Reminds me of Hyrule’s geography changing through time in every game lol, must be some insanely active tectonic plates

Since the crystallized harmony tree has become organic as an actual tree, it was thought that this is very close to “the Ground Zero” where the magic began to disappear, and if there was an explosion that wiped out the entire Everfree and hit the entire valley, the tree could only have survived by using all the magic in it. And thus becomes a regular tree, but with internal magic that can open for an activation if active magic should return.
 
The fact that the whole valley looked like something had erased almost every tree and building that was there, indicates that this is exactly where the mysterious event that took the active magic away, had taken place. The tree that Izzy felled suggests that something very drastic had happened not so long ago, she could only chop the trunk down because it had been dead for a long time.
 
It is possible that this will be Sunny’s first goal, because she will research through the lighthouse for her father and may find that her map and the reconstructed map show the same area. It can give her important clues to find out what happened. If I were Twilight, there are only three places where secrets can be kept for future generations; the foundation of Canterlot, the grounds of Ponyville and the grounds under the Harmony Tree. Argyle may have tracked down what happened, but died before he could tell others about it. For Sunny will definitely explain the others about the tree in the movie.

@Phoenixflambe  

 
No. These are not natural transformations. Meadows do not exist in the wild world, they are man-made in our world, and pony-made in Equus, we should have seen overgrowth all around, but it is very small - and such a large and very densely planted area would have left very much nutritious reason that could revive the area after a short time.
 
Since Zephyr Heights was built in the time when Equestria was united, there can be no question of local climatic changes when the water from there does not long reach the valley. But after the disappearance of the magic, it will be something different, as Queen Haven could lead the meltwater from the mountain away. By having a large population, she has to feed them by having food production, and the upper part of the valley was Canterlot`s food sources (roughly where the Mane 6 and Terrible Trio met in battle), there is little fertile ground on the mountain plateau like Sunny and Izzy had gone uphill to get to Zephyr Heights. The pegasi could lead the water there rather than to unproductive forest areas such as the Everfree.
 
Still, that is not a good enough explanation. Down the cliff behind Hitch there are few trees there, although it was not possible to see a river there, we know that the harmony tree is located on a higher slope in the southeast of Ponyville and we have not seen lower terrain on the movie. It was only by looking down the cliff from where Hitch sat, we could see a little more. And there is something that should be remembered with meadows; they are always in cultivated landscapes in the immediate vicinity of settlements. Everything is deserted there between Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood as far as the movie shows.
 
And; if there are only meadows there instead of a forest area, why were these not used for agriculture? It would have been very tempting as close to a big city as Zephyr Heights. The map that Sunny uses was copied from existing maps, but it may be one of the secrets of Argyle. It will not be surprising if Argyle, when he was young, had been there and laid out a map; he had a reconstructed pre-S8 map of the valley in the lighthouse.
 
Even after many millennia, it is possible to find intact ruins, especially those with foundations; they may be hidden under the grass, but it is uncertain about this. There was a stream through a ravine right where the tree was, and huge trees in solitude are very rare to be found in the open. What is shown on the movie is not natural.

@Background Pony #2775  
Now I really hope we have a Brony or a MLP fans out there making a video of this whole map , journey and Easter egg of future Equestria in the movie like what some Marvel fans do like New Rockstar or Cosmic wonder discussing all the theories and so on.

@Background Pony #2775  
Earth always changes, so that makes sense since the time gap is large.

@Background Pony #411C  

 
Neither do I. We’ve never seen the Mane 5 get out of Zephyr Heights, now I wish this was shown! It was speculated that they would either seek refuge in the ruins of Canterlot or discover it and continue down the valley. We saw none of this. Has the movie been cut?
 
Currently, when the Mane 6 arrived at the bridge, they were heading south and were about to cross a gorge that may have led from Ghastly Gorge - so that may mean that Bridlewood is located at the Macintosh hills, probably where the hopeless “official” map from Hasbro shows Dodge City. These mountains that could be seen in 53.28 are probably Macintosh Hills that Twilight and her friends had crossed in the first IDW comics. It meant that Bridlewood is closer to Maretime Bay than I thought, and since the lantern could get there, it meant that there is descending terrain from there towards the region around Horseshoe Bay, further towards Maretime Bay. We can now safely say that the “official map” from so long ago is more useless than a useless used car. The IDW maps may be more relevant in comparison.
 
Now over to the tree; we know that the Castle of the Two Sisters is located on a low hill with a narrow ravine that can not be seen on the movie, from which it was possible to have a view of large parts of the Everfree, and the city of Ponyville is located on lower terrain than this place. It is exactly what it looked like on the movie, minus the ravine over which there was a bridge, and it is possible that the ruins are still there, covered with earth and grass. But the vegetation … only the tree could be seen. And it seems that it is very desolate plains where the Mane 5 went on their way to their goal. Everfree is gone, as if it had been completely wiped out. Unfortunately we did not see more, as Everfree was very large. In the evening we could see beyond a cliff behind Hitch at 54.00 - there was nothing to see, little with trees, as if the water-rich valley had suddenly become a dried-up plain.
 
I had aired three theories about the fate of the valley; whether it has been isolated with existing communities - whether it has been flooded by Everfree and turned into inaccessible wild forest areas - or the third that now looks likely; same fate as the Crystal City where everything had disappeared as a result of magical encroachment. I do not think there are remains of Ponyville - it should have been shown in the movie, and Canterlot, even if in ruins, should be seen from a distance. Everything may have disappeared with only one exception; the tree. There is no overgrowth there all the way to the Macintosh Hills where Bridlewood is on the outskirts.
 
Everfree had such magical potential that only the harmony tree could keep it under control, but Starswirl had revealed that the ponies had “trimmed down” the forests in his time. That is why the royal sisters had a castle and a city of residence there. The character of the magic there was darker than the chaos magic can produce. How could all this magic have just disappeared? And from what we learned about the station in Zephyr Heights, there were no good communications then between Canterlot and Bridlewood. Airships and hot air balloons are used to cross difficult terrain.
 
Maybe Sunny without knowing it had gone with her friends through “the Ground Zero” where the ponies lost their magic, and if all the magic in Everfree was consumed, one of the largest accumulations of raw magic in the world, for a spell - it can become worldwide. Yes, even to cancel out much of the world magic. This is a very powerful hint if the impression of a deserted valley is not changed by new movie pictures.
 
Something has happened there.

This movie is like mixing BoW and MLP.

@The Smiling Pony  
The tree was implied somewhere between Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood, far enough inland from one of the maps we did see, eg  
(perhaps at the point the road forks to Bridlewood since the tree was used as a navigation point)

The real question is: Is it gonna be reawakened?

Is it really “the” tree of harmony or it might be “a” tree of harmony. We can assume that the Young six probably weren’t gonna be the last group of friends to spark a harmony tree.  
They are building up for a lot of lost lore for the past many moons of Equestria, they’ve got us hooked just for the answers to what has happened.

Wow, when I saw that tree when its on screen, I feel like they just don’t put a tree in the middle of a field like that unless its for something. But I never would have guess that’s the once Tree of Harmony.

It has woodenised? It’s otherwise gone physically and spiritually.

@The Smiling Pony  
@Background Pony #0597  
I guess it wouldn’t be the first time a tree had been transported across Equestria.

Does that mean the Everfree Forest is gone now? The tree was growing in the middle of the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters which itself was in the middle of Everfree. I wonder if that means its chaos magic has finally been dispelled.

I wonder how long ago, given there’s absolutely nothing recognizable of the area left otherwise.
 
That, and Maretime Bay is a seaside town, whereas the tree was located in the center of the continent, pretty much the furthest away from any sea…