1248592
Give the lady a cigar! They were considered to be the anathema to Harmony, and I'd say the description is apt. Now we move into what is widely considered to be the Golden Age of Equestrian dominance, the Classical Era. This was the pinnacle of enlightened thought, Equestrian culture, and architectural excellence. Much of the infrastructure put in place by the unicorns can still be used today, and standards of living were exceptionally high for the time. The Empire, really more along the lines of city-states ruled by the central authority of the Sisters, was recognized as the dominant power at the time. But all good things must come to an end. This era of wonder was put to an end after nearly fifteen hundred years of peace by the Celestial Wars.

1248613

Hang on a moment...

Was the democratic system of electing a male and female from every tribe discarded so quickly they need to institute it again?

1248639
No, not at all! The rights were actually applied to members of other species living in the Empire who did not have representatives in the Celestial Senate.

Is everyone following so far?

1248644

Thank you for clarifying.

1248638 I'll pass on the cigar, but thank you.

Is this the time period in which the writing we've been learning is centered, or did those come earlier?

1248657
Yes. High Equestrian was the language of the land back then.

1248649
Going well so far here.

1248649

We've got the Proto-Equestria era; where society was in tribal groups that migrated, the Pre-Equestira era; which was a time where a concrete society began to develop until the first wendigo incursion; the Equestria era, with the first democracy and cities until Discord arrived again and Celestia and Luna turned up; the Post-Equestria era, in which standard practises which we use today are implemented; the Pre Classical era, in which we moved ahead by leaps and bonds in establishing Equestria as a nation and regional power; and finally the Classical era, a so called golden age.

Did I get that right?

1248707
You've got it!

1248710

Well mostly, I stuffed up the semi colons in there.

1248710
Then the Celestial wars. Was it just Luna vs. Celestia, or were others involved?

The Celestial Wars was a twelve-year conflict fought between the Alicorn Sisters over the right to control the length of day and night. Approximately one third of the Equestrian population followed the newly christened Nightmare Moon, most of them unicorns. Luna's approval of Breaking magic and the power provided proved a tempting lure to many of the unicorn Houses. Most of Luna's army was comprised of upper class Houses, their servants and vassals, and some of the most powerful magic users.

Two thirds of the Equestrian population, including almost all of the Pegasi and a few prominent unicorn Houses, sided with Celestia. Though they vastly outnumbered Luna's forces, they were outclassed in nearly every other way. The practice of nobles privately sponsoring Legions meant that most of Equestria's standing army followed Luna, and the infrastructure that was put into place over millennia was destroyed inside of a decade. As more recruits were demanded, less labor was available to manage the weather and till the fields.

The fighting was bloody and bitter, made worse by the fact that the lack of food and proper care caused famine and pestilence across the Empire. Entire cities were slaughtered, and razed shortly after. Celestia never lost control of the Capitol and the vast reservoir of power underneath the Regia, though Nightmare Moon tried time and again to take the city.

Diplomatic ties with neighboring nations broke down, and the Diamond Dog Tribes seized land outright, while the armies of the Oligarchy controlled all lands in the south of the Empire as a police action. Most major conflicts took place around the center of the Empire, Nightmare Moon attacking from the north while Celestia held what she could of the south. At last, Nightmare Moon's armies were encircled at the Third Battle of Dunsinane, and she fled into the nearby and newly-grown Everfree Forest. The war was ended a scant week later, when Celestia tracked her down and banished her with the Power of Harmony.

1248765 Twelve years? Good grief. How badly did the population suffer?

1248810
Seventy.

1248814 Seventy? Seventy percent?!

1248814
Seventy Equestrians died in a twelve year long war? That must have been rough.

1248825
Percent.

1248824

Seventy percent after a golden age and a series of massive population booms?

1248828
Ah.

1248832 I don't want to even think about how many ponies that was...

1248832
The atrocious casualty rates stem from the rampant use of magic on both sides. Mages fought and won and lost the war. The common soldiers were there to protect them.

And now we enter the Dark Ages of Equestria, the Post-Classical Era. Here is where we see some of the darkest magic develop. Things like necromancy, thralldom, the really nasty hexes and curses were mostly developed here. Celestia, tired and in mourning over the loss f her sister, retired to the mountains at the top of the world, staying there for ten full years. In her absence, several of the Houses consolidated what power they could, setting up fiefdoms and offering protection to those beneath them. The only corner of the land not completely devastated by war, the northeast, was heavily settled.

Upon Celestia's return on the Summer Solstice on the tenth year, she began to consolidate her power once more. After reclaiming land from the Diamond Dogs in a near-genocidal hunt known as the Searing, Celestia turned her attentions south, driving the Gryphons out of the lands they occupied after turning over one hundred thousand of them into crystal statues.

After reclaiming her lands, Celestia set about the creation of Canterlot, a process taking a full century as the finest artisans and engineers built it on the ground below the mountain where it now rests. Celestia herself fastened it to the mountainside. It would be nearly three hundred years before any semblance of normalcy was regained.

1248853

It makes sense.

But seriously, even with machine guns and rifling during the American civil war you lot only managed to kill off twenty percent of your population.

1248843
Census takers at the time gave us estimates of nearly thirty million ponies.

Okay, so a lot of ponies died and then Celestia was left to, eventually, take over Equestria?

1248866 Crystal statues? Isn't that a bit, uh, extreme? Didn't she have enough of death and such after all that? Between her own ponies, the Diamond Dogs, and now gryphons, I'm starting to wonder why she was able to regain power in the first place. Didn't any of the unicorns consolidating power want to stop her?

1248894
How could anyone really have stopped her for long?

1248894

You think crystal statues are extreme?

How far are you in Lines and Webs?

After this, we enter the Solar Era, another Golden Age. Celestia set a policy of rebuilding the nation, setting a system into place of her making decisions which she then delegated to the Houses, who received power and funding with which to accomplish these tasks. In addition to the Royal Guard, still led by the Houses, Celestia formed the Equestrian Regulars and the Air Corps in 308 AN and 457 AN respectively. The invention of the railroad in 557 AN and the airship in 609 AN facilitated trade and the exchange of ideas. Industrialization began to occur on a massive scale, and Equestria's Navy was founded in 774 AN. The Houses continued to grow in power, and eventually they began to fight with one another, prompting Celestia to step in and reduce their powers dramatically in 902 AN. They were disbanded entirely in 935 AN. That marked the end of the Solar Era.

1248912 Oh, I've read all the way through it and DDG. I'm up to date. And considering a reread just because. That said, yeah, I do still think it's a touch extreme.

1248927
What's AN?

1248971
After Nightmare.

The Era which most of you are likely familiar with is what is known as the Zenith Era, representing the highest reaches of Celestia's power. Several small land grants were given to trusted Houses before they were disbanded, and several small expeditions were made with the purpose of founding new towns, such as Appleoosa, Ponyville,, and Fillydelphia. The latter is the most successful of these three. The Royal Archives were opened to the public as opposed to being the sole privilege of the Royal Academy, and the Princess Mi Amore di Cadenza Allegretta was born in the mountains north of Canterlot in 979 AN according to official records. For the first time in living memory, Celestia took on a protege in the young unicorn Twilight Sparkle, who was born in 984 AN.

Nightmare Moon returned in 1000 AN, and was summarily defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends when she was a mere sixteen years old. The very next year, Discord was temporarily unsealed, and later that same year, Mi Amore Cadenza was married to Twilight's brother Shining Armor at the age of 31. He was 22.

The Zenith Era drew to a close when Twilight Sparkle found out Celestia's eventual plans for her, and she fled into the Everfree Forest with the aid of Luna, starting a four-year rebellion that came to an end with the defeat of Celestia's army at either the First or Fourth Battle of Dunsinane. Shortly after, the newly-christened and newly-immortal Lady Everstar formed the Evening Kingdom, bringing the Zenith Era to a close.

1249003
Yeah, uh, how long ago did the Zenith Era close? What Age do we call modern times? Sorry, I'm from Hollow Shades, we're a little... closed off.

1249003 That's certainly a lot happening in a relatively short period of time. Does anyone know why Discord got unsealed during that time?

1249033
Not really. It was an eventful period, likely having to do with Celestia's disturbing the balance, exacerbated by the return of Luna.

1249003
*forms a knowing smile*

And we close in the Modern Era, referred to now as the Age of Evening. Lady Everstar founded the first new city in the Evening Kingdom in 1048 AN, the now-prosperous Port Crescent. The first Collegia Arcana was founded in Trottingham in 1115, and the jointly managed Collegia Tactica was founded north of Ponyville in 1186. Ponyville itself is currently a diplomatic hub, having served as such since the close of the Evening Revolution in 1015. The Collegia Arcana we are currently sitting in, the Capitol city of Starfall, was founded by Lady Everstar in 1209, and Princess Luna's city of Astropolis was founded on the moon in 1278.

The first orders of Mages, Paladins, Clerics, and Mentalists met in the Ponyville Library to discuss the implemented rules of Magic in 1303, and the first practitioner of dark and harmful magics was incarcerated in Astropolis in 1313. I was born in 1346, and my order of Paladins was officially disbanded in 1367. I took tenure here three years ago, in 1362.

1249019

Well I guess that answers your question.

Three hundred years.

1249073 It's been 350 years? Eep. I didn't think it was nearly that long. Oh, dear, is the third story going to take place in this time frame? (Feel free to ignore that.)

I've always wanted to see the moon...

And we are a bit over time, my apologies. Any further questions?

1249073 That's a lot of history. Thanks for sharing this lesson with us, professor.

1249101 I'm pretty good... Thank you for all the information.

1249127
Of course! Next time, Magical Runic! If there's still time, we'll start on a brief introduction to seals and circles, and their counterparts, crystals.

1249137
Wonder if I should compile all of this into a single document when I'm done...

1249073
I hope Luna is doing fine. Relations between her and Lady Everstar friendly?

1249174
You'll just have to wait and see.

1249143 I would, just for ease of reference.