A "Brief" Guide to Equestria

I started work on this because I was very bored. Basically, it's a running reference guide of all the technology, materials, societocultural aspects, and other various notes I could make on the world of MLP: FIM.

...So far I only have notes for the first two episodes, as well as some general speculation, but I think you'll find it worth a read if you need more concrete info for a story.

A Brief Guide to Equestria: Extended Edition (now with x2 more briefness)

Presuppositions:

-Size: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/15664/what-is-the-relative-scale-of-the-my-little-pony-universe

Height is from tip of front hoof to tip of ear, determined from size comparison to average human teenage girl (inaccurate, but precise).

Twilight Sparkle (post-ascension): 3’ 2” (38”)

Spike: 2’ 6” (including comb on top of head, 2’ without) (30”)

Adult pony (approximate range): 3’ – 3’ 6” (36 - 42”)

Filly/Colt (approximate): 2’ 4” (28”)

Princess Cadance: 3’ 7” (43”)

Shining Armor: 3’ 11.5” (47.5”)

Princess Luna: 4’ 5” (53”)

Princess Celestia: 5’ (60”)

Queen Chrysalis: 5’ 6.5” (66.5”) (Measured from top of head to bottom of hoof owing to different ear shape.)

Gravity: http://shnatsel.blogspot.com/2014/04/and-now-for-something-completely.html

Adjusting for Spike’s new height: 16 Spikes = 480” = 40’

Framerate of MLP: FIM- 24 fps (19 frames fall = 19/24 of a second, or about 0.8 s)

h = gt²/2 => 12.192 m = g(0.79166… s)²/2 => g = 2(12.192 m)/(0.79166… s)² = 19.453 m/s²

Comparison: g_Earth = 9.81 m/s², g_Jupiter = 24.79 m/s²

Safety: Humans can (and do) experience forces of 1-3g while on Earth for minutes at a time with few adverse effects. However, prolonged exposure leads to hypoxia, loss of consciousness in the brain, swelling and bruising of feet and lower extremities. Long-term effects include becoming shorter, spinal compression/herniated discs. Without magical intervention, humans could not survive on Equestria’s planet for more than a few minutes at a time.

Demographics: https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/3/23/1394230__safe_analysis_chart_charts+and+graphs_math_pie+chart_population_statistics.png

Population (so far): 1,509 (as of Mar. 23, 2017)

Overall Race: 59% Earth, 20% Pegasi, 21% Unicorn

-May be skewed due to high concentration in Ponyville (an Earth pony town)

Overall Sex: 56.0% Female, 44.0% Male

-Children: 70.6% Female, 29.4% Male

Overall Age: 90% Adult, 10% Child

Comparisons:

-Overall Humanity: Race is too varied for comparison. 50.5% male, 49.5% female. 73.7% adult, 26.3% child. Population 7.6 billion.

-America: 73.6% White, 12.6% Black/African American, balance others. 80.2% adult, 19.8% child (age cutoff of 15 yrs). Population 327,117,023 (est. as of 2018).

Weight: Unknown.

Estimation: ‘Miniature ponies’ weigh approximately 150 to 350 pounds and are of comparable size to MLP ponies. Assuming similar body density and rough composition, Earth ponies can be speculated to have a similar weight range.

Pegasus ponies would need a lighter weight to have increased lift capability. Estimating from a ratio of the approximate density of a bird (air sacs reinflated = 0.73 g/mL) to the approximate density of a horse (1.254 g/mL, calculated from average weight of a species + 3D model volume of that species) and multiplying by the weight ratio above gives 87 to 204 pounds range.

Unicorns may be comparable or lower weight than earth ponies, usually having slimmer builds and less physical exercise (therefore less muscle mass) due to use of magic. Projected range could therefore be 150-250 pounds.

Strength: Unknown.

Estimation: Big Mac is seen pulling an entire house during ‘Hearts and Hooves Day’.

Average mass of human house: 80,000 to 160,000 pounds
Assume weight scales with height, avg. height of human is 5’2” to 5’6”, coefficient of static friction is 0.5 to 1.
M_house = (3’ to 3.5’)/(5.16’ to 5.5’)*(80,000 to 160,000 pounds) = 43.636.4 to 108,387.1 pounds
M_house = 19793.14 to 49163.6 kg
W_house = (19793.14 to 49163.6 kg)*(19.453 m/s²) = 383036 to 956379.5 N
F_{pull house} = (383036 to 956379.5 N)*(0.5 to 1) = 192,517 to 956,379.5 N
Comparisons:

Average pulling force of human: 100-200 N (peak fitness adult male)
Hysterical-strength pulling force of human: 15696 N
Average pulling force of draft horse: 35,398 N
Assuming Big Mac is acting under hysterical strength:

Average pulling force of Big Mac: (100 to 200 N)/(15696 N) * (192517 to 956379.5 N) =
1226.5 to 12186.3 N

New estimate: Volume of house pulled from 3D model approximation as 1.63510403172 to 2.7819407432 m³
Density of house assumed to be equal to density of clay => M_hpuse = 1754.47 to 3029.53 kg
F_{pull house} = (1754.47 to 3029.53 kg)*(19.453 m/s²)*(0.5 to 1) = 17,064.85 to 58,933.45 N

At absolute worst (second estimate, minimum value), Big Mac is roughly as strong as an adult male human at the peak of fitness, but nearly 326 times weaker than an average draft horse. At best (assuming he’s not acting under hysterical strength and first estimate), he’s 9,563.8 times stronger than a human and 27 times stronger than an average draft horse. Big Mac, having worked on a farm for most of his life, is at the peak of physical fitness, so normal ponies may be significantly below this, possibly down to half of this pulling strength for the average adult stallion (including pegasi and unicorns).

Magic:

Confirmed spells:

Unicorn magic:

Transmutation
Telekinesis
Teleportation
Barrier Generation
Directed Energy Beam
Phaseshifting (‘walking through walls’)
Localized Gravity Manipulation
Light Emittance
Color Manipulation
Object Conjuration
Searching/Seeking Objects
Temporal Control
Age Control
Invisibility
Interdimensional Transport (*Star Swirl)

Alicorn magic:

Lucid Dreaming (Luna)
Magical Locking (Celestia)
Magic Boosting/Transfer (All)
Magic Reversion (‘undoing’ spells, effects) (Celestia)
Raising sun/lowering moon (Celestia, Luna both)
Memory Viewing (Zecora’s potion?)
Emotional Manipulation (Cadance… but not in that way)

Other types of magic:

Shadow Magic/’Hatred’
Magic of Friendship
Love Magic
Chaos Magic

Non-unicorn spells:

Directed Energy Beam (Tirek)
Hypnosis (Chrysalis)
Emotional magic (Changelings feed on this)
Illusory magic (Changelings)
Crystal Growth (Sombra)
Magic Draining/Stealing (Tirek)
Incineration (Chrysalis)
Magical Fear (Sombra)

Details:
-Transmutation (Frog to orange, frog was still alive and functional; Trixie making one of Dash’s wings larger than the other, Dash suffered no bloodloss or capillary effects; Twilight growing a mustache on Spike from nothing, Twilight transforms herself and others into Breezies, etc.)

-Telekinesis (Several adult unicorns seen lifting one to several objects in the air, seemingly with little effort. Starlight is also shown using it on herself to fly).

-Teleportation (Twilight uses this several times. No or very few other unicorns are shown using this spell, indicating it may be advanced/difficult).

-Barrier Generation (Shining Armor uses this extensively, able to cast a shield over all of Canterlot, and Cadance later uses a similar spell with her love magic to shield the entire Crystal Empire. Twilight might have used one during her fight with Tirek. Likely a highly advanced spell, as Twilight mentions that Shining is the only real user).

-Directed Energy Beam (Twilight uses this vs. changelings, Flurry uses this accidentally).

-Phaseshifting (Pound Cake uses this accidentally to float through walls).

-Gravity Manipulation (Twilight uses this in the Crystal Empire to reverse the local gravitational pull, Pound Cake uses this accidentally to float, pegasi may use a more general variant to walk on clouds).

-Light Emittance (Rarity, Twilight, Trixie, and many other unicorns use this, suggesting it can either be a side effect of other spells or a simple, beginner’s spell).

-Light/Color Manipulation (Trixie uses this to turn Rarity’s hair green, Twilight may have used this).

-Shadow Magic (‘Hatred’) (Sombra, Celestia, and Twilight are all shown as able to use this, and features additional effects of purple smoke from the eyes and a black horn aura).

-Lucid Dreaming (Luna either awakens or utilizes this ability in other ponies to have conversations with them while asleep).

-Magical Locking (Celestia uses this on the room holding the Elements. May have been used elsewhere?).

-Conjuration (Trixie is shown conjuring scissors, pies and others during Magic Duel. May be an advanced spell, as these objects seemingly come from nothing and she was heavily boosted by the Alicorn Amulet).

-Magic Boosting (Cadance can lend her magic to Shining passively, alicorns could directly transfer all magic to Twilight, artifacts can boost wielder’s magic)

-Temporal Control (Twilight, Starlight are both seen traveling back in time and affecting the current timeline multiple times. Backwards and forwards control is apparently possible, though the forward may just be a return to the user’s native spot in the timeline. Highly advanced magic, locked away in one of Celestia’s personal libraries).

-Searching (Rarity uses this extensively to find gemstones).

-Age Control (Subset of temporal manipulation specifically affecting only one target’s aging process. Noted by Twilight as difficult even for her).

-Reversion (Celestia uses this in Lesson Zero, and again in Cutie Mark Chronicles to undo Twilight’s out-of-control magic. Unknown difficulty).

-Invisibility (Starlight uses this to hide herself and Trixie from changelings).

-Dimensional Transport (Star Swirl’s Mirror, Power Ponies comics).

Non-unicorn spells:

-Destructive Energy (Tirek uses this extensively vs. Twilight. Manifests as an orange ball between his horns that fires a vaporizing beam).

-Hypnosis (Chrysalis uses this on Shining Armor during A Canterlot Wedding).

-Emotional draining (ability unique to changelings, providing them sustenance).

-Illusory magic (Variant unique to changelings allowing for flawless appearance of disguises. Does not disguise mannerism or actions – five senses only?)

-Crystallization (Sombra uses this and shadow magic to nullify Shining Armor’s horn, and by extension his magic).

-Magic draining (Tirek’s other unique ability. Completely drains the magical reserves of one or multiple targets, including innate magics such as pegasus magic and earth pony magic if intensity is strong enough).

-Chaos magic (Discord’s unique ability. Obeys absolutely no rules whatsoever. Fuck yeah).

-Incineration (Chrysalis is shown using this on a hat in A Canterlot Wedding. That poor hat…)

Confirmed list of species:

Intelligent: Able to use tools, speak and write language, exhibit complex mental/emotional behaviors
-Ponies (var. Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus, Alicorn)
Unconfirmed var: Thestral

-Griffons
-Sea Serpents
-Draconequii (singular ‘draconequus’, only one)
-Minotaurs
-Yaks
-Changelings (var. Changed, Unchanged, Queen)
-Umbra (singular ‘umbrum’, only one)
-Breezies
-Centaurs
-Gargoyles
-Dragons
-Diamond Dogs
-Zebras
-Sirens
-Seaponies
-Hippogriffs
-Chimeras (only one)
-Sphinxes (only one)
-Satyrs (only one)

Semi-intelligent: Able to exhibit complex mental/emotional behaviors

-Bunnies
-Bears
-Tortoises
-Eagles
-Var. birds
-Cockatrices
-Hydras
-Tri-horned bunyip
-Cats
-Butterflies(?)

Non-intelligent: Purely animalistic in nature

-Cipactli
-Bugbears
-Dogs
-Cragadiles
-Bees (var. Flash Bees)
-Flyders
-Fruit bats
-Jackalopes
-Maulwurfs
-Orthros’
-Parasprites
-Pigasi
-Quarray eels
-Slingtails
-Star spiders
-Tatzlwurm(s?)
-Timberwolves
-Ursa Major/Minor
-Squirrels (var. flying)

Unknown intelligence:

-Cyclopes (singular ‘Cyclops’)
-Phoenixes
-Goats
-Storm Creatures

Unconfirmed species (non-canon, etc.)

-Demon (Equestria Girls, result of transformation)

Cutie Marks: Determine what a pony’s eventual ‘destiny’ is. Usually visually represented as something related to their special talent/name (Pinkie’s is party balloons, Rarity’s is gems, Luna’s is a crescent moon, etc.) Ponies appear to be named ahead of their Cutie Marks, and it is completely unexplained how the names tie in so well to their Marks – more ‘destiny’ at work, maybe? Cutie Marks can exhibit non-static behavior, such as glowing (Diamond Tiara’s, Coloratura’s) and animation (Cheese Sandwich’s).

Magic exists to swap, remove and add Cutie Marks to ponies, usually with negative results – swapping results in uncomfortableness with their new lot in life, removal results in the Mark coming off like a sticker and the pony losing their special abilities, and addition (via Cutie Pox) results in uncontrollable behavior related to performing the Mark that was added.

Ponies can go a considerably long time without earning their Cutie Marks, and are then given the derogatory nickname of ‘blank flanks’ by bullies, indicating a negative connotation to failing to get one’s Cutie Mark within an allotted span of time. Cutie Marks typically appear at the cusp of adolescence (age 12-15?), but some ponies (Cutie Mark Crusaders, notably) have been shown to be late bloomers, getting their Cutie Marks later. Notably, King Sombra (an umbrum-turned-unicorn) has no Cutie Mark, and may cover his flank with his cape to hide this (possible negative political ramifications?)

Different Types:

Unicorn – Magic expressed solely through the horn. Horn serves as a more advanced conduit for the pony’s magic reserves, allowing them to manipulate space and time in more precise and complicated (L. Faust: willfully controlled) manners. Unicorns are noticeably physically weaker than other ponies under standard conditions (re: Tempest Shadow) – the ‘mage’ archetype at work.

Spells (General):

-Triggered by rhyming phrases and the unicorn’s own magic reserves. Repetitive use does not seem to require the phrase, only new use, indicating that phrases may be memorized and mentally recalled to cast spells (the speed of thought being much faster than the speed of speech). Emotions are shown to either enhance or outright alter the effect of spells (Starlight’s frustration causing her spells to merely emit a burst of red smoke, love/hate/friendship magic, etc.). Some spells may be unique to the caster (Alicorn abilities, Shining’s shield, etc.) and thus might require less or even no reserve drain/phrasing, being a manifestation of who they are as a person. There may also be different types of magic – mentioned types include dark magic, shadow magic, love magic, the magic of friendship, etc.

Pegasi – Magic expressed in the wings, possibly other areas to protect from acceleration. This allows them to achieve lift at slower wing cycles and shorter wingspans, survive fatal accelerations, fly straight upwards, among other things. This may imply that a pegasus’ magic compensates for when their wings aren’t providing enough force, resulting in flight lessons being about how to minimize the strain on their magics by more efficient flying. Can physically manipulate weather (unlike other tribes), suggesting magic interaction between their hooves and water/static charges as well.

Earth ponies – Magic expressed (possibly) in the hooves, as these are on average more likely to be craftsmares and farmers than the other types. Usually proclaimed as physically far stronger than the other varieties to balance the tribes, but this is in fact a myth, as the only reference to this is when Alicorn Twilight inherits ‘the strength of a good, true heart of an Earth Pony’. Actual aspect appears to be strictly botanical in nature – a ‘connection to the land’ that allows them to farm and craft far more efficiently than the other tribes. There are some cases of Earth Ponies showing unusual strength, such as pulling entire houses, trains, breaking barricades, etc., but these seem to represent either a superlative individual or a slightly higher overall strength/endurance that allows them to perform menial labor more effectively. This might also be cultural instead of innate – a farming lifestyle nearly invariably leads to higher physical fitness due to the menial labor required to sustain crops.

Crystal Ponies: Cosmetic change to outward appearance of main three ‘tribes.’ Ponies appear translucent and faceted. Eyes are unchanged, as is elasticity of body. Likely magical ‘surface effect’ in nature.

Thestrals: Unconfirmed side species, seen only once as Princess Luna’s Guards. Not the inhabitants of Hollow Shades. Appear to possess a more batlike appearance to regular pegasi, with slit eyes, tufted ears, fangs, and bat wings. See also Fluttershy’s temporary vampiric transformation.

Alicorns: Combined and exaggerated traits of all three tribes. Usually represent an ‘aspect’ of some kind: Confirmed aspects include Sun/Moon/Love/Friendship(Magic). Possibly immortal (Celestia/Luna have been alive for at least 1000-2000 years), and incredibly hard to kill (Re: Twilight vs. Tirek). Can be ambushed and defeated by powerful magic (Re: Tempest Shadow’s takeover, Nightmare Moon’s defeat by the Elements, Celestia vs. Chrysalis, etc.). Often tied to their aspect in some tangible manner (Celestia/Luna raise sun/moon, Cadance uses love magic, Twilight is/was the Element of Magic, etc.).
Theory: Primary/secondary aspects. Celestia – Hopes/Sun, Luna – Dreams/Moon, Cadance – Love/???, Twilight – Friendship/Magic, Flurry - ???/???.

Chapter 2: Society and Culture

Bits:

Size: Approximately half the size of a pony’s hoof in diameter (or about 3”) and about 0.8366 inches in thickness, with an inset on both sides of approximately 0.08821 inches (or about a tenth of the thickness). Assuming no patterns or numbers stamped into the metal (canon… technically), and the inset loss of radius being equal to the depth, this represents an approximate volume of (5.91 in³ – (2 x 0.55 in.³)) = 4.81 in³, or 78.8 cm³. If these were solid gold, they’d weigh 1521.26 g, or 48.91 troy ounces and be worth $64,590 each at today’s gold price. If they were yellow brass, they’d weigh 688.11g and be worth approximately $2.87 each.

Composition: Undetermined. Could be gold and Equestria simply has an abundance of gold like our copper, or could be brass and gold could still be rare. Gold is depicted as a valuable metal… to griffons and dragons, who hoard it as treasure, and is briefly mentioned as the composition of powerful artifacts (Rings of Scorchero). Griffons also collect bits (for the same purpose), so this might indicate that Equestria has a common (or at least well-mined) source of gold, but other countries don’t, in much the same vein as Roman and Byzantine gold coins being worth so much elsewhere. It is also possible that Equestrian currency has a high exchange rate, making bits more valuable (or, conversely, that whatever griffon currency might exist is suffering hyperinflation and hoarding bits is the only way to accumulate relative wealth for griffons). Few copper objects seen, so most likely answer is either that all copper ores in Equestria are contaminated with a poor metal such as zinc or tin, or that gold is a common metal and is magically reinforced. The only known copper object in the show so far is the Statue of Liberty, which was likely commissioned to be made of a solid copper alloy. It is unknown, if this is the case, why ponies who would have oxygen-excluding reinforcement would not use it on this statue, the oxygen and seawater giving it the distinctive green color. It may be that the statue is simply too large to bother.

Relative Worth: Undetermined. No markings are shown on any bit, and ‘worth’ of transactions vary wildly. Known transactions include:

-Fluttershy: Paid 4 silver bits to commandeer a balloon to Cloudsdale
-Trixie: Paid a large bag of bits for the Alicorn Amulet (est. 150-200 regular size bits?)
-Rainbow: Paid two bits for a drink.
-Pinkie: Haggles 1-2 bits at a market stand for a tomato.
-Fluttershy: Haggles 10-20 bits for a single cherry, which is later sold for 2 to a different mare.
-Applejack: Receives a scaled-up golden bit (the size of her hoof) for saving the town from Flim and Flam.
-‘Credit’ of some form exists in the MLP universe, as Applejack briefly mentions it when trying to sound like a proper salespony. It’s probably checks, as cards wouldn’t have their corresponding cardreaders (at least, not electronic ones).
-Applejack: Sells one of her custom-made food items for 8 bits.
-Certain ponies have Cutie Marks featuring cent and dollar signs, indicating those may indicate ‘money’ in this world. It is undetermined if they specifically refer to Equestrian currency forms, though.

Whatever the case, one bit is at least comparable to one American dollar – within the same order of magnitude in terms of purchasing power.

Technology:

Ponies have definitely reached the beginning/middle stages of the Electronic Age, as evidenced by functioning arcade cabinets, electronic billboard screens (Manehattan), encephalograph machines (Custom-designed by Twilight – may not be accurate), X-ray machines (briefly seen in Read It and Weep), incandescent electric lights, plastic objects (soap bottles), modern headphones/audio setups, etc. The Communication Age has not yet been fully realized, as phones are still in the rotary dial stage and apparently quite rare to own (only one seen in a corporate skyscraper in Manehattan). Magic supplements many of the functions of common modern technology, and Ponyville is noticeably isolated from the technological advancements of other parts of Equestria.

The Friendship Express, noticeably, is an engine-powered train.

Materials:

Wood-based construction is extremely plentiful in Equestria, indicating a well-developed logging industry (to be expected of earth ponies), and clay/plaster/stone appears to be not far behind considering the timber-framed, medieval Hall house designs of Ponyville’s buildings. Manehattan features modern skyscrapers and roads, indicating that structural materials such as asphalt, brick, glass, concrete and steel/aluminum also enjoy high enough production to be used. Brass, gold or a similar golden metal seems to be frequently used, possibly replacing aluminum as a common structural metal. The Friendship Express appears to be composed of a silver structural metal, as well as possibly plastic, wood, and various other accoutrements. Paper is highly prevalent, though parchment-like material appears to be equally so, suggesting wide variation of quality in the paper industry. The parchment-like material appears to be magically reinforced, as Spike could write on it with a sharp (self-inking?) quill in midair without ever puncturing it.

Gemstones are considered valuable, but their concentration by size, quality and number of individual crystals is vastly higher than that of modern Earth (Rarity is able to find several gems of significant size and quality just by hiking out a ways and barely mining ten feet belowground, and Twilight has to keep Spike fed on a constant diet of large, quality gemstones). Gem crystal shapes are not consistent with any natural crystal habit, more closely resembling cut gems (diamond, brilliant, marquise, and others are seen). Gems typically exhibit vibrant primary and secondary colors (red, green, blue, cyan being the most common), and have few if any flaws or inclusions.

Confirmed gemstones:

-Diamond (carbon)
-Sapphire (aluminum oxide w/trace Fe, Ti)
-Ruby (aluminum oxide w/trace Cr)
-Emerald (beryllium aluminium silicate w/trace Cr, V)

E.U.P. armor is made from a golden material. True gold would make absolutely no sense in this context, as it is one of the poorest structural metals in existence (able to be easily cut with a steel knife at STP). However, gold may carry additional magical properties (the Rings of Scorchero appear to be solid gold, evidenced by their heaviness even to two pegasi lifting straight up with their wings), and therefore the armor might be gilded (or, alternatively, it might be gilded for decorational purposes). Celestia’s peytral, crown and shoes are all made of the same color golden material (somewhat likely to be gold, considering she is a princess and these do count as finery), and may be an alloy of gold or gold that has been enchanted to be hard enough to withstand general use. Luna’s raiment, oddly, appears to be composed of a strange black material (possibly obsidian?). Nightmare Moon’s helmet and armor appear to be composed of an equally strange blue material, which may or may not be metallic.

Cultural values:

Friendship: Largest cultural value. As depicted by the Tale of Hearth’s Warming, Elements of Harmony, etc., friendship is very important to ponies as a cultural aspect. However, this does not always transfer into everypony being automatically friendly – see Manehattan, pony villains, Zecora’s entrance, etc.

Harmony: Also important, though how much is undetermined. Working together is a core value of most aspects of pony life, and one that is repeated often throughout the series. Has been directly mentioned a few times outside of the obvious reference of the Elements.

Xenophobia: Not actually a thing, really. Briefly shown when Zecora first appears in Ponyville, but appears to be largely based on her appearance at the time (hooded cloak, mysterious/inexplicable behavior, etc.). Minotaurs, griffons, and many more have visited Ponyville without any (initial) fuss whatsoever.

Economy: Appears to be largely capitalistic in nature, with an established monetary currency replacing the barter system and individual possessions widespread in pony society. Communism of a form did exist in Starlight’s Village, but was presumably eradicated. Taxes have not been referenced, and may not make sense given the context of a pony’s Cutie Mark determining their ‘job’ in life.

Military/Police Force:

E.U.P., standing for Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus Guards are the bulk military force of Equestria. However, they are mostly seen doing what their name actually implies; standing guard over some important pony or location. Rarely, different armor schemes than the normal are seen, namely the Guards at the Canterlot Archives (gunmetal gray, with yellow generalized accents), Luna’s personal Guard (thestrals with midnight blue and pale blue colors), and the Captain, Shining Armor (purple with yellow accents, the ‘royal’ color motif). Guards appear to be highly uniform in appearance (white/dark gray stallions with blue/gray mane and tail, similar body types). This is not due to animation constraints (as ponies in general are usually depicted with unique color schemes, running into dozens of individuals in some scenes), but exceptions do exist (Flash Sentry, for one). It may be that military families all come from a similar enough genetic stock, or that Guards are enchanted to take on a uniform (and thus unified) appearance. Flash Sentry is a Crystal Empire Guard, likely moved from Canterlot duty, and thus he does not strictly fall under the constraints of the E.U.P. Guard designs (other Crystal Guards have also been shown with unique colors).

While Guards are shown possessing weapons (ceremonial swords, trebuchets, etc.), they are never shown actually using them (this is a show for little girls, after all). Even in direct, standing-army-based warfare (seen in the alternate Sombra timeline), the most they engage in is slappy fights. Some have used this to dismiss the Royal Guard as laughably ineffective compared to regular military officers, but others have recognized that long centuries of peacetime may have rendered the need to be physically adept not as high-priority as solving civilian disputes. Smaller locales such as Ponyville do not appear to have a police force of any kind, nor need one.

In terms of offensive power, alicorns occupy the highest tier of effective force compared to any other technology Equestria may possess (save for magical artifacts such as the Alicorn Amulet, etc. that are both rare and usually well-guarded). Therefore, royalty (or at least alicorn royalty) may also serve their country as their main defense force against outside threats, relegating Guards to more general tasks. Some have pointed out that Twilight Sparkle’s relentless befriending of powerful enemies (Trixie, Starlight, Discord, Tempest Shadow, etc.) has shored up additional defensive capacity for Equestria as a whole; however, whether Celestia and Luna would actually exploit this in such a manner remains to be seen.

In the comics, police officers also exist in Manehattan. Given the non-canonicity of comics, it is debatable whether they exist in the show universe, but precedent would exist if this is the case.

The Sun and Moon: The Moon, at least, is physically comparable to our own moon according to tweets from the creators, pointing out that a ‘moon’ would be of different length because the planet’s (and almost certainly the Moon itself’s) size is different for Equestria. Jury’s still out on the relative size of the sun, the binary system as opposed to a traditional heliocentric model, etc. Luna also moves the stars, indicating that said stars are either much smaller than the sun, Luna is significantly harder-working than Celestia, or that the mechanism used to ‘move’ them is not strictly physical (refraction of light, etc.).

Episode 1:

-Intro is presented as a watercolor painting (noticeable canvas texture, no glossy sheen from oil?)

-Intro sequence houses are presented as straw-thatched, homogenously walled simple huts (clay? 1000 years ago)

-Stained glass windows visible in intro sequence (also 1000 years ago)

-“The elder sister took control of the sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since” – Twilight, quoting a book (Note: Generations? Not ‘centuries’ or ‘ever since’?)

-Bonsai trees visible in Canterlot garden while Twilight is reading

-Book used for intro sequence: Appears canvas-bound, images have been painted on (custom-made?)

-Small lake in Canterlot? (visible directly behind Twilight, might just be a pond, natural appearance)

-Canterlot appears to be mostly stone construction, with no visible seams or brickwork – marble?

-Opening theme:

-Twilight’s balloon: Not widely shown as a method of transportation, may be reserved for upper class/hobby of Twilight’s/something else?

-Balloons seen in Pinkie’s bit – rubber/latex has been invented

-Mirrors seen in Rarity’s bit – mirrors are widespread (metallization: typically Ag or Al)

Canterlot is actually mostly grassy, slightly hilly terrain (additional mountains visible in background??)

-Twilight shown levitating 8 books simultaneously and controlling all individual positions

-Unknown pressure vessel seen behind Twilight at 03:23 – steam boiler? (in the middle of a library??)

-Has pressure gauge, central vessel structure shaped like Florence flask, side structure with piping looping through main (looks like… bong??)

-Twilight now shown individually levitating and controlling positions of 20 books… and Spike

-Equestrian written language: Not English! Noted symbols include hoofprint, lightning bolt, crescent moon (in at least 2 orientations, waxing and waning), swirl, unicorn head, unicorn full body, 5-point star, pony tail?, unicorn horn (with swirl), circle with missing circle at top right (not moon, missing portion is within other portion’s boundary). Twilight may be translating from older language?

-Spike writes… incredibly fast with a quill. Also not seen using inkwell? May have self-inking quills

-Paper medium is shown to resist puncture by quill, may be enhanced

-Celestia responds almost instantly, may have had a letter waiting for this occasion?

-Guard pegasi shown to gallop as they fly – similar to humans swinging arms while walking?

-Flying relatively low to the ground, less than 100 m up (rough judgment based on height of tree)

-Twilight’s carriage shown to be solidly composed of golden material, with purple cabochon gem set at the front (royal color motif)

-Brass? Probably not real gold, unless reinforced somehow to be light and hard

-Painted? Unlikely, given homogeneity and texture

-Ponyville: Hall-house style medieval houses, with carved wooden accentuations

-Aesthetic seems to be smoother in nature than human equivalents, less angled shapes

Applejack’s farm:

-Well seen at the front, with rope, crankshaft and cobble exterior

-White metal chain seen on sign at entrance

-Even a barn has noticeably complex architecture – earth pony craftsmareship at work?

-May be due to Apple family being generations old and rich with heritage

-Applejack is shown to be able to support her entire weight on her two back legs!

-Several members of Apple family (extended?) are shown present when Twilight arrives – reunion?

-Twilight’s stomach shown to be twice normal size after overeating, noticeably distended and stretching across most of lower body

-Spike is seen carrying a pencil with eraser rubber and graphite internal rod

-Quills are likely pulled from pegasi, very common – pencil may be somewhat more valuable?

-Pony hair can get frazzled, have strands out of place, and tangled without immediately returning to prior shape. I guess everypony just has really good mane upkeep?

-Rarity shown using French words (coiffure – Eng. ‘hairstyle’)

-Twilight shown dressed as:

-The Statue of Liberty (does exist in Equestria, in/near Manehattan)

-A type of yellow dress with ball-shaped epaulettes, wide-brim hat, flower accentuations, layer fringe

-Similar to above, but more (and larger) red fringe without flowers or hat (with saddle?)

-Blue with white polka dots with folded-up sleeves, pink bow + blue saddle (‘schoolmarm’ look?)

-Fontange? with white curls, yellow saddle and skintight pink suit

-Orange turtleneck (…minus ‘neck’ part), blue long pants with yellow vertical stripe, orange tailband (similar to headband/wristband in rough structure), blue/yellow headband

-Gem-studded corset with two white ribbons for ‘wings’ and small peytral

-Pink, green and purple (rhombus-shaped emerald cut), with large green dipyramid (mentioned by Rarity to be emerald!)

-Light blue, pink simple round cuts

-Rarity’s iris shown to expand to cover her entire eye…?

-Mascara, eyeshadow, eyeliner, other makeup has been invented!

-Rarity mentions rubies to replace emerald on Twilight’s dress

-Twilight mentions Rarity dyeing her coat a new color – dyes and pigments have been invented!

-Twilight mentions Casanova (possibly Casa Nova by pony naming?) in reference to lovestruck Spike

-Fluttershy didn’t know dragons could talk!

-Equestrians may not know much about outside Equestria…

-Lyra is shown to have followed Twilight to Ponyville…?

-Twilight’s mane lights on fire in response to spicy food (may be stylistic choice and not actually real?)

-Pillows, bed are shown (probably feather-based?)

-Telescope is seen (requires optical lens polishing – glassworking industry?)

-Clock next to Twilight shown as approx. 4-5 A.M. Shortly afterward (no time skips shown), Spike urges Twilight to follow him, saying it’s time for the sun to rise.

-Scene immediately afterward shows lightening sky – gradual initial ascent of sun?

-Celebrating longest day of year (summer solstice) – shortest night?

-4 stars shown approaching moon before Mare in Moon vanishes (stars may be literally ‘aiding in [her] escape’?)

Nightmare Moon is shown to have entirely incorporeal form before instantaneously solidifying into usual appearance

-Incorporeal form shown to be tangible (tickled Rarity’s chin)

-Can expand volume seemingly infinitely (entire vortex emanating from hair/tail, complete with lightning strikes and flashes)

-Armor: Homogenous blue substance with white inset crescent moon on peytral

-Changed appearance: Magic can completely alter the body! (changes DNA?)

Post-scriptum (To be continued…) is in English, script is old-style fancy (first letter of sentence enlarged, etc.)

EPISODE 1 ENDING NOTES:

-Canterlot has the ability to mass-produce stone structures, while Ponyville does not. This likely has to do with geoavailability of stone materials, as Canterlot is atop a mountain, while Ponyville makes extensive use of the surrounding forest areas. Diversity of construction may imply that ponies use whatever materials are closest rather than importing, whenever practical. In turn, this would imply that Manehattan is close to extensive enough mining operations to warrant metal construction.

-Only metal seen is a golden material that forms the structural entirety (spoked wheels included) of Twilight’s chariot. This is likely to be brass, or a similar copper alloy, indicating Canterlot may also have metal resources (or metallic imports. It is a palace, after all, and was constructed and is maintained on Princess Celestia’s orders). Canterlot shows noticeably more golden metallic architecture than anywhere else, indicating that they may have a copper vein in the mountain somewhere.

-Rarity mentions emeralds and rubies during her interactions with Twilight, as well as displaying a variety of historical fashion trends (from Victorian to completely modern). From a gem standpoint, this means that Equestria has significant enough reserves of gem-quality beryllium aluminum silicate (with trace chromium/vanadium?) and aluminium oxide (with trace chromium) for them to be used commonly as fashionable accentuations. Additional gems of varying color (cyan, purple, hot pink) are also seen, but could be a wide variety of stones. Common trace impurity suggests that Equestria may have high chromium reserves as well (though distribution may be too homogenous for practical mining).

Possible other metals include:

-Nightmare Moon’s armor. Unknown blue, opaque substance.

-Unknown boiler apparatus in Twilight’s Canterlot library. Rusty pinkish-red in color, but not rust-textured.

Current rating of technology: 1800’s-early 1900’s. Ponyville may be isolated, but Canterlot is the center of attention, equivalent to D.C., Versailles, etc. Alternatively, it may be that Canterlot’s technology has not improved purely due to aesthetic appreciation (it being a palace, and having been built sometime in the last thousand years). Textile, stone, wood, gem, glass, dye/pigment, and possibly metal industries are well-established. Slightly more advanced industries such as optical glass, pencil manufacture, etc. appear to be less common, but still common enough to be seen occasionally.

Politically, Equestria seems to be isolated from the outside world to some extent. Fluttershy didn’t even know dragons were capable of speech, which in later episodes is shown to be a very easy thing to discover even accidentally. In addition, ‘harmony’ is mentioned several times and has extremely positive connotations, indicating equivalence to a national/cultural value on par with religious worship (though not expressed in nearly the same way).

Socially, Equestrian customs are nearly identical to our own. Politeness and rudeness follow similar guidelines, and nothing about the interactions presented are immediately unusual.

Economically, Equestria seems to be well-developed, at the very least the equivalent of a Second or First World country on Earth. It is unknown what, if any trade relations they have with other nations at this time (later episodes mention political talks with Yakyakistan, but not much else).

Environmentally, Equestria seems to be underdeveloped. Large tracts of land are uninhabited, and ponies tend to stick to a few clusters of land in the form of towns and cities. This may have something to do with their inherently social nature.

Episode 2

-Intro sequence: Cart seen has similar diameter wheels to Applejack’s cart – may be standard size?

-Twilight’s library: Bookshelves are shown to be cavities inside tree trunk ‘wall’, look to be excavated manually (smooth, no sharp angles)

-Book exists called “Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide”. May be historical text? May be authored by Star Swirl? (Golden unicorn insignia)

-Everfree Forest: Untamed by pony magic (clouds move on their own, plants grow without Earth pony assistance, animals run wild, etc. Basically normal forest rules).

-Nightmare doesn’t try to affect forest directly at first, sticks to enraging creatures and changing terrain? Then switches to enhancing ‘spooky’ aspects of forest

CREATURE: Manticore

-Head/body of lion, bat-like wings, scorpion tail

-Traditionally: Persian ‘man eater’. Head of human, body of lion, either scorpion tail or poisonous spines along back. No wings.

-Status: Semi-intelligent. Recognizes Fluttershy’s stepping in between the conflicting groups as a non-offensive move, and looks at her in confusion. Also seems to consciously acquiesce to her kindness. Non-vocal, makes typical ‘lion’ sounds (snarling, roaring, purring, etc.). No culture found.

-Nightmare Moon alters trees’ physical appearance to be scarier (‘eyes’, fangs in tree hollows, etc.)

-Pinkie uses song (and laughter) to revert trees to normal appearance, may indicate use of Earth magic?

-Nightmare Moon tears off Steven the River Serpent’s mustache, causing him to make the river impassable by thrashing

CREATURE: River Serpent

-Scaly appearance, but has arms (and possibly legs?)

-Traditional: No information given.

-Aqueous species, but has lungs and vocal cords (may be related to air-breathing reptiles)

-Facial hair (mustache, full head of hair)

Status: Intelligent. Self-grooming is a noted part of the character, and he can speak and recognize the use of tools.

-Rainbow is shown lifting a wooden bridge while flying upward (sustaining and exceeding force of lift from one end)

-Nightmare Moon can create physical constructs from her incorporeal form (thorn, Shadowbolts, etc.)

-Only one Shadowbolt speaks, indicating fine control may be limited to one at a time

-Nightmare Moon creates sound-dampening fog

-Location: Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

-Decrepit and unmaintained. Cobwebs, ivy, destruction and overgrowth suggest this area hasn’t been touched for centuries, and hasn’t been preserved by magic (or if it was, it no longer is).

ARTIFACT: Elements of Harmony

-Former form: Six stone orbs, with differently-shaped gem shapes raised on the surface. Shown to be physically heavy, composed of concrete-like material. Shown to shatter into strangely crystalline, faceted shapes?

-Nightmare Moon shown teleporting herself, Twilight, and the five Elements a short distance

-Sixth Element appears out of nowhere, gem on sphere has form of Twilight’s six-pointed star

-Element shards turn colored, combine into golden necklaces + gems of same color in shape of Bearer’s marks

-Element magic: Double-helical rainbow energy, shown to be physically powerful enough to cause reverberation and shaking effects

-Aftereffects: Shown to physically exhaust Bearers, as well as cause headaches. May be typical aftermath of dealing with high magical flux.

-Rarity’s tail grows back as a result of magical energy (may be some form of ‘gift’ by Element of Generosity?)

-Celestia’s return: Sun shown to rise rapidly, brightening and enlarging into Celestia’s form (may be camera-angled – beam of magic transporting Celestia back to the castle, looks like point when viewed head-on?) Voice heard before transfer is complete, with ‘echo’ suggesting magical projection

-Celestia notes that although Twilight was magically powerful enough to defeat Nightmare Moon, she couldn’t use the Elements until she ‘let friendship into her heart’ (ignited spark). May represent safety trigger to prevent Elements’ misuse by ill-intending strangers?

-Celestia’s/Luna’s combined chariot: Yellow/purple motif. Shown to have larger back wheels, as well as back-facing ‘throne’. Mostly golden metal material, but has purple accents. Notably has crescent moon on one of the wheels – Kept all this time, or just made? Likelier the former, but knowing Celestia’s planning abilities… Pulled by four Guard Pegasi.

-Celestia uses official Royal Decree to let Twilight move to Ponyville permanently following aftermath of Summer Sun Festival, requesting that Twilight ‘report her findings’ (no time frame given) ‘from her new home in Ponyville’. Princesses may be able to directly override normal process of moving? (And, probably, normal process of anything else).

EPISODE 2 ENDING NOTES:

-Celestia possesses immense political power and a widely known reputation, while Luna is almost completely unknown at this point – several of the Elements were visibly shocked that she had a living relative in the form of a sister, despite knowing about Nightmare Moon. It may be that Celestia allowed the specific detail that her sister became the dream demon to become lost to time, thereby granting Luna a chance at a fresh start once she returned. This… didn’t really work, though.

-Golden chariot from earlier shown to have a metallic sheen, confirming metallic nature. Some materials appear to be enchanted to be stronger, and given the absence of copper-colored architecture and objects in Canterlot, two possible conclusions arise: That gold is indeed being used as an engineering material in Canterlot, and is either being magically reinforced or made thick enough to withstand general use; or that any copper ore in Canterlot occurs coincidentally with high concentrations of zinc, tin or a similar poor metal (thereby making it technically a ‘brass ore’ or ‘bronze ore’). Gold is notoriously easy to shape even at room temperature, whereas brass needs to be machined, hot-forged or cast, and given the supposed existence of magical reinforcement spells posited earlier for the paper/parchment material, it is possible that the material is in fact reinforced gold metal. An additional possibility is that the chariot is gilded, but this wouldn’t make sense from a wear or a galvanic corrosion standpoint, especially around the wheels and joints, unless the gilding metal plate was again magically reinforced. Occam’s Razor would state that gilding would therefore be an unnecessary touch, save for the following information:

-Gold is especially compatible with magical reinforcement, making it an ideal outer shell against environmental wear.

-Another metal is shown to have high use in Canterlot, and is structurally superior to gold.

-Paper ribbons and streamers are shown, indicating that paper or a similar material is widely manufactured enough to be used in consumable party products. In human terms, this would in turn indicate high production of sodium hydroxide, bleach, dyes and pigments for the different color streamers, as well as rolling and screening machinery and chemical digestion tanks. This would suggest that at least some parts of Equestria have entered the Industrial Age, with high production volumes and uniform product.

-Politically, Celestia seems able to override just about anything with the power of her decree alone (though she does get Spike to get it in writing). While this may represent absolute power, it is more likely that the inherently social nature of Equestrian society and politics means that others see the logic or morality in her requests and fail to object. While she is also shown to have immense magical power, she is rarely seen using it.

-Socially, Equestrians (or at least Ponyville citizens) seem resistant to emotional trauma, returning to a party-throwing and celebratory attitude with enthusiasm mere hours after the end of eternal night. This may be due to relief, but no citizens are shown with such emotions, indicating either a lack of animation as such or the above hypothesis.

-Technologically, Equestria seems to be all over the map. One guess is that different areas of the country developed different levels of technology, and aid the others via exports. Another guess is that Equestrians only developed technology that they couldn’t replicate with magic, thus offsetting some human technological discovery rates while boosting others. Ponyville is shown to be a ‘backwater’ area despite proximity to Canterlot, and mainly inhabited by Earth ponies whose technological prowess mainly consists of farming, crafts and food.

Comments

[Hybrus]

As far as I can see their are no notes about evolution. Why?

[awesomesauce4]

4802260
No prior evolutionary steps to ponies have, to the best of my knowledge, been shown or discussed. I could talk about evolutionary traits of ponies and why they may have been advantageous, but that would have almost no evidence and be mostly speculation.

[Hybrus]

I beg to differ. If we go from G1 to the infamous G3.5 it could be because of lack of danger. The lack of danger could make them smaller in size so they can conserve resources and take up less space, ex the dwarf elephants. The reason they grew bigger is that predators were returning to the environment, the variety I can't explain yet but it would make the most sense to me. And your right about it being uncanon, but if previous G's were actual occurring events in history, this could be a useful source for ancient weapons such as the rainbow of light going to the tree of harmony. Just food for thought. Also your "Thestral's" are actualy called bat ponies as seen in the book Princess Luna and the festival of the winter moon.
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[awesomesauce4]

4802389
I prefer not to use the comics or books as any source of canon information. They can provide supplementary material if they agree with canon on a point, but if there's no support for a concept within the show I tend to leave it alone. That said, my new versions do address the possible 'bat-pony' subclass name for Luna's guards, and can be found here: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/20/human-in-equestria/thread/351784/full-analysis-of-equestria-canon