Two Hundred Days

Day 35

Keen Eyes's Log

Pesticides and fertilizer! Pesticides and fertilizer for every pony! Okay not really but it's a great relief to have Sweet Tooth out of the garage for a while. She says she won't be going back into research for a while, but that's okay, Mint Leaf was able to use the pesticides to their fullest, wiping out parasprites and other filthy creatures in the garden. I'm still shocked just how much damage they've been doing all this time now that we've tripled the growth rate of the garden. With some earth pony earth magic and the fertilizer Minty says the carrots and corn should be ready for harvest in a week or so. I'm not sure what Sweet Tooth put in her recipes, but it works like a charm. We even cleared out parasprites in the walls of the house. A few of those bastards has nested near the warm heat ducts and constantly cause damage. Now they're dead.

But like our carrots, another problem sprouted up. The Market Place survivors sent a pegasus over to warn us about a large caravan of ponies spotted not far off from the train station. They've set up a camp, complete with walls of packed dirt and wood, and at least a dozen campfires. It sounded too much like those Last Survivor ponies.

The Marketplace kept their radio on Manehattan at all times, so I Nurse had to fill the messenger in on who the Last Survivors were. Jade told the messenger she wanted to form a plan with them to deal with them in case they came as raiders, and Nurse backed her completely. I wanted to warn them not to jump to any conclusions, and I still do, but they went off to discuss things with Copper Tail and Hay Day, both of them agreed to an aggressive plan as well.

Day 35 part 2

Gala Hat's Log

I don't know what to choose. Keen Eyes doesn't think we should agitate such a large group of ponies, instead he wants to be diplomatic about it. But Toxin and Jade Jewel are convinced the Last Survivors are a threat. Mint's supporting Keen on this issue and so is Hammer and Sweet Tooth. But Hay Bale's going with his brother and Copper Tail; they're siding with Jade and Toxin.

I'm the only pony who hasn't decided yet. Every pony says I don't have to choose, but I know I do. I just can't believe we're arguing over this after what we've been through. Keen, Nurse, and I, we met each other in Fillydelphia University on our first day. I remember spilling orange juice on Nurse's Alchemy Notebook, I remember Keen falling from the bell tower, I even remember the first study session we had together, and Keen didn't even bring a book because he said he had everything he needed in his head. Nurse stopped laughing at him after he aced the mathematics final without even opening a test prep guide.

We were destined to be friends forever, even when Nurse left Fillydelphia University to work in Ponyville once she got her nursing degree, because Keen followed two years after when he transferred to continue studying arcane engineering, and even though I had my own workshop in Fillydelphia where I designed clothes and accessories, but I left all that to follow my friends to Ponyville. If I hadn't, I might be among one of the countless dead in Fillydelphia, and I wouldn't have to suffer from seeing my friends being torn apart.

Day 36

Keen Eyes's Log

The Aggressors - that's what I'm calling Nurse's merry band of fools - left first thing this morning without even preparing breakfast. They're meeting with the Market ponies to talk about the Last Survivor "threat" in the old town hall, which has completely screwed over my plan. Me and Sweet Tooth thought over a diplomatic approach to the Last Survivors, but we can't leave the base with just a few ponies, it's just too risky, especially since we have no idea what happened to the two raider groups after the night of the care packages.

Hopefully they'll come back before doing anything too irrational. I don't know about the other Aggressors, but Nurse Toxin hates raiders more than anything. But, these Last Survivors don't sound like raiders, there's too many of them and they're much to open about their movements. If anything, they're just a group of survivors like us who got lucky with a cache of goods. Living in a big herd probably adds to their productivity too.

There's so many possibilities we could open up with the nomads. We can't just declare them as enemies, and we don't have the power to do so anyways. If Nurse is somehow right, and the Last Survivors is just a herd of marauders, making a move against them will probably end with us dying, and I quite enjoy having life over death.

Day 36 part 2

Nurse's Log of Being Better

We've talked things over with the Market ponies all morning; they've decided to taking the name of Marketeers for convenience. We're taking a short recess before we continue our plan, but here's what we have so far:

A preemptive strike will be sent onto the Last Survivors if they encroach any closer to Ponyville territory.

The Marketeers will take command of the pegasi during any coordinated attack against the Last Survivors any enemy of Ponyville.

The Residents (that's us) agrees to direct land forces of earth ponies and unicorns during any coordinated attack against any enemy of Ponyville.

Division of weaponry and food resources shall be maintained by appointed diplomats from both parties.

Collective defenses shall be operated as long as a threat towards Ponyville remains in close proximity.

Operation of defenses shall be maintained in shifts by two ponies from either group.

Defensive shifts shall change at 6:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 12:00 Noon, 4:00 PM, 8:00 PM, and 12:00 Midnight.

And those were just the broad aspects of the planning. It was much crazier during the discussion, when every pony had their own theory about what the Last Survivors were up to, rather than having a plan for what we should be up to. We's return to discussions in a few more minutes, but I think we're pretty much settled, another hour or so of map reading and battlefield discussion should seal the deal.

Day 38

Keen Eyes's Log

The nerve of those ponies, coming back barking orders like they owned the place. I recognized some as the Marketplacers, or the "Marketeers," and Jade and Nurse went along with it. I haven't had time to talk about it or write since some pony thought building magical catapults would be a great idea.

I spent hours designing the ammunition for the catapults - it was a simple hollow metal casing that shattered on impact, cracking the glass vials inside and releasing whatever deadly poison was put in it - and mixing together bits of scrap to design a scale model prototype. Hay Bale's found his place in the work force as a permanent guard, armed with heavy spiked horseshoes and a reshaped pot as a helmet. He keeps watch over the wall construction, essentially doing nothing because the Last Survivors have no sign of aggression. So far Hay Day's "reconnaissance missions" report that they've been harvesting herbs and fruit from the edges of the Everfree. Clearly, they must be a force to be reckoned with.

At least all the building gives Toxin something to do so she'll shut up about the Last Survivor threat, even though it's all because of said threat. The ponies who organized these defenses, now called the Coalition of Ponyville, sent ponies with no construction skills to help build the wall, so now Nurse has her hooves full of ponies who couldn't use a nail properly. Tetanus is the main problem here, most of out nails are partially or entirely rusted. But all the medical assistance has made her the center of the Coalition, Jade Jewel and the Marketeer leader always ask for Nurse's opinion and her influence. Damn it, now she's kind of like my boss; I'm not happy with that.

What's worse is Gala Hat's making armor, Sweet Tooth and Mint Leaf are working on Poison Joke Gas, and the Marketeers sent two carpenters to "help" me design weapons; our jobs weren't meant to be like this, they've corrupted our survival with war.

The carpenters are horrible; they're working together trying to piece together a piston onto a torque bar with wood glue, and I think... one of them just broke the piston. That's it I'm kicking them out.

Day 40

Gala Hat's Log

I'm finally done with all that armor. I've spent the past three days sewing thick pads of cloth and metal wiring into the most hideous things I've ever seen. The Coalition keeps saying they want function, not form, but the guard look simply ridiculous; the Last Survivors just might die from laughter looking at them.

The barricades facing the Last Survivor Camp was finished a few hours ago, and catapults are already being hauled toward it as a "defensive measure." Two Marketeers are taking the first shift, so every pony here's resting from days of continuous work. If this is how's it's going to be with Nurse and Jade's plan, I think I've chosen my side on the matter.

Day 41

Nurse Toxin's Log of Success

The plan's working perfectly, we've reinforced the perimeter adjacent to the Last Survivors and set up defensive weaponry aimed against them. Gathering materials for the barricades really showed us the purpose of Keen's arcane work beam. I'll ask him to make as many as possible, it's made this project really easy.

He won't like the idea, he's been more complacent each day, but he'll get it done either way. I don't know what he thinks we'll do without this plan if the Last Survivors mounts an attack. He knows they outnumber us immensely, and could march on Ponyville any day now. But he still wants to be "buddies" with those crazies. It's like he didn't even pay attention to the message they sent out, the message against the Princesses and against our government. "Changelings are everywhere" they said, like an invitation to suspect every pony around you. They're here to sow chaos and confusion into what's left of Equestria.

Well, I refuse to let that happen. I've seen enough innocent lives ruined by bandits, psychos, and raiders. I'm not going to let another patient die in their hospital bed, or see a filly get left behind because she's too sick to run, or put down a crippled soldier because he's dead weight to the group. I've seen the like of the Last Survivors, and reader, they're no different from every other heartless soul in this wasteland.

Day 42

Keen Eye's Log

Sure I'll build more work beams, just as soon as I get more emeralds, more engines, more enchanted wiring, more crystal lenses, and more magnets, and more respect. Nurse thinks I was wrong to doubt the plan, but I never said we couldn't do it, just that it was the worst possible action to take.

I went out last night with Sweet Tooth to look for the parts I needed for the beams. At least, that's what I told the Coalition - Nurse, Jade, and the Marketeer commander - at their new headquarters, the town hall.

It was nice to scavenge with some pony who actually new what to look for, there was no need for simplified descriptions of parts, no rudimentary names for all the pieces. It was almost calming. But relaxation wasn't what we needed. We needed help, help from the only ponies left in Ponyville that I knew wasn't caught up in the craziness of the Last Survivors, the raiders.

They had to be in Ponyville, that much I knew. We've seen signs of them ever since we began building up the wall, but the Coalition was too busy to really take notice, so I kept watch. Somewhere in Ponyville, near the Apple Farm, there were raiders who could listen. Or kill Sweet and me. I didn't really think it through at the time, but it worked out in the end.

There was a camp of fifteen unicorns on the edge of the Apple Farm, on a hill overlooking much of the landscape. They didn't take kindly to our trespassing; I almost got my head shot off by a loose burst of magic, but there was one pony that spoke up for me. Against all odds, I had come across the very same filly I helped all those days ago.

So much had happened since that night the raiders joined us to retrieve the supply crates. So many dead, including her mother. Apparently after the we ran off with our share of the loot that night the raiders had a massive falling out. Raider factions split apart, taking what they could from other raiders.

After that, she and her mother ran off to take shelter in the barn of the Apple Farm, and they weren't the only ones. More raiders joined in at the farm, some friendly and some not so friendly. Needless to say, the fighting finally got to her mother. That's what brought the raiders together here at the edge of the farm, they all knew the filly's mother, and they all were hungry for revenge at the faction who took the barn from them.

So that was my night I guess. I got the filly's name, Lavender, and where to meet tomorrow to make our own plan for the Last Survivors and the Coalition. We're going to end this madness before it gets out of hand.

Day 42 part 2

Gala Hat's Log

Another big radio message was broadcast today from Manehattan, but it wasn't DJ who gave the message, it was Princess Luna.

Much has happened in such a short time, I know. Here in Manehattan the military, the refugees, and even my sister, has lost touch with the rest of our nation. Our battle still rages hard with the Changelings here, as it does for many cities across Equestria, but that does not mean we can forget you. No, no, we must remember you all now more than ever. Which is why I am blessed with your sweet dreams every night, I see your struggles and your hope, and I now the light of freedom still shines in the black sky of terror the Changelings have brought upon us. It is, like the moon, only a small glimmer of light, but know that it is enough. Berryshine, know that there is still plenty of fruit punch left in Equestria; Pound Cake, know that your parents have safely fled to Manehattan; Caramel, your horseshoes are under your pillow; Sweety Drops, your friends are hiding on Manefair Lane; Fluttershy, your animals live safely in the Everfree; Braeburn, Applejack's safe in Manehattan; and to the Last Survivors, I know of your dreams as well. And there's not a single Changeling who could do the same. Please, you must have faith in our nation, just as I have faith in you. I do not expect this faith to be built on thin air, no, this faith will be built on military force. Military force that will leave Manehattan in two days to finally restore order to Fillydelphia, Ponyville, Las Pegasus, Appleloosa, and every little town in between. And to the Changelings, who undoubtedly listen in on us as well, be warned: we are coming.

I'M SO HYPED!

Day 43

Nurse Toxin's Log of Total not Blackmail

I've always wondered why there was a torn out page in the journal, but it was next to Keen Eyes's log so I never looked. Well, I found a paper wedged behind Keen's desk today when I went to check on his recent work. It's titled Day 33 part 2, and I'm not sure if I should laugh or be concerned. It seems a little creepy, just a bit. I suppose now's as good of a time as any to stick it back in.

Day 33 part 2

Keen Eyes's Log

Out here in this wasteland, it's amazing what you end up feeling. I don't know why, but talking to Mint over breakfast and discussing our opinions about the Last Survivors, it really changed my perspective. I met her when I moved to Ponyville to continue my studies, and back then I really didn't think much of her. Sure, she's a brilliant botanist, but I never took an interest into botany.

But now, something about her voice, the way she's so passionate about the pony mind, is rather attractive. Okay fine it's really attractive. Also, did you know my favorite color is green? Like the green of a pine forest in a fresh winter morning. Her mane is that exact same color! It even smells like fresh herbs from working in the garden. I just don't know what t say, I mean, I wasn't the friendliest during my time in the University of Ponyville, and we don't get to talk much now that the world's done to shit. I know it's stupid to think about this despite everything's that's going on, but I just needed to get this out of my system.

Oh, the things I could do with this.

Day 44

Gala Hat's Log

It's much safer to travel in Ponyville now, at least between the buildings we secured. A watch tower was set up at city hall where Hay Bale can see the roads between our base and the Marketeers'. With the extra security in mind, i managed to walk across town to the Carousel Boutique to gather more of the materials the Keen Eyes found.

It's more amazing than I ever imagined. The variety and quality of the cloth was better than anything I've ever seen, despite months of idleness and damage from the horrors of the parasprites. After the Changelings drove away our most powerful unicorns, and the Princesses, something caused the parasprites to pop up once again. They weren't as volatile as I've heard some ponies say, apparently they nearly destroyed Ponyville once, but they're infestation across town has really done more damage than we could afford.

Outside the Boutique, was the part of Ponyville completely deserted. It looked a lot like our place, before the Coalition took action and began to clean up the area. But our efforts are just a small section, insignificant compared to the destruction that remains. I... I can even see a few corpses on the road; they look like they were drained by Changelings. They weren't just dead, they were empty husks of themselves. Cold, grey, shriveled up husks, that's what were.

Even with everything we've accomplished, every struggle our team has overcome, it's still hard to move on. My friends have changed so much, like extreme versions of themselves, arguing and taking sides like enemies. Toxin would always stress the importance of liberty, now she commands the group as head of the Coalition. Jade, she was a sales pony at a jewelry store when I first met her, and though she still has that charm in her eyes, she uses it for control instead of sales. Keen and I were the quiet ones, and I always felt connected to him, until a Changeling killed his professor before his very eyes. Since then he's been ready to jump into a situation to help, putting his friends before himself. It's an excellent trait, I know, but I can't help but miss the days where we'd just read in the castle library.

Quiet, like how it is in the Boutique. I feel safe here, surrounded familiar sights of cloth and sequins, I think I'll spend some time here, free from the worries of the Coalition.

Day 47

Keen Eyes's Log

I guess Gala Hat really likes the journal, because she took it with her to the Boutique for three days without telling any pony. So much has happened I might need two pages for this entry. Seriously, where do I even start?

Lets begin with the raiders. Yeah, that seems like good spot. Lavender convinced her raider friends to meet up at the Sugar Cube Corner this evening. It's blocked off from our section of town so no pony from the Coalition or the Marketeers could follow us. Us, meaning me, Mint Leaf, Hammer Hoof, and Sweet Tooth.

There were eight raiders total waiting for us as the sun began to set, each of them carried weapons from a loot crate form Manehattan. I had almost forgotten about the weapon crates. Us "Residents" finished our food from the crates long ago, but luckily we expanded the garden into a small farm, sustaining us well enough, and anything we couldn't grow Hay Day just scavenged from places across town. But we had no weapons, which is why the raiders are so important.

It took us about an hour to go over the plan of attack, and then we moved out in the cover of night. With no pegasi, we were at a disadvantage, but we managed to bypass the two wall guards anyways. The wall guards, surprisingly, were the Hay brothers. I would expect those two to be tired after their day time duties - Hay Day patrolling our skies and Hay Bale up in the watch tower - but they seemed alert as ever. It didn't matter, the raiders, Lavender included, managed to sneak along the front of the barricade undetected, and waited for the signal with their spears at the ready. Me and Hammer were the decoys: we told the Hay Brothers we had to fix a section of the wall or else it would grow unstable. Really, we were marking the weak spots of the wall by tapping hammers on them, directing the raiders to the right position.

Sweet Tooth and Mint Leaf had the fun part, taking out the Hay brothers. We didn't kill them, no, we just put them to sleep. Sweet Tooth developed a sleeping gas from the weird fumes she makes in the garage-laboratory, and Mint, for whatever reason, grew a large amount of a power narcotic. Both worked perfect on the Hay brothers, and they were out cold for the night (and probably the next day too).

With the brothers down and all the weak spots spotted, we signaled the raiders to begin penetrating the barricade with their spears, tearing through the flimsy support beams and wooden panels. I helped with some magic, ripping open new weaknesses with telekinesis. By midnight the deed was done, and Ponyville was once again linked to the rest of the nation. But that was just the first day.

The next morning all hell broke loose with Nurse Toxin. As head of the Coalition, she rounded up every pony, us and the Marketeers, and demanded who sabotaged the wall. The Hay brothers stood guard with crude maces, probably looking for whoever jumped them last night. Good thing Sweet and Mint thought to sneak up behind those two, I didn't want my friends to get caught for what I was about to do.

In the middle of her rant about the "dangers" of the outside, I called out Nurse for sabotaging the group. Oh boy, she had lots to say to me, but I didn't let her; it was my turn to talk. I had to get every pony to see the error of what we've done, wasting our time building walls and making weapons. All of which, was useless, because a small group broke it down in one night. I showed them what the rest of our beloved town looked like, turning their attention to houses just at the end of the street, broken down and crumbled. We had spent our time tearing apart what we should have been building up, and we took that rubble, turned in into a pile of scrap, and called it a "great success."

Food, another thing on ponies minds, was the next problem. We had enough to eat, true, but only because of a lucky harvest and careful rations. The primitive wall did nothing to expand sections of the town into gardens and farms, where earth ponies could turn up crops like magic. Sweet Tooth had spent weeks developing on fertilizer, and we were brushing her work aside like garbage while we worked with the shattered remains of our city. Even salvaging food stuff was still an option in the days that had passed, I told them. With the Coalition's coordination, salvage squads could have explored the other half of Pony that we had left untouched due to unstable ruins and Changelings. This got some ponies talking; they began to complain about their rations and work, but not many were on board. Just a few Marketeers and Copper Tail. I should have know food would grab his attention. I'm not saying he's fat or anything, it's just... yeah he's fat.

I could have gone on, but a Marketeer pegasus spotted something nearing our place of meeting, and if you haven't guessed it yet, it was the Last Survivors. All fifty-something of them. Some Marketeers fled back to their base, while Copper Tail, Mint, and Jade Jewel retreated to our house. The Hay brothers stood ready, guarding Nurse and the Marketeer leader. Sweet Tooth stood at the front, looking at the gear the Last Survivors wore; essentially crude plate armor, but Sweet has a lot more details. Hammer Hoof and I stood with the rest of the Marketeers in anticipation, half ready to talk, half ready to run, and half ready to fight. Wait that doesn't - never mind.

Apparently they didn't like the last message from Manehattan, that much was clear. The pony who I could only assume was their leader marched in like he was the lord of the land and asked that we join him against the next inevitable wave of the Changeling invasion. For once, in a long time, Nurse and I agree on something, because we both called them dumb asses when he referred to the military reinforcement as disguised Changelings. It was a bold move, there was fifty or so of them, but only sixteen of us (10 Marketeers and six of us residents since Gala Hat was still gone at this time).

Soon we were surrounded by pegasi armed with storm clouds from the Everfree. Lighting surged from those clouds like crazy, but somehow the Last Survivors learned how to maintain even those freakish things. I realized Sweet Tooth wasn't crazy to be focusing on their stuff, some of it was very high tech. Their infantry (warriors, fighters, soldiers, whatever you want to call them) was armed with brass spears that had lines of crystal conduits running through them. I recognized it as a friend's work from my days as a student. Those crystals channeled the magic from unicorns to deliver an explosive hit, while the brass component of the spear spaced out the crystals to increase the maximum energy storage. I couldn't remember the exact equation for magic per square centimeter of surface area, but it was a lot.

We really had no choice but to listen to them. They weren't the immediate threat the Nurse thought they were, but every pony knew that if we pushed them they might turn into it, so I asked Nurse to just let me do the talking. I approached them as a friend, complimenting their amazing equipment and outstanding numbers, and apologized for the outburst. I made some small talk with the leader, pegasus by the name of Fang. Probably not his real name, but that was all he gave me. I had him explain why we were threatened by the military forces sent to help us while struggling to contain a mix of laughter and disagreement.

Each and every one of the Last Survivors were confident that Manehattan had become Changeling base set up to fool last surviving ponies of Equestria, their reason being that they never hear from any pony who makes it to Manehattan in search of safety. They called it a trap for desperate souls, and intended to lay waste to it, thus their formidable armed forces. This, I knew, was impossible. The princesses were alicorns, gifted with powers beyond that of ordinary ponies. Luna could even see and visit dreams, though I'm glad she's never popped into one of mine, not that my dreams are weird in any way... please don't tell Mint Leaf I dream about her.

Anyways, I gave the Last Survivors the only answer I could at that moment: I agreed tot heir terms. I wasn't going to follow through with it, but I just needed to buy Ponyville more time, so I told him that I too had suspicions of what lied beyond Ponyville, and that we'd love to join their herd. We just needed a few days to gather our materials. Fang happily agreed, and said he'd send some pegasi tomorrow to assist with the mobilization of our resources.

By the time he returned to his camp to prepare to "assimilate" us into the Last Survivors, it was noon. That gave me roughly half a day a night to coordinate an escape. And as expected, Nurse disagreed with my plans. I wanted to flee to Canterlot, its mountain position made it easily defensible, and it was no longer a target region of the Last Survivors. Nurse Toxin said we should seek safety in Manehattan and actually do something to help with the war. Once again, we were split. Five of the twelve Marketeers followed me, and so did Copper Tail, Hammer Hoof, Sweet Tooth, and Mint Leaf. Jade refused to leave Nurse Toxin's side and the Hay brothers pretty much owed their lives to Nurse for treating them. I made a mental note to find Gala Hat later and get her on our side too.

So what could have been an effective evacuation turned into a rush as every pony took as much as they could for either side. It became clear to the the others that the Coalition was splitting up, and they all wanted as much for their side as possible. The Marketeers turned on each other so quick, it was hard to see them as one big family only hours before. But that's life , I suppose. Among the rushing madness I tried to reason with Nurse, as did she, but we could not find any common ground. Her plan was good in theory, but Manehattan was a long way from Ponyville, and we'd be on the same path as the Last Survivors. Canterlot was closer and had already been passed by the Last Survivors. They were clearly on a mission to Manehattan, so there was no reason for them to return to Canterlot. Toxin thought the Last Survivors would have cleared out anything left in Canterlot. We were rushed by our groups in our argument, and it slipped my mind to remind her of our farms and fertilizer formula. But it was too late, I couldn't get a hold of Nurse again, so I coordinated the resource salvation with my group.

Seeds, blueprints, food, and scrap. The essentials to rebuild a society was all we needed to take to Canterlot. Our blueprints, including recipes for fertilizer and pesticides, could help create farms that would make scavenging scraps obsolete, and Mint Leaf's garden had plenty of grape seeds, apple seeds, and carrot seeds. Oh yeah, potatoes too, but I wouldn't mind leaving those behind. Yuck, I can't stand those things. Luckily, the garden was untouched by the Nurse's merry band of misfits, and Sweet Tooth kept her research locked up in the garage. My stuff was instantly stolen by the carpenters that "helped" me during the wall building, however I had every detail I needed in my mind, it was just all the parts I had accrued that irritated me the most.

But as I write this out, I think it was the need for machine parts that helped me find Gala Hat. She was scribbling out sketches for black and white dresses in the Carousel Boutique when shit hit the fan. That's where I thought to look for the machine parts I needed to find before we left for Canterlot. There were many sewing machines I left in there after all, far too many to carry that day I found the beautiful place.

It was hard to explain things to Gala Hat, she was really torn between me and Toxin; I still have tear stains on my armor. First I told her about what happened at the wall, and that upset her. She freaked out over the Last Survivors, and nearly few strait out of the Boutique to check on every pony. It took a while to calm her down, but it didn't last long once I told her that Nurse decided to take her followers to Manehattan while we planned to escape to Canterlot. By then, she broke down completely. Night was falling on us however, and the buzzing of Changelings signaled that they had taken notice of our sudden commotion, and that was a big problem. Marching to the Boutique was easy with no threats, but this night it was surrounded by untamed ruins, and the problem of the previous days were nothing compared to this colossal task.

Day 47 part 2

Keen Eyes's Log

(I ran out of ink, and since I stopped I figure I should just split up this entry). My first priority was getting Gala Hat to come with us. I knew she was going through some pretty rough emotions, out of the three of us Gala was the most emotional, even in our early days in Fillydelphia University. She used to have this scrapbook of all the crazy shit we'd do. I think the best was the picture we took to remember the first (and only) Mile High party we went to. Mile High was a club of pretentious pegagus pricks who thought they were the "master race." They threw the best parties though, and we got in only because Gala Hat was a pegasus. In fact, it was so crazy Nurse Toxin actually had a photo of her - no, wait, this is off topic.

Where was I, oh yeah; after I talked to Gala Hat for about fifteen minutes she finally had it in her to get up and join us in our journey to Canterlot. Every pony had taken apart the remaining sewing machines for their scrap, except the one I fixed up for Gala, she kept that that in her saddle bag. We rolled up think dark fabrics to take along as well, but we couldn't take much or we would have been slowed down, and the whole group agreed we had to get away from the Changelings with haste.

We sneaked past squads of Changelings headed for the house and the marketplace, hunting down Nurse's group, and even though I didn't agree with her judgement, I feared for her just as Gala did. But given her recent paranoia, I was sure, and I am still sure, that she wouldn't let the night catch her off guard. Besides, the majority of the Marketeers stuck with her, and they're a real bunch of hard asses. The Changelings didn't have an easy night, that's for sure.

But neither did we. As we trekked through the narrow alleys of Ponyville in single file, we had to duck and swerve past dozens of Changelings and avoid broken glass and falling bricks. Wild animals roamed in the remains of buildings as well, including one timber we found in a logging shop of all places. How we managed to escape it, I'm not quite sure, but with more luck than any pony should deserve, we escaped it through an alley too narrow for its bulky wooden body.

Our steady pace and fearful steps continued on until the moon hung right over our heads. We had reached the very edges of Ponyville, and our right was Canterlot, looming from the mountain side. To the left, was a fire fight between two familiar sides. Changelings and unicorn raiders. In the fray and melee of the whole thing, I spotted a small figure blasting her way across the field; Lavender was a fierce little filly, fighting like a bat out of hell (whatever that means). Despite our urgency, I couldn't just leave the raiders alone, they were very violent, yet very outnumbered by the Changelings.

Gala Hat was the first to agree to help them, then Mint. The Marketeer twins Lotus and Lilac followed my lead and soon so did every pony else. We joined in the fight on the field outside of Ponyville. It was only later I found out thy planned to run away as well, but Chagelings caught up to them at that spot.

We watched each other's back as we charged in, Lilac, Lotus, and Gala Hat dropping in from above smashing rocks onto the Changelings. White Hoof, a unicorn Marketeer, was a sharp shooter with his telekinesis. From afar he pelted screws and bolts at the Changelings, scoring amazing trick shots by bouncing his shots between targets. Sweet Tooth and Red Diamond, an earth pony Marketeer, ran into the battle with sticks, effectively clobbering a hefty number of Changelings while Hammer Hoof, Gum Drop (another earth pony Marketeer), and I finished them off with a few blasts of magic. I'm not sure where Mint Leaf was but her narcotic plant seemed to work on Changelings just as well as ponies, as many simply dropped to the ground with no warning and stayed asleep throughout the night.

It took an hour before the Changelings decided to cut their losses and flee while they could, but the damage was done to us. Lavender's raider team had been decimated, only two unicorn stallions remained with her after that night. Two. That's all that remained of the only thing she had left of a family. She was born and raised as a raider, but, under those circumstances the three of them deserved a little cry after the battle. Just a little one was all they could afford, sadly, for Ponyville was still an inferno from hell and we were much too close to be safe. One raider, Crush, carried Lavender as she wept and simply started following us, without a word. The other one, Triple B was his name (Triple Bee?), he managed to cough out a "thanks" as we trotted away from Ponyville, but the despair was strong in his eyes too. They had all just lost everything in their life.

I don't know why they chose to follow us, and I still don't. But that was just last night, and they haven't completely shaken off their emotions. We hit the base of the mountain of Canterlot this morning after spending all of Day 46 taking a long route to Canterlot. It was a hiking trail that winded and stretched far from the dangers of the main road, but it also took much longer. It was just a few nights ago the raiders helped me take out the barrier between us and the Last Survivors. Nurse was right to fear them, I just didn't see it. It wasn't that they were delusional, or that they wanted us to join them, but it was what they could do to our group that I should have feared.

When I boil down the source of it all, I find myself. So much death, so much loss, I just couldn't keep my damn mouth shut and my head down. I had to start something, and it backfired, yet I didn't pay the fucking price, Lavender did! Of all the ponies, why'd it have to be her? A filly like that, her mother killed by raiders who just couldn't get along, her friends drained to the bone by Changelings who didn't need to be out that night. And here I am, taking down my thoughts in a pile of paper like some kind of fantasy story that some pony might ready at some point, some where. It's stupid, and I'm stupid.

But at least the Changelings got what was coming for them. Once we made it to the gates of Canterlot in the afternoon, we all witnessed the lightning blasts from a Wonderbolt airstrike blow a whole strait into Ponyville, AKA Changeling central. Even now it's a hard thing to swallow, but I could never expect the Wonderbolts to just give up a chance to stop so many Changelings. It was all gone anyways; the shops, the schools, that tree castle thing, it was all lost to the Changelings anyways. But hopefully it was just the Changelings. I used a glass lens from the Carousel Boutique to zoom in on the aftermath; wood and stone scattered across the dirt with bodies charred and broken, probably all Changelings. Hopefully.

And so here we are, Journal, your longest entry. I finish off by letting you know we've camped in some rich stallion's mansion just down the street from Canterlot Castle. The food's good, preserved by some kind of spell or potion. No sign of heavy movement on the streets of houses; the Last Survivors didn't even set a single hoof in here, let alone raid it. I wish I could tell Toxin "I told you so," but now I don't have any pony to say it to.