Becuase lets face it, they must have had a war a one piont.
And Twilight knows of wars, she did ask her future helf about it.
But if they had a war the following questions need to be answered.
1)Who was it against? (Dragons, hairless apes, griffions ect.)
2)Why did it start? (Freedom fighters(Terrorists)against/for ponies, Lebensraum or maybe Celestia just got bored.)
3)How did it end? (Pony victory, pony loss, ect.)
4)What weapons were used?

So... what do you think?
Good day.

286446
Well, in my story I'm making it into a war between the sentient races of Equestria versus an evil creature that Discord creates to spite Celestia's mother. Humans.

286450
That.. could work.
Only problem is with humans natural logical and orderly thinking.
Good day.

286451
That is what will make them dangerous enemies. However, there will be a twist ending near the end of the war that causes the disappearence of humans into another world, the death of Celestia's mother, and the first record of Discord having been turned to stone.

286455
No, what I meant was: wouldn't humans be against Discords choas?
Good day.

that's related to the twist ending

Idea: Giant winter is dominating the land, right?
Sooo....
What if there is a nuclear war between Humans (Ex. Cold War turns nuclear) and the ponies began as irradiated equines?

Nuclear winter fits the bill, and it would pretty much wipe out most life, so if you think about it, that could set the stage for the events behind the 'Hearth Warming Eve' play.

293116

Nuclear winter means heavy poisoning of all affected lands. All the irradiated dust and ash that makes nuclear winter possible is not going anywhere - it`s going to settle right down on the areas which it shielded from sun before. Not to mention that herbivores are not likely to fare well in an environment where plant growth is so stunted.

So no, I doubt nuclear war could have created Equestria.

___

286446

War, as is, is likely to be very antique concept for the ponies. Having tangible goddess on your side tends to be a decisive scale-tipper, y`know.

So whatever happened, it must have happened in a time before Celestia were the princess - either due to other alicorns being present, or due to being too young/absent to actually do something about it.

Chances are that ponies are apt at using lances - that plays well to their natural advantage - that being stable and fast runners. Given they are naturally herd animals, it`s highly likely that most of weapons they might have used are meant to be operated by several ponies at once. Portable ballistae, catapults, grapeshot cannons all come to mind. Magic is likely to be used as a tool of war very abundantly. Chances are pegasi have their secrets of using shrapnel and dispersible toxins to augment their aerial attacks.

293402 Point well made.
I give it you-

293417

An argument for war can be made in reverse, however. Imagine this... Equestria is the only land NOT affected harshly by nuclear winter. For example, prior to nuclear war, it was an equivalent of Africa - a backwater wilderness with little of any objects of strategic importance, and therefore, spared from practically all bombardment that left more civilized lands a harsh wasteland.

After such an event, it`s not hard to see Equestria being constantly besieged by bands of marauders hailing from the wastelands.

It would seem sad if it were indeed humans who brought about nuclear weapons into a war fought in world of magic. The Stranger and Her Friend made a point on the notion of humans existing during Discord's War of Madness.

Actually, the weapon advancement seemed to suggest a human civilisation similar to that of humans of WWI or WWII. That may be just before nuclear arms existed, however the humans existed after the the supposed events of Hearts Warming Eve.

Speculation may point towards the possible survival of humans, but I tend to think that what caused the events of HWE to be of a more fantastical origin than that of humans. Just specilation of course!

363905

Perhaps the end to war was brought by transforming rapacious omnivorous creatures into docile herbivores? Just a thought.

And an interesting thought at that.

Now it makes me think of the possibility of Discord being involved in a mass population transformation as a part of the early prehistorical days.

Granted it is a weak theory seeing as Discord supposedly appeared after Hearts Warming. He could have existed before then if he is powerful enough, which I think he could have been.

367927

It`s a possibility that Hearts Warming had twisted him into what he is now. Maybe he used to be several patron creatures and tribes coming together forced them to become one singular nigh-omnipotent being that sports fragmented appearance and fractured mind.

I created a war between Nightmare Moon and Celestia in the universe of my fics, both of which deal with the subject... though i have yet to directly write an actual fic on the war itself.

1)Who was it against? (Dragons, hairless apes, griffions ect.)
Celestia Vs. Nightmare Moon.
2)Why did it start? (Freedom fighters(Terrorists)against/for ponies, Lebensraum or maybe Celestia just got bored.)
A combination of the Fall of the Crystal Empire sowing discord into Pony's hearts, arrogant Day Court Nobles that refused to enact policies, non-negotiable radical Night Court ponies that were infuriated and jealous of Day court, Celestia unable to intervene and Luna frustrated + mad that her night and power was being ignored. So she started at Everfree Castle, was pushed out and then a North vs South sort of war began.
3)How did it end? (Pony victory, pony loss, ect.)
OBviously Celestia won... I'd like to think a Last Battle sort of thing in which all three ponies come together with buffalo, donkey and mules to fight off Nightmare's forces while Celestia personally engaged NM... darn I realy want to write a fic about that battle directly (I only mentioned this idea in a flashback in one of my fics)...
4)What weapons were used?
I would think medieval/napoleonic weapons. Sabres, heavy swords, maces, axes. Armour: Chain mail or plate, depending on rank. Armies would use a regimental type army system varied by levy troops and heavy trained nobility. Mage healers and battle-mages included.

519954
I've always thought that the "Rise of Nightmare Moon" (for lack of better term) was something of an isolated incident in the City of Everfree. (well, aside from the fact it that the sun and moon stopped moving). Mainly due to the fact that Luna's lack of followers is what caused her transformation in the first place and the conflict is more dramatic in a one on one format of Celestia vs Nightmare Moon.

That's just my head-canon/opinion .

In my fict there is a war that has been ragin for about twenty years between an independent city, The Steam-City and the pegasi of Wigonia and there will also be a mention of a war that happened before the parents of Luna and Celestia came to power, when there was only one continent and two Kingdoms, Day and Night and they were ruled by alicorns that lived in peace until one day the relations between the two were destroyed and a magical war erupted that split up the continent and turned the alicorns into the ponies we see today, unicorns, earth-ponies, pegasi you name it.

My fic in progress is all about the Equestrian Civil War. Though i use crossovers heavily i got use to the idea of humans being the army Nightmare moon used and in regards to your proposed history they could have been wiped out once she was defeated or banished to another realm possibly.

The only fic that I have evolving a war is still a work in progress. Since this war is placed a few decades after the first hearth warming eve the weaponry will be old school swords and shields.Being a world creating nutcase enthusiast I've actually created three other races besides those shown in the show to go to war with the Equestrians.

I think that there was a war between earth ponies, pegusi, unicorns and allicorns, over control of Equestria. In the end obviously the allicorns won. Most likely due to their ability to fly and preform magic.

286446
My Equestria has had a mostly peaceful history for the last few centuries - before that, though, things were a lot more tenous.

Let's start with the most recent war, the Intervention in Saddle Arabia about 50-60 years pre-show.

1)Who was it against? Various Saddle Arabian factions.

2)Why did it start? Domestically, it was a dispute regarding the selection of a new Emir, albeit with many other issues like a foundering economy and republican sentiment in the mix. Equestria was drawn in due to the presence of of an unusually large Celestian Church in the country, which initially mostly sided with one of the factions - however, after Princess Celestia issued her usual plea for peace and negotiation between the factions, the Church surprised everyone by laying down their arms and trying to start talks, only to be caught between both sides and decimated.

This was not the first time hundreds had died in Celestia's name, but it was never something she could just stand by and watch. But she knew that no amount of alicorn's rage could make peace, save by killing far more. So she went before the Equestrian Parliament with her crown off for the first time in centuries and asked - no, pleaded with them for an army. She truly considered this a massive favour - but the ponies of that time knew little of war and loved their Princess dearly, and the request was granted over the objections of a few staunch pacifists.

3)How did it end? Equestria won, of course - it was a superpower with a strong economy and an alicorn. But it was not as quick or neat as they might have hoped. Oh, the initial conflict was resolved within months - but no sooner had the Equestrian forces started pulling out than the victorious Emira was assassinated, and over a year of putting down violent rebellions followed. When a new Emir was finally put in place (his powers a fair bit reduced compared to the last one), an Equestrian battalion remained in the country as security and Equestrian advisors took charge of most of the rebuilding. Certainly, within a decade the country was more prosperous than it had been in living memory - but with that came a heavy dependence on Equestrian trade, and particularly serving as a supplier of raw materials. And even those who felt such bonds were a source of security find it hard to respect the Emir as his own stallion when, over half a century later, there are still almost as many Equstrian soldiers in the country as Arabian ones.

4)What weapons were used? Spears, swords, wingblades and occasionally-spiked horseshoes in melee, slings, bows, crossbows, cannons and rockets at range: and lots of magic, both the Equestrian's spellcraft and weather-working and the Arabians' use of bound desert spirits. Give the desert setting, logistics and camouflage also played a major role.

293402
An alicorn is a powerful defensive deterrent, but not a perfect one if she is reluctant to unleash her full power. And there are things an army can do that she cannot.

6965861
First... Is there some reason why you`re resurrecting threads from early 2013?
Second, most of the things army is better for then alicorn are all about offensive actions and occupation. Defensively, having an ability to deliver mass destruction unilaterally trumps pretty much anything else - any mustering of force that makes itself known can be swiftly crippled by direct strike or by destroying the immediate support&supply. Cannons mean nothing if you can not get gunpowder to them.

6966927
All the threads in this forum seem equally dead, so new and old seems less relevant as long as there are still active posters.

And yeah - an alicorn works much better defensively, at least against a pitched assault rather than border raids. Hence Equestria not being invaded much since the Princesses came to power.

6966950
Border raids are easily discouraged by erasing all settlements within the certain range from border from existence. There is no point in trying to raid across the border if the retaliation destroys all places you could spend your ill-gotten gains in. Not to mention that bordering kingdoms would treat their potential raiders will all due seriousness. One raid just doesn`t make up for the cost of several villages.

Just to clarify - I`m not talking about killing off the populace in the settlements. I`m talking about destroying their fields and drying their wells, petrifying their forests and scorching their pastures. In short, making it extremely expensive and logistically complicated to maintain settlements. Make it well known to the leaders of the land that each incursion into your lands that is not dealt with harshly from their side is going to increase the width of "no one`s land", and you can ensure that anyone entertaining the notions of raiding will be crucified along the borders to set an example for everyone else.

6966970
True. I suppose the question is, how many raids would it take for Celestia to go that far?

6967033
One. Depriving opponent of wealth is perfectly acceptable and civilized method of discouragement.
Making sure everyone knows you`re valuing your domain over theirs and will not hesitate to excise more then had been stolen is a staple of prosperity guarantees.

6967081
I meant in terms of personal responsiveness to events on the borders, especially pre-telegraph.

(Also, I hold that her active involvement in government has varied over time.)