Civilization: Beyond Equestria

by May I Cut In

4.a) Projects and Power shortages (Twilight)

Author: May I Cut In
Co-Author: Brother Malachai

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“The world is for us to explore, to prosper in. Now onwards to progress everypony. The union does not rest till we have pushed all ventures of Science and Magic beyond the scope of our wildest imaginings.” ~An extract from Twilight’s speech as she sent the first explorer out to chart the new world

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The little party that Pinkie managed to put on with their still limited supplies was fun. After years of nothing but ground-breaking scientific research, inventing and organisation, it was a really nice break from the rather stagnant routine.

Twilight was startled out of her thoughts when Celestia, their bright new capital, finally came into view. Looking out the window, she saw some work crews already at work laying down roads to aid transportation between their cities, and just beyond that, Twilight spied the rocket that would send their first satellite relay into orbit. The large tower’s frame was already finished; it just needed the equipment installed. Everything was proceeding as planned so far, although Twilight wondered if that just meant some unexpected delay was creeping up on her.

When her convoy finally reached the city, Twilight went straight for her headquarters. Opening the door to her office, she walked over to her desk and logged into her computer. The computer immediately chimed with all the emails that she had missed. If this had been Spike’s old mailing system, the dragon would’ve had a major case of indigestion. Being the studious pony that she was, she liked to have everything documented, unlike Rainbow Dash, who hatred of paperwork had become legendary. Still, Dash had learned that red tape was unavoidable during her time as a Wonderbolt and the Princess of Loyalty, so at least she never put it off like she had the first time. In fact, the computers were still sending back errors whenever somepony tried to access data from what Twilight had dubbed, “The great bottleneck.”

Let’s see…. the clinic staff want to discuss something with me. Twilight thought with a glance at her schedule. Looks like I can meet up with them at 8 P.M. after dinner to see what they want. She typed a quick reply to them as she updated her planner. Ok, now the next one… The work never seemed to end. Alas, bureaucratic maneuvering was a different beast from the studying and research she loved so much. Whereas studying and experimentation were means of discovery, the bureaucracy was just the means of keeping the government going. Even then (the government being the government) it was very inefficient at times. Still, it was a necessary evil in any modern society, and she couldn’t wait for the day she could turn it all over to an A.I.

……

Dinner was nothing fancy, just regular hydrated hay with some fresh native plants. While a few farms were set up already, they required time to grow. With only a hoof-ful of edible native plants available, they had to conserve their limited supplies as best they could. The good news was that, according to her calculations, they wouldn’t need to carry out rationing until the first batch of crops came in.

Just then Spike sat down with a crash next to Twilight, placing his tray on the ground in front of him. Spike had grown quite a bit since his early years, as his “tray” was about the size of a cafeteria table. Fortunately, he had grown “properly” this time around and was able to avoid most of the downside of his Spikezilla persona. He also had finally grown a pair of wings, in addition to his spikes being larger. The Lavender Princess took a mental note that she needed to set up a proper table for Spike later as she gazed at him fondly. “Oh, hey Twi.” Spike replied with a slight rumble. While his voice had a much deeper bass and was somewhat louder than his younger years, his friendliness still showed through.

“Oh, hi Spike,” Twilight replied,“How was your day so far?”

“Good,” Spike told her. “Nothing much happening on the borders. The native wildlife is keeping far away from us so far.” Spike then took a bite out of a piece of firaxite that was on his tray. “Want some?” he asked as he handed over a rather large chunk in his massive claw.

“Erm, no thanks,” Twi replied back with a simple hoof wave.

“Suit yourself.” Spike shrugged as he took another bite of it. “Hmm… A this one’s a bit spicier than usual,” he mumbled, “Maybe it has some extra properties...” He drifted into thought as he bit down on another piece.

The only reason why Twilight had let him eat these crystals in the first place was because there weren't any other forms of crystal available on this planet. It turned out Equestria was unusually rich in gems and crystals, and on just about any other world no creature would be able to eat them because they just weren’t enough to make the effort. Since gemstones were a large part of a dragon’s diet, Twilight had reluctantly allowed Spike to eat the orange crystals. Testing the Firaxite had shown that it had properties similar to silicon, but they have not figured out how to use it in their computers just yet.

“What are your plans for the city now Twilight?” Spike asked as he polished off the last crystal.

“Oh, I have so many! I plan to send out some explorers to chart the world, build up our orbital coverage. But first there is a meeting with the clinic staff after dinner,” Twilight replied, “They said there were major supply issues and they needed me to make some important executive decisions. Par for the course in a frontier colony I’d suppose.”

“I don’t envy your job Twi,” Spike admitted, “It’s not as free as mine; where I am somehow able to soar the thermals of this world, despite the lack of magic and my rather large size. But, I am here for you nonetheless. Don’t worry, I know you’ll do the right thing.” Spike then put out one of his massive claws. Twi then put her much smaller hoof within it. Oh how times have changed. Twi remembered when Spike was a baby and her own hoof was so much larger than Spike’s clawed hand.

“Thanks Spike, you’ve always been a good friend,” Twi replied with a smile.

“Hey, it’s what I do,” Spike said with a shrug as he shot her a smile of his own.

……

“And this is why Princess, I foresee that we cannot serve both the medical needs of the civil workers and the military. We simply don’t have the resources to fulfill all of them in the near future.” the clinic staff head summed up to Twilight at the meeting

Why does everypony think that I know the answers to everything!? Is this what Celestia always had to deal with back in her day court? Twilight groaned inwardly. She maintained her neutral look and asked: “So what do you think is the best move to do?”

“My Princess, there are two possible outcomes. On one hoof we can prioritise medical care to the civil workers to ensure that they are at their peak condition to develop our colony. On the other hoof, we can prioritise the soldiers as they are necessary for our security.” The clinic head answered.

“Well, the choice is obvious.” Spike nonchalantly spoke. “Prioritise the military. The aliens may be docile now but I get the feeling that we might have to start scraping with them soon. We can’t defend well ”

“If I may speak my thoughts. The assistant of the Great and Powerful Twilight Sparkle feels that it is best for the civil workers to receive this additional medical treatment. We cannot run a strong military without the civilians producing the food, energy, and materials they need,” Trixie in turn replied.

Spike merely grumbled slightly at a low growl at her suggestion. He then looked at her with his eyes half closed and with a slight snarl which gave him a look that indicated a lack of amusement.

Twilight walked back and forth a bit with her head looking down upon the floor. Afterwards she brought up one of her front hooves and put it under her chin. “Hmmm,” she murmured, “The thing is you both have valid points. However, in this case I will have to side with Trixie. We need a strong infrastructure to keep our military and law enforcement running. And, for that we need to keep our workers healthy.”

“I understand, Princess,” replied the clinic head as she passed Twi a Data Slate and a stylus. “I will need you to sign here,” the head doctor replied as she pointed to a blank line on the data slate.

After thoroughly reading the document for about a minute or so, the Princess of Friendship picked up the slate and stylus via unicorn telekinesis and signed the document. She then used that same telekinesis it to pass it back to Moondancer.

“Very well. It shall be done,” the clinic head replied with a bow after she put the stylus in her lab suit pocket and the dataslate under one of her front legs, “However, I must beg of you my leave. I have other matters to attend to.”

“Of course ,” replied Ms. Sparkle, “Don’t be a stranger though, Minuette. And would you mind keeping tabs on Moondancer for me? I don’t her going hermetic on me again as she was back in the day.”

“Sure, I’m sure we will run into her in the chow hall or the hoofball court at some point. I could say the same for you as well, your Highness. You’ve been pretty busy as of late as well,” Minuette replied with a slight smile.” She continued, “However, this will have to be farewell for now.”

“Rest assured, you will see me on the hoofball court at some point. Dismissed,” the lavender alicorn replied as the doctor in turn bowed and trotted off.

As he trotted away, Trixie went over to Spike and put one of her hooves upon his arm. She would’ve put it on his shoulder, but he was too tall for her to reach, even if she was standing up and he was on all fours. “While the great and powerful Trixie is grateful to have won the debate she is still sorry someone had to lose.” she replied with a slight frown.
Spike merely looked down upon her and smiled slightly. He then replied, “Hey, ya win some ya lose some. Rest assured, while I may have my reservations and disagreements on the matter I still trust the Princess to do the right thing for our colony.”

“Trixie is pleased to hear this.” the Blue Unicorn in turn commented with a rather large grin.” She then continued, “Tell me Spike, how would you feel if the great and generous Trixie helped you find some Firaxite after work today with the spell Rarity and Twilight taught her?”

“Really?” Spike replied with an almost childlike glee, “You’d take time out of both or our work schedules for me?”

“Of course Commander Spike,” Trixie replied as she got her trademark hat off of a nearby hat hanger, “I am not known as the great and generous Trrrriiixxxiiieeeee for nothing!” Spike and Twi had to chuckle for a bit at that. Fortunately, Trixie was too busy with her theatrics at the time to notice.

“Sounds good to me Trixie,” Spike replied with a rather large grin.

……

Path Tracer was trembling with excitement as he waited at the barracks. After a few rounds of selection, he had been chosen out of about 30 hopeful candidates to operate the explorer module to carry out expeditions. It was a difficult process. The scientists had been looking for a candidate that has the scientific knowhow to be able to accurately carry out scientific expeditions while the military ponies were looking for someone who could hold their own in a fight. Having spent his time working in both the Signal Corps and the Combat Engineers back in Equestria ensured that he more than qualified for the job.

The door opened to show Cpt. Flash. “Sergeant Tracer?” the captain called out.

“Yes Sir!” The corporal replied as he stood at attention and saluted.

“Follow me.” the guard captain ordered as he turned around and started walking into the corridor he came from.

They travelled in relative silence. Ponies who spotted them waved, wishing him good luck knowing he was the first pony going out to chart the world. Turning into a room, Flash pushed the door open and pointed in. “The scientists are in there, they want to show you something.” Flash Sentry said. After a little hesitation, he said: “Good luck out there soldier.”

Path Tracer walked into the room. The couple of scientists and engineers were there doing some final checks to a giant rover in the middle of the makeshift workshop. One of the scientists, a yellow orange mare with a red and yellow mane looked up and noticed the young sergeant. “Ah, Sergeant Tracer I presume?” Sunset Shimmer asked. “ I’m Sunset Shimmer, Princess Twilight’s scientific and human diplomacy adviser. You been called here for us to show you the features on the explorer probe that will be provided for your expedition needs.”

Tracer nodded in reply as he eyed the all terrain drone in front of him.

“ Now, your job is fairly simple really. All you need to do is to map out the lands you explore. If you come across something of archaeological importance, all you need to do is to set up a site by assembling this module here.” Sunset explained as she pointed to a white compartment on the back of the craft. “ In there is a tripod ground radar, a few analysis instruments and some spare ammunition.”

She then walked to the front of the vehicle and entered the pilot seat. Pointing to the various dials and buttons she began to explain what each of them did. “Now, this probe however does not have the room for any tactical weapons, so you are going to have to defend it as well. We are sorry that we can’t fit any weapons on it but that’s what your military training is for.”

“You mean it’s just me and a rifle against the aliens,” Tracer asked

“That just about sums it up Sergeant.” A voice came from behind him. Everyone turned to the source of the voice revealing Princess Twilight. “If you spot any sites of interest do try to investigate them, however don’t put your own life at risk. Whether it is too risky to approach or not I’ll leave up to you.”

Everyone started to bowbowing but Twilight held a hoof up and continued, talking: “No need for thatbowing everypony. Especially you Sergent, what you are doing is both brave and necessarynessecaryrather brave and daring to do. The least I could do is to show some respect right before we sendt you off.” She looked at him and saluted.

Tracer was at a loss of words. Here was the princess of the colony saluting her, something that should n’ot even be happening. “I... “ he stammered “Thank you Princess. You usually only salute a commissioned officer, but thank youI will take the compliment. I promise I will do the Union proud.”

Twilight smiled. “I’m sure you will on’t Sergeant. May Celestia watch over your mission.”

“Thank you Princess” Tracer said as he gathered his weapons, then saluted her and left.

……

In the city management office on another side of the city, Moondancer was hard at work ondoing her paperwork trying to allocate sufficient resources for the multiple improvements being builtd. With limited resources from their landing ship, it fell toon her to ensure that there weren’t any bottlenecks with allocation. Right now though, she had a problem.

Somepony knocked on the door. “Come in. The door is unlocked.” Moondancer replied. The door swung open with a lavender glow, revealing Princess Twilight.

“You wanted to discuss something with me Moondancer,” Twilight asked. She squinted at the near darkness as Moond Dancer had only switched on her table lamp.

“Yes Twilight. I wanted to talk to you about the current infrastructure in place.” Moondancer replied. “Take a seat Princess.” she said as she closed the door with her magic.

Twilight took at seat. “So what would you like to talk about Moondancer?”

“Well” Moondancer thought for a moment. “Firstly I would want to talk about the power situation we may be facing soon.”

“Power situation?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. It is my recommendation that we try building one of those reactors with the materialsresources we have onat hoof at the moment. We don’t have the resources for large scale solar arrays yet and there aren’t any nearby sources of petroleum. yet.” Moondancer replied.

“Do we really need to? yet,” Twilight asked. “There are still many things we don’t understand about the place. The researchers would need more time to study all the samples they took. And everything is still running as far as I could see. Mind if I take a look at your charts and diagrams to see if something is wrong?”

“Twilight, I’m pretty sure my charts aren’t wrong. The reason why we haven’t suffered a blackout yet is because we are just reaching the max output our salvaged ship generator can provide.” Moondancer pointed out.

As if to emphasise Moondancer’s point, the power suddenly cut off, knocking out the only light in her room. Both of them quickly casted light spells. Moondancer simply sighed. “The 4th Engineering Wing must have gone just went online...”. She looked at Twilight who by now was looking a little embarrassed.

“I think I might have went overboard with setting up all our research facilitles,” Twilight said sheepishlyy said, “I’ll get the engineers started on the reactor.”

“Please do,” Moondancer replied with half-closed eyes.

(“Yes...erm, Moondancer,” Twi continued, “Me and the other alumni from the old college were wondering if you’d be willing to take up a few rounds with hoofball with us later?”
“Yes...I suppose so,” Moondancer answered as she cracked her neck a bit, “We are on a new planet and I don’t want to get too soft. A emergency might come up where I may have to get a move on pretty fast.”

“Thanks Moon,” Twi replied as she gave her a big hug, “I don’t want things to go back to the way they were when I first left Canterlot.”

Taken aback a bit by being hugged by the much larger alicorn the much smaller unicorn stammered, “S-sure Princess! Could you lighten up a tad though? You’re kinda making it hard to breathe.”

“Oh! Sorry,” the Princess exclaimed with a bit of shock as he let her go and then nervously scratched the back of her mane. Twilight then cleared her throat and continued, “The pPoint is please get out and see us some. Don’t be a stranger. Promise?”

“Promise,” replied Moon Dancer in turn with a matching smile.

Author's Note:

1.) I had always wondered something. You can build in the game nothing but satellite arrays, academies ect. but no generators and those improvements and your city still keep going. So I decided to mess with it.

Comments

[Brother Malachai]

6515124

Yes, but Supremacy also leans towards _military_ Supremacy, which is up RD's alley. Even then, she doesn't have to be the "egghead" of the group. That's what the scientists on her staff are for. But, rest assured. More will be shown in time. Stay Tuned.

[terrycloth]

You have to build the generators out in the countryside, instead of farms.

[Brother Malachai]

"May Celestia watch over you fandor your mission."

I think you mean "and your mission."

[dusk flame]

The last half of this chapter is just overflowing with mistakes.