• Published 30th May 2012
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Canterlot: Her Creation and Her Architects - vren55



The untold story of Canterlot Castle's inception and construction after the Rise of Nightmare Moon.

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The Great Gathering: Part 2

The Great Gathering: Part 2

Miscellaneous Arts Section...

It had been an hour since they had met Spire and Vaultaire was still trying to subdue the overpowering feelings of worry and jealousy she felt towards Spire’s painting. She had managed to appease her worry of being unable to leave a legacy by thinking of ways to decorate and design the palace’s interior. However, she was less successful in attempting to subdue her overweening jealousy and assuage her wounded pride. The pride that held her up when she was being ridiculed by nobles, could not understand how a common artist could conceive of such a brilliant scheme.

“Is something bothering you Vaultaire?” asked Celestia. The alicorn disguised-as-a-unicorn had by now noticed that the conversational pegasus had been silent for some time.

“It is nothing Celest... Uh wait... Did we ever decide on what to call you before we left the tent?” asked Vaultaire. The alicorn-in-disguise frowned and chuckled.

“Ah... We did not decide on a name. Thou may call us Celeste. That would be quite appropriate,” said Celestia.

“Celeste... Not very common, but it will be easy for us to remember... ”

“Salam, beautiful unicorn! I am sorry for intruding, but I have a problem and I was wondering if you can help me!”

The speaker was a Sa’id. The pony had been running all over The Gathering like a pegasus on a marathon. He had been trying to get the water he needed and had not been succeeding. As soon as he had seen the white unicorn walking past his stall, he had a brainwave.

Unicorns have magic. I’ve seen unicorns use magic to summon water in the southern deserts. Ask unicorn to summon water for me! Had been his thought process.

Celestia had barely a moment to get in a word edgewise before the earth pony gripped her tail and dragged her to his stall. The alicorn-in-disguise was surprised, but did not resist and, if anything, she was more amused by the earth pony than offended. Vaultaire watched this all with eyes as wide as dinner plates, wondering what her friend thought of being dragged by the tail.


Three stone, metal, glass and wooden gadgets greeted the trio as they arrived in front of Sa’id’s grey tent. The gadgets snagged Vaultaire and Celestia’s focus like a nail snaring a long dress; they could not help but take a more careful look.

There were a total of three intricate mechanisms placed on the ground. Each of them seemingly built for a different purpose. One device was rectangular with an empty stone basin on the top and a large granite flagstone on the bottom. Underneath the basin was a gap that opened at both short ends of the rectangle. When the pegasus and alicorn-in-disguise peeked into one of the ends, they saw that stone basin was held up by what looked like small pillars of clay tiles.

The second construction was a little more complicated. There were two tanks, at the top of the construction and at the bottom. A series of small steel gutters looped around and around to connect the two in a winding circuit. Between some of the gutters were what looked like small round basins. There was also a strange hollow cylinder with a crank handle at the top that lead from the bottom tank to the top tank.

The final device constituted of a barrel with a curious contraption on the top. The contraption in question was mounted on top of the barrel. It consisted of a wheel holding a rope that was knotted at intervals. The knotted rope appeared to go into the barrel and out of it through a metal pipe with a spout that shot off at right angles to the pipe. Sa’id took the barrel’s top off to reveal that the rope was tied in a loop and that the pipe extended into the barrel.

“Sorry for taking you away so abruptly, madam, but if you would please cast a water spell to fill the tanks, barrel and containers on these devices? The bottom tank in the middle device doesn’t have to be filled,” asked Sa’id. The alicorn hesitated only for a moment before the earth pony’s eager smile and Celestia’s own curiosity about the purpose of the devices won out.

“We ask that thou shalt, in return, explain to us the purpose of thy contraptions,” said Celestia. At Sa’id’s eager nods, the princess cast her magic.

Directed torrents of water shot from Celestia’s horn and sloshed into the tanks and containers of the three devices. As the water rose, Sa’id’s smile widened in proportion and by the time each of the containers were filled with water, the earth pony’s grin was stretching across the entire breadth of his face.

“Jayed! Good! So you wanted to know what was these things do? Let me, Sa’id of the Southern Deserts, demonstrate!” said Sa’id. The pony ran into his tent and came out, his mouth biting on some brushwood and a tinderbox. The pony dropped the brushwood on the granite stone beside the container and began to work at lighting the wood with the tinderbox, continuing to talk as he did.

“Have you ever had a hot bath before, my ladies?” asked the yellow earth pony, his cheerful grey eyes still glued to the tinder.

“No, why would you want such a thing?” said Vaultaire with a frown that brought forth a reproving glance from the alicorn-in-disguise next to her. Most pegasi were quite happy with the warm showers they could get out of clouds. Also, it was extraordinarily difficult for pegasi to obtain hot water since there was no way of heating anything in the clouds. Sa’id looked up from his fire and continued with his explanation, occasionally tossing more tinder to build up the fire.

“Let’s say you did! The main problem with hot water baths is the heating. There is no way to heat a large amount of hot water safely. One must heat in the fireplace kettles and have the heated water transported to the bath itself. This takes much time and is costly in firewood, time and labour. But what if you could heat the water for your bath and your house at the same time? Would you spend the wood to do that?” asked Sa’id. Celestia’s eyebrows had risen higher and higher as Sa’id had asked his questions. What this earth pony was proposing had never been done before and this provoked her already insatiable curiosity to the limit.

“One might spend wood to do that, but how would thou be able to heat one’s house and bath at the same time?” inquired Celestia. By now, quite a large fire had built up on the granite flagstone. Also, to the raised eyebrows and furiously blinking eyes’ of the ponies, the water in the bath was now beginning to give off steam although it had not been in direct contact with the fire.

“See the smoke coming out of the other end? That is the hot air from the fire. The air is directed under the bath and flows past the small clay tiled columns. If the floors are built similar to this bath, then by directing the heat using flues and vents, the floor of any room in the house can be heated the same way!” explained Sa’id. Celestia was quite impressed and even Vaultaire, who had been quite disinterested in the idea of hot baths, could not resist the pull of the possibility of heating for a structure. Most of Equestria’s castles were drafty, cold and the only way to heat them was to have fireplaces, which could not be installed in every room.

“Could this system be used for a larger structure, say a castle, and could thou design one for a castle?” asked Celestia.

“Such a system would be brilliantly suited for a castle. Though, I have never designed one for a castle,” responded Sa’id. As Celestia nodded in acknowledgement, Vaultaire gestured to the second device.

“What does this do?” asked the pegasus tiredly. She had tried to figure out what the gutters and small basins would do, but had ended up mentally exhausting herself.

Sa’id chuckled and with one hoof, scooped up a large wad of dirt.

“Most castles collect the rainwater, funnel them into gutters and then use gutters to transport them to where they are needed. That water is often quite undrinkable though because leaves and dirt often contaminate it,” said Sa’id as he dumped the wad into the topmost tank.

“Ah, but the basins somehow clean the water?” inquired Vaultaire.

“Indeed! Watch,” instructed Sa’id as he lifted the sluice gate that kept water in the top tank. Silted water began to flow down the gutter and into the first bowl, where something quite unexpected happened. In the small bowl, the water began to form a whirlpool! The gutter had directed the water at precisely the right angle so the water had spun in the bowl, leaving sediment at the bottom and cleaner water flowing into the next gutter. The process repeated itself until only clean water flowed into the tank at the bottom.

“Ingenious! Thou used the whirlpools to leave much of the sediment behind! We are most impressed by thine inventions! What is the third device?” asked Celestia, voice pitched high with anticipation. Sa’id beamed and without further ado, launched into his lecture.

“Most ponies get water from a well, but can only draw a single bucket up at a time. What if you could draw as many buckets as the well had water in it?” suggested Sa’id as he put the modified barrel back onto the filled barrel. Celestia’s and Vaultaire’s heads leaned forward as Sa’id’s hoof took hold of the handle. The earth pony then began to crank the handle slowly. As he did, water began to flow out of the spout.

“It is a pump!” exclaimed Vaultaire as the water began to splash on the ground.

“Indeed! It is a rope pump. With it, a pony can pump water out from a tank or well at ease!” said Sa’id happily.

“We are most fascinated by thy gadgets Sa’id. Art thou staying for the rest of The Great Gathering?” asked Celestia. Vaultaire turned her head slightly as she noticed the same question that Celestia had asked Spire.

“Indeed! Now that I have water, I can demonstrate and show my inventions to all the ponies at The Great Gathering. Thank you, madam, for your aid and your interest in my work,” said Sa’id as he bowed to Celestia.

“And we thank you for showing us your inventions and explaining to us their purposes. We shall call upon thee later,” announced the alicorn-in-disguise. After that, the pair left, leaving the desert pony with his head still bowed.

Min faḍlak! I mean…Excuse me! What are your names?” called Sa’id. However, the unicorn and pegasus only heard the noise of the multitudes of ponies running around in the Gathering and completely missed Sa’id’s question as they vanished into the crowd of ponies.

"Hello, sir. What are these objects?” inquired a passing pony. Always willing to answer questions, Sa’id gave his full attention to the other pony and began to display his inventions once again.


“What do you think Vaultaire? Should we choose him?” asked Celestia, her voice barely louder than a whisper. The pegasus put her hoof to her chin and recalled the heating system and the other inventions Sa’id had eagerly displayed to Celestia and herself. Having the capitol and palace designed with the most advanced pumps, heating and water filtration system would be invaluable. The desert pony also seemed to possess a mind capable of coming up with new gadgets other than the ones he had just displayed. However, Vaultaire also remembered quite clearly that Sa’id had mentioned that he had never worked on a castle before. He also seemed, a little too animated at times and the pegasus wondered if she could work with him. If Sa’id was to be on the team, it would not be without some risk. After several moments, the pegasus put her hoof down.

“Sa’id is inexperienced in constructing large structures. Taking him on wouldn’t be without risk to the project. However, the skills and inventions he offers will be invaluable to the project, for the new capital must be equipped with the latest in technology. This is an opportunity we cannot afford to lose,” declared the mare. The alicorn-in-disguise dipped her head in assent.

“We have come to the same conclusion as you have Vaultaire. We also like him,” said Celestia. Vaultaire’s ears shot up and she blushed.

“You mean…”

“Not that like Vaultaire, but it’s been a while since we have talked to a pony so cheerful and eager,” remarked Celestia. The alicorn-in-disguise then hid a smile with her hoof, her magenta eyes dancing.

“And we did not know thou could think of us like that,” said Celestia with a titter. The pegasus blushed as she and her friend trotted off.

The Great Gathering...

Chartres froze as she faced the two Royal Guards. Mentally, the bells in her head were ringing death knells. She had been caught, she was going to get fined. The emotionless features of the two stallions told her that no amount of begging was going to save her. So, not wanting to get caught and pay the fine, she did what was only natural.

Escape

Her horn shone and a blast of blue light blinded the two guardsponies. Not waiting to see the result of her spell, she ran. The unicorn galloped past confused ponies, stalls, past little fillies and colts. Chartres didn’t know where she was going. She only knew she had to get away.