//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Arrival // Story: Put on your Robe(s) and/or Wizard Hat(s) // by Fiddlove Enfemme //------------------------------// It was a beautiful day for travel. The sun was out, birds were singing, flowers were blooming and those four wizards were arguing again. "I'm just saying, the basic staff is all you need to be a good wizard." "No, no no! Why can't you get it through your thick skull, Green? Statistically, any staff is better than the default! A pre-cued quick-cast spell, passive effects! The basic staff has NOTHING going for it. Even the Staff+1 is better than it!" "Quit your ranting, Blue. I, for one want to have a peaceful walk." commanded Red. The four intrepid wizards had packed only the essentials. And by essentials I mean they forced the castle staff to take anything and everything they thought would help them in the new capital. Red brought the contents of the castle treasury and some cool looking paintings. Green brought items that could be used to buy favour with the townsfolk. Yellow...uh...took the contents of the castle kitchen. And Blue had brought several powerful artifacts from the treasure vault they had entered Equestria from. Unfortunately, he had me, AKA the narrator, sign a non-disclosure agreement, so I can't tell you which ones they were. "Yellow! You'll support me in this one, right?" "I'm busy!" Yellow shouted from the back of the convoy. "What about you, Royal Guard?" "Why did you take me with you? Just kill me now. Please." the guard moaned "We'll get to that later. Now give me an answer." Blue ordered. The guard dodged the question "Are we there yet?" Green smiled and said "We'll be there soon." Blue looked around and replied "Based on the environment, we're just now exiting the area known as the "Everfree Forest. We'll soon be reaching the outskirts of the Apple Family East Orchard, primary holding of the Apple Family Estate." "Wow. Blue, you really are a nerd." congratulated Red. "Shut it, Red. I've only done a bit of light reading. I wouldn't know about which trees produce Zap apples and which produce the typical apples." The guard perked up his ears "Wait, did you say we're in the Everfree Forest?" "A large expanse of untamed wilds featuring magical, and sometimes mythical creatures? Yes." replied Blue. "Dear Celestia! We've got to get out of here! Manticores, Hydra, Ursas, Cockatrice, Parasprites, Timberwolves!" "Quit your yapping, fool. We've fought worse." snapped Red. "Wh-wha-?" Blue spoke matter of factly, "Try Beholders, Goblins, Trolls, Undead, Elementals, Beastmen, Orcs, Daemons, Dwarves, rival Wizards, Jormungandr, Fafnir, Assatur" "That last one was more of an accident. But, otherwise we are more than qualified to keep you safe from whatever silly creatures live here." Green piped up. "Don't forget giant spiders, several demons, and Cthulhu!" shouted Yellow. "If you're listening to our conversation, then why didn't you take a side when I asked you earlier?" Blue yelled. "Because I'm very busy at the back of the convoy!" Yellow shouted. Three wizards and a worn out royal guard looked at eachother in shock. Yellow, working on something? Yellow, who was always the wizard at the back of the classroom, goofing off while the teacher taught important lessons? Yellow, who never did anything noteworthy other than tag along with the competent wizards that just so happened to save the world? Unthinkable. Unbelievable. Inconceivable. Extremely unlikely. But, when the confused guard et wizards went to the back of the convoy, there was Yellow, working hard on keeping the loose items that fell out the back of the convoy wagons from being lost. Blue pinched himself, Green clapped for Yellow, the guard cowered in fear, and Red shook his fist in anger. Not to be outdone, Red joined in. He took every opportunity to sabotage Yellow's efforts and gain an edge. Blue, the guard, and Green returned to the front of the convoy. "Ah, on our left we should now be seeing the Apple farm." commented Blue. The Everfree Forest melted away, and up ahead, true to Blue's prediction, there was the Apple farm. Of course, the large convoy had raised a cloud of dust over the road, and there were several curious ponies waiting to see what was coming down the beaten track. The local branch of the Apple family, pun intended, was present, the farmhooves were present, and several of the outlying farmers had also come. "Ah hope they get 'ere soon. Me bones 're gettin' sore just standin' here" "Granny, you do have a perfectly good chair to sit dow-" "Ah won't stand for it! Ah've greeted visitors to these parts standin' perfectly fine for all me life, and ah won't stahp now!" said the elderly Granny Smith. Apple Bloom muttered under her breath, "You's said that for all my life too." Big Mac and Applejack, ever the entrepreneurs, had set up their booth, and were planning to sell all kinds of Apple products, pun intended, to the coming convoy. They had also sent word ahead to the town proper of the convoy, by way of Pinkie Pie, so that preparations would be made for the convoy. Ponyville would make a logical stop at this time of day, as there was a train station, mail service, ample sleeping space, surplus food stocks, not to mention that it's the only stop for kilometres around. "...and that's the story of how we destroyed Assatur." "Really?" "Every ounce of it is true." said Green. "The cheese shortage?" asked the guard. "Poor Baleyg never stood a chance." "The weapon made from a paperclip and a shotgun?" Blue rolled his eyes, "Yellow didn't stop crying for weeks after we lost it. Look over there, a welcoming party. Seems to consist mostly of farmers, maybe even the Apple family themselves." The guard opened his eyes wide "You can tell all that just from looking at them? "Of course. The majority are muscular, many of them have uneven tans. That one has a straw hat, the one beside him has a piece of grass in his mouth, those two are running a stand selling apple products," Blue gestured to each farmer as he pointed out their characteristics, "That one has a cart of hay, she's got panniers of apples," he smiled "Just like how people instantly recognise a wizard. Robes, a staff, a weapon." Blue ordered the convoy to stop with a loud "HALT CONVOY! Rest break, thirty minutes TOPS!" They followed suit with a loud CRASH! The tired castle staff were more suited to cleaning a castle, cooking a feast, delivering meals, and dressing nobles than pulling large wagons. But nonetheless, they unhitched themselves from their loads. Blue ordered them to pool their funds, and he quickly calculated the most efficient purchases to make from the Apple family. He listed off exactly what he wanted, how he wanted it, and when he wanted it. Green, on the other hand, was off mingling with the farmers and exhausted castle staff. "Hi, How are ya? Nice to meet you! Name's Green. I'm a wizard. Wonderful weather we're having. What's the crop like these days?" and so on, and so forth. Eventually, he met with the Apple family. "This is a very nice orchard you have going here. Trees for miles. How do you harvest it all?" "Ya see, me'n Big Macintosh here go out in the fields for most of the day. We give 'em a hard buck, the trees, ah mean, and those apples come down inta carefully placed buckets." Applejack bragged. "Eeyup." said Big Mac. Blue walked over, "Interesting, now how many trees can the two of you go through in a day?" "'Bout a hundred. Each!" she bragged again. "So about 100 apples: 1 day. Hmm, just as I suspected. How many trees are on your property, not counting Zap apples, and how much space do they occupy?" he queried. "Well, several thousand at least, one of the orchards is infested wit' fruit bats, an' we've got just over 321 acres o' land for trees. Why do ya need ta know?" "Hmm. Judging by the tree density, that's 3635 trees spread over 1.3 km^2. It would take you 36.35 days to harvest all the trees on the farm. Inefficient. Have you ever considered hiring farmhands? Using machines?" "Prepostrerus! De Apple family has always done eet by our own hooves!" shouted Granny Smith in anger. "An' as for machines, doin' it by hoof is safer for the trees, and is more reliable than whatever those Shim-Sham brothers could come up with." Apple Bloom added. "Ah, yes. Flim-Flam Industries. Very efficient machines, particularly when the brothers aren't in a panic to produce more cider in a competition when the Apples cheat and bring in more manpower. As such, they are a strong competitor with other branches of the Apple family, and their company has even bought out several of your farms." Blue said matter of factly. "Wha-? No true Apple would sell out ta those swindlers!" said Apple Bloom in disgust. "So you say, but when the scent of millions, even billions of bits are floating just under your nose, only a foolish Apple wouldn't give in. Besides, even using one of their machines would cut down the time taken to harvest to about 14 days. More usable product gained, less manual labour required, more time to spare for other duties, and greater overall profit. Plus, you will be able to transport the product easier and more efficiently. Then you could add a land expansion, due to the fact that your work is more efficient, and the equation multiplies exponentially." he rambled. "Blue, you've really thought this out! I could never do something like that in so short a time." said Green in awe. "It's a gift." Blue admitted. While the other apples had been confounded, angered, or disgusted, Big Mac had been thinking. Unlike the other Apples, who were offended at the thought of selling out, he had weighed the consequences, the benefits, and even made his own calculations. Big Mac was the Apple who thought about everything, and answered in a clear, concise manner. With a yes or a no. "Eeyup." he answered. "See? He agrees with my train of thought." pointed out Blue. "What? Big Mac, you actually understood what this lunatic said?" asked Granny Smith. "Eeyup." he answered. "I knew there was an intellectual thinker around here. Oh, that reminds me, the convoy needs to keep moving," Blue walked off to his position at the company head and ordered, "CONVOY FALL IN! We reach Ponyville in an hour!" A collective groan from the exhausted castle staff rose up as they hitched up their loads once more.