My Little Fortress: Dawnpick

by Paaaad

35: Cavern Drills

It had been awhile since the event in the caverns and Panacea had finally decided that Jaxler could leave the hospital. Jaxler still had been covered in casts and had to use a crutch but at least he could actually move around now. He only had one thought on his mind at the moment, it was the fact that he had left his crossbow down in the caves. He knew that his weapon was probably covered in about a pound of mold and had probably broken upon impact with the ground but he couldn't just let his crossbow rot. As he walked into the dark underworld he found his wooden crossbow, it was covered in some mold and had a few cracks but there wasn't any damage that a good carpenter couldn't fix. Right as Jaxler finished inspecting the bow he heard some yelling off in the distance. He walked as fast as he could until he finally reached the sight of the yelling. To his relief, he found the militia was training down in the caves.

Stiletto was running some coordination drills with rest of the militia, showing them how to move together and positioning formations for cavern movement
"We will learn to be as one blade, sharp and accurate with no waste of effort."

Glaive has a less than happy look upon his face. He was moving in formation with the others, having served as a soldier before he was no stranger to such drills, and he could see that some of his fellow militia members were significantly less used to working in a group, but that wasn't what was bothering him. What he wanted to know was why Stiletto was giving the orders.
'She's not our commander, she's not our captain, she's just a grunt like the rest of us. Halberd or Naginata should be leading us not her. Does she think her being an alicorn automatically makes her in charge?'

So a certain grayish Pegasi mare heard that the militias will be training their drills in the cavern today. Crazy crazy ponies.. Don't they know it's dangerous to them? They'll be putting themselves in the danger of dehydration!...
'and that's why i'm going to save them all.' Kat Thought happily as she trots casually into the Cavern, having a barrel of Hard Cider sitting comfortably on her back with a balance of who-knows-how-long worth of item hauling. the sounds of yelling and the marching of hooves confirmed her that there are, Indeed ponies down here.
well that's good.. last thing she needs now is to get flocked in a swarm of angry cave birds and smelly ogres. Suddenly, Being around other ponies doesn't seems so bad anymore.

Glyph walks down towards the caverns, heading to the training, and notices a grayish pegasus. "Hey, who are you? It's dangerous down here you know."

Kat Turned her head from Reflex reaction when she heard a voice just behind her, granted it was a pony's voice and probably nothing going to come and drag her into the furthest depth of Cavern hell, but that still startled her. Just a bit, mind you.
"Oh! hey there. And yes, Yes i know right? Dangerous, so Very Dangerous. Ponies will be putting themselves in the danger of Dehydration! and The entire Militia's down here! Crazy crazy ponies i tell you. So i thought, 'Hey! Maybe I can still save them by bringing in a barrel of drinks!' and so i did! Now they won't be dehydrated from their drills and training's!.. Annnd i kind of like watching the militia trains." She replied with quite a surprising energy. If Glyph have known her before, he might have to re-consider if this is really the same Kat he knows or not.

"Ok, now let us try to move through the shaft, again, Halberd you take the front, Glaive your next, then Fuscina and Sarissa. Kukri and Falcata you take up the rear."
Halberd waves Stiletto over with his hoof. Stiletto moves over to him and leans her head down so he speak quietly to her. After he finishes talking, Stiletto laughs and taps him on the withers with her hoof.
"You are such a joker Halberd." *She returns to the front of the group of military ponies chuckling* "Ok, let us go ponies!"

Glaive continues to follow the instructions Stiletto gives, but grows increasingly unhappy with the situation.
'Why is the captain letting her order us around? Is she going to get promoted?' A momentary surge of envy clouds Glaive's mind before he represses it. 'Surely the Captain has his reasons, but why? I'll try and talk with him or Naginata, about this later.'

Glyph cocks his head at the excitable mare. "Umm.... thanks? I'm part of the militia myself, I was just coming down for training. I think they'll be happy you brought drinks at least, and I don't think that the others will mind you watching."

Jaxler was trying to pick the mold off his crossbow while watching the ponies train. As he tried to remove the green substance he heard some ponies talking a few feet away. Jaxler looked over and saw glyph an unfamiliar mare, and more importantly, a barrel. so walked over.
"Hay there, what's in the barrel?"

Kat beamed from hearing that the others would be pleased with the barrel of drinks, Then heard another voice greeting them.
Oh nice, more ponies.
"Oh, Hey there! It's Hard Cider. Brought it down for the training ponies, crazy crazy ponies. They endanger themselves of Dehydration!"

Jaxler was a bit disheartened to hear that the barrel was filled with something as week as hard cider, but he hadn't had a drink in a few days.
"You fine if I have some of this cider?"

The grayish mare tilted her head and raised an eyebrow slightly as if Jaxler have asked her a very.. Very.. odd question like if she's fine with him breathing or something.
"Well, i did brought this down to save ponies from dehydration, and you looks like you could use some drinks, so of course i'm fine! so fine! As long as you don't hog the whole barrel for yourself that is."

Jaxler knew that it would probably take the whole barrel to just get him buzzed, but some booze was better than none. so, he drank some of the cider.
"Damn, this stuff really is week."

Kat just roll her eyes from the comment.
"Well, i didn't want to intoxicate the whole militia into drunken drill brawl, but bringing down a barrel of fruit juice for the militia is just honestly lame. So i choose something in the middle." She said while putting the barrel down after Jaxler having a drink. She Tilted her head to the side, making her neck popped a bit then flexes her wings for a brief moment to reassure herself that they haven't gone numb to death after carrying the barrel or something.
"Oh hey, Nice crossbow by the way. it's.. um.. very.. green?"

Jaxler looked down on his crossbow and realized the wood was starting to rot. Now he needed a carpenter and a unicorn to disinfect the thing.
"Looks like somepony noticed my crossbow... *sigh* ether of you two know a unicorn who can un-rot wood?"

"No... I don't, sorry." Glyph thinks for a bit, looking at the crossbow. "Some of it might be salvageable... you might be able to take it to the bowyer if you don't just want a new one."

"Dammit. I'd really hate to see my crossbow torn apart. Hmmm, maybe Wool can disinfect wood the same way he disinfects wounds. Do you think he could do that?"

Kat was pushing the Barrel closer to the area that the rest of the militias are training at, leaving the two stallions to discuss about whatever stallions discuss about. It might seems rude, but to her she's just finishing the job. Plus, hey! the training looks interesting.

Glyph shrugs. "Dunno, you could ask I guess. I can understand not wanting to let your things get destroyed." He looks up and notices that the pegasus had moved on. "Oh hey! Wait up! Come on Jaxler, we should keep close to her. Don't want anything to happen."
He moves after Kat, walking up beside her. "You want any help with that barrel?"

Jaxler followed Glyph. "What the hell could I do if something were to happen? I'm on a freaking crutch right now and I got two Broken legs."

The Grayish Pegasi Mare were just settling the barrel nice and snug and making sure that it won't roll away or something if someone bumps into it. Pleased with her work, she sits down next to it where she'll have a good view of the training, seeing Glyph coming over and offering to help her "Oh it's okay, i'm done with the Barrel now." she said, beaming slightly with a smile.

"Oh... good point Jaxler... well just keep close to me then. Umm... I guess I can miss training for this." He sits down next to the pegasus, watching the others. "I think protecting a civilian is a good enough reason. So, what's your name?"

Kat was somewhat surprised to be asked of her name, but then again, ponies in this forsaken fort seems to be awfully friendly. Not that it's a bad thing, mind you.
"Oh, me? You can call me Kat." She answered and beam a smile at him, although far less energetic than moments ago. Looks like whatever kept her hyperactive stopped working. "And yours?"

"My name's Glyph, nice to meet you Kat." He settles in to watch the training.

Jaxler was lagging behind and finally worked his way down to the two ponies and sat down.
"So, the names Kat aye, my name is Jaxler. I'm known for picking fights and drinking, I'm also second in command of the guard."

Kat continues her smiling, meeting new ponies is nice. yes.
"Nice to meet you, Glyph and Jaxler." She said, then perk her ears up with an ear twitch "Oohh? you're the Second-in-command of the guards? Nice! I wanted to join the guards."

"That's good to hear, but if ya want to join then talk to Partisan. He'll probably let you in seeing how we really don't have any standards."

"Jaxler be polite! I'm sure she will be fine. I hope you get in Kat, I remember when I joined the militia. Was a really exiting day... for me at least."

The Greyish mare perk her ears up, slightly wide-eyed. it's hard to tell what's going on inside her head, but clearly she's not very pleased..

"D-.. don't have any standards?.. w.. what.." She seems to have lost that Energetic self of hers almost completely, stuttering a little as if there's something stuck in her chest. "N.. nevermind.." Her ears drooped down and, maybe they might be thinking things or seeing stuff by themselves, but she seems to gain a shade more grey somehow.. But it's probably just the lighting.

"First off, asking me to be polite is like asking me to stop breathing. Second off, I wasn't insulting you, I was insulting the guard. To be honest we could use a pony like you."

"Well.. um.. okay. But, why'd you want to insult the guards? I mean, you are one. right? doesn't really makes any sense."

"I understand that it may seem strange that I insult a group that I'm part of but if we don't acknowledge our problems then they don't go away. Anyway, before you even think of joining the guard I need to ask you something important; are you willing to die in the place of any pony in the entire fort no matter what?"

Kat smiles up again, but this time, it seems rather.. dark.. somewhat. Not the normal kind of smile, but maybe a sad one? understanding one? It's a different kind of smile..
"Well, Everything dies sooner or later. One way or another. If i were given a duty, then i'll do that duty. I didn't move across the ocean into the city then into some forsaken fort in the middle of nowhere just to die of old age. If i wanted to be safe and live long, then i would've stayed home and never came here. To me, death is common. To answer your question, right now? No. I were not given duty to die for another pony who would die later anyway. Unless that Pony is special to me. But give me a duty, and i'll live, and die, by it. Even if it means to die for another pony that i don't even know their names in order to protect their life so they can live a little longer than me." She answered. Surprisingly calm considered the topic they're talking about.

Jaxler liked the answer
"So you know how the world works... I'll tell Partisan that you answered correctly."

Glyph nods, "That's good... well mostly good. I don't like the thought of not caring about whether a pony lives or dies just because it's not my duty... if someone attacks the pen-foals everyone fights... or at least everyone should..."
His mind goes back, and a faraway look enters his eyes, as a memory he'd rather forget resurfaces. Tears begin to mist his vision. 'That... nopony should do that... to just run...'

Kat Crossed her front legs together and lay her head down, ears drooping slightly as she rest her chin on her front legs.
"Foals.. Foals are special to me. Innocent white papers... Everypony have a duty to protect their younglings.. since they can't do it themselves. Most of the time, you can choose how will you die. Standing and protecting.. or later, fleeing away. All with their own reasons.. i don't care. Somepony runs to come back and win the fight the next day. Somepony runs because they're just simply scared.. some runs because they're a coward. I think it's just silly to be afraid of death. It's just.. there.. you know what i mean? No matter how fast you run, how far you run, it's there. If i can choose, i'd choose die standing with my front facing death itself rather than letting myself getting chased down like an animal. Besides, If you're going to die anyway.. might as-well make it worthwhile and memorable. no?"
She finished her rather long speech.. then rests her forehead onto her front legs. She seems.. tired. Not the sleepy kind of tired. Maybe she's cried about this enough times to not be tired anymore? Who knows.

"Hehe, your gonna die anyway, why that's so hilariously observant of you."

Glyph reaches out a hoof and places it on Kat's withers. He thinks about saying something, but can't think of any words, so he just sits there, trying to reign in his own thoughts.

Kat decides to stand up to open the barrel of Hard cider and have a drink from it. That helped. And when she's done drinking, she sits back down again, letting out a content sigh, looking somewhat less tired and more back to her energetic self.
"Thanks Jaxler, i guess I'll have to thank my mother about that.. I swear one of the first things she taught me was that 'I'm going to die one day, your father's going to die one day, all of your friends will die one day, and you will eventually die one day. So don't make a big fuss out of it. I'm not dead yet today, your father's not dead yet today, your friends aren't dead yet today, and you're not dead yet. So Instead of wasting time thinking about what's not happening yet, think and decide what you're going to do today.' So i decide to enjoy life as I live it." She finished with a beaming smile. Offering Jaxler and Glyph some of the Cider as well.

Glyph takes a bit of cider, sitting back down close to Kat. "Well... I guess I can see that... might as well enjoy what you have instead of worrying about what might happen."

The Grayish Pegasi nodded and smiles as Glyph sits back down pretty closely to her. She doesn't seems to mind that. "Mmhmm.. hey.. Glyph?" She said, looking at him with another smile on her face. "Thanks." Then she turns back to watch the Militia do their training drills.