Temperance's Journal - 7th Limestone, 269

Another one of those dust storms blew past this afternoon.  Something is definitely strange about them.  I've seen them off in the distance a few times, but this is the first time one has come this close to us.  They look red.  The soil around here isn't red though, so that's pretty mysterious.  More mysterious is how it seems to just vanish a short way away from the camp site.  I'm probably just worrying too much, but I get an odd feeling watching them.  Almost as if something is telling me we shouldn't be here.

Well, the storms haven't bothered anypony yet, since they haven't even hit the camp, so I won't worry too much.  I'm more concerned about the badger pony that attacked us, and the consequences of it.  We finally got his remains cleaned up and moved.  They drug him off a ways off where nopony in the camp can really see him, but perhaps I should have asked to have it be a bit further off.  The militia can still probably see him from where they train.

14th Limestone, 269

I've been checking in on poor Morning Dew every day since she was injured, and she's slowly recovering.  Her spirits seem to be improving too, which is good.  I think I've seen Serenity heading over here, so she's probably been talking with her.  She was very shaken up for a while, and if I'd been attacked and stabbed twice I'd probably be shaken up too.  Well, I am, really, but not like she is.  Next time I see Maize, I'm going to send her Morning Dew's thanks along with mine.  She is a very brave pony.  In fact, one of the new rooms should be done tomorrow.  It's hers, and I don't think anypony would object.

I wish Case Study had a proper place to treat Morning Dew, though.  He's been doing a great job with what he has, but he said that without a properly sterilized facility, one of her hooves has become infected.  He doesn't seem worried, so I'm not, but it could become serious.  Morning Dew didn't seem too concerned, so he may not have told her yet.

She'll be alright.  Probably.

Because of this, I've had the carpenters halt working on the dorms for now and instead focus on setting up a proper hospital.  It's going to be small for a long time, but anything has to be better than having nothing but the dorms to work in.  I know the other ponies will appreciate it too.  I'm not sure that anypony had gotten a particularly good night's sleep since Morning Dew was moved there.

That means more work for Holly clearing out room for the hospital, but I think she can appreciate the reason.

I'm more concerned about Wood Chips.  I think I may have rubbed him the wrong way somehow recently.  I mentioned that I was sure he and the others would get it put up quickly and in good shape, but he seemed a bit irritated.  Maybe I'm working the carpenters too hard too?

22nd Limestone, 269

I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I saw Smooth Block standing off near the northern part of the camp watching Redhat dig a trench.  When I asked about it, she told me that Praetorian ordered it for some reason, and that he'd be digging a defensive trench around the whole camp.  It's a great idea, I admit, but that's her job, not his.  When I asked about that, she just laughed and made some joke about insubordination.

Maybe I'll talk with Praetorian about it later.  For now, a defensive trench sounds like a good idea, so I won't interrupt the process.

23rd Limestone, 269

Parasprites!

That's what I woke up to Holly shouting this morning.  Sure enough, when I galloped outside, that's what I saw.  There were so many of them, chasing the mare back from the forest…

They're halting construction of the hospital since they keep swarming the workers.  We can't afford any hold ups, so I was glad to see Flamberge leading all of the soldiers in a sweep of the camp to clear or scare them all away.  I... I'm pretty sure I saw Flamberge gutting the little things with his sword.  How a pony can have such precision I have no idea.

The soldiers were doing their best to drive away or kill the little things.  Flamberge and Praetorian must have killed five apiece, and Redhat and Crosshair were chasing a few away from the food.  It was no use though.

Flamberge killed 13, actually.  Redhat got 7, Praetorian got 5, and Crosshair only got 1.

The parasprites made off with several months of food, but Flamberge and the other soldiers managed to kill at least twenty of them.  They're gone now.  I was checking our stocks and I think we'll be alright.  We're going to be cutting it close until the next harvest, but we should be fine.

Poor Cream Puff was absolutely losing it over the food being ruined though.  I feel bad for her, but I didn't dare try to say anything to her while she's like this.

5th Sandstone, 269

Morning Dew left the hospital today.  She's still limping a bit from her wounds, as you'd expect, but she seems to be doing much better overall.  She headed back out to the fields today too, although I could tell she was a bit anxious about it.  I think I may move the training area out closer to the fields  Maybe that will help give her some peace of mind.  Me too, come to think of it.

Well, as a first project for her, now that she's back to work, was for her and Maize to set up another small farm plot for some flax.  We need more thread and cloth for bags, since milling flour out of the wheat has already used up all of the bags we brought with us.  We've got a bit of cloth left over we could make some bags out of, but I'm loathe to use it all up in case Case Study needs any more for wound dressing again.

Speaking of Maize, I'm growing more concerned about her.  Dr. Serenity spoke with her some and she thinks that the mare has some very deep issues.  I don't really know what to do about it, but I feel bad for her.  I really hope the psychiatrist can help her.  I've given her free reign to use my office when I'm not here to counsel her whenever she needs it.

13th Sandstone, 269

Poor Cream Puff is still pretty upset about the parasprite thing.  She came and complained to me about the fact that we're letting all of the food sit out in the open, and that if we were being more careful about that we wouldn't have had to worry about the parasprites taking the food.  I guess she's right, and we'll probably start working on remedying that soon.

I wish she wouldn't yell at the animals though.  What did the poor chickens do to her?

If she hasn't already, I really ought to ask Serenity to talk to Cream Puff.  I'm no good at that sort of thing, apparently.

Anyway, Veneer told me this afternoon that they'd finished closing in two of the hospital rooms, so that's plenty better than what Case Study had before.  I'm officially calling the hospital ready for use, even though it's a far cry from being done.  We've just got too much work to do to keep on it right now.

I think I'll see about drawing up some plans for a real kitchen and dining room now.  But we're still so far behind on housing...

1st Timber, 269

I'm glad to say Cream Puff has finally calmed down.  I think she's been talking with Serenity, and whatever she said to her must be helping.  Unfortunately I think I only made it worse when I tried talking to her.

Or, maybe she's happier because we've really started on a decent place to cook and eat.  It's just a few walls so far, but we're going to have a nice little tavern before too much longer.  My long term goals are to make it a nice place with some sleeping room for travelers and merchants, but for now it's going to be little more than a glorified kitchen with some dining tables tossed up to give ponies a decent place to eat.

Which, oddly enough reminds me that we still have no well.  I'm juggling so many things right now I can't decide what should be done next and what can wait.  At least there is room for everypony to sleep inside, and we do have enough food and drink for now.  So a well can wait I suppose.

While I was watching the carpenters put the walls up (Wood Chips seems to be less irritated lately, that's good), I noticed a group of strange ponies approaching from the south.  More ponies from Coupledye...

An earth pony mare surgeon named Convalescence and her husband,

A pegasus stallion clothier named Patches,

A pegasus stallion carpenter named Flying Buttress and his wife,

A pegasus mare carpenter named Sand Paper (she prefers Sandy), and

A pegasus stallion plant processor named Chaff.

The doctor I'm sure will be worth her weight in gold sooner or later, but I'm mostly happy to have the carpenters to help us.  The more of them there are, the faster we can get the remaining buildings put up.  The clothier should be pretty useful too, since we don't have anypony to really make any new bags or clothing when ours wear out.

I spent an hour or so showing them around and introducing them to everypony.  The carpenters I put to work straight away, since Veneer, Wood Chips and Lathe have been working around the clock.

And I just realized it's already autumn.  Where has this year gone?