//------------------------------// // 110: Virtue's Diary, 16 Obsidian 258 to 8 Obsidian 259 // Story: My Little Fortress: Dawnpick // by Paaaad //------------------------------// Virtue's Diary - 16th Obsidian, 258 Stabbing in the dark with the date on this one. Indigo came to me again today complaining about Stiletto. He's concerned now that the mansion she wants to build out on the hills is going to send the wrong message to everypony, and that she is trying to subvert power from me somehow. I suppose that outsiders might wonder what the mansion is doing out there and if the leader of Dawnpick really lives in it, but it doesn't bother me overly. I'm more worried about her safety outside of the walls. She is an accomplished fighter, so I suppose she can take care of her self at least. I dearly hope that this business with Indigo and Stiletto will be behind us soon. I'm getting nervous just seeing Indigo sometimes these days, and I worry that this will boil over into outright fighting if it gets much worse. Please... please... let this be the end of this. 23rd Felsite, 259 Today has been one of those days. I seem to be having a lot of them lately. For reasons that I'd rather not record, Jaxler was dismissed from the guard today. Given what happened, I think it's a blessing that's all he got. I think Partisan may be a bit like myself, and he didn't want to push things any more than was necessary. I'll say that Jaxler was relieved from duty, but won't be spending time in jail or suffering any other punishment. For now I'm not sure what we'll do with him, but maybe he'll be willing to go back to woodcrafting. We'll have to find somepony else to replace him. Normally I wouldn't really bother, but I was reminded today how important the guard is. Two diamond dogs tried to steal from us today, but Kat caught them in the act. Partisan tells me she managed to slay one, while the other escaped. She shot up all of her ammo then crushed his skull with a single swipe of her crossbow. 8th Hematite, 259 Now that we've planted some longland grass, we needed a way to mill it. I considered a hoofpowered mill, but after speaking with the mechanics they told me we could set up a mechanical one without too much difficulty and which would get the job done a lot faster. I expected them to suggest hooking it up to the water wheels, but instead they suggested building a windmill outside of the walls but inside the moat. I trust their judgment. The water wheel is malfunctioning, so I didn't use it. The water level is too high underneath the wheels I think, since it only runs for a few seconds before shutting off. I'll try to fix that at some point... We also finished expanding the dining hall. It's not quite as crowded as it was before, but we could possibly use more room still. I'm considering adding a second floor, which would expand the dining hall considerably. 20th Hematite, 259 I feel ill. We've still been working at relocating the southern wall to square off the encampment, but while removing part of the unnecessary fishing pier, it collapsed and badly hurt two ponies. Cross Stitch and Amber are both in the hospital now, and Panacea is unsure of their prognosis. Both of the unicorns had their horns broken off in the fall, while Cross Stitch broke two legs and Amber three. I'm not a unicorn, but I can only imagine what it must feel like to lose something like magic, after having it your whole life. It might not be my fault directly, but if we'd left the walls alone nopony would have been hurt. Why did I order it? The walls weren't bothering anypony by being uneven. And now two ponies are in the hospital, and may not live. First two ponies in the hospital in forever. Time for Panacea to knock some of that rust off of her diagnosing and for Wool to put his flank into gear. I'm going to go see Panacea now and find out if anything has changed. I'm also going to ask her for something for the nausea. I feel absolutely terrible. Should have seen it coming. Actually, I did. I was watching them deconstruct part of the pier overhang, and was thinking, “Hey, that's going to cause a-” “A section of the cavern has collapsed!” I'm thankful nopony died at least. 28th Hematite, 259 I spoke with Panacea about our injured, who she seems to have stabilized, thank goodness, and she told me something unsettling. Amber has a compound fracture in one of her legs, and Panacea needs a traction bench to immobilize it. I feel horrible all over again. There has been a work order for a traction bench in my office for six years now, and I kept forgetting about it or shuffling it under trivialities like making steel. I immediately went and ordered one to be built. I can't believe my negligence. If I had paid a shred more attention to the important things, Amber wouldn't have to wait a day or more to get the treatment she needs. I think I'm going to have to see Panacea again about something for my nerves. I feel awful, and I deserve it. 10th Malachite, 259 Something interesting happened today, and thankfully nothing sad. We had a lone pegasus mare show up at the gates today, claiming she had moved here from Coupledye. We haven't had any migrants in a while, so I took a little time to talk to her. Turns out her name is Bubbles, and she was a lye maker in Coupledye. We don't have a lot of need for lye makers here (Detergent does all we need), but I'm sure we'll find something for her to do. Turned migrants back on by player request. Got junk, as expected. :) 14th Malachite, 259 Purple Prose is six today, and that makes her officially a mare. We had a little celebration for her, and she started her first day of work this afternoon. We've had a bit of a shortage of labor at the furnaces, and she expressed a little interest in it, so she's trying that out. I hope it's to her liking. We also had a diamond dog try to steal from the armory of all places this morning. He just made it through the door when he ran into Naginata and Falcata. I don't think I need to elaborate on what happened. 15th Malachite, 259 Based on what the miners tell me, yet another monster must have turned up in the caverns today. Thankfully our fortifications down there seem to be holding, so we don't need to fear it, at least for now. The mechanics also tell me that the windmill we set up isn't generating enough power for our longland grass mill, so I had to organize the construction of a second one. Hopefully that will be enough. 16th Galena, 259 The zebras arrived today, a caravan and a representative from their government as usual. I was out by the moat inspecting things when I saw the caravan arrive. I headed inside to greet them when I ran into a diamond dog. I was nearly scared out of my skin when I first saw it, but the caravan guards dealt with him. I was right there when the fight happened, and I don't think I'll sleep well tonight after witnessing that. Instead of speaking with the traders right away I talked with their diplomat first so he could be on his way. There wasn't a lot to discuss, as usual, but I was even less talkative than normal after that. 21st Galena, 259 I finished trading with the zebras today. As has been fairly routine these last few years, we traded them a lot of Skillet's finest work for some exotic food and drink, a lot of leather, and some other supplies for the hospital like cloth and thread. Cross Stitch and Amber are still recovering, and I don't want to hold that up any over lack of supplies. While I was carrying some of the things to the hospital, I noticed Falcata occupying one of the craftshops and Glaive standing near her worriedly. When I asked what was wrong, he told me she had wandered over there like so many other ponies have over the years. After she set off to find things to work with, with a smile on her face, I tried to reassure him that she would be fine like all of the others, and left to take the supplies to Panacea. 24th Galena, 259 Some badger pony thieves showed up today, but thankfully there was little consequence. One tried to attack Midnight at the gates, but one of the traps slew him. Partisan drove a second away with some ineffective shooting, but at least the monster left. I'm not worried about the thieves though. I'm worried about Amber. After I spoke with Panacea, she told me that Amber has contracted a rather bad infection and is having a hard time fighting it off. She still thinks she's going to be alright, but I could tell from her voice that she wasn't so sure. I thought the poor mare was going to be fine. Now, I just don't know. She's faint from bloodloss, which is how infections cause damage. Not a good sign, she has infections in all of her legs. 27th Galena, 259 As I was walking through the center of town today, I noticed Falcata proudly carrying a harp back to her and Glaive's room. When I asked the two about it, they reminded me of the strange mood she had experienced, and the beautiful harp was her work. I congratulated her on the fabulous work and let the two do with it as they pleased. 19th Limestone, 259 I have mixed feelings on things today, but mostly bad. First, the good news. Cross Stitch will be fine. He left he hospital with a few casts and will recover, aside from being missing his horn. What absolutely tears my heart out is Amber. She has gotten steadily worse every day, and today she looked to be on death's door. When I went to visit her today, I found all of her family there, holding each other and crying. I thought Amber must have passed on already, but Panacea pulled me aside and gave me the report. Amber has a terrible fever from the infection, and has been hallucinating from it. I watched Amber mumbling to herself and shivering weakly under her blankets, and I joined the family in grieving the inevitable. After I managed to collect myself a bit, I talked to Panacea a bit more, and she assured me that there is nothing that can be done. I offered all of Dawnpick's treasury to save her life, if there was something the caravans could bring, but Panacea simply shook her head and broke into sniffling herself. She told me that there was no way anypony could get out here fast enough, and there was little that could be done even with all of the money in the world. Amber is going to die. There is nothing that can be done to save her life. She is barely a mare, and now she is going to die. If only I hadn't ordered the walls to be “fixed”, as if there was something wrong with them in the first place. She wouldn't even be hurt. But now she is going to die. Perhaps I shouldn't be so selfish, as if this only hurts me. Her family was all but inconsolable, and Panacea was little better. She's never lost a patient in Dawnpick. Brook and Barley were killed before she even had a chance to tend to them, but she's had to watch Amber grow worse and worse, and now she is going to have to watch her die. I didn't just feel sick today. I am sick. I've spent all the rest of the day locked up in the keep, and I've thrown up several times. I can't go see Panacea about it. I can't see Amber again. By all that is still good in this world, how am I going to stand burying her? She's pale from the blood loss now. Usually fatal from infections. 24th Limestone, 259 As horrible as I've felt the last few days, I must say that I don't think I've ever felt so much relief in my life as I have today. I finally gathered the courage to leave the keep, and I saw Panacea out by the well. She was almost beaming when she saw me, and told me that by some miracle Amber has started fighting off the infection. She's a long way from better, and she assured me that it's too soon to be sure she'll live, but she has a fighting chance now. Someway, somehow, she's getting better. I'm happy, but not as happy as Virtue! That put me in a much better mood when I also found out we had three new arrivals in Dawnpick today. The first two were a new couple, a pegasus mare named Kusari, who used to be a soldier, and an earth pony fish cleaner named Briney Deep. Kusari will probably be joining the militia, but I'm not quite sure what to do with Briney Deep yet. I'm sure we'll figure something out. I was quite surprised when I learned who our third new arrival was. When I saw him, I thought he looked familiar, being a brown unicorn with one of the most impressive beards I've ever seen. After speaking with him, it became clear that he was related to Glaive, and he told me that he was Glaive's father! Fauchard, he said his name was. I'm sure Glaive will be excited to learn that his father is here! 9th Timber, 259 I've made some mistakes here in Dawnpick, but I think I've made a few steps toward remedying them. The first is that we finished the construction of a proper chapel to our gods. We don't have a priest to lead any services, but at least anypony who wants to pray now has a proper place to do it. I think the gold statues might be a bit overboard, but I didn't want to spare any expense in fixing my mistake of making it look like I favored Grapple over everypony else. I've also sent the order out to start culling our orchard a bit. We've got more than enough fruit trees, and less wood than we need, so this will fix two problems with one stroke. They started pumping out saplings, and now I'm turning into wood to reduce the treesplosion. 16th Timber, 259 Today has to be one of the best days I've seen in Dawnpick. Well, considering what happened to cause it maybe not so much, but to see Amber better is all I could have possibly asked for. I heard that Ocean Breeze gave birth today to a pegasus colt that the family named Cross Breeze, and when I went to see the family I saw Amber up on her hooves and talking. She's still very weak, and she's going to have to learn to live without her horn, but she's going to live, and Panacea told her she could go back to be with her family now to finish recovering. I wanted to give her the biggest hug I could, but at the risk of hurting her more I just gave her a gentle hug and gave the bigger hug to Panacea for seeing her through all of this. I don't think a more devoted doctor exists in all of the world. We owe so much to that pegasus. The happiness of the new little foal joining us and Amber recovering completely eclipses the fact that we had another attack from the badger ponies today. As usual, they accomplished little, and the guard drove them off. From what Partisan tells me, Halberd took the first down with a single stroke of his axe while he and Kat finished the second. Kat emptied her quiver into the thief, while he put it out of its misery with a shot to the head. I don't even care. Amber is better! 16th Opal, 259 After Arbalest came back to his senses, more or less, I thought he would be free to live his life mostly normally. Today though, he was caught up in a strange mood and has gone off to claim a workshop. I took a minute to make sure he was okay, and he seems as normal as can be under the circumstances, so I left him to his work. 20th Opal, 259 I've been suspecting I'd get this news for a while now, but Panacea told me that Falcata gave birth late last night. The poor mare got even bigger than Panacea did when she was pregnant, and unlike Naginata who typically continues to lead training sessions up until the day she gave birth, Falcata has taken the last few weeks off out of sheer necessity (and Panacea's orders). I half expected Panacea to tell me she gave birth to triplets or quadruplets, but the truth was even more amazing. She gave birth to twin alicorns! The parents named the colt Falchion and the filly Balisong, which Glaive tells me is a family name of sorts. I can't be happier for the couple. After what happened to them not all that long ago, I hope they will find true happiness with this blessing. Alicorns are rare enough that we've seen none born in Dawnpick, but to have two at once is unheard of! 25th Opal, 259 Arbalest finished the statue he was working on today. It must be one of the most ornate statues I've ever seen in my life, and is absolutely beautiful. It's a fine choice of subject too, depicting King Mouthsavants, the first king of The Meandering Gloss. I'm not quite sure what we'll do with the statue just yet, but displaying it somewhere prominently sounds like the best course of action. Near the well perhaps? Or outside the dining hall? Glaze also gave birth today to an earth pony filly the family named Fine Silver for her coat. The family seemed happy to have another newcomer, but I'm starting to become a bit concerned at just how large their family is growing. We have a few families with quite a few foals, and I'm thinking we might need to set up some larger housing for them to give them some room. I'll have to speak to the carpenters and masons about it, but the biggest issue is going to be finding room I think. I forgot to remove Glaze and Ocean Breeze's pregnancies, which means even MORE foals for them. Ah well, what's done is done. 8th Obsidian, 259 Today we had quite a scare. A dragon showed up outside the walls today! The moment the beast was spotted, the alert rang out and everypony ran for safety while the militia and guard took up their positions. They planned on sealing the fort with the drawbridge and face the creature outside, but much to their horror it managed to get through the gates before it could be raised. Sarissa was the first to reach it, and faced it in single combat on the road next to the trade depot. After seeing the carnage it wrought, I have no idea how she is alive, much less unscathed. Statues were hurled about the settlement where the beast's mighty claws struck them from their pedestals, the roads were crushed under its feet and the trade depot and bridge were smashed beyond repair. Both will have to be replaced. The most amazing part is that the beast's flame breath didn't harm her where it left a great part of the settlement's grass scorched. Thank goodness the roads managed to halt the blazes, and the damage was mostly contained. We have a lot of repair work to do, but Sarissa is a hero if there is one among us. To face such a horrible foe and emerge victorious is an amazing testament to her skill. And nopony was hurt at all! I can scarcely believe our luck. Of course the dragon had to let the parasprites and kittens out of their cages. Half of them are dead now though, because of the !!grass!!*1