Many, many, centuries ago, when the last Dyson sphere[1] was built, Sol was made dark, and the Earth was left unclaimed. Its vast continents left to shift without the benefit of a star, so eventually, all halted, and it was left barren of life - but with fertile soil. To the crowns of many systems, it seemed useless, dead, and grey; but a lord of Janil[2] saw its promise and made it a game planet for him and his court to hunt upon.

So a bubbled atmosphere was built, with psychically controlled stars and moons. New life too, was given to its land. Great forests of native oak and cedar-lined the major continents, once extinct birds and bugs were made extant to populate this fresh Eden, and dogs were bred upon it to turn to grand aboriginal hounds. Deer were made to occupy it, alongside foxes and other worthy game for the high lord’s hunts.

Of course, this was a Janilean hunting reserve, so more fantastic beasts were made for it too. Chimaeric creatures – known as manticores, gryphons, and hippogriff were genetically engineered for prestige. Alongside these were simpler beasts of myth made, old Scottish shetland ponies were used as a base for unicorns, pterripi, and, of course, standard ponies of strong breeding for work, should that ever be required. Further still were beasts carved from wood made, to protect the forests and keep them untamed. Dragons were bred from lizards to populate the reawoken volcanic lands of endless mountains and stone, leviathans bred for the depths of abyssal seas, and more still.

But that was millennia ago, before the fall of the empire of Janil, and the rise of the theocracy of Bland. Ergo, this land, forgotten, developed itself in strange and novel ways. The lower chimaeras became like the legends of them known, beasts of terrifying power that stalked the uncivilised wastes, but something else was in store for the greater ones. The gryphons and hippogriffs developed empires of gold that rose and fell in quick succession, the wars with dragons caused forcing one into poverty and the other into the seas. The leviathans passed into myth, their skeletons forming the basis for islands that grew into oceanic nations, spanning hemispheres and latitudes that the continent bound should never comprehend. The ponies developed into empires powerful and outlasted many others, genetic quirks causing the births of alicorns, horses, and ponies seemingly made of glass. The latter of these conquered the arctic lands, the former the tepid plains.

The forests, populated by beasts became vastly tamed by these new cultures, but some never were, and so have names that reflect this. Everfree, a prime example, was conquered by the wooden beasts, known now as Timber Wolves, an undoubtedly coincidental name as they are more like jaguars than any wolves. But some are populated by the vastly tribal zebra, a further split from pony kind, who developed a way of bending the psychic field by using plants fed from the false suns rays – or stones from the false moon.

An empire was formed by the yaks, a breed of cattle which, like goats, adapted to mountain living. This steppe nation is akin to Mongolia at its furthest extent. This nation lies north of the glass(crystal?) ponies of the northern lands and is viewed as barbaric by those who know very little of it. Though tribal, there is a rich culture to be found there, from gold working akin to that of Scythian horsemen of ancient Earth to a thick hierarchy which may be one of the only Patriarchies on this new Earth.

The dragons have not swayed much from their volcanic heritage, though, and unlike others, appear to have lost some knowledge. They have a warrior culture, and are made up of disconnected tribes. Though some older ones do remain knowledgeable, and so are unaffected by the knew psychic phenomena that support this culture. These are few and far between however, often being slain by the younger sophont species during migratory periods, though in recent years this has lessened somewhat. One of these more ancient beasts appears aligned with the ponic nation of Equestria, and its children have spred far alongside trained psychics, which consist majorly of unicorns.

These inhabitants I have just described, not knowing the proper name of this planet, this hunting ground of old, have given it the name “Equus”, although this may not be widely accepted, as it was seemingly only given to it by the ponies for now, even if princesses have attempted to spread the word of this name through foreign lands.

A vast rail network spans the majority of a supercontinent at the centre of Equus, mirroring the one in the Old Americas, it is equally ineffective and poorly run. This appears to have happened prior to any development of canals, which, though unfortunate, is not unheard of.[3] There are road connecctions and small river trade societies. The Oceanic nations appear to have developed both seaborne and airborne shipping routes. These cultures number among the few in the galaxy to have developed airships[4] rather than aeroplanes.

Should this planet be marked for further study, it is recommended that the isolated Griffonstone be the start point. It has rail and sea connections but appears to be abandoned as a port by other nations, while still rich in resources. This may be an easy place to consolidate theocratic power and should soon be explored. The lack of a Road[5] connection for this planet also guarantees that no other group will try it, and hey, the pocketmen[6] should enjoy the new views.

The Archtruliar of Genoric, on the possibility of renovating Solar planets.

[Review 3796]

[1] A form of Stellar power generation, commonly considered a sign of a tier 3++ civilisation.
[2] See: Empires of The Milkyway, Ashlic Generson
[3] The Angmeerans did not develop canals at any point, though they were formed at the core of a gas giant, and so did not have any liquids to speak of in generality.
[4] Resembling the Galleons of the age of sail, these, again, have appeared on Angmeer. It is possible that many of these are remnants of the old Janilean influence.
[5] The Starstone Road is the major intragalactic lifeline, it connects to all planets considered spacefaring by Pocketeer standards.
[6] These are the lying constructs thst maintain the Road. They know far too much to be destroyed and are though to be older than Janil.

Author's Note

Note: This is just a test chapter. Please do not assume that new chapters will appear soon.