Manehattan

Manehattan is the financial and commercial center of the Equestrian Provinces in the Ancarian Republic. As the second largest city in the Republic and largest terrestrial city in the Republic, it serves as a cultural and economic trend-setter for both the Republic and Equestria alike. Although damaged by the Ancarian-Equestrian War, its status as the cheapest way to get from the mainland of the Republic to the Zebra Provinces, along with maintaining many Equestrian banks and buildings, has resulted in the metropolis remaining economically stable throughout the war.

Colonial Era
Manehattan was first born before the creation of Equestria, when many displaced Neighterlanders were forced out of their original cities of Hoofswell, Neighmegen and Trotterdam by the conflict they had caused. Out of Old Equestria, through the Forsaken Forest, mountains and ancient Dragonmount, the weary, starved colonists made their way to the banks of Midnight Lake. Notably one of the first multiracial cities in what would become the Kingdom of Equestria, not out of choice, but from lack of supplies, it had a rocky start. Conflicts and tensions between all races were high, and the city was originally split up into three areas: the port, which would become Downtown, went to the Pegasi for forts, the center, currently Lower Manehattan, was assigned to the Unicorns to start business with neighboring dragons and earth ponies, and the residential areas, once very fertile land, was given to the Earth Ponies. This setup did not last for very long, as the Pegasi found there to be little military troubles, the unicorns needed the ports for business, and the Earth Ponies had no use for so much land when there was so little to do with it.

The first step towards the integration of the three was the Unicorns and Pegasi mixing themselves to

gether. Downtown found itself home to many more unicorns running its ports and creating markets within the forts, followed by Earth Ponies moving from just dealing on the border of Unicorn territory and actively selling and buying across the colony. It would not reach full integration, however, until Equestria's birth.

Manehattan was cosmopolitan from the beginning: unicorns having such great contact with the other two races resulted in pegasi and earth ponies alike to be dressed in far more colorful, lively clothing. Dragon scales were used as part of Manehattanite armor, gems were seen in quantities never seen in New Equestrian colonies, and life for all was of a far higher class than any nearby Unicorn, Pegasus or Earth Pony town. The resulting trends set by the city would continue into the present day. With great riches, however, came great pride and corruption: the population became known for its harsh, bitter view of those outside of its gates, even though it relied so much upon their trade. One propagandist during the Colonial Era summed up the general view of Manehattan in an oft repeated quote: "Manehattan has the generosity of ten ponies, but the arrogance of thirty dragons".

War and rule under Unicornia
Although Manehattan was quite far from the centers of Earth, Pegasopolis and Unicornia that found themselves at war time and time again, it was only a matter of time before these nations attempted to drag it into the fray. The city-state's arrogant personality towards these "uncivilized ruffians" had not lessened in the slightest, however, and it resulted in Manehattan holding its ground and fighting for independence. These battles resulted in the city being set aflame on numerous occasion, and countless casualties. During the lull in fighting between the three Equestrian Nations, Unicornia swept in and crushed the remaining resistance with its full force.

Manehattan remained economically damaged for the majority of its time under Unicornia's rule, but, being the most cosmopolitan of the three, their ruling nation was quick to assist in its reconstruction. The city, however, refused any sort of assistance, and continuously undermined attempts to fully control it through either police, troops or corruption. As Unicornia began to bring up nearly half of its army to fully subdue Manehattan under threat of destruction, and Manehattan prepared to respond with a campaign of its own, Discord struck.

Ironically, Discord beginning his sudden takeover at that time brought well-needed harmony and understanding to the troops of Unicornia and the population of Manehattan. With the soldiers no longer having a real home to go to, and the city isolated and lacking protection, the two forces had to work together to form one of the last holdouts of order against Discord's tyranny. They would remain utterly isolated from the rest of Equestria until the rise of the Princesses. This time, however, broke down the barriers between not only the races, but the national identities within Manehattan's borders. By the end of the conflict, Manehattan was the first truly united part of Equestria, and was one of the original supporters of the monarchy.

Under the Princesses
Under the Princesses' rule, Manehattan prospered in a manner only rivaled by its original rise to power. Its connections no longer spread from Midnight Lake to the borders of Central Equestria, but all the way to Prance and beyond. The Princesses became highly popular in the city, and its loyalty was unlike any seen until that of perhaps Ponyville. Its hard working attitude and growing name as the cultural and economic center of Equestria would result in its nickname of "The City That Never Sleeps", from its tendency to be active at every hour of both day and night. This had a second effect: they were particularly fond of Princess Luna.

Luna's fall to darkness, and her resulting imprisonment was viewed as such as affront to Harmony and all of Equestria that it sparked a series of "Lunar Revolts" that continued for many days until finally dying down when it was clear that Celestia would not(or could not) budge on the issue. This revolt would be the largest Equestrian revolt until the Ancarian Revolution. Bitter, the city would continue on, but its reputation was severely damaged by its supposed willingness to support Nightmare Moon. Not only would they be called arrogant, but implied to be traitors for decades to come.

This did not stop others from immigrating to the grandeur city, for, less than a century after Nightmare Moon's defeat, dragons soaring through the skies were normal occurances, pegasi and griffins chattered atop factory rooftops, and various other races had joined ponies to dramatically boost Manehattan's population and size alike. By now, most of the eastern bank of Midnight Lake was under its jurisdiction. But, with great power, came great corruption.

The Dull Ages
Lust for power and bits caused Manehattan to begin losing its cosmopolitan background and momentarily descend into an era where many of the "big manes"--those at the top of numerous businesses--sacrificed creativity for very cheap goods, not only in cost, but in benefit and creativity. While exploitation was low, friendship and social connections were prohibited for being ineffiecient, and the word of the new steam engines and trains were law. At this point in time, one out of five residents of Manehattan came straight from the Griffin Kingdom, a number that would begin to drop off as more land became available.

Manehattan, with this policy, would become much more productive than any city before or even after its time, with modern Ibex cities struggling to meet the same output as Manehattan did. But, living up to its name of the Dull Age, these products had very little creativity and love in them, and only served to economically decimate most dressmakers and other craftsponies.

Monuments to these fantastical achievements in working skill and production were set up all across the city, including museums to acknowledge the technology and big manes that made it all possible. With its output and, soon, a growing newspaper industry, the Dull Ages would begin to spread all across Equestria; in places such as Detrot and Ibex, the lessons of this age would become large pieces of its history, pushing away magic and harmony.

As the Dull Ages continued, the lack of friendship began to take its toll. Workers started plotting and stealing from selfish higher-ups, artisans started to leave for Canterlot and beyond, Griffins hailing from North and South started to clash in fiery riots, and talks of full-scale revolution and warfare started to rise once more. In the summer, a sudden failure in magic across the city started a series of revolts and fearful riots that took over the city and threw it into anarchy. The next day, it was autumn. The day after, it was winter. This winter, the Second Great Winter, nearly froze all of Manehattan over in not but a few days. This reminder of what happened to their homeland, and what could still happen to them, would harold the end of the prohibition of Harmony and friendship, bringing the Dull Age to a crashing halt.