//------------------------------// // 50: Beast Attack! // Story: My Little Fortress: Dawnpick // by Paaaad //------------------------------// Virtue's Diary, 5th Galena, 257 Today we finished relocating all of the workshops to more permanent and organized locations. Most of them are closer to their raw materials now, so everypony should have a little less trotting around to do while working. The masons in particular should be able to work a bit faster. I've drawn up a new map of everything: This shows the new warehouses too, which hadn't been constructed yet. I forgot to take a screen cap earlier. Keep reading... We moved the carpenter's shop, and wood conjuring stations to the wood stockpile, moved the mason shops to the stone stockpile, and relocated the craftshops to the north wall. They're a bit further away from their raw materials now, but I'll try to see about getting some stockpiles set up nearer to them with commonly used things. The gate traps have also been completed. Flux oversaw the addition of some drawbridges that can be opened to force intruders down a snaking path of traps, where they can fall down a good distance if they get knocked off. It sounds terrifyingly effective, and I'm worried that somepony in the militia might get hurt too. I'm sure Halberd and Naginata will train their ponies to stay clear of the trouble though. Lastly, I received some further letters from Coupledye about their expectations of us now. They're looking for us to export raw steel and iron, of course, but they're also interested in any steel armor and weapons we can produce. The liaison must have caught sight of our smith's work. It worries me slightly that the king is looking for war implements instead of just steel, but it's not my place to question their requests. Of course, I'm just trying to skill up my smiths and get some better gear. A few masterworks were made for the troops, and this should get up my wealth for invaders. :D 15th Galena, 257 A party was thrown today for Sandstone, who is no longer a little colt anymore. He's a stallion now, and he had his first lessons today with the masons, who he'll be joining. We could have used his help years ago when he was still a little colt, but another mason is always in demand here. We've still got plenty of work for them to do. We also had a zebra diplomat arrive today, completely without escort. I spoke with him at length today about our relationship with the zebras, which I'm pleased to report is in good standing. They're fond of our little settlement, but he expressed some concern at the lack of trading we've given them in the past. I assured him that our settlement is growing all of the time, and that we'd probably be needing more from them in the future. He was quite polite and pleasant to talk to. I look forward to his next visit. 17th Galena, 257 Well, it looks like perhaps we would get a chance to live up to that promise earlier than I expected! A zebra caravan arrived today, and we traded a fair bit more than we have in the past. It's come to my attention that our food stocks are all but overflowing, thanks to the hard work of our skilled chefs and farmers. We traded the last of the scavenged badger pony junk along with a fair bit of our stocked celery and carrot stews, which the zebras absolutely fell in love with. In exchange, we received a sheep, a lime tree, some milk, a little exotic drink and a lot of thread. Panacea told me that we were running low on both thread and cloth, and this should bring us back up to a good stock. Oh, and apparently Pewter was ambushed by a diamond dog just outside of the fort walls earlier today. The guard rushed off after him, but he escaped. At least nopony was hurt, although we'll probably see more of them soon, as we usually do. 21st Galena, 256 I had a terrible scare today. Somehow, Longshot and Corkscrew got caught on the walls of the old pump network out by the brook, where they couldn't get down. He said they'd been up there for days when Storm Cloud found them, and both of them were very weak from the dehydration. We rushed them off to the hospital where Panacea took a look at them and started treating them immediately. She said they had less than a day left apiece before they'd have died. I feel horrible about it, even though they survived. How could we not have heard their cries for help earlier? I shudder to think what might have happened if we hadn't found them... I'm going to go see them now. At least Panacea says they should recover completely. Stupid ponies getting stuck on stuff. At least I saw the job cancellation spam on giving water, I'd have never noticed them otherwise. 22nd Galena, 257 Looks like I was right about the thief. Another diamond dog arrived, but the zebra caravan guards killed him before we could even make a move on him. Then the badger ponies showed up. I'm starting to wonder if the two are in cahoots with each other. When the warning rang out, I ran for cover with the rest of the civilians of course, so I didn't see the battle, but I have Halberd and Naginata's reports to work from. The battle was swift, from what they say. Naginata's After Action Report My squad arrived late to the battle. By the time we got there, Halberd's squad was already engaging the badger ponies. Outside of the fort and past the traps. From speaking with Glaive, he was already outside when the badger ponies charged the gate, where he slew two by himself. He dispatched them with a few precise strokes of his axe, and I must say I'm impressed. Falcata on the other hand used a bit less finesse when she killed the third. Falcata doesn't play with thieves! As I've shown the ponies under me though, you use any tactic that presents itself when you're fighting, so I didn't say anything to her about her methods. It's not my place anyway, since Halberd commands her, but he seemed to not be bothered by it either. Virtue's Diary - 12th Limestone, 257 Not much to report today. We set up a loom to start maybe processing some thread and cloth into more useful things, and I also had Marbles make some more windows. A lot of homes still didn't have windows, but I hope to remedy that soon. 17th Limestone, 257 Glyph stopped to talk with me today when I was out watching the kids, and suggested that we set up a small building where the parents here in Dawnpick could leave their foals for others to look after while they were at work. I think it's a great idea, as I know Naginata and Marbles at the very least could use a little help, especially when Naginata is on duty. He suggested that he could be the one to look after them, along with Kat. They both seem like fine candidates, but we'll probably need somepony else who isn't in the guard or militia, who would have more time. I'll have to think about that, along with where to build it all. 19th Limestone, 257 Well, I suppose any reprieve we were to have from the monsters below was going to be fleeting. After we cleared out part of the caverns, the unicorns in the militia set up some early warning spells to tip us off of any new arrivals. We had something turn up today, but at least it can't get to us. 24th Limestone, 257 I'm starting to retract my statement from before about not fearing what lurks beneath the earth. We had two more monsters arrive today. This time though, they were very deep down, and of no threat to us. I'm going to have to look into setting up new traps on those levels too, maybe we'll be able to clear the caverns for good one day. 1st Sandstone, 257 We started work on a new warehouse today. Although the rain and weathering hasn't caused too much in the way of trouble for our stockpiled materials, we're long overdue for one or two. We'll be moving our furniture and crafts inside as soon as it's ready, which Mortar says shouldn't be all that long. While I was looking over his plans for the warehouse, Diamond Shard slowly trotted by and took over one of the mason's shops. I recognized the blank stare immediately as one of the strange moods that plagues everypony here, and after a brief moment to make sure she wasn't going to cause too much disruption, I left for my office to sort through some more paper work. 13th Sandstone, 257 Today I think I may have made the most difficult decision of my life. Diamond Shard hasn't budged from her place in the mason's shop, and is getting antsy. She's asking for cloth, but is turning everything away that we have. She doesn't want any of it. She just kept insisting that we bring her something new. I didn't know what to do, the only other kind of cloth I could think of was silk and we have none here nor any easy access to it. Diamond Shard hadn't eaten nor drank anything in a full day, and I was terrified that if we didn't get her what she wanted she would suffer the fate that Longshot nearly did. There is only one source of silk in Dawnpick, and that's the caverns. Where the monsters live. I had to choose if I wanted to watch one of my oldest friends in Dawnpick slowly wither and die before me, one of the ponies who has mined up close to half of all of the stone and metal ore we've produced, or risk the lives of somepony to go down to the caverns to get some silk for her. I agonized over the decision for an hour. I chose to send somepony to get her some silk. Partisan, Storm Cloud, Jaxler and Kat went down to the caverns after opening the beast trap, and stood guard while Fleece darted in, grabbed some spider silks and darted back out. It was an amazing success, and they didn't have to fire a single shot at anything. There WAS a forgotten beast in there, but it was a flying one who seemed to be busy flying around and doing nothing. I sent the guard with their crossbows so they might have a chance of crippling or killing it before it got too close, but it didn't matter in the end, thankfully. Then something truly terrifying happened. From a breach somewhere we haven't sealed, another monster flew out of the caverns into Dawnpick. I was standing out with Diamond Shard, trying to think of a better way to get her what she wanted, and worrying myself sick that I'd never see the five ponies who went underground alive again. The monster soared over the walls, somehow flying with its body composed of mud, and charged straight for us! Diamond Shard snapped out of her trance long enough to defend herself against the beast, but it tried again and again to jam its massive stinger into her body, only to find her mining pick in the way each time. I thought she and everypony else here was doomed, and I froze in terror. I'm stupid and forgot to take screenshots of it stinging her and getting deflected by her pick and clothes. Too much time passed and I can get it now. :( I also don't know how it got out. It didn't go by Partisan else I'd have known it, I think it flew up an up/down stair case that breaches the caverns somewhere, but I can't figure out where yet. It wasn't the same FB I was watching for. I screamed and backed away from the carnage I was watching, to be rewarded with Glyph and Fuscina galloping to the scene. Without missing a moment both set upon the monster, with Fuscina taking a few ineffective swings at it. She finally hacked part of it away, and while it was stunned Glyph leapt up and severed its wing with a single swipe of his axe. The beast fell dead at that moment, collapsing into a heap of unsightly mud when it smashed into the ground. Glyph got the last blow but no credit for the kill. ??? He saved Diamond Shard's life though! I was all but in hysterics at this point, but once Glyph and Fuscina assured me it was dead, I managed to calm down enough to see that Partisan was triumphantly leading Fleece to the workshops to get some silk made. I sat by Diamond Shard's side the entire time it was being made, needing her company as much as she needed mine. I nearly watched an old friend be torn apart in front of me, and that's something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I recovered slightly after that when Fleece presented a bolt of silk cloth to her, and her face lit up. She immediately set off to grabbing things and went back to work. I think Glyph and Fuscina need a reward of some sort, as do all of the ponies who went underground to save her. I'm going to need a little while to recover from this, but I think I will. Just knowing that we've got such a connection between everypony here that we'd go through such lengths to save a friend, and to know that the militia is standing by when we need them, all of that puts my mind at ease. 18th Sandstone, 257 I wanted to celebrate today when I heard that Diamond Shard finished what she was working on. It was an absolutely beautiful stone throne. I gave her a hug the moment I saw her and told her everything that happened, since she didn't seem to recall any of it. She was in tears at the effort we'd gone through to save her, and I want to make it clear to everypony in Dawnpick that I'd go through such lengths for all of them. Everything else today was a bit more tame, thank goodness. We finished the warehouse and started moving our unused furniture there. We also had a tiger pony stumble into the traps near the mines. That's unusual, as we've never seen any tiger ponies around here before. Hopefully they don't join forces with the badger ponies. I'm probably just worrying too much. After what happened, I think I can be forgiven for that! The warning bell already tolling, Falcata speeds through the air ahead of the rest of Halberd's squad, skidding to a halt in front of the three invaders. Thankfully, they'd been spotted early, and so the militia had had the chance to engage them well away from any civilians. In times of peace, she always liked to think of herself as a relatively pleasant pony; easygoing and generally amiable. When fighting, though, she was all business. These animal ponies came here only to steal, pillage and murder, and she had sworn a duty to protect the town and everypony in it. Therefore, without any sort of preliminary shouting, screaming or any other sort of pre-battle nonsense some ponies liked to bugger about with, she lunges straight for the nearest enemy, her axe clashing off his sword with the sound of metal scraping against metal and a shower of sparks. Neither of them deterred much by the miniature fireworks display, both combatants circle one another for a short while, sizing each other up carefully before once again diving into a whirlwind of furious slashing and parrying. Falcata isn't unduly bothered; though this badger pony is certainly more skilled than most she'd previously fought, she can tell that he's quickly tiring, whereas she feels like she could go on all day if required. Her aerial training had paid off too, it seems; she finds herself able to weave and dodge around her enemy's swings as if he were moving in slow motion, exactly as she was used to doing before receiving her extra armour. Suddenly, in her peripheral vision, she catches sight of Glaive being advanced on by two enemies, and begins to panic. Though she has complete faith in his abilities as a warrior, her natural instinct to help her beloved begins to take over. I have to help him! With newfound fervour, she increases her onslaught, raining a furious volley of blows on the unlucky badger pony. Incredibly, he manages to parry most of them, the rest seeming not to affect the primitive beast, so filled as he is with berserker battle-lust. He giggles hysterically, mocking her futile attempts to end his life and sending Falcata into an uncharacteristic fury of her own, many times more intense than the usual anger she feels when fighting. With her beloved in potential peril before her very eyes and finding herself unable to help, something seems to snap inside the pegasus' mind. With a feral snarl, she tosses her useless axe to the ground, hurling herself towards her still-laughing adversary with unrestrained rage. Impacting with all the force of a ballista bolt, she forces him violently to the ground, in the same motion sinking her teeth into his throat and biting deeply. Feeling her jaws close around something tubular and (hopefully) vital, she pulls her head back fiercely, ripping the unfortunate badger pony's windpipe out from its rightful home inside the body in a spray of blood, spattering her muzzle and chest. He begins to splutter and spasm, the sensation of suffocation proving extremely distressing, but she doesn't let up, tearing several more chunks out of him before coming to her senses. Slightly disgusted even at herself, she rapidly scoops her axe back up and bisects the invader, finishing the skirmish rather more clinically. Glaive has already finished dispatching his two opponents by the time she glances up again, and she stands awkwardly beside the mutilated body now that the fight is over . Naginata had always preached a policy of pragmatism to the militia, but this might take a little bit of explaining. And a very, very long bath.