Techno Blue's Travels

Brick Beak and I were off to the train station, I was going to make a withdrawal from my mine, one I knew Rocky would hate. But for my plans to work he would have to suffer. I figured I would have to actually do some work about the mine while I was there, there was always an issue there on every trip.

When we reached the station I ordered the required tickets for the rides there, back and to Cloudsdale; all in 1st-class except my return trip. I wasn’t choosey on these things, it only mattered to me if I got to destination.

We hoped on the train and many ponies were staring, not at my missing horn but at Brick Beak. Brick Beak had never been in first class, I didn’t care either way as long as no colt was kicking my seat I was happy. First class differed from economy with cushioned seating and the food was almost edible.

The train departed, the whistle blowing, smoke shooting out the front. I was sitting backwards to the direction of the train with Brick Beak going forwards. She had her professional grin on her face, I think she was enjoying the special treatment. She was the only Griffin on the train and all the other first class ponies were giving her a wide birth, only now were some of them staring at my forehead and the word ‘Freak’ kept coming back to me. I needed to distract myself, I had my head resting on my hoof and I asked “Why is everypony afraid of you?”

“Griffins are usually known for their physical might, proud nature and quick to anger attitudes…that and the fact we are carnivores” she replied.

“So why don’t you attack and eat us? It’s not like we can match your strength.”

“I am a special case when it comes to my strength, and no I won’t go into detail on that. We don’t eat you for several reasons. One; You are not our type of food, two; We don’t like eating food that pleads for their lives it gives us…” there was a serious pause as she looked for the right words “…moral digestion problems and three; Your princesses and bearers of the elements are a formidable lot. The Griffin Democracy has no interest in war or at least not with Equestria.”

“Griffin Democracy?” I wondered.

“Don’t think of it as a voting system or any form of a democracy. It’s more like a ‘Free for all’ dictatorship. Griffins’ line up for what section of the government they want to be in charge of and then fight it out in an arena every three years. The winner gets the job, so the strongest usually aim for the position of president.”

I thought about what she said then and before about not wanting to talk about her strength. She looked at me and realised it too. “We are NOT talking about it.”

“Ok, ok. How long does it take to get to the Land of Griffins?”

“It depends on the clouds, longest it takes is two days. We can’t fly that far so we ride the clouds, usually the weather pegasi leave some for us. It’s more common for the clouds to head away from my homeland and come straight here. But this is the time of the year when the clouds go westward. But we can always catch a pony air blimp if necessary but we still get the same looks from the ponies.”

The scenery was zooming past us, I stared unimpressed outside the window with the now disappearing city and emerging country side. The hills went up and back down again, why was I meant to be impressed with this? “When this is done, the project and all, why don’t you take a week or two off?” I said with a yawn.

Brick Beak did a double take. “Th-thank you sir.” She said lowering her head slightly. I saw, not a grin but a faint smile…worth it.

“I do have one more question.” Brick Beak looked up at attention “There is an odd odour to your street, what is it?”

She blushed, harder than ever before. “Well, uh, you see,” she muttered “The young male griffins used to paint graffiti everywhere to ‘mark their territory’ as they called it. Eventually the older griffins managed to stop them getting spray cans. So they came up with another idea to mark their turf using their own.” I stared showing a face of curiosity. I knew exactly what she was saying but it was too much fun to not torment her further now. She sighed “Pee, they piss over the walls ‘cause they feel more masculine. Happy now?” she folded her arms together and looked away.

“I am now,” I smirked.

Wasn’t long until we reached the station nearest the mine, a waste of a 1st-class ticket really. We disembarked and waited for a bus-cart to come along. There were many others waiting at the stop with us, a few Diamond Dogs. They were probably going to the mine as well. We hired them to dig the gems up and paid them well for them, though Rocky always thought we could pay them less and earn greater profit.

One of the Diamond Dogs recognised me as I did him. It was Zippy a tall, skinny, grey Diamond Dog with a big under bite and black spikey collar. He was literally the pack leader for the dogs at the mine. I respected him for his work ethic as he tolerated me for not being more involved. When I was forced to get involved with working disputes, I usually sided with him as he was the only one talking about keeping everyone safe.

The bus-cart arrived and we hope on and I sat just behind Zippy. “Hello Zippy, anything I should know?” I asked. Brick Beak passed on only the information management thought was important so I never got a two-sided story. The cart started moving slowly.

“Ponies keep making us work longer in the deeper sections, it’s getting hotter down there,” he replied in his gruff voice. “I say we are close to a lava stream. But boss wants more blaze diamonds, since others found near there.”

“Are there any gases or lava coming out?”

“No, but the rocks warm to the touch sometimes. No one hurt yet, but we haven’t found any other gems down there in two days. Not even with pony gem spell.”

“I guess it’s time to check in with management then,” I sighed. I hated doing that, they keep trying to change my mind, yet they have no understanding or consideration of the risks of digging at that level, Rocky did though but seemed to forget all of it when he was promoted.

“You should take more control of mine, you understand danger…where your horn, what happened to your eyes?” He only just noticed, did he only recognise me by smell before?

“Lost, in an accidental explosion of my own making. So I don’t understand danger or it wouldn’t have happened. I can’t do anything right.”

“You can fix mine problems before someone gets hurt. You pony, get things done.” The cart came to a stop, we were here. Zippy started to climb out, “You are the only pony who can fix this. Boss ponies care not ‘til others get hurt.”

-_-_-_-_-

The mine was surrounded by the finest chain wire fencing management could find at the bottom of a barrel pricing. There was a large cliché opening into the mine with a service elevator next to it. The cafeteria which sold food not much better that a 1st-class train carriage. There is also a large, lush, white building that stood higher than all the others, it was managements and I hated it. It always reminded me of a story where some animals decided ‘that all animals were equal, but some animals were more equal than others,’ after throwing off their enslavers and went corrupt anyway.

Management’s building is connected to the vault, it was the only thing management agreed with me when it came to protecting it. We had it reinforced with strong metals, magically enhanced shielding and finally camouflaged so dragons couldn’t see it from above.

Uncle Quarry Silver didn’t do occupational health and safety until the twilight of his years. It was a new concept to him and everyone, but when he found himself stuck underground in a cave in with two Diamond Dogs he realised the benefits. Wasn’t for another four days until they got out and he emerged with a new look on life and possibly a different opinion on of management? Rocky had worked in the mines but never experienced that level of fear, being trapped underground in darkness, neither had I, but I at least appreciated safe work practices, now more than ever.

Brick Beak followed me up to management’s office, it had clean walls, polished floors and a sign that said ‘all miners must wipe feet before entering’. I always wanted to walk through the mud outside and then enter but thought it unfair to the cleaning staff…that was until I found them as snobbish as management, then I took great joy in it. It was amazing that Brick Beak could work with these jerks, thinking on it now she was the only griffin here.

We walked inside, Brick Beak declined my request to help annoy the staff inside with muddy limbs. I usually hate making a spectacle of myself, but here I felt the ponies considered themselves above Celestia and Luna. So I made it my job to take them down a peg or two.

SQUELCH SQUELCH SQUELCH SQUELCH

The mud leaving my hooves to form large patches on the ground, some leaking dirty water across the very shiny floor. “Can I help you?” asked an unimpressed earth pony from behind a curved, white desk. I didn’t recognize this new guy, he has a dark blue coat with streaks of gold and red in his mane, I couldn’t see he cutie mark but then again I didn’t care. These ponies never showed much emotion until they heard you were either in charge or had money you wanted to spend. I too was one not to show much emotion…but I got endless joy annoying these guys, especially newcomers.

“Ohhh. I’m just here to loot stuff up from the vault, meddle around in my brother’s office and RESCUE THE COMMON DOG FROM HIS OPPRESSING OVERLORDS!” I shouted throwing my hoof into the air, some mud went flying.

This pony remained unimpressed and finally replied flatly “Get out before I call security.” I was amazed that management didn't warn him about me but I wasn't going show it.

“You cannot remove me! I am the saviour of the fellow miner!” I barked. Brick Beak started rubbing her claw in her face over her eyes in embarrassment. The bored pony pushed a button that I knew would send in the guards soon. I jumped onto the desk “I will not allow this evil to continue!”

Two ponies entered wearing blue vests and blue hats with ‘security’ labelled on them. They were concerned at first, about to reach over and grab me. They then checked me over one more time and change their expression to attention. “Good day, Mr Blue. We weren’t expecting you.” They said in unison. I wondered if the only way they knew it was me was from my lab coat and blue body colour.

I stop prancing on the table and hopped down. “No one expects the Caterlot Inquisition!” I said with a sneer, this was too much fun. As I walked past the now stunned receptionist I said “My, this place is dirty, clean it up next time.” The mud from my hooves now speckled the walls, the desk and the face of the desk pony. His body was petrified, he was too scared of being fired to move.

We headed deeper into the building, I spoke to the guards without turning my head round to them “Get the vault open, I wanna rummage.”

“Uh, sir, we can’t do that. Your brother, uh, Rocky Orange has introduced a new procedure that stops anyone from just taking stuff without properly documentation.” One of the guards replied meekly. “You will need to talk to Desk Jockey.” Other desk ponies looked up from their desks as I passed them, some noticed my horn was gone, but they quickly darted their eyes away before I could growl at them.

Desk Jockey another of the emotionless, spineless, ‘yes’ ponies, quick to agree with every decision he disagreed with but would never say, he is an earth pony with brown coat and mane, he matched his brown desk to a ‘T’. I approached Desk Jockey’s office, he was sitting at his desk doing what he considered ‘work’. He was expected to find ways of producing cheaper equipment for mining, I can’t help and think of it as some sort of death sentence for the diggers.

Desk Jockey saw me and his eyes widened in fright, every time I came here I had to sort out this abuse of the miners. “Hello sir.” he said as jumped from his seat to attention, the guards left us alone. “I guess you wish to inspect the vault?” my trips here have become predictable. “And you probably wish to discuss the miner’s working conditions. Unfortunately new policies stop us from removing items from the vault without the proper documentation, but I will gladly talk to you about the miners.” His voice was getting squeaky, he clearly didn't want to be anywhere near me.

I looked at Brick Beak “Did I sign anything on the vault?”

“No sir, I make sure to tell you things that would get in your way of disturbing the peace here,” she said smugly.

“Oh good, brother has been busy trying to stop me having fun. Consider the orders under review for the next two hours, during which time we go back to the original system. How does that sound?” I asked knowing that he wouldn’t dare challenge me.

“What an excellent idea sir. I had just been thinking they should be reviewed,” Desk Jockey replied with a scared grin. Desk Jockey gulped, he was terrified of the repercussions he would suffer from Rocky, not like their was much my brother could do. “Just let me get the vault key.” He reached into his desk, he was shaking, I could tell from the keys rattling in his hoof.

We got to the vault, a large round door blocking our way made of a thick heavy metal, it has a large metal bracket that allowed a pony to push against it and the wall to help open it. Desk Jockey handed the keys to Brick Beak and I asked “Why are you giving her the keys?”

“So, uh, she can open the door. She does it every time due to the weight of the door” He replied meekly.

“Brick Beak is not here for manual labour!” I barked, knowing she had done some heavy lifting earlier this day for me. “She is my aid for the company. You open it.” Brick Beak remained still with her talon opened with the key sitting on top, she never objected before, even when she didn’t work under me. While management didn't care much for her, they would have her open the vault any day over having a Diamond Dog do it.

“Uh, yes sir.” he said unsure of his own strength. If he showed some backbone and fought me about it, I would have got the guards to do it. But he is a coward and refused to fight his boss. Desk Jockey unlocked the door and positioned himself between the wall and the bracket. He started pushing but nothing happened. “Ughh!” He pushed harder and still nothing.

I turned to Brick Beak “Could you get some water please?” I asked quietly, she nodded and left.

Desk Jockey took in a deep breath and pushed harder and harder. The vault squeaked, moaned and budged an inch or two. It would get easier from here, but Desk Jockey was already sweating and exhausted but he kept going. He couldn’t hold himself on the wall anymore but he slowly managed to open the door enough to give me ample room to enter. He then collapsed on the floor, he was tired and breathing hard. “Sir, I have your water.” Brick Beak returned.

“Please give it to Desk Jockey.” I asked and Brick Beak brought it over to him. He drank steadily, thankful for every drop. “Very well done Desk. Most impressive. Rest as long as you need to.” I said to him as I stepped over him into the vault.

“Thank you sir,” he replied wearily as head steadily drunk down the water.

The vault has two entrances but only one exit, the other entrance is a sorting machine that files different gems into different sections. Any dragon that came along would have a love/hate relationship as they could find any precious stone they wanted but not be able to sleep on any of it. I came up with the design due to management not wanting miners to access the building and the Diamond Dogs not wanting to deal with whining ponies, that last part was never mentioned in the arrangement so for once management thought I sided with them.

I wandered past diamonds, emeralds, crystals, all stacked neatly, efficiently and correctly. Also part of my design as the vault did originally look like a dragon’s den. What I needed was at the back in the ‘Rare’ items cabinet. It did take a while to reach the back as we did hoard a lot of gems, I was reminded of what Rocky said about going bankrupt “Yeah right!” I yelled.

Finally I reached my destination and looked over the best finds the mine ever had. I wondered if loving brother may have hidden even rarer items from me, I wouldn’t put is past him. But it didn’t matter, the item I needed was here as well as its friend. I picked up the Blaze diamond with my teeth and put it in my saddle bags, I left it open all the time now since I couldn’t open it. I decided I would take the other knowing it would greatly annoy Rocky, I wasn’t planning on going this far but I couldn’t stand the idea of such a useful gem being wasted on a locket or something else that is in fashion for week. I grabbed some more common gems for me and Brick Beak to finish paying off my project and headed to the exit.

I returned to the vault entrance, Brick Beak didn’t enter but waited on the door frame and Desk Jockey had finally recovered and standing back up. “Why don’t we discuss the miners in Rocky’s office?” I said knowing Desk wanted to object but wouldn’t.

Rocky’s office had wooden panelling on the walls, it was a style that left us a decade or so ago. But it was Uncle Silver’s office so Rocky left it how was. The only changes were the personal touches. Photos of the family on shelving, the only one with me in it was the picture of Poppy’s house with Poppy –pregnant with Staples-, Check List, Rocky, mum and dad all standing in front. Everypony had this photo. Briefly, very briefly I thought on when mum and dad would come back to visit, but I knew that for them to come back one of us needed to be dead to ruin their round the world vacation, I chose to drop the subject in my mind instantly.

Back to Rocky’s office, he has a lovely mahogany desk which is neat and tidy, a window that meets the rising sun and a liquor cabinet with a radio on top. That radio was my favourite item in this room, it got me out of so many problems. I was brought back from my look around with an “Ahem” from Desk Jockey. I sat down in a chair that faced towards Rocky’s. Despite the fact that I annoyed him I wouldn’t go as far as to sit in his chair, there had to be limits.

“The miners tell me that they are working very far down and fear they might be near a lava stream.” I said.

Desk Jockey looked nervous, I don’t think he wanted to deal with this problem on his own. He replied “Oh sir, there is no risk, we would have to dig very far down to reach lava-”

“Two Blaze diamonds were found at that level. A Blaze Diamond only forms near lava and since there were two found, I believe the miner who tells me the ground is warm down there.” I was not playing this game of countering each other.

Just as Desk was about to reply, the door opened and their stood Rocky. ‘This will be fun.’ I said sarcastically to myself. “Brother what brings you here? I thought you were in Canterlot” I asked nicely.

“I work here, you on the other hoof don’t know what that means, the deal fell apart so I came back.” he said entering the room “Get out Desk Jockey, you to Miss Beak.” Desk Jockey didn’t say a word and quickly walked out and Brick Beak slowly followed. “I know you have been in the vault and…” he stopped talking and focused on my head. “Some of the guards said you lost your horn, I thought it was a sick joke, what happened? And your eyes?”

I was sort of stunned to see concern from my brother. “There was an accident in the lab, an explosion and my eyes changed and my horn, it broke off…somehow.”

“You don’t look like you were in one.” he frowned.

“We…I don’t know what happened exactly.” I replied not knowing where to look.

“Something like this was always going to happen, messing around with stuff you don’t understand.” He said harshly at me.

“How can I learn if I don’t take chances?” I argued back.

We continued down this track for some time and I told him I couldn’t do magic anymore. He knows about my condition with my hooves, he showed some sympathy but he was still annoyed I was here. “Why are you here?” he asked.

“I needed some gems to pay off a project I’ve started, I may…have…also taken…both-the-Blaze-diamonds.”

“YOU DID WHAT!?” he yelled, I got this feeling he mad. The cost of the Blaze diamonds were nothing compared to the combined bills of the guilds, when he finds out about that he’s really going to lose it.

“I need them for my idea.”

“Auctioning those will make us recognised as one of the top gem procurers in all of Equestria, give them back!”

“I can’t, they’re a key item for solving my problem.” I said tapping my horn.

“No, you will just have to live without them, I have planned too much for this.”

I tired quickly of all this, I got up and walked over to the radio. “Are we really going to do this again?” I asked. He didn’t say anything, his face was glaring angrily at me. I tapped the on switch and heavy rock started playing, the music loud enough only for this room to hear. Rocky was standing still. “Oh have you managed to control that side of you then?” I asked but then noticed his rear left hoof tapping to the beat of the music. “Clearly not.” I said watching the music slowly overtake his train of thought.

This was Rocky’s secret, he loved this type of music so much he was literally compelled to dance to it but he was ashamed of it due to making himself a respected upper class pony. His head was waving up and down now, his mane flopped in all directions. I was the only one who knows this secret, discovering it one day when we were young and walking in on him when he thought he was alone…I always thought it could have been worse. There had to be a reason his mood changed so quickly when the music played, I put it down as his body needing to be released from uptight attitude.

“YEAAHHH!” yelled Rocky, there was no way no one didn’t hear that outside, there would be some awkward question avoiding later for him. Rocky was dancing, jumping around the room like a pony possessed, at one stage he jumped on the desk and flipped to ground. He started to pretend to play a guitar, violently around the room. I caught glimpses of his face, he was smiling, why couldn’t he be happy any other time?

But like all things the music came to an end and Rocky was able to think logically again. He didn’t want his secret out, I didn’t care, I had told him years ago just to admit it to others but he refused so I use against him until he learns better. He stood still and eventually looked at me, gritting his teeth and asked “Are you done here?”

“No, please get the head management team to meet me outside,” I said flatly, but happy we moved on from the previous argument.

-_-_-_-_-

Everyone was outside now, the members of management including Rocky, Desk and three other ponies that I could care less about. Rocky was second in charge with me at number one, every other pony were equally lower than that but in different sections of management. “Ok!” I said “Who hear believes the miners don’t have good…no GREAT working conditions?”

No pony replied, they learned that if they stand up to me they sometimes get their way, it was rare but it happened. I waited a bit longer and said “Ok then. Who believes if we keep working at the current depth we will find more Blaze Diamonds, when we know there are plenty of other gems higher up?” They all looked at each other and raised their hooves. “Ok, I can deal with that, now the Diamond Dogs work down there for four hours plus before needing to come back up to a higher level to cool down. So here is what we are going to do, we are going to play a game. We will all go down to the lower level, see the conditions down there and test how long we last. Anypony that doesn’t come should not be on the premises when I get back.” As I said all this I thought about how long my project kept getting pushed back by all these annoying interruptions.

Some of the ponies gulped. I continued, “Any pony who doesn’t change their mind while down there and leaves before me is disqualified. If you outlast me you and all disqualified members keep their job, if you all leave before me, you are all fired. If you change your mind before then you can keep your job.” I said all this knowing that Rocky will outlast me, he had worked in the mines back with Uncle and had adapted to the environment down there.

As they headed nervously towards the lift, I turned to Brick Beak, “Why don’t you get head off to Cloudsdale now? You probably won’t like it down there.” I suggested as I got her to remove some gems from my saddle bags.

“Thank you, I will, sir. Take care.” she said as she flew off towards the train station.

I trotted over to the lift and joined my fellow ponies. A diamond dog standing by a lever pulled it down and we descended. I cried out “TO THE DEPTH OF TARTARUS!” Scaring lower management slightly.

“Oh shut up!” yelled Rocky.

I turned to the Diamond Dog “How long does it take to get to the bottom?”

“Ten minutes down, a bit more up,” he growled.

“Ok, so if I were to give up.” I said turning back to the others “It would be at least twenty minutes until you guys could get out.” The other ponies looked to each other with worried faces.

“No.” replied the Diamond Dog “Longer. The lift burns up on constant use and needs cooling time.”

“Interesting.” I glared at management wondering who was to blame for this cheap load of garbage. The air had already started getting humid and uncomfortable. We stood in silence as we waited for the lift to finish its decent.

As we lowered other levels showed many ponies and Diamond Dogs working hard and tirelessly, but the lower we got the workers showed more fatigued they appeared. I half expected them to be moving in slow motion shortly. A lot of levels showed that the walls and ceilings have gems scattered everywhere but no one was digging them out due to being a support wall and too dangerous to dig out or that Rocky had moved most of the miners to the lower levels.

The lift came to a stop with a heavy “Thunk” noise. The ceiling was not very high for a Diamond Dog, while a pony would have no trouble. It wasn’t very bright, any light would create more heat. I was already breathing harder for air and the ground was unusually hot like concrete on a summer’s day. The miners all looked at us, particularly the management staff. Zippy came up to me, he didn’t say anything just annoyed that I had brought them down here, why should they come into his work place if he couldn’t go in theirs?

“Any success in finding anything?” I asked Zippy.

“Some tiny gems have turned up, we may find a haul soon but need more digging time for the tunnel.” He replied.

“Is it warmer down that tunnel? Any signs of magma?”

“It is very hot down here even without lava. We haven’t seen any sign of magma.”

I wasn’t the answer I really wanted, if there was nothing found during my time in management then I didn’t have a problem dealing with this. But if all was going better than before I might have to side with management.

“Well then, there we are,” Desk said happily “All is good, so let’s get out of here.” He pointed back to the lift controls.

“Nah, come on. Let’s look around.” I replied. Just I was stepping off Zippy slammed a safety helmet on me and the others.

“You should know better ponies.” Zippy said looking at me, “Especially you, you wrote some of the rules.”

I did write some and I forgot all about them, how’d that happen? We started walking around and asked questions…well Rocky and I asked, the rest of management was trying to catch their breath, the air was hot and stuffy. There was a female unicorn checking the walls with a gem spell, management passed her by with a mixture of lust and confusion on how magnificently she carried herself in this exhausting tunnel.

We got a bit further down and came across a larger cavern, not big, but Zippy could certainly jump and not hit his head. It was at this stage Desk Jockey and another pony had to give up. Desk nearly collapsed and needed to be pushed back in a mine cart to the lift. While Desk was being pushed away, the two last members thought about it and realised it would be over twenty minutes until they could get out, so they quickly chased after Desk Jockey.

That left me and Rocky, I was certainly feeling the effects while Rocky didn’t let it affect him and I think he was smiling, was it because he knew he would win? I thought he could be more in his element down here that behind that desk. He did start working here in the mine before being promoted to management, despite the fact we didn’t get on, he was happier working down here back then.

At the back of the cavern was a small pool of water, it was clear but not clean. I touched it, it was freezing, how could it be that cold down here? I seriously considered dipping into it to refresh and win against Rocky, but it would probably give me a cold and Rocky could last hours down here. “Shall we call this a draw?” I asked mockingly, knowing he will win.

“Certainly not.” he replied.

“Rocky.” I said with hesitation, wiping my forehead with my hoof from the heat. “There’s something you should know.” Rocky looked at me, expecting some stupid remark about to come out. “Yesterday, Poppy had an accident... She’s fine now, she said she slipped but I can’t help but think she was hiding something.”

Rocky’s face changed to concern. “Did she look ill?”

“No. She looked stunned, but she wasn’t sick. She may bruise but she isn’t seriously hurt.” Trying to talk about an important matter down here was the wrong idea, the air, or lack of, was really getting to me.

“I will visit her soon then…without you.” He replied ending with a cold tone that sadly didn’t cool me down.

I was starting to lose my focus, wobbling on my legs. I don’t think I could last much longer down here. “Fine……you win. I can’t stand it much more down here,” I mumbled. Rocky’s face remained unchanged.

“I thought pony better than that,” growled Zippy.

We started heading back to the lift, just before the opening to the lift I tripped and fell down from the over bearing heat. I couldn’t get up, it wasn’t due to any pain, it was the heat. It was just too much for me now.

Zippy lowered his head and looked at me right in the eyes close to my face. “We need to get him out now.” He wasn’t talking to me though.

“Go.” Said Rocky, his tone didn’t show much care or love.

Zippy picked me up and slung me over his shoulder and started carrying me. He grabbed the built in ladder on the lift and started climbing. He was fast, fast enough for me to feel hot wind rush past me. It did feel cool to a point but my body wasn’t ready to work yet. Zippy climbed and climbed, it was amazing he had so much energy when it was this hot.

He got some distance before the climb started wearing him down. When he reached another level, he called over a larger Diamond Dog “You, carry and climb get outside. Don’t drop, good friend.” ordered Zippy. He held me out with his arms, I felt floppy as I hanged there. I could feel Zippy’s breath on me, making me feel warm again, his tongue was hanging out panting.

The larger Diamond Dog picked me up and started climbing. He was faster, stronger. The wind was really flowing past me now. I was able to think clearer, Zippy considered me a ‘friend’, I don’t know why. I only did what he suggested not due to friendship but because it was the better idea that was offered when it came to the mine.

I heard the lift rumble and it went down below us, had we really been climbing that long? There was no way the Diamond Dog could get it to start coming back up, so he just kept climbing. I honestly thought he was faster than the lift anyway.

If I could have concentrated better I would have seen the Diamond Dog’s limbs working at a flurry, all I saw was this cartoonish limb wavering, faster than my eyes could keep up with. ‘When this guy mines, he must just drill through rock like it was a big cake’ I thought.

I could see the top of the lift shaft, daylight was a small distant light. I could feel my carrier get slower and sluggish, it wasn’t surprising with the speed and time it had taken to get this far. We reached another floor but instead of asking another pony to take over, he put me in a cart and pushed me along the tracks down one of the tunnels. I could feel the angle, we were going uphill, racing higher and higher.

Now we were going faster than before. I was jostled every time the track made a slight bend or hit a groove. ‘How was he going so fast?’ I wondered. I could see the tops of other Diamond Dogs as we zoomed past them.

I started feeling better I could feel a definite breeze coming down the tunnel. It was cool and refreshing, I sat up to tell the Diamond Dog to stop and rest. He pushed me back down. “I ordered to get you out, not talk, PLEASE BE QUIET!” he screeched. I was wedged in the cart now, stuck upside down. All I could see was the head of my rescuer and the occasional lamp lighting our way. I had nothing better to do, so I started thinking how to help the miners more than what was asked. Better ventilation was a must but something lingered in my mind about the lift.

We kept on rising, the path occasionally went left or right and then became dead straight and it slowly started to get brighter. Since I was lying down when we did exit I got a face full of Celestia’s bright sun. I was squirming around in the cart dazed.

The Diamond Dog stopped pushing the cart and pulled me out “What wrong with pony?” he said to almost anyone, I couldn’t see so I didn’t know. “Maybe pony need air?” he said as he breathed in deeply. I may not have been able to see, but I could imagine a horrible fate quickly coming towards me.

“Stop!” I yelled at my saviour. “I’m good now, please put me down”. Slowly the Diamond Dog put me on the ground, I had just avoid the kiss of death. My eyes adjusted to my surroundings and I realised that I was at the top of the lift shaft but had exited the original entrance of the mine. All of management was there except Rocky. Desk Jockey looked better than I did as he chugged down a bottle of water. I looked back at the Diamond Dog and said “Thank you for helping me.”

“Pony stay out of mine next time, not place for you. I need to get back to work.” He replied and walked back into the mine. A one track mind, I’ll have some sort of thank you gift made up later or something.

I walked back to the management staff who were very surprised to see me coming from a different exit. One of the ponies said “The lift is on its way back up. We thought you would be on it.” He passed me some water.

“I suffered quickly from the heat shortly after you left. If you’re wondering, your jobs are safe…” I paused deliberately, taking a swig of the water while it was still in his hoof. “BUT there are some serious upgrades you’re going to install.”

We waited for the lift to come up, Zippy and Rocky were aboard. Zippy seemed happy that I was alright, Rocky of course didn’t care either way. I started my upgrade demands “While having some heroic Diamond Dogs rescue me-”

“You only needed saving after foolishly risking your life,” Rocky blurted.

“Yes, it was stupid. But I learned a lot about the mine in less than a day than you have in the many years you’ve worked for it. SO I want a ventilation chute built, make the lower levels easier to adapt to. I don’t know how it’s done, if you want go to the guilds in Manehatten, just get it done. Second; One lift is all we have and it’s slow, no emergency lift. If I had a rock fall on me that would have been the end of the line.”

“Wouldn’t that be a shame?” Said Rocky looking to the side.

I picked up on it instantly “It would. Build another lift nearby to the main, no pony’s….no one’s life should be at risk, so upgrade the main lift and install a second one. We work together to reach the same goal.” I looked at Zippy, he seemed pleased with my decisions. “Also, miners are to have set hours underground. Once a miner reaches a limit they must exit the mine. I’ll leave Zippy here to figure the details out with you. Give him a role in management.” No one saw that coming. Zippy wasn’t sure how to handle management, but the more I thought on it, the more sense it made.

All of management except Rocky guided Zippy towards their office, as they left I heard one say “Zippy will need a desk.” as they left the scene, it would need to be a tall desk.

Rocky came closer to me and said “Are you done here? Do you need to overturn anymore of my orders?”

I was just trying to make the site safe, why could he not see it. “Does it annoy you that I can run this place better than you…little brother?” His face going red with rage “If you made the right choices before I come here we wouldn’t have this problem. Why am I, the only one who ever seems to get things done around here?” I was trying hard this time to make him really fight me. There was a deafening pause.

Rocky closed his eyes and breathed in slowly “Enjoy your trip back to Manehatten, SIR.” Rocky said and turned away from me. I started to wonder if I was making the correct choices, trying to get him to fight me wasn’t working and I wondered why he won’t challenge me. We fought all the time when were fillies; over left over food, what activity to do with our family and sometimes to get Poppy to pay attention to one of us alone.

-_-_-_-_-

The trip back to Manehatten was boring and slow, economy class was no better than 1st. The trip made me think of things I’d rather not, ‘FREAK’ the word keeps shoving itself in front of my mind. My idea will remove that label, I know it will but until then I have to deal with my disabilities. It would take about three or four days for Brick Beak to return with the Octarine. The Magic Lifter would be a day or so, the real problem was my blueprint from the Guild of Science, which could take a week and it would have taken more if I didn’t pay extra for fast work. The Guild of Science were masters at metal work, I just don’t need them figuring out how it’s powered.

So that left one thing to do was to find a doctor with no sense of ethics, back to hospital then. “I’ll go tomorrow.” I said to myself looking out the window, there was a mother and buck opposite me, both pegasi. The mother had a worn out saddle bag and the child had a ratty baseball cap, I don’t think they had much. The small colt kept staring at me, at my horn. “Can I help you?” I asked the little one bitterly.

“You’re like me.” The child replied smiling, standing up and showing two naturally deformed wings, they were bent and twisted and gave the opinion they were painful just to have. How did I not see that before? The mother was reading a book, but eyed me cautiously.

“I don’t think so.” I said, the child looked down, upset with my response. “You probably haven’t made mistakes you regret.” I continued as I looked out the window again as the child showed a half smile.

“I am getting an op-oper-op…” He stuttered, “The doctors are going to take away my wings as they hurt. I don’t wanna lose them, they’re part of me.” He returned to his gloomy state.

‘Life sucks’ I thought but I would be yelled at if I spoke my mind.

The mother was shaking her book close to her face, I think she was hiding her tears from her kid. “What is it like to not be you, to lose that which is part of you?” The child asked, I was stunned at the innocent and philosophical question.

“I-I-I’m not sure, I lost a lot of my life from this.” I pointed to my head. “You will certainly miss it.” This was not the answer he wanted and I was starting to feel bad myself. “But if you are strong, and you look strong.” Trying to give hope, “You will overcome it and find a way around it. Some ponies can take months or years to find their way.” I leaned in close to the buck “I’ll tell you a secret, I figured it out in less than two days and maybe you can do the same.”

The child looked at me in wonder. “What did you do?”

“I came up with an idea, I am now making it real and very soon my problem will be gone.”

“Oooh. Maybe you can help me.” His wings fluttered the wrong way. “Oww!” he stopped in pain and started caressing his wings.

Drat, I started digging a pit for myself on that one. “I’m not sure…” my voice trailed off. “How does this sound, if you can’t find your way, find me in two weeks, I’ll see what I can do but NO PROMISES.” his face showed some signs of hope but not in the direction I was trying to give. I deliberately didn’t give my address to him or his mother. I wasn’t absolutely sure my idea would work, being a science pony I relied on theories, but also being a magic pony I relied on hope as well.

-_-_-_-_-

It was late when the train was arriving at Manehatten central, the two pegasi were asleep. The train came to a stop, I didn’t want to wake them, and fear of the child’s belief in me was too much for me to bear.

I was just about to leave completely when I had an idea. I went back to the mother’s saddle bag and very quietly opened it with my mouth, fortunately everypony else had left and it was just us, so I wasn’t going to get done for suspected robbery. I reached into my saddle bags and pulled out half of my gems and scattered them into her bag, I couldn’t open her money pouch. There was no way she could miss them in there, she only had her own money and some medical reports on her son, his name was on the cover…Free Flyer, ‘Ow,’ I winced right in the hope department.

I left the train and a few minutes of walking later I ended up on a bridge overlooking the train yard when I heard “THANK YOU!” I looked down at the train station. They mother had rushed out and was panting heavily. Clearly she found the gems, Quicker that I would have thought. She couldn’t see me and I didn’t want her to. “Thank you so much!” she yelled out with many ponies staring at her, her face dripping with heavy tears and her kid looked a little confused to his mothers actions.

‘Heh,’ I thought as I moved on, ‘maybe they can fix his wings now instead of removing them.’ I left and went home. I wondered if it was possible for them to rotate the wings but I came to the conclusion that the nerve cells wouldn’t line up right.

As I went to bed, I rounded the day into pros and cons in my mind. ‘Cons first’ I thought; nearly died and nearly caused another to die, upset brother more than usual. Pros; helped a child with a problem, got Zippy and the miners a plan for better conditions, Zippy was also promoted. I laid in bed for a while thinking ‘fifty: fifty, could I do better than half good and bad.’ I then realised I was giving Brick Beak a holiday after the project, good enough, I finally got to sleep; happily.

End of Chapter 4.