Visiting Ponyville
What an interesting place, the griffon thought. Clawdius had never visited Equestria before. Of course he had heard stories. Equestria was very different from Griffonstone, particularly in its form of government. Griffonstone was practically an anarchy in the classic sense. There was a council of elders but their decisions were really little more than suggestions. It is true that griffons usually deferred to their judgment, but there wasn't much in the way of enforcement if someone decided to not abide by the council's decision. There was no police force. However, such a griffon would be ostracized and no other griffon would deal with them. Untruly griffons would be dealt with by essentially mob justice.
The system has worked for as long as any griffon could remember. Their strong sense of tradition means they don't need formal laws. And their strong sense of independence means they don't really work together that much anyway. An outsider might find the griffons to be mean and uncaring. But to the griffons, it means you look out for yourself and your family, and it's the other griffons’ job to lookout for themselves. This makes them strong, but unorganized.
Clawdius had heard stories about how the ponies in Equestria had a culture that was basically the opposite. Rumors were that ponies shared everything all the time. Clawdius heard that a pony could enter any other pony's home and take whatever he needed. He was skeptical of these stories so he wanted to see for himself.
To that end he had planned a trip to Ponyville, evidently a center point for activity. It seemed that every story he heard involved this town of Ponyville. He imagined it to be full of fantastical creatures and abuzz with crazy activity. But when he got off the train at the station he found a quiet, small town. Ponies were coming and going, saying hello to each other as they passed in the street. He planned his trip during the Summer Sun Celebration because he had read that this was a major holiday for the ponies.
Clawdius pulled out a map from his pack and unfolded it. His hotel was a few blocks away and he decided to walk there, despite the presence of taxis waiting at the train station. He found it strange that one pony would pull another in a cart. Wouldn't it make sense for the passenger to just pull his own cart, or walk? He knew that some ponies could fly and others couldn't, and some could use magic. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and that he would make some mistake, but it was easy to see which ponies had horns and which had wings.
The hotel was a one-story building with only a few rooms, and he went to check in at the office. The office had a sitting room where a pony was drinking tea, while another pony worked behind the front counter. "Greetings, stranger!" the blue pony at the counter said. Clawdius did not see any wings or horn on him so he knew this was an earth pony.
"I need a room," Clawdius said matter of factly.
"Of course. You must be here for the Celebration."
"Yes, that is correct," Clawdius said.
"Excellent. We don't get many griffons in Ponyville." The proprietor produced some papers for Clawdius to sign while he looked through his records. "Oh my," he seemed disappointed. "My rooms are all full.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Clawdius said. “Is there another hotel in town?”
“Yes,” the pony said, and he gave Clawdius the address. “I hope you enjoy your visit to Ponyville.”
As Clawdius was leaving the pony at the table said to him, “Excuse me, but I couldn’t help but hear that you couldn’t get a room. If you don’t mind, you could share my room.”
The griffon stopped and looked at the pony. "Share..." Clawdius said, more to himself than the pony. It was a word that was not used much in griffon culture. But then again, he was here to experience something new. “Uh, sure, I guess.”
“Excellent,” the grey stallion unicorn said. “Please, have a seat,” he pointed to the other chair at the table, which Clawdius took. “Tea?” he pointed to a pot on a small table nearby.
“Sure, I guess,” Clawdius said. The pony got up, went to the small table, poured a cup of tea, returned, and placed the cup in front of Clawdius.
“My name’s Tumbleweed. What brings you to Ponyville?”
“Um, my name’s Clawdius. And, well, I was just curious about Equestria. I figured seeing this Summer Sun Celebration thing would be a good time to visit.”
“Ah, yes. That’s why I’m here too. I’m from Appleoosa. So, what would you like to know about Equestria?”
Clawdius thought for a moment. “How about this Celebration. What’s it all about?”
“Basically, it is a celebration of Princess Celestia raising the sun each morning,” Tumbleweed said.
Clawdius smirked. “Do ponies really believe that she literally raises the sun?” He said “ponies” rather than “you” so as to not single our Tumbleweed.
“Oh, yes. She really does raise the sun. She has been doing it for a thousand years,” Tumbleweed said.
“You can’t possibly believe that, it doesn’t make any sense. Who raised the sun before Celestia?” Clawdius asked.
“Before Princess Celestia, it was a council of unicorns,” Tumbleweed said, getting a “how about that?” attitude.
Clawdius shook his head, “And I suppose before the council, the sun never moved?”
Tumbleweed thought for a moment. “Well, I don’t know. All I can say is there have been times in legend where she couldn’t move the sun, and it stayed night.”
“Hm, we don’t have any such legend in Griffonstone, as far as I know. We have other legends. For instance, there is a story of The Great Ironbeak, who carved out the mountains with his beak. Do you think that literally happened?”
Tumbleweed considered that. “Well, since I’m not a griffon, I don’t believe those legends. But I totally respect it if you do.”
“But that’s not my point,” Clawdius said. “It’s not about respecting a belief. It should be a question of facts and reality. Does Princess Celestia literally raise the sun? Or maybe it is just an old myth that lives on. Because it’s completely fine if it’s just a tradition. Traditions and beliefs are important for cultures.”
Tumbleweed shrugged, “Well, I don’t know. But I know Princess Celestia raises the sun and she rules over Equestria and that’s why I love her.”
Clawdius was silent for a moment, “Why is she a princess and not a queen, anyway?”
This seemed to stump the pony. “You know, that’s a good question. I never thought about that.” He shrugged again. “She has always been Princess.” The two drank the rest of their tea in silence. “Well,” the pony said, “it’s about lunch time. What do you say we go get something to eat? There are some good food vendors set up in the fair grounds.”
“That sounds good,” the griffon said, “I’d like to try pony food.”
“Excellent,” Tumbleweed said. He stood from the table and went for the door, with Clawdius following closely behind.
The fair grounds was about a half hour walk from the hotel. Clawdius took in the local sights. Ponyville was set on flat, green land, very different from the rocky mountainscape of Griffonstone. Buildings were well maintained and ponies smiled to each other. This made Clawdius feel uncomfortable, since he didn’t know how to properly respond to a greeting. Among the griffons, one did not ask a question unless one actually wanted an answer. The first time a pony asked him “how are you?” he was about to mention that he was hungry and his left front foot hurt, but the pony had continued walking away. He found this kind of behavior confusing and annoying. Why would someone ask a question if they didn’t want an answer?
Pony and griffon followed the smell of food to the food court, which consisted of several booths set in a square with tables in the middle. “What do you recommend?” Clawdius asked.
Tumbleweed looked around. He pointed to a booth where a pony was frying something in a wok. “Stir fry vegetables is one of my favorites. Come on.” Clawdius followed him to the booth which had a sign that said “Wok This Way.” A brown earth pony in an apron and chef’s hat smiled at them.
“Two please,” Tumbleweed said and he placed some coins on the counter. Clawdius placed some coins on the counter too, but Tumbleweed pushed them back. “No, please. My Treat.” Clawdius shrugged and pocketed the coins.
While the booth owner was dishing out food, Clawdius said to Tumbleweed, “Is everything here a pun?”
“What do you mean?” Tumbleweed said.
The griffon pointed to some other booths in the square. “Manehatten Deep Dish Pizza, Saddle Arabian Cuisine. The town itself is named Ponyville.”
“Well, you’re from a place called Griffonstone,” Tumbleweed countered.
“Good point,” Clawdius said. The two took their food and found a table. The food was hot and spicy, better than most of what he was used to. He looked across the square to another food booth, one from Yakyakistan. “Say,” he said to Tumbleweed, “I thought Equestria was not on friendly terms with Yakyakistan.”
Tumbleweed turned around and looked. “Oh, no, not really.” He turned back around. “Relations were strained for a while, but Ambassador Pinkie Pie has everything smoothed out.”
“I read up on Equestrian history before my trip. From what I read, Yakyakistan threatened war with Equestria. Is that right?” Clawdius said.
“Oh, yea, good thing Pinkie Pie stopped that,” Tumbleweed said.
Clawdius got a confused look on his face. “Doesn’t that mean that the Yaks basically just threatened you, and you gave in to them?”
“Hm, well, I don’t know,” Tumbleweed chewed his food. “Is that how you really see it?”
“Yeah, think about it. What would Equestria have done if they hadn’t rolled over and done exactly what the Yaks wanted? Would Equestria defend itself?”
Tumbleweed shook his head, “But that’s now what happened. We are able to fix problems without having to use violence.”
“No, you don’t get what I’m saying. If your goal is to avoid violence at any cost then that necessarily means that you will do whatever someone wants you to do, as long as they threaten you. Right?”
“Well, maybe,” Tumbleweed said. “I guess we just don’t think about it that much. But I guess you’re right. What would griffons do?”
“Griffons would fight,” Clawdius said. “We wouldn’t let someone push us around. Can Equestria even defend itself?”
“Of course we can,” Tumbleweed responded. “We have defeated many enemies, multiple times.”
“Yeah, but you’ve also been invaded, multiple times. Unless what I have read is wrong, Changelings have taken over at least twice. How easy is it to invade the capitol of Equestria?” Clawdius asked.
“Well, Princess Twilight and her friends save the day each time. But we also have a military.”
“But basically the safety of Equestria lies in the claws—or hooves—of six ponies? You say you have a military, but everything I read keeps referring to these six heroes.”
Tumbleweed thought for a moment, “Well, maybe. I don’t know, I never thought about it.” He finished his meal. “Well, let’s go look around at some other events.”
“Sure,” Clawdius said. He finished the food and got up from the table and followed Tumbleweed as they explored the fair.
“You know,” Tumbleweed said as they were walking, “are you familiar with the new school in Ponyville?”
“Um, I have heard of it, but tell me more.” Tumbleweed told Clawdius about the school that was designed to bring creatures from all over to learn the values of friendship and of Equestria. Clawdius was intrigued to learn that there was a griffon enrolled there. “Interesting,” he said. “So what is the value in trying to spread Equestrian values to other cultures? What is the goal?”
“Well, I suppose we want to show the rest of the world how great the magic of friendship is.”
“But,” continued Clawdius, “isn’t that like trying to conquer another land, but instead of using an invading army, you’re subverting its culture?”
“No,” Tumbleweed countered, “we aren’t forcing any creature to do or believe something they don’t want to believe. Ultimately if some group doesn’t want to participate, then we won’t force them to.”
“Fair enough. But what about the risk that Equestria takes by letting other cultures influence them?” Clawdius asked.
“What do you mean?”
“What if there are cultures that are fundamentally incompatible with yours? For example, would it be possible to live peacefully with the Changelings before they were converted?” Clawdius asked.
“Ah, but you see, they were changed by the power of friendship.” Tumbleweed said, acting like he had found a victory. They had found a bench to sit at and watch the crowds mingle.
“No, you have it wrong. The Changelings and ponies, or any other creature for that matter, cannot live together. The Changelings, by their nature, needed to feed on other creatures. They were parasites. It was ponies or Changelings, not both. You were lucky that you were able to convert them. It might just have easily not been the case. What would you have done then? Go to war? Destroy them? Or continue to allow them to invade Equestria over and over and over again?”
“Hm, well, I suppose at some point we would have to defend ourselves,” Tumbleweed conceded. “But the Changelings are an extreme example. Maybe we have to deal with something like that on rare occasions, but overall it is better to try peace first,” Tumbleweed said.
“Sure, if the creatures you are dealing with are amenable to peace. But what if they aren’t? Like the dragons. Right now the only reason the dragons aren’t invading everything in sight is because of their current leader. What happens when she is replaced? Are you going to convince him to be friendly too? Do you think that’s really going to work with most dragons? Again, you got lucky.”
Tumbleweed rubbed his chin, “Perhaps. But we have a dragon ambassador.”
“Again, that is incidental. What happens when diplomacy fails?”
“You keep dismissing these victories, but you can’t ignore the fact that peace and friendship have been successful on multiple occasions,” Tumbleweed said.
“Granted,” Clawdius said. “But at some point a land needs to defend itself. Equestria has been expanding its territory over the years. You are the dominant culture. Other creatures feel resentful of that, especially the dragons. The griffons don’t care so much. I think the Yaks don’t have the military capability of doing much. The Hippogriffs seem to have a good relationship with Equestria. And the lands in the south are pretty disorganized. But you shouldn’t become complacent.”
“Why do you care about any of this, anyway?” Tumbleweed wondered.
“Because I see which way the wind blows. As I said, the griffons aren’t that interested in expanding their territory. But I also know that having Equestria as an ally will mean the ponies will defend us if need be. But it makes me think about Equestrian expansion. And I have concluded something.”
“And what is that?” Tumbleweed asked.
“That the ponies have the most successful culture and there is a reason for that. I think you have the superior culture,” Clawdius said.
“How can one culture be superior to another?”
“Well, let’s even assume every culture is the same, none is better than the other. At some point you will have one group that will try to take over the other. For example, if the Changelings are leading you off to the slave pens, you don’t say, ‘well, we’re no better than them. Who are we to judge?’”
“I can see your point,” Tumbleweed admitted.
“So,” Clawdius continued, “at the very least, you need to believe that your own culture is important and worth defending. If you don’t, then you might as well just surrender to the next group that comes to invade. Then, you need to ask yourself what is going to happen if you try to accept vastly different cultures into your own. Or what happens if you try to accommodate those cultures. Consider the Yaks again. Would you let them have whatever they want every time they threaten war?”
Tumbleweed just rubbed his chin in thought. “Go on.”
“I think the values that the ponies hold important are the best values. I think some groups, like us griffons, the Hippogriffs, the reformed Changelings, can have strong relations with Equestria. The Yaks would have to be watched. And I think it’s only a matter of time before the dragons decide to invade. There is no point in believing in something if you aren’t willing to defend it.”
“So you’re saying,” Tumbleweed said, “that some beliefs are inherently better than others, and should be defended at the expense of other beliefs?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t even have to be that theoretical. The simple reality is that if you don’t defend your belief then it will be supplanted by something else, whether that’s good or not.”
Tumbleweed stood up. “You have some interesting points. I’d have to think about that. But for now, let’s see what else there is to see.” The odd couple wandered around the fair the rest of the day. They saw some performers, ate more snacks, and waited for the sun to go down.
The festivities went on the rest of the night. Some ponies stayed up, while others went to sleep. But everypony was up early to see Celestia raise the sun the next morning. There was a large crowd waiting for the Princess of Equestria to get on a stage and perform her magic. Everypony was quiet as Celestia’s horn glowed just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. The crowd cheered. Eventually the crowd started to disperse and Tumbleweed said to Clawdius, “well, I’m tired. I’m going back to the room to get some sleep.”
“Good idea,” Clawdius agreed. The pair went back to the hotel. Tumbleweed offered the bed but Clawdius said he would prefer the floor. The griffon had learned a little about pony culture, and the pony had some things to think about.