Equestria

The story of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic takes place in Equestria, a land inhabited by magical talking ponies and other sapient animals. Equestria is co-ruled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Production
Lauren Faust wrote in a comment on her deviantArt page that the Everfree Forest is west of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres is southwest, and Fluttershy's cottage and meadow are located north of the farm, presumably between Ponyville and the forest. Canterlot is northeast of Ponyville. However, in subsequent interviews, both Faust and Jayson Thiessen mentioned that the geography and continuity of the show are loosely defined and may change as necessary, and a layout artist has confirmed that the production team has no official map of Equestria at their disposal.

The English word most similar to the placename Equestria is equestrian, "of or relating to horse riding", from the Latin equester, "belonging to a horseman", from equus, "horse", which is also the origin of equine. In this sense, "Equestria" would translate as "land of the horsemen" instead of "land of horses".

The founding of Equestria
The story of the founding of Equestria is relayed in the application Teacher for a Day, and part of this explanation is covered in the episode Hearth's Warming Eve.

The episode's most prominent feature is a play about the founding of Equestria, narrated by Spike. He explains: "each of the three tribes, the Pegasi, the unicorns, and the Earth ponies, cared not for what befell the other tribes, but only for their own welfare. In those troubled times, as now, the Pegasi were the stewards of the weather, but they demanded something in return: food that could only be grown by the Earth ponies. The unicorns demanded the same, in return for magically bringing forth day and night. And so, mistrust between the tribes festered, until one fateful day, it came to a boil. And what prompted the ponies to clash? 'Twas a mysterious blizzard that overtook the land, and toppled the tribes' precarious peace."

The blizzard led to famine, and each leader of each tribe decided to journey to a new land. They all arrived at the same place, and soon began fighting over it, and the blizzard quickly followed. "And so the paradise that the ponies had found was soon lost, buried beneath a thick blanket of snow, and hard feelings." Eventually the leaders' assistants find out Windigoes are causing the storm by feeding off of hate. The assistants' friendship creates the magical Fire of Friendship which does away with the Windigoes and the snowstorm.

The three leaders then decide to join forces and found a country shared by all three tribes, and name it Equestria.

Discord's reign of chaos
The series starts off with a prologue with narration about the princesses ruling Equestria, raising the sun and moon and maintaining harmony. Only in The Return of Harmony Part 1 is the time before their rule mentioned in the series. Princess Celestia tells Twilight Sparkle and her friends that before Princess Luna and herself stood up to Discord, he ruled over Equestria, keeping it in a state of unrest and unhappiness. Celestia goes on to describe that, seeing how miserable life was for Earth ponies, unicorns, and Pegasi alike, she and Luna discovered the Elements of Harmony and rose up against Discord, turning him to stone. Discord's spell is later broken because, as Celestia explains, "Luna and [herself] are no longer connected to the elements", so Twilight and her friends use the Elements of Harmony to encase Discord in stone again.

The regal unicorn sisters
The princesses are introduced in the prologue of the first episode, depicted in a series of medieval-like drawings with a narration that says "two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land", and that "the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger brought out the moon to begin the night."

Night Mare Moon
The narration continues: their subjects, the ponies, played in the day but "shunned" the night and slept through it, which made the younger unicorn grow bitter, eventually refusing to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. Her bitterness transformed her into a "wicked mare of darkness", Night Mare Moon. The elder sister reluctantly harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony and banished her "in" the moon, taking responsibility for both sun and moon, maintaining harmony in Equestria. The events of the first and second episodes take place a thousand years after Night Mare Moon's imprisonment, upon which she is freed, but defeated again through the magic of the Elements of Harmony, only this time she is transformed back to her former self and returns to rule Equestria with her sister.

Ponyville
Ponyville is the main setting of the series. Ponyville is a small town that was founded by Earth ponies, although over time Pegasus ponies and unicorns have also made the town their residence.

Canterlot
Canterlot is home to the royal palace of Princess Celestia. It was also the home of Twilight Sparkle prior to her relocation to Ponyville. The name is a reference to Camelot, the home to King Arthur and his "Knights of The Round Table" as well as being a play on the word "canter," which is a three-beat gait possessed by all horses that is faster than a trot but slower than a gallop.

Cloudsdale
Cloudsdale is a city in the sky where the Best Young Flyer competition takes place and where Equestria's weather is made. Only Pegasus ponies live and work there, since non-Pegasus ponies cannot stand on clouds. It is also the hometown of both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. The name is a reference to the Clydesdale, a breed of draft horses.

Everfree Forest
The Everfree Forest is located outside of Ponyville. It appears not to be bound by the same laws as the rest of Equestria since plants grow, animals care for themselves, and the weather changes without the help of ponies. It is also home to some strange creatures, including Ursas and parasprites.

Whitetail Wood
A forest near Ponyville. Unlike Everfree Forest, it is completely under pony control. Tree sap is harvested there. It is also the site for the Running of the Leaves, a running event held by the ponies as shown in Fall Weather Friends to shake all of the leaves off the trees.

Froggy Bottom Bog
Froggy Bottom Bog is featured in Feeling Pinkie Keen. Fluttershy relocates some frogs to the bog because of overpopulation. When Pinkie Pie gets an ominous premonition, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Spike and Pinkie Pie venture to the bog to make sure Fluttershy is okay. They come upon a hydra who chases them to a chasm which they cross in order to escape.

Appleloosa
Appleloosa is a Wild West town built by settlers about a year prior to the events of Over a Barrel. It is the home of Applejack's cousin Braeburn. The town is complete with the typical "wild west" buildings and sights, such as horse-drawn carriages, horse-drawn horse-drawn carriages, a dance location, "The Salt Block" saloon, and a sheriff. The settlers unknowingly planted an apple orchard on land traditionally used by a tribe of buffalo for their stampedes, leading to a heated territorial dispute. The name comes from the Appaloosa breed of horse.

Manehattan
Manehattan is a large city where Applejack's aunt and uncle, the Orange couple, reside, first depicted in The Cutie Mark Chronicles and referenced in later episodes. Applejack is introduced to the high society of Manehattan after leaving Sweet Apple Acres in a flashback in The Cutie Mark Chronicles. She soon finds herself homesick, and returns to the farm. It was also mentioned in A Friend in Deed as Cranky Doodle Donkey's previous residence.

The name is a play on Manhattan Island, a section of New York City. During her story in The Cutie Mark Chronicles, Applejack passes a statue that greatly resembles the Statue of Liberty but in the form of a mare instead of a woman. New York City was once originally known as New Orange by former Dutch settlers, which may be referred to in the episode by Applejack's aunt and uncle Orange. Additionally, New York City is sometimes called "The Big Apple."

Ghastly Gorge
A gorge filled with perils, such as a windy cave, bramble bushes and quarray eels. Rainbow Dash held a contest to see who would be her pet there in May the Best Pet Win!.

Dodge Junction
Dodge Junction is an old-western town in the desert, resembling Appleloosa. It is introduced in the episode The Last Roundup. The town's name may be a reference to Dodge City, Kansas, a town famous in America for its role in the wild frontier of the Old West.

Hoofington
Hoofington is a village mentioned by Trixie as the site of her alleged battle with an Ursa. The suffix -ington is derived from old English for "town". The name is quite similar to that of a political news website, The Huffington Post.

Fillydelphia
Fillydelphia is briefly mentioned by Princess Celestia in the episode Swarm of the Century. As an excuse for cancelling her visit to Ponyville, the Princess says she has to go to Fillydelphia in order to deal with an infestation of "incredibly bothersome creatures", presumably parasprites. It was also mentioned in A Friend in Deed as Cranky Doodle Donkey 's previous residence. Lauren Faust, the show's creator, mentioned in a comment on deviantArt that she wanted to name the main setting of the show Fillydelphia after Philadelphia where her family resides, but ultimately went with Ponyville.

Trottingham
Trottingham is mentioned in Stare Master, where Rarity is making 20 gold-lined gowns for ponies there, and later mentioned in Luna Eclipsed as Pipsqueak's previous residence. It seems to be a take on either Nottingham or Tottenham, a city in England and district of London respectively, and trotting being a walking speed for horses.

Las Pegasus
Las Pegasus is a city mentioned in It's About Time. It is referenced when Rainbow Dash gives the report that nothing dangerous is coming from Fillydelphia all the way to Las Pegasus. The name seems to be a reference to either Los Angeles or Las Vegas.

Tartarus
Tartarus is a place mentioned in It's About Time. It's a place where evil creatures are held prisoner and guarded by the three-headed dog, Cerberus. Tartarus is from Greek mythology, being a deep dark pit below the underworld where many of the damned are imprisioned. One of the residents of Tartarus is Cerberus, a three headed dog that guards its entrance.

Baltimare
Baltimare is a city mentioned in It's About Time. It is referenced when Rainbow Dash gave a mini-report that a pegasus just came back from there, and there was no danger. The name is similar to the city called Baltimore.

Teacher for a Day
The founding of Equestria is described in the iOS app Twilight Sparkle: Teacher for a Day. The Pegasus, unicorn and Earth ponies did not live in harmony, their hearts were cold, and a blizzard overtook their land. Each group of ponies decided to find a new place to live, but they all arrived at the same new place, but the blizzard followed them. The ponies figured out there was only one way to get rid of the blizzard, to treat one another warmly. The unicorns used magic to build Canterlot, and once the city was finished, they invited the Pegasus and Earth ponies to a party, which became a yearly event called the Grand Galloping Gala.

WeLoveFine.com merchandise
A T-shirt titled "Cutie Mark Crusaders Tour" lists nine regions of Equestria to be visited by the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the year 2011: Ponyville on March 4 (the original airdate of The Show Stoppers), Fillydelphia on March 11 (the original airdate of A Dog and Pony Show), Cloudsdale on March 18 (the original airdate of Green Isn't Your Color), Appleloosa on March 25 (the original airdate of Over a Barrel), Manehattan on April 8 (the original airdate of A Bird in the Hoof), Trottingham on April 15 (the original airdate of The Cutie Mark Chronicles), Hoofington on April 22 (the original airdate of Owl's Well That Ends Well), San Franciscolt on April 29 (the original airdate of Party of One), and Canterlot on May 6 (the original airdate of The Best Night Ever).

Two T-shirts and a poster titled "Two Nights Only"  list ten regions to be visited by Trixie: Hoofington, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Manehattan, Phillydelphia, Ponyville, Foaledo, Trottingham, Whinneapolis, and Manechester.