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Comic issue 18 Alternate Equestria

The Equestria of an alternate universe in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #18.

An alternate universe's Equestria serves as the partial setting and story focus of the IDW comics story arc Reflections, spanning My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issues #17 through #20, and is mentioned in Gameloft's mobile game. Like the Equestria of the series, alternate Equestria is inhabited by ponies and various other animals and creatures. It is initially ruled by an alternate, kindhearted King Sombra but is later ruled by other-universe counterparts of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. According to Jeremy Whitley, this Equestria and the My Little Pony: Legends of Magic-My Little Pony: Nightmare Knights world are separate.[1]

Depiction in the comics[]

History[]

From past to present[]

In Reflections, the alternate Equestria's history is touched upon in the smallest of details, but what is touched upon suggests a history vastly different than that of the series' Equestria.

The alternate Equestria is described in Issue #19 as once being "lush... green and bountiful". King Sombra—an evil, power-hungry umbrum unicorn in the series until the end of Siege of the Crystal Empire—is a benevolent unicorn in the alternate universe who rules with kindness. Princess Luna serves as one of his advisors, and Princess Celestia is a tyrannical Alicorn villainess who terrorizes Sombra's pony subjects and seeks to take over Equestria.

Unlike in the main universe, Discord, the master of chaos, did not rise to power as shown in the season two premiere. In Sombra's Equestria, Discord is a knighted hero who is known by many as "Sir Discord" (or "Captain Goodguy"). Also unlike in the main universe, Princess Luna did not turn evil and become Nightmare Moon. However, she did become evil and join her sister when the normal Luna returned.

Discovery by Star Swirl[]

Comic issue 20 page 1

"Everything she wanted. ...And everything she knew she shouldn't have."

Some time in the past, during his research into other universes, Star Swirl the Bearded discovered a way to travel to the alternate Equestria via a magical mirror and invited Princess Celestia with him on his excursions. During their first visit there, Celestia met and fell in love with the good and handsome King Sombra, and she and Star Swirl became briefly acquainted with his universe and how much it differed from their own.

Celestia and Star Swirl's visits to the other Equestria were at first infrequent. But after the main Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and Celestia banished her to the moon, Celestia visited the other Equestria more often and without Star Swirl's knowledge, finding solace in her relationship with Sombra and the other Luna. Over time, distortions began occurring between the two universes, such as books disappearing in the main universe whenever Star Swirl borrowed books from Sombra. When Star Swirl found out about Celestia's secret trips through the mirror, he became livid and closed off the pathway to the other Equestria.

Celestia, deeply saddened that she wasn't able to say goodbye to Sombra, goes behind Star Swirl's back once again and successfully reopens the mirror, allowing her and Sombra to continue their relationship in secret.

A thousand years later, Nightmare Moon returns and is subsequently defeated by the Elements of Harmony. The main Princess Luna's return to normal causes the alternate Princess Luna to become evil. She joins forces with Celestia's evil counterpart, accelerating the other Equestria's decline.

Colliding universes[]

Comic issue 20 page 11

"Well... there goes the neighborhood."

Celestia later returns to Sombra's universe after having spent some time away, but she is attacked and brutalized by her evil counterpart, who seeks to conquer both Equestrias. Celestia, realizing that the two worlds have become too closely bound together, sends Twilight Sparkle and her friends through the mirror with the Elements of Harmony to defeat the evil Celestia and Luna. However, as the ponies soon discover, the evil princesses cannot be harmed without inflicting the same harm upon the good princesses. Thus they come up with a plan to imprison the evil princesses in crystal.

Before the ponies' plan can be enacted, evil Celestia turns on her own sister and attacks her with magic. This causes the good Luna to be thrown back against the mirror, shattering it to pieces. The rift between the universes finally reaches its breaking point, causing the sky to crack and the worlds to slowly merge.

Twilight and her friends use the Elements to trap the evil Celestia in crystal, but their plan means the good Celestia will be imprisoned as well. Thus King Sombra comes up with another plan: he uses the Elements to extract the alternate Celestia and Luna's evil and absorb it into himself. The alternate princesses turn good, and the alternate Sombra becomes evil just like the original.

The universes begin to repair, and the ponies return to their home universe before the walls between the worlds close forever. With the good King Sombra now evil, alternate Celestia and Luna assume the throne, and alternate Equestria is on the road to recovery.

Featured regions[]

Canterlot[]

Comic issue 19 Alternate Canterlot

Canterlot is the capital of Equestria and home to the royal palace of King Sombra. It also has a hidden wishing garden for ponies to write wishes on slips of paper and tie them to tree branches. An annual event that takes place there is Sombra's Samba-Fest and Chili Cook-Off, shown on Friendship is Magic Issue #19 page 6.

Ponyville[]

Comic issue 19 Alternate Ponyville

Alternate Equestria's Ponyville is briefly shown throughout Friendship is Magic Issue #19. It is home to the alternate Mane 6 and Spike. Unlike main Ponyville's thatched cottages, alternate Ponyville appears somewhat more modern in design.

Castle of the Two Sisters[]

Comic issue 20 Alternate Castle of the Two Sisters

The Castle of the Two Sisters serves as the seat of power for the evil princesses Celestia and Luna. Unlike the main universe's castle, which is in ruins due to Luna turning into Nightmare Moon, the alternate universe's castle still stands tall at the edge of the Everfree Forest.

Mentioned regions[]

Comic issue 20 Signpost

Other world differences[]

  • The Elements of Harmony do not exist.
  • The alternate Mane Six and Spike are wanted criminals, charged with "gum chewing, puppy hating, line dancing, jaywalking, cattle rustling, not returning library books, vandalism, line cutting, taking the tags off mattresses, taking candy from fillies, forgery, smuggling, not eating thier[sic] vegetables, being a public nuisance, and loitering".
  • Some time in alternate Equestria's history, Trixie was crowned an Alicorn princess.
  • Flim and Flam serve as fair Equestrian court judges.
  • Alternate Equestria is shown to have a better understanding of the sciences.
  • Alternate Equestria discovered coffee beans before main Equestria.

Other depictions[]

Software[]

My Little Pony (mobile game)[]

Mirror-Sombra's Castle Guard's Gameloft mobile game bio mentions "a universe where Sombra was good all along".

See also[]

References[]

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