Why are the ponies settlers?

[Nightmare Muffin]

From the very start of MLP g1, ponies have always been shown to be settlers, never really staying in one place, but why is that?


In a tale of pony history told by the Moochick in “the Golden Horseshoes”, we get to learn that a distant ancestor of Mimic, a unicorn, used to live in a land called Argite/ Argyte until a tornado picked her up and dropped her in Dream Valley.


In “the My Little Pony Movie”, the witches complain that before Dream Valley was formed, it used to be a dark and dank wasteland, and that the ponies came there and made everything green and bright.


So too, in “Pony Tales”, the schoolponies recounted a tale in pony history where an ancient tribe of settlers, called the Pintos, settled the land and lived in what is now called “Pinto Cave” in modern times.


In g4, the Appleoosans also trekked from another territory into the Buffalo stampeding grounds that they made their home.


And also in the “Hearth’s Warming Eve” pageant, we learn that the 3 tribes of ponies- unicorns, earth, and pegasi, had also move out of their home and to a new land, when they were faced with being overrun by Wendigoes that nearly froze them to death.


In 2 out of these 6 examples, we’re given a reason for the ponies’ nomadic lifestyle, and only left to speculate on why this seems to be a habit for the ponies across every pony generation. Are the ponies simply bringing themselves and their land to ruin, wherever their roam, as seen in “Hearth’s Warming Eve”, thus making their nomadic lifestyle an inevitability? We see that in g4 that ponies DO tend to be a hindrance to the natural world- having animals and the land rely on them to the point where both have become completely dependent (heck, animals can’t even gather food for themselves without the ponies’ help), or nearly destroying themselves and their land by their own bitterness and hatred toward each other.

Could the same be true for each generation of pony settlers? If so, then what does this imply, if anything, about the ponies?

 

[Leave a Whisper]

Well, if you think about it horses, though they are migratory animals irl, do have territories that they settle into because they follow the food and water sources. Barring the magical drought, Dream Valley has a wide ranging field and forest with plenty of food, grass, fertile soil for gardening and a constant water supply. So they have no need to.

I didn't notice or at least don't remember a river, or lake near Bright Valley or Flutter Valley. But with Flutter Valley they had plenty of food and were out of range of the Volcano of Gloom and decently protected by the forest and giant sunflowers.

The sea ponies do seem to roam about as they can be found in any source of water, fresh or salt.

The Big Brothers roam too, which is something you wouldn't see in the wild, with the exception of colts driven out before they reach adulthood so they won't challenge the established herd stallion, or a herd stallion who has been driven out by a younger stronger male. Other then that, young colts who can't fend for themselves and one established stallion would stay with the mares and foals.

But this is pony land so whatever, plus the Bright Valley stallions stay close to home. No explanation.

Tales , G3 and FiM provided a human like society. So that explains that.

 

[Tak]

I concur with @Leave a Whisper horses always migrated to where food was available seasonally and depending on predator activity.

 

[Tak]

Either way, they are purple, blue, pink, magic, and flying. They can do whatever they want. That's the beauty of fantasy worlds.

 

[Skycakes]

I guess ponies just have to be free. When I think of horses I think of an independent animal. Some may think aren't like that way but they maybe are like wild horses.

 

[Stormness_1]

I think it's because the shows are always based on American society, and pioneering and settlement were a big part of history there, so parallels were drawn between the reality and the fantasy. Obviously there are bits taken from other cultures and societies, but most back stories loosely reference American history. Thanksgiving, a strictly American holiday, has a parallel in FiM, as do many other predominantly American customs.