The ponies and Spike traversed around the tower grounds, marveling at everything they saw, from the towers themselves, down to the scattered pieces of debris that lie upon the desert sand. Time had certainly not done justice to these structures, with the rotted away ropes from the bridges, the splintered wood of the bridges baking in the blazing sun, and the stone columns covered with cracks like cobwebs scattered within an abandoned building. The rooms inside the dwellings at the top of each tower were filled to the brim with dust and decay: furniture and weapons strewn upon the floor, and many holes broken right straight through to the roof, with the rays of the sun seeping past through the gaps and onto the very floors.
Though many towers were badly damaged, much greater destruction had befallen numerous other towers. Most of the bridges connecting each tower to the next had either collapsed onto the ground, or snapped in half, leaving a piece of a bridge dangling between the tower gaps. Greater devastation still was that of the very few number of the fortified monoliths that had toppled onto into the desert floor, partly burying their bodies within the sandy dunes below, though some had accumulated greater quantities of the yellowy grit from the shifting winds of the desert over the centuries. However, even when comparing a still standing tower to a fallen one, the one that appeared to continually stand strong also looked as if it would tumble down at any moment, joining its fellow subsided obelisks in their self-made graveyard.
Twilight and the others beheld these spectacles in sheer silence, gazing upon them all with great awe. "Hey, Twilight," Applejack said, breaking the silence. "I've been wonderin' somethin'."
"What's that, Applejack?"
"What exactly are these towers doin' here in the first place?"
"Oh, well, I'd be more than happy to explain it to you. You see—"
"'Cause ah don't see why either of the princesses would do somethin' like this," Applejack interrupted.
"Well, see, what actually happened is—"
"Yeah, I doubt they would go through all the trouble to make these things, even though I still think they're cool."
"Well, see—"
"And when you take in the consideration of how they don't seem that likely to be needed, one can understand—"
"Enough!!" Twilight shouted vociferously, forcing everypony to halt their speech. "Look, you've all got it wrong. Neither of the princesses had anything to do with the construction of these towers. This happened long before their time."
"Really?"
"How long ago was that, Twilight?"
"Quite long ago," Twilight took a calm breath, contented that everyone was now listening to her, and began her explanation. "According to my history books, the Equestrian Sentry Towers were commissioned several years after Equestria's founding, by none other than the pegasus leader Commander Hurricane. For you see, in her adoration for this great new land the ponies had obtained, and her loyalty to Equestria and everything it stood for, she wanted to make certain that it would never be lost to any manner of malevolent force, as it almost did before with the Windigos."
"Wow.." Rainbow Dash said in awe. "I find myself liking Commander Hurricane more and more with this story."
"What happened next, Twilight?"
"Well, because the ponies came from the north, and because there was already a mountain range all across the northern border of Equestria, Commander Hurricane's focus for protection was on the mostly exposed southern border. I say mostly because the Macintosh Hills were already covering half of the southern border, which is also the reason why that was the area where Equestria's territory was chosen to end, as it was the most defensible. Anyways, with the hills to the right, the only exposed path across land into Equestria was the San Palomino Desert."
"That's where we are now!" Pinkie excitedly exclaimed.
"Thank you, Pinkie..."
"So, what happened next??" Spike asked with great eagerness.
"Let's see...oh, right. Commander Hurricane looked over the empty desert, and after comparing the border line to the Macintosh Hills, she knew exactly where the defenses should be placed so as to create the perfect wall of protection. Following that assessment, the next decision for her to make would be exactly what type of defense should be used."
"So that's when she said to build the towers?"
"No, actually. A few other ideas were tossed around first. For instance, a colossal wall was considered, but rejected as it would take much too long to build. A series of forts was also thought up, but discarded for the same reason as the wall: construction would take too long. Commander Hurricane needed a fortification that would tall enough to keep a perfect lookout for enemies, but not so big as to take a great amount of time to finish. Time was needed for her to mull over this idea. And then, while staring at one of the tall stone spires in the desert, Commander Hurricane finally came up with the perfect idea."
"Ooh! Ooh! I know!" Pinkie hollered with zeal. "It was the towers!"
"...yes, Pinkie. It was the towers. Now, will you please let me finish without interrupting again, please?"
"Sure! All you needed to do was ask and say please, since it's better to have both because it sounds nicer! Although, it could work with one or the other, but having two nice words doubles the niceness! And being even more nice is—mmph!!" Pinkie suddenly felt her mouth become covered by a hoof, which belonged to Rainbow Dash, who looked quite agitated with Pinkie's constant blabbering.
Rainbow turned her head towards Twilight. "Go ahead, Twilight."
"Uhh, thanks, Rainbow Dash. Anyways, after deeming a line of towers to be the perfect defense to utilize, construction on the towers was immediately ordered by Hurricane, and so Equestria's first defensive structure had begun."
"The development of the towers was a very lengthy and arduous amount of labor for the ponies of Equestria, but Commander Hurricane encouraged them every day to keep up their work, as it would all be worth it to keep their new home safe from invaders. And so, after several years of strenuous toil, the extensive line of these colossal sentry posts was at last completed, and as Commander Hurricane set her eyes upon these grand structures, she knew she could feel no satisfaction greater than the pride that swelled up within her. And even though it may have taken a lengthy amount of time to complete such an undertaking, Commander Hurricane was still adamant in her notion that all the work was wholly worth the effort taken, and that one day the ponies of Equestria may see this to be true for themselves," Twilight took a breath, having at last finished her story, and looked around at her friends' faces of awe.