Heavenly Crusaders

As he helps Rarity out and assists Applejack on the farm for the next three weeks, August soon arrives as he takes what opportunities he can to start planning the groundwork. At Rarity's insistence, he makes his way over to Fluttershy's so that he can ask for her help before starting to dig up the ground.

Hearing somepony knocking on her door, Fluttershy makes her way over to the door and opens it a little to see True Heart outside. Smiling and opening the door further, she says with a warm smile, "Hi True Heart, it is so nice for you to drop by. Would you like to come in for some tea?"

He smiles at her and says, "I appreciate the offer, but perhaps another time. I wanted to stop by to ask if you would help me look for any animals around where I am planning on digging so that we can relocate them?"

After hearing his request, she nods her head, saying, "Of course! I would be glad to help you, let me go get a few things ready."

Waiting patiently, he is joined by Fluttershy a few minutes later with her saddlebags and a basket, then proceeds to lead the way as Angel hops up onto her back and a bluejay lands on her head, saying, "I see your animal friends are going to lend their aid as well, how very thoughtful of them."

Once they get to his lot, they work together to find the animals living on or under the ground, it takes the better part of the day to move them back and forth as he and Fluttershy return to take a break.

He lies on the picnic blanket as Rarity and Applejack join him and Fluttershy with their own saddlebags as Applejack says, "Mind if we join ya?"

Surprised to see Rarity out here, he smiles and says, "I'm glad to see that you decided to take a break from your designs, please take a seat."

As Rarity smiles and takes a seat, Applejack rests on the edge of the blanket and says, "It feels so good to take a day or two to relax before jumping back into things, ya know?"

True Heart nods and looks around, saying, "I hope we got all of the animals moved, it would be bad if I started the dirt work and an animal got hurt..."

With a smile, Fluttershy turns to Angel asking, "Angel, would you and Jay be a dear and double check for any dens we missed?"

The bunny hesitantly nods his head after finishing his carrot and hops off with the bluejay following him.

Looking around the lot, Applejack turns to True Heart and asks, "When are ya thinking of getting started, pardner? That way, Big Mac and I can pitch in and help you however we can."

Speaking up, Rarity says, "Yes darling, when are you planning to begin? I've seen glimpses of what you have drawn, and from what I could see... I definitely want to be a part of it."

With a smile, he says, "Very soon. If I were to guess, I would say within a couple weeks because I must first use a lost art to bless the ground I own."

They all cock their heads curiously as Applejack asks, "I don't mean to sound rude, but why do you need to bless dirt before building a home?"

He chuckles and says, "Because in doing so, evil will not be able to trespass on my land while all others will be permitted past the walls. After blessing it, it may take up to a week for it to solidify."

Curious to see the lost art, Rarity sees Angel return and give Fluttershy a thumbs up as the bluejay returns and shakes his head. Getting the idea that there are no more animals on the property, she hears Fluttershy tell him there are no more animals to be found, then asks, "Would you be able to do that today so we can watch you?"

True Heart thinks it over and shrugs, saying, "I don't see why not, I believe I have everything I need. Just let me brush up on what I must do to perform it properly."

When Rarity watches him pull out a very old book, she says, "I take it you got that from your grandfather's collection as well?"

Nodding as he goes over the steps, he closes the book and puts it back into his saddlebags, saying, "Alright then, it is mostly straight forward." Turning to them, he smiles and says, "Alright everypony, observe the ritual in silence and follow me at a fair distance as I will sprinkle water to the North, South, East, and West several times in different locations."

As he makes his way to the northern edge in the center of the property, the group follows him and observes as he pulls out a silver object with a wider end and begins talking in a strange language while sending water droplets to the North, South, East, and West in that order before sitting and putting his hooves together for a few seconds. When he goes to the southern central edge and does the same thing, they remain silent as he moves to the eastern central edge of his property.

It takes him about fifteen minutes to perform the ritual in all four directions as he then makes his way to the northeastern corner, performing his ritual there before doing the same in the southeastern corner. When he heads to the northwestern corner, he performs it once again and heads to the southwestern corner. With one final place left, he makes his way there and double checks to see if he has enough holy water left for it.

Standing off to the side near the center of the lot, they watch him refill the item he is using to sprinkle water with before he starts his ritual. This time, however, is different as he channels his magic from the beginning all the while chanting in the strange language and sprinkling water in the four directions. When he sits down and puts his hooves together with his eyes closed, a tingling passes over their coats and causes them to look around curiously before a brief, but bright flash of golden yellow light blinds them.

Applejack rubs her eyes along with the others and says, "Hoo-ee that sure was bright, any of y'all seeing spots?"

Rarity blinks her eyes quickly to get rid of the annoying purple blotches in her vision and nods, saying, "I am too, Applejack." She then turns to True Heart and huffs irritably, asking, "You could have warned us about that bright flash, you know!"

Chuckling softly, he puts the cover on his aspergillum and returns it to his saddlebag, saying, "Apologies, I didn't expect that it would take effect that quickly, it never said how long it would take to activate."

Curious, Fluttershy then asks, "Was that bright flash the blessing you were talking about?"

Nodding his head, True Heart says, "Indeed it was. I need to do it during the day so that it hopefully wouldn't activate during the night and startle people from their sleep."

Having felt a pulse of magic, Celestia excuses herself from court momentarily to investigate it from her lookout tower. When she arrives, she puts her eye to the lens and channels her magic to see any magical residue. It takes her a moment when her eyes spot a sparkling coming from Ponyville and focuses the telescope on it, her gaze passes over the town as tiny specks of ponies fly or walk around town. She is about to give up searching when some kind of glittering just outside of town catches her eye, adjusting the focus slightly as she scans around the southern edge of town. Spotting a small hut, she then sees a farm and focuses on it a moment before the glittering catches her eye again, causing her to look to the south a bit when she spots a small plot recently cleared of grass. Noticing a group of four ponies, she focuses the telescope as far as she can to see three ponies talking to a fourth with a black coat. Unable to make any details out due to a tree partially blocking her view, she sighs irritably and then examines the land curiously as it sparkles regularly. After looking it over, she lets out a curious huff saying, "Well...I haven't seen that spell used in a very long while, but who could have cast it..." Tempted to go back and watch the pony with a black coat a bit more, she sighs and says, "I can't sit there spying on one pony in hopes of finding him...my subjects await." She then heads back to the throne room to resume court.

Looking to his friends with a smile, he turns to Applejack and says, "I know that you all are struggling to satisfy those who come far and wide to taste your cider, would you like me to help however I can?"

Applejack lays her hoof on his shoulders and chuckles saying, "Oh definitely pardner, we're gonna need it big time to satisfy all the thirsty ponies we get each Fall. Besides, ya need to start focusing on getting what groundwork ya need done before the pegasi bring the snow clouds."

Rarity nods and says, "I agree with Applejack, because once it snows and the ground freezes...you will have to wait until spring to continue working on your home."

Nodding his head with a sigh, he realizes they are right and asks, "Are you both sure you don't mind helping me, it is gonna be dirty work to move all the dirt for what I have planned for here. There will be a great deal of precision involved as well."

Pinkie Pie hops out from behind Applejack and smiles, asking, "I wanna help too! What will take a great deal of precision?"

True Heart chuckles and hears the others voice their assurances that they will help too, saying, "Alright, let me bring out my foundation map so that I can show you what I have planned..."

Taking the better part of two hours to walk them through the steps required for his idea, Rarity gawks at the measurements jotted down on the design pages then glances up at True Heart with wide eyes, saying, "Darling...you're either a genius of this age, or insane. Do you know how much work it will take to bring this to fruition, not to mention how much labor this magnificent monstrosity will take?"

Applejack cocks her head at Rarity and asks, "I don't see the issue with it, what's the problem, Rare?"

Turning her eyes to Applejack, she groans and says, "Applejack, darling, the issue is that this home True Heart wants to build is so large...you could build a second barn on top of your current barn inside of this building and stand on the tallest point of the second barn to be able to stand on your hind legs to touch the very top of the roof. Then, you could build five barns end to end to reach the back wall, then turn the barn sideways and build three more end to end on either side of the last barn in the line of five to reach the wings on the north and south sides.

Her eyes look down at the drawing as her mind conjures up an image of what she is seeing, causing her eyes to grow to the size of saucers as she says with wide eyes, "Woah-nelly this sure is big." then turns to look at the stallion and asks, "Isn't this a mighty bit excessive for just one pony?"

With a smile, he says, "I'm building this for the town, for this is not just a home. It is a place where ponies can come to offer their gratitude for the blessings they have been given by the holy light. Of course, it is not just for giving thanks, I have shown these to Mayor Mare and offered my willingness to host banquets for celebrations as well as having breakfast, lunch or dinner for each and every holiday."

Fluttershy smiles kindly and then asks, "What did she say?"

True Heart then says, "She was over the moon at the idea and gave me her full support for the idea, she even offered to rally the townsfolk and tell them all about what I plan to build and ask for volunteers to lend a helping hoof to bring this marvel to fruition.

Pinkie Pie then sees what materials are required and smiles, saying, "OOH, MY FAMILY WOULD LOVE TO HELP OUT WITH THIS, I'M GONNA GO VISIT THEM NOW! SEE YA SOON!" then zips off without another word.

As Applejack thinks it over, she chuckles and says, "I've always wanted to be part of a community project, I'll go talk to my family about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Rarity then sits straighter and says, "I will ensure that every design is perfect."

Time skip covering the construction (Mostly Celestia's 3rd PPOV)

When the small group of ponies begin to dig, Mayor Mare gets the town fired up about the monumental project, which leads to hundreds joining the efforts as Pinkie Pie's whole family throws themselves into the project with gusto.

As weeks pass, rumors of a massive construction project reaches Celestia's ears, piquing her curiosity. Whenever she has the chance, she watches with pride as all pony races work in harmony to lay the foundation of a massive structure.

Each passing day, just before sunset, Celestia observes the progress through her telescope with a smile as she watches the excavated dirt be moved around to level the edges of the property. One evening, she is looking through the telescope when she spots the black pony from that one day, causing her eyes to crinkle as a wide smile crosses her face, saying, "So this is where you have disappeared to True Heart...I will make sure to keep an eye on you for myself, that way I will never lose you again."

To be able to keep an eye on him, she works a plan out with her assistant. Postponing court due to important matters involving Equestria's future prosperity, she disguises herself as a unicorn with a ocean blue coat, yellow mane and tail, a pair of lavender eyes with a golden horseshoe having a small sun above the points as a cutie mark. Turning to her assistant, she asks, "What do you think Raven, will anyone suspect that I'm...well...me?"

With a small chuckle, Raven looks her over closely and shakes her head, saying, "Not in the slightest, and if anypony suspects anything, just say that you are a big celebrity and would like to maintain your anonymity while helping out with this project. Now remember, don't teleport directly into town. You will have to come up with an alternate name for yourself as well as do a bit of walking so that nopony is startled by your sudden teleport into the center of town."

Nodding her head, Celestia prances in place from excitement, saying, "I will remember that, now wish me luck!"

Raven smiles and says, "Good luck, see you tonight sometime to hear all about your day."

Chuckling, she says, "Alright, I'm off to go be a normal pony for awhile!" then uses a spell to teleport in a field by the stream to Ponyville a few miles down the road and makes her way towards the construction site.

True Heart watches as great progress is being made on finishing up the eastern foundations, asking over his shoulder while he tries to drag a boulder out, "How's construction going on that elongated well!?"

Applejack dumps another bucket of mud and dirt into the waiting pony's wagon and sets it down, calling out, "It's nearly a hundred feet deep now, how deep ya want us to go?"

The boulder finally comes out, pulling a root with it as he says, "Go to about fifty feet more and finish it off so a pure water filtering spell can be put over the well!" Moving the boulder to the top so that it can be broken down and hauled off to serve as fill later, he then sees water trickling in. The trickle gets faster every few seconds as he calls out, "We got another leak here, must be from another small pocket of water!"

A brown unicorn with a cream mane and tail step forth, saying, "I'll take care of that, sir."

Nodding his head, he moves out of the way to let her take care of it and looks around to see what else he can do. Spotting a mare trying to pull out a stubborn tree trunk, he hops up onto the ground and heads over to her, saying, "Let me help you with that." Grabbing a length of chain, he ties it around the trunk and hooks it to his collar.

Sighing with relief, the mare looks at him with a smile, saying, "Thank you, this is really stubborn."

Ready to start pulling, he steps up beside the mare and says, "Lunge forward on three...one...two...three."

When Celestia arrives at the site, she watches in astonishment as teams of ponies empty fully loaded wagons of various materials. Watching as small, square stones get carried to dwindling stacks when she hears a mare call out, "Need more mix here!"

Seeing an idle pair of hooves, a dirty lime green mare walks up to the new arrival and points her hoof in the direction of the boss, saying, "Wanna chip in, the boss is the black stallion over there, pulling out a stubborn oak that refuses to budge."

Nodding her head, she walks over to the east end as she watches a stump get pulled out with a groan of protest. Stepping up to the black stallion she knows as True Heart, she thinks of what to call herself while he and the mare get out of their chains. Deciding on calling herself Lucky Star, she approaches him as he sets the chains down in a box and sees her, introducing herself, saying, "Hi, I heard about a big project in Ponyville and came to lend a hoof, my name is Lucky Star."

Turning his head and letting out a breathless cough, he catches his breath before saying, "Glad to have another helping hoof, my name's True Heart. Welcome to the team, Star. You can help me work on bringing this hole to the edge of the white stakes over here, grab a shovel from a tool rack and hop in."

(Lucky Star) nods her head and looks around for a rack with a shovel, finding one several feet away, she trots towards it and picks it up in her magic. Turning around and making her way to the hole, she looks around for True Heart and spots him working on the southern end.

Hours pass as the ponies put their all into reaching the white markers, when True has somepony take a measurement. Satisfied with the measurement, he climbs out using a ladder and walks around the perimeter to check the shape and depth before finally saying, "Digging at the south end is finished, proceed to dig out the next section!"

When sunset starts to draw near, she hears a bell being rung and an elderly mare calling out, "That's a good days work everypony, it's quittin time fer dinner!"

Sweatier than she's ever been in her life, Celestia climbs out of the new section she was helping excavate and makes her way down the road she used to get here with a smile on her face when she hears True Heart call out, "Be sure to add Lucky Star to that list of volunteers Mayor Mare!" Curiosity stops her in her tracks as she thinks why a list would be kept.

True Heart approaches the new volunteer and says, "Thanks for coming today, will we see you here tomorrow?"

Nodding her head, she says, "I wouldn't miss an opportunity like this if you tied me to the train tracks!" When he smiles and nods before turning around and making his way towards a table of refreshment, she continues towards the road to take a bath.

Raven waits in Celestia's chambers when she sees a flash as the princess teleports in, asking, "How was your day of manual labor, Your Majesty?"

Feeling tired from using her magic the entire time, she smiles and says, "It was amazing, I got to use my magic to help dig out what is going to be a very big hole."

As she senses something slightly foul in the air, she smiles lightly, saying, "No offense, Your Majesty...but you should take a bath, you smell a little sour."

Cocking her head, she sniffs the air and smells the stench and wrinkles her nose a moment before smelling herself again, saying, "I do smell foul. I had no clue that doing manual labor once in awhile could smell or feel so good." She then giggles at the face her assistant makes and prepares to lower the sun and raise the moon, saying, "I should try to make a recording of this so that I can watch it once in awhile to treasure."

Smiling, Raven says, "I already thought of that for you and implemented a way to record the event through the eye of your telescope, though I will have to adjust it as needed when enough progress is made."

Beaming a wide smile, she trots over to her assistant and pulls her into a firm hug as she protests. Chuckling, she lets her go and then returns to her usual appearance while Raven trots over to her private bathroom.

Using every chance she can get to help with the project, days turn into weeks as she uses her identity as Lucky Star to purchase thirty barrels of cider for all the workers to share over the month. The only time the workers don't show up is Nightmare Night, although she does show up along with the stallion.

As time continues to pass, the foundation and the base floor layout are completed after the first week of November with the large stone shed's construction is done a few days later. When the pegasi start bringing in snow clouds, the workers cover the materials up to protect them from the snow as all tools are put inside the shed.

On Hearth's Warming, Celestia sighs and looks out the window wistfully, eagerly waiting for spring to arrive so she can resume working herself into a sweaty mess.

Time seems to pass so slowly until she spots activity on the site weeks later and takes up her previous disguise to resume work, telling Raven that there won't be any court today as more pressing matters of state came to her attention. Teleporting to the same spot as before, she makes her way to the construction site.

Once she arrives, she spots True Heart guiding large stones into place, trotting up to him eagerly but waits for him to finish placing a stone before saying, "How can I be of service, boss?"

Glancing over to the mare that helped out last fall, True Heart smiles and says, "Good to see you came back to keep helping, the fun part is just getting started. These stones need to be arranged and cemented in place in a very specific order, are you up for learning something that requires a great deal of precision? If not, you could head over to Applejack or Rarity to offer your help."

Thinking it over for a moment as another block is moved and cemented into place, she nods her head, saying, "I'm ready to tackle anything, what do I need to know?"

It takes a few tries to get it right with True Heart's help at first, but she gets the hang of it by the time they break for lunch. When work resumes, she takes a moment to glance at the large schematic set out on a table, showing which stones are supposed to go where. After refreshing her memory, she heads back to the wall she is working on as the next stone is brought to her. Looking at the marks on the stone tells her that it is supposed to be the stone just to the left of the last window on the north wing, but something about it looks off, so she goes over to the table and looks it over to find the block in question and the measurements of it. Grabbing a long ruler, she heads over to the stone and measures its dimensions. Sure enough, one of them is off by a bit, she looks to the pegasus beside her, saying, "It's off a bit, the cement needs to come off." She then looks up to look at True Heart, saying, "Boss, this window stone's off a bit, too big on top."

Nodding his head, he says, "Good catch Lucky, use the pad and pencil to mark down the proper measurements and send it and the stone with a runner back to the mason who carved it. Be sure to write down a message for all the masons to take a twenty minute break to get a drink of water and rest a moment."

Heading back with the stone in tow, she sets it beside the table and looks at the measurements, saying, "Gonna need a runner with a wagon over here!"

An earth pony stallion nods his head, saying, "At your service, where am I going?"

Looking at the mason's mark, she writes down the proper measurements, saying, "To Limestone Pie for corrections, as well as with a message telling all the masons to get a twenty minute break for water and rest."

Nodding his head and slipping the paper into a message holder around his neck, he watches her load the stone into his wagon. When she tells him he's ready to go, he turns around and hurries over to where Limestone Pie is at.

It takes ten minutes for the stallion to come back with the corrected stone, watching the unicorn lift it out as if it weighed nothing, saying, "The masons are grateful for that break, be sure to tell the boss for me, will you miss?"

Nodding her head, she checks the measurements and finds them the same, saying, "Alright, please apply cement to the spot this was supposed to go."

The ponies work throughout the remainder of the day, making progress with reaching the first window of the north wing before hearing Granny Smith ring the bell, calling out, "It's quitting time, y'all! See ya back here bright and early tomorrow!"

Months pass as progress continues, with the structure slowly taking shape before her very eyes. As more layers of stone are added, crates of small rock debris are dumped in between the inner and outer walls.

As Celestia continues to show up to help with the construction over the next several months, rumors circulate that she might be sneaking away to secretly help out. When she shows up to continue helping move stones into their proper places, she is surprised to see True Heart approaching her with a smile, asking him, "I'm ready to get back to moving more stones into place, boss."

True Heart chuckles and shakes his head, saying, "Others can handle that now, but you, Rarity, and I will be starting a new task today."

Curious, she cocks her head and asks, "Oh, and what would that be, boss?"

Smiling, he says, "Searching for ore, silver in particular. I can teach the spell to you, don't worry."

Eager at learning a new spell, she prances in place, saying, "OOH, teach it to me please! Are there other variants of this spell?"

Nodding, he says, "There are, care to learn those too?" When she nods eagerly again, he says, "Alright then, let's head over to the shed so I can hook up to my wagon. You wouldn't mind pulling a wagon, would you?"

Shaking her head, she follows him to his wagon as he sets a bunch of pickaxes into it before backing up between the poles and hooking his chains up to the wagon followed by the straps. When he pulls out, she hears him ask her to follow him and walks beside him, stopping near Applejack and asking for a padded collar for her.

With the collar around her neck, he leads her over to a wagon the same size as his and has her back up between the poles to hook her up to it. After getting her ready, he sees Rarity heading towards him and says, "Welcome to the group Rarity, shall we gather the others?"

At hearing that, Applejack walks over to the group of wagons and lets out a shrill whistle, calling out, "ALRIGHT EVERYPONY! THOSE OF YA WHO VOLUNTEERED FOR THE MINING CREW MAKE YER WAY TO WHERE THE BOSS IS AND LOAD UP INTO THE WAGONS!"

Cocking her head, Lucky Star looks at True Heart and asks, "What do we need silver for?"

Smiling as he hears the back gates open up on their wagons as ponies climb in and make room for others with the picks taking up some room, saying, "You will see when the time comes."

After a couple other wagons show up, the others yet to find space climb into the empty wagons. When they are all loaded, they all head west toward the mountain range in the distance.

It takes a few hours to reach the mountains as Lucky Star tests out her new ore finding spell along the way, finding a few lumps of gold atop the ground and placing them into a box on the side of the wagon. When True Heart stops near the mountain, she stops beside him as their back gates open up.

True Heart approaches the mountain and channels his spell for finding silver, taking a few minutes of walking before he locates some, saying, "Alright, there is a vein right here just ten meters in, I will use a blasting spell to mark the spot and get you all started. Those of you that have a protection barrier spell, put them up and shield as many of the others as you can."

Casting her own barrier, she watches several ponies heading towards her and lets them through, then watches True Heart marking the spot with a black x before stepping a fair distance away. When she watches him charge his spell and cast it at the black mark, she watches him raise his own shield as an explosion splits the air and sends debris flying in every direction.

Once the smoke clears, he looks at the decent sized crater he left in the mountainside, using his spell to find the silver vein again and marks it with another x, saying, "Alright, there you go, be cautious while you're mining. When support beams are brought over, use them every ten feet or so to prevent cave-ins as much as possible."

When she spots Maud head towards the mark and starts hammering away at it with her hooves, she blinks in surprise at how quickly she is making a hole into the mountain as Rarity starts walking along the mountainside with her own searching spell. Making her way to the mountainside, she casts hers to find any veins around her. To her surprise, she finds quite a large vein ahead of her and marks it, writing how far in the vein is and where it is at.

For the next year and a half, the majority of her job is to locate more veins or bring the wagons filled with debris or silver ore to the site.

Nothing really changes much until the construction is two and a half years in when she joins True Heart and Rarity on a journey north of Ponyville with their wagons full of jewel crafting ponies, asking, "Now what are we searching for?"

Trying to make good time, True trots on as Lucky keeps pace with him, saying, "Well, we will need to mine crystals from the forgotten mines under Canterlot."

Shocked to hear that he knows about them, she asks a little loudly, "I'm surprised you know about them, how did you come to learn of their existence?"

Shrugging, he says, "I learned of it in an old journal in my family's private library. If we're efficient, we can find the crystals we need to mine here. Rarity is with us on this trip because of her eye for detail, for it will make a big difference in the building's design."

After making their way into the city, True Heart leads them around the city to a place just outside the castle wall and taps the wall a few times experimentally. When he pushes a brick inwards, a wall slides inwards before drawing back into the doorway.

Lucky Star looks around curiously as they head down a corridor that leads to a large, flat area where they unhook from their wagons as Rarity pulls out a couple pieces of paper with colored images on them she cant identify from her angle.

It is nearly time to lower the sun and raise the moon when they return to the surface as Lucky turns to True, saying, "I wish I could go back with you all, but I forgot about an important errand I needed to do before nightfall. Could one of you take this full wagon back for me?"

True smiles and nods, saying, "Of course, I look forward to seeing you back to work whenever you can spare the time."

As she unhooks from the wagon and slips the collar off, she then hands it over to an earth pony, saying, "I hope I will be able to help tomorrow as well."

When tomorrow comes, a few duties require Celestia's attention before she can sneak off to the construction site. As she walks around, she sees True bringing a full load of crystals back and trots toward him, saying, "I came as soon as my duties would let me."

He smiles as Luck Star arrives, saying, "Glad you could make it today, we have quite a few loads of crystals to bring back yet. Go grab a collar and a wagon so we can get a move on."

After getting a collar and hooking up to a large wagon, she watches as dark planks and beams are unloaded beside the building, asking, "What kind of trees are they getting the dark wood from?"

Once she joins him, he starts trotting down the road, saying, "They are from the Everfree Forest, though they are just the ones on the outermost edges to keep the forest from expanding too far."

Having been trotting for awhile, he looks around to see no ponies nearby and says, "I'm glad you continue lending us a helping hoof...your majesty."

Skidding to a stop at hearing that, her wide eyes snap to him, asking fearfully, "HOW DID YOU KNOW?"

Turning the empty wagon and stopping a short ways from her, he smiles and says, "Your voice mainly, then there is how you suddenly had to run an errand just before the sun was supposed to be down. You don't need to worry though, as I will not share your identity with others. Tell me this though, are you enjoying getting your hooves dirty with this project?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, she nods her head and says, "So you suspected me from the very start..." Lifting her head up, she says, "Very much so, and I appreciate your discretion about my identity."

Nodding his head, he then starts walking and turns around, saying, "Now let's not waste any more time standing around and talking, we can do that while we trot."

As they head to the mines to fill up on crystals, other ponies head out of the mines with full loads of crystals. The day passes relatively quickly when Rarity heads back out, saying, "That should be more than enough to handle what you have designed, True. I shall start helping the jewelers with the cutting and precise measurements, that way everything will be absolutely marvelous! By the time these are to my liking, Celestia herself will envy their beauty!"

True and Lucky look at each other and burst out into laughter as True says, "Oh, I'm sure she would if she saw what was planned. I wonder what she would say though if she were here to overhear your gloating."

Rarity gasps at hearing that and follows them towards the exit, saying, "OH PERISH THE THOUGHT! I MIGHT BE SENTENCED TO SCRUBBING FLOORS THROUGHOUT THE CASTLE UNTIL I'M OLD AND GRAY!"

Once the construction reaches its fourth year, Lucky Star and several other ponies are thanked for their contribution and help while several others remain behind for final touches.

As she sits in a chair by the window one evening, she stares out at where the large magical shroud is that prevents her from spying on the final stage of construction as she hears Raven say, "Don't pout because he wants to keep a few secrets, you keep a few secrets yourself."

Groaning as she gets up, Celestia says, "I can't help it, I feel like part of the family that built that towering structure."

With a kind smile, Raven says, "Oh don't worry, I'm sure that he just wants you to be surprised when he plans to unveil it."

End of time skip

When the final touches are finished, five years have passed as True Heart looks at Rarity, asking, "How much more do you have left to paint Rare?"

Resting on her hovering cushioned seat, courtesy of a pair of pegasi, Rarity continues working on the last little bit, saying, "This is the last one I need to paint darling, I will be finished in half a minute at most."

As she keeps painting, he looks at the windows with a smile, saying, "You really need to see your work from down here when you finish Rare."

Finally finished, she sets the brush into the tray and huffs, saying, "Alright, alright. I just finished, so I'm on my way down now. I can't believe you swindled me into coming up here on a plank and two cushions to paint the depressions closest to the windows a deep red. It clashes with the windows!"

When she walks over to him, he says, "Follow me a short distance away and you will see why I had you do that, but I didn't swindle you. I simply offered to take you out on the town for doing what I asked."

Following him with a frown, she pouts and whines a little, saying, "But you refused to say which town!"

Taking out a cloth, he lays it over her face, saying, "Now don't freak out, I'm going to turn you around with my magic."

Huffing and stomping lightly, she says, "Don't you Da-AAAHH!" then feels herself be turned around and set back down, shouting, "YOU SCOUNDREL!"

Before she gets any more irritated, he yanks the cloth free to let her open her eyes, saying, "Now open your eyes and see what your bravery has achieved."

Opening her eyes with a snort, she prepares to berate him for the clashing colors until she spots that what she painted fits remarkably well against the limewashed limestone in spite of the colored crystal windows, finding herself speechless at seeing the architecture of the building. Having been silent for a few moments, her jaw is hanging open slightly as she silently whispers, "Absolutely marvelous..."

Letting out a sharp whistle in awe, Applejack walks over to them and looks it over, saying, "I still can't believe we built this thing in just five years, you said it normally would take about sixty years or even longer without the use of magic."

Smiling widely with pride and joy, he nods his head and says, "Yeah, we set a construction speed record that will never be broken in our lifetimes." Looking to the front of the grounds, he smiles and says, "I will have to get a monument built so that ponies can look at it to see the names of all those who helped."

Rarity looks around and smiles saying, "The short, white marble wall without gates looks really nice."

True looks around again and says, "Eventually, I might get a few trees to add a decorative look."

Pinkie pops up between Rarity and Applejack, saying, "WOWIE, THIS BUILDING IS GINORMOUS! THINK OF ALL THE PARTIES I COULD HAVE HERE!"

Chuckling at her antics, he asks, "Did you get those invitations sent out to everyone on the list Mayor Mare showed you?"

She nods her head, saying, "Absopositutely! I can't wait for when Monday is finally here!"

Rarity smiles, saying, "Pinkie, darling, Monday is only two days away."

When Monday comes by, Celestia and her assistant sit inside the chariot as her guards fly them to the unveiling ceremony hosted by Mayor Mare as the princess asks, "I am really eager to see what it looks like now."

As True Heart sees the princess's chariot come in for a landing, he watches the gathered crowd of ponies bow their heads and joins them.

Exiting the chariot with Raven holding the same recording crystal from before, she holds herself regally as she sees the shimmering veil still blocking all sight, saying, "Please rise everypony. Thank you for the invitation to this grand event, Mayor Mare."

With everyone finally here, he nods to Mayor Mare to begin. He listens to Mayor Mare give her speech about how this project got started, then how they all came together as a community to help another out who wanted to give something back to them. The speech continues on to say how others heard of the project and traveled from far away cities, even coming from Saddle Arabia to help out.

After giving her speech, Celestia watches curiously as Mayor Mare says that tokens of gratitude and remembrance of this monumental achievement of community togetherness shall be given out. She stands and watches curiously as names are called up one by one, handed a silver-framed award with writing and a sketch of some sort. After the names start reaching the z's, Celestia begins to worry that her other name was forgotten.

Mayor Mare then smiles and says, "Before we unveil the finished marvel, there are two final tokens to give. Though she is unable to approach the stage at the moment due to having to keep the barrier up, let's hear a round of applause for the talented Trixie Lulamoon!"

The ground rumbles from the cheerful stomps of the gathered crowd of ponies, then quiets down as it waits to hear the final name.

Making his way to the podium, True Heart takes over for Mayor Mare, clearing his voice before saying, "This final name belongs to a pony you all worked alongside." then looks at Celestia before smirking and saying, "Her name is Lucky Star. Your Majesty, would you care to accept this reward in her place?"

Catching his hidden message from his smirk, Celestia nods and starts heading towards him, saying, "I would like that very much, thank you for offering." When she gets about halfway there, she finishes, "Though I think she would prefer to accept this herself."

When she casts a spell and appears as Lucky Star, the entire crowd of ponies gasp and go dead silent as they watch her make her way up to the stage. As he steps aside to give her room to speak, she says, "I have enjoyed my time working with you all, though I must now return to ruling over Equestria after a brief... vacation from the stresses involved in being a ruler."

Turning to her, he takes the last token and says, "Thank you for getting your hooves dirty with us, Your Majesty." When she goes to take it with her magic, he holds onto it and grins mischievously, saying, "However...for thinking you could get away with hiding your identity from us forever, you need to be punished."

Raven watches from her seat curiously as the princess cocks her head in confusion before True Heart suddenly moves in and kisses the side of her mouth, saying, "You have been thoroughly punished." Her face turns cherry red as she an aghast expression on her face while Raven fights back tittering laughter until she hears wolf howls from the stallions and cheers from the mares.

Unwilling to let them see her blushing in her true form, she hastily holds her token closely as she hurries back to her assistant. Seeing her lying on the ground breathless, she narrows her eyes and asks in an annoyed tone, "Are you having a good time at my expense?"

True Heart then calls out, "Now then, without further adieu, allow me to present to you...THE CELESTIAL CATHEDRAL!"

Looking up at hearing the name, she watches as the veil dissipates rapidly as fireworks shoot up into the sky and explode with a multitude of colors. Once her eyes take in the sheer size and beauty of it, looking over every detail when she notices a colored crystal window near the top on the right half of the wall with a brilliant sun shining down upon a land of working ponies. However, tears form in her eyes when she takes in the sight of the window to the left of it, seeing the brilliant, white, full moon amidst a starry, night sky with ponies lying asleep on the grass below with happy smiles.

It takes her a long moment to compose herself when she notices another detail that leaves her speechless, the sight of red crosses with flared corners on the ends, around every window. Her body starts walking towards the side of the building as her assistant follows her, going into a trot once she sees more crosses around each window she sees. Her eyes take in the glinting metal between each of the cut pieces of colored crystal, realizing that it is pure, polished silver.

Having to trot a bit faster to keep up with the princess's slightly longer legs, Raven asks worriedly, "Is anything wrong, Your Majesty?"

Unable to hear due to her shock at seeing the symbol again in so long, she eventually returns to the front where she spots True Heart talking to some pony as the doors are open with ponies walking inside to see the final results of their hard work. Making her way over to him when the pony walks away, she lowers her mouth close to his face and asks in a low tone, "Can we talk in private for a moment?"

Seeing the conflicting emotions in her eyes, he nods and starts walking towards the far wall of the property. Once he reaches it, he hops up onto it and rests his forelegs against it, asking, "Yes, Your Majesty?"

Joining him on the wall, she asks, "W-Where did you learn of that symbol?"

Playing ignorant, he asks, "Why do you want to know? Is it special to you?"

Nodding her head, she says, "That symbol is very dear to me because it belonged to a valiant group that fought against evil forces. It also means a great deal because my father was one of those warriors who openly displayed that very cross. Please tell me where you learned of it."

Letting out a steady sigh, he switches languages and says, "Fuit pars mea tota vita mea. (It has been a part of me my whole life.)"

Her eyes become as wide as saucer plates at hearing that old, long-forgotten language, taking her a moment to kick her childishly stunned mind into gear and says, "Quid? Id verum esse non potest! Ordo iam pridem deletus est! (What? That can't be true! The order has long since been destroyed!)"

He looks at her with a serious look and shakes his head, saying, "Non perimus, in umbras post cladem oppressam recessimus. (We did not perish, we retreated into the shadows after the overwhelming defeat.)"

She loses her ability to concentrate on a single thought as thousands upon thousands of questions flood her mind, causing her to relax her muscles and fall to her flank utterly speechless.

Raven steps into the princess's view and watches her eye tick back and forth at random, as if chasing thoughts right in front of them. Turning back to True, she narrows her eyes and asks, "What did you say to her that caused this?"

Shaking his head, he says, "That is between me and her, it is up to her to decide whether to tell you or not, so ask her about it. She needs to go back to her room at Canterlot Castle to straighten herself out. Make sure to be specific with any instructions you need to give her or she may misunderstand."

Huffing in annoyance at having to clean up a mess, the assistant turns Celestia's disguised face to her and says, "Your Majesty, you seem out of sorts. Please teleport to your room at the Castle in Canterlot, I will be there in a few minutes."

Celestia blinks slowly, but understands enough to say, "Right. My room, Canterlot Castle. Wait for Raven, my assistant." Without another word, she then teleports to her room and sits in the dark to wait for her assistant.

Raven groans and casts a quick illusion spell to make it look like Celestia is heading back to her chariot, keeping the spell up quietly while saying to the guards, "Back to Canterlot, princess's orders."

Nodding their heads, they swiftly turn around and take off into the sky like a shot.