At the Inner Yard of the grounds,
"Arrite, alla you lugs line up!"
Chuck List watched as the new workers took their places in line. He wasn't looking forward to anypony new coming onto the job, but then again he never was. 'Long as they do their jobs, I won't give a fizz', he thought.
"You! Y'look strong an' stuff... you'll be first inta th' mines. Try not ta get yerself buried, and you'll be arrite. G'wan - move yer flank!"
The first pony in line gave a bit of a start, then trotted into the mine shaft.
Little by little, each pony was given their work detail, then sent along into the caverns. Working for the Blackwaters paid well... if you could stomach the attitudes, that is.
Another stallion wandered up to Chuck, and looked over his shoulder at the list on the clipboard. Chuck frowned, and addressed him without even looking up.
"Y'got sumpthin' ta say, Redd, den sayyit. I ain't got all day, y'know."
Redd Handid gave Chuck a cold stare, then twisted his mouth into a grin.
"Well, you could be a bit more personable, Chuck. After all, we're supposed to be doing this together, aren't we?" He smiled smugly.
Chuck turned to give him the slightest of glances. "All you want is da creddit, ya creep. You was supposed ta be here hours ago, Redd - and y'wasn't. S'okay tho'," he gave Redd a grin of his own, "you c'n take da cleanup crew down an' give DEM a hoof."
Redd bristled at the idea. "YOU, Chuck, are a class A heel, do you know that?"
"I ain't bein' paid ta be all nicey-wicey. Now move yer flank, Redd; dey's waitin' for ya."
Redd scowled... but went to the supply cart and grabbed the cleaning supply pack. He turned to head over to the cleanup crew's meeting spot.
When I get my promotion, Chuck - YOU'LL be doing the cleaning up around here, I PROMISE you that.
Meanwhile, at the Lunch Trailer,
The sun shone off the pile of special horseshoes lying on the nearby picnic table. There was a unicorn seated there, inspecting each one carefully, a magnifying glass hovering in front of her, surrounded by a magical aura.
"Good... good... good... good... goo- uh-oh."
She moved the glass and eyeballed the particular shoe in question. It seemed perfect, but Silver Studs was a perfectionist - and it wasn't perfect, at least by her standards. She magically tossed the shoe into the nearby garbage barrel, and turned back to her work.
"Okay, good... good... good... good..."
Behind the lunch trailer, a purple stallion's head poked around the corner. C'mon, c'mon... you'll find it soon...
Silver kept examining horseshoes until she came across one that had a black stripe down the very middle of it. She quirked an eyebrow, then moved the glass closer to get a better look...
That's the one... just a bit... more...
The sunlight coming through the magnifying glass touched the black stripe, and it suddenly burst into a quick flame with a small WHOOF sound. Silver gave a squeak, and dropped it as she backpedaled over the bench and onto the ground.
Braying laughter echoed from behind the trailer, and Silver instantly knew what was going on.
"SLAPPER!"
Knee Slapper came out from his hiding place, laughing so hard he was crying.
"Oh Silver... HA HA HAAAA - th-th-the look... on your FACE... HA HA HA HAAAA!"
Silver just stared daggers at the laughing forepony. "I have told you, time and again, that gunpowder is NOT something to play with! I could have been seriously hurt!"
Slapper's laughter subsided, and he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Awh, c'mon now - you gotta admit, you were bored out of your mind doing that stuff... and besides, it was FUNNY, right?"
Silver regarded him angrily for a moment... then gave a sigh and started to giggle a bit herself.
"Okay, yes yes... you got me, Slapper. I'm at least glad to see you were listening when I told you about what ratios of powder to use. Look, you can't do that again, do you understand?"
The smile on her face grew a little wider.
"Unless you promise to use it on Redd, somehow."
Slapper gave a chuckle over this thought, and tipped Silver a wink.
"Now, would I do something like that, Silver?"
The two of them looked at each other, then both burst out into gales of laughter.
At the Outer Yard of the Grounds,
"That's a BIG package, Taps..." Dax said as he eyed the parcel on the push-cart. It was BIG, alright. And bulky. And BIG.
Taps, however, seemed to have no problems at all pushing it across the warehouse floor. She didn't even seem to be struggling with it; she just pushed it along, easy as a breeze. She got it into the corner of the warehouse, then trotted her way out of there, closing the doors behind her.
"So... what's in it? Do you know?"
Taps regarded Dax Blackwater for a moment. The stallion was black with green stripes, and he wasn't exactly bad-looking... but he was a Blackwater, albeit the nice one - she didn't want anything to do with any of the rest of his family. Dax, however, was a good fellow... most of the other workers regarded him as the 'resident loser', but Taps had always had a soft spot for him.
She shrugged at his question, although she was WELL aware of what was in the package. She just figured that the fewer ponies who knew, the better. Still, she couldn't help but think this was going to be a bad idea... but she was just the mail pony, technically speaking.
Dax looked back at the warehouse, then sighed and looked at the ground.
"It's something Father ordered, I'll bet... which means I gotta keep my hooves off, I suppose." He sighed, and idly kicked a rock away.
Taps simply shook her head, and gave Dax a pat on the back. He looked up and offered a weak smile, which she returned. Turning, they walked away from the warehouse together.
... but Dax gave it one more glance over his shoulder before he was out of sight.
In the deep mine,
Cresent was breathing hard after running into the cave Spider he successfully and accedently via rock kicked at the skull. He was turning a corn or of an not so lit part of the mine to check on for harmful cave residents as the diggers wen deeper into the mine, then he met the Spider. After the surprise encounter the bat pony looked back at the group of mining pony's half were working on holes of there own while an small group came to check up on Cresent and see what the noise was about
"well, is there anything?" said one earth pony.
Cresent seethed the blade on the gauntlet "There was something but it wont be awake for an good two hours. We're getting near some cave spider nests so honestly its up to you," he said turning towards the miners
"I don't care bout any spiders that's where these come in, what of the gems?" said another raising his pick axe like it was an answer to everything.
Cresent rolled his eyes turning back trying to see through the webs, he moved the spider over trying to keep it asleep and not in an threating way "sorry hominy" he said to it silently as the knocked out spider was lifted by cresent and dragged towards what looked like an little sunk corn or just the right size for the spider to hide in. He flew back to the group.
"Ok I cant see any licit gems, then again you ponies know rocks better then me, just keep an eye on the spider in the corner," he said tilting his head to the left. The minors passed by him to do what they did best and Cresent glided over them to find any more paths for the minors to find, or rather an safer path to get away from the nest.
The deep mine was always busy - if it wasn't the miners, it was the cave spiders... if not the cave spiders, then it was the occasional parasprite nest... if not parasprites, blah blah blah.
At any rate, Crescent found the cool, dark tunnels to be soothing and peaceful, even with the CLINK-CLINK of the picks and hooves going on in the background. There were simple workers who used picks, and the heavier workers who simply wore special horseshoes to kick the walls with - hence the term 'rock-kickers'. This was NOT a term townies were allowed to use; the miners reserved the right to only call themselves that without offense.
Outsiders and townies who used the term 'rock-kickers' usually got to experience what that meant, first hoof, to the face. And that was if the miners felt generous...
Crescent had been working for the Blackwaters for only a few months, but the miners had come to respect him; he was quite efficient in the darkness of the deep mines, and he hadn't steered them wrong yet. Because of this, they accepted him and tended to listen to his judgement. They didn't even seem creeped out by what he was - he was one of them, as far as they were concerned.
"EMER IS GO!" came the call from below; it was their coded call meaning that a vein of emerald had been found. This was great news; Luther would be pleased to hear it. One might even say happy, but Luther was never happy - he never smiled, not even at his family. Still, he respected hard work, so this would possibly mean a bonus for the deep mine crew... IF the deposit was big enough.
Cresent was relived yet still tense, there were times when that code was called out and it was something different, like a new mineral, dark crystal, or what crescent was prying to Luna for Lava following the rush of the minors which wasn't too hard following a herd of ponys with mining tool you'll have to actually blind and def. not to hear. As he approached the place of where the call was made. Finding the crew working on the Vein it sounded like an metal concert with all the noise, which cresent found himself almost nodding too gleefully.
Like an metal concert there was bound to be a loud scream, which if Cresent didn't hear on he'd be just fine, but since there was one after what didn't feel like very long there was an buzz herd before said scream. Part of Cresent's duty's was half guid and half evac taxi when stuff went down. So when he herd the screaming in pain pony being set on by of all things falling ember he dashed at the wounded pony.
Accidents happen all the time in caves and mines, and everyone would have to ether reported or fixed on the spot, shrugged off and if any of the boss's asked it was an simple "tripped boss" which to cresents surprise worked sometimes the group he was watching had been lucky thus far with no incidents for 2 weeks now. On the other hoof explaining an ember burn was not one cresent could help back up "just a trip" and worse yet this would still fall on his hoovs of protection
The screaming pony's burns were deep and crippling. "Somepony shut him up!" Cresent heard behind him.
"He needs magic! help Cresent get-" began another who was slapped upside the head.
"Let him handle it keep working!" said the other miner.
Cresent looked at the screaming pony and yelled "BREATH MINOR!" he said.
The ponies scream subsided into a whimper. Cresent pulled a cord out from his saddle bag shoving it in the pony's muzzle "Bite down on this till I say so".
The pony simply nodded his head at the bat pony. Cresent then grabbed the pony by its sides and lifted the minor up and towards the path towards the entrance hopping he wouldn't run into one of his bosses at the entrance.
'Damnable cleanup crew busywork rutting fool Chuck making me do this while he gets the easy job I swear I'll make you clean the crappers when I'm YOUR boss stinking no-good...'
Redd was sweeping the pebbles out of the pathways with the rest of the cleanup crew. It was their job to make certain the walkways were clear of debris, mostly for the sake of the push-carts. The fact that it made things safer for the crew seemed to be a side-effect, at best.
All the same, Redd HATED cleanup. He knew he was meant for better things; the boss had told him so on his first day, and it had taken quite some time to make his way up the ladder to the forepony position. The fact that he wasn't the HEAD Forepony sometimes stuck in his craw (like now, for instance), but he still did what he could to do his job while he was being watched... and to do other things when he wasn't, of course.
Redd's thoughts were interrupted by Crescent carrying out another injured miner. While the rest of the crew watched them pass with sympathy, Redd merely smiled to himself.
'Well, well... seems like there's been an accident. With CRESCENT at the helm, eh? Maybe the boss needs to know about this?'
He went back to sweeping, working out a story in his mind...