@Background Pony #D361
 
they’re not evacuating to canterlot. they’re evacuating everypony into the countryside, where it’s safer from targeted strikes.
 
it would’ve been awfully dumb to evacuate to canterlot though, if they did!

@Spiritus Arcane
 
@redweasel
 
The protocol dictates “Nearest princess and her kingdom”. To say “Best defensible position nearby is too complicated, especially in an emergency. There’s no time to figure out the best position. Besides, Ponyville is the nearest place for them to get to to get a feel for the situation. Once they organize themselves there, they can decide on their next move, whether to stay put or move to Canterlot or whatever.
 
Plus, Canterlot is close to Ponyville, yes. By train. So if the two of you can please use our heads for just two minutes, that’d be great.

so, instead of going to the huge target up on the mountain just begging for the stolen high powered weaponry to eliminate in one instant of unholy firepower with no shield bubble since gary stu armor is in the crystal empire, they’re evacuating everypony into the countryside.
 

…So instead of going to the mountaintop city, the one RIGHT NEXT TO where they’re gonna send everyone, which is probably 1000 times more defensible even without the shield bubble, they’re going to evacuate everyone to a little farming town with no appreciable fortifications. Even knowing the Mane 6 are basically lining components of a an anti-evil super-weapon at this point, that’s still a DUMB PLAN.
 
Seriously dude, Canterlot is RIGHT OVER THERE from Ponyville, weirdly variable-length train rides aside. Heck, when they get word of what’s going on, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Ponyville’s evacuation plan is to HEAD TO CANTERLOT.