Meet the Great Minds Behind Canterlot: Part 2
Meeting the Great Minds of Canterlot: Part 2
Stalliongrad, three months after Vaultaire’s meeting with Celestia and six months before The Great Gathering…
Across a checkered board, alicorn queens and kings, armored pegasi knights, unicorn mages and earth pony pawns and castles faced off. Each of them had perfectly stoical expressions on their faces. High above them, pondering the situation, sat two ponies, a white pegasus stallion and a deep sky blue earth pony.
“Unicorn mage takes your earth pony pawn,” said the pegasus as he pushed his black unicorn diagonally across the black squares to take out the earth pony pawn. The earth pony scratched her white-grey mane for a moment, but wasn’t bothered and moved her alicorn queen to protect her flank and apply pressure to her opponent’s flank.
As soon as the earth pony signaled that her turn was over, the pegasus smiled triumphantly, his light brown eyes filled with glee.
“I got you! My black alicorn queen takes your castle and checks your alicorn king! Checkmate!” laughed the pegasus. The other pony’s midnight blue eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed. This was soon followed by a smile springing upon the pony’s face.
“Uh, White Tower, what’s so funny?” asked the pegasus. He was beginning to feel very nervous. With her blue hoof, White Tower pushed her white unicorn mage across the board. The unicorn travelled down the diagonal white squares, flying past pawns, knights and mages until it reached its destination.
“Oh no...No...Not again,” groaned the pegasus. He ran his hoof through his messy golden mane as the unicorn mage took the alicorn queen and at the same time removed the last barrier between the white alicorn queen and the black alicorn king. The result was that black was in check and had lost its queen.
“Silver-,” began the earth pony. However, the pegasus met her with a warning glare, which caused the earth pony to stop. She had almost forgotten that her friend did not like going by that name. Not anymore anyway.
“Barbican, what have I told you about looking before you leap?” asked White Tower. Lord Barbican, Knight of Equestria and former commanding officer of the 1st Royal Equestrian Lancers rolled his eyes.
“I did look White Tower, but I swear your unicorn came out of nowhere,” groaned Barbican.
There was a knock on the study door and both ponies rose from their seats.
“Enter!” yelled Barbican in fine military fashion. A pony of the Stalliongrad Castle garrison pushed past the doors and entered into Barbican’s study.
“Milord and milady, there is a unicorn requesting to speak with you,” announced the stallion.
“Show him in,” ordered Barbican. The stallion, an earth pony, opened the door to reveal Golden Triangle. The unicorn was wearing a travelling cloak, a wide smile and his customary monocle.
“Professor!” said Barbican, a smile on his face. The corners of White Tower’s mouth were also turned upwards as the turquoise unicorn entered the room and embraced Barbican.
“Greetings to thee my friends. How have the repairs and upgrades on Stalliongrad castle been going, my old student?” asked Golden Triangle cheerfully. Barbican shrugged nonchalantly.
“On schedule sir. Though that is thanks to White Tower over here,” said the pegasus. The unicorn chuckled and trotted up to hug the earth pony.
“White Tower, hast thou been able to work well with our former student? Did we make a mistake in recommending thee to him?” inquired Golden Triangle. The earth pony snorted.
“I can manage him, your grace,” replied White Tower. The unicorn grinned.
“Good! Because I have a request for both of thou,” said Golden Triangle. Barbican pursed his lips and raised a wary eyebrow as the unicorn continued.
“Our beloved Princess Celestia has asked this humble pony to plan a festival, a great gathering of creators. It shall be a place where all of Equestria’s artists and innovators will come and gather to present their art. However, we need to create a layout for this gathering and we need thy aid to design the layout for this festival,” explained Golden Triangle. The pegasus shook his head and turned away from his mentor.
“Sir, you know I am wary of such great responsibility. Why are you asking me now?” asked Barbican, a bitter tone highlighting his question. The older unicorn sighed. He had hoped his former student would have recovered from the trauma of the war, but he should have known better.
“That was not thy fault Silver.”
“Sir, stop trying to make me feel better. I lead my ponies into that trap. I can’t be trusted with grand projects for the safety of my fellow ponies,” said Barbican as he stared out of his office’s window.
“My student. Thy Lancers were caught in a wickedly clever trap set by the Nightmare herself! What could thou do against the terrible intelligence of the Dark One?” asked Golden Triangle insistently. The question only caused the winged pony’s wings to flare angrily.
“I could have seen through it sir! I should have been able to thwart it. But I was blinded by my own impetuousness and I charged in without considering the worst possible scenario.” Barbican lowered his head and leant forward. He felt the cool glass against his forehead, chilling his brow.
“I’m afraid that I will make another mistake sir... ”
Golden Triangle turned to White Tower, stark helplessness increasing the amount of lines on his face. The mare pursed her lips in hesitation.
“Barbican... you know that... uh... what I mean is... ” White Tower’s uncharacteristic stammer only served to make Barbican turn around and face her. He soon wished he hadn’t.
“I think you’re being silly!” shouted the earth pony. Both stallions stared at White Tower, forced back by the sudden volume of her voice.
“You’re impetuous, but I-, we know you aren’t stupid! You won’t just make a random mistake that will make the whole Gathering a disaster. I won’t sugarcoat it and say it wasn’t a stupid mistake you made, because it was. However, I know you can do this. You’ve wanted in on this project ever since you’ve heard of it! Even if I didn’t have to poke through your trash bin to find all those letters addressed to Golden Triangle, I would only have to look on your desk to find hundreds of design layouts!” White Tower took a deep breath to recover from her short rant, allowing a tinge of red to seep into the pegasus cheeks.
“This project involves many ponies! It’s not like you’ll be working alone on the layout. Golden Triangle and I will make sure that the layout will be designed safely,” said White Tower assuringly, her voice level.
The pegasus bit his lip as he looked up at the the encouraging and amused smiles on his assistant and mentor.
“I uh...” Barbican gulped and drew himself back up to his full height and faced Golden Triangle.
“Well, I guess it’s not like Stalliongrad Castle needs us anyway since the repairs and upgrades are already underway. Golden Triangle, I respectfully accept your offer to design the layout of The Great Gathering of Creators. With one condition.”
“Let us hear it,” said the unicorn.
The pegasus bit the inside of his mouth.
“Will both of you make sure to check my work at least twice?” asked Barbican.
Golden Triangle nodded in understanding. “Of course, our young student.”
“I always check your work at least twice, boss,” said White Tower in a deadpan voice.
“That’s the understatement of the millennium assistant. White Tower, I’m going to go arrange my things. Can you show my old mentor to a guest room?” asked Barbican.
“Yes sir. I’ll see you for dinner,” replied White Tower.
“Thanks, I’ll see you later,” said Barbican as the two left the office. When the two had finally left, the pegasus unhooked his leather combat saddlebags, emblazoned with his cutie mark of a silver shield mounted on a wall. The pegasus began to pack his saddlebags, hoping he would not regret his decision to help Golden Triangle.
When White Tower and Golden Triangle arrived outside the guest chambers, the earth pony was about to leave when the unicorn stopped her and pointed to her flank.
“White Tower, hast thou made any progress on... that?” asked Golden Triangle. The earth pony rolled her eyes.
“You and Barbican. Both of you keep asking me that question. How many times do I have to tell you. I don’t care about what my talent is as long as I protect other ponies,” said White Tower tiredly. The earth pony had had this conversation many times with Golden Triangle and Barbican interchangeably.
“We are just worried about thee, White Tower,” said Golden Triangle. The earth pony smiled.
“I will always indebted to you for your kindness Golden Triangle, but please don’t concern yourself with my well-being,” said White Tower. The turquoise unicorn dipped his head in understanding, said his goodbyes, put his hoof back on the floor and trotted into the guest chambers.
As Golden Triangle dressed himself for dinner, he could not help but ponder his young friend’s attitude toward her cutie mark. He had done it before and he was doing it again now. After all, what could be more puzzling than a grown pony who did not care about her lack of a cutie mark?
Foot of Mount Canter, 1 month before The Great Gathering…
Duke Golden Triangle put his hoof to his face. This was the second time somepony had set up the tents for the food venues in the wrong place. Once again the old pony checked the layout he, Lord Barbican and White Tower had come up with and chuckled.
“They really were the right ponies for the job.” As soon as they had arrived, Lord Barbican and Lady Tower had quickly created a plan for the Gathering. Somehow, the two ponies managed to make sure all the venues were located in a reasonable location and at the same time, assure that each of them could be easily accessed, could be protected and guarded well, and easily evacuated in the event of an emergency. White Tower had even set up a schedule for the guard rotation so that they could safely patrol the entire site. It was quite a work of planning and design.
If Golden Triangle could pick two of the ponies that would be included in the group of architects, he would pick Lord Barbican and White Tower. He knew the two ponies had secrets and that both were quite adamant about keeping them, even from each other. However, they were extremely work-orientated, especially White Tower, who took pride in designing everything to be perfect.
As the duke got up from his chair, his face twisted into a grimace as his muscles stretched; his joints popped and cracked. He had been putting off his weekly massage and was now paying for it.
“I am getting old,” groaned the duke. He trotted outside of his tent and gazed upon the site.
The Great Gathering of Artists had been laid out so that if you saw it from above, it would look like the sun cutie mark on Celestia’s flank. Each of the “sun’s” flaming tendrils was a venue for a different type of art media. These included: interior design, textiles, garden work, literature and calligraphy, masonry and then his own, architecture. Some of the ponies accepting invitations were going to display artwork that was quite hard to categorize. One pony was submitting a gel castle that was delicious and at the same time a great work of architecture and sculpting. Part of the great circle area of the ‘sun’ was used for food venues and games for the younger ponies. At the very centre of the ‘sun’ was a grand common area and where Celestia would be announcing her choices for who will design the capital. Though, only Golden Triangle knew that.
Golden Triangle’s idea of shaping the venue into a giant “sun” had only been possible thanks to Lord Barbican and White Tower’s placement and design of the individual stalls and paths. Along with the Duke’s handling of the material and his experience of bureaucratic systems, the ponies had guaranteed that the gathering would happen right on schedule.
“Duke Golden Triangle, thy work is coming along nicely,” said Celestia, alighting next to the unicorn. Slowly, his tendons shifting and popping, the unicorn began to turn to face his sovereign.
“Thank you, your highness. Forgive this loyal subject for not being able to bow, but our joints are a bit stiff,” said the Duke with a wince. As he faced Celestia, the duke’s wince turned into a grimace as he noticed who had accompanied his sovereign.
“Baroness Vaultaire of Cloudsdale." Golden Triangle groaned.
“Duke Golden Triangle, my old professor. How are you doing ol-…sir,” said the pegasus, quickly correcting herself. The duke was not doing very well; in fact, he seemed to have aged ten years at Vaultaire’s arrival. It didn’t help that Vaultaire had just reminded Golden Triangle of his advanced years.
Oh why this pegasus? The pegasus who defied my EVERY order in class. The pegasus who questioned and then discarded ALL forms of the architecture and mathematical theories we were trying to teach. The pegasus who almost got herself named as a traitor because she was not afraid to shut her mouth and not say what she should not say. Please do not tell me Celestia brought her along for this all? Thought the duke.
“Duke, baroness, the two of thee will be part of the group working on the new capital,” said Celestia cheerfully. At this, Golden Triangle’s heart almost jumped out of his chest. He was in complete disbelief and he couldn’t help himself as he began to vent his frustration.
“But she never even completed her studies at the Royal Equestrian Academy of Architects! All her works have never been even close to the scale of what I will be trying to accomplish here! Also, this pegasus has absolutely no understanding of the bureaucratic system, a complete lack of respect for the intricacies and dangers of politics, and she has zero influence in court as of now. Not to mention she had little in the first place! She cannot be part of this group, your highness; it will doom the project before we dig the first foundation!” protested the duke.
For a moment, the Golden Triangle swore he saw Vaultaire flinch, but the fierceness of the look that she sent back at him made him doubt that she did.
“The ideas behind your design are old and out of date. Even if your ideas happen to be creative once in a while, the media and style you use to implement them clashes with the design or doesn’t allow the idea to reach its full potential!” retorted Vaultaire.
Golden Triangle was about to fire back at his opponent, when Celestia stepped in between the two.
“Duke Golden Triangle and Baroness Vaultaire, cease this nonsense immediately! It is disgraceful for two of the most accomplished architects in Equestria to be arguing like this! Vaultaire, go to my tent; we will speak to thee on this subject later,” said Celestia. Even without the alicorn’s regal and imposing voice, Vaultaire understood that there was to be no argument and left.
“I’m sorry Duke, but I believe that Vaultaire would be an invaluable addition to this project’s management,” explained Celestia. The elderly duke nodded, his head hanging low and his brow wrinkled.
“I understand. But your highness, can you please answer a question for me?” asked Golden Triangle, his head still hanging down low. The princess nodded, concern written on her expression. Golden Triangle may not have been as dear to the princess as Vaultaire, but the alicorn had great respect for the pony as he had accomplished many things in his long years of service to Equestria.
“Is my architecture getting...old?” asked the unicorn stallion.
The princess’s eyes grew distant as she lowered her head to the unicorn’s eye level.
“Everything will become old, my little pony, including thy style of architecture and the monuments thou has built. What thee designs now will eventually be lost to the winds of time,” said Celestia. The unicorn sighed and despite his hesitation, pressed onward.
“Princess, I do not mind if my body or my architecture becomes old and superseded by all these young ideas and ponies. Allow me to clarify my question: has the quality of my work degraded to the point that it is obsolete? Has my work become dated to the point that it is not even classic, but unfashionable? Have I shown you any results that overwhelm you and not just please you?”
A small part of the duke wanted Celestia to shake her head immediately or say ‘no’ in that serene, regal voice of hers. However, what came was partially expected, for a dark part of his mind had always told him this. It whispered to him whenever his joints protested. It rasped when his hooves shook involuntarily. It giggled to him when he attempted to perform magic. He knew it was true, but he wouldn’t allow himself to believe it.
“My loyal little pony, we will not lie to thee. The quality of thy work has degraded. Thy ideas and the results they produce are not obsolete, but they are dated. In the past decade, thou has not produced any work that has managed to overwhelm or surprise us. We are very sorry about this truth Golden Triangle, although we cannot completely understand thine position.”
As Celestia finished giving her answer, Golden Triangle almost felt as if he was going to fall over and dive into everlasting sleep. To the grief-struck unicorn's own surprise, he just stood there, head lowered, greying blue mane and tail shivering slightly.
“Why did you choose me for this project then?” asked the unicorn. Celestia’s answer came quickly, filled with inspiration and honesty. It blared like a trumpet, lifting the unicorn out from his misery.
“Just because thou has aged and has difficulty practicing thy craft does not mean thou has become useless. Art thou not the mathematical genius that has found the proportions and shapes that make structures beautiful? And although we highly admire Vaultaire’s abilities, she is like a pony in a pack of timberwolves when it comes to politics. But thou...thou completely understands the politics involving the inception and construction of a structure. Also, having worked on countless of projects, thou has acquired experience that prepares thee for the situations and mishaps that are bound to happen during this grand endeavour. Additionally, who was it that organized this gathering in less than a year? Thy skills are still needed Golden Triangle. So in thy final hour, when all hope seems lost, make thy star shine one last time so that its brilliance can be seen all across Equestria!”
The speech’s effect on Golden Triangle was instantaneous. His head had been raised. His golden eyes were once again twinkling with luster. A determined grin was set in the stallion’s jaw. The pony still looked aged and stiff, but was now standing tall.
“Princess, thank you.” And with that, the pony bowed and galloped back to his tent. His fire reignited and his determination stronger than ever.
Author's Additional Note: One more chapter and I'll be done with the introductions to my OCs.
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I love Celestias reply to Golden Triangle. It speaks to a truth not often remembered these days.
That just because someone is old it does not follow that they have nothing to contribute nor that what they can contribute is of no value
685582 Thanks
I hope it doesn't seem too out of character for her. Please like and favourite 
As I promised, I'll read this, but not right away. im getting kinda tired but its at the top of my read laters.
706949
That's all i need
Read thise forst or second of all, today, and I like it. the old speech seems a little out of place, but judging by the time frame that this is set in, it is indeed appropriate. I noticed a couple spelling and wording mistakes also.
"Just because you has become old and has difficulty practicing your craft doesn’t mean you are useless."
The first "has" could be "you've" and the "has" following should be have.
example: Just because you've become old and have difficulty practicing your craft doesn’t mean you are useless.
I can't exactly remember the second mistake that stood out to me, but I'm sure someone will point it out if it bothers tham that much. I'm favoriting this fic because I"m eager to see more. That's all I've got for now, but i made good on my promise.
685582
On that account, one often forgets that old age is for most merely a bodily fatigue, it does not usually make them any less of the person they were.
710216 ARGH got to sort that out.
719626 don't sweat it, just trying to offer a bit of helpful advice :)
1. This is my favorite chapter so far, you did a good job establishing the initial relationship with Vaultaire (I love that name!) and Duke Golden Triangle. I can only hope you further explore their relationship as they interact more in the coming chapters.
2. Also I found that I realllly like Lord Barbican and White Tower, I hope to see more of them in the future.
3. I'm eager to see what has become of Baron Byzas, since he hasn't been mentioned since his introduction.
725059 Hello! Answer to questions.
came up with the name by playing on Voltaire (the famous philosopher who was a good friend of Emperor Frederick The Great of Prussia. Hint Hint: Vaultaire and Celestia) and the gothic cathedral vault. Golden Triangle's name is a pretty explicit reference to the Golden ratio. Those two are going to interact. I mean the are going to have to work together and that'll be a miracle XD
1. This is my favorite chapter so far, you did a good job establishing the initial relationship with Vaultaire (I love that name!) and Duke Golden Triangle. I can only hope you further explore their relationship as they interact more in the coming chapters.
Ans:
2. Also I found that I realllly like Lord Barbican and White Tower, I hope to see more of them in the future.
Ans: Yup. Their relationship will be explored as well as their pasts and the reason why Tower doesn't have a cutie mark. I dropped some rather subtle cues in the chapter about Barbican's faults that will be revealed further. Both of them have pretty sad pasts and haunting nightmares. Though I should have expanded on Tower's flaws, but I thought at the time the lack of cutie mark would be fault enough.
3. I'm eager to see what has become of Baron Byzas, since he hasn't been mentioned since his introduction.
The next chapter in which I'll intro the final 2 OCs will direct Byzas into collision course with the others. The two new characters are going to be...just read the chapter update when it comes.
-...opponent's flank.
-"it" should be "they" or some other phrase like, "her eyes" (Helps the sentence to flow better)
-...site plan...
-either delete "now" or change it to "no,"
-you can drop the extra "s" on "pegasus's"
-...muscl,s...
-...most (space) accomplished...
-"honesty" may fit better than "honest"
A few errors I found. If you don't want me to do this anymore, I understand. (PS: If you don't want my comments when you post to EQD, feel free to delete them) Hope this helps and good luck getting on EQD!
I should have read this a long ass time ago when I put it on read later. I think it's written well, and I do enjoy the world building. While I don't generally go for stories with a bunch of OC's, you seem to handle them well, characterizing them and everything. There's always been a sort of allure about this story, though. I just remembered it out of the blue the other day. Something about the technical side of things, even if I'm only on the beginning set-up part, even that's interesting to me.