Codex Entry 1: A Historical Timeline of Equestria (part 1)
A contemporary historical timeline of Equestria:
(Written by Chief Historian Amber Parchment)
The Primordial Age:
Before the many species of this world came to dominate its continents and civilization flourished, there was an age where gods and monsters reigned supreme.
Almost nothing about this time is known and it is widely regarded as purely theoretical, remaining a source of contention and debate within the academic community. Though, the tremendous age and overwhelming power of entities like Discord and the Tree of Harmony strongly lead credence to the idea that there was once an era when this planet's magic was far more potent and its inhabitants were orders of magnitude more powerful than any creature today.
It's unknown when this age ended or why it ended, but eventually, all of the primordial beings either died, left this world by unknown means, or became dormant.
The mechanisms that controlled the sun and the moon (and potentially the physical celestial bodies themselves) are also believed to have been created at some point during this time. Though, by who, for what reason and via what means remain a mystery.
The Prehistoric Age:
Before the emergence of civilization in Equestria, prehistoric ponies roamed the grassy plains of the Equus continent in migrating, nomadic herds. The three pony subspecies likely began to deviate in evolutionary paths from a common pony ancestor somewhere during this time.
Not much is known about the lifestyles of these early ponies apart from theories proposed by Hippologists.
Due to the unreliability of fossil dating and the absence of much other archaeological evidence, it's impossible to know the time scale at which the Pony Prehistoric Age occurred or how old the Pony species is. It's completely possible that an entire age existed between the Primordial and Prehistoric ages, wherein the Primordial Age ended, but ponies did not yet exist as a species. It's also possible that the tail-end of the Primordial Age overlapped with the beginning of the Prehistoric Age.
Ancient Equestria:
(From ≈30 000BU to ≈5000BU)
During the age of Ancient Equestria, ponies began to develop the first civilizations and created relatively advanced societies along the fertile banks of the White-Whinny River, before expanding to occupy an area of land roughly in line with the modern Equestrian borders.
Ancient, weathered ruins of these civilizations can still be found. However, due to the First Equestrian Kingdom's unfortunate tendency to destroy Pre-Kingdom literature and artifacts, not much is known about this time outside of what can be deciphered from surviving archaeological evidence.
The First Equestrian Kingdom:
(From ≈5000BU to ≈2200BU)
The First Unification of the pony species occurred sometime around 5000BU, when a particularly powerful unicorn kingdom engaged in a campaign of expansion. After a long series of wars and invasions with neighbouring pony nations, they united the pony species under a single banner.
The First Equestrian Kingdom is believed to have been a theocratic empire with a rigid hierarchy and caste system. Their policies of expansionism, imperialism and xenophobia caused numerous brutal border wars with other species in neighbouring countries. The atrocities committed during those wars still linger in the memories of those nations, with many referring to the First Equestrian Kingdom disdainfully as the Pony Imperium and Equestria earned a pariah status that would follow the nation for millennia. Many ponies within Equestria also do not look back at the Kingdom with fondness. Strict adherence to imperial dogma, slave trading and the subjugation of other species made the First Pony Kingdom a barbaric nation by modern sensibilities with unconscionable practices.
The Kingdom eventually collapsed into civil war after an unknown calamity destabilised the nation. Various power brokers, local leaders and warlords carved out their own personal fiefdoms as the Kingdom fractured and splintered.
Although much more is known about the First Equestrian Kingdom than the previous ages, most of the historical records dating back to this time have been lost. The fires that destroyed the capital city of King's Rest and its many libraries in the civil war were an especially devastating loss for the collection of knowledge and history of Equestria.
Much of the advanced magical knowledge pioneered by the Kingdom's Mages has never been recovered. Most notably, the processes for the creation of Arco Steel and Trillium Crystals. Though some believe this is for the best, as the empire's Mages also innovated and practised many horrifying varieties of Dark Magics that greatly aided them in their conquests.
The Age of the Three Tribes:
(From ≈2200BU to 11BU)
After the collapse of the First Equestrian Kingdom, the once united nation fractured and then fractured further. With dozens of War Lords, Noble Houses and roving war bands jostling for power. For about three hundred years, the borders between the pony splinter kingdoms were in a constant state of flux. Territorial conquests, civil war, political marriages, kingdom mergers, coalitions and disputed land claims meant that the region was kept in a state of near-constant instability.
Many of the former Kingdom's foreign conquests and colonies were seized back by their original claimants. However, the heartland of Equestria itself would seldom be put under threat of invasion out of the fear that an external threat would reunite the mighty fallen empire against a common foe.
A vast variety of governments, ideologies and political theories would rise and fall in these tumultuous years. From theocracies and absolute monarchies to Oligarchies and Dutchies, to more experimental ideologies like anarchy and representative democracy.
Eventually, the region began to stabilise. The various nations consolidated their territories and a complex web of alliances and treaties was created to guard against future aggression.
Three main alliances came to dominate the region, dividing the nations up roughly along species lines. These colloquially became known as the Three Tribes.
Though periods of conflict and natural disaster would severely strain tensions between the Tribes, the status quo held firm for more than two thousand years. During this time each alliance strengthened their bonds with each other until each Tribe could almost be considered a confederation.
However, the Three Tribes would experience an even more rapid and calamitous downfall than the First Equestrian Kingdom.
The Windigo Cataclysm:
(From 11BU to 0AU)
No pony knows what the Windigos are, where they came from or why they descended upon Equestria in the way that they did.
Some theorists put forward the idea that the recent defeat of Grogar the Terrible was the likely catalyst for the attack and that the Windigos were merely a contingency that the Dark Warlock put into place to punish those that would seek to topple him.
Some also think that the Windigos could have perhaps originated from the Primordial Age, but without conclusive evidence, their nature and origin can only be speculated on.
However they came into being, their effect upon the Equestrian region was unambiguously devastating. The assault started slow, almost unnoticeable at first. With the only indication of their presence being somewhat longer and more harsh winters. This was initially blamed on shifting climates and Weather Pegasi incompetence.
In the coming years, crop failures triggered by the increasingly frigid weather and the threat of impending famine incited tensions and fostered deep mistrust between the Tribes. A total war over dwindling resources and allegations over each Tribe's perceived culpability for the disaster loomed over the region.
Border skirmishes, political instability and infighting among the Tribes distracted the ponies of Equestria from the greater impending threat until it was almost too late to mount any sort of credible defence against the Windigos.
As conditions in Equestria rapidly deteriorated to calamitous levels, famine and unending blizzards swept across the region, resulting in widespread death. Eventually, a desperate peace summit was called and after each faction leader was convinced of the Windigos' responsibility for the ongoing crisis, they vowed to work together to defeat their shared adversary.
There is a lack of clarity in surviving historical records over the means in which this new grand coalition defeated the Windigo threat. Official sources from the time state that the power of friendship and that the harmony created by the Tribes cooperating with was supposedly responsible for the expulsion of the Windigos. Though, many magical scholars dispute the plausibility of this version of events. They instead propose that a powerful magical artefact, such as Grogar's Bell or the Elements of Harmony, is much more likely to have caused the defeat of the Windigos.
In the aftermath of the Windigos expulsion, the leaders of the Three Tribes recognised how their divisions had almost resulted in the extinction of the pony species and decided to reorganise their various tribal alliances into a single united government. The event became known as the Second Unification of the pony species.
Many changes had occurred in the aftermath of the Windigo Cataclysm and the newly created Kingdom of Equestria struggled to adapt to this new world.
The receding ice sheets unearthed a number of mysterious geological changes whose origins elude scholars even to this day. Including the Grand Division in the Eastern Wastes, the Flamecano off the coast of the Rocky Peninsula, the Crystal Caverns beneath Canterhorn Mountain and Great Malevolence in the Churning Sea.
Some regions opted not to join the Equestrian Kingdom, such as the Duchy of Gallopburg and the entire border province of Grey Hill.
Stats
Page generated in 0.022 seconds
Total duration
610 users online
938,700 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
i believe its spelled windigo for the mlp creature, not much different from the native american folklore but still something that i think should be recognized
I love the little lore dumps and extra history you made. It truly fleshes out the world you have created, and makes it feel more alive and realistic.
Wendigoes are cannibalistic humans that turned into near-indestructible winter monsters.
Windigoes are the MLP frost spirits that feast on negativity.
11671967
11671914
Fixed.
Amazing little world building you've done here. Admittedly I never thought of a "first" Equestrian kingdom before the actual unification of the 3 tribes, but i really liked it.
Also just like 11671914 said, I thing the creatures' names are Windigoes, not Wendigoes
Great chapter
Thanks for the chapter!
Have a great day!
Betting that Starswirl is one of them.
I'm guessing the first "unification" would be g1 to g3?
Ooh, tasty tasty lore. I love little interludes like this, they give more backstory to entice our daydreams without blocking the flow of a chapter.
I hope something from this historical reference will play in the future, because so far, at first glance, there is nothing important here. (But this is only at first glance.)
11672057
Read my Author's Note
The idea of the first Equestrian Empire being power hungry and xenophobic does make sense as to why other nations didn't become allies with Equestria until many years later when Twilight and her friends united together.
I get the feeling the lands that didn't rejoin Equestria may have seen the corruption and how they were neglected between the new town vs old town charter stuff brought up before. Perhaps they'll play a part in Luna's journey to revitalize Equestria for a better future.
Well, I got hooked reading it, now to wait for the next chapter and see how Celestia goes without Luna to be guilty of everything wrong.
Hmm
11672016
Considering that Clover the Clever is attributed with being one of the three ponies responsible for the "magic of friendship" flame defeating the Windigos, and also being Starswirl's apprentice at one point, the idea that Starswirl refuses to believe it despite a first-hoof account by another magical scholar he has at least some respect for is really funny and entirely in character.
11673746
In my AU, Starswirl was only born centuries after the Unification.
My question is, what about the other 1,2,5...10-ish other races including the 4 other pony species?! You did say they were heavily xenophobic, so they could have completely ignored the other races in their histories other then them being "other beings" or "lesser/enemy races".
Also, how many continents are on your version of Equis?
11675508
The Crystal Empire will definitely feature in this story, but I'm not sure if I'll add other pony races like Kirins or seaponies/hippogriffs.
I haven't drawn a map for this world yet, but I'll probably just use a heavily modified HOI Equestria at War map. So assume 3 (known) continents.
Interesting take on the history.
11675524
Makes me proud that Equestria at war has such influence.
11676278
I first got into MLP through Equestria at War. I used to watch tons of Pravus Gaming and when he did a series on EAW, I got interested enough in the lore of MLP that I watched it on Netflix. They only had up until season 6 however. Though, from what I've heard about the decline in quality in seasons 7-9, perhaps it was for the best that I stopped at 6. This was at about 2020.
I was already an avid reader of Fanfiction.net at the time, so it was only natural that I started getting really into MLP fanfics there. One of those stories had a link to fimfiction.com and the rest was history.
I would never have even written this story if it wasn't for Equestria at War.
11676296
Made Katerin in it and extensively playtested the Hippogriffs before release. Also did the same for Tobuck.
11676345
Are you a dev on the mod?
11676359
Yep
Awesome!
11676296
Despite what people say, the later seasons are really nice, with many good episodes. I encourage watching them.
Cozy glow is in them!
One of the things I don't like about the G5 is that
If in the past of G4 there was disunity and disharmony, it caused the wendongs incident.
and how did G5 start? conflict, fear and distrust between the 3 tribes, how come there were at least no incidents with ice, warning of their presence in the future in the series, since G5 is a direct continuation of G4?
What happened to the knowledge and books about friendship that Twilight wrote?
What happened to the Cozy, Tirek and Crysalis statues?
What happened to discordia, celestia, luna, candence, flurry and crepusculo?
What about the other races besides the 3 main ones?
It's because of these holes and unknowns in the script that most G4 fans don't support the G5. ( including me )
Question : is king Sombra still ruling the crystal empire or has the empire already been banished along side Sombra?
11822628
Only Discord and Tirek have been dealt with so far. All other threats are still up in the air.