Confusing Maps

[Almaron 1]

I'm not sure if there's a thread for this already out there, but I've been trying to sort out a proper map of Equestria for quite some time now, and boy, is it proving confusing. I'm sure you've all seen the 'official' maps that have been released and updated every few years (the earliest one just showing central Equestria, the next adding outlying locations and a strange western peninsula between Vanhoover and Las Pegasus, and the most recent adding film locations), but if you look carefully, the Cutie Map in the show itself seems to be using an entirely different setup that doesn't really line up with the other maps...the rivers follow a different path, the Equestrian continent is a completely different shape (compare the map in the opening of Season 8 to the film map and you'll see what I mean), the western peninsula is gone, but in its place is a large Savannah continent that could easily be the Zebra homeland, etc...

One location in particular vexes me, though...the Tenochtitlan Basin, and I want to hear your thoughts on this. In "Daring Don't", we briefly see a map showing the route the Mane Six take to reach A.K.Yearling's hut, which later scenes suggest isn't too far from the Tenochtitlan Basin itself. The problem? They've got her house located not far from Vanhoover, closer to the Galloping Gorge (and it's shown to be here again in a Season 7 episode), which puts her house not too far from Canterlot and the Crystal Empire...is there really supposed to be a tropical climate with lost Temples and Mayincatec Ponies so close to these two major capitals, or should we assume that one of the scene transitions hid a shot where they travelled further across Equestria? 

One thing does spring to mind regarding the climate...if it is this far north and not south of the Badlands, as the old maps show, then it could be a magical spell that is keeping the place so warm...Twilight and Rainbow Dash DO discuss how spells were cast on the valley in the past, so it could be that a past ruler discovered a way to keep the place warm permanently and avoid the arctic cold...and the neighbouring Crystal Empire uses a similar spell with the Crystal Heart, after all, so it's not entirely far-fetched! Plus...well, Western Equestria doesn't seem to be as hugely populated as the other areas; Eastern Equestria has big cities while the West and South have more recently-established settlements or small family units, suggesting that...well, I'll have to go into my logic for this in more detail at another time, but I'm thinking that Equestria was originally based on the east coast, then moved westwards to Canterlot, and later made a connection with the west coast, where bigger cities formed as well (a bit like the history of the founding of America, I suppose), and then the middle remained kind of empty and untamed in places...

In any case, what do you guys think? 

[SharpWit 2,490]

Yeah I have a thread covering this a bit but the whole map situation is just a mess at this point. I don't blame the writers and animators for not being geography focused but the end result is a confusing landscape with some highly unlikely features.

It should be assumed that these are inconsistencies rather than elaborate environments far outside of their climate zone.

Originally Equestria was based on the North American continent but since then there's been more leaning towards creative world building over familiarity.

[Almaron 1]

Oh, I'd love to see that thread; could you send me the link?

Well, yeah, that would make sense...still, it's tricky when trying to expand the map.