Inquiry

The fortress began to take shape as the concrete rectangles and octagons all fit together to make a giant perimeter, complete with 3 main 2 story buildings: communications, cafeteria, and science lab. Solar panels extended off of these and the fences shot electricity into metal rods as the whole place lit up in a brilliant blue hue, even if just for a second. Men, including Andrew and Joseph, began making rudimentary pavement sidewalks and stabbing stakes into the ground and putting lights atop them. Hexagonal tiles were soon placed in the areas that had been flattened and the small base began to look like a professional structure.

Small rows of tents (they were small buildings, really) lined the empty spaces between the buildings and pathways as Andrew made his way to his own. He used his combination on the keypad to the right and a small door slid open. He tore off his clothes and lay down on his bed, staring through the small skylight in the roof.

The beautiful, gleaming stars shone through and danced light upon his tired eyes and sleepiness cooed a beautiful song as he gently shut them. The stars, satisfied with a job well done, continued to seduce the tired men working outside, eventually convincing all of the exhausted workers to come and sleep for a bit. The picturesque, violet night sky continued its silent, enchanting ballet, putting the hardiest of men to sleep and working their magic.

Magic. It was like magic.

"Late, late! Sorry girls! Late!" Twilight quickly sputtered.

"Hey, don't sweat it. Besides, we just got here too!" A brash, youthful voice called up from a tree, upside-down and hanging from her hind legs.

Rarity threw down a picnic blanket, deviating from the traditional red and white check pattern with a custom "Elements of Harmony" blanket, each of their cutie marks and mane colors emblazoned on six corners. Truly, a stunning piece of art.

"Wowie! Ooh! Oooh! Is that one mine?" A chipper pink pony hopped to a corner.

"Yes it is, and there's a spot for everypony!" Rarity called out, signalling Applejack and Fluttershy to come back to the tree.

Twilight lay her basket in the middle, along with 4 others. She opened hers up and laid out 6 sandwiches, some odd number of crackers, and a fruit platter.

"Ooh! Can I have a lemon banana daffodil sandwich? With extra toothpicks!" Pinkie suggested.

"Uhh... alright?" Twilight met her demands and gave pinkie her sandwich, fruits, and a little over a dozen toothpicks.

She didn't even put them all together and swallowed them whole.

"Pinkie, did you just swallow..." everypony trailed off in unison.

"Hm," Pinkie rubbed her chin, "Twilight, do you know if those toothpicks are oak or pine?"

Rainbow Dash asked incredulously, "Does it matter? You're eating wood!"

Twilight ignored her, "I think they're willow woodchips from my wal--"

They all paused and ducked as the sound of dozens of dozens of objects broke the sound barrier behind them. "Holy ponyfeathers!" A certain foul-mouthed rainbow pegasus cried out, her face to the ground. They all looked up after the sound of high pitched screaming passed over them. Hundreds of giant mechanical eagles and grotesque masses of mangled falcons flew in formation, their wings ever flapping. 4 smaller, screaming, larger winged birds belched fire out of their feathers and flew around the mass of birds as they took the lead.

They all stopped in place over a flat spot of land miles away, visible from their location on the small hill. Twilight teleported 2 telescopes from her house, probably much to Spike's surprise. She looked through the larger ones as the birds began cutting themself open. Little minotaurs, clad in white and light grey stepped out, the darker ones holding elegant looking clubs in both of their paws.

"Oh, sweet Celestia." Twilight stpped away from her telescope so Rarity could see. Pinkie shouted from the other telescope,

"I want one of those birds too!"

She was immediately shushed by everypony as they tried to watched what happened next. The dark minotaurs began fanning out, escorting a team of whiter ones with stripes on them that flared in the sunlight sometimes. A small bottle sized object was hammered into the ground as another minotaur pressed a switch on a pad in its paw. The bottle grew into a towering, skinny needle, with a red glowing dot on the peak of it.

Everypony gasped as more of them came out of the birds. There was an entire towns' worth of minotaurs.

"Rainbow Dash, quickly, go get Spike! Carry him if you need to!"

"On it, boss!" She saluted and darted off toward Ponyville Library.

Giant stone octagons tucked into rectangles were being hauled out as metal rods appeared to grow out of them. Smaller metal rods were inserted into the sides and fences began to take shape. The 5 ponies looked up as a massive, vaguely bird shaped object held a large, oddly shaped metal cube with steel ropes. It was lightly let down near the fences and it spat flames out of its leg stumps as it left toward the sky. And went further. And further...

Twilight redirected her telescope at the object, watching as it left the sky. A faint, barely visible rectangular prism's silhouette was barely made out in the clouds. And that bird flew straight toward it until she could see it no more.

The town that they were building already had smaller buildings cropping up in various places and the birds were being moved out of the way. The entire thing was like inexplicable clockwork. It was like magic.