//------------------------------// // 78: Virtue's Diary, 23 Sandstone, 257 to 16 Galena 158 // Story: My Little Fortress: Dawnpick // by Paaaad //------------------------------// Virtue's Diary - 23rd Sandstone, 257 Glaze gave birth early this morning to a little unicorn filly the family named Tangerine. She was quite orange, so it seemed like an appropriate name to me. Glaze has been working hard with the masons to make blocks lately, so I gave her some time off to bond with her new little filly. 16th Moonstone, 257 There were two more little foals brought into the world today. The first was Hickory's little unicorn colt, who the family named Alpine. Loom gave birth a few hours later to an earth pony colt named Cypress. Panacea and Wool were pretty bushed after helping with both births, but I can say from experience they weren't as tired as the mothers. Anyway, I spent some time going through our stocks today and noticed we've got a few things we could shape up a bit on. We've got a lot of bones lying around from one source or another, so I asked Totem to start making some bolts from the bones. That should save some wood and metal and give Longshot something to use. Seems efficient to me to be using the bones of things he brings back to eat. We also have found a few veins of gold underground, and the miners brought up some nuggets to smelt. I'm not sure what to do with them yet, but we'll figure something out. For now though, I've asked the masons to start building a second warehouse next to the first to start storing some more of our stocks. We might need a third, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. 24th Moonstone, 257 We had another birth today, this time to Detergent. Her family is getting quite large! The family named the little pegasus filly Summer, which is a pretty name I think. I've been thinking for a while now that we might need to build some larger homes for the large families like hers and Naginata's, but I'm not sure if or when we'll get to it. 12th Opal, 257 Today was a bit interesting. Things started out with me directing the masons in setting up some fortifications on the keep's roof, where they could fire at any invaders that got inside the walls, should it come to that. While overseeing that, I noticed Carmine heading for one of the craftspony shops with the distinct look of a pony possessed on his face. I went by to check on him, and sure enough, he was busy fetching things to build something mysterious. Hopefully we'll find out what soon enough. 26th Opal, 257 Carmine finished the cabinet he was working on today, which was absolutely beautiful. I'll have somepony help him move it to his room as soon as possible. I hope he enjoys it, I know I'd like to have a cabinet like that! Oh, I also remembered that I went to Panacea this morning to check up on a suspicion I had... which she confirmed! I'm pregnant again with our third foal! I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I'm happy to have another child, but I'm pretty busy as it is and I fear I don't spend enough time with Rose and Valor as it is. I suppose the new baby will be coming one way or another, so I'll have to plan accordingly! 11th Obsidian, 257 After discussing some of our options with the militia captains and Flux and Stiletto, I decided we should line the monster trap with some remotely triggerable spears. This way if something dangerous shows up down there that they can't get close enough to shoot safely with their crossbows, we can still deal with the problem. I set up a lever way out of sight, so if a deadly duster or such gets caught in the trap we can spear it dead without risking anypony getting caught in dust. I also picked out a spot for the stable for Glyph to watch over the foals of Dawnpick. It seems to me that the easiest and most reasonable place to put it is next to the warehouses, which I'll have the masons start on as soon as they can. It won't be too large, but a few of the families here have expressed interest in the stable, so I hope it's big enough. 18th Obsidian, 257 We had a few caravans arrive today, including the liaison from Coupledye. Today was the day we had to show that we're willing to do the duties we were given and produce steel. To that end, we sent about fifty thousand bits worth of steel bars, weapons and armor headed back to Coupledye, which surprised the traders I must admit. I think they were impressed with the quality of the goods, but if I'm honest we kept the very best of it for our militia, who all got some nice upgrades on their gear. Between home and the rainbow ponies that showed up, we got a lot of leather, cloth, and thread, which we've been very short on lately. We also picked up a bit of cheese, a pig, three lemon trees, a few wooden chests, some bags (something else we can never get enough of), a few cages for the animals and some sweet pod seeds. All in all, it was kind of exciting to perform such a large transaction, and to send so much back to Coupledye. I'll prove to them that they chose the right ponies for the job here! 22nd Obsidian, 257 As is usually the case when the traders arrive, we had some badger pony thieves show up too. The fight was fairly intense from what the captains tell me, but based on what I heard Glaive was personally responsible for felling two of the monsters. Falcata took out a third, and Stiletto finished the last by taking his head from his neck and dumping it into the moat. I'll have to remember to not wander near the bridge any time soon, and to tell everypony to not drink the water straight from the moat. That probably wouldn't be healthy. Stiletto took a stab to her wing during the fight, but it was so minor Panacea told her that there was nothing to really do for it but clean the wound. She'll be perfectly fine, which is always great to hear. I'm glad nopony has been hurt in quite a while. That always tears me up inside when it happens. 18th Slate, 258 Today was just awful. The only good news I have is that we've started setting up crenelations on the walls for shooting at enemies should we ever need them. We also finished constructing Glyph's stables today. They aren't much to look at, but it should be enough room for him to look after any children whose parents are too busy. I didn't really know what to do, so I just built a little building with some tables chairs and windows. It'll suffice I suppose. Which brings me to the horrible thing that happened today. I don't know all of the details, and I don't think I want to know them, but somehow, at some point, Ocean Breeze cheated on Carmine with one of the zebra merchants that trade with us on occasion. Friesden, or Dizzy as her parents sometimes called her, isn't Carmine's foal and is half zebra. That's bad enough, but of course I'm only finding out about this because he found out. In the aftermath, he's abandoned the poor thing and left her to her fate. Ocean Breeze was all but inconsolable, but he wouldn't let the filly back in their house. I'm an absolute wreck over this. Knowing that the child can't be with her family right now... knowing that both Carmine and Ocean Breeze have done awful things... I just don't know what to do. The only vague light in all of this is that Glyph took her in for now and will care for her until we can decide what to do. I can't think about this right now. I need my family now... to be reassured that something this horrible will never happen to us. 21st Slate, 258 My little earth pony colt was born today! I'm pretty exhausted, which I knew I would be after having two children already, but the moment I laid eyes on him any nervousness I had about a third child disappeared. It took Harvest Moon and I a little while to decide what to name him, but of the names we'd picked out, we settled on Rampart. He's a strong little colt, and I can't help but wonder what life will hold for him? I also heard that the plans I'd sent to the masons for a second floor of our furniture warehouse are being put to use. I hope with a second floor we'll have enough room to store everything now, but I won't be able to go check up on it today! 8th Felsite, 258 Today has been a long time coming! For years, little Rondel has told everypony that he wanted to be like his mom and join the militia, and today he is officially a stallion. The family had a small party to commemorate the event, and afterward Naginata took her son to get him equipped for his first day starting tomorrow. She asked for him to be placed under Halberd, which surprised me at first but she explained in quick order. This way she wouldn't ever be in the place to choose between her mission and her son. I think I understand, but the entire arrangement would worry me to no end. I don't think I've ever seen Naginata drink before today, but she and Marbles had a fair bit after she got Rondel's gear picked out. I hope the best for their entire family, I really do. I count our blessings every time she comes back from a fight, and now I have to worry about her son too. Hard to tell, but the red pony standing next to the blue militia pony is Rondel next to mommy. He'll do her proud. 12 Felsite, 258 I never thought I'd see the day. I had to lock somepony up today for breaking a rather serious law, and that pony was Flux. Timid, kind flux. Apparently Glaive got into an argument with him over Stiletto's morals, and after a few insults were thrown, he broke Glaive's leg. I don't believe any of it, but it's true. There was nothing I could do but lock him up for the next two months. I feel awful about the whole situation. Just knowing animosity like that sits just beneath the surface, I worry what might be next. I don't understand why Glaive would think so badly of Stiletto, but if it was bad enough for Flux to want to fight him I probably don't want to know. I'll go see Flux next morning and see how he's doing. I really hope we can get this behind us quickly. 14th Felsite, 258 I was surprised to have Glaive come by today and ask for Flux's sentence to be lessened. I'm extremely happy to know that they've mostly settled their differences, and that we really can get this behind us. It also means Stiletto can go free and get back to work, which was an arrangement I was never really pleased with. She's done nothing wrong, but insisted on staying with Flux. At least it's over now. I'm going to go give them the good news right now, and they'll be free to go in the morning! 21st Felsite, 258 I knew it had to happen soon, but Panacea finally gave birth today. She and Saw Dust were both very excited to have a foal of their own, but nature had a bit of a surprise for the couple. They got two instead of one! I knew she was absolutely exhausted just getting around lately, and the poor mare looked fit to pop weeks ago. But, today was the day, and Wool had to experience helping give birth without her help, since she was the mother this time! The two foals were adorable: an earth pony colt they named Lancet, and a unicorn filly named Peppermint. It's a good thing Wool is around to give Panacea some relief. She's going to need a while to recover from that, and to spend time with her now much larger family! I'll stop by and see her tomorrow if I get a chance. Both of the parents were so happy. As much as I wish this happened naturally, it was because if me messing around with the raws while experimenting with the relationship / parenthood hacking. I accidentally saved, so two babies she gets. 15th Hematite, 258 We had another possession today, which was a bit different from the rest. Today was the first time one of the militia have been taken by the strange moods, and nopony in the militia was able to convince Kris to leave the clothier's shop she took over. I don't think anything bad will come of this, but if she was to lose her mind, the damage would be a lot worse than if most anypony else did. No, I won't even consider that. We haven't lost anypony to this yet, and we're not going to start with her. I'll keep a close eye on her. 25th Hematite, 258 Ocean Breeze gave birth again today to another pegasus filly she and Carmine named Gust Front. Normally I'm quite excited to hear that a family grew larger, but I can't help but wonder about the filly. I don't think Ocean Breeze would cheat on Carmine again, but trust can never be rebuilt when it's destroyed like that. I'd best stop thinking about that right now or I'll be depressed for the rest of the day. I'm sure the filly will be alright. The other news is that Kris finished what she was working on today: a set of braies. I'm relieved that she's done with her ordeal, but I'm not sure if they're really her style. Either way, it's up to her to decide what to do with them. 13th Malachite, 258 Today was a bit busy. Sienna is officially a mare today, which is a day I'm probably as happy to see as she is. Those years ago when she was nearly taken from her family... we all owe a lot to Glaive for his bravery that day. Anyway, after a small celebration, she went off with Ashwood to learn a bit about helping cut wood and work it. It's something she's always been interested in, which is why she was caught outside in the first place. I just hope we don't have a repeat of that day. We also started building a gym of sorts for the militia and anypony who wants to to work out in. I'm sure the militia will appreciate a chance to work out in ways other than just swinging their axes around, and it will probably help alleviate a bit of boredom. This is actually already having notable improvements in the attributes in some of the soldiers. I hope to get them all up to at least baseline stats soon! Lastly, we finally got a kiln set up. I've meant to do this ever since the day Naginata arrived in Dawnpick, back when she still went by the name of Porcelain. We've got a lot of clay just under the surface, so the chance to put somepony to work making clay pots or something should be interesting. 16th Galena, 258 The zebras arrived today, with their caravan and a diplomat. I was looking forward to speaking with him, as he's quite pleasant. I spoke with him in my office for a little while, chatting about our relations and how they're still quite pleased to stop by Dawnpick on their trade routes. While we were talking though, the inevitable warning went out, as it almost always does. A group of badger pony thieves showed up just behind the zebras and set upon them. We scrambled the guard to rush out and deal with the threat, but we were out of bolts! I'm such an idiot, I forgot to keep sending work orders out to keep our stocks up! Thank goodness, the guards were able to hold them off until Partisan and his ponies got there. From what he says, they all took turns beating on the badger pony until it stopped moving, and as usual I'm glad I wasn't there to see it. Two more thieves tried to enter through the gate, where they ran into Flux, who was hauling mechanisms down to the monster trap to set up the spears. He dropped what he was doing and ran for his life, where the badger pony ran into Grapple. I still don't understand why Grapple takes it upon himself to fight when we have the militia, but he might have saved Flux's life. When the badger pony threw itself at him, he defended himself with commendable skill, from what Halberd told me. Seriously, I thought he was a goner when he rushed the badger pony, but he bruised its heart, then its guts then broke its spine. Kung Fu master at work! Halberd said that Kukri finished that badger pony off with a few decisive hacks with her axe, while Naginata killed a second that ambushed her with a single stroke of her axe. The fourth and last was killed by Sarissa as he fought another zebra guard. The entire battle lasted for some time, and everypony was exhausted. I invited all of the zebras into the dining hall to let them have some of our stews that they are so fond of. We eventually got around to trading a few things, but unfortunately the zebras didn't have a whole lot we needed. We ended up taking some cloth, leather and a few exotic foods in exchange for a lot of the stews and baked goods our chefs have prepared. Apparently we've got enough to last for years if we needed it, so I let the zebras have a little more than I strictly should, but I want to keep relations good, and swapping a little of the same old food out for something new never hurts!