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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is an American-Canadian television series and media franchise that served as the primary incarnation of the My Little Pony brand from 2010 to 2019. Created by Lauren Faust with contributions from hundreds of talented individuals, Friendship is Magic was one of the most successful western animated series and toylines in all of history, easily securing the series as Hasbro's second biggest toyline. With its distinctive animation style and highly defined cast of characters, Friendship is Magic follows the adventures of Twilight Sparkle and her many friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike and more as they navigate their lives in the fantastical world of Equestria, a land full of beauty and danger.

Setting

Kingdoms and species

Main article: Equestria

The primary setting of Friendship is Magic is the land of Equestria, which has been varyingly referred to as a kingdom^{[citation needed]}, continent^{[citation needed]} or even entire the entire planet. The dominant species throughout Equestria and indeed, much of the franchise are ponies, who come in three main varieties, such as the Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns. Earth Ponies are hardy individuals with strong bodies and equally strong hearts. Likely due to their lack of special powers, they're often depicted as being innovators and inventors of technology. Pegasi are winged-ponies with the power to fly and control the weather itself. Notably, pegasi are responsible for creating or diverting storms and the changing of seasons. Unicorns are typically mountain-dwelling ponies who have the power of magic. Usually depicted as more 'refined' and educated, unicorns have spread out across Equestria to aid communities with their gifts. Throughout the franchise, many lesser-populated 'kinds' of ponies have appeared, such as the Alicorns, Thracians and Bat Ponies.

Of course, other countries exist, often populated by different species. Most notably are the Dragon Lands, populated by Dragons, Griffonstone, populated by Griffons, Changeling Hive, populated by Changelings, Yakyakistan, populated by the Yaks and the Hippogriff Kingdom/Seaquestria nations, populated by the Hippogriffs. There are also smaller, less explored kingdoms such as Abyssinia, populated by the cats and the two Diamond Dog kingdoms of Diamondia and Caninia. Equestria itself also houses a number of minority groups or even minor kingdoms within its borders, such as the Buffalo Village, Dragon Town and the deer kingdom of Thicket. Beyond even those, there appear to be kingdoms for apes, giraffes, minotaurs and a variety of other creatures who have only been briefly alluded to.

Other equines such as Zebra and Arabian Ponies have their own lands.

Politics, settlements and organization

Equestria as the nation is a monarchy primarily ruled by the Equestrian royal family, which itself primarily consists of the 'four princesses', Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance and Princess Twilight, who each represent the sun, moon, love and friendship respectively. It's unclear if Equestria is split into sub-domains, though a few regions have been alluded to such as Coltifornia, which appears to indicate some sort of provincial system. Each settlement, is lead by a mayor and represented by a delegate. Though the government is typically functional and transparent, corruption exists. Wealthy ponies such as Fancy Pants have been known to buy favors among governmental organizations and the infamous Equestrian Educational Association was at lead by a xenophobe by the name of Chancellor Neighsay, though he ultimately did learn the error of his ways. Corruption is known to occur among the police too.

Culture and science

According to Jayson Thiessen, the level of technology of Equestria is 'strictly' depicted from roughly the Edwardian era to the early 20th century. This of course has influenced many of the shows' internal culture, with much of the entertainment the ponies enjoy are stage-theaters, concerts and literature. Trains and sometimes ships are used as the primary form of transit in long distances, with all major land vehicles often being pulled by other ponies, or sometimes other creatures. At times, it can even be argued that the show has a retro-futuristic, even steampunk aesthetic with airships and the machinery Twilight Sparkle developed, especially in the shows' early days. Despite this 'strict' consistency, slip ups have been made, usually in the tie-in material. Comics for example have alluded to or depicted concepts such as the internet, automobiles and even time machines.

Literature appears to be one of Equestria's most thriving industries, with a number of libraries and bookshops located throughout the country. The most popular book series appears to be the Daring Do franchise, written by A.K. Yearling, which has a number of notable fans.

References

Bibliography

Citations