Equestria

Kingdom of Equestria
Friendship is Magic character
Overview information
Location	Greater Equestria
Type	Kingdom See here for more
Historical information
Founder	Founders of Equestria
First "Friendship is Magic" Last —

Equestria was a country and an ancient kingdom located on Greater Equestria on the planet of Earth. The pony kingdom bordered Yakyakistan, The Crystal Empire and the mysterious South. To the east of the kingdom lied the Griffon continent and Dragon-Kirin island and to the west lies lands left yet unexplored. Equestria is shown to be a revered and in some cases, feared kingdom due to its mighty denizens and even mightier rulers.

Equestria was primarily a lush, well-forested land with a bevy of forests and jungles, but due to its sheer size, the geography of the land was varied. As such, the kingdom also contained deserts, plains and even tundras. Equestria had two unique oceans on both of its coastal boarders, both named after its two most famous rulers - The Celestial Sea and Luna Ocean respectively. Equestria appeared to be among the most technologically developed kingdoms on Earth, with numerous highly industrialized cities and a variety of advanced scientific machinery. Other advanced lands included Abyssinia and to an extent, Klugetown.

The kingdoms capital was the mountain city of Canterlot, founded by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna during the Age of Heroes. Other large cities included Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Chicoltgo and Baltimare. Ponyville is also seen as a noteworthy town due to housing the Elements of Harmony and the secret agent Bon Bon.

History

Main article: History of Equestria

As the term 'Equestria' is often applied in a manner that doesn't necessarily refer to the political body, it's unclear if a definitive starting point to the country can be determined. The term 'Equestria' has referred to the realm since the days of Starswirl the Bearded and has been used well after the country seemingly dissolved The earliest known inhabitants of Equestria were the Cave Ponies who lived several thousand years ago, though the oldest known ponies in Equestria to be referred to as Equestrians were the Founders of Equestria.

The country seemed to be a loose confederation of city-states and small kingdoms in its early days, with no central government but instead smaller ones such as the Pegasus Kingdom. At some point, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna founded the Kingdom of Equestria, uniting the entire realm under the duel-rulership. Though this reign was successful at first, Luna eventually fell to the darkness and nearly took the kingdom with her, before being banished to the moon. Despite this, Equestria thrived just fine with only a single ruler as Celestia held down the royal fort.

Approximately one-thousand years later, Cadance, a Pegasus who turned into an alicorn was appointed to be the royal 'niece' of Celestia, becoming one of the country's princesses. Later, Twilight Sparkle would become the protégé of Celestia after her last one failed, also destined to become one of its princesses.

Eventually, on a Summer Sun Celebration, Luna came back to Equestria as Nightmare Moon seeking revenge and the oppertunity to conquor, before being defeated by the Elements of Harmony. Now with both of its princesses ruling, Equestria entered a golden-age of progress and good-fortunes.

Government and organization

Treasury

The Equestrian Treasury is an Equestria organization presumably tasked with maintaining the economy of the realm. Though presumably rich, according to Raven Inkwell, the treasury would've been bankrupt 7 times over during the Griffonstone-Equestria diplomatic crisis.

Geography

Whereabouts

Map of Equestria and Beyond

Equestria is located on a central continent to the east of the Unexplored West, south of the Frozen Northand north of the Mysterious South. Equestria is the largest known single kingdom, with other large kingdoms such as Yakyakistan and Abyssinia being of unclear sizes. Due to its massive size and unique placement, Equestria has incredibly varied geography, from the cozy, frozen villages to the north to the desert cities in the south and the lush acres of forest in between. Despite being a continuous kingdom, Equestria has settlements that don't seem properly incorporated into the kingdom, such as the Arimaspi Territory of southern Equestria.

Regions and sub-kingdoms

Equestria is often split into two major regions, Northern Equestria and Southern Equestria. Northern Equestria is well-known for its odd geography, with deserts and forests right next to one another, while Southern Equestria is very desert-ridden. While the kingdoms of Northern Equestria are mostly unknown, they housed the large collective cultural group of High Desert, a warrior-like culture with a strong military tradition. These idolized military ideals also found themselves in another Northern Equestria settlement, the Royal Legion of Pegasus. Southern Equestria was more well-known for its generally peaceful, calm, desert civilizations. Despite their generally peaceful nature, the region has spawned its fair share of unfair and tyrannical rulers, such as King Anubis and Cleopatrot.

Towns and cities

The capital of Equestria is Canterlot, a pearly-white city atop a mountain that bears its namesake. The first known capital of Equestria was a small settlement located somewhere in the Everfree Forest, though it did not have much of anyone living their except for Starswirl and the Princesses. Other large cities include Baltimare, Manehattan, Vanhoover, Las Pegasus, New Horseleans and Applewood, while noteworthy, but smaller towns include Ponyville, Appaloosa and Cloudsdale.

Mountains

Equestria has several noteworthy mountains, such as the Foal Mountains, Smokey Mountains, Crystal Mountains, Macintosh Hills and the aforementioned Canterlot Mountain. Although it's technically within the Frozen North, it appears that the largest known mountain, Mount Everhoof, was discovered by Equestrians, given its name. An important mountain to Equestria appears to be that of Mount Palomino, which bares an impressive observatory with a lens built by Starry Eyed. An interesting mountain range includes the Arimpasi Territory, which has been depicted as being a bizarrely empty realm; devoid of flora with sharp, dreary mountains.

Although it doesn't appear to be in Equestria's land area, Mount Metazoa is extremely important to the political aspect of Equestria, as it is where the Convocation of the Creatures conferences are held.

Woodlands

Equestria is a very well-forested kingdom with many woods, forests and jungles. Perhaps the most well-known forest is the Everfree Forest, which is famed for its dark lore. Another well-known forest is the Forest of Leota in Southern Equestria. Jungles include the Forbidden Jungle and presumably others.

Culture

Art

An Art Gallery depicting many art pieces and artifacts

Artworks, such as paintings, sculptures and illustrated drawings had a strong history and tradition in Equestria. Ponies, such as Leadwing, Schulz, Mignola and even dragons like Scaly Sue were able seemingly make a living off their artistic careers. There were many art museums across Equestria, most notably, the Manehattan Museum of Art in the city of Manehattan. Likewise, their were contests and shows, such as Princess Celestia's Extreme Art Contest, where encouraged ponies to volunteer to display their skills. Said show featured many kinds of art, such as paintings and knitted sculptures.

Aside from typical artpieces, Equestria's most unique and iconic piece of art was probably their stained glass, which dotted the halls of Canterlot Castle.

Architecture

Carousel Boutique, a business in Ponyville

"Traditional" Equestrian architecture in Central Equestria is reminiscent to real-life Germanic-styled architecture and many houses and buildings tend to reflect this. Northern Equestrian architecture is moreso based off old Ancient Briton architecture, as seen in places such as High Desert. Eastern Equestrian architecture tends to look more Industrial American, with cities like Manehattan reflecting this style, while southern Equestria varies from Midwest American to Egyptian inspired.

To put it mildly, businesses and companies in Equestria, especially places like Ponyville and Las Pegasus, seemed to emphasize their brand and image in their architecture. For example, businesses like Sugarcube Corner are very colorful and tell any potential customer exactly what they sell from the way their building looks. Other businesses like Carousel Boutique are more "subtle" but no less elegant in their design. Interesting, some establishments have been shown to be re-purposed natural features, such as Golden Oak Library and the Changeling Arts and Crafts Station, which are a tree and a cave respectively.

Holiday and Lofty's house, a big, but otherwise traditional Equestrian home

Housing in Equestria tends to vary greatly from settlement to settlement. In smaller, traditional towns like Ponyville, creatures tend to live in standard, two-story houses with similar architecture, but tend to care for them in a variety of ways, such as planting unique gardens and plants in or around them. Houses in Ponyville are also often depicted being away from the more commercial and cultural aspects of the town and instead seem to be split into residential zones. From little of Canterlot houses has been seen, houses there seemed to be smaller, one-story, but more stylized and unique. Interestingly, and possibly due to the small amount of land, houses there down't appear to be split into residential zones as much and a few houses, like Moon Dancer's house and Dusty Page's house, were shown to be in the middle of commercial locations.

In bigger cities like Manehattan, more ponies seem to live in apartments than houses, though Cuppa Joe was shown to live in a Canterlot apartment. Apartment complexes seemed to be built in their own residential zones, such as Farrier Hill. In Dragon Town, the houses emulate typical Dragon Houses, and as such, are cave-like in their appearance.

The Canterlot Train Station

Arguably the greatest accomplishment in Equestrian architecture and building history was the Friendship Express, a massive, multi-continental railway that connected not just nearly every single settlement in Equestria, but some beyond such as Griffonstone and Mount Aris, both of which are entire continents away from Equestria. Virtually every town has its own unique train station and even some unpopulated regions such as Tenochtitlan appear to have their own. Massive bridges and presumably artificial caves were created and carved through solid mountain to make the express way work, and it has proven to be incredibly effective. Not just has this system proven to be incredibly useful in keeping towns connected and allowing for ponies to constantly travel between settlements in a quick pace, but has proven invaluable to the defense of Equestria, allowing ponies to be transported to safe spaces during times of crises, as seen when Accord nearly conquered Equestria.

In addition to the railway, some bigger cities like Manehattan have subway systems to allow for ponies to travel from one part of the city to the next.

Crystal Castle

In terms of wonders and more artistic feats, several places in Equestria had rather fanciful buildings and monuments. A notable example was Mount Monument, which depicted the Princesses of Equestria though was partially destroyed when Rarity accidentally flew a plane into the statue depiction of Luna's eye. Equestrians were notable for being a "castle building" society, with an impressive amount of castles built across the land. The earliest known castle was constructed in the Canterlot forest and was initially an aggressive "Armored Fortress" but was changed by Luna herself to be a kinder, gentler design and would later become Canterlot Castle, the center of the capital city. At some point early in Equestra's history, they also constructed a castle in the Everfree Forest, which was known as the Castle of Two Sisters. In the north, the Crystal Ponies constructed the Crystal Castle where the Amore Dynasty lived within, and in modern history the Castle of Friendship was erected in Ponyville.

Many settlements have locally important structures without much importance to the rest of Equestria. Some notably important of this locations include the Space Needle of Seaddle, the Boxing Statue of Fillydelphia, the Rainbow of Hope Hollow and the Statue of Liberty in Manehattan. Some of these structures served as tourist attractions to some extent, like the Equestria's Largest Ball of Yarn.

Literature

Golden Oak Library, a notable library in Equestria

Equestria had a strong and historic literary tradition dating back to at least the Age of Heroes as ponies such as Starswirl the Bearded were capable of reading and writing. In the modern age, Equestrian literature has expanded into countless genres and sub-genres, from self-help books to books about history, magic, astronomy, creatures and of course, books of fiction. Fiction books themselves had lots of different styles and genres, such as science-fiction, horror, high-fantasy, romance and even post-apocalyptic. Equestria spawned many famous authors, such as Jade Singer, who wrote the critically acclaimed Canter in the Sky. Other famous authors include Edgar Allen Pony, Lovecolt and even the Mane Six.

Among younger demographics, such as children and teenagers, comic books were also very popular, with the crime-fighting team Power Ponies being incredibly popular. Among Dragons, the Flash Fire comic series proved to be quite popular, as it was written by a dragon author, Scaly Sue. Comics, like novels, have had a variety of popular genres published in Equestria, while the most popular was undoubtably superheroes, their was also slice-of-life stories, horror and adventure. Comic book shops have been found all over Equestria, with some more notable ones being Double Midnight, Dragon Comics and Phoenix Comics. Likewise, entire conventions dedicated to comics have appeared in Equestria, such as the Equestria Comic Con, though they seem to be dedicated to geek culture in general rather than such comics.

Television

Twilight Sparkle and Mimorin at the Ponyville TV Station

Relatively little is known about Equestrian television other that it exists. There appear to be some popular animated programs however, such as Attack on Titan and several anime series that Fluttershy was apparently aware of. Twilight Sparkle apparently worked at the Ponyville TV Station for some time with a co-host named Mimorin, a Human, as they chatted with Amakuchi HKT48, an idol group in Japan confirming the age-old question that yes, Equestrian television is inter-dimensional in nature. (where have I heard that before?). Some science fiction shows like Firefly have also been confirmed to exist.

Places and locations

Equestrian places by location

Dodge Junction places

Equestrian homes

Equestrian landforms

Equestrian landmarks

Equestrian regions

Equestrian settlements

Languages

An early example of written Equestrian

Main article: Common Equestrian

The linguistic nature of Pony languages has been a confusing subject to say the least. Tails of Equestria: A Dragon's Bounty made note that Ponies typically speak "Common Equestrian", a regular, commonly spoken language that's apparently nearly the exact same as the languages spoken by other races, including Humans. However, other languages in Equestria have been spoken. Mistmane's culture spoke there own language same with the ponies of Northern Equestria, spoke a language of there own. These however, appear to be apocryphal at best as other storylines such as Legends of Magic has ponies from all corners of Equestria communicate with no problem.

Other noteworthy, but equally mysterious, languages include Olde Equestrianne, language of the animals and the Three Tribes script. Interestingly, a number of ponies speak in a broken language, such as Aloe, implying their native tongue is not the common language, though this has not yet been properly explored in the show.

Oddly, several real-world languages have popped up from time to time. Most notably, Greek, French and Nahuatl. Due to regional merchandise, other languages have of course popped up, such as German, Japanese and Chinese, though most of these instances are of questionable canonicity.

The first ponies spoke there own language as well, which mostly revolved around Star Wars puns (go figure). Later civilizations such as the Anugyptians wrote in their own script, but appeared to otherwise speak modern Common, confusingly enough.

Behind the scenes

Just what even IS Equestria anyway?

The Griffon continent, a region described as barely being apart of Equestria

Surprisingly, the answer to "what even is Equestria" is rather confusing as media has given different answers through the years, with it being the name of a country, continent and even planet.

In My Little Pony Adventures, Equestria was described as both a 'realm' and 'country', with realm in this context no doubt referring to kingdom. However, 'realm' can also mean a greater country with other countries within it that are independent from each other. Though this is an obscure use of the world, it may have some credence here as in the episode "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", Flim and Flam describe Canterlot as being a kingdom. Additionally, in "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone", Griffonstone itself is said to be apart of Equestria, despite being its own independent kingdom. This is additionally confused in the comic arc Convocation of the Creatures where it's revealed Equestria owed money to Griffonstone (though it was eventually discovered it didn't). Another example of this is how the Crystal Empire is often referred to and treated as apart of Equestria, despite being ruled by the Amore Dynasty.

In Canterlot High Stories: Rainbow Dash Brings the Blitz, the country that Equestria Girls takes place in was referred to as Equestria, meaning that Equestria may be a realm instead of a continent or planet.

As the political borders of Equestria was never revealed, it's unclear just what is and isn't considered apart of Equestria. It shares its landmass with Yakyakistan and Abyssinia who have not been referred to as Equestrian realms.

In stories that take place before the foundation of Equestria, the land ponies live in was still referred to as Equestria.^{[citation needed]} This may mean Equestria is the name of a region and a country, similar to some island nations in the real world. However, this itself doesn't make sense as again in "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" it was said Griffonstone was apart of Equestria despite being an entire continent away.

The Hippogriff Kingdom and potentially Ornithia were considered places 'beyond Equestria'.

In Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Maripore, it was revealed that the name for the continent Equestria is located on was referred to as "Greater Equestria".

In a 2019 Q&A, Big Jim indirectly referred to Equestria as being a planet , however, this has been contradicted a few times as the planet has otherwise been referred to as Earth, such as in Nightmare Rarity.

In the 11th episode of Hello Pinkie Pie "Rarity's Crazy Halloween Mane Moments", Pinkie Pie mentions Equestria and other countries around the world...which are the United States of America, China, Wales, and Brazil, meaning that Equestria is apart of our Earth. The implications of this are innumerable and disturbing.

The continuity of Hello Pinkie Pie in general is odd, As Pinkie Pie references previous events as f they were historic moments in her life, but also speaks of them from an out-of-universe-perspective, mentioning their episode names and describing events she wasn't there for, so it's unclear of this is "canon".

References

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