Equestria () is a fictional kingdom and the main setting of the fourth and of the My Little Pony toy line and media franchise, including the Animated series and its spinoff .
Created by Lauren Faust, the setting incorporates many elements of fantasy, including inspirations from European and Greek mythology.Equestria serves as the backdrop for the adventures of Twilight Sparkle, the main character of Friendship is Magic, and her friends, who are collectively referred to as the Mane Six. Equestria is shown to be located on a terrestrial planet, similar to Earthand hosts many Intelligence, consciousness, sentience and Wisdom. Equestria's foundation is described as the result of the cooperation of , Pegasus, and Horse.
Although depicted as generally prosperous and peaceful, Equestria engages in conflicts with various magical and supernatural threats throughout the series. The "Bit" is the national currency of Equestria and its territories. Throughout the series, Equestria is ruled by "princesses", though this title is more akin to a de facto Queen regnant in practice, with princesses exercising wide-reaching executive authority.
Equestria initially struggled with ensuring that the sun and moon set at the proper times, which drained the powers of Equestria's most powerful sorcerers. The birth of future princesses Celestia and Luna, alicorn sisters who could raise and lower the celestial bodies at will, ushered in an era of prosperity. The sisters were crowned as the rulers of Equestria and were trained by the legendary wizard Star Swirl the Bearded to use their powers."Horse Play". My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Season 8. Episode 7. April 28, 2018. Discovery FamilyMy Little Pony: Legends of Magic Issue #1
Under Princess Celestia and Luna, Equestria could focus greater magic and resources on its development despite the emergence of threats like the evil centaur Lord Tirek,"Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1". My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Season 4. Episode 25. May 10, 2014. Discovery Family. the chaos god Discord, and wars between ponies and the shapeshifting Queen Chrysalis.My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic Issue #5 Under the princesses, Equestria was transformed into a regional superpower. Six legendary ponies wielded the Elements of Harmony to defend Equestria from these threats and planted the Tree of Harmony so other generations could do the same. The status quo remained unchanged until the corruption of Princess Luna, who transformed into Nightmare Moon with the intent of plunging Equestria into eternal night. This culminated in Celestia banishing her own sister to the moon for a millennium, creating a pattern of Lunar mare on the surface that resembled the head of a unicorn, creating the legend of "the mare in the moon" a play on the man in the moon. After 1,000 years of exile, Nightmare moon returned, only to be defeated by the mane six. After her defeat, she returned to being Princess Luna."Friendship is Magic - Part 1". My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Season 1, Episode 1. October 10, 2010. Discovery Family."Friendship is Magic - Part 2". My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Season 1, Episode 2. October 22, 2010. Discovery Family.
In Equestria's early history, the northern Crystal Empire was ruled by Princess Amore. Later, the tyrannical King Sombra took over the kingdom and enslaved the Crystal Ponies. After Celestia and Luna defeated Sombra with the magical Crystal Heart, he cursed the Crystal Empire to disappear, which it did for one thousand years. The Crystal Empire later reappeared and was ruled by Princess Cadence and her husband, Shining Armor.
By the end of Friendship is Magic, the rule of Equestria was passed down to Princess Twilight Sparkle."Magical Mystery Cure". My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Season 3. Episode 13. February 16, 2013. The Hub. The reign of Twilight Sparkle brought about increases in peace, prosperity, hope, and love as Princess Twilight continued her magical research and made her diplomatic mission to spread friendship to every creature in need. Throughout Equestria's history, it has maintained distant but mostly friendly relations with other nations like the Zebras and Yaks.
The period after the return of Princess Luna through the ascendancy of Twilight Sparkle is the era most detailed by the main comics, television series, and video games. It is, therefore, fully canonical, according to the showwriters.
In "The Cutie Re-Mark," several alternate versions of Equestria are depicted as a result of Starlight Glimmer changing history. In the first alternate timeline shown, King Sombra expands the Crystal Empire's borders to cover half of Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom. In the second, Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings have conquered Canterlot, forcing many ponies into hiding. In the third, Nightmare Moon rules Equestria in the eternal night after banishing Celestia to the moon."The Cutie Re-Mark". My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Season 5. Episodes 25 and 26. November 28, 2015. Discovery Family. Further alternate realities include one ruled by Discord, one in which Tirek ravages the land, one in which Flim and Flam bulldoze the Everfree Forest for development, and one in which Equestria is reduced to a barren wasteland. These alternate realities are later undone by Twilight Sparkle.
It is theorized that Generation 5 follows an alternate continuity or timeline after generation 4, evident by the three pony tribes once again fragmented from and hostile to each another as well as the loss of their respective abilities such as telekinesis, flight, and enhanced strength due to the disappearance of magic from the world.
In addition, Faust envisioned the ponies as realistic horses who ate hay, lived in barns, pulled carts, wore saddles, and used their mouths to pick up things—qualities that were formerly avoided. After an idea from fellow animator Paul Rudish, many ideas of how the ponies' world was special came to Faust; she imagined the ponies as the stewards of their world who made their weather happen, flowers grow, and animals thrive.
Initially, Faust's designs were similar to the original ponies'. However, they "just didn't feel right" with upturned noses, straight faces, large heads, and small bodies. After drawing a doodle of a random pony, Faust decided to use that design. When creating ponies, the artists needed to be attentive to shape and proportion. Their bodies were similar to the shapes of beans: heads to a ball and legs to curved triangles. Often, the ponies were the height of three heads, divided into three parts:
Other prominent body parts include the neck, which is half the head's width, and the eye, a central element to the ponies' design in placement, size, and shape. While many eyes differ in details, the placement and shape are normally unvarying. Throughout the later seasons of Friendship Is Magic, body types have varied, being designed to embody diverse characteristics, including age and personality.
A quality Faust borrowed from her childhood with the pegasi was a cold shower fountain that made her believe the pegasi lived in the clouds. She credited Paul Rudish for the inspiration of the pegasus ponies controlling the weather when he was drawing a pegasus pony running across clouds and creating rain.
As Hasbro created a castle that Faust put up on her dresser, she believed unicorns would live in the mountains.
The Equestrian continent's diverse geography ranges, , provinces, and settlements are modeled after or based on North American cities and the Nearctic realm. The full geography of Equestria is currently unexplored and evolving to fit the needs of the show writers. The Equestrian-explored portion of the continent is flanked by two vast oceans, bounded to the north by the mountainous Frozen North region and extends across the northern and southern hemispheres, ending with the Bone Dry Desert that borders the Mysterious South region. However, a map included in the Friendship Is Magic film indicates vast areas beyond these regions.My Little Pony: The Movie
Like Earth, Equestria's world has one moon and is depicted as part of a solar system. Questions regarding heliocentrism or Geocentrism are complicated by the fact that Celestia and Luna can move the Sun and Moon, respectively, at a mere whim. Similar constellations exist; with the caveat that most are also dangerous monsters, such as Canis Major and Ursa Minor. About the "Human World,". 2013. DHX Media. it is unclear if Equestria is located in a parallel universe, or somewhere in the same universe as Earth.
Notable settlements, territories, dependencies, and major population centers in Equestria are identified throughout the series and used as the setting for one or more episodes. Most minor locations, or vaguely referenced areas outside Equestria, both in the television series and associated media are not specified whether these locations are part of Equestria or not. The films, television series, and other franchise media take place in many locations and their exact affiliation with Equestria is not explored.
As the creator of the show wrote, Lauren Faust explained on various social media pages, that the Everfree Forest is west of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres is southwest, and both Fluttershy's cottage and meadow are located north of the farm. Canterlot is northeast of Ponyville. However, in subsequent interviews, both Faust and Jayson Thiessen mentioned that the geography and continuity of the show are fluidly defined and are subject to change as necessary,
Ponyville is known for its agricultural produce—apples, pears, carrots, etc.—and is home of "Sweet Apple Acres", Equestria's only source of domesticated zap apple jam. Ponyville has a school district, a diplomatic mission, a tourist destination, and a rail center—being the first/last connecting stop between Canterlot and other principalities. Ponyville incorporates minor influences from traditional small-town Americana.
The town has a host of eccentric characters, and is the setting for many episodes of the Friendship is Magic series. Twilight Sparkle's first impression of Ponyville upon first arrival was "Everypony in this town is crazy!""Friendship is Magic". My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. October 10, 2010. The Hub.
The finale, "Twilight's Kingdom", introduces the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville as the residence of Twilight Sparkle, her assistant Spike, and her pupil Starlight Glimmer.
According to the book Art of Equestria, which describes the creation of Friendship is Magic, the creator of the series, Lauren Faust, originally proposed the name Fillydelphia (a pun on the city of Philadelphia) instead of Ponyville. The series later added Fillydelphia as a new, separate city.
Faust wrote in a comment on her DeviantArt page that the Everfree Forest is west of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres is southwest, Canterlot is northeast, and Fluttershy's cottage and meadow are located north of the farm. However, in subsequent interviews, both Faust and the supervising director and executive producer of the series, Jayson Thiessen, mentioned that the geography and continuity of the show are loosely defined and may change as necessary, and a layout artist for the series stated on December 10, 2011, that the production team had no official map of Equestria for reference.
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Upon the release of Art of Equestria, however, an official map was released. It suggests that the Everfree Forest is to the east of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres to the southeast, and Fluttershy's cottage and meadow are located north of the farm.
Faust aimed for a "European feel" with Canterlot. Her photo references to Dunnet were castles and cathedrals. Faust stated she preferred Dunnet's first instinct to his later more "cartoony" drawings of Canterlot; subsequently, he went back to the way he first drew the location. The stained glass windows reflect an awareness of the world. Its spires and turrets are similar to the Arthurian castles of Camelot, and its color pallette and mountaintop position represent royalty.
One of Faust's inspirations for Canterlot, with its castle carved into the side of the mountain, was Minas Tirith from The Lord of the Rings. Ted Anderson and Agnes Garbowska's inspiration for ancient Canterlot was ancient Rome.
According to Lauren Faust, Canterlot was originally called "Canterbury", after the historical English city, and the name "Canterlot" was suggested by her husband Craig McCracken.
Cloudsdale is a pun on Clydesdale Horse, a breed of horse; according to Lauren Faust, the name "Cloudsdale" was originally suggested by her husband Craig McCracken. The city is first depicted in "Sonic Rainboom".
The forest is considered to be extremely hazardous, and travel through it is heavily discouraged. The forest is considered uninhabitable by all but the native Everfree Deers who inhabit it. It is the location of the Castle of Two Sisters, the Mirror Pool, and other enchanted phenomena. Due to the forest's rich biodiversity of exotic flora and fauna, Zecora frequently travels into the Forest for various reasons; she built her hut within to more easily harvest ingredients for her potions.
The Crystal Empire is a non-sovereign monarchy and technically the oldest of Equestria's principalities; its existence predates it by centuries. After the conflict instigated by King Sombra, the capital vanished from existence and the empire was annexed by Equestria. The Crystal Heart is the empire's most sacred magical artifact, which possesses the power to absorb, magnify, and deflect emotions. The crystal ponies used it in peacetime to exponentially amplify and project hope and love across Equestria. In times of conflict, it can be used as a weapon to demoralise the armies of would-be aggressors.
It is first depicted in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" and featured prominently in "Rarity Takes Manehattan". The city is characterized by 20th-century technologies; including tall buildings and skyscrapers with asphalt streets decorated with electric , , and Street light."Shadow Play". My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Season 7. Episodes 25 and 26. October 28, 2017. Discovery Family. Ponies' primary forms of transportation are pony-drawn taxi carriages and an underground rapid transit system. Manehattan is the most densely populated and ethnically diverse city in Equestria, hosting all manner of races and species, and is a major commercial, financial and cultural center.
Starlight's Village, also called Our Town, is a community in the Manehattan region and is characterized by a semi-arid climate.
Appleloosa
Appleloosa is the most populous settlement in the region and is first featured in "Over a Barrel". Dodge Junction is based on the cities of the American Wild West, and is portrayed as a bustling township that mainly revolves around a cherry farm run by the earth pony Cherry Jubilee. Similar to Dodge Junction, Appleloosa, a pun of the Appaloosa horse breed, is a setting based on the cities of the American Wild West and mainly revolves around an apple orchard that is home to members of the "Apple Family". Appleloosa is depicted as bordering on the buffalo lands, home of the indigenous American bison tribes. Appleloosa is also the hometown of Applejack's cousin Braeburn.
In episodes throughout the series and in promotional material, other locations are mentioned, but not used as settings. A partial list includes Baltimare, based on the city of Baltimore; Fillydelphia, which is based on the city of Philadelphia and was the original name for Ponyville when the show was in development; and Vanhoover, which is based on Vancouver, Canada and is described as the former home of "Grand Pear", Applejack's grandfather.
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