//------------------------------// // 19: The Ponies make plans. // Story: My Little Fortress: Dawnpick // by Paaaad //------------------------------// Virtue's Diary - 23rd Malachite, 255 Glaze was the next pony to be possessed by whatever madness this is that drives us to create these strange, artifacts, for lack of a better term. She wandered off to one of the craftspony's workshops, a blank stare on her face and nothing but curious mumbling from her mouth. I've asked Partisan to keep a watch on her. I saw he put Jaxler up to the task this afternoon, but she seems to be finding everything she needs. 26th Malachite, 255 I was sort of expecting something like this to happen eventually, but Grapple finally came to me today. He asked for some of the settlement's resources to be used to build a small church to the Two Sisters. From what I've seen, there are a few ponies who are following along with what he has to say, and he doesn't seem to be causing undue disruption. I told him that I could probably arrange for that. If it helps boost everypony's spirits, I don't really see the harm. We could all use some help when tragedy strikes, like it did with Barley in such recent memory. However, that's the problem. We've got to focus on keeping the badger pony thieves out, and to that end we have to employ the moat as soon as possible. All of our masons are busy working on it, and we don't have wood to spare for a church right now. I told him I'd look into it as soon as the moat is ready. That's going to be a few months yet, I'm afraid. Probably not in time to stop the thieves before the next round of them arrive. 5th Galena, 255 Glaze started working on her project today. She snatched up quite a bit of things, so I'm quite curious what it is she'll produce. Partisan doesn't think she's a risk, and I agree, so he and Jaxler have gone back to their regular duties of training and patrolling the walls. 7th Galena, 255 Glaze finished her project today. It's an amulet made of prickle berry wood she calls Noosetarnish. The name is somewhat disconcerting, but she doesn't seem to mind wearing it around. It's an interesting piece, that's for sure. While she was working on that though, the militia were scoping out the caverns a bit. Halberd and Naginata have expressed their concerns with things getting worse down there and it eventually becoming impossible to secure them ever again if we needed them. That, and Arbalest did want to set up a catapult down there. They didn't bump into anything nasty, but we've found a few possible places to set up firing ranges where we might be able to take out the larger monsters safely. I'm still working out the details. 13th Galena, 255 As I expected, more thieves turned up before the moat could be finished. It's so, so close, but not quite there yet. The aqueduct isn't ready yet. I'm pleased to say that nopony lost their lives today at least, although we didn't get by without injuries. Mortar saw the first thief approaching from the south as she was laying out bricks for the moat. Immediately she and everypony else working the moat rushed back inside, and we put our new security measures to the test. We sounded the alarm, and immediately everypony dropped what they were doing and hurried underground into the food stockpiles. Meanwhile the militia and guard took up positions at the gate and dining hall. There was no way for the thieves to get to any civilians without going through them first, and they waited. Of course, I was underground at the time, so I didn't see everything that happened. Thus I asked the captains to give me action reports of what they saw. I'm glad I wasn't up there to see it, based on what I've read. After Action Report (Captain Naginata) - 13th Galena, 255 The warning went out as planned, and it served its purpose. Everypony ran for their lives to the safety of the food storage below ground, while we rushed off to the gate. That was the theory, and it mostly worked. Unfortunately, Glaze and her son Granite were outside when the alert went out. One of the thieves bumped into them and snatched the foal, so we dropped our formation and galloped after him. Captain Partisan and Jaxler caught up to him first, of course, since they weren't held back by heavy armor. They managed to ground the theif and rescue Granite, and afterward they started engaging him in melee with their crossbows. Captain Partisan took a few shallow cuts to the stomach and leg, but he wasn't badly wounded. We arrived just as Jaxler put the thief down again, and Falcata was the first to reach him. With a single stroke of her axe, his head came off. Good riddance. We rushed back to the gate, where we ran into another thief just as he was skirting the traps at the bridge. Sarissa was the first into the fight this time, where she took a dagger to the chest. If she doesn't, I'm going to thank Billows personally for that peytral, as it stopped the dagger. I didn't see who finished the thief off, but when I looked back he was in a number of pieces, tumbling into the dry moat. Sarissa staggered around a bit, clutching at her chest and coughing horribly. The dagger didn't penetrate, but I was worried she'd broken a rib, especially when she started coughing up blood, but she insisted that she could fight on. It turned out she'd only bruised a lung, but I probably shouldn't have let her fight on. Next time I won't. Things got more interesting with the third and final thief. How he got past us I'm not sure, but for some reason that blathering fool named Grapple came charging for him, shouting nonsense and leapt upon it. They fought for a while, and while Grapple managed to get a few kicks in, he mostly ended up breaking two hooves and passing out. At least it got him out of our way. Glaive and Falcata laid into the thief then. Glaive's strike managed to spill some of his innards into the trade depot (empty, thankfully), while Falcata's strike bashed some of his teeth out. He passed out after that, and it was a simple matter to take his head off with another axe strike. Captain Partisan went off to get his cuts looked at after that, but that Grapple woke up and staggered off back to the fields, claiming he was fine. He was bleeding from his hooves, but refused to go tothe hospital. We left him at that, no point trying to help somepony if they won't help themselves. Not sure why he didn't go to the hospital at first, he just sort of stood there and puked up his lunch while On Break for a while. Virtue's Diary - 19th Galena, 255 After the excitement a few days ago, I was glad to see a zebra caravan on the horizon. I traded a lot of well made stone crafts for a tidy sum of food, drink, cloth, leather and a lime tree for our orchard. I think I'm going to see about populating that orchard a bit more. Carrots and celery are nice, but a little fruit spices things up a lot. And some lime wine sounds nice too! 1st Limestone, 255 I went by the hospital to check up on Partisan today, but he was already gone. Wool told me that his cuts weren't bad at all, and a few stitches later he was on his way. I did see Grapple in there though. I was wondering where he'd gone to. Apparently he tried to join the militia in their fight and got pretty banged up. Wool told me he should be fine though, although his hooves looked pretty bad. I'll keep an eye on him. He's a bit strange, but I don't want anything bad to happen to anypony. Castiron's random arrangement of random notes Well I'm in the medicinal bay because I drooped a hot coal on myself and there seems to be fighting outside. Well i hope Balsa is fine, why did i sign up to be black smith when I'm this clumsy? Oh thats right i know my iron well. Doctor said i need sleep so this is going to be a short entry. Missionary Log Felsite, 255 A great tragedy has struck my new home. A hardworking pony of this fair village has been struck down. May he rise to live in the eternal glory of the sisters, and my his murderers be stuck down to the fiery deeps of HELL!! I shall not stand idly by and watch as others are killed by these Discord spawned monsters! I will fight! With strong faith and strong body, I will succeed! There is but one silver lining in this tragedy, in that some ponies of the fort have come to me for council on things spiritual. From them, I hope to grow a herd of faithful to the two sisters. Of them, the lone alicorn Stiletto seemed particularly interested. I am not surprised given the prejudice against her kind. An alicorn goddess must seem quite appealing to her, given all other 'gods' (and I use that term loosely) are of the other races. It is nice to have ponies listen to me now. Before only the trees would listen to my sermons, and even then they would wander away before i finished. Who knew apple trees could be so rude? Malachite, 255 Finally found the time to speak to Ms. Virtue about building a chapel to the sisters. She said that the moat must be completed first, and I understand completely! The safety of the town is of top concern! I just hope she will not forget my request, as it will still be some time till the moat is completed. I am sure everything will be fine till then though. Galena, 255 I am a failure. An utter wast of a pony. May the sisters pity me and forgive me, though I deserve none of there forgiveness. The bests that plage this town came again, and I had thought to go out and meet them, to help defend the town. But I was struck down by the beast, and I hardly hurt the thing before it stabbed me and, like the worthless foal I am, gave into pain and fainted. I will not ask these ponies for aid with my hoof, the pain helps remind me of why I failed. The answer is as obvious as the snout on my face, I Lack Faith! Glorious Celestia! Sweet Luna! Forgive me! I am unworthy of thine love. From this day, mine worship of thine glory will be twice-fold! I will build you a temple of thine faithful if I must scrape it from the earth with my own shattered hooves! There Will Be Done!! Jaxler's journal, 23rd Malachite, 255 Well today was rather uneventful. Partisan had me guard Glaze all day long. She kept muttering random words and kept on acting strange. I personally think she might be a bit insane. The most mundane part was that all I did was sit there, She wouldn't even let me help her haul stuff. Also I can hear Grapple preach from her workshop. I wonder how fun these next couple days are gonna be... 25th Malachite, 255 I hate sitting out there and making sure Glaze doesn't go insane and kill anypony. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to listen to damn grapple preach about the "holy sisters". I can't believe I just haft to sit there and listen to him rant on about the how they will bring us salvation. I may not like where I am now, but I don't need an alicorn to "save me" from myself. Right after my shift guarding Glaze was over I went to meeting hall and drank my annoyance away. 5th Galena, 255 I finally get to stop guarding Glaze. These last couple days have been hell for me. On the 26th I had to sit there with a freaking hang over wile Grapple just rambled on and on about "the sisters". I'd take another beating from stiletto just to buck him in the face. I think I need to do something about his illogical nonsense, I feel bad that he's actually convincing a few ponies that what hes Speeking is righteous. I'm also a bit steamed that there gods are alicorns. 7th Galena, 255 Glaze finished her project today. She made an amulet. it looks so high quality, glaze must be amazing at woodcrafting to do something like this. Its so amazing it almost makes up for listening to grapple wile I sat outside her workshop. 13th Galena, 255 In all my time in the militia I've bucked an alicorn across a room, been beaten by the same alicorn, and had my wing stabbed but today what we did made up for all of that. We saved poor Granite from a thief who was about to snatch him away. me and Partisan had to beat the thief with our crossbows (which are actually decent makeshift hammers) until Falcata showed up and beheaded the snatcher. I just feel great after saving a poor little foal. 19th Galena, 255 Well we bought a lime tree today. Which actually seems to be a very VERY good thing. I hear that lime wine taste pretty decent and whenever the booze variety gets bigger my day gets that much better. They also bought some other random stuff, but nothing nearly as interesting. Jaxler was tired after a day of drills and practice and had finally gotten into bed. He was finally on the edge of slumber and was about to allow the the annoyances of another average day fade away as he slept. But just as Jaxler had finally slipped into his dreams a loud BOOM came up from the darkness below. The sound had effectively woken Jaxler and startled him so badly that he fell out of his bed. He was mad for this had not been the first time that a sound from below had awoken him in the middle of the night. He got up and said to himself "When the hell are we gonna do something about those abominations". He walked outside and flew himself to Virtue's office. He knocked on the office door and said "Hay, I'd like to file a complaint". Virtue looks up from the paper work she'd been poring over late into the night. She steps over and opens the door to find Jaxler standing there, a not amused expression on his face. "Oh, Jaxler... what's the problem?" she says, motioning for him to come in. Jaxler walks in and replies with "These monsters in the caverns are becoming a problem. They're keeping us from getting anymore wood, there loud, they're about to cause Powder Miner to have a mental break down, and most importantly there a safety hazard. So that's my complaint. also I'd love to know what the hell we're gonna do about those twisted abominations and if there is a plan to kill them, please don't tell me it involves the militia charging in and suffering massive casualties." Virtue pauses with indecision. "Yes... the problem has been weighing on my mind a lot lately. Everypony seems pretty worried about them." She returns to her desk and pulls out a map of the caverns. "I've been trying to think up a decent plan of getting rid of them, but so far I haven't come up with much." Probably not best to mention Arbalest's plan to move a catapult down there. Not yet at least. She makes a small gesture to Jaxler. "I've actually been thinking you and Partisan might be able to help more than the militia..." Jaxler was less frustrated after hearing that there were making some sort of a plan to kill the monsters, but was curious to know what she intended for him and partisan "So, how exactly do you expect me and Partisan to fight these monster's without us getting killed and or hospitalized." His eye's widen as he realizes a bigger concern. "And how do you expect us to get in the caverns without taking down the walls?" "I have no doubt Halberd or Naginata would lead their mares and stallions down there to face whatever it is, but I agree with you that going up against such large and terrible foes up close is a bad idea." She smiles and raises a hoof as if to fire an invisible crossbow. "That's why I think you and Partisan can help. You two are trained with those crossbows. I've been thinking of ways to get you into positions in the caverns where you can fire at them without worrying about getting too close." Her smile fades a bit as she ponders his next question. "The walls will be a bit of a problem... so far they're the only thing keeping us safe. I've been thinking about having the masons carve some fortifications into them so you'd be able to fire at any enemies from a safe position." She takes a look at the unfurled map on her desk and frowns. "There are a few problems with that though... the positioning is going to be tricky... and you're only two ponies..." Jaxler makes a grin and says "Its good to know that you wouldn't send the militia on a suicide mission." Jaxler paused for a second as he thought heavily and said aloud "It's possible that me and partisan could kill them from fortifications but that would take months. So new recruits would appear to be the best solution." Jaxler chuckles and says "So long as none of them try to take the rank of second in command from me" Jaxler looks on the map of the caverns. he notices a small x and the word catapult and says "So... What is that X on the map for?" Virtue frowns and sighs. "Arbalest... suggested we move a catapult down to the caverns. Seems he wanted to try his hoof at taking out the creatures down there himself." She looks up to Jaxler and adds, "He's been... well, I'm not sure a catapult is going to do a whole lot of good. Especially in the closed quarters. A ballista would be better... but even then I'm not sure." She shrugs. "It might be worth a try though. Either way, I think you're right about the lack of help. We need to get a few more ponies to help you and Partisan out. If nothing else, the two of you alone can't keep the entire settlement under surveillance." She thinks back to the untimely ends of Brook and Barley, but refrains from mentioning the incidents. Neither were the fault of the guard. Partisan knocked on the door. He thought he had figured it out. A way to potentially Stop the racket from the cavern, without too much risk of lives. "Virtue, I wanted to run an idea by you, if you don't mind." It was so simple, he didn't know what he hadn't thought of it before. Jaxler's facial expression hardened as he said "Virtue, why wasn't I informed about this when I asked you my initial question, I prefer my leader to tell me the full truth." But Before Jaxler could continue he was interrupted my a knocking on the the office door. Jaxler then heard a voice and said "Heya Partisan." She smiles sheepishly and replies, "Well, Jaxler... I'm still not sure about the catapult... I mean if we do go through with it I'd let you know, of course..." The knock at the door interrupts her attempts at defending herself. She beckons Partisan to enter and asks, "Oh? What's on your mind? "A bridge." He replied, quite proud of himself. "Well, two bridges." With that, he looked up, trying to figure out how to continue, knowing he should have rehearsed this. "I got the idea while watching the moat get dug out. I figured, the purpose of a moat was to keep things out, right? So why not just dig an empty one that traps the beast in one area. If we do it right, we can just take our time making pot shots at it until it falls. As a bonus, we will also have a slightly safer gateway into the caverns when we are done." Jaxler looked over to partisan and said "Seems like a decent idea Partisan, but it would require tearing down the walls." But Jaxler was still not completely happy with Virtue's response and said to her " I asked you a question, you said you would answer it. You withheld information. So, as my leader I expect you to give me all the information I ask for. If I can trust you with my life you should be willing to trust me with the full truth." Partison nodded at Jaxler's compliment, but backed up a bit, keeping his eyes on Virtue. He noted that, what ever it was that he interrupted, it was making Jaxler angry, and him more curious. Virtue sighs and places a hoof against her face. "I'm sorry Jaxler. Arbalest suggested moving the catapult down to the caverns, but I wasn't sold on the idea yet and so didn't think it was important to even bring it up. I'd intended to bring it up with the militia and guard before I did anything." She looks over to Partisan and adds, "That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. It would be faster than building new walls if we wanted to expand our hold of the caverns." She pauses in thought and takes another look at her map. "The only problem would be the flying things... I believe Diamond Shard or Chic mentioned hearing some flying around down there... we'll have to be careful about that." Partison nodded in appreciation. That was actually quite a big hole in his plan that she had found. But she had liked it and said she would consider it, which was enough for him. The mentioning of a catapult struck him as humorous, causing him to exhale deeply. Maybe they could use it. As inaccurate as those things were, sometimes they still can help. It always is a boost of moral to see those large, clunky machines flinging rocks into the distance. "I will see if I can think of any way to fix the flyer portion of the problem. As for the catapult, do you have any idea of how we could use it? I mean specific ideas. I, for one, see it good for moral, but not much else. Never have seen them hit anything." Jaxler was happy with Virtue's response. "So they can fly? Hmm... Their ability to fly might actually make this easier. In fact, what if we dug out a hole from the roof of the cavern. Only the flying ones would be able to come through. we could fight off the flying ones from there and with them out of the way a we could use your plan. Also if things were to go wrong with your plan we would still be left with fewer monsters to fight." Jaxler eyes widened as remembered a vital fact about the bests "But there is another problem with the plan. According the the rumors going around these bests have poison. For all I know it could just cause mild dizziness, or it could rot your entire right side off... or worse. Also Partisan, how would you feel if somepony were to die down there? Cause right now, it would be our faults." "Thats the purpose of a plan, to make a fight as one-sided as possible." Partison replied. "But you do have a good point. If they have poison and we don't plan for it, we are sending valuable lives to die, and that is in no way acceptable." Virtue takes in a sharp breath at the mention of the poison. She hadn't considered that possibility... but if it could be half as bad as Jaxler suggested it was, this just got a lot more complicated. "The last thing I'd want to do is send anypony down there unprepared... if these creatures really are poisonous, then all the more reason to not ask the militia to fight them." She taps her chin with a hoof. "Although I'm afraid crossbow bolts alone won't be enough to take some of the tougher ones out... but the thought of anypony going down there and dying, much less from something like an insiduous venom or poison... I'm beginning to question if we should try this at all." She looks to the two pegasi in her office. "But, I think morale would improve if we got rid of them. Even if they've not escaped yet, I can't help but worry. And the miners would be the first to encounter them, not trained militia. Maybe the catapult would be the solution?" She examines the map once again. "Or a ballista? Arbalest and Ballista are both trained to use them, we could set up a couple down there... they might be able to finish off the tougher ones." Partisan thought about it for a second and then turned to his second in command. "What do you think Jaxler? Ballistas are more powerful and accurate, Which means they might make the fights shorter, leading to less chance for casualties. But there are dangers that come with them. And they take much longer to make, with the need to craft the shaft and head." Jaxler thought to himself for a second "I say we use ballistas. Ballistas are more powerful and we haven't the slightest idea how tough these things are. Some of these creatures could be made of dirt while others could be made of pure Iron. So I'd say that using the most powerful weapon at our disposal seems to be the best solution." Jaxler then realizes a huge problem and looks over to Virtue "Also... what if things go bad? What if there is a cataclysmic military failure? What is the fail-safe? What do you plan to do if we start dropping like flies?" Partison spoke up quickly. "That, I already thought of. If we are the only ones that its able to reach, we are the only ones in danger. Hence the two bridges." Virtue's eyes snap open at the suggestion that such a thing could even happen. If they started dropping like flies, she'd probably be next from heart failure. "Heaven forbid it should come to that... but..." She looks at the map where the carved staircases led downward. "Perhaps... I think you might be on to something. We may not even need a channeled moat underground. We can build a drawbridge into the walls. If the militia or you two have to flee, you can fall back to the surface and we raise the bridge. That way, nothing can follow you." Partison listened to her words and realized how foolish his own where. He looked down embarrassed at his own stupidity. "That would be a much more sane option." Virtue notices his crestfallen expression and smiles. "I'm just glad you suggested the bridges at all... I'd probably have never thought of it." She chuckles. "Tactics has never been my specialty... I'm glad I have you all to bounce these ideas off of... I'd have probably just settled for the fortifications and we'd never be rid of the creatures." Jaxler was dumbstruck by Partisan's apology "Partisan... Why the hell do you think you need to apologize for sharing an idea. Your trying to help so don't feel bad. Do yourself a favor and don't say your sorry when all you did was help. I didn't apologize to you when I almost took a knife to the neck and you should't apologize to anypony when all your guilty of is trying to help." Partison looked at Jaxler with eyes of both seriousness and of understanding. "I am apologizing for recommending the thing that we are trying to prevent. Needless deaths. What if she would have accepted that part of the plan? Where would that leave you? Where would it leave everyone else, when more thieves and beast show up." He stopped speaking before he reached, what he felt was, a taboo ground for conversation. Jaxler was intrigued at the response and said "Well she didn't. You only helped. You should be happy that you brought up the bridges REGARDLESS of the fact that the rest of the plan could have ended in me and you dying horribly." A glimmer of hope sparked in his eye as he listened to Jaxler. He had the makings of a commander alright. A bit rough to work with, but still was commander material. "That reminds me," he said to Virtue. "Can we have a steel and silver crossbow made?" "Steel and silver..." she raises a hoof to her chin. "Well, we've got tons of spare steel lying around so that should be easy enough. I don't think we've found any silver in the mines though." She traces her hoof across the lines of a calendar hanging on her wall and says, "The next caravan shouldn't be too far off though. Maybe they'll bring something silver we can repurpose. In the meantime I'll send word to the smiths to get started on a few steel crossbows. I'll admit that the wooden ones you've got now are a bit light." Jaxler saw the opportunity to make a demand "Well seeing how were making demands right now I'd love to have a personalized crossbow too, but make it bismithbronze and silver. I know it's a strange request but I have a personal reason for choosing those metals. I'd also like to keep my wooden crossbow with me whenever I'm off duty. I have a tendency to piss ponies off so some self protection would be rather helpful." Jaxler's eye's widened as he realized he had an opportunity "Also virtue, can you promise me that upon my death that a plaque is made as well and that it be placed at my location of death. But don't put my name on it. Also should I die in combat I want to be buried in armor and with my crossbow, and should I die of something else I wish to be buried with a barrel of booze." Virtue stammers a bit at the request. What should she say to that? "W-well, Jaxler, I'll definitely see about getting you that crossbow." She swallows and adds, "And... let's not think too much about things like that... but... I promise I'll do what I can..." "I agree with Virtue on this point. We should keep that kind of what if to a minimum." Partison chimed in as he made a personal note to remember the plaque just in case that ever did happen. "We wouldn't want to cause a drop in hope around here. It wouldn't be good for some ponies." Jaxler was extremely interested at this point "So your saying that I shouldn't ensure that my arrangements are done according to my wishes. I just wanted somepony to know what I wish to happen to me. Sure something may be sad or morbid to think about but if one hasn't planed for the worst or in this case the inevitable, well then your left in a rather bad situation. Everypony should make sure to note all the "what ifs" pleasant or otherwise, because not doing so is living in ignorance. and ignorance is like building a house out of sticks and expecting it to stand up against a flood." Virtue looks awkwardly at Jaxler for a few moments in silence. Well, he was right, but it was still morbid. "I... suppose you have a point Jaxler. Like I said, I'll see to it that that is taken care of... should it come to that." She smiles and tries to change the subject. "But, that's not going to happen now. We've got a plan, and I think it's a solid one. I'm not running into it though, I'm going to take some time and think it through... make sure we get it right." Jaxler said in agreement "Well then this plan seems pretty good." Jaxler paused as he realized something rather major "Hay Partisan, taking into account that it's currently around 1:00 in the morning and that I haven't gotten more than 30 hours of sleep this week do ya think I could get tomorrow off in order to rest up?" Partison though carefully about it. What ever his decision, he knew that he would have to live with it too. "As tempting as a break sounds, we should really keep training. But, in order not to exhaust us, we can cut the time in half, on both ends. That means an extra three ours to sleep and we leave three hour early. That sound like a good trade off?" Jaxler was happy with the Partisan's decision "Well that sounds pretty good and to be honest it's more than I expected". He then looked over to Virtue "Anyway I think it's about time I headed to bed." She nods and puts away a few papers on her desk. "Yes, it is quite late. I should have been in bed hours ago." She smiles at the two and adds, "You two need your sleep too. Remember, everypony counts on you two to help keep us safe!"