Perchance to Dream

by David Silver

65 - Can We Build It?

"Let's head back," I spoke to my phone. It was on the dashboard in the middle of a call on speakerphone.

"Alright, I'll meet you at the house," came Kevin's tinny voice.

"I'm not ready to call it a day, yet. Let's bring this project to work and get them started."

"I already emailed the basic specs."

Starlight looked surprised. "Look who's taking charge."

I nodded, unsure, but happy. "Good thinking, but I'd feel happier going over it, in person. This is the most... personally involved project I've been in."

"I'm heading home. I don't want to say what shouldn't be said. If you want to handle that part, fantastic. Good luck."

That reminded me. "What exactly should be talked about?"

"Not the ponies."

That part seemed obvious... "So we just tell them it's just a regular town out here?"

"It is one. Its residents might be odd, but that's not their business."

Trixie leaned in from the back. "So long as ponies are allowed to modify things, our things aren't that different from human things."

"That's the spirit."

I wasn't quite as certain about that. "Are they going to let ponies near hammers, saws, and other tools that can easily double as weapons in the eyes of paranoid caretakers?"

"Well, they could... No..." I could easily imagine him trying to think of ways to make the tools safe, but a safe saw wasn't a saw. A safe hammer was not a hammer. There wasn't such a thing as a 'safe' carpentry tool.

"Ultimately, the ponies are prisoners," I sighed out. "They're being confined to a specific place and their freedoms are severely restricted even within it."

"Hey, they're trying to take care of them."

"Yes, it's a very nice jail. It's still a jail. It's our job to make it the nicest jail we can. Hey, jails can trust inmates to handle deadly tools in specific places, I'll try to suggest a workshop area to help with morale."

I heard his sigh over the speakerphone. "That may work. Look, you want to make this better? Stop tip-toeing around and do what you can."

"What I can?"

"You are the contact. Get the right people talking to each other. You may not want to be the diplomat, but who the heck else is going to do this? Think of it as a project. You get people talking, make sure laws are followed, and get the project done. This is right up your alley if you stop overthinking it."

Starlight rolled a hand. "He has a point. You are the literal halfway point, but you aren't alone. I know more about the pony side of things, and I've had a good bit of exposure to the human side." She leaned in, looking at me with her face that still looked like a sister. "I'm your mirror."

"Trixie makes a Great mirror as well." Trixie huffed softly. "She knows of ponies and humans as well."

Starlight glanced back at her friend. "Trixie, I love you, but you have a... unique perspective."

"Everything about her is unique," she agreed. "How is that bad?"

Kevin laughed through the phone. He could hear the exchange easily. "See you back at the house." The call disconnected.

I tried to focus more on the act of driving, even if there wasn't a lot to see once we were away from the town-to-be. "So, what do you two think?"

Starlight lifted her shoulders. "I don't see what the confusion is. We need to talk to whoever your princess is and get them in contact with our princess and make things nice and official."

"America is not matriarchal," I pointed out with a raised brow. "It's pretty deeply patriarchal, in fact."

Trixie snorted behind us. "No wonder you are so uncertain. A stallion doing a mare's job, just imagine it." She leaned in, head poking into view. "Or is your prince more like King Sombra?"

Starlight must have seen my confused expression. "Ancient evil king that mind controlled his populace."

"That... isn't too far off, though ours uses slick words to convince desperate people that he has what they want. America is a democracy, which means we can get what we deserve, for better or worse. Your timing couldn't be much worse." I slapped the steering wheel in frustration. "And you're telling me I should march across the country and talk with the guy. I don't see that ending well."

Trixie shrugged. "We could take a train there. How long would that take?"

Not hard to find out. I reached out and broke the law messing with my phone as I drove. I quickly prompted Google. "Train ride from San Francisco to Washington DC." Boop, the results came up quickly. "Wow. A week by train. No, if I wanted to go, I'd go by air."

Starlight leaned in to see what was on the phone. "Hot air balloon?"

"Oh no, jet plane." I was amused at the idea of lazilly drifting towards DC in a balloon. "Much faster. We'd get there in the same day. But that's besides the point. I'd need an appointment if I even wanted to dream of it, and they'd be nightmares." I shuddered softly. "I can ask Swanson about it, but with the way things are going, he probably won't even want to see me anyway."

Trixie tapped me on the shoulder. "Is he busy? Our princess is often busy with various affairs. This is important though. You just have to impress on him the magnitude of the event." She flung out a hand past me. "It's not every day you have another country eager to open ties." I could somehow feel her smile. "And this human world is blessed with Trixie's presence."

I wanted to laugh, but my mind was in darker places, considering the options. I could play along, helping them make the most comfortable jail as possible for the ponies we had. I could go rogue and flee to the most visible place possible. Starlight and Trixie would both be willing to show off their alien nature if prompted. Trixie was likely eager to do it without prompting.

One flight purchase would get us to the UN, where we could try to argue our way to the floor. Or...

I had a thought, but I saved it for later.

We arrived back at work and piled out of the car. Trixie reached for the sun above. "She is glad to be done with the driving. You don't need your phone anymore, right? She can borrow it?"

I surrendered it to her and headed inside. Starlight was snickering at her friend as she went.

The secretary gave a big smile on seeing us. "Welcome back! The boss hasn't looked this happy in a while. He's been in a storm of phone calls."

"I have time for her." Oops, there he was. "Welcome back, Linda." He threw his hands out wide. "And with your new friends. Kevin wired over the basic specs and it's a hell of a project. They want us to basically build a town out of almost nothing, and in a rush. The cost of that, to them, will be quite a sight to behold."

No bad time to fish, I decided. "So this is the big project you brought me here for, right?"

"As if there's doubt. One hundred percent worth it, right?" He elbowed me lightly. "We can both retire on this money, not that I plan to call it quits here. We do well, we might be considered for other big projects, and I'm all over that idea."

Starlight rolled a hand. "So you have everything you need?"

He paused, taking in Starlight. "Some time you're going to have to tell me how you're involved in this. The secrecy around this project is driving me wild, but still worth it. I'm lining up the contractors right now. They want ASAP service, and I plan to deliver. Linda, have you done the prelim legal check?"

I raised a brow. "That sounds like something to get started on right now. I had a feeling there were things needing done before I could call this a day. I need to check if the area is anywhere near any other official town limits and see what the process is for California for declaring a new one, which I have a feeling our employers want." All the better for being able to set local laws and regulations. Remaining entirely off the map seemed unlikely, and if you weren't going to try to be entirely black, hiding as a boring little place worked far better. "I'm on it."

I led the way, Trixie and Starlight trailing behind. They took seats and began toying on their devices as I got to work, and there was plenty to be done to make sure the project went smoothly. There were also other matters I wanted to look into, so I did.

It all involved ponies, so I didn't feel too bad chasing this other not-directly-related project as I went. I glanced up at the two. "Do either of you know the population of Equestria?"

"Millions?" ventured Starlight. "Why? I never saw the numbers before. We have wide stretches of nothing, but some incredibly dense places."

I clacked away at the keyboard. "A country has a difficult time being recognized if it's too small. I'm going to need some specific numbers, both in size and population. GDP would also be helpful."

Trixie looked up from her game. "GD-what? Trixie has not heard of this. Is this a human thing?" She shook her chubby cheeks. "Perhaps you would be better asking Twilight. She likes facts and figures."

Starlight nodded in rapid agreement. "She's the perfect pony to ask about that. If she doesn't know herself, she'd know where to look to get it. Seriously though, what are you up to?" She leaned over the desk, trying to peek at my screen.

I casually minimized the window. "I'm checking what paths are open to us. We have a problem." I let out a little sigh. "Part of being a country is being recognized by other countries, and there isn't a single country on this planet that would sign off on Equestria, seeing as they have no idea what it is beyond a children's fantasy."

Trixie clapped her hands together suddenly, making me jump. "Then we should show them. Something flashy and brilliant that they can't ignore. It is fortunate that you have Trixie by your side to perform Great and Powerful feats of magic!"

Starlight rolled a hand. "If I tell you that's a bad idea, will you listen?"

Trixie pouted at that. "Only because it is you." They shared a smile, then both looked to me. Trixie nodded at me. "So what is the plan?"

Author's Note:

Is there a plan? How would you handle the situation?

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Comments

[SudokuBrony]

"Yes we can!"

[The Serpent Mage]

Linda's brow raised.

Um

[David Silver]

8177890 Oops.

[badninja]

Ah the joys of the American political machine, no matter what some segment is not happy and the government as a whole is not going to accommodate anyone easily. Linda find a way to get these ponies home, close the way they are appearing on Earth and permanently move to Equestria.

[Booster Spice]

Fastest way to build stuff is to drill piles so you dont have to grade the land, beam and block the floor, then foam slab and wood floor so you dont have to wait for cement to set, then place preassembled wall sections together. I forgot what the Skyhook can lift but I thought it was at least a single deck bus, say 12-15 tons, which someone made a 3 bed house out of, using fly ash filled waste polycarbonate 4-6 inches thick.

The granite chip filled 3 inch slab equiv let the occupants of a Landrover survive drivng over an antitank mine.

Geodesic dome is self suporting, only made up of the panels used to assemble it is they are structural, and can easily have vast span. And broke down and reassembled into something larger with more parts as they arrive.

just hope somepony doesnt have the idea that teleporting onto the UN podium during a full meeting is a good idea. They might survive if Starlight was in unicorn form and projecting a Shining Armor class city shield immediately around them, long enough to get back out.

[tsaukpaetra]

Getting Equestria recognized would be a great feat in itself. We mean, why recognize a place that is (currently) inaccessible and has only a dozen foreigners present? We wonder if this kind of thing has ever happened. The closest scenario would be governmental usurp of an existing country that previously had no world status... Any countries like this come to mind?
Hopefully their building schematics are taking the midget-friendly angle to allow construction to be accidentally pony friendly, though the floor-toilets might raise some eyebrows in America, we think they're not unheard of.
Keep going! ;)

[StormDancer]

Well... there is that little used bit about "unused, unoccupied, government property" which amounts to squatters CAN claim ownership if they are living on, and making use of, said property. The feds do NOT like it, but it was even used fairly recently to hold Alcatraz island if I recall properly.

Following that, unused, unclaimed, undeveloped land could be claimed and held even within documented borders... and if it were for governmental use by 'private, non-disclosed, citizens', the nearby cities/towns really couldn't say or do anything.

Likewise, the "natural man" laws are still in effect pretty much everywhere. Not really favored by any court, mind, but as long as you are living off the land, not profiting, and subsisting solely upon such use, you tend to be free to do as you please. Granted, you can't hunt protected species, etc, but the same general rules apply: if the government is building it, the 'citizens' are living upon it, and the land was unused/undeveloped, nearby laws don't apply towards limiting the pseudo-sovereign locale.

Build Build Build... the rules could be spun pretty easily to support you but, good gracious, do NOT allow tourists nearby... until you're ready for that circus.

[Luckyfanisaac]

Is there a plan? How would you handle the situation?

1.) Breath deeply into paper bag.
2.) Get help from friends.
3.) Build up trust with the government with someone that doesn’t have a temporary position like the president. Look for someone that has been in a position for at least 10 years and going to be in the business for 20 or more years.
4.) Talk to leaders on both sides to speak with each other.
5.) setup security.
6.) Start trading food to get use to the idea of trading.
7.) Start trafficking other resources.
8.) start trafficking people.

[David Silver]

11474513
Human/pony trafficking? You monster...