The crew had complained about climbing up to where the work would begin, but the bits did the talking, as did Work Pants. "Come on, we're being paid, you've already got your first week under your belts. Let's show Canterlot that we can build something to last!"

I watched them climb up past me, taking note of who was there and not. Most of the ponies I had spotted before, that had attacked me, were there, but the one that had spoken to me directly was absent, perhaps still sulking? "Hey." He waved at one of the ones I recognized before he could get to climbing. "No hard feelings. No one was hurt. Let's get to work. Tell that to anyone that thinks I'm nursing a grudge."

The worker lifted an ear towards me, peering at me without looking directly, as ponies could do if they wanted. "We were ready to hurt you, Sir..."

"Water under the bridge. We have a job to do, together." I hadn't been hurt in any serious way, and grudges would only bite me right on my newly-fuzzied bottom in time. "All I want is my bits' worth of quality work. This is for Canterlot. We can make the city better though hard effort and careful planning."

"Right, Sir." He moved forward and started climbing up the wall, joining the others in the slow ascent towards the peak where the pool was they had to work with was.

I joined the ascending party, and eventually we were up at the top without anyone falling off the side, which was a thing I had worried about a bit on the way up. "We really need to make an easier way to get up here. Maybe that should be where we start?"

Work circled the pond, taking measure of it. "Mmm... Mmmm... So you want a great pipe that the water flows through and down the side?" He came over to the edge, not directly facing the city. "We'll need to dig, here, make a channel for the water to flow through and start going down hill. If we put the pipe in here, the water won't go anywhere."

Other ponies nodded in agreement, chatter rising up with how to get it done. None of them answered my question. They were on the job, and Work was their leader once more. I was their boss' boss, which made my words his problem more than theirs.

Easy sat down next to me. "Huh, they're eager to get started... Good! This is great, we can finally get somewhere." She clapped her hooves loudly. "Don't get me wrong, we got a lot done, but not, you know, what we wanted."

A shout came from below. Other workers had arrived with materials. Ponies from atop and the bottom worked together and lift them from spot to spot up the mountainside. It was a good time to be a unicorn at that specific moment, but I noticed the few earth ponies really carried their own as soon as things didn't need to float. They were doing it.

It was really happening. I wasn't even sure how to feel about it. Good, ultimately. I was getting something done.

With the arrival of the tools, they got to energetic work, digging out a tunnel for the water to flow through, starting from the dry end and working towards the water. Others were busy working on organizing what they had into neat piles to be used quickly on demand. They had been out of work for so long, but were getting right back into it as if they had never stopped.

The ground suddenly heaved. A started yelp was the first before other panicked noises, the shaking growing worse. The mountainside did not appreciate our digging and showed its displeasure in a sudden collapse. Water gushed free out the collapsed side and began to cascade down towards the city. I could only watch with set teeth, wondering if the good will I'd earned would be washed away with the city, but it didn't strike the city.

It came down in great splashes, creating uneven rivers and waterfalls down the mountain's side until it hit the city's level and snaked forcefully, digging out a river from the soft mud there and flowing out from there, spilling down the side of the mountain.

I blinked softly at the sight. "Is... everyone alright?"

"Role call!" bellowed Work Pants. Other ponies began calling out their names, taking stock of who was there. Work turned to me with a scowl. "Two missing, Sir. Day Job! Hard Hat! Tell me you're out there!"

Other ponies had been caught in that initial collapse, and they were covered in mud and dirt, but were flopped on the ground, breathing heavily but seemingly intact.

Easy drew a sharp hiss. "On it, Boss." She suddenly vanished.

I thought she couldn't teleport? Though, come to think, she had said she preferred not to, due to the risks involved. Where was she going? I went to the edge, carefully, lest it collapse again. I heard something, a soft groan. I fell to all fours and crawled forward across the unsure ground to get towards it. "Is someone out there?"

The sound did not repeat, but I pushed forward. Behind me, other ponies were gathering, but they seemed just as nervous about the ground giving out, so they let me go alone, rather than test it with more weight. Probably for the best, I decided. Over the lip and looking down, I could see one of the workers. He was on dry land, mostly. The ground was stained red around him, implying a severe injury. "Oh shit."

I wasn't thinking, exactly. I started climbing down towards the pony. "He's hurt, bad," I screamed as I went, scrambling down the mountainside at an entirely unhealthy rate that could have had me joining him with broken bones. Destiny, as the ponies liked to call such things, smiled on me, and I didn't break myself in my hurry.

I was at his side as soon as I could be, but I didn't rush to try to pick him up. For one, ponies were heavier than they looked. For two, this was a big stallion on top of that. For three, I was pretty sure just casually yanking someone up with broken bones was a good way to make a bad situation worse. "I'm here," I assured instead. "We're going to help."

He mumbled something. Maybe a thank you? Maybe a pony curse. It was hard to tell, the pain clearly making it hard for him to get much out.

I dug out my phone and hammered up an article on what to do in that kind of situation, because heck if I knew off the top of my head. First step, stop bleeding. Alright, alright, sure, yeah...

He was breathing and awake, that was good. Could have already been worse there. "Stay with me." I started inspecting him for where the blood was coming from, which was hard, with how messed up he was. Blood liked to move, oh there it was. He had a big gash right across his cutie mark. With a sharp hiss I reached for it. "This will hurt, but I want you alive and hurting rather than dead." It wasn't time to be squeamish, or so I urgently tried to convince myself.

I pulled the two sides of the injury close together, ham-fistedly closing the wound, then applying pressure, holding it tight. He howled, and my heart quaked. That had to hurt, so bad... but there wasn't anything else I could do. Well, that wasn't true. Holding it as best as I could with one hand, I grabbed at my shirt with a bloody hand and half-tore it off, yanking at it roughly until it came free of me in the awkward position I was in.

His leg was tense and shuddered as I moved it as gently as I could to get the shirt around it a few times, tying it tight to cover the entire gash. The shirt was soaking in blood, but it was coming out slower, I thought, or so I hoped. I had my hands back on it, keeping up the pressure, trying to give his body time to close the wound more permanently. "You're not fading on us now. We just got back to work."

I heard calls and shouts. Other ponies were working towards us from another angle. Help was coming. "With me?"

He didn't answer. I looked up and saw his eyes were closed. Crap. I abandoned his leg for a moment to check for breath. Still breathing. I thanked every god I could think of and got back to holding his leg. I didn't know CPR, and wasn't even sure it'd even... work with a human on a pony. Our mouths would have a hard time making that, you know, seal, lips to lips. I mean I knew that kind of personally. My girlfriend liked giving kisses, and we never quite matched up, as fun as it could be at times.

That wasn't the time to be worrying about sloppy horse kisses. "We're over here!" I called out, desperate to not be alone with the critically injured pony. Was he still bleeding? How could I tell. Crap, he could get infected and die that way. What medicine did they have with their complete lack of germ theory? It wasn't like I was helping with my complete lack of soap or sanitary conditions. "Crap crap crap." The poor pony could still end up dying even if I did everything right, which I couldn't be sure I was doing.

I slid up around him and moved him, slowly, gently. I set his head just a little lower than the rest of him, to get the blood flowing in that direction. If it slowed the movement towards his injured leg, bonus.

Hooves on stone. I looked up to see several other worker ponies hurrying around the bend towards us. "Hard Hat," one of them called out, hurrying ahead of the others. "Damn idiot, look at you." He closed the distance with us, but found me getting in the way.

"Easy there, let's not move him more than we have to until we can do it right."

The pony casually shoved his head to the side, carrying me with it and sending me sprawling to the rocks, which were pointy I will remind. That hurt, but not nearly as much as Hard Hat had suffered. "Get out of my way! I don't care if you're paying. Hard Hat..." He put his arms around the unconscious pony. "You can't die on me..."

Work offered a hoof towards me. "That was brave work, Sir. Is he still with us?"

I pulled myself back to my hooves with his help. "Yeah, still breathing. Bleeding bad, but I tried to bandage it as best I could. Tell me there's a hospital." He looked at me blankly. "Where you bring hurt ponies?"

"Oh, yes." Work turned for the city. "Lift him up, carefully, as if he were made of very thin glass, and let's get him to a physician. We can't do much for him right here." He took charge of his ponies, guiding them away.

Which left me behind, wondering... "Where is Easy?" And beside her, where was that other pony?

I climbed down after them all, getting the injured pony down with careful passes from one pony to the next until he was down on even land. When I reached there, I waved down a wagon. "Get them to the closest physician," I bade, to which the pony peered at me.

Right, money. I fished out some bits and got it up to him and he tipped a hat. "With pleasure, Sir. Please don't make a mess in there." Several ponies climbed aboard with the injured worker among them. They would get him help, but there wasn't much more I could... oh... I quickly scaled on board. I could keep them from making it worse. Nopony would be applying leeches to 'cure humors' on my workers.

Author's Note

That... could have gone worse. So, did you remember that there was a river that runs right in front of Canterlot? This is where it came from.

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