My Little Fortress: Shadytrails

by PersonalGamer

Journals: 3rd Hematite, 222 to 10th Galena, 222

3rd of Hematite

I heard earlier from somepony, that soon work will begin on houses for residents. I haven't minded the shared quarters, but lately they've gotten cramped, as more ponies and griffons come to Shadytrails. I can't complain at seeing so many new faces, but nor would I be opposed to having a home of my own.

It also seems the local tress' fruits are nearly ripe, and ready to fall. I may need to doctor's help to pick the stubborn ones that refuse when I start bucking the trees. That reminds me as well, miss Isolde had a workshop set up for me, for farming tasks. I was given a stool and bucket, and so decided that everyone might enjoy having some milk to drink. There was even a water buffalo nearby that looked ready to be milked.

...Hopefully nopony asks how I managed it.

I blame PersonalGamer for this. :P

In my defense, Telgin is an accomplice for bringing cattle and mentioning that Tunda milked them.

11th of Hematite

After a few days of practice and getting miss Isolde's blessing, Silver and I put on a performance for the townsfolk. We set up an area around a bonfire with a makeshift stage, and sang a few songs for everypony, griffon, and zebra. We were well received, unsurprisingly! I'm glad for the two of us to have given everyone something fun to do, and from what he says, I can count on us having a repeat performance.

As much as I look forward to that, not all the news today was good. One of the ponies was attacked by a frenzied badger. I would think an animal like that would be too afraid to come near the town, but it sadly seems not. From what I've been told, the guards took care of it before anyone else was hurt.

27th of Hematite

I've seen the foundations laid for the houses set to be built, and had a very happy surprise when I was told the southernmost two, built side by side, would belong to myself and Silver. I am not sure if Patina Dreams or Rosewood, or miss Isolde herself set up the arrangement of the houses, but I have to wonder if it's a hint. The rest of our little future neighborhood is pleasing as well, living so near Patina especially. And I look forward to the chance to see more of the ponies I've seen so little of, like Jack.

After all, we both tend to green, growing things. I nurture them to life and he brings about their end so we can enjoy shelter and crafts. We should be kindred spirits.

When I heard this news, I went down to the mine to see Silver, and tell him that we would be neighbors soon. We had a pleasant talk, and he showed me some pretty gems and ores. Lovely though they were, I confess they weren't the most attractive thing I saw down there.

26th of Malachite, 222

Patina Dreams came to see me today, so I can say I've had my very first houseguest since coming here. She made for a perfectly pleasant one at that, though she came to me a little distressed. Her concerns were strange, but I listened regardless, and hopefully assured her that nopony would think she was doing something wrong by accepting Miss Isolde's kindness.

As an aside, I'm very glad I had the restraint to avoid saying what I had guessed was bothering her.

28th of Malachite

I brightened Jack Pine's day with a visit from his new neighbor earlier, and only made mine better as well. He liked my housewarming gift it seemed, and even ending up expressed interest in the show Silver and I put on. Although he did it in a funny way; such a tough-looking stallion beating around the bush.

Speaking of Silver, and how appropriate when I've always been told I have a silver tongue, Jack was digging a basement when I went to see him. I wonder if I could convince Silver to dig one for me? If he's not too busy to help a poor mare in need. After all, most stallions love chances to be dashing and helpful when beautiful mares are involved, and Jack's idea was a good one...

I must remember to ask Miss Isolde when we'll have grains to grow, for spirits to savor. It is known, I do love to raise the spirits of Shadytrails' ponies and griffons.

---

---

---

---

11th Hematite, 222

There have been some wild badgers in the area. Not those dangerous badger-ponies that Star was telling me about to scare me. Just ordinary badgers. They got a bit to close so the militia chased them off and killed a few. Hopefully that will keep the wild animals away for awhile. If not, maybe we should build a wall of somekind... I don't know it it's worth the effort and resources though. I won't suggest it to the Mistress just yet.

15th Hematite, 222

Things are going well. I spoke with Mistress about my plans for the future of the town, and she seemed really impressed! Working with Rosewood and some others, we've laid out the foundations of a few new houses.

21st Hematite, 222

The first house was completed today. Mistress Isolde is giving it to Rosewood. She did do most of the hard work, so that makes sense I guess.

26th Malachie, 222

This is not right... I'm writing this now from the floor of what, I guess, is to be my new home, but... this is not right. I should not have my own private room while Mistress Isolde is still sleeping in that first structure with everyone else. I tried to tell her as much, but she insisted. I should not argue with her, but I feel terrible about having this while she has less.

I wish I knew what I was supposed to do...

Silver and Tunda got new houses too, I wonder if they feel the same.

---

---

---

---

Silver Rush’s Journal, 5th Hematite, 222

Going to make this a short one, since I’m pretty worn out. I’ve been really busy lately flattening out the land so that the carpenters can finally start construction on individual houses.

11th Hematite, 222

I remember a week or so ago Tunda and I sung a bit of a chorus together, just for the fun of it. She has quite a beautiful singing voice. She’s been discussing the possibility with me lately of trying to organize some kind of duet during supper for the other residents’ entertainment. I’d definitely be up for something like that, and Ms. Hookbill approved as well. Too bad it’ll be fairly plain without any instruments, unless maybe one of the other residents happened to bring one of some kind? I should probably start concentrating more on getting one of my own. I’ve been considering it for quite a while now.

12th Hematite, 222

I know I’ve been really indecisive about what instrument I’ve wanted to learn how to play for years now, but I think I may have it figured out now. After perusing my copy of Musical Instruments of The Modern Era for the hundredth time, I think I’ve settled on the lute. There probably isn’t a lute for miles around, but perhaps Rosewood can craft one for me? I do admit feeling a bit selfish about that thought: she has so much work to do already and there isn’t enough of an economy here yet for my payment to mean all that much. I suppose she could just save up any coins I gave her and wait for it gain local value, but who knows how long that will take.

14th Hematite, 222

Tunda and I finally had the singing today. I think it went decently-well. I still think it's a bit dry without any music to go with it, but at least some of the guests seemed to enjoy it. This may definitely become a regular thing for us if we can improve on a few points. Maybe one of the other residents happens to have a musical instrument of some kind. I think I'll ask Ms. Hookbill if I can post a flyer or two asking about it. If so, our duo may become a trio!

15th Hematite, 222

I'm really confused tonight. I went to talk to Lattice Frame earlier in the day about making some clothes for Tunda and I. Things went in a strange direction. Not only did I find out that she was a victim of abuse, but she kissed me on the lips out of the blue! For no obvious reason! Maybe I'm just naive about such matters, but I thought such ponies would be very, very wary about intimacy of any kind. But what do I know?

On a more positive note, now that we’ve got the forge up and running, Shadytrails has become a producer of lead and silver. Those bars of pure metal are a thing of beauty.

21st Hematite, 222

The first house was completed today and Ms. Hookbill has decided to give it to Rosewood! I’m quite happy for her, finally getting some due payment for all of her hard work. I wonder if she would mind me hanging out there until my own house is completed?

22nd Hematite, 222

Today is my first birthday away from home. Even at 28 years in this world, I still feel like I’ve never grown up. I recall having mentioned it a few months ago to Rosewood, but I wasn’t expecting her to actually make something for me! That mare carved a little wooden figurine to look like the both of us together! This will definitely have a spot atop my bookcase...once I get one, that is. She’s starting to remind me of Candlebright back home, but without the wings or fangs, of course.

26th Hematite, 222

Now I have my own house as well! Right now it’s still very vanilla, but I’ll definitely start thinking about how I can turn it into a real home. I’m going to need to get a bookcase for sure. It seems a little on the small side, but maybe that’s just because I was raised in a household that had to accommodate five foals plus a mare and a stallion. It’s enough to suit my purposes, since I’ll likely spend most of my time outside anyway. It’ll be nice to have some privacy for a change, though friends are always welcome.

27th Hematite, 222

Wonderful news! Today I uncovered several new stone and mineral varieties! I hit marble and diorite, as well as discovering some clusters of schorl and sphalerite! The marble and diorite alone would make for a lovely construction material for Ms. Dreams to use, and the sphalerite can be smelted to give us zinc! Unfortunately, pure zinc only has a few niche applications and we don’t have the right kinds of metals to alloy it with to make it more useful. If I could find some chalcopyrite then we could smelt that for copper and make brass. Oh well. We’ll get there eventually. Right now I just can’t stop grinning! That schorl is going to make some lovely black gemstones!

28th Malachite, 222

Zircon! Cobaltite! Prase! My collection is expanding quite nicely due to all these discoveries! All of these rocks and minerals are nice, but they would be worth much more if they were carved into gemstones. Such gems could earn Shadytrails a handsome profit. Hopefully, we’ll get ourselves a lapidary or two in the future. I’d even take up the task myself if I had the proper tools and a skilled teacher. Guess I’ll have to wait.

---

---

---

---

Lattice’s Diary, 5th Hermatite, 222

The main structure of the bridge is more or less done, but there’s still the need to shore up the banks – can’t have it washing away when it rains. To my dismay, the pony assigned to do that was me. It wasn’t terrible working on building the bridge since I wasn’t working alone, but now it’s just me. It shouldn’t be surprising since I’m the only earth pony here without a real job to do. The others are all professional construction workers or farmers.

Lattice’s Diary, 6th Hermatite, 222

I'm blind. How could I be so stupid? I didn’t even notice what I wrote my apology on! It was the pages about Buckington too! At least he doesn’t hold it against me like Lucky does.

...Does Lucky hold it against me? She hasn’t really said anything to me for a while.

Lattice’s Diary, 7th Hermatite, 222

We’re I’m finished shoring up the banks, it looks like they’ll hold against any flash floods but I’m not sure… Hopefully we’ll be starting on housing soon, I’m not at all comfortable sleeping with the entire town.

Lattice’s Diary, 11th Hermatite, 222

A badger attacked today, and the guards dealt with it. It took a lot more effort to killpacifyeliminate put it down on the guards’ part than I would have expected.

It’s a little selfish of me, but I really hope I don’t have to clean it up.

Lattice’s Diary, 14th Hermatite, 222

The whole town got a treat today: Silver and Tunda put on a show earlier! It doesn’t hold a candle to the city performances, but I’d hardly expect anything of the sort here, ever. As it stands they aren’t a professional company.

Lattice’s Diary, 15th Hermatite, 222

Why can’t I control myself? I broke down again, this time in front of Silver! And the make matters worse, I kissed him! I don’t know why, either. It just happened!

Then, I fled! That makes it even worse, since now he might spread it around… I don’t want to be “That Mare”!

Lattice’s Diary, 16th Hermatite, 222

Ok, I apologized to Silver and it seems he doesn’t know what to make of it. It doesn’t look like he’s told anybody, either.

With that out of the way, we’re getting started on some houses! It sounded like the first party who set up the town gets priority, which makes sense. I don’t expect to enjoy working on homes for others while sleeping with the town in a communal room, though. It would be nice if we got another room to sleep in. I mean it has a log floor! LOGS!

I checked with telgin and it did indeed have a log floor. Don’t ask how that works, we’re not sure.

Lattice’s Diary, 21st Hermatite, 222

It’s been a little while, but something new finally happened: we finished the first house! It was given, fairly enough, to Rosewood. She did the most work in town’s construction, so it makes sense that she gets to use the fruits of her labor.

In other news, the militia commander resigned from his post yesterday. It looks like shooting star is going to be the candidate for replacing him, since Lucky and Fargo don’t get along.

Lattice’s Diary, 29th Hermatite, 222

All five houses we’ve set up have been completed, but Isolde insisted on sharing the communal room with us still instead of having her own house. They’ve been given to the remaining four members of the original expedition.

How has Isolde not noticed how the communal room needs a little upgrading from the hastily-built structure it is now.

I’m slowly falling into the groove of construction, and what my father taught me years ago is starting to come back. I’m glad it is, since without it I’d never get anything done.

Lattice’s Diary, 2nd Malachite, 222

Silver and Tunda had another show last night, so it looks like they’re doing them every two weeks or monthly, perhaps. I’ll have to be sure to make them a matching pair of outfits as a gift. I wonder when their birthdays are?

Lattice’s Diary, 17th Malachite, 222

We put in some stone walkways near the houses. It seems a little bit of a waste of effort, but it only took a day and it’s much more presentable than otherwise. I’m sure we’ll be glad when it rains.

I’d probably go insane if there were nothing there because of the OCD I possibly have.

Lattice’s Diary, 29th Malachite, 222

I wish we would do something about these living conditions. If this keeps up I’ll end up sleeping outside. You can only sleep with most of the town on a log floor for so long before it gets to you!

I mean we’re working on workshops, the hospital, a tavern, and a guard barracks, which could help with the crowdedness, but I REALLY hope the tavery doubles as an inn. Most of them are just plans or ideas at most.

Lattice’s Diary, 1st Galena, 222

It looks like the shows are monthly, since there was another one today. I hope the caravan comes soon so I can start on those gifts for Silver and Tunda. They really do perform so well together.

Lattice’s Diary, 8th Galena, 222

Right now I’m one of the ponies working on the Hospital foundation. It’s a little tedious considering the terrain we’re working with and how obscenely irregular it can be. It’s something we want to get done quickly, but we can’t rush it without somepony finding themselves needing it ... before we’re done. I suppose it’s not really my decision, though.

---

---

---

---

Entry #1

_{Note to Self: Whenever the damn griffon gets a calender, add dates}

So we have arrived in this barren wasteland. Joy. To be quite honest, I've never liked being away from the pack. Always felt more vulnerable. Especially with at least one griffon who doesn't really like me. To be honest, I don't like him either. Regardless... I suppose if some poor bastard finds this, they'll need names eh?

Lucky Lands, Military Adviser to the Second Regiment's Officer. While I prefer myself to be quite good at military tactics, I was mainly consulted for matters of supply lines. The CO had at least three advisers going by the same title, so not like I was unique in that regard. Regardless, I hail from the City-State of Fruitholds... Or the Kingdom of Coupledye. Whatever. I prefer the former.

I am here on a mission from Coupledye to observe and protect. The noble bastards want to make sure nothing rivals the power of their kingdom, so of course they send expendable soldiers to do some spying. Joy. Makes me want to shove a blade through them. Could very well be killed should I end up crossing the boundaries of observation to outright spying.

Entry #2

Note to Self: Damn Griffon still hasn't put up a calender.

Well, well, well. I've met two of the ponies here. The bat and a fellow Unicorn. To be quite honest, I don't care about the bat's name. The unicorn however is named Patina Dreams. Strange, I know, however she's quite... Naive. She quite readily took an offer to load money without any questioning. Quite fun when I broke her spirits for a moment.

Though my comment about the debts is still valid.

Note to self: Don't write in view of other ponies.

The bat seems to be a bit... Energetic. Could be he's in his natural habitat most of the time, but to be quite honest, I couldn't care less about if he was a bat or a Lesser Born Earth Pony, I still find his manners deplorable. Taking a swig of drink in front of a superior? If I could write out a sigh, I would. I like his politeness though. At least he knows his place knows his manners in that department*.

Along with this, the bat mentioned somebody by the name of... Jack Pine? The carpenter with the thing. Yeah. To be honest, I never associated with the carpenters. I preferred the tavern over the pub. However, if I end up finding he has something worthy of a little bit of juicy information gossip on the town ponies.

*Note to Self: Stop writing in view of other ponies. They get curious and peek.

Note to Self: After today's events, I suppose I shall be writing this when everypony is asleep and/or busy.

Journal Entry #5

Damn griffon and his damn lies and slander! He stole my position!

The rest of the page appears to be torn out.

Journal Entry #5

_{Note to self: Calender may or may not be scheduled. Haven't received a response.}

It appears that the griffon in charge Isolde has decided to confer leadership of the militia onto Shooting Star. I suppose it is a good choice, however I disagree with her choice on the second in command. The damn griffon that made the past few months so stressful. Fargo, I believe he was called. To be quite honest, I don't care. He asked me to be honest about his past experience, and while I certainly could've said he was the best and just beg to kiss his flank, like the pony he thinks I am but I decided against it. I gave legitimate criticisms of his judgments and he filibustered his way out of owning up to them, preferring to bring attention to my shortcomings.

_{Sure, my comment wasn't the most helpful thing, but the damn griffon deserved a retort}

I may or may not have made a comment which hurt my chances at getting a position altogether, however I do not believe it is all that important. The point being that I never got an appropriate position for my experience. Of course, the asshole in charge sees answering to an employer is bad Isolde assumed my loyalties to my Company and Coupledye -by extension- would hurt my ability to act as captain. I feel as if she is the one in poor judgement. While I may have more expertise in logistics and the related fields, that does not mean that I am unfit to handle myself in a fight. Of course, the bastard griffon keeps trying to slander my name and make me out to be a foal in a mare's body.

To be quite honest, I feel as if the griffon truly hates me. Yes, I act in a... Rude manner towards him, however most griffons I've met haven't been as... Hateful towards me when speaking. Maybe I'm overreacting. Only the gods may know of whether I am or not.

I suppose I should get to work. Fargo'll probably use this break as an excuse to get me kicked out of the damn guard.

Damn bird is always looking for an excuse to do something. If any other ponies from the grand state I lived in were here, we'd go tell him how we feel about that.