//------------------------------// // CSI Equestria // Story: Glitterglen // by Khenal //------------------------------// The marksponies took up defensive positions upon the walls, fearful that their bone and wooden bolts would be useless against this foe. The melee squad and the rest of the Fortress guard sat in the main courtyard, and waited. The prebattle jitters got to one pony, however: Munest Sodkatdir, a hammerpony assigned to work under Khenal. He disobeyed orders, broke ranks, and charged off on his own toward the beast. It was a brutal beat down. The brave hammerpony fought valiantly, but his kicks, and hammer strikes glanced away ineffectually. Standing victorious over the broken pony, the bronze mountainous thing took off once more: toward the walls, toward Glitterglen. The brave ponies held their ground, save for one: Egom Singdumpling, an amateur axepony. He had followed the first out, but upon seeing the death of his comrade had tried to flee back to the walls. He was caught by the gargantuan villain just as the marksponies unleashed their first volley. Egom dodges and counter attacks, though the blow fails to penetrate. The titan attacks, Egom evades. Knowing he would surely fall without help, and not wanting to lose another pony today, Starkey and Khenal, call for a charge. The help arrived not a moment too soon, for he lay beaten and battered with a broken leg. Egom, knowing the end was about to take him, had been saying one last prayer to Kulet Orblens, the Mindful Watchfulness of Poems. Perhaps the gods were listening this day, because as the Bronze Colossus raised its hand to strike him down, Osal, the Markspony, ran up and hit the Titan with his crossbow. The creature threw Egom where he passed out on the ground. And in a wave, the entire army of Glitterglen descended upon the monstrous thing. Spears flash, axes swing, whips crack, bolts fly. Many attacks glance away, but a few fracture the beast; it can't keep this up for long. But each second that goes by, it strikes somepony, and the militia will tire long before it will. After a long and tiring fight, the thing falls, defeated. The final strike given from the earth pony Langgud and his silver whip. But the victory belonged not to him, but to all the brave ponies of Glitterglen. Nonub Reignedclobbered, the Cuts of Domination, the bronze colossus, was no more. Charity's Journal 8th Galena, 96 The fight with the Bronze Colossus was a great success. Only one casualty, and one injured. Well, some had a few bruises, but only one required any time in the hospital. Egom will be out with a broken leg for a while, but overall, it could have been a lot worse. The body of the beast is being set up like a statue*1 inside the barracks of the Fortress Guard, as a constant reminder of why they must train. Charity's Journal 10th Galena, 96 A double funeral was held today for Efim and Munest. I made a speech about Efim, in which I revealed to the entire fortress the murderer was still lose in the Fortress, and told them to make sure they report any suspicious behavior to our Captain Khenal. Since then, Efim's ghost hasn't been seen. Khenal's Book, Chapter 21 A bronze colossus. I had only ever heard legends about them, but had thought them just that: Legends. Unfortunately, they are all too real. It appeared while the Guard and I were out hunting. Thunder Splinter gave the alarm from the (still under construction) tower. I knew the Guard was no match for it, so I ordered a retreat to Glitterglen proper. This was an outside threat, and a major one as well, so I deferred to Commander Starkey's lead. After all, he's the Commander for a reason. We were getting into formation when I noticed two of my guards were absent. Wait, not absent, but charging the Colussus on their own! Munest and Egom, still learning the basics of using their weapons, were surely going to die. Munest was faster than Egom, and reached the colossus with enough time for it to crush him before Egom could even get there. As the monster closed on Egom and began striking him, I ordered the Guard to charge. Commander Starkey ordered the Army to charge as well. The battle was long and arduous, but we managed to save Egom, though his leg was badly broken. I... I feel a bit numb. I think it hasn't sunk in yet that Munest is gone. I'm going to talk to Commander Starkey about it, and maybe Dr. Friesden. She's a doctor, maybe she knows about mental trauma as well as physical. Chapter 22 We buried Efim and Munest today. I'm still a bit unfocused, I forgot that Mrs. Charity was planning to let the fort know of Efim's murder today. I'd rather keep it quiet so as not to make everypony worry, but they do have a right to know about this threat. I doubt anypony can give me any new leads this long after the murder, but I'll hear whatever they have to say. Who knows, it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong. The Journal of Cap'n Starkey 8th Galena, '96 I have come to a rather alarming conclusion: this entire outpost has been infected by an extremely virulent strain of Sudden Ludicrous Bravado Syndrome. And today, the disease claimed it's fir That was stupid of me. I have no business joking at a time like this. We were attacked by some kind of enormous automata today. It was made of solid bronze, too strong for our weapons to cut through. We just had to keep wailing on it 'till the metal turned brittle with fatigue, and shattered. The thing didn't let us go without a few parting gifts, though. The fortress guard took the brunt of it. One of their ponies is in the hospital, nursing a broken leg. Another... I should go speak with Khenal. He's a strong lad, I can't imagine he'd take it too hard. But just to be sure... 10th Galena, '96 So we have a murderer in Glitterglen. One who likes to kill ponies with insane mechanical contraptions, and relieve pegasi of their wings. Not sure about the death chamber part, but based on the mutilation, I'd be inclined to say this was racially motivated. But I'm not a guard anymore, I'm a soldier. This is Khenal's task. Doesn't mean I won't give him advice if he asks, but I'll let him act on it himself. Charity's Journal 12th Galena 96 An interesting thing happened today. Peytrel was watching the militia train again. Seeing as how Peytrel isn't quite the little pony that he used to be, Starkey decided to humor the boy and show him how to do a few basic moves with his axe. But young Peytrel surprised both of them by, cutting a training dummy in two with one swing. A bright light flashed, and then, Peytrel had his cutie-mark*2. It was an axe over a shield. Peytrel is not a child anymore. He is ready for more responsibility, and it seems that he wants to join Starkey's squad more than anything. It will be so. 13th Galena 96 The mayor has passed a law which makes the export of steel, from Glitterglen, punishable by imprisonment. I agree with his decision*3. While I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to sell our limited and precious steel supply to any of the caravans, a little extra incentive not to can't hurt. 14th Galena 96 A zebra pony caravan has arrived. We traded with them for a good deal of metal goods, cloth, leather, and fish that aren't native to this area. Overall we made out well. 28th Limestone 96 Peytral made his first kills today. He was out with the woodcutters as they were cutting trees. I think it was his day off and he was helping carry some timber inside. Regardless, three stranglers attacked. He and one war dog leaped to their defense. The war dog was killed, but Peytral killed all three of them. Charity's Journal 4th Sandstone 96 Cryptson has been wanting to take an apprentice for a while now. And now that he's a father and husband, that desire has been growing. His work keeps him busy and away from Adamant and me for far to long. Had we more miners anywhere near as skilled as him, he would have more time to spend with his family. So, Starting today he is going to be training the earth pony Grifen in his trade. They're going to start with a simple project: they are going to dig out a huge area of the soil layer to use as both an underground tree farm, and, after some moss grows, a pasture area for our livestock that is safely inside our walls*4. Cryptson tells me that this will be good training for Grifen. 5th Sandstone 96 A new group of ponies has come. A relatively small number this time, probably more banished individuals. Although, I know at least some of our number have come here of their own violation. These could be more thrill seekers, coming to live an exciting life on the fridges of society. If so, they will disappointed. This time we got: a scrawny looking, male spear pegasus, (sent him to join the guard, Khenal should be able to put some muscle on his frame) a female pegasus jeweler, unfortunately for her, she showed us some of her work and compared to Nicolta's gems they are rank amateur. A female seige operator pegasus, she seemed to complain about the lack of siege weapons making up our defenses. A male pegasus butcher/farmer. A very experienced fisherpony/leatherworker male pegasus. and a male earthpony furnace operator. 14th Sandstone 96 I passed by Khenal's office this afternoon and smelled a horrible smell. I went in the room and found that he left his food sitting out in the middle of the room*5. It had rotted on the floor. What a disgusting slob. I hope he can explain this. It sets a bad example to those who look up to him. In lighter news, Isos, one of Khenal's recruits, have birth to a little earth pony filly. Uses a knife as her preferred weapon. Pretty skilled with it too, considering she holds it with her mouth. We've been allowing her to use the blue dagger Ironya made awhile back, Goodsnarled the Principle of Slowing, that's what she called it. Charity's Journal 17th Sandstone 96 Bem dropped his barrel of food in the middle of the food stockpile, and ran down the stairs like a pony possessed. Threw Bokbon out of her craftshop and locked himself in. He then acquired two piles of logs, a roll of pigtail cloth, and a sheet of strangler leather. He's been working ever since. We can hear him muttering Kiroshot, over and over again. 22nd Sandstone 96 Bem has finished his Kiroshot. It's an earring. Now, don't get me wrong, it's a very nice earring. It's just, I mean, did he really need all those logs just to make one. And he destroyed enough leather to make an entire cloak, or shirt, and just made a few little decorations on his wooden earring. It just seems wasteful. 28th Sandstone 96 Kil*6, a unicorn mare that I don't really know well had a little unicorn boy today. Khenal's Book Chapter 23 I've been in a bad way ever since Munest died. I had gotten myself some food, I don't even remember what it was now. I just sat in my office, thinking about what I could have done to save Munest, but everything I could think of only traded one life for another. Even if I had charged the colossus, I could only hope to have it smash me instead. Forgetting my food, I started wandering the halls. Mrs. Charity confronted me about the stink my neglected meal was creating, told me that far too many ponies looked up to me for me to leave a mess like that. Do ponies actually look up to me? Even after Munest? It seemed unlikely, but Mrs. Charity isn't one to sugar coat anything. I apologized for the odor and said it wouldn't happen again. If ponies are going to look up to me, I need to get this murder solved. Every murder has three main ingredients: Means, Motive and Method. Motive appeared to be something to do with the wings, though what is a mystery. Method was the spear trap. Who in this fortress has the Means to create a weapon trap? I know Nicolta Tesla can make traps, his works are currently installed in the main entrance as a first line defense. Wasn't somepony helping him with those? I need to ask Mrs. Charity about this, see if anypony else has the aptitude to create a trap like this. Chairty's Secret Journal 3rd Timber 96 My second son was born today! My little unicorn. He has the prettiest eyes the color of raw cobalt. Cobalt, yes, I think that's what I'll name him. Cobalt. Charity's Journal 4th Timber 96 Khenal came and asked me for a list of ponies who are known to be able to work with machines. Specifically those that were already here during the time when Efim vanished. The following is a copy of the list I gave him. Suspect list Nicolta Tesla Istbar Zephyrslap (female earthpony fisher/mechanic) Friesden (she had been working as our mechanic before Nicolta showed up and replaced her) There is also another, but he only arrived after the currently believed time of death, and is therefor not a suspect. These are all the ponies that I know had the mechanics skill at the time of the murder. However, it is possible that others could have been lying about it and hiding their talents, especially if they were already planning this when they arrived. 5th Timber 96 One of the pegasus children, a young friend of Peytrel, has grown up and taken up his first job in the markspony squad. 11th Timber 96 We have successfully dug a tunnel from the underground lake to the entry point of the magma, into our adamantine mining area. Since no more can now get in, I think trying to pump it out into a sealed reservoir our best bet. I'll contact Nicolta about how best to build a magma pump. 13th Timber 96 A cave pony caravan has arrived. Glad to see they aren't too upset about the disagreement we had last year. 25th Timber 96 A little accident happened today. I had asked for some chimpanzees to be moved from one set of cages to another*7. However, during the move the animals rioted. Fortunately, Starkey happened to be walking by as it attacked and quickly put it down. 14th Moonstone 96 Venture's mother, the brewer, gave birth again today: a little pegasus boy. 16th Moonstone 96 The magma is finally being pumped away from the raw adamant. Starkey volunteered to operate the pump. Says, it's good work for building muscles.*8 23rd Moonstone 96 Thanks to Commander Starkey sacrificing his days off to work the pump, the adamantine chamber is now mostly empty. The floor is still molten*9 but is expected to cool soon, and then we can finally get back to the adamant. Venture's Book I made a new friend today book. His name is Munest. He's kind of like Mr. greywings, kinda blurry and hard to see strait. I found him kinda just... wandering around inside the fort. He was trying to talk to some ponies, but I don't think they could hear him. He looked really super scared, so I talked to him. I guess he's a ghost or something, because I told him about the funeral we had, and he remembers getting hit by that big metal statue thing. But I thought that ghosts go away when you have a funeral don't they? I tried to show him to the door the other ghosts used (different place this time, but still found it on the first try), but the door is all covered in these, black, vine, chain, things and it won't budge. He's still super scared, so I let him stay with me until we can figure it out. I hope nopony minds. --- Hey Book! Guss what! My brother got his cutie mark today! Isn't that great! It's an ax too, and hes in the guard now! Its all so exiting! I mean its like all hes dreams are coming true, but, that got me thinking. I don't know what I want to be. I guess I never thought about it before now. But that's not Important, my brother is a stallion today! YAY! --- I meet some zebras today book! They were so cool too. They talked in rhymes and they had a story teller with them! Me and my brothers and all the fillies and colts in the fort went to here her. She told the story of Goddess Luna, and the filly who cried snatcher and all sorts of stories. The best part was that nopony had the black vines on that mammy got me and little sky toys. --- Book I- My- The th I don't have bad dreams anymore. That's good right? Ya, so that balances out the bad stuff that comes next. That's what Munest said. The bad thing is that, the bad stuff is when I'm awake now. Sometimes, I can see these terrible things on ponies. Like the black vines on the door. And the ponies are different then they were before. There angry, or nevus all the time, or... just bad. The other foals play mean games and hurt little animals. The gurds all brag about killing things slowly so they hurt more. Mr. Khenal is OK though, it's not got him all the way yet. Some times I can see mommy all covered in cuts and bruises, but then there not there anymore, and some times cutie marks will look different. They start to look terrible. Jagged knives and skulls and blood. I saw the scary pony from before as a ghost. He was running and crying. The black vines got him, started dragging him into the ground, he was screaming "HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME". Munest ran away, I can't find him. I can hear him, running from the vines too. Ms. Friesden has strings coming out of her, black strings. I can see them now all the time. There hurting her, I know they are. I want to tell some pony, I really do, but they will think I'm crazy. I know they will. Khenal is so busy now a days he can't even talk to me. I see him covered in chains sometimes, pulling him down. I don't know what to do. I'm scared book. --- No! I won't eat it it's wrong! It's wrong! They were ponies! They talked, they walked, they were thinking things and it's wrong! I wont eat it! I'll starve before I eat it! I WONT I WONT I WONT DO IT ITS WRONG!!!*10 I have to find little sky! I have too find my baby brother! I have to make sure he's OK! I Have Too! Khenal's Book, Chapter 24 Three ponies were known to have the skills to create a spear trap at the time of Efim's death: Nicolta Tesla, Dr. Friesden, Istbar Zephyrslap. ...And I'm stumped on how to proceed. I could question them directly, but if one of them really is the murderer, it would only warn them and give them a chance to slip away. I could try talking to their friends/family, but that's also likely to raise suspicions. I've noticed that I'm not the only one to keep a book, so I could theoretically confiscate them as potential evidence, but that's far too extreme. It's also a huge invasion of privacy, especially if the murderer doesn't keep a book. And it also gives the murderer a chance to escape. Wait, I'm trying to question the wrong ponies. I have ponies with the means now, so maybe I should try finding motive? I'll try talking to Efim's family/friends, see who could have possibly had reason to cause him harm. Apparently, most murders are done by ponies who know the victim. Chapter 25 When did Peytrel join the army? I only noticed him in uniform when I went out to see what the cave pony caravan brought to trade. They were exceptionally nervous around me, and if they are the same merchants form last year, I don't blame them. I couldn't even bring myself to look them in the eyes from the memories. I bought several tomes on magic and requested they bring more next year if they could. I asked specifically about divination and awareness magic tomes, but any would be appreciated. They charged me through the nose for the books, but I couldn't bring myself to haggle much. Seeing Peytrel reminded me that I haven't talked to Venture in a while. With the promotion, colossus and the murder investigation, I haven't had time. Not to mention that I had run out of things to teach her. Maybe I'll try talking to her over lunch. I've only been able to stomach what comes from the fields lately. It was only from my funk that I even grabbed the tripe that I forgot about in my room a week ago. I couldn't have hoped to keep something like that down, blech! Hopefully these books will give me something to help her reach her potential safely. Friesden DOESN'T HAVE A DIARY WE'VE TRICKED YOU 's diary. Well, today NOTHING HAPPENED. AS USUAL. TALK TALK TALK THAT'S ALL YOU EVER DO. YOU'VE GOT TO I met Khenal again. I don't know.... Anyway, some of the foals were playing again. Venture, I think it was, IS A NOSY FOAL WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO KEEP HER NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESS, AND IT PROBABLY WASN'T US WHO DID IT IF HER NOSE GETS CHOPPED OFF was watching me strangely. I'm not sure what happened.... Anyway, I was walking down the WAY THAT HAS MADNESS LYING AFTER IT. HAHAHA corridor, and....I don't know how to say this... I think someponies are hunting me WELL THEY ARE, KHENAL IS THEIR BOSS AND HE WANTS YOU DEAD and I don't know why. I'm scared. I think I should run away before WE GET TO KILL ANYMORE? ARE YOU INSANE? HAHAHA, TRICK QUESTION, OF COURSE YOU ARE INSANE! they do it. I'm really scared, diary. I need help. LOVE, FRIESden. Charity's Journal 26th Moonstone 96 Ironya had a scare today. While walking outside the walls with her baby boy, her and the others who were outside were attacked by a troop of Mandrills and a single Elephant Pony. Ironya and her baby ran back inside, jumped over the trap and one of the creatures was skewered by enormous wooden screws, wooden bolts, and spikes from the earth. The others ran right into Khenal, responding to the yelling on the surface. Khenal killed the Elephant pony, and then he killed the rest of the filthy apes that tried to escape. Cut one's head clean off. With a spear! I kid you not. Charity's Secret Journal 11th Opal 96 Oh my little pony isn't so little anymore. Adamant went out to play with the other foals today. It's the first time he's been away from his Mommy for any length of time. I told Venture to look out for him. Strangely, Venture seemed kind of off the entire time I was talking to her. Probably just didn't sleep well, I've heard she suffers from night-terrors. I sympathize with the filly and her parents are always so busy, I wish there was something we could do for her. Oh Adamant is back now. Seems he tripped and scrapped his chin, sounds like he's was trying to say something about Venture, but I couldn't catch it over the tears, The kids were probably just roughhousing or playing on the stairs again or something. Charity's Journal 13th Opal 96 The fortress guard has returned from it's little hunting trip. Khenal said he needed some time off to clear his head of the investigation so he could look at it from a fresh perspective, so he took his men out on a hunting trip. They brought back several Mandrills, two silver gibbons, and more Siamangs*11 then I can count. The butchers will be hard pressed to process them all before they rot. Hm. Better have Cryptson and Grifen make a room for a second butchers/tanners. Not that we even need the meat, our entire food industry could take a year off and we'd still all be fat and happy. Charity's Journal 26th Opal 96 I've been informed that Shasad Spewgerbil our woodcutter/carpenter (And father of Venture) has suddenly taken over one of our craft-shops, disrupting production. His wife seemed upset about the whole thing. Said he's hardly said a word to her or their children in days. I'll have to post somepony to watch him, he could be dangerous. Addendum My posted guard has reported back to me that Shasad has grabbed three piles of unprocessed logs and one large granite block, and seems to be building something. 3rd Obsidian 96 Shasad has finally finished what he was building. It's a marvelous wooden door. decorated with spikes of granite. He calls it UnionsArrows. It's very beautiful. I was going to just put it in the dinning room, but he insisted that it was to be a gift to his eldest son, and so it is being put as the entrance to Peytrel's room. Seems a waste to me. Khenal's Book, Chapter 26 Talking to Efim's family and friends has helped to eliminate Nicolta Tesla as a suspect. They said Efim was working with somepony on a mechanics project, and he felt she was "quite a looker." None of them had met her, though. Nor could they remember any details if Efim ever mentioned them, but at least my suspects are narrowed down to two. Now that there's a mechanic here who isn't a suspect, maybe we can get that trap taken apart carefully. I haven't touched it since the room was discovered for fear of destroying some important clue. I'll ask Mr. Tesla to deconstruct the trap carefully and help me look for any clues in the mechanisms. Chapter 27 The jungle has some very colorful and very angry monkeys. Several ponies were outside enjoying the nice day when they were set upon by an elephant pony and a group of what Charity tells me are mandrills. Ironya and the others made it inside the walls with the angry animals hot on their hooves. The traps kept the beasts outside, where I engaged them with several of the guard. I need to compliment Ironya on her craftponyship, this spear has an excellent edge on it. I was actually able to decapitate one of the mandrills because of it. The rest of the guard is still pretty green, maybe we should go hunting again. After all, our last trip was interrupted by that colossus. Charity's Journal 9th Obsidian 96 Khenal and Nicolta Tesla oversaw the deconstruction of the murder weapon today. We also removed the window (Thinking about putting it up someplace, though it might be to much of a sad reminder of the tradgedy) Cryptson even tore down the walls for material. Walking down that hallway now, it's as if that retched hole never existed. I think that's for the best. 16th Obsidian 96 Happy days! The floor of the adamant mine is finally cool. That accident set us back on gathering raw Adamantine for several seasons, but now mining can begin again. Grifen looks positively overjoyed to finally get to dig up some of the blue metal with his own hoofs. We threw a party to celebrate. At the party I saw Ironya's two kids playing around with the other foals. They grow up so fast, feels like just yesterday that she gave birth to little Itur during the Diomedian raid. 19th Obsidian 96 The caravan from home has arrived. I hope they brought the iron and steel we asked for. As has one from the Rainbow tribe*12. The leader of the pony carvan had a letter to me barring the seal of the Royal family. The letter was as follows: Dear Charity Conventtulips Overseer of the town of Glitterglen Due to your monumental success in claiming a part of the Failed Jungles for our great nation of The Shells of Dance, in my name, I have decided to officially recognize this Glitterglen as a Barony of The Shells of Dance. And since you have done so well as to survive this long, I am promoting you to the position of Baroness. However, as a Barony you now have certain responsibilities to the kingdom at large, specifically: taxes. Starting when the next caravan comes the following year. The town of Glitterglen is to provide goods in value of at least 10,000 bits as an offering to the Royal Family. Naturally, failure to comply with the tax law will lead to Glitterglen being declared a rogue state, and will be dealt with accordingly. Signed Princess Dizesh Hugwax of The Shells of Dance Charity's Journal That bitch. She's trying to make it sound like she planned this all along. She sends us out here to die like animals, and when we survive against the odds, she decides to tax us for the privilege. Unbelievable! Fortunately, the amount is such that our craftsponies should be able to handle it easily. Although I'd bet my life that she's going to raise it next year. Regardless, I best gather the citizens and inform them of what the Princess is doing. Baroness Charity's Journal 13th Granite 96 Construction is just about finished on my families private dinning room. It has a pair of beautifully worked tables and chairs by Thundersplinter and an amazing clear glass statue of the founding of Glitterglen decorated by several types of native gemstones. Truly a great work of art. Along side a pair of masterfully carved granite cabinets for storing our things. Only thing missing is that the walls are kind of bare. I'll call Theorpod over to see what he thinks would look nice. 18th Granite 96 The traders left late yesterday. We acquired a lot of metal. Enough to outfit several more ponies in full steel and bronze. We traded a lot of our preserved meats to them. Our farms are easily enough to keep us feed and our stockpiles were becoming too full. The traders also had a good deal of sand. Enough to keep our glass-worker busy for a month or two at least. Addendum: A swarm of Parasprites has been spotted on the surface. They are harassing our surface workers, who are asking me to deal with the problem. I'll need to think of how best to deal with a swarm of tiny flying things. Maybe the Pegasus squad can herd them away from the town. I'll talk to the militia leaders about the best course of action. Venture's Book Book, I don't know what to do. I was playing with Andy and little Sky today. I was going to show them how to play jumping Janes. The black vines came back. I screamed, closed the door. I can't remember everything that happened. Andy ran away crying, Sky's looking at me like I'm a monster. I don't know what to do! I think I hit Andy, but I don't know why or... I don't know! I don't know! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Peytrel put down the journal, rubbing his temples. He hadn't wanted to believe it. He hated to believe it. Frankly, he should have seen it before now, he was so run up in being a guard that it slipped by. The royals have always hated their family, why would this one be any different. Everything seemed to become clearer when dad had finished that door. It was like he could only think clearly around that door. He finally saw what was happening to Venture, and he knew who was responsible for it, and not just for her. He had found the books in Khenal's office. Magic books, all based on mind spells. How to get ponies to do what you want to do. His little lessons with Venture... He's relation with Friesden... It all came together now. It was time to stop putting this off, he had to go talk to the Cap'n. He knew who the murderer was. Nopony hurt his family, not even Khenal. The Journal of Cap'n Starkey Private Peytrel came to me today. I had figured he was here for more one-on-one training - ever since he enlisted, the lad has really been throwing himself into his work. Instead, he told me he wanted to have a talk about something. Seemed to believe he knew who had killed Efim. Then he gave me the name. Khenal. I came very close to knocking the foal's damn teeth out - I'm not proud of that, not one whit - but I kept calm, and asked him for some evidence. He told me he'd broken into the captain's office and found some kind of magic books and scrolls. Not too terribly odd, he always did love to study when he wasn't working, and he's been tutoring Venture as of late. But then he went into some tirade about mind control spells, and Khenal's relationship with the doctor. I'll be honest, it sounded very much like the boy had gone off the deep end, until I heard the next bit. Peytrel told me the royals had always had it out for his family, always causing them trouble. I asked him where he had gotten a notion like that. He told me about his parents' relationship with the royals, particularly his mother. I... won't put those thoughts to paper. Growing up around that, I can almost forgive him for being suspicious of the godkin. I told Peytrel I had my doubts, but I'd look into it anyways - a lie, I know, but I figured trying to argue with him might make things worse. I think that satisfied the lad, at least enough that he won't do anything rash. But just to be sure, there's something I need to do, and I think I have the perfect excuse to do it. - - - - - - Miss Charity, Recent events have brought to my attention a very serious issue: while Glitterglen is well-secured against outside threats, our internal security is severely lacking. With the formation of the fortress guard, at least part of that has been alleviated. However, there is one point I wish to address. As you are well aware, Efim's murderer was able to procure the materials necessary to construct the murder weapon in secret, among those the copper spear which dealt the killing blow. Deadly weaponry lying about unsecured is a significant potential hazard, either through accident, fit of passion, or malice. To alleviate this, I am proposing that a secure armory be constructed to house all weapons within the fort, including that of the militia and excepting certain less-lethal weapons in use by the guards, at all times when not in use. Barring exceptional circumstances (impending siege, riot, etc.) all those wishing to make use of said weapons must register in writing precisely what was taken, what time it was taken and subsequently returned, and a sufficiently adequate reason for its use. Understand that I believe firmly in the right of all ponies to keep and bear arms, but under the circumstances I believe that we cannot afford to be more lenient. Captain Starkey, Militia Captain, Glitterglen Militia Khenal's Book, Chapter 28 What do I do when I can't believe the evidence? There's a surprising amount of room needed to make a trap and link it to a lever just one room away. Among the gears and chains, and in the crawl space, Nicolta Tesla and I found the last pieces of evidence to solve this case: Amber fur, periwinkle and pearl hairs, a russet feather. Dr. Friesden. I didn't tell Mr. Tesla the significance of them, but he's a smart pony. He likely knows precisely who bears these colors, and what their presence in the trap means. But how could it be her? Physically how? She seems so quiet and nice. But the evidence doesn't lie: Dr. Friesden made that trap. Part of me holds out hope that she made it for somepony else and they threatened her if she told anypony, but I seriously doubt that's the case. I have to arrest her. Ingest Romancerose and Othud Cherishfair*13 help me, I have to arrest her. I'm going to head to Mrs. Charity's rooms to present my findings and see if she can find any fault in them before I go to Dr. Friesden. ************************** Author's notes 1 When finally defeated, a Bronze Colossus will leave behind a masterful statue of bronze. This one was of a Capybara Man. This is interesting, as the capybara men have tags that make them not exist in the raws for this mod. Either way, it's still a nice statue. 2 None of the ponies in game actually have a cutie mark. This is due partially to the variety needed, and partially because of how descriptions of creatures work. There is a version of the mod with cutie marks, but it was achieved by adding short object descriptions to color files. This could result in having something wheel-colored. I haven't tried that version of the mod, though. It might work perfectly fine. 3 Just another example of a noble making demands that the player was already going to do. 4 Normally, an open tile of soil underground will not grow anything if it's not a farm. However, after encountering one of the caverns, they will start to grow moss and large mushrooms that behave like trees. Digging out large sections of soil is also one of the fastest ways to train up mining. 5 Occasionally, military ponies will claim food, but not eat it. I don't know the cause for most of them, but KingStrongBeard has a good theory for why this particular meal went uneaten. From KingStrongBeard: Looking at the food on the floor, it looks like Khenal didn't want to finish his Diomedian pony intestines baked bad stuffed with three units of minced blue peafowl tallow. I can't imagine why. 6 Yes, that's her name. Yes, I've often added the extra L when talking about her before. No, she's not in the military. I believe she's a hauler. 7 A single cage can hold as many tame creatures as you like, from cats to elephants. However, care must be made that the animals you assign to the cage are actually tame. If your animal trainer hasn't had a chance to see the creature yet, things like this can happen. It's not so bad when it's just a monkey, but rampaging giant badgers and similar creatures can be very bad news. 8 It is. 9 Magma is a liquid, and all liquids have a depth. In Dwarf Fortress, it goes from 1 to 7, and deeper depths take up multiple z-levels. Pumping out depth 1 magma isn't really an option, but depth 1 of any liquid will eventually evaporate. 10 A good reaction to the "Yum-Sentients" bit of editing of the pony ethics for this fort. Most of the other characters either don't know/care about where some of the meat comes from, or play that they eat what we grow instead. 11 Large, medium and small monkeys respectively, I think. There's more to it than that, but I'm here for quick notes. If you want details, these can be easily searched on your favorite search engine. 12 Rainbow ponies have all the pony castes; Diomedian, Cave and normal ponies. They offer a great grab-bag of options for you to play with if you choose their civ instead of normal ponies. 13 The deities that Khenal worships. They represent love and charity, respectively.