Prologue
Before Equestria
This story, along with many others that come before it, starts with once upon a time.
Once upon a time, before the magical land of Equestria was born, and before the three tribes were established, the ponies of the earth and sky lived together in a state of fragile harmony. In other words the goddamned economy was crap. Their society was held together by a tree alone. This great tree, known simply as The Elder Tree, stood in the middle of The Forest and was worshipped by The Cult of The Elder Tree. Everypony in The Forest was a member of The Cult. If you weren't, you were somewhere out in The Great Beyond, and you were ridiculed.
The Forest was the best place to live at the time. Considering that there wasn't enough magic to raise the sun and the ponies lived in eternal darkness, it was the brightest. A perpetual light that came from the buildings, the lanterns, and the fireflies tried to cover up that darkness, but failed. The way to navigate The Forest was to go down The Great Path through the middle. It led to the various villages and was filled with street venders for anypony who wanted to make a rest stop. Time was kept by The Mother Clocks which stood in the center of each village.
The villages themselves rested on hills and cliffs and made up of houses basically built on top of each other. Perhaps their most interesting aspect was the use of water for decoration. Rivers and waterfalls made up most of the area. Bridges were a necessary part of every village.
This society was built to last. Yet, it crashed and burned.