Pre-Equestrian Era. (A Middle Ages headcanon history) Part 2: Wings, Horns, and Agriculture.

Most of the kingdom that existed were majority towards one specific race and this carried on into the second tribal period as evident with the formation of the Unicorn, Earth Pony, and Pegasus tribes that would eventually establish the Kingdom of Equestria. This general majority to one race is present even the first tribal period. Inter-tribal interaction between tribes of different races was present however it was more common between tribes of Unicorns and tribes of earth ponies due to the fact that Pegasi were more often in the sky and only went to the ground as a means of gathering food. This fact also meant that pegasi of the first tribal era generally did not find themselves needing weapons as much due to the fact that encounters with any of the dangerous creatures that existed could be escaped via the simple act of flying. In the first tribal period Unicorns generally did not have a complex grasp on their magical abilities which is likely due to the simpler nomadic lifestyles that Unicorn tribes had.

In time particularly in the transitional period from the first tribal period to the Rising Middle Ages Unicorns did experiment with their magical abilities and over time began to learn to utilize their magic for a wide variety of purposes. As for Pegasi their grasp on weather control was also generally lesser in the first tribal period but unlike Unicorns with their magic the Pegasi did not find much use for their natural abilities to manipulate the weather and thus development in weather making was limited. Earth Ponies of the first tribal period being without the advantages of magic or flight had to use their one true advantage, which was their strength. Earth Pony tribes were the ones who first developed the axe, a wedge like blade on a wooden shaft. The fact that the axe was capable of being used for woodcutting and as a weapon made it a favored tool of earth pony tribes along with the spear, though the spear was developed by tribes of all races. The sword was likely invented by Earth Ponies since unicorns by the time bronze was used were not ones to favor getting up close in fighting which was why spears, early offensive magic, and the old likely Unicorn invention of the bow and arrow were favored by unicorns. This fact also made initial armor development by far fastest for the Earth Ponies since their fights against the dangerous wildlife they might face often resulted in them utilizing their strength to try to wrestle down and slay the attacking creature. Pegasi were the first to develop the polearm, starting as iron spears and pikes and soon developing designs with axe like heads that were possibly adapted from Earth Pony axes. These weapons were likely first developed by Pegasi in the Rising Middle Ages in wake of the growth from tribes into kingdoms and the inevitable often hostile interaction with other kingdoms.

As the transitional period from the First Tribal Period to the Rising Middle Ages came along and passed Earth ponies discovered that they did not only have a gift in strength, but they also had a gift in taming the wild plants to be planted and grown via their own hooves. This discovery led to the development of Agriculture and with it the start of farming. This advancement proved to be a major one as it allowed a large group of ponies to stay in one place and be not only fed, but fed well. This resulted in the initial growth of the Earth Pony kingdoms putting them ahead of the other developing kingdoms. other kingdoms attempted to carry out their own farming only for such attempts to end in failure. Earth ponies were quickly recognized as a key to sustaining a large number of ponies, as well as generating far more food than scavenging ever could bring. As a result other kingdoms brought Earth Pony tribes into their rule and utilized them for farming. Having Earth Ponies within their kingdoms helped the emerging Pegasi and Unicorn Kingdoms to grow in size and power. Earth ponies also proved useful for construction of castles and other structures thanks to their natural strength and endurance. Despite the potential benefits Earth ponies were not employed as soldiers by such kingdoms and were generally kept only for farming and to assist in construction, effectively limiting them to lower class citizens. Resentment was present among the Earth Ponies who lived under Unicorn and Pegasus rule due to the limitation and restriction they lived under. Unicorns meanwhile were starting to further explore their magical capabilities and some even dedicated their lives to magical studies, leading to the first of unicorns who would become known as mages. During the Early Middle Ages mage Unicorns would earn themselves a higher place among the kingdoms they pledged allegiance to due to their power in magic. Even as this occurred only a fraction of unicorns had gone to deeply explore magic and an even fewer number of them would become mages, and thus the majority of unicorns primarily used bows and spears as weapons of war. Despite being mostly farmers the Earth Ponies recruited into armies were given early forms of weapon training to develop and sharpen their skills in fighting, likely among the most advanced of the time. Early kingdoms of all majority races typically had soldiers recruited from the average pony and would have them serve their duties when they were needed. Few wars came up between the kingdoms but the ones that did were mostly between Unicorn and Earth pony kingdoms. The Early wars were mostly territorial but there may have been at the least hostilities towards the Unicorn kingdoms from the Earth Pony kingdoms due to the way Earth Ponies were treated.

As the High Middle Ages came along the kingdoms grew to great size in both land and population as well as military power. Competition over power was present and escalated to war, even between kingdoms of the same race. Before kingdoms of the same race generally didn't show hostility and even allied with each other, however in the High Middle Ages kingdoms of the same majority pony were far from above violent competition for land. The need for farmland was a driving force for any of the territorial wars that had occurred, however the need for power and dominance was also a driving force as well, even some Earth Pony kingdoms went towards this path. Another cause for conflict, particularly for some Earth Pony Kingdoms, such as the Kingdom of the Sun Over The Field, was against Unicorn and Pegasi kingdoms over what they viewed as "Slavery" towards the earth ponies within those kingdoms. A prime example is the war between the Kingdom of Unihorn and the Kingdom of The Sun over the Field, a long conflict driven by territorial disputes but also driven heavily by the latter kingdom's negative reception towards the treatment of Unihornian Earth Ponies. This conflict lasted up until the later High Middle Ages with the defeat and crippling of the Kingdom of The Sun over the Field. Some kingdoms did evolve and were without a single majority race, The Kingdom of Prance being the most notable and clearly known example of this. This kingdom famously had both Earth Ponies and Unicorns among its armies and was among the most powerful kingdoms. Pegasi Kingdoms such as the Kingdom of The Cloud were hardly any different in regards to their tendency towards conflict. A famous war being between The Kingdom of The Cloud and The Silver Crown Kingdom, a Unicorn kingdom.

The first Earth Pony rebellions happened during the first half of the High Middle Ages but were of the greatest effect and notability in the later half of the High Middle Ages. Many of the Unicorn and Pegasi kingdoms had gone to the point where Earth Ponies had little voice in anything and were treated below citizens of the dominant race. Resentment and anger towards their monarchs escalated to the point where the Earth ponies of those kingdoms rose up and took part in violent rebellions, often in the form of attacks against the homes of majority ponies. Most of these rebellion were quickly stopped, especially the early ones, however later rebellions caused greater losses for the kingdoms that were forced to deal with them. Some rebellions ended with the Earth ponies involved fleeing the kingdom, often to join with an earth pony kingdom. This occurred more often as the decades went by and soon led to wars being triggered, Unicorn or Pegasi kingdoms declaring war on Earth pony kingdoms for accepting fleeing rebels. Battles in victory for the attackers often led to Earth ponies being kidnapped from their homes within Earth Pony kingdoms and taken into Unicorn and Pegasus kingdoms. The Kingdom of Trotland is an example of a highly successful Earth Pony rebellion that led to the formation of a new kingdom.

In the Falling Middle Ages, Earth Pony rebellion were at their highest frequency as were wars over who would have a population of earth ponies live under their banner, among the persisting territorial wars. The constant wars over Earth Ponies led to general fear and sorrow among ponies of the race, acceptance towards the wars that were seemingly over who ruled over them was dwindling and leaving many earth ponies with low morale among the populations of earth ponies within even kingdoms of their own kind. Unicorn kingdoms even fought Pegasi kingdoms over the Earth Ponies, even the few kingdoms to be more accepting of Earth ponies such as The Kingdom of Prance suffered in this time period due to the wars and attacks from other kingdoms. This warfare over territory and Earth Ponies was a major contributing factor to the warfare and chaos that eventually led up to The Collapse.