Equestria's Dark Ages to Dance of Discord
by Walter P. Pennyham (2012)
The fact that Queen Celestia holds a very tight leash on the borders of Equestria and likewise its history makes delving very far into the origin of Ponies and the general history of Equestria very problematic. Historians more or less must get on their knees and beg Celestia to delve into certain details or hand on her words like hawks, hoping to pick up any information she may accidentally give off or purposely give off (such information usually is minor but historians have taken a putting-together-a-puzzle like attitude towards any tidbit of information). While the vast history of Equestria is unknown, the farthest back we are able to trace Equestrian History is 500 BC.
Before the Foundation of Equestria.
This is actually due to a rare occurance, finding Equestrian artifacts outside of Equestria which while in many cases Celestia asks returned this find being unique in nature. Compared to being the Rosetta Stone of Equestria, the object in question is The Kansas City Tablet. While found close to the Kansas City Hopewell mound its origin is actually older, but its arrival in the Kansas area being somewhere around 1200AD. The stone the tablet is set in matches up with that common in Equestria and historians can only speculate it once belonged to one of the Equestrian Humans tribes that lived on the Columbia Plateau and at somepoint it was carried eastward-possibly by raiders or even lost in trade.
The tablet depicts a scene of a valley hemmed in with large mountains, and on it groups of Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns, and Humans trading amongst each other. The top portion of the tablet is broken, but a edge in the upper left corner indicates a leg of another pony of some kind (possibly the sister of Celestia). The clumped and clustered groupings of humans and ponies seems to indicate that each group were seperate from one another and that this tablet may have been in commemoration of a trade deal between the Human tribe and the various Equestrian Pony groups. This is the oldest evidence of Pre-Equestria, before the Kingdom of Equestria was established by the Alicorn sisters.
Following this discovery, Celestia slowly released more information about Equestria before her total rule and gradually a picture began to take shape for historians everywhere.
During a unknown period until the establishment of Equestria, Celestia and her sister, Luna are said to have taken a off hands approach to the inhabitants of the Equestrian Valley. While it is said she did not discourage the migration of Ponies from the Equestrian Valleys he made it clear that she would not be able to protect them from the dangers (mostly humans). Therefore at this period, the majority of Ponies were concentrated in the Equestrian Valley from the site of Fillydelphia (Portland, Oregon) to Hoofington (Eugene, Oregon) in various city-states. The city of Canterlot is said to be established by 20AD, where the residence of the Alicorns before that is unknown but some rumors say that is to Canterlot around the town of Ponyville (Sweet Home, Oregon). While the majority of Ponies did live in the Equestrian Valley, evidence points out that settlements of ponies did exsist around the area of Manehatten (Astoria, Oregon) and Seaddle (Seattle, Washington). Also the past incarnations of Cloudsdale did exsist, traveling out of Equestria and over the Clydes Plateau and the Buffalo Range (Eastern Oregon), and over the Diamond Dog Hills, close to Big Apple (Yakima, Washington).
A clear seperation is made amongst the Ponies, with the Earth Ponies living close to the Equestrian River and being the main agricultural produces -mostly a native type of oats-, the Pegasi mostly sticking to their cloud city (though evidence points that some may have founded the first settlements outside of the Equestrian Valley like Manehatten and Seaddle) but being the biggest traders with the outside world, and the Unicorns sticking to stone fortress-monasteries in the hills. Prior to Equestria, it is said by Celestia, the Ponies were rife with battle amongst themselves, humans who periodicly made raids across the Clydesia River, Griffons who attacked anyone, and occasionally Diamond Dogs and Dragons (and their related Hydra cousins). Various forms of government practice exsisted variously, from tribalism to monarchism to even democratic socialism amongst the city-states. While the Ponies revered the Alicorn Sisters as goddesses, they were prone to not listen to either of their words, especially as both Alicorn Sisters seemed to be in seclusion.
This chaotic order changed in 10 BC with the arrival of Discord. It is unknown where he came from but it is very possible that he traveled across the globe inciting various forms of chaos (it is a common thing said amongst Ponies that his influence never left the remainder of the world outside of Equestria). However long he had been, in 10 BC he suddenly make proclamation that reached even the ears of the Alicorn Sisters. He proclaimed that everyone was invited to a dance on his stone boat which he sailed up and down the banks of the Equestrian River inviting the leaders of the various Equestrian Pony City-States and villages for a evening of fun, afterward he would leave with those invited not remembering what had happened the night before. Finally he arrived at the doorsteps of the Alicorn Sisters, both refusing his invitation. Discord was not one to give up, and tried many times to break into the Castle of the Alicorn Sisters but it is said that the sun, moon, and stars would get in his way at every attempt he made. Finally he did give up and sailed to Fillydelphia, and declared that the first song of his dance was done, but the next was about to begin so he took a pipe insturment in his claw and paw and began to play sending out a horrorific series of ear biting notes across Equestria, he called it The Dance of Discord. Across Equestria, those leaders that had accepted his invitation suddenly went barking mad as they began to explode with chaotic magic and the areas around them began to change into scenes of physics defying madness, afflicting even their fellow Ponies who went insane (or as it is termed 'Became Screwballs'). In this disorder Discord was able to move freely thoughout all of Equestria, his powers growing with the anarchy as leaderless areas of Equestria surcumbed to madness and Ponies blamed other Ponies and attacked each other.
Those that became Screwballs attacked their fellow ponies, sometimes in harmless pranks and in other instances horrofic displays such as baking ponies into cupcakes! Even the Alicorn Sisters were affected by this, weakened as the Chaos that Discord spread became like posion to them, weakening their powers. Soon Discord with his wicked insturment began to control the Screwballs into an army, attacking those Ponies still sane. The Earth Pony farms suddenly became flooded as the Equestrian river turned to choclate and overflowed its banks, he threw acidic tomatoes at the Pegasi Cloud City, and the Unicorn stone cities turned to swiss cheese! As he tormented the Ponies, the Alicorn Sisters slowly regained their strength after they fled into the Mountains of Dawn where they found Ponies, Humans, Griffons, Diamond Dogs, and even Dragons who were tormented by Discord's regin. Gathering those tormented by Discord together, Celestia lead a army of friendship and order to battle Discord's Screwballs and reclaim Equestria; meanwhile Luna left with a small group of Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns deeper into the Mountains of Dawn. Following the words of the Dragons who slumbered in the deepest caves of the mountains she found the oldest and most brilliant of jewels...from these she would instill in each the most endearing and greatest ideas that represented friendship amongst ponies...creating the Elements of Harmony.
In the Battle of Fillydelphia, the Alicorn Sisters lead their army against Discord's maddned one. Earth Ponies and Humans lead the charge against maddned Screwballs and warped creations of flesh and earth created by Discord. Pegasi and Griffons bombarded the Discordian army with hail and lightning. Unicorns popped in and out of the battle field taking away the injured, while Diamond Dogs dug pits under the pawns of Discord. At the height of battle as Discord seemed poised to win as he used his full magical power to fuel his insane creations-Celestia and Luna struck with the Elements of Harmony! Discord was encased in stone, his chaotic magic was cut off from the world but inside his stone prision it would grow...
Those who became Screwballs were cured of their madness and rejoyced at being reunited with their friends and family. Then and there, Celestia and Luna declared that they would forever guard Equestria from chaos and anarchy, starting with all disharmony amongst Ponies.
The year was 0 AD. The foundation of Equestria.