The Light Within Us

After a short nap, I rounded up some of the drones in the throne room.

“Okay, here’s how it is,” I said. “The Equestria Games Inspector has announced her visit exactly a week from now. Every report I’ve read describes her as strict, grumpy, and extremely easy to offend and disappoint, which I guess comes with her job so we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves if we fail to impress her-”

“That’s sure to boost everyling’s confidence, Thorax. Great job,” Pharynx interjected.

“What can I say? There’s dozens of other candidates, and we’re the only one outside of Equestria and the only one who used to be their enemy! How do we know that won’t be reason enough for Ms Harshwhinny to disqualify us from hosting?”

“Because she’s supposed to be unbiased,” he insisted. “That too is supposed to come with her job. And if that isn’t enough, I’ll have a little chat with her.”

“You can’t hurt her!”

“When did I mention hurting her? Believe it or not, I am capable of maintaining a verbal-only encounter when I have to.”

“...riiiiiight… Anyway, we’ve got a week to get everything ready. I know a week doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but if we work together, we can do it! Now, you’ve all volunteered to oversee an aspect of the preparations. First of all, do you have a large enough workforce to complete your assignments in time? Noling is understaffed?”

I got murmurs and headshakes in reply, but noling claimed a shortage of workers on their team.

“Good. Now the details! Urtica, does the archive contain any blueprints of stadiums suitable for Equestria Games? Or schematics, or specifications, or whatever they’re called?”

“I do! Blade sent a copy of the blueprints for the Crystal Empire’s stadium at some point during its construction a few years back,” she said. “He had to sketch them in a hurry to avoid getting caught so they’re pretty crude, which was enough at the time because Chrysalis didn’t expect to need to rely on that piece of intel anytime soon… but you can still tell what’s what on that sketch if I remember correctly! I’ll just have to check the standard dimensions of the arena, though I’m not sure if that would be anywhere in the archive… Maybe the library? Do we even have sport-related books?”

“Try Encyclopaedia Equestrica,” I offered. “That one sounds like it has pretty much everything about everything, and there are enough volumes that it probably does!”

“Can I draw a neater blueprint based on Blade’s sketch?” Mystique asked. “I’ll include the measurements, too, if it helps!”

“Of course you can! But won’t it interfere with your decor-arranging?”

“Nah, it’ll only take a day or two, and I can always get more drones to help me, or just turn into a giant three-headed octopus if it turns out they’re all already involved elsewhere.”

“Okay then… What about accommodations for the guests and athletes if we’re chosen?”

“We can probably squeeze them into the hive,” Grim said, “but not everyone will be comfortable with such an arrangement, not to mention that a lot of outsiders would get lost in all the hallways and passages sooner or later. I’d suggest building a structure with a predictable layout separate from the hive if you’ll have time to do it.”

“I hope I will… What about food? We could get thousands of visitors!”

“Why do you think I’ve been planting an orchard?” Antenna said. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to rely on it entirely - plants can sometimes fail to take root, I mean, or we could get some kind of disaster that’ll destroy the plants or leave little to harvest - but if all goes as planned, it should cover a good portion of the guests’ needs, plus we could export the produce later on!”

“Good! What about decorative plants?”

“...I’m sure the inspector will take into consideration the fact that this was a wasteland until not that long ago… Not that there’s anything wrong with the plants we do have! It’s just that someone used to topiaries and immaculate lawns might find our vegetation a bit unkempt - not that there’s no charm in that, in fact, some groom their gardens to appear unkempt, and anyway, you have to let plants grow strong before trying for elaborate appearances - and the wasteland is big enough that I simply haven’t gotten around to covering it in vegetation entirely…”

“It’s fine, she’ll probably understand! Besides, flowers aren’t exactly crucial for the athletic aspect, so they shouldn’t play a major role in decision-making no matter how beautiful they look-”

“Didn’t Detrot strike out one year because she didn’t like its parks?”

“Where’d you get that from, Pharynx?!”

“I have my sources.”

I waited for him to elaborate, but to no avail. “Oookay… what else do we have? Psycho, can you propose a tour of the hive and its surroundings based on what the inspector would most likely be interested in?”

“I’ll have to check her record in the archive for the stuff not strictly related to the Games, but yeah, no problem.”

“The banquet?”

“I’ll find the recipe for her favorite food!”

“Cleaning crew?”

“Proboscis is already passing out the brooms and mops,” Grim said. “I ran into her on my way here. She sends her apologies for not being here, by the way.”

I nodded. “Security, if we’re picked?”

“Will be taken care of.”

“Do we have any bedchambers ready in case she decides to stay overnight?”

“I don’t think she’s done that anywhere,” Urtica mused.

“Maybe not, but we are pretty far from Equestria, and as far as I’ve managed to find, she’s never had to travel such a long distance. She could decide that a two-day trip makes more sense, plus it would give her an opportunity to evaluate any guest facilities we have. Apparently she likes to catch candidates off-guard, and this could give her an opportunity to do so.”

“But we don’t have any guest facilities,” Grim said. “I don’t think we’ve needed them before!”

“Well, we’re going to need them now. Even if we don’t get to host the Games, chances are we’ll start getting regular visitors eventually! They’ll need someplace to stay!”

“You’re not wrong, but can you build a stadium and a hotel within a week?”

“The spell isn’t that hard; in fact, I’m guessing the bigger issue will be to ensure the measurements are correct. Besides, Pharynx has already agreed to help! Speaking of which, Pharynx, the hotel is going to take up additional space that I haven’t anticipated, and it makes little sense to put it way out there in the wasteland. Do you think you could perhaps sacrifice a portion of your training grounds or move them elsewhere?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Where am I supposed to train the troops, then?”

“You’ve got a whole unused wasteland to choose from and arrange to your liking!”

“So do you for the stadium and the hotel!”

“That could be a little too far out there… the ponies may not be comfortable so far away from familiar grounds…”

“And the hive is the epitome of friendly familiarity, especially to those who were captured and held there as food. That’s some brilliant deduction you’ve got there!”

“We’ve changed! And the hive looks nothing like it used to!”

He just glared at me.

“...okay, it’s far from unrecognizable, but there’s enough difference to make it obvious that the hive isn’t what it used to be!”

“Can you promise me with one-hundred-percent certainty that nopony is going to get flashbacks or a panic attack at the sight of what’s still similar or go on a rampaging spree in an attempt at revenge?”

“No, but don’t you think those afraid to come back would just steer clear?”

“They could get coerced into coming if a friend or a relative is competing, or they may not even realize they’re going to flip out until they get here.”

“Speaking of which, maybe it would be a good idea to have someling or somepony ready to provide emotional support for such situations?”

“I’ll ask Feisty,” Psycho said.

“Thanks. So, Pharynx? Would you at least consider it?”

“How much of the training grounds are we talking about? Hypothetically.”

“I’m not sure before I see any blueprints, but probably not more than half-”

“Are you crazy? I’m not giving up that much!”

“Like I said, you could set it up elsewhere!”

“That takes time and effort, and I’m not going to have any of either if you want the whole hive to get ready for the inspector within a week! You should have thought about it sooner! Why doesn’t Antenna give up some of her gardens or whatever you call them? That would create plenty enough space!”

“I did give it up! Why do you think that patch of land southwest from the hive is emptier than it used to be?”

“And that’s still not enough for you, Thorax?”

“It may have been enough until the need for a hotel was brought up. It may still be if we cram everything together and extend further into the wasteland with whatever can’t fit, but it’s possible that we’ll get more guests than we’re anticipating, and I’d like some wiggle room if we have to add more visitor seats in the stadium last-minute.”

“You don’t even know if we’ll host the Games yet, and you’re already thinking of enlarging the facilities!”

“Aren’t you always the one who insists on planning for worst-case scenarios? Not that this would be a worst-case scenario, I mean…”

He facehoofed. “I also always insist on having realistic expectations, and right now, I don’t see why I should give up something crucial to the hive’s existence in favor of something that may or may not even happen.”

“But-”

“If the need arises, I’m willing to reconsider. Until then-”

“How do you expect the inspector to take us seriously if we don’t have the basic requirements for hosting the Games?”

“That’s up to you to convince her, Thorax. Until you do, the training grounds are staying as they are and that’s final!”

A smartly-dressed pony appeared out of nowhere as I was frantically helping set up decorations for the Equestria Games inspection mere minutes before it was due to begin, wondering how I’d allowed the preparations to drag out like this and scolding myself for misjudging the amount of time needed for everything I’d invented or overestimating my ability to handle such an enormous feat. I almost ignored her in my rush to achieve some semblance of readiness despite having doubts it would fool anyone, but the sour tightness of her jaw muscles and a matching aura made me set down the garland held in my magic and cautiously approach the newcomer.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“I am Ms Harshwhinny, the Equestria Games Inspector,” she spat. “You were supposed to expect me an hour ago!”

An hour?! Goodness, where had the time gone?

“I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, Inspector-”

“Did you or did you not receive my letter? I clearly stated my exact time of arrival and the requirements I expect you to meet! Why wasn’t this heeded?”

“A letter…” What was she talking about? I didn’t remember any letters except the one from the Equestria Games Committee, and that one only stated the date of the inspection! Had it been lost in the mail? Had someling hidden it? But who’d mess with- wait, didn’t the infiltrators’ reports say she liked catching people off-guard? Maybe this was one such instance?

“I’m afraid I haven’t seen the letter; it might have gotten lost in the mail. I can check if you still deem it necessary. Meanwhile, since you’ve managed to find us anyway, would you like to see the hive? We’ve worked very hard to ensure you’ll feel welcome! I apologize if we missed something that you requested in the letter…”

“Hm. I’ll consider overlooking the letter fiasco if it turns out the post office really lost it, but from this point onward, you’d better prove yourselves less incompetent than what I’ve seen so far if you want to still have a chance of hosting the Games.”

“I understand. This way, please!”

I led her into the next hallway, wanting to reach one of the larger corridors and reorient myself on where we were exactly, as this particular hallway was unfamiliar to me and too nondescript to make reasonable guesses about its location, and noling was around to ask even if doing so wouldn’t immediately look bad for us. The hallway we ended up in next was marginally less decorated than the first one, and I chalked it up to sloppy preparations and hoped she wouldn’t notice, but the further we went, the hallways were decorated less and less, until eventually they were not only undecorated but filthy and downright dilapidated, maybe even in worse condition than any I’d seen under Chrysalis’ rule! How were things still so bad and why hadn’t anyling bothered to do something about it at least for the Equestria Games Inspector’s liking? Had they assumed she’d stick to the big things, so to speak, and not care to venture into some small, insignificant hallway in some random corner of the maze of tunnels that made up the hive? Come to think of it, why were we decorating a random set of minor hallways she probably wouldn’t care for? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to put our efforts into sprucing up the public areas? Was this where we were planning to have her stay if she requested accommodations for the night? But if that was the case, why had we assigned her to some burrow so deep in the labyrinth of hallways that she’d get lost without the help of someling who lived in one of those very hallways and knew the way out? I needed help finding the way out by now! I was ready to swallow my pride and ask for directions no matter how bad it would make us look in Ms Harshwhinny’s eyes, but whom to ask? There was noling here! Come to think of it, we hadn’t encountered a single drone in all this time we’d spent stumbling around! Where was everyling?

And how had Ms Harshwhinny known where to look for me in the first place?

“Mister Thorax,” she barked before I could ponder the matter further, “is there anything worth seeing around here?”

“Um… honestly, I don’t think so…”

“Where are we, anyway?”

“Uh…” How was I supposed to tell her I had no idea?

“Nevermind,” she huffed. “Let’s just skip the rest of the tour and go straight to the stadium.”

“Actually…”

“What is it now?”

“...we… don’t have a stadium yet… But we are going to build it! We’ve just had a bit of a disagreement on where exactly it should be…”

“Let me get this straight, Mister Thorax,” she spat, rubbing her temple. “You applied for the ambitious task of hosting the Equestria Games, which, being an athletic event, by definition requires a stadium, yet not only do you not have one, you’ve also failed to provide a suitable location for one?”

“I know it sounds bad, but-”

“Do you have any idea how long it would take to build a stadium worthy of such a high-profile event? Especially in the back of beyond like this?”

“Actually, there’s a spell-”

“Furthermore, your hive is in disarray, its layout is confusing and impractical for visitors, and your organization skills are downright nonexistent.”

“We can work on that-”

“Frankly, in all my years as the Equestria Games Inspector, I have never seen a candidate so blatantly incompetent for hosting the Games and so deluded into thinking they’d stand any chance against the competition, and I’m not even talking about the athletes!”

“I’m sorry… if you can just-”

“I’ve seen candidates that were a waste of my time, but you’ve gone above and beyond that. You are an insult to the Equestria Games as an institution!”

“Please-”

“You don’t even deserve to show your faces at the Games, ever!”

“...what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, not only will you not host the next Equestria Games, you will not even see it. Based on your disastrous performance at the Equestria Games inspection, your athletes are now disqualified from competing in the Equestria Games, and your citizens are banned from spectating! And don’t try to pull stunts with disguises, because I’ll make sure the security forces can recognize and deal with you!”

She stormed off and left me stuck in indecision on whether to run after her and beg for another chance or to crumble down and cry. In the end, the latter prevailed.

Soon, a gentle hoof touched my shoulder. I recoiled slightly in surprise and turned to its owner.

“Princess Luna?” I gasped. “What are y- wait, I had a nightmare again, didn’t I?”

“Indeed you did, even if not as violent as the ones tormenting your slumbers in the past, thus I did not recognize it for what it was until it was too late. Alas, I have only just arrived; forgive me for being so late!”

“It’s alright, Princess. Just seeing that you still care to watch over me means more than you can imagine!”

“It is my duty as your friend and ally! But it has been a long while since your slumbers were troubled, and I had truly believed it would not happen again. Pray tell, has there been unrest in your kingdom?”

“On the contrary; we’re looking forward to taking part in the next Equestria Games! It’s just that we applied as a potential host, and…” I sighed. “...and I guess what I learned about Ms Harshwhinny has left me feeling like we’ll make colossal fools of ourselves, especially now that we’ve run into some disagreements about the preparations and there’s only so much time left to resolve it… Maybe we really did bite off more than we can chew…”

“Is there a specific point in your conundrum?”

“Yes, the main thing is that we have a stadium and a hotel to build, which we can do in the remaining time by utilizing one of the spells I found in Chrysalis’ secret chamber soon after ascending, but Pharynx and I can’t agree on the location. I don’t want to put either too far away from the hive and he doesn’t want to rearrange the training grounds to make space for it closer.”

“Can you not arrange the visitors’ quarters to make the distance less noticeable?”

“...I’m not sure what you mean,” I admitted.

“The stadium must be built in accordance with specifications in order to qualify, but no such specifications exist for the hotel. Nowhere in the rulebook does it even say a hotel must be one single building, or a compact one, and nowhere in the rulebook is its required proximity to the stadium stated. All that is required is that it fulfills the needs of those staying in it, which I believe you are capable of ensuring. I have seen the extent of your creativity; can it not come up with more than a basic design?”

I considered her words and an image began stirring in the back of my mind; vague though it might have been, I was sure I could give it shape! “I think I can,” I said to her.

“Very well,” she said with a smile. “Once again, I look forward to seeing what you have built!”

By the time I opened my eyes, the seed of an idea that Luna had planted into my mind had grown and blossomed into a much clearer shape. Could I pull it off in the given time? I leapt off my bed and rushed to the arts-and-crafts section, where I’d spent the entire afternoon yesterday working on the stadium’s blueprints with Mystique and Urtica. Good thing it was too early for anyling to be up yet, otherwise I would have surely left a trail of injured drones I’d bumped into galloping like this! Was the sun even up yet?

I found the blueprints right where we’d left them, and checked and re-checked each dimension and proposed design. Could it work? Good thing Mystique had sketched a map of the hive’s surroundings on one of the blackboards, and good thing she’d had the presence of mind to do it roughly in scale! I used it now to check if my idea would hold water and how well it would fit in with the surroundings, adapting and altering the details as required, and in the end, just as the morning sun’s rays crept through a window and caressed my work, I finished up and took a step back to observe the final design, knowing it was going to be perfect.

Just about then, Pharynx and Mystique trotted into the room.

“Morning,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about that thing all night and I still don’t see how we could- Have you been up all night?”

“No, just for the past hour or two. I think I have it figured out, actually!”

They both studied the blackboard. “You know, I think you have,” she mused. “This could actually work! I like it! What about you, Pharynx?”

“Hmm. This part here is a bit too close to the archery range. Other than it being a safety hazard, I don’t want nosy foreign tourists snooping around on a military compound.”

“Oh. We can plant some trees, and maybe add a wall or a fence or something-”

“That works, but I had something else in mind.” He wiped the archery range off the blackboard and redrew it further south-east, beyond the rest of the training grounds. “This spot looks like it could use a pond or a flower garden or something, and flying to the archery range would be a good exercise for the soldiers’ stamina.”

“You really mean it?!” I hugged him. “Oh, Pharynx, thank you so much!”

“Yeah, alright, fine,” he grumbled, pushing me away. “Are you done already? We’ve got some building to do!”