"Princess Celestia said that she was going to her room before she lowered the sun and raised the moon." Spike commented, tearing apart one of the few remaining cookies that had been left on the plate, before he realized that Ashjing was staring at him, "What?"
"Using magic to raise and lower both the sun and the moon... it sounds impossible." Ashjing commented, though seeing how she knew so little about this world she had to wonder if such a thing was even possible.
"Well, she is an alicorn." Twilight said, though while she spoke she pulled herself off the sofa she was sitting on and beckoned for Ashjing to follow her, "So is my former foalsitter, Cadance."
"Alicorn?" Ashjing asked in confusion, but she followed Twilight's lead and pulled herself from the sofa as well, to which Spike joined them by jumping onto Twilight's back.
"That's what Princess Celestia and her niece Cadance are, but I see that I need to explain what types of ponies there are before I truly answer your question," Twilight replied, a small smile appearing on her face while they walked out of the throne room and into the large corridor, "There are three types of ponies that live in Equestria; first off we have Pegasi, which are ponies that have wings, the ability to fly, and the ability to move clouds around and manipulate the weather. Then you have unicorns, like me, who have a horn on their head and can use magic, be it for levitating objects around or for a number of the other applications it can be used for. And finally you have earth ponies, who have neither horns or wings, but instead have great physical strength and a deep connection with the earth.
Alicorns, as you just saw, have both a horn and a pair of wings, so not only do they have the traits of pegasi and earth ponies, but they also have the ability to use a level of magic that's beyond what most unicorns are capable of performing. Even I have trouble with some of the spells from that level... and I was born with a stronger affinity for magic than most unicorns are."
"I see," Ashjing commented, following Twilight outside the castle and into a lush garden area, one that had a good number of stone statues scattered everywhere, "So being an alicorn allows Princess Celestia to move both the sun and the moon, because she commands a higher level of magic than what other ponies use?"
"Something like that... though it also helps that her Cutie Mark is a symbol of the sun," Twilight answered, though she turned back and noticed that Ashjing was confused again, "Right, you have no idea what that is either. A Cutie Mark is a special mark that only appears when a pony realizes what their special talent is, much like when mine appeared during my entrance exam to Princess Celestia's school when I was a filly. For some ponies it takes some time to uncover what their special talent is, while for others its quite simple."
Ashjing nodded and took in the scenery around her, noticing that the garden had quite a number of bushes and trees scattered everywhere. From what she could tell this part of the castle was actually open to ponies, as there were only a few guards walking around the area. She had the feeling that the ponies that worked in the castle came here to relax on their time off, so they could let go of their stress before they had to return to whatever they were doing. Even she felt calm as she followed Twilight into the garden, making her wonder if the entire garden had been enchanted at some point in time.
As they walked Ashjing took some time to look at the various statues that they passed, all of which she knew had to be based on various figures in Equestria's history. She had no idea if there had been any wars in this seemingly peaceful world, as she had been interrupted before she could learn about the land she had appeared in, but she smiled as she looked at the statues. That smile quickly disappeared when she came to a statue that was unlike anything she had ever seen before, because the creature it depicted looked like a chimera of sorts... only it had a mismatch of limbs and a serpent like body.
"What is this creature?" Ashjing asked, causing Twilight to look back at her for a moment, "It is unlike anything I have ever seen or anything I have heard about."
"Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony," Twilight replied, letting out a sigh for the moment, "Sadly, I don't know too much about him, other than this statue was commissioned shortly after his defeat... which was over a thousand years ago. Princess Celestia told me that I wasn't ready to hear his story the last time I asked her about it, and there's no records of what happened during the time he ruled Equestria, so I figured that I would patiently wait until I was ready to learn about whatever he did."
Ashjing absolutely hated the idea that there was nothing, not even a single record, of what happened during the time that this creature ruled the land that the ponies lived in, but she let out a sigh and fell in behind Twilight once more. She could tell that Discord's statue was more lifelike than the other ones she had seen, which all appeared to be made out of solid stone, but she decided to file that information away for a later date. There was too much she didn't know about this world and the list kept growing with everything she had seen so far, but she was sure that Twilight would be able to help her understand where she was.
During their walk Ashjing also discovered that there happened to be a maze of some sort in the middle of the area, though instead of asking Twilight about it she decided that she would merely ask Princess Celestia about it in the future. Eventually the three of them reached the spot that Twilight was searching for, because she sat down under one of the threes and beckoned for Ashjing to join her, all while Spike climbed off her back and took a seat as well.
"Do you see the balcony near the top of the nearby tower?" Twilight asked, causing Ashjing to turn to the tower in question and spot the place that Twilight was asking about, to which she nodded as she sat down, "That's the balcony that's connected to Princess Celestia's personal chambers. In a few minutes she'll walk out of her room and raise the moon while she lowers the sun, so you might want to pay close attention to what's happening."
Ashjing nodded and patiently waited for the Princess to come out of her room, because she was interested in seeing whether or not this was a prank that they pulled on newcomers to their kingdom. She was, however, beginning to suspect that Twilight had spoken the truth, because the young mare had a sense of confidence in her words when she had spoken. She had to have seen the Princess do this many times over her entire life, but Ashjing decided to not say anything and wait until the truth revealed itself.
A few minutes passed before Ashjing noticed Princess Celestia emerge from her personal chambers, though it seemed that her gaze was fixed on the sky above them. She noticed a faint golden aura wrap around Celestia's horn for a moment, but that was swiftly followed by what Twilight wanted her to see. The sun, which had been in the process of setting, lowered itself until it was no longer visible, though that was swiftly followed by a white orb rising to replace the sun. Ashjing's eyes widened as she realized that Twilight had been telling the truth the entire time, that Princess Celestia was able to raise and lower both the sun and the moon with her magic.
The other thing she noticed, besides the movement of the sun and moon, was the fact that there was what appeared to be a black face of sorts imprinted on the moon's surface, though she filed that information away for later as well.
"So, what do you think?" Twilight asked, a grin appearing on her face, as if she was pleased to have shown Ashjing that she had been right the entire time.
"The mages back home would be shocked by what the Princess just did," Ashjing commented, rubbing her chin as she thought about Khadgar asking Princess Celestia about how she manipulated both the sun and moon, "She could have easily decimated my world's understanding of how the sun and moon worked, if our planet's sun and moon were similar to yours. Our planet actually rotates around our sun, not the sun around the planet... but to answer your question, I'm completely amazed by what I just saw."
"Well if you think that was amazing then you'll really enjoy the Summer Sun Celebration," Spike commented, staring up at the moon for a moment, "Its a big celebration that happens once a year. Though that reminds me, isn't that in a week or two?"
"More like five days from now." Twilight answered, turning her attention from the moon and returning it to Ashjing, who had a confused look on her face once more, "The Summer Sun Celebration is where ponies commemorate the summer solstice, where they stay up late the night prior and throw parties until they see Princess Celestia raise the sun. Its the one time where the Princess makes a spectacle out of raising the sun, though the location varies from one year to another. I think she mentioned that it was being held in someplace called Ponyville this year, which is a small town that rests right outside the Everfree Forest."
Ashjing had to wonder what was so special about celebrating the summer solstice, but she had the feeling that only the Princess could answer such a question. As she stared up at the night sky she noticed a flaming bird fly through the night sky and land on a perch outside Princess Celestia's chambers. She recalled a meeting she had with several adventurers that had stormed a place called Tempest Keep, where they encountered a large flaming bird that they had all claimed was a phoenix. Though there was that one member of their group, a blood elf mage if she was remembering things clearly, who insisted on referring to that phoenix as Al'ar, or the Phoenix God.
She had the feeling that she had just seen this world's version of the phoenix, but decided not to say anything about it until she did any research on it and everything else she was learning.
"Do the people of your home world celebrate anything?" Twilight asked, causing Ashjing to snap out of her thoughts and turn to her for a moment.
"Yes, there are a few celebrations," Ashjing answered, recalling several of their names before she truly answered the question, "There's Brewfest, Hallow's End, and Winter Veil to name a few. Each of them hold a special place in the hearts of Azeroth's people. Brewfest, for example, is a time of the year when three breweries come to the major cities and try to outdo each other with whatever brew they brought with them, though for most people it is a time to sit back, relax, and take your mind off the troubles of the world."
"Sounds like an interesting holiday," Twilight commented, writing down a few notes, though it was clear that she wanted to know more about the world that Ashjing came from.
"All of our holidays are interesting," Ashjing said, letting out a small sigh for a moment, "though, if memory serves me, the next holiday we were supposed to be celebrating was the Feast of Winter Veil, where the people of Azeroth are visited by Grandfather Winter near the end of the year. Basically people can sample delicious festive treats, playfully toss snowballs at each other, and receive special holiday gifts from each other, as well as help others that need some help during the holidays."
"It sounds like Hearth's Warming Eve and Day," Twilight said, taking note of the brief confusion in Ashjing's face, "basically its when we celebrate the founding of Equestria. Hearth's Warming Eve is traditionally celebrated with a pageant that reenacts the tale of Equestria's founding, while the actual day of Hearth's Warming is typically celebrated by exchanging and opening presents and raising a flag in honor of the first flag of Equestria sewn by Nimble Thimble."
Ashjing smiled for a moment, knowing that the two of them could exchange information about their various worlds until the end of time, but that didn't stop her from worrying about her home world. She was sure that someone would be looking into the Dark Portal, when they had time, but for now she suspected that their efforts would be on stopping the Iron Horde and not on finding a lone Lorewalker. She guessed that she was going to have to wait and see what happened next... after she and Twilight compared notes on the similarities and differences between their worlds.
Despite everything that's happened she knew that she could have the time of her life in this new world... and see just how many secrets she and Twilight could uncover together.