It seems as good a place to start as any, the oldest known events as presented in the show's canon, the conflict between the three types of ponies before Equestria was founded.

Simply put, the Hearth's Warming story is a sanitized version of events meant to inspire unity and serve as a founding story of Equestria, but there are darker truths as to what really happened before the characters named in the story came to Equestria. While these characters were real creatures in history, they were not the true leaders of their respective nations, but rather subordinates sent by their leaders to explore options while the war raged on around them.

Yes, it wasn't a simple dispute that brought the windigos, but actual war between the ponies.

It is also worth mentioning that the three types of ponies at these times were distinct species, rather than races, but that will be discussed in a later blog post. Essentially, the ponies we see in the show are all hybrid races of the three original species (Hence pegasus ponies instead of pegasi and unicorn ponies instead of unicorns. Pony denotes that they are hybrid rather than pure.)\

Each nation, which I'll refer to as the Unicorns, the Pegasi, and the Terrans, had its own spoken and written language, with modern Equestrian or Equish serving as a combination of the three.

The Unicorn language was Unique, words were written in spirals and predominantly were monosyllabic, concepts being conveyed by the combination of smaller parts, which came from their spellcrafting. Rather, their use and understanding of magic influenced their language. It is similar in sound to Latin based languages.

The Pegasus language was Cirrun, concepts conveyed in symbols and pictographs that could be built out of clouds to be conveyed and understood over large distances, or scaled down for books. Their easy access to feathers led them to having a dye based writing system first of the nations, where the Unicorns and Terrans relied on etchings and carvings until they started interacting with the pegasi. It is similar in structure to Asiatic languages.

The Terran language was Terran, a rough language where words were assembled to suit a purpose, often extending for many syllables, reminiscent of the Unique language but with the syllables stuck together rather than remaining individual words. It is similar to germanic languages.

This language barrier made initial contact difficult and cooperation tenuous at best. initially there was only communication where the borders met, and where curious and open minded members of bordering nations caused the first hybrid ponies to come into being. They were uncommon, and mostly considered inferior to the pure form, but they were not persecuted before or during the war. They were however considered the more expendable of their nation's citizens, forming the front lines and the expeditionary bodies.

Eventually, there was war between the nations. Each side vying for total supremacy over the original continent. The true leaders locked in conflict and refusing any form of compromise, many subordinates sought some form of peace in remote areas or to seek out new lands where they could be free from the unending conflict. This is were the tale as it is told enters history. The six named characters attempted a peaceful negotiation, failed, and then sought out new lands. They ended up in the same land and founded Equestria together. They were not the only groups to leave the original continent however, and so as other expeditions succeeded or failed, other nations emerged. Germaney, Prance, Japone, Marelantis, are all examples of other groups that escaped the conflict and founded their own nations on the new continent and the surrounding islands and oceans.

As these groups all left before the conflict was resolved, and none were able to return to the original continent, they did not know of the horrors that came to be in their absence, nor of the ultimate conclusion.

Next subjects: Original Species, Horrors of the Ancient World