Chapter 114
I looked at the massive pile of just... stuff as Sparks and Midnight worked their way across it with Moondancer getting their lists and double checking them against the main list.
I was just in awe at the massive amounts of things. Wooden box after wooden box with tents, pots, pans, cloth, nails, tools. Sack after sack of dry goods.
It was all being delivered to a warehouse close to the train station in Canterlot and I couldn't believe how much crap there was. I turned to look at Sunset, "Do we really need all this?"
She just shrugged a bit and headed over towards the small office at one side of the warehouse, "Don't ask me, but I can't believe it considering how much is needed just for the legion and their families to move."
I just shook my head and sat down, looking at the boxes of heavy tents. This is such a bad idea, the worst idea I ever had and that includes getting into a fistfight with a magic eating centaur. And two months? What at the buck had I been thinking with that time schedule, we should have spent years planning this!
Well, it was too late now. Word was already out to the thestrals we had invited. One week and the ones that wanted to go would be here and then we'll know how bad things went. With some luck, nopony will show and we can put the entire thing on the shelf until we have a better plan than 'toss five hundred ponies into the jungle'.
But even as I thought that, Moon Glow’s fear at being discovered came to my mind. Fluttershy's fear when I first revealed that I knew what she was. The... the way that thestral looked at me when she hoof delivered her letter to me. Like she trusted me, like she actually thought I could make a difference.
The way the volunteers went through the curse breaking, knowing that there might not be a way to also break the blood magic.
They did it because I asked. Because they believed that I could do it.
No. No, we're doing this even if I have to go down there myself with a knife, a hammer and a saw and get building it on my own!
Shaking my head, I stood up and looked over to Skitter, "So... what do you think?"
"I think I should send a few more changelings along for security," the changeling Princess said as she walked up next to me, her wings buzzing slightly as Amber jumped down from the ceiling to land next to her. Skitter smiled at her and gave her a nod before turning back to me again, "Especially after last time and from what the new members of the hive said about the last home."
"Wrong jungle."
"Still a jungle," Skitter said seriously, "filled with things that like to eat things the size of a pony or changeling."
I nodded, "No more than fifty," I finally agreed, "There needs to be enough for them to eat. Will they be okay with being away from the hive that long?" I then asked.
Skitter smiled, "Infiltrators are used to it. Used to be anyway," she said with a nod and then looked at Mount Tent, "Are all of this really necessary?"
"That's what I asked," I said and scraped a hoof against the floor, "Midnight said yes and Sparks booped me on the head with a rolled up paper."
"As you deserve," Sunset said with a grin as she returned with a stack of papers in her magic, flipping through them, "Need some signatures on these from the companies delivering the supplies as soon as Twi and the girls confirm delivery of everything."
"Thanks, put them with the rest," I said and stretched my wings, "You mentioned the legion? How are they doing, I haven't heard any complaints about moving from Centerlot, at least temporarily. How do they feel about it?"
Sunset put the stack down on a nearby crate before she looked to me, "Honestly? They are excited to get to do something that doesn't involve a sudden invasion. Other than the few that draw guard duty, all they do is train, drill or do small patrols around town. They're jumping at the chance to get to do something real."
"Huh," I said and then smiled, "Well, at least somepony is excited for it," I said and then looked over at my guard for the day, "What about you, Swift?"
"Me?" He asked and shrugged, "I'm fine with it, sir," he said, "I'm scheduled to rotate back to the Nightguard in another eight months anyway. Minuette... not so happy."
He was back on duty again, his legs having healed nicely and a bit quicker than the doctors had predicted. He still moved a bit stiff at times, but he seemed to be doing okay.
I cringed slightly, "Sorry about that, man."
Swift smiled and shook his head, "All part of the job. And Minuette is going to stay in Canterlot and she'll cool down in a couple of weeks."
"You know," I said with a small frown, "We could give you back to the Nightguard early. I don't want to mess things up between you and your marefriend."
Swift shook his head again, "I knew what I signed up for. I might not have expected this exactly, but I might have just as easily ended up posted in... Stalliongrad or at the border to the Crystal Empire. Otr even at an Embassy across the sea or something. Compared to those, I'll take a jungle anytime. Besides, as I said, it's temporary."
"And when we're set up, nothing says she can't come to visit or you can't head up to visit her," I said, "If nothing else, I'm likely going to head up to Canterlot often enough."
Even if things were set up nicely and if we always had the dream realm, there was no way I wouldn't visit My Sky anytime I could get away with it.
I looked at the massive pile of stuff, "Okay, we should likely go help them count eve-"
"You stay out of it!" drifted out from behind a stack of crates. Not sure if it was Sparks or Midnight, but it didn't sound like Moon Dancer.
"Or... we'll leave them to it," I continued instead, taking half a step back. An organizing Sparkle was a happy Sparkle. Instead I looked to Sunset, "Anything we can do?"
"Actually, sir," Amber piped up from next to Skitter, "Your publisher requested a meeting about the first printing of your latest book? Apparently there's something about the cover."
"Ah. Well, we can likely do that sometime before we leave," I said and looked to Sunset.
She shook her head, "Go, It's not like things are going to get any less busy. Besides, we got this," she said with a smile and looked up from her notebook, "Meet you at the castle tonight?"
"Sounds like a plan."
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new book must see.
The new book would either be the journal of the expedition, or the porn for Celestia. I wonder which it is?
Ah, Page's first porno is ready to be delivered to Sunshine! Well, soon to be.
10523991
Eat great, even late!
This is gonna be interesting
YES! You should have...
What i would of done is to not contact those settlers. Lead another expedition instead. Find an ideal settlement location. the idea of being in that using the legion to construct a fortifications and the basic shape of the settlement first. once you've got something like a little fork set up it'll be much safer and easier to get ponies and supplies in. because let's face it there's going to be something down there that's going to be small and furry and it's going to run in and eat all your food.
Before leaving i would see to my finances (i seem to be leaps and bounds better at it). Of course I am assuming that the Equestria banking system is the same as my own bank and that Page has 500,000 in the bank. Hopefully Page doesn't have all of his bits sitting in a checking account and not a savings account. Just on interest alone is a thousand. Not nearly enough especially if it's yearly, which it is. fortunately it's over 10,000 so my bank would double the interest amount at $2,000 that is enough for me to not work for a month; with change.
Paige could instead invest and if you use my investors that I have he could be making about 10 to 15% a year. still it's investments which means he's technically gambling and so am I which means that the market crashes you lose all of it. Even if we only invest half though that is enough for me to put up my feet and never work again; not enough for a colony. Though page doesn't need one time shots of money he needs consistent revenue. Both the investments and the banking can provide that and if he could find the time to write a book that would also help. The main problem is is that none of this is nearly enough for it as he needs revenue of at least $100,000 a year in order to even hope to sustain a small colony of a hundred.
The bright side is the colony supposed to eventually get to be self-sufficient. so eventually you wouldn't actually need to have that much money coming in and hopefully you can find something to send back out to generate money. That's all hopes and dreams though. The only certainty is that they're actually is going to be some kind of food down there cuz it's a jungle full of plant life and there's going to be something edible.
But it seems like he wants to put up a tent city first which is good cuz he got plenty of timber down there so you don't really need to send timber down. Excluding the canvas from the tents most of his stuff that he's going to need is going to be mostly made by materials of wood and metal. such items if kept in a cool dry place out of the elements can last for a number of years. so there isn't a whole lot of hurry to gather up all the supplies round up the colonists and shove them all into a jungle in 2 months.
50 bits says the title to his "special" new book will be called 50 Shades of Hay!
And also Page, you should know that there is A LOT of logistical information and issues when planning or getting to the start of building a new colony. And it's better to get it right or error in your favor the first time before you head out then realise that you forgot something halfway to your destination.
10524227
why not both?
10524352
that falls under 'pizza delivery guy porn' or 'porn version of indiana jones' xD
Ten cakes says that there's going to be a time storm at the new settlement and that's what sends the thestrals (inc. blood magic) to the past.
10524366
Oh, absolutely. As soon as I heard male alicorn thestral, I knew it was him, somehow.
i.imgflip.com/4lss2d.jpg
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Book Publisher: Here you go Page! The drafts for the final front cover of your jungle expedition book~!
Page: Thank you! I can't wait for it to hit the shel---
*faint booing in the distance*
Book Publisher: ...what is that?
Page: I believe I'm being booed from another dimension...
Book Publisher: Why are you being booed from another dimension?
Page: I dunno. *shrug* but I usually hear it with an equal mix of fangirl squees whenever I finish talking to a female pony. I have learned to ignore it.
10524389
- Both?
- both.
- Both.
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/)
---》 
= 
PRICELESS ♡
♡
👍
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(\
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10524405
Cant win em all but the ones won over are worth it
10524283
Well, the Jungle has very Delicious fruit apparently not found in other parts of Equestria, get an Orchard of them going there and you have something to make money with.
10523989
Ah, that explains that
In addition to all of our usual predictions regarding Page tripping over that temporal landmine that's got his name prominently displayed on it, I'm expecting a serious cluster of Thestrals who've still been living in that jungle for thousands of years to suddenly pop up. After all, Page didn't even explore the place as well as Columbus did before declaring "This Jungle Is NOW OPEN For Tons Of Colonies Of Unsuspecting Ponies!"
I'm sure that is a mistake that should be coming by to give him a nip on his rear to remind him of doing the basics!
10524127
I agree.
In fact, making a railway to the colony location would save a lot in the way of food, medicine, and materials in the long run. However, making a railway is not an easy task; especially through a jungle. It would take money to acquire the materials and hire enough man-power to create the path; and doing that takes time.
If the crown directly paid for everything required they could finish it within the next year, but it would take a large chunk out of their coffers to make it so soon. The better option would be to wait until the crown has gained enough income through taxes, with the railway planned to be made within the next couple years. That way the crown wouldn't loose much of it's capital in one go.
But... the real problem is getting the support to enact such a venture. While Celestia and Luna can order something to be done because they say so, what is a leader without their people? And unfortunately, nobles hold a good sway in decisions made because of their monetary might and resources. The nobles have already tarnished Prince Page's image by making the public think he uses dark magic, if the nobles don't like the railway idea and the Princesses push it through anyway, they could turn the public against the Princesses. They would likely claim that Page used his "dark magic" to make Celestia and Luna do his bidding, and since Page is already know for being a radical with accepting the Changelings, his decorum in court, and his sudden change in appearance to a thestral alicorn, it won't take much for the nobles to exploit it for their own gains.
Sorry, I'm rambling.
The point:
Building a railway would be a safer and cheaper way to set up a colony in the long run, but convincing the nobles to agree with something that wouldn't give them something in return would be like hitting a brick wall.
10524685
That would depend a bit on whether Celestia could get fair-minded nobles to chip in, like Fancy Pants, and/or any others who might simply make gains by playing against Neighsay (even if they might not like Page that much on their own)?
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A rich, prominent Businessman like Filthy Rich would be a good source of money. Tell him of the large, delicious fruits found only in the Southern Jungle that could be collected to create orchards for. He, his Father and his Grandfather are all about the Apple Families Zap Apple Jam which is grown from a fruit that only grows on their farm and in the Everfree, this would be similar. Strike up a fair deal with him using the fruits as leverage and he is bound to put large amounts of bits down on this as an investment.
Canterlot
Or
Btw nice little chapter, thank you for the frequency of Chapters.
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How many bits you wanna bet that the erotica Page is writing for Celestia is how he gets her?
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He already got her... At this point he just bluewalls her badly
If his erotic books get high sales he can add that stuff to the Village substain plus add some juicy Thestral bite play and all mares get wet dreams of Page
Might get Cadance a run for the titel Princess of food under the Changelings... Than again, hes already there salt daddy... He just dont realised it yet...
Page and Luna had a nice romance start... Perhaps he write his own story out and switches some details to make it more popular/ believable
10524685
building miles of rail is a lot easier than hauling hundreds of tons of cargo through the edge of a jungle, and from the context, its not that far away from the site they're scouting. there's hundreds of disused miles of rail built for no particular reason, its easy enough to quietly work the leavers to get the rail authority to extend a section of track without alerting anyone as to why its being done.
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I can see that, but I feel it still comes done to the money. No matter the amount of favors Celestia would have, bits will have to be thrown around at some point to grease the wheels of motion. Unless the crown wants to empty their pocket, they will need to gather some supporters, and they will want to know where their money is going.
On that note, OminousBrony is right...
10524807
Not only would Lord Fancy Pants be a reliable business partner/supporter, this would also strike up another reason to build the railway: exporting 'Exotic Goods'.
Wait I just remembered something, wasn't Midnight send back to her own timeline in Repercussions?
I remember something being done about it.
10905086
They tried but the spell failed, if I recall correctly
10905086
10974786
The attempt failed in a rather spectacular fashion. Oh, they managed to open a portal well enough, but it either went to some other world, or straight into the void between worlds. They got "combative calamari" for their efforts - an eldritch tentacle abomination made of eyes that decided to see if the pony world could be its next dinner. Celestia had to step up and outright fry the thing to get the portal to close*, but it pretty much fried the Ponyville library and destroyed the Cutie Map table - which was, essentially, the last anchor they had to their own reality.
They know how to open these portals, but they're out of luck on tracking the actual reality Midnight is from. They're effectively stuck without home coordinates**.
* and it's probably a good guess that she only really managed to hurt the parts that it actually pushed through; I'm reasonably certain that most of it stayed behind simply due to the portal's size - at best, they've gotten its "fingers"
** in a way, the same problem as Page, except simpler, because they know they're from another Equestria - so nowhere in this reality*** - and they're ponies to begin with; using either Midnight or her Spike has been ruled out because they've simply been around for too long and are, in a word, "contaminated" by the present reality
*** Page might be from another planet in this reality; as far as I'm aware, that has not been ruled out
Pun or mistyped?
Or
Logistics, worked in a company once... The paper work alone was a nightmare. Imagen that being in the middle of being switch to digital transition.
Paper mountains like you would not belive...
How did they will store the paper work later on? In a wet jungle...
11670020
Having started my own logistics company in recent years... the amount of just *crap* that has to be stored at your listed primary physical location, in hard copy, and made readily accessible 24/7 to inspectors from any of a dozen different alphabet soup agencies? Even in the digital age, it's still unreal. I deadass have 5 entire filing cabinets that are nothing but forms and files required for regulatory compliance. At least everything actually tied to operations can be stored digitally with redundant backups, but... there's easily two and a half trees living in the other room which serve no other purpose than to comply with the letter of the law. Of course, it probably doesn't help that my operations span 2 entire countries and include the handling of dangerous goods and government property, soooooooooo...