Halberd decides to talk to Longshot about his utter failure to provide food.
"Longshot, you really have take into consideration how much ammo you have left. When an enemy attacks you, you're going to need to be quick and have enough bolts left to put the bastard down before he can hit you. Also, we won't be able to hurt for food now without the ammunition you completely exhausted. I am letting it slide this time, but only because of our farmer." Halberd says, with not even a hint of emotion in his voice.
Virtue's Diary - 7th Felsite, 251
Things are still chugging along slowly. I had no idea it took this long to get a settlement up, but we're finally getting some buildings up. I really should have brought another carpenter with us, poor Saw Dust wasn't making much headway alone. I've got everypony without anything more important to do helping get some living quarters put together.
Similarly I've lent a hoof getting my new office put together. It's pretty small, bu it'll do for now anyway. I never knew how hard this sort of work was!
The good news is that the strawberries Harvest Moon planted are coming in finally. I see that pony wasn't kidding about knowing how to grow food. I can taste the strawberry wine already!
Speaking of which, I realized that we don't have anypony who knows a thing about cooking or brewing among us. I haven't had much to do lately, so I think maybe I'll try picking that up. I hope it's not as hard as building an office.
26th Felsite, 251
It took a lot longer than I anticipated, but the office is finally done. Now I can get to work sorting out our stocks and figuring out where to go from here.
Turns out that Harvest Moon actually knows a thing or two about brewing, so he's taken to tending our still when I don't have the time.
17th Hematite, 251
I've been going through our stocks again, and despite some fears earlier that we might fall short on our food supplies I think we'll make it. I passed some thanks off to Harvest Moon for the good job he's doing keeping the fields going. He tells me he's got prickleberries growing now, which sounds reasonable. Something about keeping the fields in rotation.
Ashwood has been busy, and we've got a lot of wood stockpiled now, which is good since we'll be needing all we can get. We now have enough bedrooms so that everypony can sleep indoors, but only in shifts. Even little Panacea is helping out with the construction work as best she can, but it doesn't look like she's having much more success than I had. But her heart is in the right place.
I've asked Saw Dust to hold off on the quarrying for now and focus on the construction. We're going to need a dining hall soon too. If I'm not eating in my office, I can't spill strawberry wine on paperwork anymore.
Ashwood's Journal - 28th Felsite, 251
I've never written a journal before, but I've heard that a few of the others have started keeping them. Sounds like fun, maybe some day I'll come back and reread the memories here.
More to the point, I've been too tired to really write anything until now. Virtue's had me cutting down trees all day. Not like it's new to me, but nopony can do that for too long without getting dirt tired. I've basically fallen unconscious in bed every night this week. We don't have a lot of choice though, since no matter how much wood I cut, Saw Dust and everypony else use it up just as fast.
I wish we had somepony else to help out, but for the forseeable future it's just me. At least with some of the granite mined out we can start setting up some stone structures instead.
Panacea's Diary - 18th Hematite, 251
Life has been a bit boring the past couple of months, but considering the alternative it's probably for the best. As the only doctor among our little group, being busy would imply a lot of bad things I don't want to contemplate. I've come to really enjoy the company of everypony here, I dread the day that I have to tend to one of them.
I spoke to Virtue a while ago about getting a hospital set up, but she simply sighed and pointed to the half built dorms. I understand her point, but if something bad does happen I'll need somewhere clean to work. Let's just hope that it doesn't come to that soon. I offered to help in any way I can, so Virtue set me to work helping Saw Dust. I don't know a thing about working with wood, but I'm hoping Saw Dust understands.
Saw Dust's Journal - 20th Hematite
The few months we spent on the road checking out the other sites before settling here must have gotten me rusty. Putting up Virtue's office alone took three times as long as it should have, and the plans for the dorms I've drawn up aren't going to go any faster. At least the others have been helping out however they can, but it's not the same as the trained carpenters I worked with back home.
I talked a lot with Panacea while she helped drag some lumber around the past few days. She's probably one of the nicest ponies I've ever met. She's not much good with a hammer, but at least talking with her alleviates the boredom a bit.
Diamond Shard taking over the quarrying is probably the best thing to happen since we got here. I couldn't hope to finish building everything while digging out magnetite underground.
Virtue's Diary - 2nd Malachite, 251
I knew this day was coming, but I had hoped it wouldn't come so soon. Early this morning three new migrants showed up:
A pegasus gemcutter named Diamond Shard
A unicorn clothier named Chic
An earth pony fisher named Babbling Brook (she asked to just be called Brook, can't say I blame her)
I hated to tell them that we didn't have any personal rooms for them yet, but at least there is room for shift sleeping. I'm not sure why we were sent a gemcutter or clothier just yet, must have been a mixup in the paperwork back home.
Diamond Shard seemed a bit shocked when I asked her to grab Saw Dust's pick and head to the quarry, but when I mentioned she could keep any small gems she found for herself, she perked up a bit. Chic has been asked to help with the carpentry for now. She wasn't thrilled either, but I think the idea of getting a personal bedroom for herself should help motivate a bit.
I saw a lot of fish and turtles in the nearby river, so I told Brook to have at it. Although we've got a fair bit of strawberries stocked up it doesn't hurt to have more food coming in. I haven't seen her for the rest of the day, I guess she's been busy. I should probably look into getting some more bolts put together for Longshot, but so far we still haven't had much in the way of extra wood.
19th Malachite, 251
The bedrooms for the new migrants are coming together now. I'll admit that they've been more of a blessing than I'd expected. The extra hooves have really made a difference around here.
Otherwise things have been fairly mundane. Some badgers were pestering the carpenters as they were at work, so I set Halberd on them. I don't take joy in slaughtering animals needlessly, but we can't afford to get slowed down right now. Halberd seemed a bit annoyed at first, but I could tell he was in better spirits after it was over. He's been keeping to himself for the most part, but I think it would do some good to get a little training area set up for him. It would give him something to do when he's bored.
25th Sandstone, 251
I've been a bit depressed lately, so I haven't had much motivation to write anything.
First off, our alcohol supplies ran out a few days ago. I've been so busy keeping things running around here that I didn't have time to tend the still. I've asked Harvest Moon to take over completely for now, and he seems to be doing a fair job of it. Fortunately the river isn't too far away, so nopony went thirsty, but I could tell spirits were down a bit. Hopefully that will improve with some more wine in our barrels.
Quarrying has slowed down a lot too. Diamond Shard has stripped out a fair bit of the magnetite vein we encountered, but right now we don't have anypony to process it, nor the time anyway. I hope that will change soon, since it's the entire reason we're out here.
Lastly, I regret to record that our dining hall still isn't completed. I'm really beginning to feel like I'm not the right pony for this job. I'm sure there were a dozen others who could have done a better job back home. Oh well, best not let my doubts get public.
The good news is that the bedrooms are finally done, so everypony can lend a hoof to getting the dining hall finished.
I also noticed Halberd seems to have been in a bit of a foul mood lately. He's normally just reserved and quiet, but he genuinely seemed upset today. I spoke to Longshot about it today, and he said that the three new ponies were “pestering” him about something. I guess they'll learn in time that Halberd likes to be alone.
2nd Timber, 251
Late this afternoon I received word that some more migrants showed up. Unfortunately they approached from across the river, so we had to build a bridge for them to come across. Did they lose their way somehow? Anyway, we got a few more than last time, a family of four and a couple others:
The family:
A unicorn couple: Savory (a butcher and fish cleaner) and his wife Detergent (a lye maker), and their two pegasus foals Whirlwind and Storm Cloud.
An earth pony mare carpenter named Bevel
A pegasus mare metalworker named Pewter
I'm glad to see a butcher and fish cleaner, and another carpenter is always welcome. I haven't decided what to do with the others just yet. I think it may be time to start smelting some of the magnetite we've mined out, so at least Pewter might have something useful to do.
I fear they couldn't have come at a worse time though. While we were preparing for new workers their bedrooms aren't ready yet, and our food stocks are beginning to run a bit low. Harvest Moon is doing all he can with the seeds we have, but it might not be enough. Savory should probably set to work helping Brook get some fish ready to eat.
(Authors Note: Halbard writes:)
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Virtue's Diary, 17th Moonstone, 251
I think Brook and Savory deserve a reward of some sort. We went from the brink of having no food to not knowing what to do with all of the fish and turtles those who have been processing. Everypony will be eating turtle soup for a while, but that's a whole lot better than starving! Which brings me to my next point...
The dining hall is almost done. We've got the walls in place and have started moving some furniture in. It should be ready soon, if everything goes well.
In more amusing news, I was disturbed this afternoon by hooves on the roof of my office. Ashwood decided to set down there between cutting down some trees, and couldn't get down. I'm not sure what the problem was, considering he has wings, but we managed to get him down by setting up some temporary stairs.
Ashwood's Journal, 17th Moonstone, 251
Today has to be one of the most embarrassing days of my life! I landed atop Virtue's office this afternoon to catch my breath for a minute, and I realized I couldn't get down! There wasn't enough room to take off, and truth be told, I'm a bit afraid of heights. When I'm not flying, I just get the jitters near ledges. I can't really explain it, and I'm sure nopony would understand.
She got me down, of course, so I tried to change the subject quickly. By now I've nearly clear cut the area, so we're going to have to start using stone soon. I could seriously use a break anyway, and I think Virtue could read what was on my mind. She gave me a few days off, since we do have a good bit of stone stockpiled.
Telgin says, out of character, "Figured that would happen sooner or later. Anyone who has played with the pony mod has seen pegasi get stuck on stuff. I'll be leaving the stairs there in case anypony else gets stupid"
Virtue's Diary, 19th Obsidian, 251
A badger pony thief showed up today. I was out at the fields talking with Harvest Moon at the time when I heard the shouting. I don't think the thief even got to the stockpile before he was spotted, and the ruckus scared him off. I went looking for Halberd but he was asleep. By the time he was up and had his axe in mouth, the thief was gone. Nevertheless, I put him on patrol for the rest of the afternoon. He probably didn't like it, but he's the only one qualified to handle such a threat, so he'll have to live with it.
I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to Harvest Moon, and he walked me back to my room tonight. He's a really interesting pony, and a good friend to have out here. I feel so... relaxed around him.
Virtue's Diary, 23rd Obsidian, 251
Today turned out to be a pretty productive day. Our liaison showed up today with a small merchant party. We didn't have very much to trade, but we did have some larger gems Diamond Shard dug up in the quarry. The merchants seemed happy enough with them, and we got some more fruit and wine in return. That should be enough to pad our stocks for a while.
I asked the liaison to bring more seeds and food next year. That won't help us in the immediate future, but by this time next year who knows what might happen, and starving to death seems like one of the worst things that could happen out here. I also asked him to send word to hold back on the migrants if possible. It's tough enough providing for the ponies we've got for now.
Speaking of seeds, Harvest Moon and I have really been hitting it off recently. I've been spending most of my free time out at the fields with him, talking about just about everything. I never noticed how graceful he was, sowing the seeds while airborne with all the precision of the best earth pony farmers I've ever known.
Telgin says, out of character, "Yes, there's love in the air! Looks like Virtue and Harvest Moon are lovers now."