Tales of an Equestrian Mare

by Durandal

Chapter 5

Behind him, the bout of angry hooficuffs which had - it was now clear - upset more than just Hearthfire’s boat, was turning into a full scale brawl involving several vessels and maybe dozens of ponies. Shouts and cries and splashes were spreading through the market as boats dominoed into each other, sea ponies surfacing here and there to help floundering swimmers keep afloat in the chaos.

“Perhaps somewhere a touch quieter?”

* * *

“So, you are aware Whinnycia is sometimes known as the City of Architects, yes? Do you know why?”

Hearthfire was still periodically dripping water onto the immaculate floor of the open-air cafe, as she sat sipping tea and nibbling at thin biscuits by the canalside. She had dried off a bit since her unplanned swimming session, and she had been provided with a small towel by their waiter, but by the time she had done her best to dry off Cas, there was scarcely any dry towel left. The Water Market had seemed almost on the verge of collapse as they made their escape, and the patrol boats used by the city guard were already swarming in to put a stop to the riot. Her rescuer, who had introduced himself as Stonefeather, assured her that the market had suffered far worse upsets over the years, and somehow continued on.

“I’ve heard folk say it’s about the rival schools. Everyone competing to construct the most impressive buildings.”

“While respecting the artistic integrity of the city as a whole, yes, yes,” he waved a dismissive hoof, “...but?”

“I’ve also heard that it’s named for the city’s ruling body, known as the Council of Architects. I don’t know if I’m willing to believe the stories I’ve heard about that, though.”

“Ha ha, no, not many ponies are. It’s no secret, but I think everpony outside our borders thinks it’s too ridiculous to be true. Whinnycia moves, Hearthfire. The city that stands here today is not the city that will stand here in a decade, or even a year.”

Hearthfire smiled that certain smile reserved for ponies who aren’t sure if they’re being made fun of.

“The founders of the city... well, probably not the founders, but probably some ruler a very long time ago, decreed that some day, Whinnycia would one day be a perfect city. This pony, or maybe this council of ponies, realised that they had a golden opportunity. An ordinary city shifts and changes over time, yes, but it is very gradual. A block falls into disrepair, the decay spreads to nearby streets, and creeps out until some great civil engineering project reclaims the damaged section. And once a decision has been made, the city is more or less stuck with it; if there is a road here, it is very hard to un-make it, if you wish to, for example, build more houses...

“Anyway, my point being: once a year, the Council of Architects votes on a Plan, a new map for the city, and the buildings are moved. Every new arrangement is, in the eyes of the Council, better than the last, and someday we will find an arrangement that is perfect.”

Ridiculous.

“Oh come on. I’ve seen how those towers sway at their peaks. They barely stay upright as it is, and you expect me to believe that you just, tug them around to rearrange the city?”

“Why in the Heavens would I lie to you about this? And besides, doesn’t it just make you even more curious to know what this has to do with your swim?”

“Fine. What does the Council of Architects have to do with my swim?”

“Well, the short answer is: those were two of the Council’s most honored representatives brawling in the market. You could have picked a better time to visit fair Whinnycia, honestly.”

Hearthfire smacked a hoof into her forehead as creeping suspicion overtook her. “The next - what did you call it? - the next Plan is going to be voted on soon, isn’t it?”

“Very prescient of you. And...?”

“I suppose the Council doesn’t always come to a unanimous agreement, does it?”

“I believe in the past five hundred years, the Plan has, on each occasion, been passed by no more than a margin of three. There are two families, who have over the years come to control every last seat on the Council, and have different visions for the city and half of the vote. I will not delve into the bizarre process by which a majority is actually reached. Sometimes it is by bribery and betrayal. Sometimes, one family manages to force a vote while a member of the other family is in the restrooms.”

“It’s a unique system, I’ll admit that.”

“It’s ridiculous, and an embarrassment. What usually ends up happening, far from the founders’ vision of an incremental utopia, is that one family will simply reverse whatever changes were made by their rivals, perhaps with a little fiddling around the edges, and so it goes back and forth for centuries.”

Stonefeather sighed a defeated sigh, staring off into space.

“I know my family. The Feathers are a stubborn, insular tribe, and our opponents, the Verdants, are no better. Zealous and judgemental almost to the last pony. I’m afraid that one of these days we might just pull the city down around our own ears.”

“The way you’re talking, I’m lucky to be here while the place is still standing,” Hearthfire said, in a lame attempt to lighten the mood. “Look, not that I’m ungrateful for being fished out of the river, but why are we having this conversation?”

“Why? No, you’re right. It’s stupid. You’re an outsider, you’re not interested in our petty squabbles. I just wanted a chance to vent my frustrations, perhaps. I’m so sick of it all.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that I wasn’t interested. The opposite, it’s fascinating. Every new thing I find out about the city makes it all the more unbelievable. It certainly wasn’t a waste of time to come here.”

“I mean it: things might get bad in the city in the next few days,” Stonefeather predicted, darkly. “I’d tell you to leave why you still can, but I can already tell anything I say is just going to make you more determined to stay. The vote is in a week. I was going to spend the next few days trying to convince some of my more hard-line relatives to be sensible, but after that little display in the market between Dancing Pinion and Wild Reed, I don’t think I have the stomach.”

“You’re certainly right that I’m not going anywhere,” Hearthfire confirmed, pushing back her chair and getting to her hooves, “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Thank you for the tea, Mr. Feather, and for fishing me out of the canal.”

“Ah, leaving already?” He rose from his own chair, “If I might make one suggestion? Though perhaps it is a little forward.”

Hearthfire paused, not sure what to expect next from her new acquaintance.

“You are intending to travel the city? Let me be your guide. I know a lot about, oh, all sorts. I know all the major landmarks of the city and their histories. And if... if somepony were to make a rash decision, and things got out of hoof, I’d feel a lot better knowing where you were.”

She was a heartbeat away from dismissing him without consideration. It felt a lot like being patronised, but she clamped down on the I’m a big filly now, I can look after myself reaction before it had time to take root. He seemed pleasant enough, and it would be good to have a reliable tour guide. And he was probably exaggerating the risks; if nothing happened during her stay, the fact that he was clearly intending to be her knight in shining armour wouldn’t matter.

“...All right.”

“Really?!”

* * *

It turned into something of an outing.

Stonefeather’s friends were an eclectic bunch. Some were distant relatives from other branches of the Feather family, others were from various parts of the Verdant family. They were all in their teens, and it didn’t take long to find that all of them were vehemently in agreement with Stonefeather’s gloomy assessment of the state of the city. Social rebels, of a sort that Hearthfire recognised from her own youth in Equestria, flying in the face of their elders’ logic and daring to cross boundaries. It was slightly depressing to see, but they had the decency to understand that she wasn’t really interested or invested in their cause, and proved to be a fun bunch in their own right.

They spent the day hopping around the city. True to his word, Stonefeather was a veritable font of information on the history and culture of Whinnycia, and where his own knowledge faltered, his friends were there to pick up the slack.

“This tower was constructed in secret, and towed into the bay after its completion,” a petite, solemn unicorn mare named Rainbow Plume was lecturing. At her back, the building under discussion rose perhaps two stories above the average height of buildings in the area, “Why, you ask? Because at the time, it was the largest tower ever constructed in Whinnycia, and the architect responsible wished to hide the secret of its construction. At the time, conventional wisdom held that three or four stories was the greatest height a building could reach; or, more accurately, that the maximum ratio of height to width -”

“You’re all very well versed in Whinnycian history,” Hearthfire whispered to Stonefeather as the master class in local architecture went on.

“What can I say? We might not approve of our families’ rivalry, but we don’t have to be ashamed that we’re the descendents of some of the greatest architects in the world.”

“- so, with the creation of the first sub-surface stabiliser fin, the path was opened to create the modern architectural schools, and, even more importantly, laid the groundwork for the creation of the sea pony districts of the city.”