16th June 156
Things have been slow going. Only having one pony skilled in masonry and stone work is leaving our construction rate at a crawl. Myself and Ryo have provided enough stone, but Buckpepper insists on making them into bricks before using them. Honestly, I can't argue, the few 'roads' we made with just the mined stone are a mess. With only the one pony trying to both make bricks and build with them has limited the amount of progress we've been making. And the constant rain is starting to become a drag. Ryo tried helping out in the workshop, but... the less said the better, really.

I thought long and hard about it, but I came to a decision. We'll move into the caves. There was some grumbling at the idea, but when I pointed out that we can have homes and workshops carved out in a few days they soon quieted, especially at the prospect of having a roof over head.

28th June 156
Me and Ryo have just finished carving the remaining rooms for now. We'll expand as we need. Using the stone that was originally going to be walls, Buckpepper has replaced the rough dirt floors with actual paved slabs. Makes the whole place a lot nicer. Can almost imagine us just living in a large fortress of some kind.

Our food has been keeping steady, Potato Ponie has managed to gather a decent supply of vegatable and, between mining session, Ryo has managed to fish. A lot. I'll be honest, I've never considered fish before, but it's nice to have a back up. She actually came to inform me on a few occassions that she had fished out several of the ponds already. I'm just glad there's a river then.

Dark Matter has been keeping me upto date with our stocks and valuables. Seems a day doesn't go by where I don't get another sheet with numbers that hardly move. My fault, I suppose, asking for as up to date records as possible. It's a mess at the moment, but I'm sure I'll be thankful for it all later.

13th July 156
Seems everypony has gotten used to the whole "living underground" thing now. I imagine giving everypony their own room and work area likely helped. I can't help but wonder how much progress would've been made had we remained outside. Likely still in half constructed rooms with no roof while we sleep in a small dank room hastily carved in the cave.

I actually had Schwambart approach me today, claiming he saw some more ponies heading in our direction while he was out chopping some more wood. I thanked him before making my way to the entrance to what had now become our home. Took a couple hours before the first pony came into sight, but sure enough, there were more ponies here to join us.



The leader, a unicorn mare by the name of Rampart, said word had spread that Princess Celestia had arranged for a hospitable settlement out here. She mentioned that it was about time someone settled here, since there was nothing around for miles. I had to correct her, informing her it was a major trade route. She looked dubious, but who would doubt the Princess' word.

After the rest arrived, I tried to keep an air of cool professionalism while I asked a couple of the adults to speak in private. They had arrived with four "foals". Explanations were due. One of them walked on two legs and their front legs ended in some odd appendage with five wiggling digits. I was told she had been cursed by the god of blood. Also, apparently there's a god of blood now. I was assured that she was friendly as any other foal, and the strange appendages were called hands and almost as useful as unicorn magic for handling things.

This lead onto the second issue. One of the foals seemed to have a carapace like the changelings, only... it's hard to describe, but it appeared to be more vicious. I was told there's others like her, touched by something called the "Dark Voice", but not nearly as friendly and that I should take precautions should the feral one arrive. I asked why she was different, they said she kept her sense of self and free will. Lovely.

Turns out they've been living in the wilds for a while, the children not welcome anywhere and the adults unwilling to leave them. I had my own doubts about it, honestly, but they haven't attacked anypony yet and we could always use the extra help. I welcomed them in and introduced them to the others. The two foals drew the most attention, though a lot was curiousity when they showed no ill intentions.

The foal touched by the Dark Voice seemed like she was made purely for the purposes of fighting. If that's anything to go by, I should look into some kind of fortifications. And army of them would pose many issues if they're hostile to ponies. I'm suddenly very glad we moved into the caves. Makes this easier I guess. No where to run though... thoughts for another time, but my concerns are starting to mount.

21st August 156
I was in the process of setting up my forge so I can begin production of metal works (there were some complaints that I got such a big work area, but I welcomed any input into shrinking the required space. Shockingly, there wasn't any), when a resounding crash echoed throughout our home. Upon investigating, turns out that some ponies weren't so bright when I asked them to deconstruct the beginnings of the earlier town to reclaim the building materials. I found Dark Matter unconcious on the ground floor with the ponies nearby saying he removed the floor supporting where he stood. I asked someone to drag his sorry ass to the earlier communal dormitary and now make-shift hospital. I was tole he doesn't seem hurt, thankfully, and I'm hoping he learnt a lesson in gravity today.

And, as though that wasn't bad enough, Buckpepper and Schwambart managed to strand themselves on top of a wall. I'm still not sure how they got up there, considering I never ordered stairs to be built there, but there they were. Apparently dehydrated and starving too. I'm beginning to wonder if Celestia grouped me up with a bunch of idiots. I quickly saw to it that a ramp was installed on both wall to get them down and ceased the deconstruction of the town. I don't want to have to stand around, micromanaging every little thing.

Upon checking in on the three bumbling idiots, Dark Matter was up and about again, as though nothing was wrong, while Schwambart and Buckpepper practically locked themselves in the food and drink store house. Apparently they couldn't spare the few moments it would need to take them to their own quarters.

1st September 156
Thankfully, nothing else major has occured. Everyone seems to be settling in. Still need to arrange homes for our recent migrants, but they just seem happy to have a place to call home. My forge is running again and I hope to start more familiar work soon. I was growing tired of all this mining, though I fear I will still have much to do until somepony else can pick up where I left off. ((Seriously. Ironfire has reached Legendary+5 Mining already. Ryo needs to pick up some slack...)) Ryo seemed to know some forge work and has started helping to prepare the metals into a state I can actually use. I need somethign to defend thsi place with. That talk of the Dark Voice with the migrants has me worried.

Potato Ponie has started getting some farms ready. He said he's having trouble finding suitable land as there's a lot of patches where the dirt was thin and has worn down to the stone beneath. He suggested some of our crops might actually prefer a farm below the earth. It was an interesting idea, so I told him I'd look into making a room for him to use, which cheered him up some.

Ryo, evidently trying to do as much as possible to get her cutie mark, has begun working in our latest addition, a kitchen, turning the plants Potato has been gathering into actual meals. Moral seems to be up, so I guess most ponies approve of this. Or they're just happy for a change. I also saw to a still being constructed, so that may be factoring into things some what.

Schwambart has begun carving some basic rock and wooden crafts. I asked him about this, said Dark Matter suggested something to trade with for when the trade caravans start arriving. Not a bad idea, so I let him continue.

Things are starting to pick up now. My decision to move underground has already begun to pay off, increasing the speed at which we can set up workshops and housing greatly. I hope to get work started on an actual housing district of some kind. So far, most of us have been living above where we work, but if more migrants arrive, it wouldn't hurt to have somewhere prepared to let them settle in right away.





((Also, feel free to post in here if you want to ask questions or share ideas. There's a reason it's not locked))

((Current Skill Rankings. I'll put these as a link as I fear one of them is rather a bit long and may cause issues))

20th December 156
OH DEAR CELESTIA. Hearth's Warming is just around the corner and I've done nothing for it. The only saving grace is that nopony else seems to have remembered. Guess they're still trying to get things all running smoothly and settled in, and I can't really blame them.



In other news, I had Brash approach me today. Apparently, she wants to start helping, or contributing in some way to the settlement. Apparently has an interest in metal work like myself as well as engineering. I let her know I'd set up some space for her to work as well as stern words to stay out of my forge. My forge.

21st December 156
Not much to report, but the merchants finally decided to leave. After my questions, their leader took it upon himself to entrust with me a book. After a brief look, it's full of some rather dark stuff. I think he was hoping I'd produce some of it to trade for next time. I'm really unsure, but I locked the book away as opposed to burning it. Maybe there's something that doesn't scream taboo in there.

9th January 156 157
Well. Myself, and everypony else, not only missed Hearth's Warming, but also new years. I'm making a note here to remember to do something next year.

Another of the foals feels ready to start work now too. Having grown tired of mining, I've decided to pass on my pick so I can focus more on my forge work. And running the place. Can't forget that...

It's taking a lot longer to furnish the new bedrooms than I had originally hoped. Things are just in chaos as far as building new things like beds and cabinets go. Dark Matter has assured me he'll soo to things running much more smoothly with his office ready now.

With the old communal dorm and dining area no longer needed, I ordered the furniture to be hauled down stairs (to a fair amount of grumbling, it must be said). I had the two rooms joined and expanded. Let's see just what Potato Ponie had in mind when he mentioned the underground plants... It must be said, he was rather happy to have his own work area for once.

9th February 157
Another uneventful month. Though Potato Ponie has been pestering me to get a decent above ground farming field ready for him. It's not made easy with all the sandstone in the ground. I'm sure I'll figure something out. At this point, I'm just tempted to ask the miners to dig a damn skylight.



In other, more concerning news, one of the young foals has begun speaking some unintelligible gibberish, hardly making sense, speaking about bones and stone before promptly claiming a Craftpony's workshop. Specifically Schwambart's workshop. He wasn't even using it at the moment and is acting as though this ruins all his plans. Starting to think he's along just to annoy me at this point.

A few of the migrants said that the foal is under some kind of possession. Mostly harmless. As long as we provide what they're asking for. Apparently, I was told that if we lack the resources, we'd better have a strong door. Like I said, concerning... I'm hoping we have what the foal wants. Celestia help us if we don't.

((Fun fact, we don't. Plants and fish don't give bones))

12th February 157
((I should mention that the "home civilization" is Heropantomime, which I will refer to as Canterlot because the odds of creating a world with a civ actually called Canterlot is rediculously low))

It's only taken the better part of a year, but it would seem Celestia hasn't forgotten us. She's sent us a trade caravan and a liaison. Should be fun when they see the odd ponies. Unfortunately, Schwambart hasn't had time to make anymore crafts for trade, and the loss of his workshop isn't speeding that along. I've had to move some of my metal bars to trade and a few of the gems that Dark Matter cut. Let's see if there's anything worth while.

15th February 157
That was more awkward than it needed to be. The liaison was chasing down Schwambart, apparently his paper work named Schwambart as the leader and he refused to listen to any statements to the contrary. It's not going to do me any favours with the demands Schwambart makes with what he feels entitled too, but at this point, I just wanted to sort things out with the liaison. He took notes and my requests for certain supplies, after relaying them through Schwambart before letting me know of things that they themselves would offer us good prices on next time.

16th February 157
So, apparently, we may need another trade depot. We got our second trade caravan this month. A group of rainbow ponies, apparently. I'm actually curious as to if the Canterlot caravan will make room or if I DO need to sort out a second trade depot. I'm trying to organise one just as a precaution.

17th February 157
Okay, even I'm confused now. Hardly a day has passed and we've gotten another trade caravan. Crystal ponies this time. At least it's a group of ponies I'm familiar with. I'm thinking a complete redesign may be needed for next year if their going to all come at once like this. An entire trade centre.


((Seriously. Three caravans in one week. The default game is lucky to get that many a year. I'm actually wondering how this will work, never heard of more than one caravan arriving at once))

1st March 157
If memory serves correct, I do believe this marks the 1 year anniversary since we first moved here. I'm sure we'd be doing something except we're so busy with the sudden large influx of visitors that we're just simply too distracted. I'm actually scribbling this note down between talks with traders (good news, they have bones. I can only hope it'll satisfy the possessed foal). Anyways. Here's to another great year.