My Little Fortress: Dawnpick

by Paaaad

86: 19th of Opal, 228

Few ponies would willingly spend their day off digging through the archives in the keep, and likely fewer still would be doing so because of Jaxler. Flux, however, is... not most ponies. He digs through tomes, looking for everything he can get my hooves on about the happenings of the year 228. Each book is opened to the month of Opal and then quickly replaced.
"Come on... there has to be something about where Jaxler came from... some record of the attack he suffered..."
He continues his search, and eventually finds a record of the attack.
"...Oh no..."

---

19th of Opal, 228

After decades years of steady decay the nation of Topoireneis crumbled to its end.

Sense the beginning of recorded history Topoireneis had been at war with the neighboring Domidian civilizations, neither side gaining an edge on the other until alicorn / Pegasus wars during which the country’s military was nearly annihilated (more than 60% of the population were pegasus ponies). After Topoireneis military was crippled the Domidians began to start winning battles and eventually started to claim land. Even with a crippled military the country was able to effectively slow down the Domidian’s onslaught. After decades of slow destruction the Domidians war machine finally reached Topoireneis’s capital (and only surviving) city. The city was seen as impenetrable, mainly because of its great wall which ascended into the very havens. The Domidians tried to capture the city for 7 years before they finally realized they couldn’t breach the great city with their meager forces, so they hired mercenaries. The mercenary group they hired was comprised of alicorns and known as the “die dämonischen Engel” and was renowned for their legendary mastery of pyromancy. With their help the Domidians were capable of taking the city's wall after months of sieging. With wall captured the city was practically defenseless. As opposed to going house to house and sacking the city the Domidians asked the die dämonischen Engel to destroy the city in quickest way possible. The die dämonischen Engel then decided to test an experimental spell that required the group to channel their power. The spell effectively harvested the very essence of the sun and rained hell fire upon the city and the very town cooked inside its own wall. Thus ending Topoireneis.

Due to the Domidian’s normal brutality there are virtually no survivors of the civilization.

---

Flux stares at the page, dumbstruck. The obliteration of an entire nation, reduced to a simple report.
'It's no wonder he didn't want to talk about it, and hates alicorns... I need to talk to him!'
He rushes outside to search for Jaxler. He don't know what he'll say to him, but he knows he needs to talk to him.

Jaxler was in the meeting hall drinking some booze, when he saw a frantic looking stallion come in and start walking toward him.
"Hay Flux, what's the matter?"

Flux had almost calmed down by the time he found Jaxler. As he approaches him, however, he starts thinking about what must have happened to him. Tears start to form as he imagines what it'd be like to witness everypony he loved be burnt to cinders. The loss, the pain... Flux collapse in front of him, crying his eyes out and sobbing incoherent words at Jaxler.

Jaxler was shocked to see Flux collapse in front of him. "TELL ME WHO DID THIS. If somepony hurt you I'll beat the living crap out em!"

Through his sobs, Flux manages out a single word.
"T-T-Top-po-poiren-n-neis..."

Jaxler tilted his head in confusion.
"What?"

'Pull it together, Flux! How do you expect to help him when you're dissolved into a puddle of tears?'
He takes a few moments to try to calm himself, or at least to speak clearly. He stands and sniffles, rubbing his face to try to remove the tears. They don't stop flowing, but they at least slow.
"I... I was l-looking through th-the archives to t-try to find out what h-h-happened to you. O-Opal 19, 228: The F-Fall of T-T-Topoireneis..."

"Why the hell did you..."

"B-Because I w-wanted to h-help. I thought... if maybe I knew what happened... I could help..."

Jaxler took a swig of booze and said somberly "I already told you that some ponies in this world are beyond help."

"I d-don't believe that, Jaxler. N-Not for a s-second."

"If you refuse to believe that simple truth then you'll end up in the same hell that the pony your trying to help is in."

"Then... then maybe we could find a way out, together..."

"Heh,Then welcome to the valley of the damned... So, how much do you know?"

"A lot... um... and nothing. The report... only had an overview. I, uh, know what happened to them, but... not to you."

"You really don't want to know what happened to me"

"I, um, do want to know. That's... why I asked, Jaxler."

Jaxler sighed "On Opal 19, 228 I was walking down a street when suddenly there was a flash of blinding light. When I woke up I had a hole in my side and everything around me was on fire. I managed to burn my wound shut and then I blacked out again. When I faded back into consciousness everything was cinders and ash... Well, Everything except for this." Jaxler then pointed his hoof at his crossbow.

"Almost all my family died to an epidemic when I was 2 years old. So, The only family I lost during the siege was my Grandfather. And as for friends, nopony would ever dream of befriending a lowly thief like myself."

Flux reachs up to place a reassuring hoof on Jaxlers withers.
"Um, I'm your friend... right? And, uh, you aren't a thief, Jaxler. You... you protect ponies... you saved my life..."

"I suppose we are friends and your right, I'm not a thief anymore." Jaxler then Gazed over to his crossbow and sighed.

Flux looks to his crossbow as well, finally seeing the wear it's taken in Jaxler's long journey.
"It's... been your only companion for so long... hasn't it?"

Jaxler nods and adds, "It used to be masterwork."

Flux tries to think of something to say about the crossbow, but he knows woefully little about them.
"It... um... must be pretty dependable?"
He tries to shift the topic from the weapon and hope to lift the mood a bit.
"So... um, what do we drink... in the Valley of the Damned?"

Jaxler shrugged. "Moonshine, I guess."

They talk and drink for a long while. Well, Flux tried to talk a lot more than drinking, as he can't hold my alcohol nearly as well as Jaxler. He doesn't recall very much what they talked about after that, and woke up the next day draped over the ballista in the caverns with a splitting headache. His first thought was for some water. His second thought was to talk to some of the craftsponies around the fort. Jaxler deserved to have his crossbow in proper condition.

Author's Note:

Definitely earns the dark tag in this chapter...