Brimstone

Ash jumped into the air as a painful high pitched noise filled his ears. A steam whistle signaled that the day of labor for the miners had come to an end. Shortly after the whistle ceased its sound, the ground rumbled as various elevators and mine carts brought the blackened ponies from the dark pit.

Everypony that was emerging from the mine had a rock hammer similar to Ash’s saddled to their sides, blue crystals attached to a necklace, and hard hats that were embedded with glowstones on the front that lit a path in front of them. Aside from those three objects, the gear was varied. Larger stallions carried heavy equipment, including jackhammers, oversized power drills, and buzz saws. Smaller ponies carried bags filled with maintenance tools. Their clothing was completely covered in oil, grease, and black soot. Despite the amount of punishment they had received, they remained in a relatively good condition. But all of them, even with their varied sizes and gear, wore the same expression: pain, exhaustion, and a massive desire for fresh air.

As Ash continued to look towards the massive horde of miners, several looked back. At first, they looked at him as if he was some kind of strange animal. Their looks quickly changed from curiosity to looks of disgust and hatred, as if they saw Ash as a beast from the Everfree Forest that needed to be put down. Some just kept staring at him with looks of anger or disgust while continuing to their destination and others just spat on the ground as they walked away.

As they went farther from the entrance to the mine, some groups split off and went to a building that housed the changing rooms and showers while others went towards the board house. Ash decided that it was best to head to his room and set up since it wasn’t the best idea to try and start up a conversation with ponies that were probably in some kind of pain. He quickly went into the boarding house while avoiding as much eye contact as possible. He climbed up the stairs, which creaked with every step he took. Eventually, after reaching the third floor, he found his room number.

He opened the door and was greeted with a wave of dust. The room was completely made of wood, except for the window which was so fogged up that the outside could not be seen clearly. Inside was a mattress on a wooden frame and a foot locker.

“I really hope there isn’t a specific reason why this room has been unoccupied for such a length of time,” Ash thought to himself, “Good thing I don’t have a dust allergy.”

“Hey, glow horn!” yelled a rocky voice from right behind Ash.

“Would you mind keeping it down? And what’s with the name?” replied Ash.

“Awww, is the pampered prince afraid of a bit of noise? Do I need to stock up on some gel to keep your mane slicked back?” The dark blue stallion said in a whimpering voice. He then brought his face close to Ash’s. “I’m assuming that you are here to work. Let me give you a fair warning you spoiled brat. I can smell Canterlot all over you and it is not a scent you want to have. If I see that stick of bone jutting out of your forehead glow at all, you will have a complimentary surgical removal via diamond covered saw blade. You got that?”

Ash attempted to look tough, but the miner pony was completely unfazed. Seeing this, he decided it was best to avoid as much conflict as possible.

“Yes sir,” Ash responded in a monotone voice. “I promise not to get in your way.”

The burly colt gave a grunt, and walked away. Ash shook his head and unpacked his stuff. Several minutes later, he had his room completely set up. Just as he was about to collapse onto his bed, he heard another voice. This one was much calmer than the last one, but still had a gruff tone.

“You the new guy?” said the new pony that was standing in the doorway.

He was a tall colt with a more slender build compared to the other miners, but he still had quite a bit of muscle that showed the toil of his work. His coat was a light brown with a very short mane and tail that were both black. His cutie mark was a helmet and pencil. His coat was damp, suggesting that he recently showered. Despite that, there were still faint oil stains on various parts of his body.

“Yes, I am,” Ash responded in an annoyed tone, “I’ve already been called ‘glow horn’ several times so if you’re going to insult me, at least come up with something fresh.”

“You better watch your smartass mouth, unicorn,” The miner pony responded with a firm, but calmer attitude compared to the others, “Ah’m your only hope for you getting out of here alive. I was sent by the boss to get you. He’s going to explain what goes on around here. I can tell you already made a couple of enemies, but they will be the least of your problems if you mess something up down in the mine.”

Ash nodded and followed the miner outside.

“I take it by looking at your cutie mark that you are the foreman?” asked Ash.

“Yes. My name is Flowsheet. You will be reporting to me during your work.”

“I see.” Ash decided to not ask any more questions so he doesn’t get on his superior’s bad side. They head outside and walk towards Quicksilver’s office. Quicksilver was leaning on the deck as they approached.

“Well hiya Ash!” Quicksilver said in an excited voice. “Did ya get your living quarters squared away?”

“Yes sir,” Ash responded. “I am ready to get to work.”

“Excellent! Let’s walk into my office and I’ll give you the rundown on the operations of the mine. I hope you don’t mind some storytelling!” Quicksilver turned to Flowsheet. “You may leave us, Flowsheet. I’ll call you when he is ready to go.”

The tall colt gave a simple nod and walked away. Quicksilver motioned Ash to follow him into his office.

“Let’s step inside and have a drink, son,” said Quicksilver.

“Okay. May I ask you a question?” asked Ash.

“Go right ahead. What’s on your mind?” responded Quicksilver.

“It seems like the ponies here do not like me because I'm a unicorn from Canterlot. Is it because of the curse?”

“Yes, the workers believe that the mine was cursed by a witch. She is believed to live in an area over yonder in an area called The Glow.” As Quicksilver continued talking, he pointed his hoof towards a heavily wooded area east of the town.

“The Glow?” Ash asked in a tone of disbelief.

“Yes,” Quicksilver looked towards the forest as rain fell. “They won’t admit it, but there is something in the forest that’s scaring them.” He turned to Ash, his face looking much more serious than before. “There are things in these mountains that are more dangerous to the miner than animals, bad weather, and even cave ins. The things we worry about the most are the Supernaturals.”

“Who are the ‘Supernaturals’?” Ash asked.

“The Supernaturals are creatures that miners deal with on a daily basis,” Quicksilver explained. “There are different types of creatures. The ones we run into the most are the Knockers. They are small gremlins that also mine for materials, like us. If you are alone in a shaft and you hear knocking, that’s them. They are peaceful as long as you leave them alone. But if you mess with them, they will make your life miserable and maybe even end it.”

Ash nodded, not wanting to offend his boss by disagreeing with the veracity of his ridiculous folk tales.

“Another type is the Wisp. In a nutshell, they are ghosts of past miners that lost their lives that come back to continue their work. No one knows why they would come back, but it happens.”

“Okay, how do I deal with them?” Ash asked.

“They only come out when the day is over. Occasionally our inspectors will see them, but they always let them be.” responded Quicksilver.

“I see,” Ash said while hiding his unconvinced tone. “So, tell me about The Glow.”

“The Glow is where the witch’s hut is located. If you walk towards the edge of the mine, you can point out a faint green glow coming from the woods. We’ve sent scouting parties to check it out, but none have returned. That, along with the recent accidents, have caused us to believe that a witch lives there and she wants us gone.”

“Have you sent a messenger to Princess Celestia to send some guards over there?” Ash asked.

“The workers don’t trust any being that has the ability to manipulate magic. They think that they will bring a curse to the mine as well as the witch.”

Ash could not take any more of what he was hearing. He slammed his hooves on the desk and shouted, “Unicorns putting curses on ponies!? First of all, putting a curse on somepony or something is not an easy feat. It requires a lot of skill and years of practice. Second, curses are products of dark magic, which is forbidden except for research purposes. If you are caught performing dark magic, you could get sent to prison for life!”

Quicksilver put his hooves in the air as if he was trying to block rocks being thrown at him. “Trust me son, I don’t agree with them either. I’m sure you’re a great kid, but you have to understand that the folks around here are very superstitious. They don’t like having mares around the mine because they believe it’s bad luck. The fact that they lost many of their brothers in a mining accident that shouldn’t have happened isn’t helping either.”

Ash’s face went closer to Quicksilver’s.

“Folk tales, superstitions, what’s next? Do they believe that the unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi still live in three different kingdoms too?”

Quicksilver sighed, “I was afraid of this when I saw that you were a student from the academy. Our two worlds coexist just as well as oil and water.”

Ash responded, “I’m here because I needed a job and there were not any available from Los Pegasus to Manehattan.” He sat back down. “I apologize for my outburst. I just thought that attacking a pony just because of their race was a thing of the past.”

“It’s not necessarily because of your race, it’s more of your abilities. There is a bit more to the story, but I’m sure your coworkers will give you hell about it.” Quiksilver opened a drawer and pulled out a notepad. “Here, this is a manual of operations for the mine. Know it like the Moh’s hardness scale or Bowen’s reaction series.”

“Will do,” Ash said as he put the notebook in his jacket pocket. “I guess I better get some rest. Got a busy day tomorrow.

“Indeed you do,” responded Quicksilver. “Stick with Flowsheet for a bit. He’ll show you the ropes and he’ll keep the workers off of ya.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ash got up and walked towards the door. “I’ll see you later.”

“Take care.” responded Quicksilver as he took out a bottle of cider. As soon as Ash walked out of the door, he took a long drink from the bottle, then talked to himself.

“Watch your flank out there, son.”