Castle Peace

Hikary walked over the muddy path, trying to keep her hoofs as clean as possible. It had indeed rained hard and long the day before, and as a result all the usual sandy roads that led to the new castle were completely muddy now. She didn’t want to get the interior of the new castle dirty, though. Therefore, she was extra careful on where to put her hoofs. At least it was dry today. When the castle was finished, though, they had to make these paths more solid, so that ponies could visit the castle without any muddy hoofs.

The magnificent new castle doomed up in front of her. It was at least for times the size of the old castle, And it was utterly beautiful. Even in this day without sun, it still seemed to sparkle. It had five towers; one on each corner and one large one in the centre of the building. The flag of the Friendship Lands was already decorating the largest tower. The front door stood out a bit from the castle. Oval shaped, it extended into the garden, with curved doors that opened to the outside.

Unlike the old castle, this one was specifically build to have different wings for different purposes. Downstairs, you had the servant’s wing, with the adjacent wing for the kitchen, the laundry room and other places the servants frequently had to visit. On the other side, you had the wing with living quarters for the family, including an actual living room and rooms to work for every member of the family, not to forget a room for the children to play in and a bathroom. The fourth and final wing contained the library. In the middle of the first floor was the big throne room.

The second floor was made up of two-and-a-half sleeping wings. The left over half wing was for storage of old files and letters that were too important to throw away. The final wing was meant for a variety of things, including guest rooms and a nursery. There would be rooms in the towers on two extra floors, too, but they had not decided what to use them for yet. The big tower would be used for storing treasures and expensive items, as it was, in the unlikely case of an attack, the easiest to defend, and it would have no windows. Yes, it was so much bigger and it would be so much more useful than the old castle. Hikary could hardly wait to see it finished, together with the beautiful garden that would one day surround it.

Because, right now, the castle was surrounded by nothing more than a big mess. Because ponies had walked there for a few years now, there was hardly and grass or plants left and it all looked dark brown and grey. Not really inviting. Yet before they could start to work on the garden, the walls that would surround and protect the castle would have to be build first. Around the castle walls would be a moat with a bridge they could pull up or let down. Gardeners were already busy working on designs for the garden. It would definitely be beautiful, and big enough to have enough space to grow the necessary herbs, fruits and vegetables for the entire family. Of course, there would be a nice place for them to relax and for children to play in the sun as well.

Hikary had arrived at the castle door, which was also a lot larger than the one from the old castle, and after cleaning her hoofs as good as possible, she entered the building. The large oval hallway, which had already been painted in a light pink color, was lit by the sunlight that entered it through the glass dome on the ceiling, right above the door. On either side were large stairs that led to the first floor. Below the stairs were doors that led to the wings. Ahead of her was an as of yet unpainted wooden door that would lead her to the throne room. She heard noise coming from the other side, so she decided to there first.

She opened the wooden door and entered the throne room. In the middle of the room were four pillars, on either side of the path two, which supported the big tower above it. Between the pillars she could see the door in the ceiling, which could only be opened when a removable ladder was used. The end of the room was a little higher than the rest, so once her mother, and later her sister, would sit there on the throne, they could oversee the visitors.

This room was also done, the walls were painted and the ceiling and the pillars were as well, and Hikary was surprised to find the furnishers here, working on decoration and installing the throne on the other side of the room. The throne would be standing under a dome, much like the one in the hallway, but smaller. Apart from this, there were no other windows in this room, so it had to be properly lit. There were chandeliers along the room everywhere, and a few very beautiful golden ones already hung from the ceiling. They had no candles in them yet, though, Hikary noticed.

“Good morning!” Hikary greeted the workers.
“Good morning, my lady!” One of the decorating girls greeted her. She was obviously in a good mood.
“How are things going today?” Hikary asked, looking around.
“Oh, just wonderful, my lady! As you can see, almost everything downstairs is completely done and painted, so we can start decorating like your mother asked us to do!”

No wonder the girl was in such a cheerful mood. They could finally do their part of the construction. When the plan for the new castle was released to the citizens of the country, almost everyone was eager to help out. No wonder, for it was of course a great honor to be able to say that you helped on the castle of the queen, and it was widely known that the queen always paid a good price. Still, Regina preferred the ponies who had build the old castle, who of course got help from any new ponies. Everyone worked together, which was exactly what she wanted. A castle build by and for the citizens.

“That’s great! Are the workers all done downstairs?” Hikary asked, mildly surprised.
“Yep! They’re only painting the servant quarters now, and then it’s all done! I think that when they’re done with that, they can start painting upstairs. They should have finished there as well.” The girl replied. Hikary was impressed at the speed everyone was working. The last time she was here they hadn’t even completed the structure of the castle yet.

“That’s great to hear! It seems everyone is working exceptionally hard. I won’t hold you ponies up much longer. I’ll go see the other parts of the castle.” Hikary said.
“That’s fine, my lady! Thank you for your visit!” The girl said before she ran back to her work. Hikary smiled, and then left the throne room.

In the hallway again, Hikary went right to the living quarters. It was all painted, but there were no candles yet, nor any furniture. Still, it looked great, and she would definitely feel at home once it was all completed. She walked through the hallway to the door that would lead her to the servant’s quarters.

Apart from rooms for the servants, which would be a lot more than just Tsuyo, there was also a separate kitchen and a small living room and bathroom. Apart from this, there was a large storage room back here as well. It looked great so far, and Hikary was sure the servants would live here with pleasure. As she walked on, she saw the painters working in one of the many rooms. She greeted them, once again asking how the progress was coming along. They appeared to be as satisfied and cheerful as the decoration girl in the other room, and they were almost done painting the bottom floor. Only a few rooms remained unpainted, but they expected them to be done in a few days.

Satisfied, Hikary left the painters to their work. She walked through the one wing she had not visited yet and once she got back into the hallway, she took one of the steps upstairs. It was obvious at first sight that they had started on the bottom floor first. The walls were bare and grey, there were no doors yet and in some rooms there wasn’t even glass in the windows. There was still a lot of work to be done here.

She passed the bedrooms, wondering who was supposed to occupy all these rooms. There were so many! Her family could fit in here twice, easily. Of course, she knew they had taken in account that the castle was supposed to last for a long time, and the family might expand over the years. Well, it might be true, seeing how large their family apparently was before the eruption in the old lands.

They had not yet divided up the rooms, except for the two large ones. One was for Regina, and later for Taira once she became queen. The other one was for Taira, and later for her daughter, Ruki, or the unborn girl. Whoever of the two would become the heir, anyway. But those were on the other side of the castle. The rooms here were for the normal princesses, like her, and Fleur. Ivy, of course, was going to stay in the other castle the moment the rest moved. Fleur was most likely coming with them, even though she had expressed her doubts lately. She wanted to stay with her older sister. Thinking of her relationship to Taira, Hikary understood Fleur’s feelings.

After she had taken two turns, she came to the bedrooms of her mother and Taira. Next to them was the nursery. These bedrooms already had doors and looked cleaned up, and had windows. Only a layer of paint and floor-covering prevented them from getting decorated and furnitured. Still, Hikary sighed, Taira would have to give birth in the other castle. These rooms might be done on time, but the entire castle would definitely not be. And during the birth, and the days after that, Taira and the baby needed rest, and not workers running around all the time.

She walked on to her mother’s room. This, as so many things, was a lot larger than the old version. It had large windows that looked out over the valley, a balcony, and there was enough space for her mother’s lovely bed, with which she did not want to part so it had to be moved, a dressing table and more. Her mother… would love living here, Hikary was sure.

Their mother… when Hikary had talked to Fleur a while ago, Fleur had commented that their mother had become a lot more serious, and somehow more sad, than she had been before that fateful day Twinkle Star and Crystal had shown up. Hikary didn’t know anything about that, as she had only come to live here a few years ago after she was freed from Aras, but she had to agree with Fleur that their mother didn’t seem to smile as often as she used to. She took everything serious, but she did not share any of her concerns with her daughters. Well, she used to, with Taira, but ever since Taira came home pregnant her mother had ceased to do so as well.

Yes, her mother and Taira had bonded extremely well. After Taira had returned from Batafurai from their first visit there, now three years ago, Regina had often taken Taira apart for lessons, and had taken her along when she had to perform her duties. Not only to show her to the country, but to show the country to Taira as well. Slowly but surely, her sister had fallen in love with this little country hidden in the mountains, and she rapidly had learned what she had to do to rule it well and to serve it as best as she could.

Hikary closed the door of the bedroom. Yes, this castle would become beautiful. She could not wait to see how it looked like when it was done, but that would still take a while. She walked on, and she soon heard the workers busy a little further away. She was already sure she could go home satisfied. Silently she wished it would make her mother smile.