Only one day has been spent on the railway so far, and what a day it's been.

The whole thing started before sunrise. Everyone woke up early, ate, drank, and took inventory of our personal items before being filed outside to look over our supplies. Beams, rivets, hammers, nails, canteens, food, just about everything we would need for the big haul to Mt. Canterlot. We even got our own train! It's pretty to look at, but it definitely looks like it could take more than a few hits. It's called the Profectus, and it's big enough to carry everything that the rest of the crew can't. To be honest though, that isn’t that much, since the crew’s living on a steady but minimal diet.

Anyway, the entire thing started with this big "first spike" celebration. This massive crowd of equines, myself included, gradually migrated over to the site of where the city’s primary train station would be. Some neatly dressed unicorn hammered the first spike with one swing. As I found out later, that unicorn was called Mr. Heart Well, and he had personally paid for everything supply-wise that the Manehattan Trunk Line needed. There was confetti, music, and some of the best cake I’ve ever had in my life.

After that, the crew got a couple of pictures together before setting to work. Everyone’s been assigned their positions. Rook’s been assigned to pull the Profectus alongside a couple other workhorses. Swan and I have been assigned to hammering rivets, carrying supplies, just average stuff, really. Jack was roped together with a couple of other pegasi for a scout group. They're supposed to make sure our path is clear of what can be cleared solely with pegasi muscle, and report back anything that can’t be. After that, another team comes in to remove the bigger problems, which usually involve boulders, trees, and/or lots of dynamite. Rook seems to be much more like a machine rather than a pony while on the job, he's pulling the locomotive along like he was born doing it. Swan's been singing a few songs to keep morale up, and she actually got a few of us to hum along. Jack's been bringing back "all clear" reports in record time. Me, I've been doing alright. 3 swings and a spike is in, move onto the next, repeat until the sun goes down.

It's still a bit difficult to wrap my head around just how well the team's working together despite such little time. We managed to lay a few miles of track today. It wasn’t a special achievement, but there were very few problems. Some say it’s a bad omen, others think it’s just good luck. I prefer the latter.

Unfortunately though, this job didn’t turn out to be what some folks had hoped for. A few workers quit after camp was set up for the night. Some guys weren’t able to take the workload, others were homesick, and I’ve heard rumors that one had to be escorted back because of a severe allergic reaction to something. We've got about 200 workers left, but that'll be more than enough to complete the Trunk Line on time.

Speaking of workers, there’s this one stallion that bugs me to know end. From what I’ve gathered, his name is Big Iron. He’s as grey as his name suggests, and while much smaller than Rook, he’s no less intimidating of a workhorse. He’s also apparently the leader of the entire crew. Frankly, I didn’t even know this crew had a central leader to it. He seems like a decent guy, but there’s something off about him. He’s been treating the ibex and zebras a bit harsher than the rest of us. It’s probably just stress though. After all, I would sure as hay be on edge if I was in charge of around two hundred random strangers all trying to build the same thing.

Manehattan is a bit smaller now, but it’s no less visible. Even with a fire going next to me, I can still see the city’s lights as though they were tiny suns.

It’s been a long day and I need to get some rest and recover from maintaining a single spell for so long.

I get the sense these entries aren’t going to be as frequent as I hoped.