//------------------------------// // Exploring Equestria Part 1: Train to Canterlot and The Castle’s Garden // Story: Generational Talk Show // by qiley //------------------------------// “Today we’re going to do something a little different,” Twilight announced to everypony around the table. “I recall some of you saying you wanted to explore our Equestria a bit, so I decided that we should!” “A field trip!” Pinkie clapped her hooves together. “I love field trips.” “My dad told me some stories about Canterlot,” Sunny said. “He said it was the city of unicorns and nobility.” “Well you’re right about the nobility part,” Twilight nodded. “That’s where I reside as the ruler of Equestria after all. It was the city of unicorns before as well, not anymore.” “What do you mean ‘anymore’?” Zipp asked. “Well it was only inhabited by unicorns at one point, but that changed with each tribe coming together to stop the windigos,” Twilight explained.”After that, more and more ponies of all races came and settled in Canterlot!” “History? Boring!” Rainbow chuckled. “Some find it interesting,” Twilight huffed. “And expect some more history lessons because I’m the one giving them a tour.” “Do I have to go on the tour?” Rainbow groaned. “I’ve been to Canterlot like, a billion times!” “If you can say one fact about Canterlot’s history besides the one I just told you, then by all means you’re free to roam around,” Twilight smirked. “Fine!” Rainbow threw her hooves up before crossing them. “I’ll go on your stupid tour.” “Great!” Twilight nodded contently. “Guess we should start heading to the train station.” Arriving at the train station, they all stood on the platform, waiting for the first train of the day to arrive. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly but there was a nice, cool breeze.  “So what’s first on our tour, tour guide Twilight?” Izzy asked, hopping in place. “I’m so excited to see Canterlot.” “Well first we’ll visit the royal gardens and look at all the statues there then we’ll tour the castle,” Twilight said. “Then, we’ll take a look around the main streets of the city as well as some places I’ve been as a child!” “Sounds like a fun day,” Sunny said.  “I can’t wait to see the castle. I wonder if it’ll be like ours,” Pipp said, looking at ZIpp. “It’ll probably be way cooler,” Zipp replied. They continued to chat until the train arrived. They got their own train car due to their status, being the Elements of Harmony as well as Twilight being the ruler of Equestria. Outside their car were two guards, guarding the door. “Just precaution,” Twilight sighed. “Never know what could happen.” “But aren’t you one of the strongest ponies alive? Who could really hurt you?” Hitch asked. “You’d be surprised what some fans would do,” Twilight chuckled. “Also, the villains we defeated were quite strong, especially Discord and Tirek.  “Did somepony call me?” a familiar voice asked. “Discord? Is that you?” Twilight called out, looking around the train car.  “You are correct dear,” Discord replied, squeezing out of one of the luggage compartments overhead. “Jeez, it sure is a tight fit in there.” “How did you even fit in there?” Hitch tilted his head. “Cause he’s Discord,” Rainbow chuckled. “You got that right!” Discord laughed alongside Rainbow. Taking a seat next to Twilight, he crossed one leg over the other. “Now, where are we going this fine morning?”  “We’re going to tour Canterlot!” Izzy said. “Pfft, boring!” Discord leaned back into the chair. “Why don’t you bring them somewhere fun Twilight? Like the Dragonlands, or my place!” Twilight rolled her eyes, smiling. “Maybe one day, but we’ll start out with a calmer, safer place.” “C’mon, my realm is calm and safe,” Discord grinned.  “I’m sure you could make it safe, but as it is right now, I’m not too sure,” Twilight frowned. “It’s quite cozy over there, actually,” Fluttershy mentioned. Suddenly, a bunch of signs with  “Fluttershy Approved“ appeared all around her. “See? Fluttershy likes it, so I’m sure you all could too!” Discord said. “Maybe one day Discord,” Twilight entertained the thought. “Maybe one day.” “That’s what I like to hear,” Discord smirked, nodding contently. “Now, would you all mind if I joined you on your tour of Canterlot?” “We’d love to have you Dissy!” Pinkie chirped. “It’s always a fun time with you around.” “Aww stop, you’re making me blush,” Discord hid his face behind a large fan that appeared out of nowhere. “And as long as you behave,” Twilight added. “You got it, Princess,” Discord winked at her, grinning. “I will be on my best behavior.” “It’s so weird to think he used to be evil,” Hitch whispered to Sunny. “He seems so normal.” “Excuse me, that is quite offensive!” Discord said, his head popping out between the two of them. “I am anything but normal.” “Were you listening the whole time?” Hitch said, staring at Discord’s head attached to the chair.  “I hear and see everything,” Discord hissed.  “Everything?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe not everything because that would be gross,” Discord replied, his head now in his hand.  “Can you put our head back on please?” Rainbow frowned. “It’s giving me the chills.” “Okay fine,” Discord rolled his eyes, twisting his head back on. “I think you put it on wrong,” Izzy said. “You’re facing backwards!” “Ah, it seems that I am,” Discord chuckled, twisting his head back to place. “Much better.” “How much longer till we reach Canterlot?” Zipp asked, staring out the window. “It looks so far away.” “We have about an hour left,” Twilight answered.  “That’s much shorter than I thought,” Zipp said.  “It’s not a long train ride at all,” Twilight chuckled. “I think it’s two hours at most, and that’s if there are delays on the way.” “It just looks so far from Ponyville,” Hitch said.  “If you asked me, I could’ve just teleported us all there,” Discord offered.  “No thank you,” Twilight rejected the offer. “It feels more natural taking a train if you’re going to get a tour of the place.” “If you say so,” Discord shrugged, taking a seat next to Twilight. “I believe you could’ve teleported them as well.” “Large-scale teleportation with multiple ponies does not sound like a good idea, even for an alicorn,” Twilight replied. “The only reason you can do it is, well, because you’re you!” “You flatter me Twilight,” he winked, grinning.  “Don’t let it get to your head, Discord,” Rainbow stuck her tongue out at him. “Out of all the ponies to say that, it had to be you,” Discord chuckled. “How ironic.” “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean!” Rainbow frowned. “I mean absolutely nothing by it,” Discord whistled. “Nothing at all.” “If you want a butt-kicking just tell me that!” Rainbow growled. “No need to resort to violence Rainbow Dash,” Discord smirked. “Don’t friends usually just talk it out?” “Stop picking on Rainbow,” Twilight reprimanded the draconequus. “I know you like targeting her because it’s easy to provoke her, but that isn’t right.” “Yes ma’am…” Discord huffed.  “Why do you only listen to Twilight?” Sunny asked. “I don’t listen to anypony,” Discord hissed. “Well, maybe except Fluttershy.” “But you literally just listened to Twilight if I’m not mistaken,” Zipp tilted her head.  “I thought we already knew why,” Hitch said. “It’s because he likes her!” Discord froze on the spot while Twilight blushed. Everypony’s eyes were on them, silence filling the room. Hitting the back of his neck, Sunny broke the silence.“Did you have to be blunt about it?” she frowned. “We were all thinking it!” Hitch threw his hooves up to defend himself. “Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say.” “Now why would you say I like this prissy princess?” Discord asked, his eyes wandering around the train. “Because it’s very obvious?” Pipp smiled.  “Oh phooey,” Discord frowned. “Twilight and I have already discussed this, so it doesn’t matter.” Twilight awkwardly chuckled. “We can discuss it when we get back. Let’s just enjoy Canterlot for now.” “You don’t have to tell us anything, sugarcube,” Applejack chuckled. “If you’re not comfortable tellin’, then don’t feel like you have to.” “Yes darling, don’t feel pressured into doing anything,” Rarity said, winking at her. “Though, I would like to know.” Applejack glared at her. “Can it, Rarity.” “Thanks you two,” Twilight smiled weakly. “It’s not uncomfortable for me, but I don’t know about Discord over here.” “Worrying about little ol’ me?” Discord smirked, causing Twilight to elbow his side. “I mean, thank you for your kindness.” “So there’s something going on between you two?” Hitch asked, still confused. “Eh… I wouldn’t say there's something, but there’s definitely not nothing,” Twilight answered ambiguously. “What a royal thing to say,,” Pipp smiled. “Being ambiguous is the best way to answer anything.” “Being the ruler of Equestria has its perks,” Twilight giggled. “I learned quite a bit from Celestia and Luna.” “So there’s something going on?” Hitch tilted his head. “I'm confused…” “There’s definitely something between them,” Zipp concluded. “I’ll let you girls know about it when we get back, I promise,” Twilight smiled. “I think I’m comfortable enough to do that. How about you Discord?” “Fine by me,” Discord shrugged. “Just don’t forget to leave out the juicy details,” Discord winked, smirking.  “I think you should leave out the ‘juicy’ details,” Applejack’s face deadpanned. “No no no! You must tell us everything,” Rarity interjected, a large grin on her face. “I’ll tell you everything that I’m comfortable telling you girls,” Twilight smiled. “And boy,” she added, looking at Hitch. “You know after what I’ve heard from every one of you, I kind of don’t care anymore,” Hitch shrugged. “Girl talk sure is interesting.” “You didn't say that when we had a sleepover at Sunny’s place,” Zipp teased. “You said it was boring and too girly for you.”  “What did you four talk about again?” Hitch cocked an eyebrow. “If I recall, it wasn’t as interesting as what I’ve heard here.” “Tsk tsk, well played Hitch, well played,” Zipp chuckled. “That gives me an idea! What if we have a sleepover one night!” Izzy chirped. “It’d be so fun!” “We’re basically always having a sleepover with Twilight,” Sunny said. “You know, since we’re staying at her castle.” “But a sleepover is different from just sleeping there silly,” Izzy rolled her eyes. “We could all sleep in the throne room and tell scary stories, play fun games, stuff like that!” “That sounds fun,” Sunny said. “And then we could have makeovers!” Rarity and Pipp said in unison.  “Eh… Makeovers might be a little much,” Applejack chucked weakly. “I’m with Applejack on this one,” Rainbow said. “Makeovers aren’t really my thing.” “C’mon it’ll be so fun!” Rarity smiled. “Please?”  Applejack frowned. “No means no Rares.” “I’m not too fond of makeovers either,” Hitch added. “I gave it another try at one of our sleepovers and I still have nightmares about it.” “It wasn’t that bad Hitch,” Pipp rolled her eyes. “I beg to differ,” He replied with a shrug.  “This sounds like a wonderful idea,” Twilight clapped her forehovoes together, smiling. “We’ll just have to work out some kinks and we have ourselves another thing to do!”  “Is Discord invited?” Hitch asked, looking at the draconequus.  “If he wants to come, he can,” Twilight shrugged. “Up to him.” “Why that’s very sweet of you Twilight,” Discord smiled. “I would love to come.” “You only want to come so you can flirt with Twilight and chat with Fluttershy,” Rainbow smirked.  “Those are some of the reasons, yes,” Discord calmly said.  “Oh, we could invite Starlight and Trixie too!” Pinkie suggested. “It’ll be like a sleepover and party mixed into one!” “That’s not a bad idea!” Twilight nodded. “It’s been awhile since I’ve got to talk to Starlight.” “I’d like to talk to her too,” Sunny said. “Maybe learn more about her. She seems like a nice pony.” “Besides the fact she enslaved an entire village and almost ended Equestria,” Hitch added. “That’s all behind her now, the past is the past, ” Twilight smiled. “Even if she tried to steal our cutie marks and convert her to her cult.” She added quickly under her breath. “What was that?” Sunny asked. “Nothing, nothing at all,” Twilight whistled. “Anyways, we should be arriving soon. You can see Canterlot just ahead!” They were approaching the beautiful city of Canterlot. The tall white walls surrounded by flowing rivers and streams was a sight to behold. The clouds floating around the elevated city just added to the already majestic feeling. Entering the large gate into the city, the train came to a stop in the train station. The buildings around them were very pretty, sporting white walls, gold details, and purple roofs. “Wow… this place looks way cooler than Zephyr Heights,” Zipp said as they stepped out of their train car.  “It’s beautiful,” Pipp sang. “Love the colors. It’s just wonderful!” “You can thank Celestia for the color scheme,” Twilight laughed. “She has a knack for making things beautiful.” “You don’t want to change anything?” Zipp asked.  “Nope, nothing at all,” Twilight said, looking around. “Everypony seems happy with it right now, so I don’t see a reason to. No need to make changes if everything is fine.” “That’s actually really smart,” Fluttershy said.  “Aww, thanks Fluttershy,” Twilight smiled. “I just don’t want to create any problems I could easily avoid.” “What kind of problems would change with some decoration or color changes?” Hitch asked. “Mainly construction and funding,” Twilight said. “We’d have to take some funds from other things, which is a lot of paperwork and a lot of headaches. Moving bits around isn’t a fun thing to do. Spike can attest.” “Next is the public’s opinion,” Twilight continued. “I don’t know if they’d like it or not. I could put a survey out on what ponies don’t like about the city, but I won’t go making changes just because I want to see them.” “Lastly, it’s just not super important. There’s way more other duties I have to do, so I just don’t see a point in doing it if I don’t have to.” “Wow, you really thought about this, haven’t you?” Sunny laughed.  “You have to think a lot if you want to be a good ruler,” Twilight smiled.  “You hear that Pipp?” Zipp snickered as she elbowed her sister’s side.  “You do know that you’ll be queen first, right?” Pipp cocked an eyebrow, blowing a raspberry at her. “Not like mom is going anywhere,” Zipp grumbled, crossing her hooves.  “Hah! I got you,” Pipp grinned widely, victorious.  “Wouldn’t Sunny also be a ruler of some sort now?” Pinkie asked, appearing behind her. “I mean, she is an alicorn!” “Woah!” Sunny jumped in surprise. “Pinkie, you have to stop doing that!” “Sorry, sorry,” Pinkie giggled. “Force a habit, ya know?” “I don’t know,” Sunny weakly laughed. “And what would me being an alicorn have to do with me being a ruler?” “Well if you haven’t noticed already, every ruler of Equestria so far has been an alicorn!” Pinkie said. “From Celstia and Luna, to now Twilight!” “You did also reunite all of the tribes,” Rainbow added. “Everypony is probably going to look at you like royalty!” “Or look at her like a celebrity,” Rarity added. “I never really thought about it like that,” Sunny tapped her chin. “To be honest, I’d be fine if everypony just treated me like good ol’ Sunny.” “Good luck with that,” Rainbow mumbled. “What do you mean by that Rainbow?” Sunny frowned.  “Well since ponies know how awesome you are, they’re going to look up to you. Some ponies might even idolize you,” Rainbow explained. “I know because of how awesome I am.” “I mean you did save Equestria multiple times,” Zipp said. “I don’t know what pony wouldn’t think you’re awesome.” “You’d be surprised,” Rainbow chuckled. “There’s haters everywhere no matter how cool you are.” “I hope ponies don’t idolize me,” Sunny shook her head. “That would be weird.” “Well darling, you’ll just have to get used to it,” Rarity said. “I sure have!” “What Rarity and Rainbow are trying to say is that ponies are going to look at you differently, whether it be positive or negative. It could be extreme as well, like idolization,” Twilight smiled weakly.  “Huh… I never thought about it like that,” Sunny face furrowed. “Guess I’ll keep that in mind when we go back.” “Good,” Twilight smiled. “Enough chit chat, I want to see the castle!” Pipp said.  “Yeah, let's go!” Izzy chimed in. “Alright alright, let's get going,” Twilight chuckled. The group made their way out of the train station towards their first stop, the castle. The walk to the castle was very peaceful. The birds were chirping, a gentle breeze flowing through their manes as they walked up the paved road. Surrounded by beautiful greenery and colorful flowers, they walked slowly. “Wow, whoever the gardener is, give them a raise!” Hitch said.  “They get paid very well,” Twilight nodded. “Celestia enjoyed having all kinds of plants around the castle as well as inside, so she hired the best of the best.” As they approached the gate, the bridge was already down, the river flowing right below it. Guards were stationed on both the wall and on the ground, surveying the area. The group walked through the garden, Twilight nodding to a couple of the guards. Izzy, on the other hand, waved her hoof in front of two guards who were staring off into the distance.” “Hello? Anypony in there?” Izzy giggled, messing with the guards. The guards, however, didn’t flinch at all. “Wow, they’re trained really well!” “They don’t react to anything,” Rainbow sighed. “Even when I fly super fast at them, they just stand there! It’s kind of annoying.” “They look stoic when they’re guarding some place, but you should see them whenever they’re not,” Twilight giggled.  “I’m curious, what are they like?” Rarity asked, examining the guards. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the flustered or embarrassed or, well, anything to be honest.” “Well they’re quite rowdy,” Twilight said. “They like to play card games, board games, and things like that. They’re quite competitive so they start shouting and cheering.” The guards on duty flinched very slightly as she mentioned that. “Oh and apparently there was this one time a guard accidentally called Celestia ‘mom.’ Celestia didn’t really mind it so more and more guards started calling her mom as well, even treating her kind of like a mother,” Twilight chuckled.  One of the guards cringed, closing his eyes.  “It was you, wasn’t it,” Rainbow snickered. The guard remained silent, trying his best to remain still. Rainbow started poking him gently. “C’mon, everypony has called some other pony their mom before, no need to be embarrassed.” “Rainbow, don’t bully the guards,” Twilight rolled her eyes.  “Ok mom,” Rainbow winked at her. “Do they call you that now?” “They call me sister actually,” Twilight frowned. “I don’t really know why though.” “Huh, I have no idea why,” Rainbow said sarcastically. “Anyways, let’s make our way to the garden,” Twilight urged the group to continue on. As everypony else made their way towards the garden, Twilight stayed back a bit, the guards looking at her. “Sorry about that guys. Just so you know, I think it’s cool you see me as your sister.” The guards smiled, nodding contently before assuming their normal positions. Satisfied with that, Twilight quickly made her way back to the group who were just outside the royal garden. “Where were you?” Rainbow asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be the tour guide?” “Sorry, I just had to do something really quick,” Twilight said. “Forgot some paperwork that I needed to send out.” “How did you get it that quickly?” Hitch asked, looking around the garden entrance. “I know I don’t really know the place, but I’m sure there aren’t any personal rooms around here.” Twilight chuckled awkwardly.  “Teleportation sure is useful.” “Yeah…” Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “Real useful.” “Ahem,” Twilight cleared her throat, teleporting in front of the group. “Getting back to it, here we have the royal gardens!” Behind Twilight was a large garden, covered with beautiful and colorful plants, trees, and shrubs. The greenery was something to behold. Everything was neatly trimmed and decorated. It was as if they got the best of every plant and put it here. “And I thought outside was pretty,” Pipp said. “This is on a different level!” “I know right,” Twilight smiled. “I remember the first time I saw the garden back when I first became Celestia’s student. It became my favorite place to study.” “Wait, you went outside to study?” Rainbow snickered. “That’s kind of sad. Ponies usually play outside, especially when they’re younger.” “Dash, not everypony is like you,” Twilight rolled her eyes.  “Don’t worry Twilight, I liked reading outside too!” Izzy said. “The forest always calmed me.” “Thank you Izzy,” Twilight smiled.  Walking into the garden, they stopped at a familiar stone statue. A pegasus, a centaur, and a changeling all with different emotions on their face. The pegasus shocked, the centaur cowering, and the changeling lashing out at something. “Woah, who are they?” Zipp asked, examining the statue. “Villains I’m assuming.” “And you assumed right!” Twilight said. “Their names are Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis. We talked about them before.” “These are the three ponies who almost took over Equestria together?” Hitch asked, poking them. “How scary.” “It was scary,” Fluttershy mumbled.  “They were quite the barbarians,” Rarity hmphed. “They had absolutely no class.” “You would expect that from a villain,” Applejack’s face deadpanned. “Why, if I was a villain, I’d be as classy as I am now!” Rarity said. “Uh huh…” Hitch nodded his head slowly.  “Anyways, after we turned them to stone, we kept them here so we can keep an eye on them,” Twilight said. “They’re constantly watched by guards, just in case they somehow break out.” “Just like I did?” Discord asked, suddenly appearing in the middle of the group. “Dissy! I thought you left,” Pinkie chirped. “Just had a few errands to run,” Discord winked. “Didn’t want to miss this amazing tour by the one and only Twilight Sparkle.” “Har har, very funny Discord,” Twilight rolled her eyes.  “Wait, did you say you broke out of your stone prison?” Sunny asked.  “I did indeed!” Discord smirked. “You should’ve seen Celestia’s face when she found I was gone. It was hilarious!” “So there’s a possibility for these three to break out as well?” Sunny asked. “There is a small chance they can, but I don’t think they’d get very far,” Rainbow shrugged. “We’d just beat them again.” “What makes you so confident?” Zipp asked. “Well, they used the power of an ancient talisman that held evil magic,” Twilight explained. “That’s how they were able to almost defeat us.”  Zipp looked a little concerned. “And this ancient talisman is…” “Locked up somewhere far away,” Twilight smiled. “And that’s all I can say about it. Legally at least.” “It’s like a national secret,” Pinkie grinned. “We all Pinkie promised that we wouldn’t let anypony know, even if we were on the verge of death.” “That’s a little grim, don’t you think?” Hitch chuckled awkwardly. “Nopony ever breaks a Pinkie promise,” Rainbow muttered. “Apparently the fate is worse than death.” “You’re exaggerating, right?” Zipp asked, met with silence from everypony except Rainbow who started whistling. “Right?!” “Anyways!” Twilight clapped her forehooves together. “Let’s keep going, shall we?” “Wait, I want to know now too,” Sunny said. The Mane 6 continued walking into the garden as the New Generation stood there. “I don’t think you’re going to get an answer out of them my dears,” Discord said before running after the Mane 6. “Hey wait up!” “That’s kind of scary,” Izzy said. “I think we’ll just leave it at that then,” Sunny sighed. “C’mon everypony, let’s go catch up to them.” Catching up to the Mane 6, they found them stopped at what seemed to be the base of a statute. The top part, however, was missing.  “What’s going on here?” Hitch asked. “Where’s the statue?” “Well this guy was supposed to be up there, but he’s good now,” Twilight jabbed at Discord. “Aren’t you?” “Well I wouldn’t say good, I would just say not bad,” Discord huffed. “Nah, he’s a big softie now,” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Especially for Twilight and Fluttershy.” “This is why no one likes you Rainbow,” Discord glared at her. “Well, at least why I don’t like you.” “I was about to say,” Rainbow snickered. “Everypony loves me! Make that every creature, except you of course.” “So Discord used to be right here?” Sunny examined the stone.  “Can we see what you used to look like up there?” Izzy asked, shining puppy eyes at Discord. “Bleh, you didn’t have to use the puppy eyes,” Discord rolled his eyes literally. He had his eyes in his hands, rolling them around on the ground. “I would’ve done it if you just asked. Well, I guess you did.” “Ew!” Pipp frowned. Discord, ignoring Pipp’s cries of disgust, climbed onto the stone and turned himself into stone willingly, the same exact pose as the first time. “Wow, this would’ve scared me half to death as a filly,” Hitch chuckled. “I mean he looks so scary!” “I can still hear you, you know,” Discord’s voice emanated from the stone. “Discord, stop teasing them,” Twilight giggled. “They’re not used to it.” “Can you two stop flirting?” Rainbow stuck her tongue out. “Making me shiver.” Discord shrugged. “Rainbow, don’t be mad because you can’t flirt with anypony.” “I can!” Rainbow glared at Discord. “Ask Fluttershy,” she finished with a smirk. Fluttershy blushed, slowly sinking into a nearby bush. “What’s going on between those two,” Discord whispered to Twilight. “They’re basically friends with benefits,” Twilight whispered back. “I’m surprised you haven’t told me that yet Fluttershy,” Discord snickered. “Why would I,” Fluttershy mumbled, peeking out of the bush. “Just teasing dear,” Discord toothily grinned.  “You’re ruthless,” Zipp chuckled. “You’re starting to grow on me.” “Seems to happen to everypony,” Discord winked. “So, let’s continue then?” Twilight smiled, looking at everypony (and Discord). The group nodded, and they made their garden, stopping at the more important statues like Princess Platinum, Chancellor Puddinghead, and Commander Hurricane shaking hooves. Right next to that one was a statue of Private Pansy, Smart Cookie, and Clover the Clever hugging each other.  “What’s the history behind these two?” Izzy asked, reading the plaques with their names. “Heh, Puddinghead.” “You don’t celebrate Hearths Warming?” Rainbow gasped. “Whatever future you are from, I don’t want to be there.” “We don’t really have many holidays,” Sunny sighed. “Only thing we celebrated was our town’s founding day, the transition from summer to fall, and birthdays.” “What do you do for your summer to fall transition celebration?” Twilight asked curiously. “We do a race through the streets and there’s a huge festival!” Sunny grinned. “Hitch doesn’t really like it because people usually litter.” “Which is against the law!” Hitch frowned.  “We have something similar to that,” Applejack said. “We run through a forest, causing a lot of the leaves to fall as we stampede by.”  “That sounds better than running through town,” Sunny chuckled.  “So what’s this Hearth’s Warming you were talking about, Rainbow?” Zipp asked. “Well it’s only the best holiday ever!” Rainbow flew up slightly in the air enthusiastically. “You get together with friends and family, eat lots of good food, sing songs, and open presents! What could be better than that?” “Wow that sounds fun!” Izzy chirped. “Now that I think about it, Briddlewood was always so boring so a lot of things sound like fun.” “That’s kind of depressing,” Discord commented. “Eh, Briddlewood was just depressing in general,” Izzy shrugged. “It didn’t really get to me though.” “Uh huh…” Discord nodded slowly. “Anyways…” “Yup, anyways,” Twilight weakly laughed. “Hearth’s Warming isn’t just about presents, songs, and food. You see, these two statues are in honor of the ponies who unified the three tribes. Back then, they didn’t get along at all, which caused the windigos to almost freeze all of Equestria.” “What’s a windigo?” Hitch titled his head.  “They’re mythical creatures who feed off of the hatred and fighting of creatures,” Twilight explained. “If they get strong enough, they can create horrible blizzards.” “So how did they stop them?” Izzy asked. “An epic magical battle?” “Not quite dear,” Rarity giggled.  “Then how did they do it?” Zipp asked, staring at the statues. “Just as they were about to freeze to death, Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie, and Private Pansy created the Fire of Friendship by becoming friends, which melted away all the ice and drove the windigos away,” Twilight smiled up at their statue. “Wait, so just because they became friends they were able to defeat an ancient creature?” Sunny said. “Is friendship really that powerful?” “Well I’m sure you can attest to that,” Twilight smirked, winking at Sunny.  “She’s right you know,” Hitch chuckled. “You kind of did restore all the magic through friendship.” “We restored all the magic,'' Sunny corrected him, putting emphasis on “we”. “And that’s just one of many things I’m sure you’ll do with the magic of friendship,” Twilight smiled. “Bleh, so cheesy,” Discord stuck his tongue out. “Friendship this, friendship that. Why not cause a little chaos instead? You know, balance is what keeps Equestria going.” “Discord, you like friendship and you know it,” Twilight said. “Okay maybe I do like friendship, but it doesn’t mean I’ll go around preaching it,” Discord huffed, crossing his arms. “But you can go spreading love?” Rainbow smirked, winking at Twilight. “Very funny Rainbow,” Discord glared at her. “That’s different.” Twilight fake coughed. “Anyways, shall we  tour inside the castle now?” “I can’t wait!” Pipp squealed. “It looks amazing from the outside, so I can’t imagine what it’s like inside.” “Well, you're about to find out!” Twilight grinned, opening the doors for them.  The group made their way into the castle’s halls, leaving behind the beautiful royal garden.