History and Lore: What is your take on the history of Equestria? · 7:43pm Jun 30th, 2014
Hi again.
Now my story as I've said before will take a while but rest assured I plan to, eventually, finish it. Like the Legend series it will be made up of three books, loosely following the original plot, and I emphasize 'loosely', because I plan to include some surprises to keep this story fresh. One thing however is featured heavily in this story, History and Lore.
Now the history and lore for Targaris I can make up, but I know that despite MLP's lack of a connecting lore, the fans have picked up the pieces. The trouble is there are many conflicting histories to chose from, and I'm wondering if there is a general consensus on an official lore for future fan fictions to follow, or if like Discord the lore is just chaotic and all over the place. Point is I want to avoid anyone saying that my version of Equestrian history is false.
Yes, I know there are fans out there who will say that! They may be a minority but every fan base has them, people who shout and point out minor inconsistencies with everything. I'm not saying its any of you, in fact with all my commentators I know its not you, but if you've written a story before or posted a video you'll know for certain they exist!.
Long story short, I'd like some nice long comments on what you think Equestrian history is, roughly, not exact details, but a rough idea, so I can work it into the story along with the original locations I have planned.
Thanks again every body, and to close off here's a taste of what's to come in the first book, my ideas for unique locations, as opposed to the originals they're based of.
1) Castle Dracyrs (Dragon Temple): Home of house Palentine and the Council of Draig elders. The Castle is inhabited by humans and sits on a rocky outcrop in the foal mountains, or as the Humans here call it, along with Unicorn Range and the mountain of Canterlot, 'The Spine of Equestria' taken from the Dungeons and Dragons setting of Faerun (The Spine of the World Mountains). Meanwhile a small clan of Draig nest below in a set of caves that run through the outcrop like a honey comb. This is Spyro's home.
2) Frostvale (Dantes Freezer): An ancient human fortress in the far north, a mighty fortress that was built in the years of Celestia's reign after Luna's banishment to safeguard the pass against the remnants of the Shadow King's legions (Sombra), who still haunt the region where the Crystal Empire once stood. Now it stands empty, the cold winds penetrating the thick walls, ice where once was a warm fire, silence where there was once laughter and energetic conversation. Legend says the last Warden of Frostvale still walks the halls of his keep, his soldiers bound to serve him even in death. But that's mere legend, right?
3)White Tail Woods (Tall Plains): A mysterious forest that makes the Ever-free same tame in comparison, or so the legends say. Myth and Legend has speculated of a rare and mysterious race of horses with unusual horns, growing not straight and sure like a Unicorn, but wild and spiky like the thickets of the forest they inhabit. Some say they are the remenants of a race that existed long before pony kind ever set foot in Equestria, and thus hold power that only an Alicorn could match. However no pony has seen these beings, if they exist at all, they probably don't want anypony to find them.
4)Bad lands (Munitions Forge): A large desolate wasteland, filled with Fire, ash and dust, the very air you breathe, a poisonous fume, this is the home of the Dragons who rejected the ways of the Draig and in their despair became little more than intelligent beasts. But that is only the tip of what this land holds in it's vapours and lava pits. Far underground there are rumours of a burrowing race of sapient humanoids, cousins to the Diamond dogs of Rambling Rock Ridge, but far more intelligent and mysterious.
5) Spoiler location (Cynder's Lair): No info on this location found.
well, my head-canon is actually composed of the canon of several fan-fictions I've read. Here goes:
Celestia is, as described in Mordane Stonghoove, the first naturally born alicorn and has the power to turn anyone she wants into one. How to interpret that is the question: Was she there from the earliest moment in unrecorded pony-history or did she come only later?
These pieces of head-canon are from Diaries of a Madman, where there was a form of magic in the world, true magic, that could be used by anyone who believed in himself. Celestia somehow erased all records of that and it was lost to the sands of time, but she taught unicorns how to do spells, a form of true magic exclusive to unicorns.
Luna didn't go mad and tuned into Nightmare Moon, but instead Celestia needed someone to take the blame and do the dirty work, so they pretended.
Discord is not the embodiment of chaos, but of discord, as his name says, the opposite of harmony.
This next part is from The Ambassador's Son; Dragons are highly magical being for whom time is very different than for others, and if they adopt someone, that someone becomes as magically powerful as they themselves.
As for my very own head-canon, I can't think of any at the moment. ;P
Interesting. From what I've seen Celestia being represented as a Tyrant seems to be very popular among fans, although I personally see no evil in her or admitingly not that much of a troll in the show.
so why does the fan base like to demonize her so often? The way I see it Celestia and Luna are two parts of a whole, and whilst Celestia's plans are questionable at best, they're still as much a part of the show as the main 6 and CMC. As Joshscortcher says "give a little love to sunbutt!"
As for the Dragons that's very simular to what I have down already. Have you seen Avatar: The Last Air bender? (the series not the movie). The people there have power over the four elements, water, earth, fire and air. Seeing as how the Legend series has a similar system, I figured to make the Draig like that before their fall, and Spyro becoming an Avatar like figure throughout the course of the story.
2248922 why the fanbase likes to demonize celestia? It's simple! she is powerful; she raises and lowers the sun and the moon, too for a thousand years, and yet she needs the help of six colorful ponies with whatever evil there is! O.K., O.K., I know what you're gonna say; "Celestia wants Twilight to learn valuable lessons about friendship and she has to run a whole country besides." but fact is, ponies as depicted in the show are pretty darn short-sighted. I just have to remind of the premier of season 4, where the Elements, Twilight excluded, say that Twilight should turn back, because Equestria couldn't handle losing another princess. Of course, they end up needing her and almost fail because she isn't with them. You know why? Because she is a frikin alicorn! If they just looked past her head, they might have seen that. Unless Celestia is like that herself, which I don't think she is, she should have seen that. So why does she still send them? That's where we say she's a troll; she puts them and her country in danger for no apparent reason.
2248922 and, btw, if you respond to someone's comment, there's a button in the upper right corner of the comment to reply to it. That notifies the one who wrote the comment and that is good, thank you
2250891 Actually I wasn't going to say that. Celestia like everyone else is is flawed and at times I don't understand what her reasons are either, there are times I question her methods frequently, or face palm in disbelief, and yes I think relying on the same team time and time again is just stupid. But there's a key difference between a Tyrant and a ruler who just acts stupidly.
A true king or queen rules in the interests of their people, whilst a Tyrant acts entirely in their own interests. An example of this is Richard II of England, who whilst depicted as a Tyrant by Henry IV and Shakespeare, arguably tried to rule in the interests of his people. An example of this was after the Peasants Revolt of 1381 he sought to end the war with France that had been lining the pockets of the nobility whilst ruining the rest of the country. Doesn't sound very wicked or greedy. Also he was seen as a megalomaniac, however proof can be found in the Wilton Diptych, a portable altar piece, that shows Richard receiving the flag of England from the heavenly court, some can interpret that as megalomania, but another interpretation could be he saw his duties as a sacred trust. So yes, Celestia's methods are questionable and sometimes stupid, but in my opinion far from Tyrannical. After all, you can have an effective Tyrant and an ineffective good ruler, another historical example being Henry VI, good intentions but weak will, ended up being a key factor in starting the Wars of the Roses.
Although I have to admit that a lot of her subjects are a bit clueless and at times stupid, that's why in my fanfiction things are going to be changed a bit. Celestia and Luna's governmental powers will be kept in check by a Parliament of representatives of the many races of Equestria, including Griffons and Humans. (Also, when are Humans not clueless and stupid at some point in their lives. Even the most intelligent of us suffer moments of stupidity)
Lastly, this is a kids show. I know we watch it and enjoy it but this isn't Game of Thrones, this is MLP! I think in that regard we can cut the rulers some slack don't you think?
2250891 btw, I'm not defending Celestia, or Luna, I'm just saying that I think her character could be improved upon, take the good bits and build up on that. In the show I think she's a mixed bag, although some Bronies such as DrWolf001 and Inkrose think highly of her. Perhaps they see something we don't, or maybe they're just defending a dead 'horse' pun intended. You decide.
2250891 A thought just occurred to me. There seems to be a pattern developing in regards to powerful creatures in Fantasy. The Eagles in Lord of the Rings are majestic and powerful and a common complaint about the series is set around the Eagles and their supposed advantage over the Fellowships foes, namely flight and size, which Tolkien explained in the Hobbit. The giant eagles feed on human livestock and so often get chased away by arrows, and the leader owed Gandalf a favour for saving his life, which is why they helped him only when 'he' called and not the rest of Middle-earth. But that's been argued over to death, and I don't want the argument to continue, its gone stale.
This seems to be the same with Alicorns. Give a creature too much power and not give a clear enough reason why they don't use it, and you're more likely going to get fan reaction and logic holes being pointed out. But then that's art, the ability to captivate an audience for as long as possible so you don't spot the flaws so quickly because you're engrossed in the good stuff.
I doubt seeing Star Wars for the first time many people questioned why the Death star had such a stupid weak spot, yet its a testament to the movie that the mistake took so long to be noticed. I suppose the same logic can be applied to the Alicorn race.