Canterlot

Canterlot (キャンタロット, Kyantarotto) is a city first featured in the series' premiere episode as the residence of Twilight Sparkle, where she studies under Princess Celestia. The city holds the royal castle, making it the capital of Equestria. It is also the venue of important cultural events, like the Grand Galloping Gala. Rarity describes it as a glamorous and sophisticated city. The name of the city is a portmanteau of "canter," a three-beat horse gait, and Camelot, a British kingdom from Arthurian legends.

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Development
Lauren Faust's inspiration for Canterlot, with its castle carved into the side of the mountain, was Minas Tirith from The Lord of the Rings.

According to Lauren Faust, Canterlot was originally called "Canterbury", after the historical English city, and the name "Canterlot" was suggested by her husband Craig McCracken.

History
The city features ivory towers with golden spires, and many waterfalls and rivers running through it.

The distance between Canterlot and Ponyville is traveled by Twilight Sparkle in a short amount of time, riding in a flying chariot driven by the Pegasus royal guards in Friendship is Magic, part 1. Princess Celestia travels much the same way in Swarm of the Century, and in Sweet and Elite, Rarity's friends manage to get from Ponyville to Canterlot within a day. In MMMystery on the Friendship Express, Pinkie Pie and her friends travel from Ponyville to Canterlot via train on an overnight trip. The spires of Canterlot, protruding from the mountain, have been shown to be visible from Ponyville.

Many high-society ponies in the show hail from Canterlot, including Photo Finish, Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores, and Fancy Pants. The episode Sweet and Elite also takes place in Canterlot as well, which features coffee shops, a high-class restaurant, a racetrack, a theater, and an art gallery. In that episode, the vast majority of the residents of Canterlot are unicorns. The city has a train station, first seen in Hearth's Warming Eve.

There is also a palace labyrinth area, which holds several statues depicting ponies in regal capes, including the statue depicting Discord, which doubles as the stone imprisonment for the draconequus. There are libraries and a Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the archives, along with Canterlot Tower, where the Elements of Harmony used to be located when not in use priors to Keep Calm and Flutter On.

The city features prominently in A Canterlot Wedding, when Twilight Sparkle's brother, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance get married. It is revealed that there is an extensive cave system underneath Canterlot that was mined for its precious gems by greedy unicorns until it was exhausted, sealed up, and forgotten, according to Queen Chrysalis. The cave system has a mine-cart and mine-railways running through it. In this episode, the city itself is surrounded by a protective force field by Shining Armor to keep out an unknown threats later turning out to be changelings who smash through the field and attack the city.

At the beginning of the episode Magic Duel, Trixie gallops through an alley and enters a curio shop, where she also persuades the shopkeeper to sell her the Alicorn Amulet for a sack of bits. This location is unnamed in the show, but the file name of a piece of production art posted online prior to the episode's airing identifies it as Canterlot, and one of the show's layout artists who worked on the episode recalls the script identifying it as Canterlot. The same location is seen in Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1 during Lord Tirek's introduction and confrontation with Discord.

Canterlot is the location of the Princess Coronation in Magical Mystery Cure to coronate Twilight Sparkle as the newest Alicorn princess, taking place in the same hall as Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's wedding.

In the season four premiere, Canterlot prepares for and holds a new Summer Sun Celebration, indicated to be the first such event since the one happening in Ponyville in the season one premiere.

In Amending Fences, Twilight and Spike return to Canterlot to make amends with her old friends, Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Moon Dancer.

Social events
Canterlot hosts the Grand Galloping Gala, a formal royal ball held in the castle itself and attended by only select ponies, which is mentioned throughout season one in The Ticket Master, Suited For Success, and featured in the episodes The Best Night Ever and Make New Friends but Keep Discord. It is later mentioned in the episode Sweet and Elite.

Another high society event is the Canterlot Garden Party, held on the castle grounds, a very exclusive event that Rarity says is second to only the Grand Galloping Gala; it is portrayed in Sweet and Elite. In Hearth's Warming Eve, a pageant depicting the founding of Equestria is put on by the Mane Six.

Other various events that are held in Canterlot include the Equestria Rodeo Competition in The Last Roundup and the National Dessert Competition in MMMystery on the Friendship Express.

A school called Canterlot Academy is introduced in the IDW comics story arc Neigh Anything. It appears to be the Equestrian counterpart of Canterlot High, as it shares the human high school's Fall Formal event.

School for Gifted Unicorns
The city is also home to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, which is featured in a flashback in The Cutie Mark Chronicles, where Twilight Sparkle began her studies under Princess Celestia, and in the present day in. Other notable students of the school include Sunset Shimmer, Trixie, Moon Dancer, Lemon Hearts, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lyra Heartstrings. In Gameloft's mobile game, Sunset Shimmer lives in the Canterlot School for Unicorns.

Other depictions
In Equestrian Sonic Boom series, Twilight attends a school called Canterlot High School. When Fluttershy is handing out flyers in her flashback, she says that "Canterlot's animal shelter needs more volunteers", which means the community that the school is located in is named Canterlot. Princess Celestia's human counterpart is the school principal, and Princess Luna's human counterpart is the vice principal.

In the Equestrian Sonic Boom: Friendship Games, some Canterlot buildings appear in a giant hole in the ground caused by Midnight Sparkle.