Updated Map · 11:47pm Oct 18th, 2015
Saw this on Equestria Daily. New map, yay! Yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy...?
No, not yay.
I hated the first version of this map when it was released, and I hate this one too. Maybe it's just because of it conflicting with my headcanons or whatever, but I'm fairly sure that by this time we've gotten enough shots of stuff to have a fairly good idea of where everything in Ponyville's vicinity are in relation to each other - and this completely contradicts that.
What's Right: The Crystal Empire, YakYakistan, (I thought it'd be more northward then westward, but this one was more ambiguous) Canterlot, Ponyville, Cloudsdale, (This one they couldn't get wrong, seeing as it's a moving city) Starlight's village, Manehattan, Hollow Shades (Seeing as this one was introduced via map and we still have yet to visit it, another one hard to get wrong) Los Pegasus, the Badlands.
What's Wrong: Appleoosa, Dodge Junction, Rock Farm, Ghastly Gorge, Whitetail Woods, Smoky Mountains, Rainbow Falls, Griffonstone, the Dragon Gathering Place, and above all - The Everfree Forest.
White Tail Woods does look much, much farther away from Ponyville than I pictured it in that picture-- the entire width of the Everfree Forest (which is surprisingly small) away, in fact. These issues might just be that the map is not drawn to scale, though, as old maps generally weren't. The size of Canterlot in comparison to Ponyville backs that up, meaning that White Tail Woods might be much closer to Ponyville and the Everfree (which may be much larger) than they seem here.
On the other hand, I also could have sworn Appleoosa was to the west, not South East of Ponyville, but I can't remember if the show ever said that or it was just a trick my brain played on me because it's an Old West-style town.
I do like the giant skull, though.
When was Hollow Shades introduced? I'm pretty sure I've seen it in fanfics that predate the map in Twilight's Castle.
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Same here.
Indeed, that's pretty cool-looking. I wonder if it'll be visited in any of the last few episodes of this season.
The first version of this map, which came out in 2013.
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Actually, in the time since I asked I've done some research.
Hollow Shades, like Manehatten, gets mentioned in an episode before the map is introduced, though only briefly. That's why you'll find it in fanfics from before the map appears.
It's Apple Family Reunion.
3504578 Huh, okay.