Do Celestia/Luna rule the lands beyond Equestria?/Are Ponies the dominant race?

[SteveMorison 404]

Since Celestia and Luna raise the sun and moon you would think that would have an effect on the whole of their world. But in Dragon Quest the dragons didn't treat Celestia with any respect whatsoever screwing up her letter and throwing it in to a pit of lava and calling Celestia a "namby pamby pony princess". I like to think their world is divided into kingdoms for each sapient species that exists, e.g. A griffin kingdom, dragon kingdom, draconeques kingdom and so forth beyond equestria.

Edited May 7, 2015 by DashBandicoot

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

Yeah I think there are multiple kingdoms for other species within the world in which Equestira exists, though I think a state of mutually assured destruction exists between them, basically the other nations can't invade since Celestia controls the sun, but the other nations armies are to big to conquer by Equestria so they each maintain a close balance.  Dragons are the exception here since they appear to be nomadic in nature and as such would care little for political discourse and what not. 

[LittleMac 3,084]

That does sound cool and I actually believe that . Although, they were teenage dragons. There is the possibility they just don't respect her authority, like all teenager stereotypes are labeled to do

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,711]

Equestria is one empire ruled by the two sisters. The Crystal Empire may be considered a country that depends on Equestria or perhaps essentially an autonomous region within Equestria. Territorial disputes between settlers and native buffaloes indicate that buffaloes are not under Equestrian control. I imagine Saddle Arabia to be a separate entity from that of Equestria; perhaps it is also a large empire. I imagine dragons are nomadic but do have somewhat defined territory in which they usually stay in volcanic regions; it's unknown whether dragons are united or if they're divided amount separate groups... the latter I would guess.

 

This map basically sums up my interpretation of the political map of the MLPFIM universe (translated onto Earth) as of now.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Tsaritsa Luna

[The Awesome One 1,314]

I would say that Equestria is the most powerful nation overall as it's rulers raise the sun and the moon for all of Equestria. Not to mention that they are seemingly immortal.

 

Dragons are more like wild animals. The Gryphons seem to be the next most powerful after Equestria.

 

Celestia and Luna definitely only rule Equestria though and I think that Equestria is probably a union of many countries which includes the Crystal pony empire and Saddle Arabia and of course mainland Equestria which is what we see on the show. Equestria is also probably far bigger than all the other countries and I guess you could call Ponies the dominant race because their country seems to be well developed and doesn't have any poverty it seems

Edited May 8, 2015 by The Awesome One

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

Well, we're given so few details.

 

One thing that does seem certain is the nation of Maretonia; whose representatives we saw in Equestria Games and Twilight's Kingdom. Going by the latter there were diplomatic discussions going on, so it is safe to assume that Maretonia is indeed it's own kingdom of ponies. Going by the former, I would have to assume it is the same for Saddle Arabia as we see their delegates with the ones from Maretonia.

 

With this said I think the Girffin Kingdom is the same.

[AlbaTross 1,581]

It's doubtful Celestia and Luna rule other nations, but they're a force to be reckoned with. Maybe the reason why other nations don't invade Equestria or vice versa is that they're all sufficiently powerful and that some kind of deterrence policy is in place. Think nuclear deterrence, but with magical items. The sun and moon raising does create some kind of paradox though. As far as we know, that sun and moon only affect Equestria, which defies all logic of celestial bodies, unless they're not really a sun and moon as we know them. But if that's the case, how could Luna be banished to the moon? If the sisters must ensure the sun and moon shine across the rest of the planet too, then they would be even busier than they appear to be. Maybe the reason why we don't see much of the other nations is that they're all desolate places with little vegetation where only a handful of ponies can survive, since they don't get the sun or moon at all.

[Winona the Dog 1,981]

I don't think Ponies are dominate.

 

Celestia and Luna's influence only reach so far across the land as they're multiple species that are claiming their own territory or kingdoms 

[Steel Accord 6,658]

 

 

But in Dragon Quest the dragons didn't treat Celestia with any respect whatsoever screwing up her letter and throwing it in to a pit of lava and calling Celestia a "namby pamby pony princess".

 

Keep in mind, that was a teenager who did that. The elder dragons might see Her with a little more respect, especially if they understand the Princesses role in their world.

 

To answer the question more broadly, I don't think Celestia and Luna directly govern the other nations, but they pay their dues to them because without either controlling the sun and moon, the planet would die. 

[pony.colin 156]

Re-treading old ground with this thread before (I mean for myself).  My previous answer was that political structures, governance and state structures/or pre-modern structure is not well defined at all for one to make a informed understanding and analysis of it (then again, what kid's show would ever bother trying to explain the governing structure of its world on a complex and intricate level). 

 

Celestia and Luna's rule is obviously high enough in Canterlot, Ponyville, Cloudsdale to be known there (as evidenced by the various times she's visited and been shown respect).  The further out you get though from the centre of Canterlot, the more you can start to question it.   I think some of questions was Equestria some of really loose kingdom? Some sort of strange loose federation of principalities? Some other thing (there were tons of responses and I can't remember).  

 

Anyways one of the few critical comments was in the episode, "Rarity takes Manehattan" and we could easily observe that no one in Manehattan cared that Twilight was a princess at that point (none of them would offer a cab to Twilight for Rarity's sake).  Manehattan is so jarringly out of place in Equestria.  It looks so modern that I wouldn't be too surprised if it functioned and operated really on the fringes or outside of the Princesses' influence at all.  They give me the feeling of, 'Manehattan does whatever it wants to do' (wouldn't surprise me if that was the case, given how far away it is from Canterlot's influence and how modern it seems like).  

 

Celestia and Luna have influence around the previously mentioned areas, outside of that - like Saddle Arabia and Maretonia as mentioned by others and their delegates appearing previously before in episodes - there are ruling powers that operate in the other areas.  (Equestria's borderlines are not even really tightly defined actually).   Then the Griffon kingdoms further somewhere east.  Ponies are not dominate in other places (given the other species of dragons and griffons). 

 

 

Yeah I think there are multiple kingdoms for other species within the world in which Equestira exists, though I think a state of mutually assured destruction exists between them, basically the other nations can't invade since Celestia controls the sun, but the other nations armies are to big to conquer by Equestria so they each maintain a close balance.  Dragons are the exception here since they appear to be nomadic in nature and as such would care little for political discourse and what not. 

 

 

 honestly wondering how much the other kingdoms pay attention to that detail of Celestia and Luna raising and lowering the Sun and the Moon.  It's not like the series has covered previous reasons as to why the other species would go to war in the first place with each other.  (Though apparently someone mentioned in another thread there was some sort of border skirmish between pones and griffons in one of the chapter books). 

 

I do like the idea of dragons being nomadic creatures though, living their life as is roaming around wherever they go.  But I think they only seem to like to inhabit mountains and volcanic regions, probably the other species don't like to live there,so it becomes a natural habitat for dragons.  And they not caring about political discourse or whatever the heck goes on with the rest of world seems sound to me.  They're powerful, probably not engaged or at all caring about social structures and alliances, and do whatever they want.  They living in volcanic and mountainous regions, no one's going to bother with them.   

Edited May 8, 2015 by pony.colin