Canterlot: Her Creation and Her Architects

by vren55

The Contemplations

The Contemplations

When the laughter had subsided and Sa’id assured that he wasn’t going to get thrown into a dungeon, Celestia drew herself to her full height and began to speak in Royal Canterlot Voice.

“By now, thou will be wondering why we disguised ourselves, walked among thee and then summoned thou to this pavillion. The answer is simple, we require thy services.” The five ponies eyes widened, the same singular question in their minds.

Princess Celestia needs MY help? Why?

The answer came when the alicorn lit her horn and an image of the ruined Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters was conjured.

“Due to the war between us and Nightmare Moon, the damage sustained to the capitol has proven too extensive to repair. Not to mention that the magical feedback from the spells cast in battle has severely corrupted the Everfree Forest and has made it dangerous for anypony to inhabit. Thus the true reason for organizing The Great Gathering of Creators, is so that we may can choose talented ponies who will design a new capitol. We summoned thou because we think thou art some of the most promising candidates and would like to ask thou one question.” The princess’s head lowered to the level of the five ponies and her magenta eyes filled the vision of every single one of the five.

“Art thou willing to accept the responsibility for designing and overseeing the construction for the new capital of Equestria?” asked Celestia.

“Yes! I mean... ” Barbican cursed inwardly as all eyes turned to him. The Pegasus clamped his mouth shut as his eyes twitched nervously. Once again the pegasus inwardly cursed his own impetuousness as he reconsidered the implications of accepting the task once again. Barbican had initially said yes out of loyalty to the princess and out of desire for this magnificent opportunity, but now he wasn’t so sure. The pegasus clamped his eyes shut as he considered the task ahead of him. Designing the new capital of Equestria would be a burden like no other and the consequences were high should he fail. Out of instinct, Barbican turned to White Tower, but stopped himself. This was his decision; he shouldn’t rely on her to check him forever, nor should he have any say in her own decision.

Yes, I can do this... I made a mistake and although I may never forgive myself entirely, I have become a better pony because of it and now I shall prove to myself that I am a better pony. I will make this new palace the safest in all of Equestria if it’s the last thing I do.

So, his resolve firm, Barbican took a deep breath.

“Your majesty, I humbly accept,” said Barbican.

White Tower was almost expecting her friend to turn to her. Maybe for advice, maybe to ask her what her decision would be. So she was pleasantly surprised when he turned away from her and shortly afterward, declared his acceptance. Though Barbican didn’t notice it himself, a new spark seemed to have lit in his eyes and, while flickering with some fear, was raging with determination and expectation.

Well it’s about time he got his spring back. Thought the earth pony.

Calmly, the mare faced Celestia and without hesitation gave her answer. For White Tower did not want to join this project out of glory or fame, but because she wanted to help other ponies. Though admittedly, the involvement of her two friends, Barbican and Golden Triangle, also played a part in her decision. If there was one small qualm White Tower had about accepting, it was if she could handle the stress of designing a new capital. A self admitted perfectionist, the mare knew she tended to obsess over details. Still, White Tower was confident she could handle the pressure; after all, she had fought in a war. The earth pony couldn’t see why she wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure of designing the new capital. There was also one thing the mare was worried about, but that worry was lodged in the back of her mind and practically forgotten like a long lost child’s toy as White Tower gave her answer.

“I am at your disposal and Equestria’s, your majesty.”

Sa’id’s answer shortly followed White Tower’s. The desert pony had absolutely nothing holding him back. He had waited for a chance like this all of his life, but the Sa’id wasn’t impetuous and he took time to consider the consequences of his decision. The desert pony was modest and he knew he had no experience implementing his inventions with the help of other ponies. Not only would this project test Sa’id’s ingenuity to the limit, but his inventions would need to be implemented on a grand scale. Still, the desert pony desired this challenge, for if he was careful, what would stop him from producing the greatest inventions ever known to grace a capitol city? Furthermore, the stallion sensed that if he declined, the decision would haunt him in his sleep and torture him for the rest of his life.

“Na’am! I mean... your highness, I accept!” said Sa’id, bowing.

The earth pony’s response shook Chartres from the initial stupor Celestia’s announcement had plunged her in. Only a few days ago, the same unicorn was slaving under a vain and cruel mistress. Now Chartres was just offered a golden opportunity to show her skills to all of Equestria and to write herself into history.

The ivory pony opened her mouth and was about to utter her oath, when a stray thought swaggered into her mind. What if I make a mistake and embarrass the Princess?

With that single thought, doubts began to bore through her resolve like termites through wood. she was afraid she wasn’t good enough

What if my skills aren’t good enough?

The pony cringed as fear crawled into her veins.

I’m not smart! I’m naive... stupid... too trusting... like that time...

Tears began to appear in Chartres’s eyes

Will I make a mistake?

Her limbs shivered and her resolve wavered.

Will I be able to make the new capitol beautiful through my glasswork?

The unicorn’s face screwed up into an expression torn by indecision, her confidence vanishing, flowing out of her like water from a tap. She opened her mouth, to refuse. She wasn’t good enough, she had to say no and leave it for a more deserving pony. And yet, one last though paralyzed her jaw before she could utter that monosyllabic word.

Do I really want this anyway?

Chartres clamped her jaw shut so fast she almost bit her tongue off. For that question, the only one she could answer definitively and it was really the only one that mattered.

I want to do this and... I think I can do this...

“Princess Celestia... I accept,” whispered Chartres, so softly that the ponies assembled only caught the wisp of her answer.

“What did she say?” asked Golden Triangle, his old ears unable to register the whisper.

“I accept!” announced Chartres loudly. Princess Celestia grinned and turned to the last pony.

When the princess had asked the stallion, Byzas’s mouth was clamped shut as his thoughts were thrown into a state of turmoil. Two mental dragons were battling each other in the realm of his mind. One dragon was roaring for Byzas to accept the task and take the opportunity to carve an everlasting monument onto Equestria that would serve ponykind for generations to come. The other dragon was screaming caution! To accept this task would be to stare a Cockatrice in the face. This battle continued on and on as the stallion stood as still as a statue, only breathing in and out. Stray thoughts flew in occasionally to support one side or add to the chaos. Just about when Byzas was about to start screaming his indecision to the world, when a passing query made him hesitate.

What would Princess Luna want me to do?

Byzas took a deep breath and raised his head to the night sky and to the mare in the moon. The twinkling stars seemed to whisper back at the stallion as he cleared his mind. Of all the Night Court Ponies, Byzas was probably the one who had been on the best terms with Luna before her downfall. The two had spent long hours talking about art and had grown closer than the normal subject-ruler relationship. Some ponies had even falsely suspected that the two were lovers. Therefore, Byzas knew that the true Luna, not the monster of rage and jealousy that was Nightmare Moon, loved her sister dearly and only wanted the best for Equestria. She would want him to do this for her sister and for Equestria’s sake and he would do it, even if it meant risking his disguise.

If my last commission is to be for you and your sister, then so be it.

And as if the fates agreed with Byzas’s resolve, the stallion didn’t stutter as he declared:

“Your majesty, I accept.”

After Byzas gave his acceptance, Celestia turned to Golden Triangle and Vaultaire.

“Duke Golden Triangle and Baroness Vaultaire, although thou hast pledged thyselves to this project, we must ask thee one last time. Art thou willing to work with these ponies to design and build the new capital of Equestria?”

At Celestia’s question, Golden Triangle immediately re-examining the other three unknown ponies. Being well-versed in subtle speech, the unicorn picked up on the specific way Celestia had worded the question and thus he knew exactly what the alicorn was actually asking him. After a short moment, the turquoise unicorn met Celestia’s gaze.

“I am ready princess.”

The old unicorn trusted his former student and his assistant. As for the other three ponies... compromise was part of an architect’s job description and Golden Triangle was no stranger to it. He would work with these ponies and hopefully, they would listen to his reason and experience.

Meanwhile, Vaultaire had just managed to figure out what her friend and sovereign was asking her to do. Unfortunately, the pegasus hadn’t exactly figured out how she was going to deal with the other project members. Vaultaire had just assumed that they would be able to deal with their areas of specialty and she would be able to excel in hers. Her biggest worry had been Spire, but now with all these independently minded ponies... The pegasus twirled a lock of her mane in frustration. Celestia had the strangest ability to ask questions that would make even the strongest of heart re-examine themselves. A sigh later, and the pegasus met Celestia’s glance.

I will do my best for you Celestia.”

The informal way Vaultaire addressed the princess prompted a few eyebrows to raise themselves. The princess just smiled.

“We are in thy debt Vaultaire and Golden Triangle and we thank thou all for aiding Equestria in this endeavor.”

Author’s note: If nobody actually got what I meant when Vaultaire said “I will do my best for you Celestia.” Then I epic failed. What Vaultaire meant was that she would work with the other architects, for Celestia’s sake. I am also trying to brush up the fic in anticipation for some proofreading by the /fic/ board. So chapter updates may be slow. I think I will get one or two more chapters out to finish the ‘arc’, but now it’ll probably be once per two weeks.

Comments

[vren55]

1425667 If you liked fast paced stories, i recommend Wild Sky Yonder by Mysecsha. He reviewed my story once, said it was good, but preferred a faster pace. Showing is indeed important... but at the time, I realized I needed to GET TO THE PLOT and get constructing canterlot so I was rushing it a bit.

[Dusk Apollo]

1426444 The rush you speak of is the time constraints you placed on yourself. If you will them to not exist, they will cease to bind you.

[StormyVenture]

1430963
It's theoretically possible to drag out a story so long that the reader loses interest before anything of interest happens. For instance, we could describe a piece of art from every pony at the gathering, even give them a name and a back story. Unfortunately that would be something of a waste of time and effort, not to mention monotonous, unless it somehow folded back into the main plot. That and most of us would be pretty bored and frustrated about the rate of progress of the story by then. When the focus of this story is the building of the Canterlot we know (or one like it), it doesn't serve to go into miniscule detail unless it will show up again later. Who made which stain glass windows and how and when it got where it is would be interesting to know though. When did rooms for Princess Luna show up ? These things are relevant and interesting. However,The fact that an obscure and not often used section of tiles has a crack in the farthest one is irrelevant if nopony knows or cares, much less trips because of it.

I'm not saying the author of a story should let the reader alone set the pace, just that they ought to take into account the whole story they want to tell and have a notion of, say, how many chapters/sub sections there will be and how long those will take. That is, it's important to have a sense for the big picture. Eleven chapters does seem a bit much to get us this far; I suspect that you could get away with putting together 2-4 chapters into one 5000-6000 word one without causing any problems -- of course I suppose it's just the superficial implication of a lot, even though they are shorter than some stories' chapters.

1426444 If you're comfortable with it, you could write parts of the story at different points in time along the way and fill in the details between later. Not sure if it would satisfy anybody, but you might be able to get more up sooner. Also, the writing doesn't have to be perfect, as long as you clean up any glaring errors and indicate clearly that proofreading is going on, you can probably post it here and not get too many grammar/spelling nazi comments.

[StormyVenture]

"Her biggest worry had been Byzas, but now with all these independently minded ponies..."

Does she know he's in the same room with her, or was she just concerned he might show up? Does she know of the circumstances surroundings his present situation?

[InsertAuthorHere]

Sorry it took so long to respond.

While this is a good chapter, I think it's time you got out of setting up the group and started showing us Canterlot's construction. We know who these ponies are (and you've certainly done a better job of it than that write-up I'm working on could do), why they've been chosen, and what skills they bring to the table. Now it's time to see those skills in action.