The cave we find ourselves in is dark, lit by small lanterns hanging from the ceiling every few meters. It smells of salt and stale air. The sound of metal striking stone as well as drills can be heard throughout the darkened cave. Ponies can be faintly seen mining with yellow hard hats with an affixed light attached.
"Hey, Silver Shovel! Can you come here for a second?" One of the ponies called out.
A silver unicorn with a dull gray mane lowered his pickaxe and looked over to the voice. The mare could be seen waving a hoof in a effort to make him come faster. Silver Shovel set down his pickaxe and walked over to the impatient pony. "Yeah? What is it?"
"Our demolition team found a new subsystem in the cave about 70 meters down using explosives, and higher ups say we need miners down there to get working on it. Get your stuff and talk to Quarry Stone, he'll lead you down there."
"Yeah, sure." Silver Shovel walked back to his pickaxe and gripped it in his magic. He then took the trek back to the break room. The break room was just a part of the cave near the front that was spacious enough to hold benches and tables. He walked over to the lockers, opened the far right, and took out a lunch box. Break time was about to happen, and rather than go looking for Quarry Stone he thought he'll just meet up with him here.
After about 10 minutes have passed, ponies could be seen shuffling into the break room and going over to the lockers. Silver Shovel waited and watched for Quarry Stone to enter through the double doors. He caught a glimpse of the earth pony by his brown mane and stood up from the bench. He walked over to Quarry Stone who was rummaging through his locker. "Hey Quarry? Boss said you were going to lead me to the new subsystem we found."
Quarry looked up to Silver with dull blue eyes. "Hmm? Oh yeah. She said I was to lead you there before the day is over so that we know whats down there. Just a bit of exploration to catalog what we can mine and approximately how much. Simple work, much better than back breaking mining I'd say."
Silver nodded, though he disagreed. Being a unicorn meant that he didn't have to strain himself as a miner, and he thoroughly enjoyed the profession. "When do you want to head down there?"
"We'll go right after my lunch." Quarry removed his lunchbox and went over to the bench to eat.
After Quarry finished his lunch they set off to their destination. They reached the part of the cave that the demolition team used explosives on to breach through the wall into the subsystem. The mouth of the entrance was charred from the explosions, a black ash could be seen covering the walls. The path into the subsystem was steep, making getting a footing difficult. When they reached the bottom they turned back and looked to each other. It was going to be hard getting back up there. They then turned on their headlights and went to work. They categorized multiple deposits of sapphires, emeralds, and rubies. As well as an abundance of salt. While they were working they could hear multiple explosions in a different section of the cave.
"Must be looking for more subsystems like this one." Quarry said as he finished writing on his notepad. That's when they heard another explosion, only this time it was a much larger one indicating from the boom. A few seconds passed and then the cave started to shake. Slowly at first, but then rapidly increasing in intensity.
"Oooh, that's not good." Quarry looked over to silver. "We better get the buck out of here!"
They both ran back to the entrance to the subsystem and began the steep climb back. Rocks falling around them as they slowly made their way further up. They had almost reached the top when Silver slipped and began sliding back down. Quarry oblivious to this had reached the top and looked back. Panic in his eyes as he saw his friend sliding back down. "Silver!" Was all he said before the mouth of the subsystem collapsed, separating the two of them. Silver continued sliding down, now with bigger rocks following him after the collapse. A particularly large rock made a resounding clang with his helmet, making him see stars. He reach the bottom and got up to get his bearings. The path up was now completely filled in with rocks, blocking him from getting out.
He took off his helmet and inspected it. Although it had saved his life, it had a large dent on the right side and the light attached had been broken. 'Great.' Silver thought. Not only is he trapped, but he's also blinded by the dark. He set down the helmet, picked up his pickaxe, and went over to the wall on his right. He places a hoof on it and begins walking forward. If he sticks close to the wall, he won't get lost because he can just turn around and go back.
After walking for around 10 minutes with his hoof on the wall he notices something. While he felt rock before, he now feels something different with his hoof. Curious, he feels around and tries to discern what it is.
'Feels like drywall.' Silver thought as he pushed forward. It didn't give way but he wasn't having any of it. He lifted his pickaxe and striked the fake rock, the pickaxe going through easily. He worked on the wall for a few minutes, making a hole big enough for him to fit through. He went in and looked around, still not able to see anything. "Damn cave in, if it didn't break my stupid-"
"Wait, im a unicorn!" Silver exclaimed, remembering that he can cast a simple light spell. His horn flares with magic as he casts the spell, the room now lit by a light on the tip of his horn. He looked around and gasped, there was treasure in here! Someone actually made a hideout inside the cave! Barrels and chests of bits and gems littered the floor in front of him. Glinting as the light from his horn reflected off the shiny loot. A crystal pillar sat in the middle of the hideout, surrounded by the treasure.
'This can't be real.' Silver thought as he walked over to a chest. He picked up a single bit and bit it, the metallic taste indicating its authenticity. "Yep, It's real alright." He continued to take in the sight when he noticed engravings on the crystal pillar. He walked up to it and inspected them. He has seen enchantments on tools like his pickaxe but these engravings where intricate, they weren't anything he's seen before. He placed a hoof on the carvings feeling them. They lit up as he touched them. Seeing this, Silver decided to light up the engravings in the shape of a smiley face. Smiling and satisfied with his work, he turned around to rummage through the treasure some more when electricity started to arc wildly around the crystal, cackling as it raced back and forth.
Before Silver could react, the crystal lit up fully charged and sent forth a wave of magic, teleporting away and taking everything around it with it, including Silver.
"More bugs, left side!" Gunfire could be heard over shouts as four stout dwarves made their stand against a absolute horde of creatures.
One of the dwarves in a yellow combat suit let forth a blazing streak of fire from his weapon, incinerating the multitude of bugs in front of him. Another in gray mowing down dozens with his revved up minigun, laughing at the blood and gore he was causing. One in red stood on a pillar, maintaining his turret and blasting any that get too close with a shotgun. Finally, the last dwarf in blue was high up near the ceiling on a platform, sniping down and watching his teammates backs.
"On it!" The gray dwarf replied, the team's gunner. He positioned his minigun to the left and let loose a hail of bullets, ripping apart the creatures one by one.
The creatures they were fighting were as ferocious as they were numerous, wanting nothing more than to feast on the little dwarves. They were arachnid creatures with no eyes and a mouth for a head. The bulk of the swarm were grunts, relatively weak creatures that relied on their numbers to be effective. Armored creatures named Praetorians spit acid at the dwarves, who flanked around and shot it's exposed abdomen. Lastly, there were Mactera Spawns, flying mosquito like creatures that shoot projectiles produced from its stomach.
The one in red, the engineer, threw a small cylindrical object 10 meters ahead. When it landed it produced a hologram of a dancing dwarf, attracting the majority of the swarm. He then took out a grenade launcher and fired into the center of the mass of bugs, obliterating them.
"They're coming from behind!" the blue scout said as he sent a sniper round straight into a mactera, shredding its insides. He used his grappling hook to get himself into a better position against the new wave of glyphids.
"I got this one." the yellow driller replied. He turned around and went about placing three c4 satchel charges 5 meters apart of each other. He waited until the swarm was rushing over them to detonate, the explosion causing crystals on the roof of the cave to rain upon the rest of the swarm.
The battle continued for five minutes, each dwarf doing their part to end the threat against them. Until finally, it was over. They all regrouped around the supply drop they had called earlier, refilling on ammo and grabing some supplies to heal minor wounds.
"Funs over already? I was just starting to enjoy myself." Gunner grab the end of his minigun and twirled it around, causing the barrels to spin.
"Yep, its back to work." Driller took out a device and held it in front of him, studying it. "Hmm, 3d scanner says there's a subsystem straight ahead, ill get working on it." He put the device away and went over to the wall straight ahead. He powered up his dual arm drills and began slicing through rock like butter. He exited out the other side and powered down his drills, looking for any threat that may be lurking.
He threw out two flares to light up the blackened cave. It was faint up ahead but he saw it. The treasure. It was strewn about around a crystal the size of 2 dwarves. He called out to his comrades. "Hey! There's gold here!"
"Mine it yourself!" came the reply.
"Just get yer asses o'er here will ya?
Driller waited for his team to catch up. When they did he pointed over to the treasure. "May not be raw ore, but it should smelt down just the same."
"By the beard, who left this here?" Scout said as he walked towards the treasure. "Oh, what's this? You guys better check this out."
The rest of them went up to scout to see what he was talking about and saw it. A silver horse laying there unconscious, covered in the treasure.
"Think its alive?" Gunner said, looking down at the equine.
"Doubt it, this planet is filled with hostile carnivores, especially down here in the caves. Poor thing didn't stand a chance." Scout replied.
"Shut up you stupid oaf! I can see it breathing from here." Engineer walked over to the horse and kicked him gently with his foot, eliciting a small snore from the creature.
"I thought horses sleep standing up." Driller said, getting a huff of agreement from gunner.
"Doesn't matter, We're not going to leave it down here. But first, lets get this treasure to the mule. Scout, while we do this you carry the horse back to the drop pod." Engineer said, pointing at scout.
"Fine, but yer buying rounds tonight." Scout went over to the equine, bent his knees, and scoped up the horse in his arms. Thankfully, the drop pod wasn't far from their location. But that didn't stop scout from complaining the whole way there. After arriving he opened the drop pod, placed the equine in, and shut the doors so that nothing could get in. He then went back to his team to help them mine and shoot in the caves.
After a few hours pass the dwarves arrive with their portable storage unit M.U.L.E, or Mining Utility Lift Engine, loaded with different minerals and ores. The M.U.L.E loaded itself into the side of the drop pod and secured itself in place with metal clamps. The dwarves open the drop pod and find the equine there still unconscious. They buckled themselves in and prepared to take off.
Engineer took out a device and held it up to his mouth. "Mission Control, this is the dwarves. Our quota has been fulfilled and we are ready to head back up."
"This is mission control, you are clear and we are ready to activate the drop pod. Good mining out there."
The metal gates to the drop pod close and the drop pod is sent back up to orbit in the space rig.
Author's Note
Hey guys! Its my first story so please leave feedback on how I can improve!
