//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A Historical Field Trip - Part 1/3 // Story: The War of the Equestrian First Reign // by Creative Charmer //------------------------------// The whistle blew as the train rolled speedily along the tracks, puffing smoke from its smokestack as it rode through the vast wasteland that was the San Palomino Desert. Being a desert, not much was to be seen in this arid region of Equestria, with nothing but sand and rocks in all directions. However, it was not the desert that one excited purple unicorn was so eager to see, but rather what it was that resided near the end of the desert; an old Equestrian landmark that she at long last found the time to travel to so she may gaze upon it with her very own eyes, and, not wanting to let such an experience go to waste, brought along Spike and her pony friends so they could too marvel at the magnificence of this historical milestone. Unfortunately, not all of Twilight’s friends shared in her enthusiasm, seeing this outing as more of a field trip than an adventure. Rainbow Dash blankly stared out the window at the passing scenery, feeling even more bored from the lack of seeing anything even the least bit interesting. Rarity was adjusting her hair with the mirror she had brought along, so as to look her best for where they were going. Applejack was snoring away as she slept whilst lying on her back on her train seat. Pinkie Pie rocked her body and legs back and forth to the merry tune she was humming, whereas Fluttershy sat next to her, quiet and calm as normal. “So, how much longer is this going to take?” Rainbow Dash asked peevishly. “Why? Are you as excited for this as I am??” Twilight asked eagerly. “Uhh, yeah,” Rainbow replied sarcastically. “Well, we shouldn’t be much longer now. The landmark ought to be coming into view soon.” “What exactly is this place we’re traveling to, anyway?” “Oh, I can’t say. It’s much too good of a surprise to ruin,” Twilight replied with a hint of avidness. “Orrrrr did you want to keep it such a surprise that you even kept it a secret from yourself??” Pinkie speculated, with most everyone staring at her with blank faces in response. “You can do that?” Fluttershy asked with modest surprise. “Well, I don’t think I can do that, because I enjoy surprises too much to want to keep them a secret from myself! Also, I wouldn’t be able to surprise anypony if I didn’t know what the surprise was! And what fun would that be? Not a lot of fun, I’m sure!” Pinkie then paused for a few moments “…what were we talking about? “…oh, look!” Spike shouted as a diversion as he stuck his head out the window, looking towards the front of the train. “I think I see the landmark, Twilight!” Twilight speedily stuck her head out the window, accidentally bumping Spike and causing him to almost plummet from the window. Twilight didn’t notice her fortuitous mistake, as her eyes became locked onto that which she had been waiting to gaze upon for so long, and she looked absolutely exhilarated by this spectacle, and expressed it quite clearly to her friends. “There they are! The ancient Equestrian Sentry Towers!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes instantly perked up upon hearing those words. “Did you say sentry towers?” she asked before dashing over to the window to see for herself, and instantly became amazed by what she beheld. There was a long line of towers going through the desert, all of them connected by bridges. They were placed in a horizontal line, with the train facing the towers as a vertical line. The towers had large housings on tops of thin but large wooden poles. “It’s so amazing to finally see them with my own eyes,” Twilight stated with wonderment. “I have to admit, that is pretty awesome!” Rainbow agreed, sounding just as astonished as ever. “I knew you would like it!” Twilight was quite pleased with Rainbow’s sudden enthusiasm, which made herself even more excited than already was. Just then, Twilight looked ahead and spotted the train stop, which lie between two of the mightily tall defensive structures. “We’re just about to pull into the train stop!” she removed herself from the window and faced her other friends. “Is everypony raring to go?” “If that means excited, then I’m the raring-est pony here!” Pinkie exclaimed as she eagerly hopped out of her seat. Rarity had just finished fine-tuning her hair. “I believe I am quite ready. I just need to add the finishing touches—“ she used her magic to draw a sunhat from her saddlebag and place it upon her head. "There we are!" Applejack yawned and turned her head around at Rarity while still lying on her back. "Whattya need that fer? We're not goin' to anyplace fancy or nothin'." "One does not just don proper attire for regal events, Applejack. One must know when to dress for appropriate weather." "Well yeah, I know tha—" "I chose this hat," Rarity continued, ignoring Applejack's statement. "for this outing as we will be in a desert, and it is important to protect my fair skin from this dreadfully damaging sunlight." "But it's only coverin' yer head. It's not like it's protectin' yer whole body." "Oh, Applejack," Rarity replied haughtily. "You simply just don't understand the workings of functional fashion." "Ah can't imagine why," she replied sarcastically. "Well, you'll get it one day. Now, let us be off!" Applejack sighed as she followed behind, knowing it wasn't worth it to make a big deal over what Rarity said. The ponies and Spike disembarked the train, gazing in awe at the many towers towering over their heads. They rose from the grounds like great pillars of the land, higher than any tree. They stood side-to-side, forming an extensive wall of protection in both directions: as far as the eye could see. Not a single space was left unfilled, creating an impassable force that no group of creatures could get by unnoticed. The soaring height of the spires made for a perfect lookout across the most of the landscape beyond the San Palomino Desert, preventing any means of an enemy sneak attack, as the land past the towers was a continuous stretch of desert and wasteland, devoid of any method of concealment by any individual. Clearly this astounding piece of workponyship was one of the greatest feat of engineering ever to be accomplished in the land of Equestria–if not the most. However, while most everybody had their eyes on the towers, Rarity's eyes were drawn downwards to the train stop, that, much like the towers, was in much decay and ruin. "Just look at this dreadful excuse for a train stop," she stated in disgust. "You'd think it would be more elutriated for our arrival." "Ah'm assumin' that means 'cleaned'," Applejack said. "And ah don't see why they would. Ah mean, us comin' to these towers wasn't some big ol' event that everypony knew about." "Well, I still feel that it could be better." "Why do you always have tuh complain about every little thing that doesn't go your way??" she stated as she walked up to Rarity. Rarity stuck her face right up in Applejack's face. "Why do you always have to put up with such filthy accommodations??" "Why do you always have to use them fancy words??" "Girls, please!" Twilight shouted, cutting in between her friends to stop their bickering. "There's no reason to quarrel over this!" she turned towards Rarity. "Now Rarity, the reason the train stop is in this condition is because nopony comes out here anymore, so the princess has had no reason to maintain it." "Well..I presume I can understand that. I mean, it's not as if this is a place that is worth the effort of maintaining." “Well, that is something I hope to change," Twilight said with fortitude. "What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean that I didn't create this field trip just for us: for the longest time I have felt great anguish in knowing that so many ponies in Equestria are so uninformed about Equestria's history and its landmarks. And I'm sorry to say that that includes all of you," her friends were surprised by such a claim. "I'm not uninformed! I know plenty of historical stuff!" Rainbow Dash affirmed. "Really? Like what?" "Well...uhh...umm..." Rainbow certainly had her hoof in her mouth now for making such a rash assertion, and felt a bit embarrassed by it. "You see what I mean? I don't like to see ponies that are oblivious to the grand pieces of Equestria history that lie throughout our nation! They must be educated, and I am the singular pony to do it!" "Well, we'll be here to help you every step of the way!" "Yeah!" "Absolutely!" "We'll be the helping-est helpers who've ever helped!" Twilight was glad to see her friends so encouraging in her aspiration to make Equestria a much more learned country. "Well then, now that I have all the help I'll need, I think now is the best time for us to begin."