Anno Equestria: A Brief History of the Pony Nation

by Insert Pen Name

The Age of Adventure*

Anno Equestria
A Brief History of the Pony Nation
A FiM fic by (Insert Pen Name)

The Age of Adventure
AE1685-1800

The period following the end of the Second Griffon War is often referred to as the Age of Adventure, and while this may seem a fanciful title, it is certainly an apt one. Since the upheavals surrounding the Nightmare Moon Crisis and the founding of New Canterlot, Equestria seemed to have slipped into a sort of disinterested lethargy as far as the outside world was concerned. The Second Griffon War put that to an abrupt end. Equestria's turnabout victory over a hostile foreign power galvanised the nation, and for the first time in centuries, ponies began to look out towards the world at large.

As was explained last chapter, the end of the Second Griffon War was ultimately brought about by diplomacy. However, the possibility of having to invade the Griffon Kingdom was not ignored, and in the months following the liberation of the East Coast, the shipyards of Manehatten and Baltimare were engaged in the construction of warships to spearhead the invasion. With the promulgation of the Treaty of Fillydelphia, these warships were now given the new purpose of escort duty. The Griffon Kingdom had elected to pay its war reparations in the form of silver and gold bullion, and, naturally, the ships carrying these payments quickly became prime targets for pirates. Thus began the "classic" age of piracy in the East Sea. Famous pirate leaders such as the earth-pony Captain Pinkbeard* and the griffon Gaston la Serre, have become the stuff of legend, although these highly romanticised portrayals are a far cry from the brutal realities of life on the high seas. For decades, the Equestrian Navy struggled to protect their convoys from pirate attacks until AE1757, when the navy was finally able to muster the strength to begin rooting out pirate strongholds one by one. Even so, the pirate threat remained strong until the Griffon reparations ceased in AE1771, and commercial traffic in the East sea gradually returned to pre-war levels.

The post-war period also saw the rise of a renewed interest in exploration and discovery that had not been seen since the early centuries of Equestria. In AE1698, a unicorn named Book Smart accompanied a diplomatic attache to the Griffon Kingdom, and spent the next year exploring the Isles. When he returned, he published his "experiences" under the title Mysteries of the Griffon Isles. The book was almost absurdly biased, even by the standards of the day, but Smart's story, and the controversy surrounding it**, quickly inspired a new breed of adventurers. Equestria had long had trade relations with such far off places as Zebrica, Cervada, and Saddle Arabia; but now the merchants were accompanied by scientists, geographers, historians, missionaries, entrepreneurs, and other such adventurous folk. It is said that the Pony worldview expanded tenfold over the turn of the 18th century.

In AE1703, Princess Celestia created the Canterlot Geographical Society, with the purspose of compiling a complete comprehensive atlas of the world. Over the course of the next century, the Society funded hundreds of expeditions, large and small, to seek out and explore new lands across the world. Many explorers rose to prominence in this period, but easily the most famed of all was the unassuming Toby the Donkey. Prior to his rise to fame, Toby was a lower-class sailor, working out of Baltimare. In AE1707, he was hired on as a pilot for the exploration vessel Hippocampus, which was destined to try and sail around the southern tip of the continent and reach the West Coast of Equestria. Early in the voyage, the captain of the Hippocampus was killed in an accident involving the ship's anchor, and Toby ultimately stepped forth as her de facto successor.

With Toby at the helm, the Hippocampus continued to sail south, while its crew mapped the coastline as they went. By mid-winter, they had passed the coastal Dragonlands and began to follow the coastline west, past the scrubby Prancing Plains, before finally turning back north in early AE1708. Eight months later, the Hippocampus landed at Los Pegasus, and Toby the Donkey was hailed as a national hero. Toby went on to captain several more voyages, and in AE1722, he joined the famous World Expedition to sail around the world from West Coast to East. The expedition consisted of seven ships, captained by some of the finest naval commanders in Equestria. It took three years to complete the voyage from Los Pegasus to Baltimare, during which all but two of the ships were lost and hundreds of sailors with them, including Toby. Nonetheless, the success of the World Expedition was a vital part in the compilation of the first Canterlot World Atlas, which was finally completed in AE1789.

The later 18th century saw further exploration closer to home. In AE1772, the pegasus explorer Cloudjumper led an ocean voyage north from Vanhoover to try and reach the North Pole, and to search for passage over the northern tip of the continent. Her expedition was turned away by inclement weather, however, so in AE1773, she set out for the South Pole instead, landing in the Frozen South after two months at sea without land. Cloudjumper reached the South Pole the following year, after wintering on the coast, and returned to Canterlot in the summer of AE1775, in poor health but in excellent spirits. Many more attempts were made to sail to the North Pole after her death in AE1779, but none succeeded, and nopony yet dared cross the Crystal Mountains. To this day, the Frozen North, and the remains of Old Homeland therein, are still a mystery to modern geography.

The Age of Adventure was not exclusively one of sail, however. For many centuries, unicorns and earth-ponies alike had sought to achieve the miracle of flight that was so enjoyed by their pegasus neighbours. Magical efforts had produced spells that could grant temporary wings to non-pegasi, but results were inconsistent and often impractical. Instead, aspiring aviators had begun to look to more artificial methods of flight. In AE1789, a unicorn kite-maker, Shining Bright, designed and built the precursor to the modern hang-glider. Unfortunately, she failed to factor the effect of her own weight into the design, and her very first test-glide ended in tragedy. Bright's close friend, a Cloudsdale-born earth-pony named Daylily, took over her late friend's efforts and made the first successful artificial glide just outside Canterlot in AE1790.

The first actual flight was made nearly five years later, when the Skylark siblings developed the first hot air balloon. Lark and Sky had begun their careers as con-artists, claiming extraordinary inventions that could accomplish extraordinary ends, for a price. During one such demonstration, in which the siblings claimed they would bring the power of flight to the common pony, one persistent heckler quickly earned their ire by repeatedly challenging their credentials and insulting their mother. Offended, the siblings vowed to actually accomplish their proposed feat (for a change), and spent the next two years exploring various ideas of flight. The final breakthrough came when Lark noticed the tendency of warm air to rise, and in AE1794, the Skylarks demonstrated the first hot air balloon at the Royal Canterlot Fair to tumultuous applause. For the first time in history, the skies were open to anypony, anywhere. It was truly a revolutionary invention.

* Contrary to popular misconception, Pinkbeard was, in fact, a natural pink. Her reputation for setting her tail on fire, however, is pure fabrication.

** The book caused little uproar in the Griffon Kingdom, where most griffons were illiterate, but King Garth is reported to have been so offended that he wrote a letter to Princess Celestia demanding Book Smart's extradition for slander. No such action was taken, but Celestia did respond by publicly discrediting Book Smart's work, and so the controversy abated.

Comments

[djthomp]

Toby is definitely best donkey.

I'm loving the pirates. Pinkbeard, oh yes.

[shutaro]

[...]; but now the merchants were accompanied by scientists, geographers, historians, missionaries, entrepreneurs, and other such adventurous folk.

Missionaries? We haven't seen Celestia or Luna as founders of a religion or as objects of religious worship and I really can't see them excepting any worship of that kind. I'd even go so far to say that they would firmly discourage any pony that tried to start a cult like that.

[Insert Pen Name]

2391257 We know that ponies do have some semblance of religion (see Mr. Waddle). I never said that it was based around the Princesses, however.

[shutaro]

2391804
I guess you mean the scene from "Hearts and Hooves Day"? You don't need a religion to bury your dead.
And in addition, I don't consider anything canon that's part of a song. Unless it's a canon, of course.

[comicfan616]

Book Smart.
Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah.
You can just smell the contradiction.

[Ultra Unsafe]

Nice Lilienthal reference :D

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

Dear King Garth
Slander is spoken. Therefore, a book can not be slanderous. Books are libelous. Please correct this egregious error forthwith.
Signed
Fussbudget, Royal Secretary

"How have you lived this long?" Attributed to Celestia during her speech firing Fussbudget upon his presenting this note to Celestia for approval before mailing it.