Equestria



''This article is about the country of Equestria. For the continent, see Equestria (continent). For the region, see Equestria (region).''

Equestria is a country in the northern half of the continent of the same name as well as one of its regions. Its capital is the city of Canterlot.

Its population is primarily made up of Ponies.

History
See also Timeline.

Formation
Equestria was formed after a blizzard in Gaia caused massive crop failure. The lack of food prompted the southward expansion of Gaia, Icaria and Ceria in search of more fertile lands.

When the three nations claimed the same land, they formed a council, the Council of the Tribes, to reach an agreement. The leaders of the tribes, Chancellor Puddinghead (of Gaia), General Hurricane (of Icaria) and Princess Platinum (of Ceria) sent their assistants (Smart Cookie, Private Pansy and Clover the Clever, respectively) as representatives to the council.

Ultimately, joint governance was decided and the Council of the Tribes became the government of the new land, which was named Equestria. As part of the agreement, the new land would have free movement of goods and creatures with the three nations.

The Council of the Tribes also took on the role of drafting a constitution and code of laws for Equestria, serving as its legislative body.

Two Alicorn fillies (Princess Celestia and Princess Luna) were chosen to oversee the council when they grew up to ensure a lasting neutrality due to the long lifespan of Alicorns. Star Swirl, the mentor of Clover the Clever, took on the role of mentoring the princesses until they were of governing age.

Ponyville was settled as the capital of the new territory with creatures from the three nations. The Castle of the Two Sisters was built to be the eventual home for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and the power seat of the overseers of the council.

As time passed, the three countries became further consolidated as the open borders with Equestria greatly encouraged the movement of goods and creatures between the three nations as it was legal as long as it passed by Equestria.

This freedom of trade and movement together with the fertility of the new land brought a wave of economic growth. The three countries started drafting free trade and movement agreements between themselves directly.

As Princess Celestia and Princess Luna became of governing age, they stepped in to fulfill their roles as overseers, getting their cutie marks (a sun for Princess Celestia, a moon for Princess Luna) from Star Swirl himself.

As their first major decision, they took the first steps to consolidate the nations under a single country with a shared constitution and code of laws and entered negotiations with the leaders of the three nations. As part of the agreement, the Council of the Tribes continued holding the legislative power of the land and remained as a power check on the princesses. At the same time, the Equestrian Royal Military was created to give the new government the power to defend itself without the militaries of its constituent states and ensure its independence from internal or external powers.

During this consolidation, Equestria remained the name of the part of the country consisting of the new territories even as the country absorbed the three nations. Thus, it is at this point that the distinction between the region of Equestria and the country of Equestria first appears.

Early expansion
Not long after its formation, Nocturnia joined the union, becoming the fourth nation to become part of the Council of the Tribes. Following this, a small Batpony diaspora began forming in Ponyville with Nocturnian immigration.

As the fertile southern lands started being turned into farmland, Ponyville experienced a food surplus which was followed by a population boom. Around this time, the ideology of panequinism started to take shape, inspired by the success of different races coming together, calling for the unity of all Ponies under a single nation.

Inspired by the new ideology, Equestria began expanding, invading and conquering Ponicia as well as starting a southwards expansion that displaced populations of Zebras and Cattle and culminated in the invasion of Hetra.

However, it was at this time that the new ideology started causing controversy. Discrimination among Pony races was still common and a significant obstacle for the ideology's appeal and the forced annexations and displacements opened questions about whether the actions of the government could truly be considered as promoting the harmony that the new ideology supposedly strived for. The question of whether non-Pony species should be included in the goal or what the system that unites the races should be like also lacked a universal answer.

As ideological questions started bubbling, a vampirism outbreak struck Ponyville. The smaller and newer Batpony population to be blamed for the disease, which resulted in pogroms against them. The pogroms, together with the invasions and displacements, were considered another problem that the new ideology had to face.

Upholding harmony, Princess Luna defended the Batponies and called for the end of the violence, but that caused her to become unpopular among other races as she was seen as protecting those who caused the disease.

As the violence and discrimination continued, Batponies started to flee Ponyville, soon becoming a rare sight before disappearing in the area. Many returned to Nocturnia.

Celestial Era
In the early 7th century, a total solar elipse happened over Ponyville.

Princess Luna, already unpopular due to her defense of Batponies and being considered to be the princess of the moon, is blamed for the eclipse. These events would later inspire the Nightmare Moon myth.

In response to her unpopularity, Princess Luna stepped down from her role and left Princess Celestia as the only ruling princess of Equestria, starting the Celestial Era.

After these events, Princess Celestia abandoned the Castle of the Two Sisters at a time where the population of Ponyville had been quickly dwindling due to Equestria's expansion, epidemics and the fleeing of Batponies. A new castle was built in Canterlot to become the new royal residence and the seat of government was relocated there. As such, Canterlot becoming Equestria's capital is also considered to be one of the events of the transition to this era.

Ponyville soon became completely abandoned and was slowly overtaken by nature. The forest that stood in the location of old Ponyville from then on became known as the the Everfree Forest.

This era saw a continuing expansion of Equestria, which invaded and conquered Colthage. During this time, the Equestrian government promoted a type of panequinism that strived for conquering more non-Pony species, justifying the conquest of Iskayntinsuyu and Shahr as well. An invasion of Farasi was also attempted but ultimately failed.

The expansion of this era culminated in the invasion of Qilinia during the Equestrian-Qilinian war and the creation of the colony of Loong Kong.

This era also saw unprecedented scientific progress and a quick development of Equestria's infrastructure fueled by the new technologies.

Contemporary Era
About four centuries after the solar eclipse over Ponyville, a similar eclipse happened over Canterlot, causing unrest. During the eclipse, a plot to overthrow Princess Celestia was attempted, taking advantage of the unrest, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.

This started an era of political instability where the fear of Celestia being the target of an assassination attempt became a real fear among government officials as she lacked a successor and it was harder to protect from internal threats than external ones.

Princess Celestia made the decision to recall Princess Luna from her retirement and have her reinstated to her princess role, should anything happen to Princess Celestia. The decision was also made to begin training a young alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, to succeed the princesses in the event of their retirement, death or unavailability.

Government
Equestria is a parliamentary polyarchy.

The Equestrian government is lead by one or multiple monarchs which typically hold the title of princess or prince. The current monarchs of Equestria are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Legislative
The Equestrian parliament, known as the Council of the Tribes, bears a representative from each Equestrian province. It began with three representatives with the founding of the country, one for each of the three tribes that came together to form Equestria. More seats were added as Equestria incorporated more provinces.

The election of each representative is handled in each respective province, and the manner in which the election is performed is not uniform from one province to another; some provinces appoint local nobles, some appoint military leaders and some hold elections.

Executive
The Ministry of Harmony constitutes the head of the government. It rules in the name of the princesses and their work is delegated to it. Its leader, the Head Minister, is appointed directly by the princesses.

This ministry leads 6 minor ministries, which focus on specific aspects of the government.


 * Ministry of Generosity (society, welfare)
 * Ministry of Honesty (agriculture, industry)
 * Ministry of Kindness (healthcare, police, firefighters)
 * Ministry of Laughter (culture, entertainment)
 * Ministry of Loyalty (military, foreign affairs)
 * Ministry of Magic (education, research)

Administrative divisions
Equestria is divided into territories, which can be provinces or colonies.

Provinces have relatively independent systems of government but still follow Equestrian law. There are the following Equestrian provinces:
 * Buffalo Nation
 * Colthage
 * Equestria
 * Gaia (also known as the Earth Pony lands)
 * Hetra
 * Icaria (also known as the Pegasus lands)
 * Nocturnia (also known as the Batpony lands)
 * Ponicia
 * Shahr
 * Ceria (also known as the Unicorn lands)

Colonies have no representation in parliament and don't chose their government. Instead, the government of colonies is chosen by the parliament. There are the following Equestrian colonies:
 * Loong Kong

Colonies usually either end up becoming independent or becoming an Equestrian province.

Panequinism
"With earth pony farming, pegasus weather control and unicorn magic, Equestria is invincible." Quote often attributed to Celestia, real author unknown.

Equestrian politics revolve around the ideology of Panequinism. This ideology began taking shape in 6th century Ponyville, the capital of Equestria at the time, which was considered a major success of unity between races.

The main tenet of Panequinism is the unity and friendship among all pony races, often referred to as "harmony". Panequinist scholars argue that this unity is what allowed Equestria to thrive and enabled its meteoric rise.

This tenet is best represented by the myth of the origin of Hearth's Warming Eve.

Because of this, wounding a Pony is seen as a particularly heinous crime, specially if it involves harming the wings of a Pegasus or Batpony, the horn of a Unicorn or the hooves of an Earth Pony. This view is possibly also related to the poor healing capabilities of Ponies.

A secondary tenet but not less important is imperialism. Panequinism holds that all equine lands are destined to be controlled by one country, and scholars of this ideology believe that Equestria is the country that fulfills that role. Panequinism has been a driving force behind Equestria's expansion.

Military
Equestria's constituent territories are allowed to have armed forces of their own.

The country's government has its own armed forces, the Equestrian Royal Military, to ensure its independence in the face of internal or external threats.

Currency
The Equestrian currency is the bit (฿). The word bit by itself is synonymous with gold bit (g฿), its main division. Its subdivisions are the silver bit (s฿), a tenth of a gold bit, and the bronze bit (b฿), a hundredth of a gold bit.

Bits are defined as being 1/4th of a royal hoof in diameter and 1/16th of a royal hoof in width.

Units
See Units of measurement

Education
Primary education is mandatory for all Equestria-born citizens by the Royal Decree of Basic Education which also standarizes the matters taught.

On top of basic mathematics, reading and history, Earth Pony students (and other flightless, magicless creatures) are taught plant biology and gardening, Pegasi (and other flying creatures) are taught flight and unicorns (and other magic-wielding creatures) are taught basic magic.

After education is finished, able-bodied Equestria-born citizens must fulfill 4 years of mandatory civil service.

For flightless creatures, the civil service consists of working in state-owned farms.

For flying creatures, it consists of weather service where they haul water spraying carts over dry and hot areas to cool them down and to irrigate crops that lack irrigation infrastructure.

Magic-wielding creatures have the option of attending Magic College instead. Creatures performing military service are exempt from civil service as well.

Crime
Prisoners in Equestria get their ears tagged for easy identification.

Because of this, having a pierced ear in Equestria is seen as a criminal trait and creatures of Equestrian culture rarely wear earrings.

Initially the ears were pierced using thick nails, but as of the Prison Reform Act that revamped the prison system to focus on reformation over punishment, modern ear tags use three small needles instead creating holes that are much less noticeable and make it easier to reinsert prisoners in society.

Race
While the Equestrian government promotes harmony and coordination among pony races as one of Equestria's major strengths and assets, racism has always been to some extent a feature of Equestrian society. Unicorn supremacism and Pegasus supremacism are specially common.

Gender
In Equestria, leadership roles are overwhelmingly female dominated. Mares are seen as the head of their family and they are often associated with management roles as well as caretaking.

Stallions are largely associated with physical jobs.

Drugs
Recreational usage of drugs is not illegal in Equestria but it's frowned upon by society and seen as unhealthy.

Clothing
Clothes are common in urban areas but uncommon in rural areas.

Boots in particular are considered mandatory for living in urban areas as standing or walking on hard surfaces for extended periods of time can cause cracking and damage to hooves and result in infections.

Sports
Equestria hosts the Equestrian Games every year.

Buckball is the most popular sport in Equestria and tournaments are often held.

Bowling is another popular sport.

Games
The Equestrian deck of cards is commonly used in card games.