Well, I lived through the day. I stayed at the clinic last night. The house I lived in was close to the edge of town and there was no way I was going closer to the Changelings. It wasn’t necessarily the most comfortable, but at least the mat Miriam had been resting on was big enough for the both of us. Though with the hug I got from her, I have to wonder who was taking care of who here.
For the clinic, it was quiet. A few no-shows and cancelations of appointments, quite understandable with the current situation. Every creature that did come in was on edge. I tried what I could with the patients I had, but ultimately I am still the assistant to Doctor Heartland and don’t have the experience or trust that he has. At least it was mainly dealing with check-ups and prescriptions. That I could handle.
But all anypony talked about were the preparations. Summer Sower who brought in Rusty, her barn cat, for concerns about pneumonia was worried more about her husband, Long Furrow, who was part of a team hauling cannons across town. Wrought Iron brought in Trax, his bearded lizard, for winter supplements went on about the argument he had with a soldier about taking all of his sheet metal. Spring Thaw came in with Tippie, her elderly mother's budgie, for a standard checkup and informed me that the weather team was flying from rooftop to rooftop, manually drenching them with buckets to prevent fires and they were forbidden to risk themselves by flying up to the clouds. Noon Glare, who came in with Scarfy, her ferret, to pick up some specialty ferret food proclaimed that she finally convinced her husband to get rid of their old couch by adding it to a steadily growing barricade on their street.
I had to go outside the clinic for my lunch break to get food and supplies to continue camping out at the clinic. While we had a large stock of pet food, and I can and have resorted to eating some in the past (don’t judge me, it’s part of my mark), I would prefer to stock up on something more suitable for ponies and cows. Outside, I could see that Yonderhill has changed. The sky is grey and stagnant due to Pegusi not being allowed up in the clouds. Rumbles and booms sounded off in the distance that I wished was thunder. No longer were ponies trotting through town doing their daily routines. The streets were the territory of the soldiers and those who volunteered to help defend the town. I was surprised to see the number of townsponies with rifles slung across their back. How many were planning using those, to die in a futile effort?
How many of them would die for their efforts? How many would die cowering in their homes?
Not to say I’m much better, trying to keep to normalcy while expecting the town to burn down around me. Sweet Celestia, I went to the market like it was any other day. I got enough supplies to last a while as well as a bale of hay for Miriam. We have a fridge in the clinic that is normally used to store medicine and blood samples that I can use to store some more perishable things. I was feeling pretty good shopping. Then I saw the note saying they didn’t get some of their farm fresh milk this morning. I had to tell them why they had to expect dairy shortages for the foreseeable future.
Fuck this war.