Chapter 3 : Canterlot Castle
“The train's already here!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, running into the train.
“The train will leave in a minute.” The conductor announced into the microphone.
Sweetie Belle stayed in the train and used her magic to drag Applebloom and Scootaloo into the train. “Stop daydreaming, you guys. We're leaving in one minute, and you both were still standing there.” Sweetie Belle complained. “What were you both even thinking about?”
“Sorry about that, Sweetie Belle. I guess I'm a little caught by the train's cleanliness.” Applebloom said, a little embarrassed with what she was saying. Scootaloo sat down and tilted her head.
“You were distracted with the train's cleanliness?” Scootaloo tilted her head in confusion. “Why?”
Applebloom scratched her head, “Well, you see. I've never been to the train before, and in the good old days, trains aren't as clean as these.” She said as she went over to touch the glass windows. “I know I've been to the Crystal Empire on a train before, but i didn't have time to admire the inside, because me and Sweetie Belle had troubles with you unable to fly and stuff.” She explained.
“Right.” Scootaloo said, remembering what had happened the last time they went to the Crystal Empire to do the flag routine.
The three crusaders found a place to seat, and they went ahead and sat on that area. A lot of ponies seem to want to go to Canterlot, and the train was packed as hay! “Looks like a lot of ponies really want to visit Canterlot.” Sweetie Belle said, looking around the train. “Even the boot is packed!” She walked over to the train connectors and saw a lot of ponies in the next cart.
“I wonder why.” Sweetie Belle went back over to her group and took a seat.
“It's a mystery.” Scootaloo exclaimed softly. “Nopony will ever know the legend of the Canterlot train!” She said in a spooky, deap voice, making up stories that somehow gives Applebloom and Sweetie Belle the shivers, even though they know that there aren't such thing as ‘The Legend of The Canterlot Train.’
Applebloom looked out the window, “Hey, look gals! That is the castle!” She pointed out. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle went ahead and look out the window along with Applebloom. “Isn't it beautiful?”
“Well, yeah. But didn't we seen it before? Like a few years back during the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shinning Armor?” Scootaloo said.
Applebloom nodded, “That was a long time ago. Look at the castle now. They added more flowers here and there. Their even getting ready for Hearths and Hooves day.” She noticed some decorations that were being used for Hearths and Hooves day.
“Their getting ready already?!” Sweetie Belle said in shock and disbelief. She looked out the window, and saw the gates of Hearths and Hooves. “I wonder why.”
Scootaloo got closer to Sweetie Belle, and begin doing the spooky voice again. “Nopony knows!” She said creepily that gave both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom the shivers.
“Stop doing that!” Sweetie Belle scolded. Scootaloo laughed.
“You should have seen the looks on your face!” Scootaloo pointed. “If I had a mirror with me, I would show you how you look like right now. Your face is somehow red.” Scootaloo poked Sweetie Belle's cheeks, which are rose red by now.
Steam came out of Sweetie Belle's ears, and Scootaloo backed away, and pretended like nothing ever happened. “Or... not...” She whispered quietly at a side, leaving hot steaming Sweetie Belle alone.
“Hey gals! We're already here.” Applebloom said, picking up her saddlebag from the chair.
Scootaloo stood up and walked over to the exit. “That was kinda quicker than I thought.” She said.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom came out of the train right after Scootaloo. “Well, Canterlot is Ponyville's neighbor. And you can pretty much get there faster by train. Unless you want a fancy carriage ride, then I have no idea how long it will take to get here.” Sweetie Belle explained as she happily trotted away. Scootaloo and Applebloom followed Sweetie Belle from behind.
“Why don't we have a look around Canterlot before we see the Princess? She told us to meet her at five, and it's three.” Applebloom suggested.
Sweetie Belle thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. “Okay!” She answered. “We got plenty of time to roam around. So, let's do it.” She cheered.
The three crusaders went to Canterlot park, where ponies were decorating the lamp posts with pink shimmering strings with red heart shaped cards with white laces, and the gates were decorated with red roses. Bushes were decorated with some of the cards, but mostly has roses in it. “Canterlot is sure in the mood for Hearth's and Hooves.” Applebloom said as she looked around, and all she saw was ponies decorating things, and turning it into some kind of Hearth's and Hooves day material.
Scootaloo joined her friend, and begin looking around the park. “I agree with you, AB. It's creepy and weird at the same time. Yeesh!”
Sweetie Belle was taking the lead, and she wanted a place to rest her hooves. “Why don't we sit over there? I want to take a break.” She said. The two ponies shrugged, and followed Sweetie Belle over to the bench, and the three of them sat on it and enjoyed their time. “Hey, look who's over there.” Sweetie Belle exclaimed and pointed to a white unicorn with pink mane and emerald colored eyes.
“It's...” Applebloom said, but the word is incompleted. “It's... Lovestruck!” She finally remembered who the pony was, and she stood straight up. “Remember Lovestruck, the pony who organizes every Hearth's and Hooves day for both Canterlot and Ponyville?”
Scootaloo bonked her head with her hooves for not remembering who the pony was. “Oh, yeah! I totally forgotten!”
“We even helped her out with the decorations last year.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Let's all go and say hi!” Applebloom ran over to the pony. But Sweetie Belle stayed put, she still wants to rest some more. “Hey, Lovestruck. Remember us?”
Lovestruck turned around, and saw two familiar faces. “Applebloom? Scootaloo? It's so nice to see you both! How's Ponyville?” She asked happily, levitating her checklist.
“Oh, you know. Just finished wrapping up winter.” Applebloom said.
Scootaloo pushed Applebloom aside gently, “Mind telling us why is Canterlot getting ready for Hearth's and Hooves so early?” She aske politely.
Lovestruck nodded. “Well, Princess Celestia requested me to organize Hearth's and Hooves day earlier for Canterlot after she heard that I was traveling to Manehatten to help out on the decorations. It'll take two days for me to help out at Manehatten, and by that time, it'll be Hearth's and Hooves already, so I will not have anymore time to help Canterlot decorate.” Lovestruck explained.
“What about Ponyville? You can't forget about Ponyville.” Applebloom said.
“I got that covered. I'm coming back tomorrow, so, if you want to, you could help me out with the decorations too.” Lovestruck said cheerfully, “I better be going now. Every second counts here, and if I don't get this done by today, I don't think Ponyville will ever have their park decorated.”
Lovestruck waved goodbye to the three crusaders, and trotted to the ponies who were decorating the bushes. The crusaders kept walking, visiting every inch of the park. It was much more bigger than Ponyville's, and it's much cleaner too. Mostly, some of the ponies would throw dirty cans of milkshakes to the ground, that can be normally found near the trash cans. Since the crusaders do have some kind of clean-up duty at the park, they will always pick up the garbage and put them into a garbage bag. They are doing this to keep Ponyville clean, and give out a better role model to the younger ponies and the next generations.
But, forget about Ponyville at the moment. We're here for Canterlot!
The three crusaders were mostly impressed by how fast the ponies were decorating, and how clean the park was. “You know, I'm beginning to like this place.” Sweetie Belle said, giving out a smile as she admired the view of everything around Canterlot.
“Too bad we aren't here to mess around.” Applebloom said, bursting Sweetie Belle's bubble.
“Come on, we're quite near to the castle. Why don't we quickly finish up our business with the Princess, and maybe go roam around this place some more?” Scootaloo suggested. “I think the three of us would like that a lot. I can easily tell.”
Sweetie Belle's face lit up, and she dashed through the road she was walking on, and into the entrance of the castle she go. The two ponies caught up to her a few minutes later. “What took you both so long?” Sweetie Belle questioned.
“Who asked you to dash off?” Applebloom replied.
Sweetie Belle shrugged.
The three crusaders walked into the castle entrance, and they saw so many guards guarding the entrance. “Halt! Who goes there?” The guards blocked the three crusaders’ way with their spears.
“Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. We're here to meet the Princess.” Scootaloo said.
“Nopony shall see the princess without a special invitation.” The guards replied.
Sweetie Belle took out the invitation the Princess gave her and showed it to the guards. “Is it this invitation?”
The guards retrieve their spears, allowing the three ponies to pass. The three crusaders trotted into the castle, and they were greeted by Princess Luna. “Good evening, dear ponies. What have brought you here?”
“Princess Luna!” The three crusaders exclaimed in surprise, and they bowed down.
“Stand up, little ponies. There is no need to bow.”
The three crusaders stood up, and they looked at Princess Luna. “We came here to meet Princess Celestia. She wanted to talk to us about something.” Sweetie Belle said.
Princess Luna crossed her hooves, taking a few moments to think. “My sister hath went out to visit Manehatten for an important meeting just a few minutes ago.” Princess Luna explained, pointing to a note that is stuck onto Princess Celestia's throne. “But, do not worry. She promised us that she would be back as fast as she could. Do you want a cup of tea?”
“Yes, please.” Sweetie Belle responded politely.
The Princess nodded, and trotted to an exit, which leads to the royal Canterlot gardens. “Follow me, my little ponies. For we shall drink tea in the garden.”
The three crusaders followed the Princess out to the other exit, and stepped outside of the exit. The first thing they saw was birds flying everywhere, matching the beautiful scenery of the Royal garden. The garden has statues, each represents different things. The three crusaders continued to admire the scenery as they followed Princess Luna in a straight line to the little dining area. “Our sister always come out at night with us, and dine here. We hope that is is okay with you.”
“Oh, no worries, Princess Luna. It's fine.” Scootaloo said. Applebloom gave Scootaloo a hit on the shoulders.
“She is the Princess, at least give her some respect!” Applebloom scolded in whispers.
Scootaloo rubbed the area Applebloom hit, and the three of them joined the Princess and sat on the chairs. After about an hour of talking and drinking tea, “When is Princess Celestia coming back?” Applebloom asked politely, sipping onto her cup of tea.
“Perhaps around eight.”
The three crusaders stopped drinking onto their tea, and Scootaloo was having a hard time to not spit out the tea. “Eight?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in disbelief. “B-but...”
“No need to worry. We have arranged a room for you to rest, for it may take a long journey back home tomorrow.” Princess Luna said calmly. “Unless you wish to leave tonight.”
Sweetie Belle shook her head. “Thank you, Princess, for having us over.”
The Princess waved her hooves from right to left two times, “It is our pleasure.”
“Go, you must be tired.” Princess Luna said. “My guards will bring you to your rooms.” Princess Luna clapped her hooves, and two ponies who looked like bats flew down from the sky.
“You called, your highness?”
“Yes. Please help these ponies to their rooms.” Princess Luna commanded in a polite way. The two bat ponies nodded, and the two bat ponies leaded the way, while the crusaders followed from behind.
After a few minutes of walking, they have finally reached their rooms. “This is where you will be staying. It may look like one room, but inside, it has three bedrooms, and everything else you need in your daily lives.” The guards said, opening the doors for the crusaders.
“Thank you.” Applebloom thanked.
The two guards closed the doors when the three crusaders fully went into the room, and left the crusaders alone. “This place is so awesome! It got it's own living hall and kitchen and stuff.” Scootaloo said excitedly checking through all the rooms.
“I'm getting a little tired... I'm going to take a shower and head off to bed.” Sweetie Belle said, lazily dragging herself to the room. “Call me if you need me, but please don't call me when you don't.”
“Okay!” Applebloom replied.
Scootaloo nodded as Sweetie Belle slowly entered her room.
“I'm going to make some apple pie for some late night snack.” Applebloom walked into the kitchen, and begin searching for ingredients. “Oh, dang! I forgotten, I don't have any flour.”
“I think there is a night market somewhere nearby.” Scootaloo said, tilting the map over and over again.
Applebloom rushed over to Scootaloo, and pushed her aside. Applebloom looked over at the map, “The market isn't far, I think I can make it!” She zoomed out the door, and off she goes to the market.
Scootaloo yawned, she was feeling tired too. After that long journey, and that tea with Princess Luna, she don't think she could contain anymore excitement for a day. She walked over to one of the rooms and entered the room. She found a soft white fluffy pillow sitting on the bed. Scootaloo walked over to the bed lazily, and lay on the bed, hugging the pillow onto we chest.
“So tired...” She yawned, and she closed her eyes, and fell into her slumber.