Brief History of Equestria from Ancient to Modern · 7:56pm Jan 25th, 2016
Brief History of Equestria from Ancient to Modern
by scrivener Inky Lines
Table of Contents.
1) Foreword.
2) Ancient Ages.
3) Time of Discord.
4) Reign of Alicorn Sisters.
5) Timeline synopsis.
Foreword.
To begin with, allow me to extend my thanks towards the Canterlot College of History for their graceful permission to access their archives, and to our esteemed princesses Celestia and Luna for their personal account of the events, mercifully adapted to the understanding of us lowly ponies. This missive makes no pretense to be a fully-fledged textbook, and should only be viewed as a primer on the most salient points of Equestrian history - events that no civilised pony should be unaware of, lest they forget their nation and their glory.
To formalise and simplify the narrative, the following text will be consisting of three parts - Ancient Ages, Time of Discord and Reign of Alicorn Sisters. It should be noted that only the last age has sufficient documental coverage - most of the written knowledge from Ancient Ages have had been lost during the Time of Discord. Furthermore, even with the testimony of our beloved princesses themselves, this humble scholar can only give rough estimates on the exact length of Time of Discord. Princess Celestia spoke at length about the age in question, in particular pointing out that time itself have had been subject to Discord`s whim, thus making it impossible to give any accurate measure.
To make it easier for notation, the year count is separated into two periods - Before Celestia, and After Discord. While technically, history counts a number of years between the birth of Celestia and petrification of Discord, all of those years fall during the Time of Discord and thus are impossible to account for accurately. For further explanation on this disjunction, see Time of Discord chapter.
For the sake of completeness, it should also be mentioned that the world itself is far older then merely six millenias. There is no clear way to find out just how old the world is, exactly, but latest advance in thaumic residue analysis and crystalomancy suggest that the age of the world is at least several orders of magnitude above that of ponies... which, in turn, is at least an order of magnitude above the age of the oldest artifacts. That`s right, dear readers. As offputting as the idea is, uncovered bones and fossils clearly suggest that equinity had spent at least forty thousand years being not much better then feral animals. The oldest unearthed skeleton that definitely belonged to a pony has been tentatively dated back to 43000BC (See "Evolution of Pony: Past, Present, Future" by Twin Helix and Leafy Hook for more information on evolution theory in general and evolution of ponies in particular).
Ancient Ages (4000BC - 500BC)
The first definite relics of ponykind have had been tentatively dated to four thousand years before Celestia. While the traces are few, and wide between, equinity does possess a knowledge about a number of artifacts and places bearing witness to the dawn of our species. In particular, the caves unearthed at Gleaming Glacier in 1978AD (See "Excavation of Gleaming Glacier" by Bravely Blue for a detailed account of excavation and findings). It is surmised that caves have had served as communal domicile of primal ponies (Equus Vulgares). Unearthed relics include earthenware pots and stone tools, suggesting that even back then, equinity had some primitive knowledge of food storage and preservation, as well as possibly some basic agriculture. Cave paintings are distinct in their complete lack of magic depiction - primal ponies had neither the concept of magic, nor any definite use of it, although it is widely believed that they did possess some minimal arcanokinesis instinctually, as evidenced by masonry.
It is stipulated that period of time from 4000BC to 2500BC have had been formative for modern pony (Equus Sapiens) and it`s subdivision into three known subspecies of earth ponies (Equus Sapiens Fictilibus), pegasi (Equus Sapiens Pegasus) and unicorns (Equus Sapiens Arcana). There is no clear indication as to what exactly set off the morphological division, and the cause is still one of the most hotly debated academic topics. Two of the most popular theories are respectively Cataclysm and Ambience theory. Theory of Cataclysm stipulates that roughly around 2500BC, some unknown event imparted magic force of at least two thaums per pony on the whole of the equinity, thus forcing primal ponies to transmute into three distinctive branches of modern pony. Ambience theory suggests that rather then singular harsh magic impact, communities of primal ponies have had been undergoing mutations as dictated by their immediate environs, developing the abilities most relevant to their areas.
Regardless of the exact cause, 2500BC is academically accepted as the beginning of modern pony and the triune morphology we are all familiar with. From this age forward, magic is frequently featured both in folklore/art and in tool development. As one would surmise, earth ponies descended from the tribes inhabiting the plains. Lack of shelter necessitated good endurance, and availability of arable soil promoted advanced mastery of agriculture. Pegasi trace their origins to mountainous clans, where mobility was of tantamount importance. Scarcity of food in mountains promoted a tradition for strong leadership, which later evolved into militaristic society of city-clans. Last, but not least, unicorns evolved from the tribes inhabiting the sea coast. This is somewhat unexpected, as historically unicorns are known for their mountain castles, however the archeological evidence strongly suggests that telekinetic ability came about from the practice of seaweed farming - those with best developed arcanokinesis could enjoy better crop, and from that, tradition of mind over body followed.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that the origins of equinity lie within the territory of Equestria itself, however from roughly 2800BC to 2200BC, equinity collectively migrated further and further to the north, presumably escaping the global heating lasting from 3000BC to 1000BC. Year 1845BC is one of the first historical dates with any degree of certainty - the founding of the first cloud city Typhoon. The origins of the city lie with Crooked Cane, a prominent pegasus warlord who managed to unite seven clans under one banner. Originally envisioned as a mobile fortress, Typhoon quickly grew into a fully-fledged city when pegasi realised the economic and military potential of mobile city.
1780BC saw the response of unicorns to the cloud cities - castle of Air Rock. While unicorns have had been establishing forts and small keeps as early as 2100BC as the standing stones of their waterway trade, Air Rock was the first fortification that abandoned unicorn maritime traditions in favor of defensibility. The cause of this change lied almost certainly with pegasi, whom taken full advantage of their floating fortresses to impress their will on neighboring tribes. Unfortunately for them, unicorns have had stumbled upon a viable counter - fortification on the top of the mountain allowed a group of unicorn mages to be both elevated enough and protected enough to forcibly scuttle or down a cloudcity with their magic.
A series of altercations and minor wars followed, further shifting unicorns away from seafaring society. While the hostilities had never unfolded into a large scale war, nonetheless, the age from 1700BC to 600BC is rightfully referred to as a Millenia of Strife in surviving documents and accounts. It`s commonly assumed that during that time, earth ponies have had a role of a serf people to other two tribes, however some indication exists that certain societies and clans of earth ponies successfully resisted both pegasi and unicorns and enjoyed self-governed status. Those independant states finally managed to unite around 650BC under chancellor Iron Hoof, whom managed to liberate most of earth ponies from their respective serfdoms under pegasi and unicorns, establishing their tribe once and for all as an independant force with a right of voice in the global politics.
It is widely assumed that this millenia of strife was somehow the cause of Discord`s existence. Making appearances in earth pony folklore as early as 900BC and originally known as something of a prankster spirit, Discord gained both power and prominence by 500 BC. While it`s not proven, folklore suggests that Discord is directly or indirectly responsible for windigos, first sightings of whom were attributed to time period between 700 and 600BC. Interstingly, unicorn lore lays the blame for the Discord and windigos on Iron Hoof, suggesting that it`s her flagrant disregard of "natural order" caused the appearance of disharmonious spirits. Conversely, pegasus lore highlights unicorn mages as the ones being responsible for windigos, while avoiding Discord at all. Finally, earth pony lore attributes windigos to Discord, and Discord himself to the ages long strife between pegasi and unicorns.
It is widely known that windigos were destroyed by the Unification of ponies - an event that precipitated Hearth`s Warming (see "Unabridged History of Hearth`s Warming" by Pine Tree for detailed information on holiday and the event that established it). However, there is a lot of ambiguity as to when the Unification took place. The earliest suggested time for Unification is 600 BC. According to that theory, Iron Hoof`s unification of earth ponies destroyed any semblance of power balance between the tribes, prompting the start of a total war between three tribes. Elevated hostilities caused a population boom for windigoes, and subsequent rapid cooling of climate. Inbetween the climate collapse, windigo attacks and military conflicts, it took less then four decades to reduce all three tribes to mere shadows of their former power, forcing the Grand Migration to the south and in the same time uniting all three tribes into one nation of Equestria, as detailed in Hearth`s Warming story.
Other theories place Unification within Time of Discord, some even placing it after the Petrification and well into AD period. Those theories will be examined in the next chapter.
Time of Discord (500BC - 250AD)
Discord himself appears in lore as early as 900BC, but his early mentions are far more benign then the picture of magic tyrant presented by accounts from the Time of Discord. While Discord never countermanded any of the pony leaders nor publicly announced himself as a ruler of ponies or any nation whatsoever, he was known for his avid disregard for any political decisions, laws, orders, conveniences, traditions and beliefs.
It is known that a majority of magical species and chimerae owe their existence to Discord. Manticores, basilisks, cragadiles, poison joke - all those are remainders of his reign. If you have encountered even one of the mentioned, you can surmise just how dangerous and unpredictable the Time of Discord was. Furthermore, a popular theme in folklore is griffons and their relationship to Discord. Some of the legends go as far as to flatly suggest that griffons and changelings are, respectively, clans of pegasi and unicorns who agreed to be Discord`s peers willingly, and were "rewarded" with a "form more appropriate". Breezies are touted, alternatively, as either another society allied to Discord or as his most bitter enemies. Sometimes, both in the same time.
As mentioned in the foreword, Time of Discord is the age where reverse year count BC gives way to direct year count AD. This is, in a way, a misnomer, as the actual appearance of alicorn sisters in historic records dates to presumably 350BC, where they are mentioned as already adult and of considerable power (See "Annals of the Cucumber Muffin", an account attributed to one "Ipsy Tipsy Whipsy Nipsy Scripsy" and "detailing" on the years between 400BC and 250BC. Author is widely believed to have had came under the mind-shattering influence of Discord prior to penning their opus, thus making decyphering it the most popular academic puzzle in the last century.)
According to princess Celestia, she have had coexisted with Discord for a "considerable time" before resorting to drastic measures that resulted in Petrification. Unfortunately, princess declined to specify the amount of years that constituted that "considerable time", citing Discord`s ability to distort time as a reason for uncertainty. As such, count BC continues not until birth of princess Celestia, but rather until her first decisive foray in the fates of equinity, aka the Petrification of Discord.
A number of theories place the Unification of the tribes all over the time of Discord, from 350BC (suggesting it was really alicorn sisters who empowered the Unification) to as late as 250AD. When questioned, princess Celestia claimed that she had no hoof in Unification, but was either unable or unwilling to confirm if it took place before or after petrification of Discord. Princess suggested that it was an extremely trying time for her, making it clear to this humble scholar that further questioning would be unwelcome. At the suggestion that Unification must have had occurred before princess took an active hoof in the fates of equinity, for it would be unthinkable that she`d leave three tribes to the mercy of windigos, princess merely inquired if this humble scholar likes bananas. Clearly, those memories are still extremely painful for our dear princess, and no further questioning on the matter should be committed in foreseeable future.
Unfortunately for our inquiry, however, princess Celestia`s account is the only source of information about the Time of Discord that can be given any credibility at face value. Or was, until recently. As of the moment, there is no official statement yet, but this humble scholar can attest that Canterlot College of History plans on procuring an extensive series of interviews with princess Luna regarding the historic period in question, provided she is willing, obviously. But insofar, the extent of knowledge consists of what princess Celestia could share and of educated guesses made after examining the disjointled writs and ramblings of half-insane sages and scholars.
To the best of equinity`s knowledge, Time of Discord was surprisingly static time. In the face of unending changes to environs, time and natural laws, everyone capable of sapience were occupied by the very same thing - enduring this trying time. Reportedly, Discord put forth an effort to curb or redirect any natural disaster he was privvy to - for reasons largely unknown. It has been speculated, however, that he did so to prevent himself from seeing anypony die, as witnessing that event established them dead with certainty even Discord couldn`t amend. And what Discord couldn`t change, he could not abide, for it is the expression of inviolable order, grim as it is. While the next logical step would be to assume that nopony died during Discord`s reign, it would be a grave mistake. Discord prevented only deaths that became certainty while he was paying attention to the ponies in question. So long as he was not aware of death occuring prior to fact, he was perfectly content to let it happen at it`s own unpredictable pace.
Until recently, it has been believed that Discord`s reign over the world was complete, as both buffalo and zebra folklores contain information about the "Great Deceiver", "Trickster of the North", "The Old Goat", "Madness Incarnate" and other titles firmly associated with Discord, dating roughly matching the Time of Discord as we know it. Griffons to this day consider mentioning of Discord as obscene and dangerous, so it`s a fair game to claim they also experienced Discord`s reign firstpaw. However, with the rediscovery of Crystal Empire and it`s records ("Overview of Crystal Empire Archives" by Paperclip and Faded Ink - a comprehensive analysis of documents recovered from Crystal Empire Palace shortly after the second defeat of Sombra in 2011 AD.) given a strong indication that Crystal Empire, somehow, was capable of keeping Discord`s influence out of it`s borders, possibly with the help of Crystal Heart. The details of such seclusion are unclear, but according to what could be pieced so far, Crystal Heart allowed to create a barrier of time between the Empire and the rest of the world, wholly blocking way in or out of Empire for anyone, including Discord.
Reign of Alicorn Sisters (250AD - 2015AD)
It took a couple hundred years for equinity to recover from the rule of Discord. The first cohesive documentation that pertains to Restoration period is dated back to 250AD, establishing itself as "Two hundred and half big circles of the sun since the end of madness". This document is now known as "Starswirl`s Journal". and details on the exploits of Starswirl the Bearded - a figure with rather unorthodox and disputed standing in Equestrian history.
Starswirl himself is a big contradiction - different accounts place him all over the history. On one hoof, he is considered to be a mentor figure to Clover the Clever, which means he has to have had been born prior to Unification. On other hoof, his name is connected to Alicorn Sisters taking official control of Equestria, which according to Starswirl`s Journal happened in 283AD, with the duties of sun and moon control being fully handed over to respectively princess Celestia and princess Luna in 300AD. The most plausible theory to explain that is that Starswirl is merely a familial name, meaning thus that there were at least two unicorn stallions named Starswirl the Bearded, separated by at least ten generations. This much stands to reason - talents for particular approach to magic often run in the family, particularly so in unicorn families tracking their bloodlines for centuries before Unification.
An alternative theory to that suggests that Starswirl was a singular pony, and the discrepancy instead lied in the exact date of Unification. This theory posits that throughout Time of Discord, tribes remained disjointled, and that Windigos forcing ponies to migrate south were a direct consequence of Discord`s defeat by Alicorn Sisters. This theory, however, fails to explain why Windigos were not dealt with in a fashion similar to that of a Discord.
Regardless of the mystery that is Starswirl the Bearded, year 300AD is officially recognised as the beginning of Equestria as we know it - an egalitarian land of ponies and harmony. Shortly after, history counts first documentary mentions of vespers. It is yet unknown if vespers are a permanent mutation visited upon the pegasi by Discord or a natural adaptation of pegasi for nocturnal cycle. What is known, however, that vespers were considered charges of princess Luna more then the three tribes, due to their nocturnal habits. Their numbers, however, remain meager, especially in comparison to the booming population of daily ponies.
Throughout this time, Equestria receives help from Crystal Empire. Apparently, there was some way to detect the presence of Discord beyond time barrier, because Crystal Empire reintroduced itself shortly before the end of Time of Discord, and from that point on, served as a locus of scientific and magical rediscovery. It is due to Crystal Empire any sort of knowledge preservation proved to be possible - without it, it`s highly likely that Equinity would have had regressed to stone age once again, despite the presence of Alicorn Sisters. Unfortunately, in 690AD, a sorceror by the name of Sombra manages to take the throne of Crystal Empire, ousting or killing all the contending members of royal family.
For five years, king Sombra is content with ruling Crystal Empire. His actions and degrees, however, shown a steep decline, turning Crystal Empire from a center of enlightened world into a frightening slavery-riddled mess. While initially, Alicorn Sisters made numerous attempts to resolve the matters diplomatically, it was not to be. Worse yet, by the sixth year of his reign, king Sombra`s external politics turned hostile, first demanding unjustly favorable economic conditions for Empire, then outright extorting tribute and open military action against those who found the demands to be unreasonable.
In year 698AD, after eight years of diplomacy, sanctions and finally open warfare, king Sombra have had been cast down by princesses. Unfortunately, by the time he was cast down, Sombra have had ample time to subvert Crystal Heart. He failed to complete the subversion, and his unfinished spell caused another time barrier to go up. Folklore claims it to be a thousand years of absence, however in practice the exact term was a few months short of 1315 years, from 698AD to empire reappearing in 2012AD.
Historians also consider this event to be the start of Princess Luna`s long slide into darkness, which would culminate in her millenia-long exile from 1010AD to 2010AD. Anecdotal evidence and folklore suggests the following - immediately after the defeat of Sombra, princesses have had returned to the Everfree Castle. Both of them were notably exhausted, but while princess Celestia was fine after a night`s rest, princess Luna had a duty to attend to the moon. Adding to that was the fact that princess Luna was reportedly sleep-deprived even prior to the fight, due to circumstances that denied her a few days of sleep in row. So, after the moon was successfully sat, princess Luna had retired to her chambers, and slept for two consequtive days straight.
Meanwhile, the grateful ponies have had thrown a parade for their rulers. Initially, princess Celestia suggested for the parade to be resheduled so both princesses could attend. However, she have had been persuaded by parade organiser, Circumstantial Pomp, that it was not feasible to delay the parade any longer. Unfortunately, that decision meant that by the time princess Luna woke up, most ponies were already tired out by the celebration, and their reception of princess Luna was lukewarm at best. Although princess Celestia insisted on quickly throwing a second parade specifically for her sister, attendance was meager and disinterested. Thus, the event of "Snubbed Parade" is widely considered by many scholars to be the first of many events that made princess Luna doubt being appreciated.
Consequently, this story is also the origin of the "Parade Law" - one of the few edicts declared by princess Celestia unilaterally. "No parade, demonstration or public exhibition can be considered legal without a clear and feasible alternative date with no less then a week of deviation past the proffered." - in short, princess Celestia have had been affected by "Snubbed Parade" even worse then princess Luna - badly enough to make it illegal to happen again. Unfortunately enough, neither this measure, nor many other of princess Celestia`s attempts to underscore the equality between herself and princess Luna had any lasting effect on society.
Social climate between 700 AD and 1000 AD is marked with growing imperialism of Equestria - many of the neighboring countries saw the military action between Crystal Empire and Equestria as a sign of weakness and sought to exploit the seemingly "weakened" Equestria. In practice, the opposite of that was true - while prior to altercation with Crystal Empire, Equestria maintained only token military to keep peace and order on it`s territories, the threat of armed invasion by Sombra prompted a spike in Equestrian militarization. While it`s not proven as a historical fact and princess Celestia refused to comment on it, there is a strong possibility that alicorn princesses elected to reveal the military techniques and know-hows developed during the Millenia of Strife and subsequently lost during Time of Discord.
As such, many a neighbor looking for quick expansion on Equestria`s expense ended up running afoul of a full-blooded army eager to put their newfound knowledge to good use. Some of the most known examples include the War of Bloody Pass fought from 713 till 716 AD which afforded Equestria most of territory making up Hoofington county and the First Southern War, which lasted only from spring to autumn of 728 AD, and is widely touted as one of the catalysts for Minos Royal Family fall from grace and minotaur society converting to constitutional monarchy in 750 AD. Among less gruesome events a diligent historian simply must mention the Vodka War, which lasted throughout the most part of ninth century, from 803 AD till 866 AD. WHat makes this war notable is the fact that it had not accrued a single casualty and was largely fought by elected champions of respective armies - fights being drinking contests of unprecedented magnitude. While initially a serious endeaour, by 850 AD this war became a yearly event not unlike any other festival. Despite this, it took sixteen more years to arrive to officially signed peace treaty (Signed by sir Bearington the Seventh and princess Luna of Equestria), after which the "fighting" had officially became the festival of "Last Day", celebrated on the last day of summer. While not all of Equestria observes this festival, it`s still one of the strongest and most revered traditions both in Rusmane and Sibearia. Consequently, that was the first, last and only war ponies ever fought with the Bear Conclave.
While princess Luna`s popularity has had been revitalised on the wave of Equestrian imperialism, the resurgence was short-lived, historically speaking. As Equestrian military successes discouraged neighbors one by one, public opinion shifted from conquest to civil endeavours. Second Southern War (913-914 AD), while formally a success, had very mixed reception in Equestria. Many of the ponies felt that buffalo tribes simply didn`t compare well to the full might of Equestrian military, and treating them as hostile combatants was a mistake. Rather, public opinion saw them as uneducated savages that needed missionaries far more then they needed soldiers. How much of a truth behind this opinion remains open to discussion - what is known for certain, however, is that buffalo tribes did not recover from a strike of this magnitude. While independant tribes remained relatively unscathed under the protectorate of Equestria, they never united again, nor achieved enough prominence to be considered an independant nation ever again.
The aftermath of this war left princess Luna`s public image tarnished, contemporary documents often citing her "excessive zeal" and "militancy" as being counterproductive to the "mission of peace" that Equestria at large seemed to have had accepted. An exerpt from a minor noble`s diary examplifies the attitude the best - "...While resplendent in her onyx armor, I could not have helped myself but shiver in her presence, for princess Luna was unquestionably terrifying. Like a ghost of our war-torn past given form, she towers above us mere ponies as a dark remainder of how cruel we can be, if not tempered by mercy of harmony..." - viscount Purple Prose, year 927 AD.
This attitude was pervasive throughout the period of time from 900 to 1000 AD. Obviously enough, practice of seeing princess Luna as a remainder of what society had deemed as "dark past" heavily affected princess Luna`s opinion of ponies and finalised her transformation into Nightmare Moon, which finally happened in 1010 AD. While, thankfully, princess Celestia managed to subdue and contain Nightmare Moon on the moon, the backlast resulting from the magic fight rendered Everfree Castle and large swath of area around it completely uninhabitable. On princess Celestia`s decision, the capitol have had been moved to the city of Canterlot, which at the moment was a minor mining settlement centered around the foundations of one of the unicorn castles dating back to pre-Unification. Nonetheless, it was the closest settlement to the Everfree that could be feasibly expanded enough to be a capitol.
Years 1010-2010 AD are collectively known among the historians as Golden Millenium. During this time, Equestria remained relatively static both in geopolitical and social climate, retaining the civic expansion and diplomacy values prevalent since 900 AD. While since then history counts several major wars, none of them counted Equestria as a participant (see "The History and Art Of War" by Sun Stun for details on major conflicts).
Golden Millenium itself is divided into three major periods - Bolstering, Construction and Prosperity. Bolstering period was the shortest and lasted merely a century from 1000 AD to 1100 AD, during which Equestria experienced a prolonging birth boom. Construction period lasted for subsequent two and half centuries, from 1100 AD and 1350 AD. It`s name refers to the fact that those years have had seen the founding of most major cities in Equestria and rapid development of global infrastructure. Last period, Prosperity, lasted from 1350 AD till now. It`s name is telling as well, and suggests exactly what it says on the tin - last six centuries or so are unquestionably a period of uninterrupted prosperity and economical growth for Equestria. About the most notable historical fact about this age is, however, the birth of princess Mi Amore Cadenza in 1979 AD - the first birth of an alicorn since Times of Discord.
(Purely speculatively, some collateral evidence as well as some of the odder slip-ups and misspokes by princess Celestia suggest that there may have had been naturally born alicorns prior to Time of Discord beyond her and her sister. Unfortunately, princess Celestia flatly refused to comment on such theories, claiming that memories of that time are far to painful for her to revisit. It is widely speculated that princess Celestia and princess Luna are two sole survivors of a family or maybe even a small clan of alicorns that have had been otherwise exterminated by Discord or windigos. Obviously enough, regardless of how curious this might be, it`s strongly unadvised for any scholars to try and take this up with princess.)
As of 2010 AD, we are are entering a new age, tentatively dubbed as an Age of Wonders. Collectively, the events of these days are many, and are best described in works dedicated to the last few years solely. In this particular opus, we will merely summarize the events. As of 2010 AD, princess Luna have had been recovered from the moon and reinstated as diarch of Equestria - a role which so far she discharges honorably and with utmost effort. 2011 AD saw a brief escape and subsequent recapture of Discord. 2012 AD saw, subsequently, a royal wedding (princess Cadence and Shining Armor) interrupted by changeling invasion, reappearance of Crystal Empire and summary execution of king Sombra as he attempted to resume his conquest plans, and release of Discord and his reformation (An event that is still hotly disputed and will likely remain a subject of discussion for millenias to come. Can a physical embodiment of strife be reformed by friendship? The answer, apparently, is yes.) Finally, in 2014, Equestria saw the destruction of Magic Thief Tirek and establishment of diplomatic contact with changeling hive of Demeshe.
Timeline synopsis.
before 4000 BC - primitive ponies establishing first tribes and communities.
4000 BC - 2500 BC - formation of triune morphology.
2800 BC - 2200 BC - sporadic migration to the north.
1845 BC - founding of Typhoon.
1780 BC - founding of Air Rock.
1700 BC - 600 BC - Millenium of Strife
900 BC - first appearances of Discord in folklore.
650 BC - Earth pony unification under chancellor Iron Hoof.
700 BC - 600 BC - first sightings of windigoes.
502 BC? - first disappearance of Crystal Empire.
500 BC - 250 AD - Time of Discord, Fimbulwinter, Great Unification, Appearance of Alicorn Sisters, Petrification of Discord.
100 AD? - first reappearance of Crystal Empire.
250 AD - first documentary evidence with decisive timeframe after the Time of Discord, "Starswirl`s Journal".
283 AD - coronation of princesses Celestia and Luna.
300 AD - alicorn princesses take control of sun and moon.
690 AD - king Sombra assumes control of Crystal Empire.
695 AD - king Sombra issues first openly hostile orders against Equestria.
698 AD - king Sombra is deposed forcibly, causes second disappearance of Crystal Empire in retaliation.
700 AD - 1000 AD - Equestrian imperialism.
713 AD - 716 AD - War of Bloody Pass.
728 AD - First Southern War.
803 AD - 866 AD - Vodka War.
913 AD - 914 AD - Second Southern War.
1010 AD - banishment of Nightmare Moon.
1010 AD - 2010 AD - Golden Millenium.
1000 AD - 1100 AD - Bolstering.
1100 AD - 1350 AD - Construction.
1350 AD - 2010 AD - Prosperity.
2010 AD - present - Age of Wonders.
Interesting read, I may have to look at this time to time if I need to consider Equestrian History.
Very interesting. I like many of the details you suggest, especially regrading the evolution of the races and emergence of magic.
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I`ve had a plot in mind that involved archeology... And no, not the whip-snapping kind of archeology. So jotted down things a little, and well... that happened.
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Be my guest.
Finally, I see someone else who thinks that it's silly to mark the banishment of Nightmare Moon as zero. Somehow it rarely occurs to people that were Nightmare Moon's return occur on year 1000, everypony would be waiting for it.
I ended up deciding to put it into 2012, though. :)
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Somehow, I don`t think ponies would count their calendar from the banishment. I picked more pivotal point for the turnover. I imagine.
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I've been trying to assemble a chronology that accounts for as much visible primary and secondary canon as possible, and It seems to me, that there are little, if any, canonical grounds to suppose that Celestia has been in power for longer than about 1500 years. Journal of the Two Sisters insists that all the characters mentioned in Hearth's Warming Eve are not merely historical, and don't just overlap the lifetimes of Celestia and Luna, but also, were still alive and very active on the day of their coronation and for quite a while afterwards. (This little book literally creates a canon problem every two pages.) Counting years from a purely hypothetical date is not unknown in history, though.
Somewhere along the line you just have to drop it and start filling in holes with whatever makes a better story, I suppose. :)
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The biggest problem I have with hearthwarming six being alive and well during Celestia and Luna`s coronation is the fact that neither Celestia nor Luna did something about windigoes. Neither did Starswirl, for that matter, and even the most hidebound pegasi would know better then to dismiss the words of known mage and sage - he could`ve prompted Unification simply by telling the three arguers that either they figure something out, or bad shit goes down.
My way of reconciling the whole mess was to suggest there is a dynasty of Starswirls, and one who mentored Clover the Clever is a distant ancestor to one who`s diary Celestia passes on to Twilight.
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My solution was that Hearthwarming play seen on screen is entirely allegorical, characters mentioned therein are archetypal folklore not unlike Paul Bunyan, and windigoes simply couldn't be dealt with easily. The Journal of the Two Sisters creates a problem for this, but I have a much more dramatically useful explanation of what it really is. :)
Starswirl could be a bit of a problem, though, thanks for pointing this out.
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NP.
Quite interesting. Some points are similar to my own theories, for instance a time-variant Age of Discord. (Equestrian historians officially set it as a century, which covers the slowest known areas and keeps the dating simple.) Also notable how you manged to fit the unicorns into a proper sky-sea-land triangle.
I admit, I tend to use a shorter timeframe, with Unification about 1800 years pre-show and the Age of Discord from 1400 to 1300. I probably wouldn't give Celestia a thousand-year reign if it wasn't fundamental canon...
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I tend to think pony society tends to long periods of relative stasis, interspersed with spikes of intense advancement, since they tend to depend on outstanding personalities for introducing advances most and foremost and don`t seem to focus much on assembling a great number of mediocrities to hammer out the new things by lots of trial and error.
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Even so, "timeline stuffing" bugs me. Something is always happening. Though the show does take place in a time of unusal change - but that might be passing OR the beginning of a nonstop "modern era" where a pony's grandfoals will be raised in a very differnt world.