//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Welcome to the jungle // by Hiver //------------------------------// Shifting the papers around, I finished the report from the train station before flicking one ear. The supervisor there, Rapid Whistle had a good point. The defenses there were primarily aimed towards smaller hostile enemies because if something like a Rexosaurus showed up, the outer perimeter of scouts would have warned them well in time and they had gotten time to get into the shelters or evacuate. But what if one managed to somehow sneak past and get close? Or if they really could fly with those wings of theirs. Nopony had ever observed one flying, but they did have wings. Maybe installing some additional ballista and assigning some more guards wasn’t a bad idea to be honest. Still, this report should have gone to Silver Gleam, not me. Oh well, only a week since we changed the system, there is bound to be glitches of what end up where. I scribbled a note to redirect to Silver Gleam, attached it to the request and then put it in my out tray before looking up as the door opened and Sparks trotted inside, a couple of scrolls sticking out of her bag. She stopped by the couch and stole a kiss from Sunset where she was reading a book by the light of her horn before she crossed over to me, “Hey.” “Hey,” I said and smiled, smooching, “You’re back early.” “Just excited!” Sparks exclaimed and poked at me until I scooted to the side and then jumped onto the chair next to me, floating a couple of scrolls from her bag before dropping it onto the floor and unrolling the scrolls on the desk. They were stock full with lines, calculations and diagrams. I blinked at them and then turned to look at her, “What’s this?” Sparks grinned and lit her horn, a glowing spot appearing on the leftmost scroll, “If you look here, the metamagical constant of…” I slowly nodded, slipping my wing across her back as I listened. Sparks pointed out things and conclusions, shifting a bit to lean against me as she did before she smiled at me, “So, what do you think?” “Looks awesome to me.” “Twi, he has no idea what you have been saying,” Sunset said amusedly from her spot on the couch, looking up from her book with an amused grin, “I could barely follow you enough to tell what the subject was, I think you lost Page immediately in the first sentence.” Sparks blinked at her and then looked at me, “But you were nodding!” I nodded, “I have no idea what you were saying. My magical theory education is limited to spell casting diagrams. Explain it like I’m five?” Sparks stared at me, mouth a bit open in surprise, “But you were nodding!” “You were so excited I didn’t want to interrupt you.” Sparks groaned and sighed, “Okay, well, the entire idea is…” “Actually,” I interrupted and nosed at her ear, “Can you explain it like I’m three? Five might be a bit optimistic.” Sparks giggled and flicked her ear, “Fine, I think it may be poss-” “And if you assume I’m kinda slow too, that would be nice.” Twilight giggled and poked me with her hoof, “Will you stop it, I’m trying to explain something to you!” I nodded and smiled, “I’ll be good.” Sparks stuck her tongue out at me before she nodded and put her hoof on the desk, “I think it’s possible to make permanent portals.” I looked at her in surprise, “Really?” She nodded, “The calculations checked out,” she confirmed, “I got thinking when you said you wished there were some and it seems to be possible. Nothing in magic or math seems to be preventing it. Actually doing it though…” “Hard?” Sparks nodded and sighed, “As in, if we’re lucky and have an actual research team with a large budget we may be able to pull it off in as little as twenty years.” “Ah. That kind of hard.” “Yeah,” Sparks said softly before she smiled, “But possible!” Sunset closed her book, stretching onto her side, “Twenty years isn’t too bad, I mean, you two are immortal.” “With a well funded research team,” Sparks pointed out, “I don’t think that will happen anytime soon, but I’ll send my findings over to Canterlot and we’ll see what they can do on their side. Maybe we’ll get lucky and somepony get a bright idea.” I flicked one ear, “Even without aging, twenty years is still a good chunk of change,” I admitted, “At least for us. For Sunshine or Luna it may pass quickly, but we’re your age.” “Actually…” Sunset said and grinned, “I think I’m the oldest pony in the room. I’m thirty two, Twi’s twenty three and you’re…” “Actually, we never did figure out how not sure how it translates,” I admitted, “But doctors estimate my age to be somewhere between twenty five and thirtyish, so yeah, you’re likely the oldest by a couple of years at least,” I said and flicked my ear in thought before I eyed Sparks, “Wait, you two got together… what, four years ago? Sunny, did you shack up with a teenager?” “I know, right?” Sunset asked with a teasing grin as she eyed Twilight. Sparks blushed brightly.