spoiler Mlp timeline

[Hierok 11,829]

I always wondered how the timeline was and suspected it is wrong in the show. For example, Discord was banished for thousands of years by the elements of harmony, which came from the tree of harmony which is planted by the pilars, but in the show they said the pilars were gone for a thousand years. Or, King Sombra is banished by Luna and Celestia for a thousand years, while Nightmare Moon also is banished by Celestia for a thousand years. Yet, Nightmare Moon returns before Sombra. Did I miss something or hasn't the show thought of this? 

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

57 minutes ago, Hierok said:

I always wondered how the timeline was and suspected it is wrong in the show. For example, Discord was banished for thousands of years by the elements of harmony, which came from the tree of harmony which is planted by the pilars, but in the show they said the pilars were gone for a thousand years. Or, King Sombra is banished by Luna and Celestia for a thousand years, while Nightmare Moon also is banished by Celestia for a thousand years. Yet, Nightmare Moon returns before Sombra. Did I miss something or hasn't the show thought of this? 

They also said the pillars were gone for more than a thousand years. They could have been gone for decades or even centuries longer rather than just a thousand years.

 But really, I know lot of people like to worldbuild like this, but it’s should really just be for fun. FiM isn’t meant to be taken at the same level as a high fantasy, more like a fairy tale, fable, or campfire story. Maintaining a super detailed backstory and timeline for the show isn’t one of the writer/editors top priorities, and I think that’s a good thing if it puts the writers in too small a box. If they have a good story idea that fudges with the timeline, they’re going to write the story anyway.

Edited October 14, 2017 by ShootingStar159

[Hierok 11,829]

38 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

They also said the pillars were gone for more than a thousand years. They could have been gone for decades or even centuries longer rather than just a thousand years.

 But really, I know lot of people like to worldbuild like this, but it’s should really just be for fun. FiM isn’t meant to be taken at the same level as a high fantasy, more like a fairy tale, fable, or campfire story. Maintaining a super detailed backstory and timeline for the show isn’t one of the writer/editors top priorities, and I think that’s a good thing if it puts the writers in too small a box. If they have a good story idea that fudges with the timeline, they’re going to write the story anyway.

Yeah, but they should think of it a little. Why always thousand years and not ten thousand for example?

[CypherHoof 26,479]

1 hour ago, Hierok said:

Yeah, but they should think of it a little. Why always thousand years and not ten thousand for example?

I get the feeling that there is a block of history that happened over a relatively short timescale (well, for an alicorn) of just a few hundred years - the Sisters were born and taught by Starswirl; the Seed was planted and the Pillars sacrificed themselves to Limbo; the elements were taken and used by the Sisters against discord/tirek (causing the loss of the crystal empire) and then the nightmare moon incident.

NM starts a clock that we know takes 1000 years, and near the end of that period, the Apples founded Ponyville, the rest of the cast were born, then the shows begin.

The real question is how much time elapsed between the Limbo event and the NM event; while the Pillars were only around for a fraction of a pony lifetime, the interval there would be on alicorn timescales so could as easily be thousands of years, but a few hundred sounds reasonable.

 

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

Apparently a thousand years ago was a hell of a time in Equestria.

It's hard to piece it all together because as has already been mentioned it seems the writers are pretty much just making things up as they go.  We know that the three tribes of ponies founded Equestria after the first Heaths Warming, at some indeterminate period after that Discord came in and took over for, presumably, a very long time evidenced by Celestia's usage of "an eternal state of unrest and unhapiness".  I was always under the impression that is was at this point that Celestia and Luna came onto the scene and turned Discord to stone and ruled over Equestria under the tutelage of Starswirl.  This of course creates a huge incontinuity because the sisters used the Elements of Harmony to vanquish Discord which themselves never came into existence until after Starswirl sent the pillars into limbo.

I'm going to need a roll of paper and a lot of coloured pencils to try and make sense of this.

Edited October 14, 2017 by Concerned Bystander

[CypherHoof 26,479]

25 minutes ago, Concerned Bystander said:

Apparently a thousand years ago was a hell of a time in Equestria.

It's hard to piece it all together because as has already been mentioned it seems the writers are pretty much just making things up as they go.  We know that the three tribes of ponies founded Equestria after the first Heaths Warming, at some indeterminate period after that, Discord came in and took over for, presumably, a very long time evidenced by Celestia's usage of "an eternal state of unrest and unhapiness".  I was always under the impression that is was at this point that Celestia and Luna came onto the scene and turned Discord to stone and ruled over Equestria under the tutelage of Starswirl.  This of course creates a huge incontinuity because the sisters used the Elements of Harmony to vanquish Discord which themselves never came into existence until after Starswirl sent the pillars into limbo.

I'm going to need a roll of paper and a lot of coloured pencils to try and make sense of this.

I normally avoid trying to fit anything Discord or Pinkie do into a rational map of continuity, because, well, Discord and Pinkie.

You could explain it as being poetic use and not actually boundless lengths of time, or bounded in proximity to Discord himself in that any time you were within line of sight of Discord you were within his chaotic world overlay; he could then have been wandering around like a natural disaster for all eternity but only recently wandered into equestria and even then, only one town or city would be really suffering from the effect at a time.  He could even have been attracted to equestria by the elements themselves, making them both the cause and the solution.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

I think the old Equestria timeline is this:

* The Founding of Equestria

* Tirek and Scorpan invade Equestria, but Scorpan betrays Tirek and leaves. (Cause Starswirl was there)

* The banishment of the Sirens.

* The Pillars defeat the Pony of Shadows and disappear.

*  King Sombra takes over the Crystal Empire and gets defeated. (Since Starswirl was gone, the princesses took over cleaning up villain messes)

* Discord's defeat.

* Nightmare Moon's banishment.

[Hierok 11,829]

26 minutes ago, MegaSean45 said:

I think the old Equestria timeline is this:

* The Founding of Equestria

* Tirek and Scorpan invade Equestria, but Scorpan betrays Tirek and leaves. (Cause Starswirl was there)

* The banishment of the Sirens.

* The Pillars defeat the Pony of Shadows and disappear.

*  King Sombra takes over the Crystal Empire and gets defeated. (Since Starswirl was gone, the princesses took over cleaning up villain messes)

* Discord's defeat.

* Nightmare Moon's banishment.

This is the most logical, but I like to think Discord ruled the land before Tirek and such invaded it.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

26 minutes ago, Hierok said:

This is the most logical, but I like to think Discord ruled the land before Tirek and such invaded it.

That seems about right. After all, Tirek recognized him and knew he was trapped!

[Hierok 11,829]

5 minutes ago, MegaSean45 said:

That seems about right. After all, Tirek recognized him and knew he was trapped!

The problem with that is that Celestia and Luna look very similar to today while Starswirl knew them when they were smaller. 

[RulesofRarity 489]

I would've thought that King Sombra was defeated after Discord. 

My timeline goes something like this: 

Founding of Equestria 

Starswirl befriends Scorpan and Tirek is sent to Tartarus for his crimes.

The Sirens are banished to the Human world. 

The Pillars plant the seed that will eventually become the Tree of Harmony. 

The Pillars send themselves and the POS to limbo. 

Discord creates chaos in Equestria for years until Luna and Celestia discover the tree. Discord is defeated and turned to stone. 

King Sombra is defeated and the Crystal Empire disappears. 

Nightmare Moon is sent to the moon. 

I have no idea how Tirek knows about Discord. I guess Cerberus was a gossip. 

Edited October 14, 2017 by RulesofRarity

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

@RulesofRarity

Whatever you do, don't read The Journal of the Two Sisters, it will mess up your timeline and cause you no end of headaches.  I know it isn't strictly canon, and in light of this conversation that is probably a good thing.

[Zel 56]

Yeah the timeline doesn't really make any sense since the story and the lore is pretty much created and expanded as the show goes on. It was more or less consistent before Show Plays but with the revelation about how the elements came to be it's a bit more problematic to really understand in which order the Shadow Pony, Tirek and Discord were fought.

And I guess we won't have an answer since, for example, Meadowbrook became an Earthpony between seasons with no real explication... So I don't think logic really account all that much in MLP

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

31 minutes ago, RulesofRarity said:

I would've thought that King Sombra was defeated after Discord. 

My timeline goes something like this: 

Founding of Equestria 

Starswirl befriends Scorpan and Tirek is sent to Tartarus for his crimes.

The Sirens are banished to the Human world. 

The Pillars plant the seed that will eventually become the Tree of Harmony. 

The Pillars send themselves and the POS to limbo. 

Discord creates chaos in Equestria for years until Luna and Celestia discover the tree. Discord is defeated and turned to stone. 

King Sombra is defeated and the Crystal Empire disappears. 

Nightmare Moon is sent to the moon. 

I have no idea how Tirek knows about Discord. I guess Cerberus was a gossip. 

I mean, Discord may have trolled the whole world before attacking Equestria, I can see him being a being who has been around far far longer than even Equestria.

But this is the most accurate sounding timeline.

Although Sombra could have come before Discord simply because it didn't seem like they used the elements on Sombra.

Alright, this is how I figured it

⦁    The three pony tribes are formed
⦁    The Wendigos invade the land
⦁    Wendigos are defeated/Equestria is formed
⦁    Celestia and Luna are dubbed princesses of the land
⦁    Stygian brings together the 6 pillars of Equestria
⦁    The Sirens are banished
⦁    Tirek and Scorpan invade, Scorpan befriends Starswirl, Tirek is banished by the pillars
⦁    Stygian steals the artifacts and is cast out.
⦁    Stygian finds the Well of Shade and is corrupted by "The Darkness"
⦁    The Seed of Harmony is planted
⦁    The pillars sacrifice themselves to banish the Pony of Shadows
⦁    Many years pass, Celestia and Luna grow up
⦁    King Sombra invades the Crystal Empire, Celestia and Luna banish him
⦁    Discord conquers Equestria and defeats Celestia and Luna, rules for months/years
⦁    The Royal Sisters find the Tree of Harmony and banish Discord
⦁    Many Years pass, Luna turns into Nightmare Moon and is banished to the moon
 

[Princess Book Horse 350]

6 hours ago, Hierok said:

This is the most logical, but I like to think Discord ruled the land before Tirek and such invaded it.

But The Pillars didn't know Discord and Starswirl was present in Tirek's flashback.

[Hierok 11,829]

6 hours ago, Princess Book Horse said:

But The Pillars didn't know Discord and Starswirl was present in Tirek's flashback.

That is the problem yeah. This finale made the timeline impossible. 

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

17 hours ago, Hierok said:

That is the problem yeah. This finale made the timeline impossible. 

Eh I think mine works out pretty well.

[DonMaguz 1,023]

On 14/10/2017 at 4:36 PM, Ryanmahaffe said:

⦁    The three pony tribes are formed
⦁    The Wendigos invade the land
⦁    Wendigos are defeated/Equestria is formed
⦁    Celestia and Luna are dubbed princesses of the land
⦁    Stygian brings together the 6 pillars of Equestria
⦁    The Sirens are banished
⦁    Tirek and Scorpan invade, Scorpan befriends Starswirl, Tirek is banished by the pillars
⦁    Stygian steals the artifacts and is cast out.
⦁    Stygian finds the Well of Shade and is corrupted by "The Darkness"
⦁    The Seed of Harmony is planted
⦁    The pillars sacrifice themselves to banish the Pony of Shadows
⦁    Many years pass, Celestia and Luna grow up
⦁    King Sombra invades the Crystal Empire, Celestia and Luna banish him
⦁    Discord conquers Equestria and defeats Celestia and Luna, rules for months/years
⦁    The Royal Sisters find the Tree of Harmony and banish Discord
⦁    Many Years pass, Luna turns into Nightmare Moon and is banished to the moon

This timeline seems to fit well, I would say that the Tirek/Scorpan entry could have also happened as soon as before Stygian formed the 6 pillars, but we cannot know for sure.

I also think Tirek knowing about Discord doesn't mean he saw him ruling over Equestria. Discord's existence could be as old as we can imagine, and Tirek could've easily read/heard tales about the spirit of chaos anytime before trying to take over Equestria.

[Hierok 11,829]

7 hours ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

Eh I think mine works out pretty well.

Oh sorry. Didn't see this one yet.  The only thing that isn't correct is the fact Tirek knew of Discord imprisment. Shouldn't Tirek come later then Discord? 

Edited October 16, 2017 by Hierok

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

11 hours ago, Hierok said:

Oh sorry. Didn't see this one yet.  The only thing that isn't correct is the fact Tirek knew of Discord imprisment. Shouldn't Tirek come later then Discord? 

As others have said, TIrek could have easily known about DIscord from before he first attacked Equestria, he is likely a being faar older than any other villain, it also doesn't make sense for Tirek to come after Discord and for Scorpan to befriend Starswirl.

[Hierok 11,829]

3 hours ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

As others have said, TIrek could have easily known about DIscord from before he first attacked Equestria, he is likely a being faar older than any other villain, it also doesn't make sense for Tirek to come after Discord and for Scorpan to befriend Starswirl.

That still doesn't explain the fact that Tirek knew Discord was imprisened. 

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

3 minutes ago, Hierok said:

That still doesn't explain the fact that Tirek knew Discord was imprisened. 

Discord could have been imprisoned before, it's not a continuity error as much as it just requires mild speculation.

I doubt Discord was only ever imprisoned once, otherwise he would rule over the whole world.

[Hierok 11,829]

6 minutes ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

Discord could have been imprisoned before, it's not a continuity error as much as it just requires mild speculation.

I doubt Discord was only ever imprisoned once, otherwise he would rule over the whole world.

Good poin, but then I wonder how. They said the elements were the only thing. Maybe he just had not the motive to conguer all. He did it for fun and not for world domination right?

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

2 hours ago, Hierok said:

Good poin, but then I wonder how. They said the elements were the only thing. Maybe he just had not the motive to conguer all. He did it for fun and not for world domination right?

It is possible that Discord was locked in Tartarus at one point as well. Though that is less likely, Tirek could have also read about Discord through an ancient book or something about him being imprisoned thousands of years ago, he does refer to Discord as legend.

[Hierok 11,829]

7 hours ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

It is possible that Discord was locked in Tartarus at one point as well. Though that is less likely, Tirek could have also read about Discord through an ancient book or something about him being imprisoned thousands of years ago, he does refer to Discord as legend.

Could be possible. Or maybe he heard from it. He was around since season 2, so he could have picked it up easily.