Two Hundred Days

Day 10

Gala Hat's Log

I'm not sure what's wrong with Nurse Toxin right now but she's hasn't been talking to any pony aside from Hay Bale during his treatment. At least Hay Day's illness seems to have gone by now, but he's too busy scavenging firewood and scraps of carrots from Ponyville to even stop and chat. As for Keen, well, he's seen better days. Not that he's sick, it's just that he's usually quick to work and fix things. He's really passionate about repairing machinery, but I think he's gotten to absorbed with the wrecked generator out back.

Every pony else is relatively fine though. We're still short on food, but now that Hay Day's out flying and collecting we're at least eating something everyday. Me, I'm just trying to find where my thread and sewing needles are. I could always replace a needle with a feather from my wing, of course, but I don't have a replacement for thread. Lately I've just been gluing swaths of cloth onto holes in clothing.

I don't tell anyone else, but, I just feel so useless, and it's all just because of some missing thread. Every pony else is really adding to the base, even if they are quiet about it. Even without her bag Mint Leaf is still harvesting herbs for tea and tonics. Toxin hasn't done anything accept make Hay Bale healthier. And what am I doing? Gluing together clothes.

Day 13

Keen Eyes's Log

I think I've cooled off long enough to actually have something to say: the silence is driving me mad. I was all for it at first, work got done and survival was relatively better, but the only ones who ever really talk are Jade Jewel and Copper. Jade's still giving out orders like nothing's wrong between us and as long as there's something to cook Copper Tail just won't shut up. Literally he has to describe his favorite recipes and what extra ingredients should be added for an extra "kick."

I am starving. Yet Copper has the gall to tell me his favorite gourmet dishes while I work, in the cold, with nothing but some damp hay in my belly. I think this is all I can write today, but at least I don't have to go scavenge now that Hay Day's alive and kicking. It's been too tense between every pony lately and... whatever. Keen Eyes, signing off.

Day 15

Nurse Toxin here to say that I will not conform to the "log" introduction, Keen Eyes. Not after risking every pony for a bunch of raiders, and especially not after you keep this journal away from me for the past few days. For the first time since we met in this abandoned house, the three of us - Gala, Keen, and I - met joined up and had a meeting.

The first thing Gala talks about is what we put in the journal. Oh, she just loves it so fucking much. Well I'll tell you this, I don't want to talk about my feelings to any pony, that's why I'm writing right now. I get plenty of pep talks from Hay Bale, and I don't need another discussion about my "feelings" or my "grievances" with a gloomy, goth pegasus who's ironically into all kinds of fashion, including colorful ones. Also, I don't fucking know where the fucking thread is, so stop asking.

Also, our resident constructor Hammer Hoof fell from the roof fixing yet another hole. He twisted both rear ankles, so guess who has to heal that too? I don't normally complain about my patients, but these conditions are ridiculous. Hay Bale looks like he's on his death bed right now and Jade's been distracting Hay Day with requests for food and firewood when his brother really needs medical supplies. I swear if Hay Day returns this evening with no meds or bandages, I'm headed to the clinic across town tonight.

Night 15

No medicine from Hay Day, so you know what I'm out doing, and yes I brought the journal with me. I figured since Keen and Gala were asleep, no one would miss it. I also wanted to record my first thoughts on what I'm headed to right now. It's was clinic for little fillies and colts before the invasion. Three weeks after the first attack it had become one of the last medial facilities in Ponyville. By day 50 of the invasion it was the last medical center left in town. No pony's gone near it ever since a cutie pox infection spread through the patients. I'm just glad I was working at the Ponyville hospital when it broke out, or I would be dead too. The poor ponies all died of exhaustion; our bodies just weren't meant to perform so many tasks.

Anyways, I'll reach there in a couple hours unless a snow starts to set in again. The skies are clear now, but with Cloudsdale focusing air support around Manehattan, anything could happen with the weather. I think I even see some Everfree Clouds moving in.

Night 15 part 2

Corpses everywhere. I'm standing outside the quarantine signs of the clinic and I see corpses everywhere. No wonder survivors steered clear of this place, dead doctors, dead kids, and dead soldiers litter the floor, covered in false cutie marks. Sweet Celestia, how did this happen. We cured the last known case of Cutie Pox, what made this different?

Night 15 part 3

The inside of the clinic isn't so bad actually. Every pony cleared out as soon as the disease spread so now there's no bodies in the way of searching the cabinets. I didn't think I'd see a clean needle ever again, let alone five. And the drawers are filled with pain killers and fever relief; most were out of date or cracked open, but I still salvaged three bottles of pills. I'm sure if it wasn't so dark I'd have a field day in here, but I'm too low on calories and I can barely keep a light going with my horn. Even levitation is wobbly for me, which sucks because there's still so much stuff on the top shelves. I'll have to make another trip when I'm not starving.

Gauze pads everywhere; they're on the floor, on the beds, in the sink, and they're not very clean. At least one box was still intact, hopefully it's enough for Hay Bale's leg. There was some tape and adhesive bandages too, which could definitely help some small cuts and scrape every pony gets while working. You'd think a chef like Copper Tail would know proper knife safety. The only thing missing are the antiseptics to clean Hay Bale's wounds, but it's getting late and I need to get back before raiders wake up for their morning "walks."

Day 16

Gala Hat's Log

It's safe to say Nurse is officially my hero. Even Jade Jewel, who's a little cranky about Nurse running off at night, can't deny that what she did was amazing. No pony had the courage to even talk about the Helper's Clinic Outbreak, let alone go near it. And the supplies she brought back really boosted every pony's morale. Hay Bale's on a speedy recovery and might even be walking by the end of the week. I don't know if three days is enough, but Nurse seems sure enough, so I guess I'll take her word for it.

Day 16 part 2

Keen Eyes's Log

Nurse can be a bit of a bitch sometimes, but she really pulled through this time. Heck, I even got a dose of pills to drive out my headache from the cold. Things feel better than they have in days. Me and Hammer Hoof even got around to fixing up the heater's pipes, realigning and and hammering pipes into place was really hard without those pills. But now that we've got that done nearly the entire house is warm, not just the kitchen and living room. That's not all, Sweet Tooth, our resident inventor, helped me finish rewiring the broken radio I found when I helped the raiders get the filly out from under the diner. It's mainly been a side project I've been working on since we got it, however the commotion of Nurse's escapades brought Sweet Tooth out for the first time in weeks. Rediscovering pesticides is apparently hard work, but she had the time to help me take a look at the shoddy wiring in the radio. Now we've got more connections to the outside world than we thought was possible.

It turns out the changeling's destruction wasn't as complete in other cities. Appleloosa still has about a third of its farm holdings and is receiving a small support from Equestria's military base in Manehattan. Fillydelphia's got a squad of royal guards waging guerrilla warfare on those damn dirty changeling. Nothing from Cloudsdale itself, but some pony calling herself DJ-Pon3 reported from Manehattan that air support from the Wonderbolts was pushing back on the encroaching main changeling army. Nothing more was said on the open air, but at least now every pony here in Ponyville knows the Celestia and Luna have a plan.

Day 17

"Nurse Toxin the Savior!" That's the title I get for my actions. Sweet Celestia, if only they knew. The night I left for the Helper's Clinic, Hay Bale's infection reached an advanced stage that required medical supplies that were never in Ponyville to begin with. I tried to tell Hay Bale, but the smiles on every pony's face was as unfamiliar as it was welcomed. I didn't have the heart to give them the bad news, so I'll tell it to you, journal: Hay Bale's infection will kill him within the week.

It's more than hard to think about it, to wonder what would have happened if I had stayed. I would wash Hay Bale's wound every night, but I was gone that night. I don't think some water and cloth could have made such a difference, but there's just no other reason for the sudden progression of the bacteria. It's eating its way into his bloodstream, sucking out his life by the hour. I set aside half of the pills for Hay Bale so he wouldn't feel death's grip, but his body will still take the brunt of the effects. For now, I told him his the cut on his leg needs more time to heal, but that won't change the fact that he's dying. He's dying because of me. It's all my fault, and... and the longer I hold this in and keep a smile on my face so that every pony will think that things are fine, the more I'm starting to lose my mind over my stupidity, and over the look Hay Bale give me when he thanks me for all I've done, when in truth I've done nothing but lie, and lie, and lie.

Now, I don't know what to do. My only option left to save Hay Bale is to wait and hope; hope that he's the lucky one in a hundred thousand who survive this kind of infectious attack. All I can do hope is that tomorrow Celestia will raise the sun and with it, bring a swift and brutal end to this damn apocalypse. All I can do is hope for a miracle.