On the geography of Equestria

[crrice 0]

Hi,

 

This topic is simple. What sort of place is Equestria in a geometric sense? By this I mean to ask if Equestria lies on a plane, or a sphere, or whatever, as the show leaves it rather unclear and has at times hinted in more than one direction. I would like to discuss evidence and arguments that might help solve this question, and also to promote my own view that Equestria must lie on a flat plane. Thus, I feel that we may as well jump right in. First I'll give reasons to think that Equestria is flat, and then some counter-evidence that rebuts my claim.

 

For a flat Equestria:

 

Celestia and Luna are said to "raise the sun" and "raise the moon" respectively, and we have even seen Celestia do so in the show on one occasion. Furthermore, we also witnessed the sun and moon rapidly moving across the sky when Discord was playing around with everything.

 

Think about what that would mean for a spherical Equestria. The first implication is that by "raising the sun" over one part of the globe, you'd be lowering it for the opposite side, which while possible, runs contrary to the idea of truly "raising the sun". Furthermore, by raising the sun on a spherical Equestria, that implies that (if heliocentric) the sun is actually rotating about the sphere (and Celestia controls the motion of a massive body at will), or (if geocentric) that Celestia is controlling the rotation of the planet itself, which is a no less improbable proposition.

 

As a final point, we should note that the sun/moon move rapidly when being raised, and even more rapidly when they were under the influence of Discord. As I said before, on a spherical Equestria view, this involves the rapid movement of some really big objects, which seems improbable for a single pony (even an alicorn) to accomplish.

 

For a spherical Equestria:

 

We once saw a model globe in an episode.

 

There is reference to the cardinal directions in the show, which makes a lot more sense with a geocentric sphere model.

 

 

 

There we are. Now assuming that this thread is in the right place, and that some of you have thoughts on this issue... Discuss!

Edited April 7, 2012 by crrice

[Ra1nbowCrasH 272]

Well, one argument for a spherical Equestria would be that in the WInter Wrap-Up episode, Rainbow Dash hears that Ditzy Doo flew North to get the Southern Birds, and apparently she had gone West the previous year. In order for there to be proper Cardinal directions, the world Equestia is on is probably spherical.

 

That brings me to my next argument: Equestria isn't necessarily the only kingdom that exists; it is just the only one we are shown. While Celestia raises the sun in Equstria, she is also lowering it in other parts of the world. Keep in mind that that is pure speculation, and I am not going to discuss the diplomacy that would be involved in determining when the Sun and Moon are Raised/Lowered.

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

I don't think it really matters if it's a kid's show intended for maybe 5 year-olds, on the other hand, it might be good to know when we open that portal to Equestria...

Edited April 7, 2012 by Pinkie Pie (Pinkazoid!)

[crrice 0]

Alright that's a good point. I would add, however, that on a sphere directions will be pretty much arbitrary, given that a sphere won't have any defining characteristics (its even all around). The only reason we have non arbitrary directions here on earth is because there is an axis of rotation (which then gives us poles (which then gives us north south)).

 

Thus we can say that if Equestria is heliocentric, there can be directions that make every bit as much sense as they do here, but if geocentric then the sphere will be no better in that sense. But I like your point and I'll add it to the list.

 

 

 

And as for this being a kids show: Well yeah, I grant the kids probably don't care, but I do, and it might be helpful information for things like fan-fiction.

Edited April 8, 2012 by crrice

[Hatguy 38]

I don't find it unlikely that the planet (that Equestria is on) is spherical, there is no real defined limitation to the power of an alicorn and the special talents implied by Celestia and Luna's cutie marks would explain how they can raise and lower the sun/moon, and the issue of massive objects being moved is present in both explanations so I don't think it reasonable to argue for either argument based on the ability/inability of alicorns to move celestial bodies. Under the assumption that celestial bodies are movable by alicorns there is evidence to the fact that the planet is round as listed above.

[Killian Jones 2,655]

Pinkie Pie did mention there is no up or down because the world is round and that Applejack is silly.