Ponyland History (General History)

[Becka Pone]

An Introduction to Ponyland History and Culture.
By: Canto Hoofspen, Cousian Historian

As a prelude to this on taking (which has combined quite a number of years of work and study) I feel I should explain myself. I am, in truth, a Cousian Historian, from a family of scribes devoted fully to the Royalty of Course and Jadus Marinus. I am not a Ponyland Historian, but with my move from Course to the world-renowned Dream Valley, have taken an interest in the history of the place I have come to call home. Most of my information comes from various incomplete (and oftentimes incompatible) sources, as well as a few firsthand accounts.

I must also mention that this work is simply an introduction and does not by any means go into depth for any of the histories or cultures of the different parts of Ponyland. I have provided a bibliography at the end of this work for anyone interested in my sources or their own delve into each separate place.

And now, fearing that I have defended myself into ill-reputation, I shall close this preface and get into the work at hand.

[Becka Pone]

The written history of Ponyland only extends so far back as what are known as the “Mage Wars”, when it is said the land lost its magic and worship of the Rainbows began as ponies turned in terror from the Old Gods and their Mages. The Old Gods were eventually cast aside and forgotten, and technology took the place of magic.

But that is getting a little ahead of ourselves. To appreciate the complete history of Ponyland, we must look before the written history, to the legends and stories passed down from generation to generation before written language had been developed. Some say the ponies came over the Rainbows, others say that the Old Gods formed ponies out of clay, and still others believe that we ‘evolved’, as it were, from deer or other such primitive creatures. I myself will not hazard a guess, but will recite for you one of these popular legends, revolving around a single pony on the other side of the Rainbow.

Authors Note: Although many ponies may balk at the notion of another world on the other side of the Rainbow, my own family knows it to be true. My adopted son hails from the opposite side of the Rainbow, and meeting him in pony will convince you as easily as it did myself.

[Becka Pone]

The legends say that it started with a pony who they called Whistles in the Wind. She lived in a world void of magic, where the echoing pulse of the old days was written off as barbaric and unnecessary. She found a rainbow and followed it to its end – a world of purple trees and floating yellow orbs. A world of Magic.

As the news spread of Whistles in the Wind’s adventures in the other world, other ponies followed, out of a desire for more magic in their life or perhaps just pure curiosity. As these ponies became more in-tune with the magic in this new world, they began giving birth to colorful and powerful infants. The ponies grew and cultivated their powers, and power. Very few remembered (or even cared to remember) the technologies of Earth, but those who did passed it down to the next generation so it was never completely lost. Many of these ponies traveled the world in their boats and by foot, colonizing other parts of Ponyland and exploring as much of the world as they could. Whistles in the Wind and her followers remained on the opposite side of the world to found a center of mysticism and magic. The exact name and location of this place has been lost, even within the legends, although it may refer only to the Fatum Isles, which still retain the purple flora and strange magic that once ruled all of Ponyland.

The years passed, taking with them these first explorers and leaving in their place ponies whose want for more became ever greater. More land, more magic, more power. Wars broke out between neighboring lands and conflicting views. Belief in the Old Gods was strong, and the followers of different gods bickered constantly, each claiming theirs was the strongest, the best, and the most powerful. It was in this vein that the stage was set for the Mage Wars.

[Becka Pone]

Authors Note: I would like to appologize for the following insert. The original author is self-proclaimed mad, and I've no reason not to believe her in that statement. The following is a choppy and short account of the Mage Wars, to give you a better idea what happened during that time.

The Mage War Chronicles
As told by Aedeminar Ebonwing, daughter of Liadon the Grey Lady

There is more to history then what the books tell you, and more to magic than you shall ever know. You look at me oddly—that’s alright, you’ll think stranger things of me by the time I am done.

My name is Aedeminar. I don’t expect you to find the name familiar, as it has not been in fashion for several hundred years. But it is time that knowledge of the mages and true magic came back into the world, and I am here to tell you of it. For it shall return in all of its terrible glory…
There is more to a pony than the magic it is granted at birth (or lack thereof, if they hail from Course, but I shall get to that later…). In fact, being born with powers is a fairly modern event. Twined with the mind and soul of every pony is a certain capability to harness natural energies. Every living being produces energy as it goes about its every day life. More is produced with strong emotions, pain, and death. Those last sources, however, were frowned upon by some mages and avidly embraced by others, resulting in the Mage Paths…and the Mage Wars.

What I am about to tell you is as true as can be recalled—I do not recite from some lost history scroll, but rather from what I myself witnessed, and from the words of my mother. Yes, ponies! I am older than you…than your mother…than your mother’s mother’s treasured antique wooden sthingy! Ha! And the crazier for it, but listen…

There were hundreds of mages of note at the beginning of the war—Light, Shadow, and Dark. Thousands more walked the land that did not make it into the history scrolls. In the end, there were three. It took decades to reach that point, but the destruction that had come would not compare to what would follow. Had the last day of the Golden Age of Mages not been so literally earth-shattering, I’d tell you of them. But you really need to know only of the one day, and the three…

There was Feardorcha, a Dark Mage who lived in what is now the desert south of Course. He was a Pegasus who had succumbed to laziness and the heady thrill of power. Unable to see much of the natural energies, he was weak when relying solely on them. But when he learned of the death- and pain-energies, Feardorcha discovered a way around his weakness…and a way to greater power. We dare not think how many ponies he killed that final day to unleash the wave of power he did. Here, I shall help you envision it—once, the desert of Course was a lush as the Fatum Isles, and just as populated…and now there is naught but sand and ruin. What he did not slaughter before hand was destroyed in the aftermath. A thousand years later, and the land has yet to recover.

One day. One day…one mage…one spell.

Are you listening?

Aegle was a Light Mage. If you haven’t guessed by now, Light Mages refused to use any energy but that which naturally flowed throughout the world. They believed pain- and death-energy, which they called “blood magic”, to be tainted and unsuitable for any purpose. Aegle was perhaps the most vehement opponent of it and the Mage War in general. She lived on the Fatum Isles and her Sterling Tower is rumored to remain there today, hidden by tattered, ancient spells. She played a small but crucial part in the end of the Mage Wars.

Last and perhaps greatest of the ancient Mages was Liadon, the Grey Lady. She reigned over the Northlands from the Obsidian Tower. Now, by this point in time most Black and White Mages were dead because they’d slaughtered each other. Grey Mages…Liadon was the last because all the others had sacrificed themselves to keep the world together as best they could. Liadon followed this path as well.

Feardorcha wanted Liadon and Aegle gone, so that the path to his conquest of the world would be clear. Liadon was the greatest threat so he raised an army of undead ponies and poor conscripted souls, and somehow transported them all virtually to her doorstep. Left without much time to prepare, Liadon could think of only one thing, a single spell that could save her.

Liadon staked herself outside her tower, and with the assistance of her young daughter, began gathering power. By this time in the mage war, the natural resources around her tower were too depleted for what she wanted to do, so she had only blood magic left to rely on. Shadow mages accepted only one kind of pain and death energy…that from themselves, or from natural death. So for hours while the army neared, she tortured herself in every way she could devise. When they were near enough to darken all the earth one could see from the Obsidian Tower, she took a knife to her heart and unleashed her final spell. Waves of destruction radiated from what was now a crater at the base of the tower, and the army was gone as fast as it had arrived. But that was not the entirety of the spell…no. Liadon bent the Shadow Mage Code to an extent, and set up her final spell to use the abundant energy from all the death she had just caused. In the south, Feardorcha’s Tower imploded, and destructive waves of energy rippled outwards. This is where Aegle plays her part. In the split instant she had to sense what was going on, she erected a shield between her and her people and Feardorcha’s tower. It not only protected her dear Fatum Isles, but much of the rest of the world as well. To this day the Fatum Isles remain soaked in magic, more so than anywhere else, and almost all modern day mages hail from there.

So ended the Mage War…and the mages.

[Becka Pone]

As the magic was sucked out of the land during the Mage Wars the trees turned green and the yellow orbs left the sky – Ponyland began to resemble the land on the other side of the rainbow, which had lost the magic ages before. Without magic to rely on, ponies turned to those who had the technological knowledge from the old world to help them survive. They moved in mass exoduses towards the already-established centers of civilization, namely Dream Valley and the Great Coursian City.

Many ponies also abandoned the Old Gods, finding their ways barbaric and unnecessary. They turned to the Rainbows and began to worship the Rainbow of Light, which they trapped in a locket to keep near them always and call on when they needed it. But the locket was lost, and for many years Ponyland was flung into darkness, ruled by the Shadoh and the Dark Rainbow.

For many years the Shadoh ruled the land, even the great Kings and Queens of Course and Dream Valley. His presence dictated the actions of all those in Ponyland, and many tried to hide in towns specially made and hidden from his view. Haven’s Valley was one such town, and it thrived for a short time without the ever-watchful presence of the Shadoh. One refugee to come to the town was an orphan named Pone, and although at the time she didn’t seem to be much, as she grew she came to despise the Shadoh that had ruined her home and taken her parents from her. Making it her life’s mission to rid Ponyland of the Shadoh, Pone eventually met him in bloody combat that threatened to kill them both. And although she was not strong enough to kill the Shadoh, she was able to ban it from Ponyland. It has since tried to regain its former glory in the land, but each time a descendant of Pone has pushed it back again to keep Ponyland safe from this threat.

Ponyland celebrates the defeat of the Shadoh by Pone at the Festival of Lights during the winter solstice every year. After a well-lit feast on Fest Eve, all lights are turned out in Dream Valley, only to reappear with the morning sun, reminding all ponies of the dark time Ponyland went through, and that the light will always return.