//------------------------------//
// The Gardens 
// Story: The Statue Garden 
// by JunebugTheBug 
//------------------------------//

On most days, the Royal Gardens had at least a few visitors milling about the grounds. Citizens from all over stopping in to see them at least once on their journeys.

This day, however, the gates were closed. Those flying were directed away from the Gardens, and the Guard stood vigilant to make sure no-one slipped in.

For one mare walked through the Gardens alone.

Some would call her radiant, beautiful; glorious and shining as her station.

Others would call her devoted, inspiring; leading Equestria by example.

Yet more, some scant few, would call her an enemy. Both a powerful equal and a small fool.

She, however, would simply call herself ‘The One Who’s Left’.

The mare strode purposefully through the Gardens, ignoring the fanciful flourishes done to the hedges and the fences. She strode past old blooms planted decades before, and animals living happily on the grounds.

She walked, until she reached the old quarter. The first quarter.

Spellwork quieted what hustle and bustle echoed down to the Gardens, leaving naught but the wind and flowing water for audible company.

This was no place of celebration. This was a place of remembrance.

Monuments were erected in all shapes and sizes, each with their own fitting plot to give them the proper space.

The mare did not stop at the first one she came across. As always, she started with the first one that was placed here.

A large plot lay before her, ringed first in hedges, then in simple vegetable crops, tended carefully to maintain their health before harvest.

Just as the original farm the first seeds were taken from, they were not grown for display, or to add to the gardens’ beauty; they were grown to feed the people of Canterlot.

The statue in the middle, the mare’s first visit, watched over them. An aged stallion stood, eyes forward and full of hope. Armor rested heavy on his form, and his sword lay dependable at his side.

The mare breathed deep, and stepped in.