponies, the doctor is a Unicorn. If healing magic was only a Unicorn thing why wouldn't all the nurses be Unicorns? I believe that proximity and care provided by Earth Ponies may evoke the same powers they use to tend the land. How else would it be that injuries are so readily healed in Equestria?
I have a lot to put into the next few essays.
That explains why Apple Bloom didn't go into cardiac arrest when she had the cutie pox.
And that's not taking into account their ability to influence even inorganic matter as though it were alive, or the ability of a select few to interact with and manipulate the substrate of reality itself...
Ah, but that last one is an entirely different matter.
5523666 Twilight probably wrote numerous essays on Pinkie Pie alone.
5523666
Lots of essays! 
That also brings up another question, what is 'living' in Equestria? Crystals seem to be imbued with magic. Magic actually seems to affect all things in their world. Does magic have organic properties, or is it a product of physics as light or gravity is? Or is it a spiritual thing (Avatar The Last Airbender style)? Ponies don't seem to worship it, or ANYTHING for that matter. Not even Celestia has temples or is above paparazzi gossip magazines (Ponyville Confidential).
Lots to think about!
Questioning the magical ability of a species that has both fur and feathers is... well, let's go with silly. Silly seems much more polite than some of the other options.
In any case, I hadn't considered how a pegasus's taxonomy-spanning anatomy would need to extend to the heart, lungs, and even digestive system. The muscles certainly; how else could they flap? But even with magic, the metabolic demands of flight must be accounted for. Good stuff here.
(Also, I assume that Fluttershy functions rather differently than most pegasi thanks to her largely grounded lifestyle. Though I do like the idea of her being the biggest eater in a household that sometimes includes bears.)
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Twilight seems to question everything even though she lives in a world that doesn't make much sense... Which is why this story exists!
I had an Orinthology class last semester, so this was just a reiteration of what I know. I wish there were Sea Ponies to write about, though (Marine Bio major!).
All of the Mane 6 seem to be special cases among their kind (Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight especially). Maybe Twilight wrote case studies on each of them?
This story will never be complete.
Notice: I will be editing some of the chapters, mostly those concerning history and geography. It will take time because I'm also doing the Biological Overview stuff.
Also, I'm open to suggestions about what to write about. This is fun!
5533087
Are you going to do a piece on bat-ponies?
Also, you could do some more stuff on Equestrian Society and stuff, or perhaps how Equestrians deal with other races: i.e. diplomatic relations, cultural friction, that sort of thing.
5534439
Bat ponies seemed to be a one-time thing. She might mention it in a case study on Fluttershy, though.
As for diplomacy, sure thing! That's on my list of things to do!
Yeah, there's really only one high point in unicorn biology.
The anatomy of spellcasting is quite interesting though. Unicorn physiology is an area I actually have spent some time considering. If you don't mind me unloading my headcanon here, I'd be happy to go into further detail. In either case, looking forward to more.
5537690
Please do! I was really trying to fill space with the last essay and I like to think of this comment section as a constant flow of ideas.
5537757
Great!
Okay, so the key difference between the two of us is the structure of the horn. I have a small cortex, the thaumic lobe, emerging from the corpus callosum and poking out of the forehead. Also in there is the cerebellum minoris, the seat of magic "muscle memory" for routine spells like telekinesis. And yes, this warps the frontal lobe a little, in multiple senses of the word. There does seem to be a correlation between magical proficiency and madness.
Anyway, the thaumic lobe serves the role of your Magnus Gland, converting intent and the raw magical energy produced by a pony metabolism into coherent spells in the same way your mind can subconsciously do the calculus for predicting a ball's flight path in the time it takes you to catch it. Thaumic lobes very rarely achieve self-awareness, and as Rarity can attest, such episodes are short-lived and usually benefit the unicorn in the long run.
The rest of the horn consists of thin meningeal layers and an outer surface of keratin. The horn's spiral groove is caused by the shape and arrangement of the dermal papillae that produce the keratin fibers, and its coloration by the same chromelanin content as the rest of the unicorn's coat. (Yes, my headcanon contains pigment proteins.) The meninges are somewhat vestigial, because the horn's primary line of defense is magical reinforcement of the keratin, dramatically increasing its hardness, tensile strength, and shock absorption. This reinforcement is constant, unconscious, and efficient enough that it uses much less energy than a unicorn typically produces. If a unicorn doesn't have the magic needed to maintain this reinforcement, she probably has much bigger problems than a more easily concussed thaumic lobe, such as her imminent death or enslavement by a soul-consuming, ape-faced centaur.
A lesser version of this reinforcement applies to a unicorn's musculoskeletal system, especially the legs. (After all, unicorns had to keep up with the herd somehow!) This makes unicorns stronger and tougher than one would think from looking at them... but still not all that much when compared to the other tribes. It also makes it harder for unicorns to build up muscle, because their magic is always doing some of the work for them. The degree of reinforcement is directly related to the strength of the unicorn's magic.
On an interesting cultural note, this has made thin limbs very attractive to unicorns (well, to those attracted to unicorns, but that's a different story,) because all else being equal, underdeveloped muscles are an indicator of strong magic. Of course, once unicorns realized they found this attractive, all else ceased to be equal. It's entirely possible that trying to cultivate this look contributed to the more sedentary lifestyle of unicorn nobility. Amusingly, between her ludicrous magic and her scholastic obsession, Twilight ended up becoming one of the most beautiful mares in Canterlot without even realizing it. (Rarity was instantly envious. Applejack just tried to get as much food in the wasted little thing as possible before she keeled over.)
I think you see why I wanted to make sure you wouldn't mind me going into more detail.
5537933
I had toyed with the idea of having the cerebrum extend out into the horn, much like your thaumic lobe, but I wanted to be sure that the removal of the horn by injury would not cause permanent brain damage (so as to allow for the show and other fanfics to remain consistent). The Magnus Gland is much like the Pituitary in terms of magical growth (the Cake Twins), but random spurts of magic can be common at young ages, even with Rarity, who I believe casted her first gem-finding-spell that helped her obtain her cutie mark.
As for madness, does magical proficiency equal psychosis or other mental defects? Maybe. Twilight isn't the most sane pony in Equestria, nor was Sombra (the other most powerful unicorn we've seen), and we have no idea about Starswirl.
Then comes the point about the musculature of unicorns. I personally believe that unicorns' base abilities lie in active magic casting, and that going beyond that would make them 'too overpowered' (though it would make sense then for them to be nobility). We rarely ever see them doing manual labor, so I assume that earth ponies are better suited for the job. Maybe there is some form of passive magic backing them up, but then why is it that Twilight was unable to push a snowplow in Winter Wrap Up?
As for the passive reinforcement charms? I agree that makes sense. The horn rarely ever gets damaged in the show and the inherent properties of the horn probably work to negate physical damage. Sombra's horn survived his death. Celestia's horn survived losing to Chrysalis. It makes sense that the horn is the strongest part of the unicorn.
This is all wonderful thinking, FoME! You really put a lot of thought into it!
... You made me think for several hours about this, wrote many pages of calculation, tore those pages because I suck at math, slept for a while, turned my computer back on, re-read, and then posted this
I have only done that once before. this is beyond awesome, this is Ditzy doo level stuff
Keep 'em coming (Chapters and ibuprophin)
An enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a peytral. Given the possibility of ascension, it makes sense that the alicorns are reticent towards being analyzed. If the process could be decoded, mastered, reproduced, what consequences might that hold for the world? Still, it can be frustrating to have a wealth of knowledge hover an inch out of reach and politely decline your requests for tissue samples.
Are they gods? Define "god." They certain aren't omnibenevolent, omnipresent, and omniscient. However, they do fit the Greco-Roman mold of the best and worse of equinity writ large. At least, Celestia and Luna do. Cadance is a bit of an odd duck.
Nothing much to add here. I usually see alicorns as extensions of the behavior of the cosmos (which meant I really had to scramble to accommodate the end of Season 2.)
The only thing I want to point out is that the "new lunar republic" is overused bullshit. "Lunar empire" would make a lot more sense. The definition of republic iimplies that there's no top ruler,which the "new lunar republic" obviously have.
I'd space out the things happening in the classical era. It seems so spammed atm...
Oh, and the part about the palace was a bit ccontradictory to older info; i.e. that discord shrekt canterlot. (If nothing remained, how could the palace make it?)
I'm also not sure how old this story is. Is the EUP worth taking up?
Figured out that this story is pretty old. Meh, will still leave my thoughts.
This was great! Votes for what should come next:
-Changelings
-Gryphons
-Dragons
-Windigoes?
-Sirens
For the Changelings, I would recommend asking this guy (Law Abiding Pony) for help. He's wrote a HUGE Saga detailing the Changeling lifestyle, including lots of stuff concerning their biology.
I love it!
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Very interesting. Are you going to do a chapter on the changelings?
As a fan of world building this is an absolute treasure for me. Thanks so much.
5538100
Tempest Shadow's horn broke after her encounter with the Ursa in the mLP movie.
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