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Timeline

Page history last edited by Bitera 8 years, 8 months ago

Timeline of Earth

 

Production Notes

  1. This timeline involves scales that make accurate prediction impossible, so predictions further afield were guided as much by the story as by what "might happen."

  2. All years (except where the timeline starts and ends) can be considered approximate values of categories, not absolutes. 
  3. The timeline has been kept intentionally vague (particularly after the second dark age) to not restrict authors while providing signposts for the eventual fates of whatever is created.
  4. Breaking the general trends of the timeline are fine in isolated areas at small scales, but are non-canon at large scales (such as empires created during dark ages).

 

Golden Rules of the Timeline

  1. History repeats, because...
  2. Being changed into ponies has not changed anything fundamental about how people think and act.
  3. Wars, dictators, and other such evil have not become less likely just because people are ponies now.
  4. Just as heroes, self-sacrifice, and genuine good have not become less common.

 

 

Timeline

 

0 AE - The Universal Depopulation Event. All humans except those protected by Thaumic Shielding were changed instantly into Equestrian species. Most were sent forward in time, leaving only about 10,000 globally. Those left behind correspond roughly to population density (meaning that North America had about 500 total left behind. The Event became such an important date that it was used as a new index for measuring time, both by the HPI and by ponies in general before too long.

 

25 AE - Called the "Golden Age" by historians, this period was marked by the phenomenal success of numerous scattered settlements. Driven by relic technologies and by the not-yet-decayed remains of human industry, these colonies enjoyed enormous prosperity. In these early years there was "more than enough for everyone." Additionally, the persistence of much relic technology ensured that civilization would not slide too far back technologically. Settlements maintained 20th century technology for another twenty years or so, about as long as they could be kept running and spare parts could still be liberated. After that point, advanced technology became much more difficult to obtain, and civilization began to resemble the 1800s in many ways. Industrial farming, chemical production, and steam-engines for mechanical power. Pony magic is still very poorly understood. During this period, the HPI is an extremely secretive organization, and trades directly only with the colony of Alexandria

 

250 AE - The first cities appear. North American population is now in the low millions, though still extremely spread-out. Relic "digital" technology has all decayed by now, except for that manufactured by the HPI. That organization has become much more open, though the location of their central headquarters is a closely guarded secret. HPI representatives can be found in all the largest cities, and they maintain the old railroads for trade, using Alexandria as the central junction. A few cities now regulate their local weather with trained pegasi, or send rain to power hydroelectric facilities. As the population expands, electric lights reappear in some areas, along with simple radios. Telegraph lines connect the largest cities.

 

1000 AE - The First Dark Age begins. Driven by a catastrophic supernatural plague and resource conflicts with the uplifted deer, the end result was a world without large cities or intact governments. The plague was never cured, though it was so deadly that once cities dissolved it essentially burned itself out. Industrial technology was lost during this period except in rare, isolated areas, reducing ponies to a nomadic existence. When the dust settled from the collapse, only a level of technology roughly equivalent to the Middle Ages had survived. Encounters with the HPI are so rare during this period that their existence is relegated to mythology, and the last relic technology decays. No large city, not even Alexandria herself, survives intact, though some ponies may continue living there.

 

2300 AE - The dark age is over, and Greek-style city states rise to power, generally (but not always) composed primarily of one species or another. Levels of technology began to advance, though they vary wildly between different areas. Very few reach the level of technology that pre-dated the dark age. The jump-start of human industry is gone, and ponies must claw their way back from scratch and from memory. Renaissance-era technology is generally the most advanced technology in this era, as rediscovered pony magic is becoming increasingly prominent, often accomplishing the same tasks. Contact with the HPI has ceased entirely by this period, dismissed by even the most radical scholars as impossible. Only the hardiest relics of human civilization survive, except for clothes and occasional vehicles brought forward by returning ponies.

 

3000 AE - Spurred by a complex combination of factors, magic and technology combine into a second industrial revolution, spurring enormous population growth and the formation of powerful nations. Relations between these nations are not always peaceful. The HPI is no longer mythology at this point, they have been entirely forgotten. Over the next thousand years, a global community develops of many races. Various political theories from pre-Event Earth are tested again, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Understanding of pony magic has begun to approach that seen in Equestria at the time of the Event, and technology is a strange amalgamation of the two. In some nations, a second digital revolution occurs, though space exploration fails to attract the same interest it did on Earth pre-Event.

 

4500 AE - World War 3 eventually arrived, though it was thousands of years late. The source of the conflict is unclear, except that it was partially ideological and partially driven by a conflict over resources. Scholars later speculate that a malevolent Equestrian spirit also had some involvement, though this is never proven. Over half the Earth's population, and all the large cities, are rendered uninhabitable with weapons of fantastic deadliness and power. Though not nearly as catastrophic as the Event itself, the start of the Second Dark Age saw far more death. It also left many more behind, many more than the devastated planet could support, and starvation and more outbreaks of plague killed more than the war ever did. The conflict wasn't complete overnight, but lasted for many years. Again, technology was knocked back to the Middle Ages, and exacerbated by a constant influx of confused and hungry mouths faster than an earlier Earth had ever seen them.

 

6000 AE - Equestria reaches transit range with Earth. Envoys travel both ways, though relations are generally cold. Despite being so long ago, civilization has yet to fully recover from the impact of the war. Ponies generally blame the Equestrian princesses, even though they had nothing directly to do with it. Around this time, a civilization of tall humanoids begin to appear, though they have very little interaction with the outside and live only in the most inhospitable and isolated parts of the globe. They are friendly with ponies, though their civilization is extremely insular and secretive. See The Enduring Ones.

 

9000 AE - Civilization has grown beyond anything ever seen on a pre-Event Earth. Magic has grown beyond anything seen on Equestria pre-Event, extending lifespans while offering all races crystals that allow them to replicate the abilities of others, along with many other innovations. Massive arcologies dot the globe, many large enough to have entire ecosystems of their own (maintained by pony magic). Space-travel alone has not been rediscovered, though it seems to be on the horizon. Though humans have started to return incredibly rapidly now, they are outnumbered by the native-born ponies.

 

10,000 AE - The last humans arrive in a slow trickle, barely able to survive in their new bodies. They have near-perfect medical care to see to their needs. Many take on new bodies among the Enduring Ones, though they are among the last to do so. Most ponies are perfectly content to remain what they are, and view the humanoid form as quaint. Technology and biology and magic have combined, delivering the greatest promises of all three. Numerous colonies exist in the solar system, and the Enduring Ones at last share the secrets of their history and their technology for interstellar travel.

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