2 - Foundation
Princess Celestia looked phenomenal in work clothes.
She’d shown up just when she said she would, with rough clothes perfectly suited for the work, and no decorative horseshoes, peytral, or crown. She’d even properly tied her mane and tail back in buns to keep them from getting in other workers’ faces. Dirt and debris smeared her coat before too long, but somehow that just made the white stand out even more.
As Gabion went over the plan one last time with the architects and builders assigned to the castle — most workers would start building the castle on solid ground, while the remainder and Princess Celestia would begin on the platform that didn’t seem quite so accursed anymore — Princess Celestia sat at the back of the crowd and nodded along with the rest of them. When everypony went to their assigned jobs, she left with them without a word to Gabion. He held his breath.
He didn’t like to micromanage, and he was sure that if he saw how Princess Celestia was doing, he’d start micromanaging her. When he did his daily checkup round, he deliberately skimmed past Princess Celestia’s group. No, he didn’t need to see how she was doing. Nope. She’d be doing fine. Definitely.
At the very least, he didn’t hear any complaints. Not until after dinner.
The sun was just below the horizon and Gabion was reviewing his notes for the day when the architect Princess Celestia was working under, a slim red unicorn named Bush Hammer, entered his tent, looking ready to break out in a sweat. “Um, sir?” asked Bush Hammer. “How… precisely do you want the platform’s stones to fit together?”
“As closely as possible,” Gabion said, looking up and frowning. “They were already measured, they shouldn’t have a problem with gaps. Why?”
“Because…” Bush Hammer looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “Now,” he whispered, “remember that I’m talking about Celestia the worker, not Princess Celestia the ruler-”
Gabion had to bite down his bile; the table groaned imperceptibly as he pressed his hooves a little harder into it. Of course if something went wrong, it’d be with her. He knew she was a good pony — she’d been ruling Equestria for a hundred years and had come out smelling like roses — but you couldn’t just jump into architecture and construction immediately. It was far different from stacking blocks on top of each other. She was immortal, she moved the sun, and she didn’t know a thing about construction.
But. But maybe there was something more. Gabion did his best to reserve judgment until he’d heard Bush Hammer out.
“-she’s working without complaining,” Bush Hammer continued, “and if I tell her to do something, she does it, but…” Bush Hammer chewed his lip, then blurted, “It’s the stones themselves, sir. She can’t lay them down properly. She’s either smashing them together too hard or leaving gaps between them, and-”
“What sort of gaps?” Gabion interrupted. “How large?” If the platform was being held together by a spell, maybe they could afford some looseness in the design. A few inches wouldn’t be the end of the world.
“At least two feet, sir. Usually more,” said Bush Hammer, and Gabion’s disposition soured even more. “To her credit, I, I don’t think it’s her as much as the size of the stones. She’s trying, but they’re as big as a house. I’m not entirely positive we could do much better with a team of trained unicorns.”
In all honesty? Probably not. To say those stones were as big as a house was an understatement. Simply carving them out and getting them from the quarry in one piece had probably been a feat of arcane engineering. They needed to be so large to minimize the materials and magic needed to hold the platform together, strengthening it. At that size, pure inertia could overcome even the best workings and power. So what if Princess Celestia could move the sun? It wasn’t like the sun needed to be fraction-of-an-inch-perfect in its placement.
Bush Hammer was still talking. “We’re making do by magically siphoning rock from the other blocks and using it to fill the gaps, but at these scales, it’s magically intensive, takes longer, creates weaker bonds, and we might run out of stone if we use too much of it. We’re already a little behind schedule. We need to- talk to her and see if we can get her to improve. And I mean need.” He took a long breath. “I…” he muttered, and hung his head. “I’m sorry, sir, I should’ve told her. But I… didn’t think I could criticize Princess Celestia, so I was… hoping for some… moral support.”
Gabion’s answer was out in a heartbeat. “No.”
Bush Hammer didn’t even sigh. “I understand, sir. I’ll try to talk to-”
“I mean, ‘no’, as in, ‘no, you’re not doing it, I’ll do it’.”
“Sir?” Bush Hammer looked up again. “Sir, you know I can handle this, I just need-”
Gabion held up a hoof and Bush Hammer stopped talking. “I know, Bush. I know that if it were anypony else, you’d have talked to them, walked them through the problem, and probably already solved it with no fuss.” Bush Hammer nodded. “But this is Princess Celestia, and I think that I should be the one to handle this, just in case. I’m less expendable.” Of course, that was leaving out the ulterior motive that he wanted to be the one yelling at Princess Celestia, not Bush Hammer. But Bush didn’t need to know that.
“I see, sir. Thank you.” Bush Hammer didn’t bother hiding the relief in his voice.
“Get some rest tonight. I’ll talk to you and her tomorrow.”
Instead of helping, the princess was messing things up on her own castle. Even though it was accidental, what was Gabion supposed to say about that?
Gabion wanted to think that Princess Celestia could forgive criticisms against her building. He also wanted to retire as the richest pony in Equestria, and there was no way that was happening. His mind kept going back to what if what if WHAT IF and spinning elaborate scenarios involving disgrace to his family name, jail time, banishment, or some combination of all three. But in the end, Gabion knew he had to just grit his teeth and do it.
Morning dawned at the usual time. Apparently, extensive construction labor didn’t hinder Princess Celestia’s ability to raise the sun at all. (Now that he thought about it, Gabion idly wondered if Princesses Celestia and Luna were so strong in magic because they had a unicorn’s magical ability mixed with an earth pony’s endurance.) He didn’t hear any complaints about her except for a quick reminder from Bush Hammer to stop by the platform.
He waited a few hours for everypony to get into the swing of things, then contacted a couple pegasi for his sky chariot. A mason needed to see his craft from all angles, including above or from over a cliff. Gabion was sincerely glad he didn’t have a fear of heights. The chariot took him over the slopes of Canter Mount and slowly curved around where the platform would be.
Gabion wasn’t sure what to expect at the platform. Several blocks had already been laid into place, and although he cringed slightly at their less-than-stellar positioning, it wasn’t too bad. Something would need to be corrected, true, but it looked more like Princess Celestia just needed a nudge in the right direction rather than intensive lessons. Hopefully…
Even as he watched, she crested over the cliff, casually levitating a staggeringly huge block of granite behind her. Several pegasi were following her, occasionally yelling instructions for the block to be moved this way or that. She swooped, hovered alongside the gap where the block was to be laid, and began moving it in.
Gabion instructed the chariot to take him in for a better look. Once he was close, he winced at the sloppy handling of the stone as it moved towards its position. The flaw in its motion wasn’t anything he could describe or pinpoint, he simply knew it was off. Princess Celestia was graceful, Princess Celestia was majestic, and Princess Celestia was terrible at her job.
Still, even though Gabion couldn’t describe what was bad about the movement of the stone, he knew what was bad about Princess Celestia’s spell technique and how to correct it. Before the block was too close to take it back, he did a simple spell to make his voice louder. “Celestia!” he yelled. “You’re doing it wrong!”
Attuned as he was to the sounds of construction, Gabion caught almost every single hammer, saw, and tool on the site going completely silent. He suspected everypony around was looking at him or Princess Celestia, waiting to see how this would play out. Even one of the charioteers was breaking protocol, twisting to stare at him, and the other’s ears were twitching.
“You’re holding it,” Gabion said. “Just let it rest in your magic. Don’t push it and force it; give your magic a tug and let the block follow. I know it’s slower, but it’s more precise.” It was a common mistake among new unicorn builders. Heck, his special talent was masonry and he’d made it countless times. If it were anypony other than Princess Celestia, he’d mention something about how everypony did it, don’t feel bad, before turning his attention elsewhere. To Princess Celestia, somepony who moved the sun itself, that would be condescending to an unbelievable degree.
Princess Celestia looked at him, her expression unreadable at this distance. She turned her gaze to the block, and it might’ve been Gabion’s imagination, but he thought he saw her gulp. “Very well,” she yelled back. When the block started moving again, it was a little better, but not much. Gabion sighed internally; he’d need to handle this personally.
“Stop!” yelled Gabion. “Stop, stop, everypony stop!” Everypony stopped. Including Celestia. “Take me down there,” Gabion said to his charioteers. Once they had landed, Gabion stepped out of the chariot and yelled, “Clear away, ponies! We’re starting this one over! Celestia, move that block away.”
Everything froze then unfroze in rapid succession. Ponies backed away from him like he was infected with a terrible disease. Except for Princess Celestia, who levitated the block out of its hole and alighted daintily next to him. Her expression was unreadable, and if she was straining at all from moving the block, it didn’t show in the slightest. “Yes?” she asked. Her voice was level, but Gabion couldn’t for the life of him say in what way it was level.
Gabion took in the lines of the hole, then walked to one of the corners of the hole, where blocks had already been placed. He laid his cheek flat against the rock and squinted. “Celestia, could you move your rock down a few feet?” he asked.
“Mason,” she said, “I-”
“Celestia,” Gabion heard himself snap. “Move the rock down a few feet.”
A few seconds’ silence. Before Gabion could regret his harshness, the rock moved down a few feet. Its bottom edge was below the platform’s top edge.
Gabion stood up, waved Princess Celestia over, and took a deep breath. He did his best to look her in the eye as she loomed over him. “Your technique isn’t very good,” he forced out. “Even accounting for how large these stones are. You’re trying to pull it, but something that large doesn’t want to be pulled, and it can easily get out of control.”
Princess Celestia blinked. She opened her mouth, paused, and said, “Yes.”
“Imagine this,” Gabion said. “You’re holding a bowl of water, almost full. You need to move the bowl without spilling the water. Go slow and don’t try to overcorrect if you think you’re going to spill a drop, or else you’ll spill more on the other side. Stop moving the bowl, let the water settle, and then move the bowl again.”
Move the bowl, Princess Celestia mouthed. Aloud, she said, “I see. That… does sound intuitive.”
Good sign. “Now, we’re going to try to move the block to this corner,” Gabion said. “If you’re a little bit off, the stones will naturally push it to the right position, as long as you take. It. Slow.”
Princess Celestia nodded and turned her attention to the block. Slowly, and much more smoothly, it drifted toward them.
“Yes, yes, just like that.” Gabion realized he was smiling. “And stars above, take your time. Cutting corners to save a few minutes of work today can mean fixing that mistake in a few hours of work tomorrow.”
Princess Celestia nodded again. The massive block continued its slow trip towards them, but Gabion didn’t flinch. Over the better part of a minute, Gabion kept giving encouragement or making suggestions. “Easy,” he said, “easy, you’re good… A little to the left… Good, good, keep it slow-”
The platform shook slightly as the block slid into the corner, but it was perfectly manageable. “Now,” said Gabion, “let it down slowly. Whatever you do, do not release it until it makes contact with the stone below. There’s less of a chance of anything getting crushed.”
Princess Celestia nodded, her tongue sticking out in concentration and a most unprincessly fashion. Stone ground against stone, sending echoes all across the mountain, as she lowered the block. The top grew closer and closer to the surface of the platform.
“Good, good,” said Gabion. “Keep it like that, no faster, keep it like-”
Thud. The block had been lowered at a slow enough speed, but simple size meant there was a huge rumble when it settled into place. Princess Celestia’s golden haze disappeared and she turned to Gabion, ears trembling.
“Perfect,” Gabion said with a grin. And it was; the block fit into position exactly. He ran his hoof from one block to the next, feeling for a ridge signifying they were out of vertical alignment. Nothing significant. “We’re good,” he whispered, and he pretended not to notice Princess Celestia’s sigh of relief. Raising his voice again, he waved a hoof and yelled, “We’re good, ponies! We’re done here! Back to work!”
Abruptly, Gabion’s hair stood on end as Princess Celestia called on her magic. A flash of light nearly blinded him and made his stomach do a backflip. A few other unicorns nearby reacted the same way, putting their hooves to their chests or clutching their heads. He’d never felt that much power that close before. It was more than a little terrifying, he had to admit. But then, Princess Celestia. She was terrifying once you spent more than a few seconds thinking about what she actually did.
As long as you didn’t see her stick her tongue out in concentration.
Gabion turned to Princess Celestia, a question on his lips, but she answered it before he could speak. “It’s just the binding spell I showed you,” she said. Her voice was casual, but Gabion wondered if she truly understood just how much power she was throwing around. “Bush Hammer said I ought to apply it with every laid block and that it would be good practice for when we finally went over the cliff edge and the rocks would have to be levitated and bound simultaneously.”
Right. That was the protocol. Gabion paused, then inclined his head. “I see. Would you like me to help you again with the next block?”
“No, I think I understand it now. Thank you for the assistance.” Princess Celestia flapped her wings once and laughed sheepishly. Princess Celestia laughed sheepishly. “It’s a bit different from moving the sun, isn’t it?”
Gabion managed to keep a straight face as he said, “I wouldn’t know.”
Princess Celestia giggled.
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
1,005 users online
1,678,602 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
That went better than I was expecting.
I'd like to see a scene in an episode of the castle, and Canterlot, from the base of the mountain.
Something like this: https://www.deviantart.com/jowybean/art/Behind-the-city-of-the-Rulers-443939303
I love seeing stories where Celestia does things like a 'normal' pony, stripping her title and just acting like anyone else would in appropriate situations. Great work with this one.
This. I like it. Another!
No but seriously, this does a good job of showing the mighty glory of the Princess Celestia from the perspective of the common pone. And how much she doesn't want to be that. Still from the common perspective. Nicely done that!
Given her mane and tail, the overall effect was like a pair of multicolored jellyfish were trying to eat her from each end.
In any case, wonderful stuff thus far. Gabion's a good teacher and Celestia is a much better student of masonry than of drama. Definitely looking forward to more.
Indeed, I like this story so far.
Celestia getting down on the workers level in a practical way, not a "I'm leaving Princesshood behind forever" way.
You make the story work, dear author.
Even an immortal Alicorn needs to practice.
Hmph, Mr. Perfect Cell managed to cut perfectly smooth blocks of stone in seconds!
The only problem was that persistently green one...
"You're either perfect, or you're not me."
Would need to be corrected. Missing a "be" there.