Okay, all previous blog entries will go here. All future ones will go here as well.

The Setting

Greetings and welcome to the first of a series of worldbuilding blog posts, which will hopefully flesh out my little 'verse and have it make even the slightest bit of sense. This information pertains to the stories The Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds, Side-Stories of First Contact, The Conversion Bureau: United We Stand and, to a lesser extent, Culture Clashes

1. What's the story, morning glory?

The various Hasbro cartoons of the 1980s'-Transformer Generation One, GI Joe, A real American hero, Jem and the Holograms, My Little Pony, Dungeons and Dragons anbd Inhumanoids semi-offically take place, or can be seen, as taking place on the same Earth. Hector Ramirez is a recurring character in various series. Marissa Faireborn of the Earth Defense Command is the daughter of Lady Jaye and Flint of GI Joe. The My Little Pony movie had an early scene of one of the ponies finding some Transformers or Joes. Although the connections were somewhat loose.

What I'm attempting to do, and even semi-succeeding, is attempting to forge order out of chaos, to quote Egg Shen from 'Big Trouble in Little China'. It won't be perfect, and there will probably be plot holes large enough to swallow a Dyson's Shell, but dang it if I'm not gonna make a go of it. ;)

What's canon?

I am using information from the following series in the Habroverse, to greater or lesser extents:

My Little Pony G1
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic
Transformers
GI Joe
Jem and the Holograms
Dungeons and Dragons
Inhumanoids
Doctor Who-at least the Doc in his final incarnation.

For Transformers and GI Joe, I'm taking a more 'broad strokes' approach. Transformers is mostly from the original animated cartoon, with the Great War reigniting in 1984, heroic Autobots, evil Decepticons and the like. Of course, I'm also using sparks, which weren't introduced until Beast Wars. And if you'd like to imagine a young space bridge technician or an infiltrator being among the newly-sparked Autobots, who am I to argue? ;)

For GI Joe, the vast majority comes from the Marvel comic, such as most of the background. Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Stalker were all part of the same LLRP in Vietnam. Snake and Stormy trained as Sword Brothers in Japan as part of the Arashikage ninja clan. So on and so forth.

For Cobra Commander, I'm welding together his comic and movie origin. He was a used car salesman, but during a trip to Nepal he got lost, and ended up in Cobra-La's colony. Golobulous saw an opportunity and bio-engineered Old Snake to look like a Cobra-La citizen, and concocted the whole story there.

Admittedly, most of this stuff might not get written. Or might get written for other websites like Spacebattles.

And for My Little Pony, of course it's the original series and Friendship is Magic, with about 1500 years taking place between them.

So, that's it for now. Next week, the basic history of Ponyland and Equestria!

Ponyville to Equestria

Well, looks like I'm actually continuing this. ;) Again, remember. Seat of pants.

Pre-G1, Queen Majesty.

Twenty years before 'Rescue at Midnight Castle', a unicorn named Queen Majesty ruled the ponies from Dream Castle. For information on her, please go to this awesome tumblr, Heck Yeah, Pony Scans! And marvel at her... justice, which would make tyrant Celestia go, "Damn, girl! Little harsh, there?!"

I am dead serious, too. *Backs away from Majesty*

*Ahem* Twenty years ago, Tirac appeared. I won't give him some deep motivation or anything like that. That's beyond what I want to do. But when he showed up, he assaulted Dream Castle and killed Majesty with his Rainbow of Darkness. Almost overnight Ponyland fell into disarray and fractured into cities, tribes and other scattered groups. Tirac wiped out bout a half-dozen of them as he prepared to bring forth Eternal Night...

Hearth's Warming Eve
Okay, let's get this out of the way. ;) I look at the play as one part historical fact, one part allegory, one part Aesop, one part myth and several other parts making stuff up. Even in the show itself. Now, in G1, there were basically five groups of ponies we saw-the Dream Valley Enclave, the Big Brother Ponies, the Flutter Ponies, the Sea Ponies and the Princess Ponies. That's not enough to create Equestria from. So I created three tribes...

1. the Ponies of the Plains, a group of hardscrabble, semi-nomadic farmers.
2. The Sky Clans of the Peak, a group of pegasi living in the mountains and clouds.
3. The Mages of the Rock, a group of unicorn sorcerers living in what would eventually become Canterlot.

Sound familiar? :p Yeah, when the episode came out it took very little maneuvering to basically make the Three Tribes into those tribes. Like I said, I don't think the play's fully accurate, historically. And please keep in mind the 'Alternate Universe' tag the Hasbroverse has.

Anyway, the Three Tribes did encounter windigoes and Ponyland did have a rather bitter winter that year, but they became friends and met up with Megan's group, integrating into the growing Equestrian Alliance. The king of the Mages was Blueblood I, our own Blueblood's distant ancestor. Also, Platinum, Hurricane and Puddinghead remained sealed in ice to this day, alive and unmoving. Admittedly, if you'd like something that uses these character far better, please read K9 the First's A Brief History of Equestria. Seriously, it's awesome.

Megan Williams, humble hero.

Megan Williams in 1982 was 13 years old and lived in Rural Kentucky with her parents, younger brother Danny and younger sister Molly. She's brave, confident, headstrong, can think quickly on her feet and has a bit of a temper. She led a fairly ordinary life until one day in 1982 a pegasus pony by the name of Firefly flew over the rainbow and landed in a well. And the rest, as they say, is history.

After the events of 'Quest of the Princess ponies', Megan asked Wind Whistler, "Now what? We've gone through Tirac, Squirk, the Smooze, Gorgar, Lavan and a ton of crap otherwise. Now what do we do?" And Wind Whistler, wisest of the Dream Valley enclave, had no answer, except to survive another day. Megan didn't like that answer, to say the least. So she began planning, thinking of ways to unite the ponies. The five G1 tribes united for the most part easily enough, although the Princess Ponies stayed in the Crystal Desert, but they did have two little surprises... and three gifts.

Celestia and Luna, and the empowerment of hoof, horn and wing

About a year after 'Quest', Megan and some other ponies visit the Princess Ponies, who use their Wands to give the earth ponies their strength and connection to the land, unicorns increased magic and pegasi their weather-manipulation abilities. They also have three foals-Celestia and Luna, kinda-sorta accidentally created/conceived from the Heart of Ponyland itself, the raw source of magic and upon which the balance of this world rests, as well as Princes Sparkle's daughter. The Princess Ponies know they cannot raise the three properly, so they asked Megan and the Dream Valley enclave to raise them. Megan, of course, agrees. And over the next eight years, she, Danny and Molly do their best with the two fillies. Even if Celestia gets obsessed with New Wave and Luna worships heavy metal. :p The Equestrian Alliance grows, incorporating almost all former Ponyland tribes and groups, into them, along with most if not all G1 non-pony species, such as crabnasties, penguins, stonebacks and others. Two clans of griffins even joined, separating from the Griffin Kingdoms. Gilda and Gustav are from those clans. Wind Whistler was elected the first chancellor of the Senate.

Finally, nine years after 'Quest', a rogue storm blows in, a fierce one. Luna attempted to fight it... but it was too strong. Danny went out and found her under a large tree. A branch fell, Luna was pushed out of the way... and Danny was injured. Badly.

After he was brought back to Earth, Megan and Molly went too. There was another bad storm, and when it faded... the Rainbow Bridge was gone.

The Equestrian Alliance kept going, continually growing and carving a nation out of chaos. 54 years after the Rainbow Bridge was lost, Surprise, last of the Dream valley ponies, died on her birthday, falling asleep and never waking up. Every single original G1 pony died like that, peacefully and without much pain.

Two hundred years after Megan left, Discord attacked. His reign of terror lasted but a month... they think. Time got screwed up when he was around. He broke the Rainbow of Light, forcing Celestia and Luna to go to the Dragon Clans for help. The current king of the Clans at the time, Terronax the Fanged, liked their bravery and spunk, and they also had a Clan Leader on their side-Spikor, G1 Spike all grown up. ;) With their help, the rainbow of Light was reforged into the Elements of Harmony. Discord was sealed, but there was a price. The Flutter ponies took the brunt of his 'games', Morning Glory reduced to catatonia. Queen Rosedust withdrew all her people into Flutter Valley, along with the Bumbles.

After Discord's defeat Celestia and Luna took a more active role in government, ruling from Paradise City, which had grown from Paradise Estate. Megan, Molly and Danny faded from history to myth and legend. But... eventually Luna grew jealous of the attention Celestia received and we all know what happened.

The Nightmare War
Not much to say. Luna used Ursae and Shadowbolt golems for her war. Celestia sealed her up, but Paradise City was devastated, the sheer amount of magic there warping magic. A forest overtook it, the Everfree Forest.

From there, it's pretty much the canon. Equestria rebuilds. Cadance herself was created a hundred years after Luna's banishment, the Heart reacting to Celestia's loneliness and despair. And she might have another destiny in store as well. That same year, Spikor slew Terronax in ritual combat and became King Spykoran the Old, King of the Dragon Clans, surrendering his horde so he may stand on his own two feet to lead. For if the King cannot stand, how can he or she lead?

Also, if a female dragon becomes king, she's a king. What, you're gonna tell her she has to be a queen? You do that. I'll be over here, behind the mountain. ;p And only King of the Clans is a fight to the death. All others are nonlethal contests of skill or bravery. Mei Long's clan, for example, uses debate to determine who leads. Another clan, one more mechanically-inclined, has their leader the biggest Macgyver.

The years passed. Equestria stabilized. The crabnasties moved to coastal regions. The Griffin Kingdoms of the north are consolidated into the Griffin Empire. The Dragon Clans solidified their ties with Equestria-Dragon Quest isn't happening here-and eventually, a young student of Celestia's finds a book entitled, 'The Mare in the Moon'.

But while 1500 years passed since Megan's final departure, only 20 passed on Earth...

Megan and her Family

Ah, the humans. Usually the bane of any FIM story. These won't be huge, mind. Hopefully with these six I did a half-decent job with them...

Megan
Megan was 13 in the series bible. I placed the series in 1982, so that means she was 22 in 1991 when the Rainbow Bridge collapsed and 42 in 2011, when 'The Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds' starts. She was born in Kentucky in an unnamed rural town to two loving parents. There's nothing innately 'special' or extraordinary about her. She's basically the same as in G1, except obviously a grown-up. ;)

She first met Mike when Danny introduced him to her in high school, or at least she thinks she did ;). the two fell in love and got married in 1993. They had their honeymoon in Autobot City. Danielle was born in 1994 and Michelle in 2001. She works part-time at the Kentucky Equestrian Center. In late 2004 she began writing the 'My Little Horsey' books, a series of children's books that began actual publishing in 2005. Sometime after, while on a talk show, she punched out Stephanie Meyer after Meyer slapped her.

Mike
Mike is a year older than Megan. Megan thinks they met in high school, but in reality...

"It was when I was... six or so. I was getting picked on by some bullies, shoved around good. Then out of NOWHERE came this little blond spitfire with flailing fists that drove them off. She then reached out with a hand and asked if I was all right. I stammered out yes. A decade later Danny introduced me to his sister... and it all came flooding back to me. I knew then she was the girl I'd marry.

He works for a construction company and is very knowledgeable of the trade. He drives a bulldozer. He helped design and build the house his family lives in. He's a bit spooked by the whole 'Mag'ne' thing, but it doesn't bother him too much. He slept in a living city once, after all. ;) He always knew his wife was special.

The two are happily married, and this is a Word of God statement... the two will NEVER be separated or anything like that.

Danny
Danny eventually became the 'Dannile', a trickster-mentor with his acolytes Spike and the Surprise. He spearheaded the book buying that eventually became the Vault underneath the Canterlot Royal Library. When Danny was injured in 1991, saving Luna, he did go through depression, but his family stuck by him as he went through therapy.

"Do I regret the injury? Hell, yeah! I wish I was a hair quicker and that damned branch didn't damage my T4. Do I regret saving Luna? The hell... NO!"

Please note if I'm wrong in my admittedly quick and dirty spinal cord research TELL ME!

Danny is currently a teacher at the local high school. Two of his students are refugees from the still-recovering Nebulon. His wheelchair has been enchanted by Luna to be able to go over pretty much any surface smoothly and with little effort by him. Although he might be on the fast track to getting an exo-frame like the one

Molly
Molly is the 'Molye', the healer, which is interesting since after Danny's injury she went into veterinary medicine. I don't have 'much' on her. I didn't want to exclude her. She's single, snarky and generally happy with how her life's turned out.

Danielle
Danielle, named after Danny, will be attending the University of Kentucky with major in Anthropology and a minor in Folklore and Mythology. She's a brunette, squints a lot and tries desperately to be the only sane one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She is enraptured by Equestrian civilization and how they built it without hands. She also secretly wants to brush their mane and feed them carrots all day long. She could live in Golden Oaks Library. Hint, hint. ;)
She had nightmares concerning Tirac when she first read 'My Little Horsey and the Tale of the Terrible Tirac!'. But she's over it. Mostly.

Michelle
Named after Mike. 10 years old as of the beginning of 'Elements of Harmony and Savior of Worlds'. To her, the magical land of Equestria, of bright, colorful talking ponies, is a dream come true. She's not stupid by ANY means. She's just a kid on a metaphorical sugar high. And she will brush and braid ALL the manes. Like Danielle she's an honorary Cutie mark Crusader. Unlike Danielle she goes RIGHT along with their insane schemes.

For all six...

All of them are trained in the use of firearms. Megan owns a pair of antique Colt peacemakers passed down through her family. Mike prefers more 'modern' weapons, though.

That is... about it for the main cast of humans. I've left a lot of stuff ambiguous for future purposes and I can't plot out every detail of their lives. ;)

Facts and some Figures about Hasbroverse Equestria

And... next one. :)

The planet and system

Equestria is on a planet that is orbited by a single moon and star, controlled by Celestia and Luna respectively. It's about the size of Earth, with comparable gravity and atmosphere. The sun is nigh-identical to our own, a G-type main sequence. The Equus System lies in a pocket dimension adjacent to the 'main' Hasbroverse one, smaller, but containing other stars, planets and celestial bodies.

Equus has a ratio of 33-67 land to water, with about 70% of the land concentrated on one side of the planet. There's a scattering of islands that trail around the planet like a belt and a smaller landmass on the opposite side from the larger supercontinent. I would draw it but I mess up stick figures. I also only have the basic paint program that came with the PC. So, sorry.

The entire planet has been explored, but large swaths remain unclaimed. Equestria is mostly around the center, with a long east coast. The Griffin Empire is to the north, with the former site of the Crystal Empire to the northeast. The lands of the Ursa is to the northwest, and the Dragon Lands dominates the western border. To the south lies a few smaller nations, but mostly unclaimed land. There may or may not be populations on the scattered islands or the other landmass.

Equestria proper
Equestria itself is the approximate size of the continental United States and Canada without the three Territories. The total population is just under 200 million. This includes but is not limited to not only the five types of ponies-earth, pegasus, unicorn, flutter and sea-but also any and all nonhuman species we saw in G1, such as crabnasties, stonebacks, penguins, bushwooliees, bumbles and G4 species such as donkeys, zebra, minotaurs, griffins and the like. I also include giraffes, okapis and... a lot of others. ;)

Some time after the end of G1, not 100% sure how long, the humans and near-humans, led by Scorpan and the Moochik left the land a'la the Elves from Lord of the Rings. It was orderly and peaceful, and they left behind their villages, castles and most of their tools for the pony's future use. They did NOT die off, nor are they on the smaller landmass. They simply... went away. The Moochik was the last to leave, giving Celestia, Luna and Wind Whistler a series of prophecies for the future.

Standard of living is fairly high. the base tech level is around the 1910's-1920's, but there are obvious spikes in technology. Open up Mayor Mare's trotman radio from chapter nine and it would look almost identical to a walkman from the 80's. Only difference would be the power source, as that would be recharged by magic.

The main things holding back technological progress are, ironically, the things helping Equestria in the first place. The first are the books in the Vault. Although invaluable for their raw knowledge, they were also a bit... haphazard. Also, even with complete blueprints to build a nuclear reactor, you can't do that without the infrastructure or raw materials. Also, some things must be adapted to hooves or pegasi wings. They're much more flexible than RL hooves, but they're still not hands. The second thing is magic. Some technology/devices simply aren't needed with magic. Please note this is NOT a bad thing. You don't really need a car when you've got Big Macintosh hauling around a house, after all. And as seen with the trotman, Equestria uses magic and technology together.

In harmony. ;)

Government:
I won't go into too much detail, simply because sometimes politics baffles me and because it's mostly irrelevant to the main thrust of the story, I can say the ponies mainly picked and chose from various books brought over. Celestia and Luna are princesses, with self-limited authority. There is a Senate with representatives along provincial lines, with a chancellor. The current chancellor is Fancy Pants.

The government is primarily decentralized. Celestia wants her little ponies to help themselves, after all. ;) But the government does step in when and where necessary.

Military
Equestria's military is the most technologically advanced on Equus. Only the Dragon Clans could take them in a straight fight, and only if they're united. Good thing relations are so cordial. ;) Their motto is, "Be our friend, or be a memory." Danny came up with that one. The current Chairpony of thew Joint Chiefs is General Spanish Steel, a pegasus stallion. There are several branches of the Equestrian Armed Forces, including but not limited to:

1. The Royal Guard, charged mainly with the protection of Canterlot, the surrounding province and guard duty for the Diarchs. The current captain is Shining Armor, who is in the process of rebuilding the Guard after several centuries of neglect, nepotism and general nincompoopery.

2. the Royal Tank Corps. Mechanized warfare, basically. Almost all Equestrian tanks resemble WW I-era designs, with sponsons containing the guns.

3. the Royal Navy. The majority are sea ponies and crabnasties.

4. The Teleportation Corps, made up of unicorns trained in teleportation. Admittedly they're used mostly for recon and logistics. Teleportation in the midst of battle for offensive purposes has proved... problematic.

5. Weather Control. Basically pegasi manipulating weather on the battlefield. Their elite units can whip up class-5 tornadoes and send them right at the enemy.

6. The Air Force. Airships and pegasi outfitted as fighters, basically. They're armored with guns mounted to their backs and custom-built harness attached to their neck that turns the rifle with their head. The rifles are belt-fed from saddlebags and are fired using special triggers built into special bits. They also have armored hooves and wings for melee combat, along with a flail tied to their tail. And man that's a lot of thought poured into that...

Relations with other countries:

Although there are nations to the south, they're not too relevant at the moment, so I haven't thought much about them. ;) The two big ones are the Dragon Clans to the west and the Griffin Empire to the north:

1. Thanks to King Spykoran, relations with the Clans is strong. Trade is heavy, with gems and ores going into the Lands and enchanted armor and weapons going out. The vast majority of dragons see Equestria as a nation not to mess with, at the very least because they give them such great snacks!

2. The Griffin Empire was once the Griffin Kingdoms. Two kingdoms even joined the Equestrian Alliance, but about 700 years ago, there was a coup and all the kingdoms were solidified under a dictator. Further details are incoming.

Miscellaneous:

1. Cloudsdale is not the only cloud city, but it is by FAR the largest. It was founded by Bloodwing of the Sky Clans, who took over after Hurricane was frozen, and Firefly of Paradise Estate. The two married. His brothers, Deathmane and Killhoof Red helped out. And yes, all three names are basic 'take thats' against Liefeldian naming conventions. :p They even had a cat named Clawire. :D Well, okay. Maybe no cat named Clawire.

2. In the western lands bordering the Dragon Lands, the zebra tribes there use domesticated manticores as we do horses, including war mounts.

3. Telephones exist, but are a fairly recent invention. By law, every town must have one in City Hall for emergency use. Ponyville has three. The one in City Hall, Mayor Mare has one in her office-a desktop unit! And Twilight Sparkle spent a large sum to get a line installed into the Golden Oaks Library.

4. Movies are fairly recent, too. The vast majority are educational films like shown in 'Hurricane Fluttershy'.

5. Two characters that have appeared are changelings. They are not flutter ponies. *Runs off*

That is... about it for now as much as I can think of. Next week I delve a bit into the Dragon Clans.

The Dragon Clans

Hmm, I might simply collapse all these into one topic...

Anyway,

And here's some backstory on the Dragon Clans. Please note I came up with all of this before the episodes 'Dragon Quest' and 'Secret of my Excess'. So don't count on those episodes, especially since Spike now has a ready and available source of information. ;)

And again, please keep in mind, off the top of my head/seat of the pants. :p

General History

One hundred thousand years ago, an ancient dragon known only as 'Draco'-yes, real original on my part-defeated several other dragon leaders, becoming the first King of the Dragon Clans. He gathered all the clans together into the newly-claimed 'Dragon Lands', setting down laws and customs that are followed even to this day.

The dragons are organized into thirteen clans, their leaders meeting in the Valley of the Chieftains. Twelve of them lay on a hoard carefully cultivated over the centuries. The King of the Clans, however, gives up his or her hoard during their coronation. For if the King cannot support their own weight, how can they lead the Clans?

Advancement through the clans varies. Mei Long's clan is done through debate and reasoning. Jormun the Red's clan uses tests of strength and skill. Another clan of blacksmiths and tinkerers bases their advancement on what sort of weapons and armor they can forge. Dragon-forged artifacts are highly prized outside of the Dragon Lands. Another is a clan of minstrels and songwriters and use heavy mithril. However, one method almost universally banned is any fight to the death. Only the King of the Clans is attainable by that.

Generally, a Dragon King sees a Clan Leader and begins fostering a mentor/student relationship, teaching him or her how to lead the most fierce some creatures on Equus. Spkyoran the Old is doing this with Jormun the Red, as Terronax the Fanged did with him. Eventually the two will fight, with the older king usually being slain. Their body is then incinerated by the Clan Leaders, save a single scale that is placed with the others in a mosaic.

Spykoran the Old
King Spykoran the Old is, well, G1 Spike. About a hundred years after the events of G1, he left Dream Valley and traveled to the Dragon Lands, finally finding his people. he became a clan leader and changed his name to Spikor. Nine hundred years before the start of the series, he challenged and killed Terronax in ritual combat, becoming Spykoran the Old.

When he was clan leader, he helped convince Terronax to help Celestia and Luna reforge the Rainbow of Light into the Elements of Harmony. This drew Terronax's attention and set him on the path to become Dragon King. Although relations with Equestria were already on a bit of an upswing, his ascension put the Clans firmly on the path of cordial relations and allies.

G4 Spike is his grandson. His mate and his children were at the Nests of Dargoth, a northern settlement. It was attacked by Ursa Majors and all were killed, save Spike's egg, which was overlooked. He went mad with grief and rage and led an attack into Ursa lands, driving them back. During that time Spike's egg was found by Celestia, but with no dragon claiming it, she brought it with her back to Canterlot.

Dragon relations with Equestria and the Clans themselves
Most dragons think little of Equestria. That is to say the country rarely crosses their minds. "They send us delicious gems and ores. I like them!" That's... really what most of them think of Equestria when asked.

There are about ten million dragons in the Dragon Lands, in an area roughly twice the size of China. They're spread out a bit, a permanent haze in the air. Even Celestia, Luna and Cadance use protective force fields when traveling there. Celestia and Cadance attended Spykoran's coronation.

He landed and his hoard was piled up in the center of the Valley of the Chieftains. Mei Long asked him what it was and he said it was his hoard. She asked him again. "What is this?" He repeated it was his hoard.

"And what will you do with it? Lay about like us? You are the King of the Dragons, Spikor. You must stand on your own two legs. So I ask again, what is this?"

And he said it was nothing to him. And he stood up, sending out a great gout of flame.

And... that's about it with the Dragon Clans. Next week, the Griffin Empire and how it relates to Gilda and Gustav!

Griffins

Ah, the griffins. Two examples-Gilda and Gustav. Both completely opposite in... just about everything. The griffins themselves are spread all over the spectrum, from an empire, the kingdoms, to being part of Equestria proper. Therefore, my take on them for the Hasbroverse will almost certainly not be original.

History with Equestria

Scattered griffins were encountered even before the first Rainbow Bridge collapsed. 'Formal' contact between the Griffin Kingdoms and the Equestrian Alliance was about 150 years after the Rainbow Bridge collapsed. There were a few skirmishes and battles before a truce was formed. Sorta. You see, although the largest kingdoms/factions were mostly politically and politically stable, the smaller ones were at each other's throats. Literally, metaphorically, proverbially... you get the idea. ;)

After Discord, there were a few more flare-ups with smaller griffin factions. Eventually, Equestria sent military units north and set a definite border with the griffins. Things once more settled down. Ambassadors were exchanged. Trade routes were opened up. Although there was still some instability among the smaller factions, things quieted down.

A hundred years before Nightmare Moon, two of the larger kingdoms formally joined Equestria. Nearly ten million griffins became Equestrian citizens. Gustav and Gilda are descendants of the ones who joined. This led to a destabilization of internal griffin politics and a partial slide back to their internal fighting.

After the Nightmare War, the Griffin Kingdoms attempted to seize some Equestrian land, but were eventually pushed back to the former boundary. They turned inward once more, until about 600 years before the series...

The Coup
A grand conference was called between the leaders of the largest factions by a king whose name is lost to time; he is now known only as Black Claw the Tyrant. Yes, he is so arrogant he gave himself a draconic title. At this conference, he had his soldiers slaughter the other leaders and their bodyguards. Using black magic, he bound their souls to the location of what became simply known as The Coup. At what he named Mount Victory, he channeled their souls into him, taking their power and life-force. He became immortal and immensely powerful. Within days, his soldiers swept out, conquering all the other kingdoms and solidifying his rule into the current Griffin Empire.

From Mount Victory, Black Claw rules his Empire with an iron... claw. While there, he is nigh-invincible. Celestia at full-power would have barely over a 51% chance of winning, and no way she'd come out unscathed. The farther away he is from his throne, though, the weaker he gets. It is unknown how things would fare now that Luna is back.

The Empire
The Griffin Empire's tech level is analogous to the beginning of the 18th century in most areas. They use muzzle-loading muskets. They have trains, but they're fairly primitive compared to Equestrian models. There's industrialization, but again, it's behind Equestria. They have weather-control and magic, as per canon-Gilda sitting on clouds in her episode. But it's fairly weak compared to pegasi. No Princess Ponies and wands to boost their power, you see. ;) The best comparison is what EdBecerra posted here:

So - it's like Teddy Roosevelt's America versus Napoleon's Europe, sort of? A gap of at least a century for Equestria's closest rivals, and even more for the also-ran's?

Most citizens keep their heads down and their beaks shut. They'd prefer not to 'disappear'.

The Griffin Empire is Equestria's closest rival, and the only one who's a match for it militarily. Although Celestia wishes so for peace with them. But she has little but hatred for Black Claw. Until Luna came back and was cleansed of the Nightmare, though, she had little choice but to wait.

Black Claw's primary objective is the Griffin Empire itself and its stability. He doesn't know of the Princess Ponies, their wands or of the Heart of Ponyland itself.

"What I did was evil? Bah! I executed pompous fools who weakened the griffins with their endless infighting. It's only fitting they serve in death to strengthen it. And now I use my powers to strengthen the Empire. We griffins had no alicorns, no Mag'ne, Dannile or Molye! We had no gifts given to us by nebulous half-legends or anything from Dream Valley. We shall persevere, and those who left us... they will be back."

In a straight-up fight, without Black Claw or the alicorns, the Griffin Empire would almost certainly lose against the Equestrian Alliance... but it'd be bloody. Against the Dragon Clans, they'd be squished-literally. However, due to a quirk in geography, the Dragon Lands don't share a direct border with the Empire. The dragons would either have to go the long way through northern Equestria, or straight through the northwest... and the land where the Ursa Minors and Majors settled.

Gilda and Gustav
Both are full Equestrian citizens. They pay taxes, have full rights under the law, jobs and so on and so forth. Gustav was born and raised in Prance. Gilda is probably local in Canterlot Province. Gilda has a bit of a chip on her shoulder concerning the Griffin Empire:

"Those freaks? Gyah, I hate even THINKING about them! I'm an Equestrian girl, not some slave of Black Claw. Guy gives me the willies. Now buzz off, loser!

Gustav is more contemplative:

Black Claw? Yes, I know of him. He fills me with shame. Like bad cream filling inside a cream pastry, that vile brigand! I am a loyal son of my home, of Prance. But it breaks my heart to see what goes on up north."

Those living in Equestria itself make up the largest non-pony population. They're not refugees or anything. Their populations have been integrated into Equestria for generations. They come in quite... handy. :p Although their claws aren't as flexible or functional as a human hand.

So, that's the griffins. Not the best situation. And yes, I do plan on addressing Black Claw eventually. His day will come.

1341300
15 million? That seems awfully high to me. Black Claw sounds like a combination of Sombra and Chrysalis, and completely amoral. Will be interesting to see what will happen to him. I do like how you have the griffins incorporated into Equestria, certainly better than them being refugees.

1341325 Yeah, you're right. I dropped it down to ten million. And yes. His comeuppance is a long time coming.

1341371
Err... ok is it 10 million griffins when the annexation happened or is it 10 million griffins now?

1341389 Ten million when the annexation happened. They're the largest non-pony population now in a total Equestrian Alliance population of just under 200 million.

1341404
200... out of what!?

1341416 The current griffin population in Equestria proper... I'm not gonna tie myself down with a number at the moment.

1341449
I'm wondering since the current US population is over 313 million, so Equestria is more populated that the US

1341549 No, it's not. The current Equestria population is just under 200 million.

1341557
Oh... I though you meant that there were 200 million griffins in Equestria

1341568 Oh, no! Sorry about that.

1341571
Don't worry about it, still seems high but I'm figuring that Nightmare Moon and Discord didn't put a great dent in population growth.

Why do I always think of Civilization games when I read the Worldbuilding of politics and empire-building?

Anyway, yeah Black Claw does sound very horrible and ruthless.

I'm thinking of creating a locked thread with all of these for ease of access, and still posting these here. Can you tell I've got no clue what I'm doing?!

And welcome back! *Insert music from the Tonight Show, starring Johnny Carson* ;) Today we'll examine Doctor Whooves, his place in the Hasbroverse and just where he came from.

DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION!
For any specific questions about any characters I name-drop you're not familiar with, please go to the TARDIS Wiki. It's very informative.

Also, I have seen every episode from Robot, the Fourth Doctor's premiere, to In the Name of the Doctor, the latest episode. Along with numerous serials from the First, Second and Third Doctor. However, my knowledge of non-television product is practically nonexistent. I have read one standalone novel I don't even remember the title of and a novelization of Ark in Space back in the mid-80's. I am somewhat interested in getting into the Sixth Doctor audio dramas, but that's mostly because Colin Baker got SCREWED during his tenure.

I am not saying they're good. I am not saying they're bad. I am simply saying that I don't know about them. On Spacebattles, several posters there whose opinions I hold to be valid like them, so there's that at least. Anyway...

The Doctor
This Doctor is the final incarnation of the Doctor, his thirteenth body. He landed in Equestria about 850 years before the series premiere, his TARDIS horrifically damaged after sealing a Dalek fleet back into void space. He landed outside of Canterlot and regenerated into an earth pony right in front of Celestia. She was... a bit surprised.

Over the years the Doctor's helped out a bit, as much as he can, but age has finally begun to catch up with him. Also, the plot armor he had back in his home reality... didn't travel with him.

"Oh, I've been shot, punched, tossed about like clothes in a washing machine... It's kind of embarrassing in its own way!"

The Equestrians have also been able to handle most of their problems on their own.

The Doctor and Hasbro Earth
in the episode 'Robot', the Fourth Doctor takes off in the TARDIS near the end, but almost immediately reappears to let Sarah Jane back on board for more adventures across time and space. A prevailing theory, that has some facts, is that inbetween he actually went on several adventures, backed up by the serial 'Face of Evil'.

One such adventure ;) was to Hasbro Earth, where he crossed realities-it was easier when the Time Lords were around-and landed there in the late 1980's. He quickly met up with the Autobots, befriending Perceptor. Unfortunately for him... his plot armor didn't make the trip there, either.

"Well, I tried to help, but for some reason I could only make the minutest of difference to the conflict. I had to be rescued more often than not and couldn't even stop those punks Frenzy or Rumble! Do you have ANY idea how embarrassing it is to need help with those two miscreants?!"

The Doctor eventually returned to his own reality, living out his incarnations as in the show and finally landing in Equestria.

His life and family
The Doctor currently owns a clock and general repair shop in Ponyville, his TARDIS in the backyard. He has been happily married to Ditzy Doo for some time and is the biological father of Dinky and Sparkler. Princess Celestia attended the wedding. ;) Since the events of Time Enough For All he and Perceptor have been able to get most of the damage to the TARDIS repaired, and as of the latest side-story a stable path to Sarah Jane's attic has been 'tunneled' through the void, so he may once more see his old friends and family, including Susan Foreman and Romana, whose fate is unknown and was stuck in E-space last TV episode she was in, respectively. :D

The Doctor's role in the Hasbroverse
The Doctor's role will be somewhat... minimal, all things considered. Personally, I find sometimes he overshadows the MLP characters in crossovers. I love the series, but sometimes I feel the Doctor's too 'big', even in the show. And sometimes... I'd love to hit him with a Mick Foley-class baseball bat. He's not the focus and beyond side-stories, he won't be in the future. But... I do like him and love the show.

So... would you like a jelly baby?

1558507 I know it would sound stupid but I was wondering, are Dinky and Sparkler part Time Lords and share some of Doctor's abilities?

1558603 Yes to both.

1558507

Mick Foley-class baseball Bat

DUDE! You win so many mustaches for that one!

I've Met Mick, actually. Really nice guy.

What a really vast universe you came up with, RK.

3353259 I came up with this version when Eleven was still numerically 'Eleven'. No War Doctor, no Hand!Doctor counting as a regeneration. I was banking on Capaldi being number Twelve and Whooves being Thirteen.

1341246 Interesting setup you have here. By the way, where do Escape from Catrina and the G1 episode with Lavan fit with the Hasbroverse? I ask, because I'm writing a spinoff fic with both in mind.

1341259 Hi, You Should Also Consider adding The X-Men Film Series Continuity to The HasbroVerse Due to the Fact that it has been Confirmed that Despite still being produced by marvel entertainment it is no longer owned by marvel due to that F Fox Incident which forced them to cancel fantastic four comic books and discontinue the Rights to X-Men into now being in it's own standalone universe rather than the latter...
and if you do add the X-men Film Series to Your Universe...it should be the first 10 films in the X-Men Film Series in both the Original and Revised Timelines Which Are...
Original/Revised X-Men Timelines:
X-Men (2000) (Original)
X2 (2003) (Original)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) (Original)
X-Men: Origins-Wolverine (2009) (original)
X-Men: First Class (2011) (Original/revised)
The Wolverine (2013) (original)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) (Original/Revised)
Deadpool (2016) (revised)
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) (Revised)
Wolverine 3 (2017) (revised)
Video Links Further Explaining My Point on this:

and that is why i think you should incorporate the Events of the 1st 10 x-men live action films into the HasbroVerse due to the fact that x-Men is no longer owned by marvel...
Nuff Said.
with thanks and hopes up,
From the Biggest #1 HasbroVerse Fan of all time in the history of the history of all of reality,
Shane W.L. Nokes aka James S.K. Plasma aka Dark-Pulse/Darkimus-Primal