open [RP] The Blackwater Quarry

[Randimaxis 8,652]

"Rats? Oh no, that's not good."

 

Oh please, for Celestia's sake, be scared of rats!  Dax didn't want Ziggy to help him search fruitlessly for whatever 'rats' might be actually hiding out, especially as he really didn't want to find any rats in the first place.  He had hoped the comment might send the Doc off, allowing him the chance to get a peek in the big crate.  He held his hopes up high that Ziggy would possibly-

 

"I'll help you look for some, okay? I don't have any patients right now and the little things can be fast. Better to have a few hooves to try and grab for them after all, if that's okay s-I mean, Dax?"

 

Ironically, Dax's first thought was, RATS.

 

He smiled at the Doctor.  "Uhm, thanks.  I really... appreciate it.  I think I've seen you around before; you're the doctor, aren't ya?  I heard Father saying you were pretty good at your work - and he speaks facts, not compliments."

 

Dax began searching around, trying to seem like he had an actual rat to find.  It was kind of obvious he was only half-heartedly doing so, and he kept stealing glances at the huge crate parked over in the corner.  

 

"So... how've you been adjusting to life here in the quarry?  It's not too rough out here for you, is it?"  Though the question might have sounded sarcastic to others, the look on Dax's face showed he was actually interested in whether or not she was doing well.

[Blitz Boom 4,621]

The Grounds - Outer wards.

 

"Yep, resident doctor Doc *Ziggy* Zinger, at your service."

 

Ziggy grinned at Dax before turning around and starting to zoom around looking for rats. Or well, that was One of the things she did, the other was trying to hide the increasing happy face that was starting to go over her from what Dax had said about Mr. Blackwater.

 

Getting compliments from Luther Blackwater was far reached, so she had set out for small accomplishments like the fact that she hadn't been fired yet, so she was at least adequate. So being now told that she was considered pretty good at what she was doing was near enough an actual compliment to make her almost go into a gleeful mess.

 

Likely for the best that she managed to keep it down though, or that pink slip might actually end up coming her way after all. Wouldn't be a very professional thing to do after all.

 

"And I like the work here. Was a little hectic at first, but when you get into the drill of things it starts to get easy enough y'know? Reminds me of Las Pegasus, just with less casinos and more rock slides."

 

Suddenly she dived behind a box and lowered her head out of sight, though it didn't last long before she raised it again and looked over towards Dax.

 

"No, just a weird tag on a box. You have any luck yet?"

 

The look on her face changed from slightly disapointed to curious and got a tinge of wondering in her eyes as well when she saw Dax. Not so much because it was him as she , y'know, Knew he was there, but more because she had caught him in giving a look towards the direction of the large crate that had almost drawn her in. Was he curious about what was in there as well? Or was it a rat over in that direction that had caught his eye?

[Randimaxis 8,652]

Ziggy?  That's... actually kinda neat.  LOADS better than Daxter.

 

He continued fake searching for the (hopefully) non-existent rat.  The crate kept calling to him, attempting to lure him in with its siren-song promise of curiosity fulfillment.  But the Doc wouldn't approve of such things... would she?  Maybe she wouldn't tell anypony that he'd been here.  Maybe she'd actually stand watch while he...

 

No, no... not fair to just ask her to watch while I get to see what it is.  Oh, if only I knew whether she'd report me or not...

 

Regardless of his thoughts, he still kept scrounging around.  Meanwhile, the Doc was answering his inquiry as to how she was faring here.

 

"And I like the work here. Was a little hectic at first, but when you get into the drill of things it starts to get easy enough y'know? Reminds me of Las Pegasus, just with less casinos and more rock slides."

 

Dax gave a small chuckle; his Father HATED gambling - saw it as an enormous waste of money.  Still, the sound of it made Las Pegasus seem like a place Dax should visit... if he ever got out of the Quarry, that is.  

 

Watching Ziggy duck down out of eyesight to check a box, Dax looked over at the crate once again.  Colt oh colt I REALLY wish I could see right through the crate itself!  This is soooooooo frustrating!  Why can't I ever have it easy for once?  I mean, if Father wasn't going to tell him what was in it, then at least he should let me check it out...

 

"No, just a weird tag on a box. You have any luck yet?"

 

Dax jumped, then turned to face the Doc.  She had a look on her muzzle that suggested that she'd maybe caught him staring at the crate.  Had she?

 

"Uhm... no, no rats yet.  Maybe we should check over there," he motioned to the huge crate, "and see if we find any droppings; that'd mean they ARE here, somewhere."

 

He calmly made his way over to the crate, and began inspecting the floor around it.

 

RRRRRGH!  The rutting box is driving me CRAZY!  It's too big to be just supplies, too small to be another shipment of carts... WHAT THE HECK IS IT!?

 

Though he didn't realize it, he'd dropped all pretense of looking for rats; he was openly staring at the crate, his eyes darting all around it, trying to figure it out without opening it.  So much so, he almost bumped into Ziggy while trying to figure out it's dimensions.

[cwhip9 1,078]

The Quarry-the barrecks

Cresent was looking at his cave map that he made the minors to look at on one of the walls making an note on where the incidents happened in the deep mine. part of his job as watcher was to keep an updated map up for the mines in case of stuff that happened that day. He didn't have an office but more of his own cot with a desk nearby to help map out the cave the minors would visit to know ahead of time where they would be going. With a big map taped to the wall and a desk in front of it  He scowled at the parchment like it took his lunch. spitting the pen out of his mouth he looked back at his journal he kept to help him remember the details.

 

The way his map reading where the incident happened it wasn't the first time something went down at that spot, he was just finding that out looking at the last watchers note on the cave. "if that area is so rich we are ponys getting hurt by that section? were not by a volcano so it doesn't make sense to keep seeing these problems" he thought out loud getting a few curios glance's from some of the other minors milling about. He then looked back at his desk and the map looking for some sort of pattern, mark, any clue to show why this area is so danger prone to problems but all he could find was nothing "or" cresent thought again. "no that wouldn't work well for the mine if sompony was messing with the charts to lead us to the danger zones but it would explain a lot...no the blackwaters are eager but there not that aggressive to beat each other....are they?"

 

one of the minor ponys came fro behind him "well any news on the layout?" asked the minor

 

Cresent turned towards the minor "keep a close eye on nests next time you go deep if you notice more get out of there and find a new rout" he said

 

"but there just spiders, hats the issue?" the minor asked

 

"if we wipe out the spider colony in the mines what ever they were keeping in check we'll run into. I don't know about you but if it takes a spider that size to take out its pry id hate to see it"

 

"but we got these, that'll" Cresent cut the minor off "say that to no mane" the minor stopped

 

"sorry cres, but some of us are more concerned about diamonds then spiders" said the minor

 

"good, but if you want to live and find diamonds listen to the bat new guy" said cresent getting up to leave the barracks. The veteran minors would rarely question him like that, only the fresh minors would. He would know they were fresh based off the question of spiders. He'd hope that wasn't no mane's replacement

[Randimaxis 8,652]

THE QUARRY - The Barracks

 

As Crescent headed out the door, he almost ran full tilt into another pony headed inside.  They stopped short of each other, and regarded one another.

 

"Whoop!  Oh, Crescent!  I am SO sorry - I didn't see you coming out."

 

It was Silver Studs, the resident engineer here at the quarry.  She had a knack for fixing anything that broke down, and since many things broke down while in use, that meant she'd had to visit the mines somewhat frequently... which meant that Crescent and Silver were at least passingly familiar with each other.  He'd seen her work - for a unicorn, she didn't seem to mind getting dirty, or dealing kindly with the spiders, or dealing with his bat-heritage.

 

"Actually, I was coming to look for you!  I'd wanted to ask you about that miner you brought out today - if he's doing all right?  Plus, there are a couple of other things that I had in mind... though I don't want to be a bother to you, I mean, if you're actually headed somewhere else.  You seem a bit... flustered?"

 

Silver was pretty, but she was more of a tomcolt - she never wore make-up, nor dresses, nor did she primp in front of a mirror.  She seemed, at times, to be almost an exact opposite of Vylia Blackwater.  Still, some of the other workers had cracked a few jokes and made some salacious comments... at least, they used to.  Knee Slapper, who kind of treated Silver like a sister, pranked them mercilessly for weeks before they got a clue and left Silver be.  To this day, Crescent wondered if Silver even knew Slapper had done such a thing.

 

"Crescent, is everything all right?  You look upset... do you want to chat about it?"

[cwhip9 1,078]

THE QUARRY - The Barracks

 

As Crescent headed out the door, he almost ran full tilt into another pony headed inside.  They stopped short of each other, and regarded one another.

 

"Whoop!  Oh, Crescent!  I am SO sorry - I didn't see you coming out."

 

It was Silver Studs, the resident engineer here at the quarry.  She had a knack for fixing anything that broke down, and since many things broke down while in use, that meant she'd had to visit the mines somewhat frequently... which meant that Crescent and Silver were at least passingly familiar with each other.  He'd seen her work - for a unicorn, she didn't seem to mind getting dirty, or dealing kindly with the spiders, or dealing with his bat-heritage.

 

"Actually, I was coming to look for you!  I'd wanted to ask you about that miner you brought out today - if he's doing all right?  Plus, there are a couple of other things that I had in mind... though I don't want to be a bother to you, I mean, if you're actually headed somewhere else.  You seem a bit... flustered?"

 

Silver was pretty, but she was more of a tomcolt - she never wore make-up, nor dresses, nor did she primp in front of a mirror.  She seemed, at times, to be almost an exact opposite of Vylia Blackwater.  Still, some of the other workers had cracked a few jokes and made some salacious comments... at least, they used to.  Knee Slapper, who kind of treated Silver like a sister, pranked them mercilessly for weeks before they got a clue and left Silver be.  To this day, Crescent wondered if Silver even knew Slapper had done such a thing.

 

"Crescent, is everything all right?  You look upset... do you want to chat about it?"

"Silver!" cresent said surprised by the odd encounter of his friend. Cresent somehow felt calmer around Silver, weather it was her usual tomcolt style of things or the fact of her prettiness he couldn't put a hoof on it. Either way he felt calmer around her and was always glad to have her opinion on things "its ok I tend to rush into things from time to time too" he laughed, ok he tried to laugh to calm himself in front of his crush.  

 

"actually I havnt herd of the minor yet save he wont be having a mane for a while" he looked up at the unicorn debating on asking her about what he found about the maps being tampered, maybe this would be the place to start. He knew trusting Silver wasn't an issue, he just didn't want to get her hurt or caught up if the rumors of the blackwaters claim to be true on in terms of coruption.

 

 Some guides that left the job left one of two ways, straight up quit or an "rock slide" The bat pony didn't want to test that last bit but all the guids left notes for the minors and other workers do to the fact 1 guid for about 100 different minors made the ratio pretty small in terms of a window for off time. Hence the Barracks where he lived in   

 

"and I'm not going to lie, I've kinda been tense sense this the incident so sorry if I'm a bit,...um....well you know" He couldn't find the words.

Well he did but they didn't sound right,

twitchy?

jumpy?

over thinking?   

worried to ask about the maps being tampered in case she knew anything about it that WONT send an angry blackwater after her and possibly come to harm via a "accident"?

 

"any ways I always have time for you whats up?" he asked giving her a smile hopping she wouldn't catch on, at least not yet

[Randimaxis 8,652]

Silver sighed with relief as she heard about the miner.

 

"Oh, thank Celestia!  I'm glad that his mane burned - I mean, not that I'm happy that it burned, but I mean I'm glad that's ALL that happened.  Oh, you know what I mean, don't you?"  

 

She gave Crescent a playful punch in the side - not hard - and gave a chuckle.

 

"Anyhoof, I wanted to ask you about the incident itself.  What's all this I've heard about sparks?  Some sort of high-temperature fissure in the deep mines, right?  I thought we were nowhere NEAR a volcano... and there's no chance we're near a lava tube, the measurements were precise..."

 

Silver looked extremely puzzled.  Of course, she did LOVE a good puzzle... but this one had the potential of causing some serious damage, not to mention harm to the hard-working mining crew - and that was something that obviously concerned her greatly.

 

"I have no idea - but I'm going to work on it.  Yep yep, I know I can come up with something that can... well, you know... make things better."

 

Her smile lit up her face, but it was obvious she was still a bit troubled by the incident.  She looked back at Crescent.

 

"Okay, well - the new Mineshoes are ready, so you can let the others know that they don't have to use those nearly broken things from last month.  Good thing Mr. Blackwater ordered those new materials, or I'd just be chewing hay and wasting time.  He's not that bad, you know?  Well, it's not that he isn't BAD, actually, but he's not nearly as scary as the others say he is."

 

She glanced over at the Blackwater Manor, sitting high on the cliffside above.  It was opulent and very secluded, but one could still hear the mining operations from the manor courtyard.  She looked back at the bat-pony and grinned.

 

"Okay, well... that's my side of the mountain; what's yours, Cress?"

 

She looked to him expectantly, waiting for his response.

[Blitz Boom 4,621]

The Grounds - Outer wards.

 

"Say... Are you curious too?"

 

Ziggy Suddenly stood over Dax, head bend down and looking at him from her flying position above him.

 

There wasn't a lot of room to do that in here, but she figured that perhaps the slightly more aerial view would help on looking for the rats or their droppings. She hadn't been able to see anything really, or any movement that didn't make sense in the room, but she had noticed something else: And that was Dax seemingly getting a bit obsessed over the large crate of secrets.

 

"I'm not gonna snoop into things, but... Big crates are always fun y'know? It might be filled with air, or sand, but it can have so many other things in. Clothes, shoes, equipment, tools, magic doohickeys, pretzels and more, more, More! You never know unless it says, and the mystery is fun to play with in your head."

 

She turned around and landed, folding in her wings and took a quick xzoom around the crate to see if any rat clues were there, having about as much luck as she had so far. Perhaps the rats had been a false alarm, and somepony had just seen a weird shadow? Happened to her all the time, so it was possible really.

 

"My mom used to say that the best thing was something you never opened. Because as long as it was closed, you could let your imagination see it as anything or turn it into everything, whilst knowing what it was would take away the fantasy. Though to be fair, her boxes tended to have cookies, so it wasn't easy."

 

Ziggy chuckled a little over things as she recalled some of the times. Her siblings that had grown up at home hadn't been As curious as her, but even then mom had apparently kept a few decoy boxes around if anypony amongst them got curious and she wanted to hide things, and sometimes there wasn't anything to hide and she just did it for a laugh.

 

But that was mom in a nutshell: Seemed normal on the top, but she had her quirks and her moments when dad would end up looking like a beginner in his field, and Ziggy couldn't help but miss that at times.

 

Perhaps she should visit Las Pegasus the next time she had a few days to herself? Yeah, that might be fun. But that was later. Right now, she had a workplace to be present at and the son of her boss to speak with. The rest were future plannings, and those sorts of things didn't have much place during work hours.

 

Well, unless she was bored, but then your  just went all over anyway, right?

[Randimaxis 8,652]

"Say... Are you curious too?"

 

Dax looked up at her, flying over his head.  He always sort of envied pegasi and unicorns because they could do such nifty things, but he wasn't the kind to look down on them for it.  That was one thing he shared with his father - neither one of them had issues with the equine races in Equestria.

 

"Well, I... uhm, it just... I..."

 

Dax knew he'd have to come clean, and he was starting to believe that the doc might be one of the only ponies who he could trust.

 

"I'm not gonna snoop into things, but... Big crates are always fun y'know? It might be filled with air, or sand, but it can have so many other things in. Clothes, shoes, equipment, tools, magic doohickeys, pretzels and more, more, More! You never know unless it says, and the mystery is fun to play with in your head."

 

"Well... to be honest, I saw Taps bring it in this morning, and I've been nuts about it ever since.  Father says it's something that might make things easier around here... but I guess I just couldn't keep away."

 

"My mom used to say that the best thing was something you never opened. Because as long as it was closed, you could let your imagination see it as anything or turn it into everything, whilst knowing what it was would take away the fantasy. Though to be fair, her boxes tended to have cookies, so it wasn't easy."

 

Dax gave a sigh.

 

"Okay, look... I'm not in here looking for... for rats.  I'm here because of the crate.  I just can't help it - I wanna know what it is, for Luna's sake!  I've been curious about it all day, and I thought I could sneak in here and get a quick peek... and then you showed up.  Please don't be mad at me; I'm sorry I lied.  I just... well, I got nervous."

 

Dax looked down ashamedly.  He wasn't certain what her reaction would be, but if she got mad he couldn't say he'd blame her.  He scuffed a hoof on the floor, and gave a sigh... then, without moving his head, he rolled his eyes up to look at her.

 

"Of course, if you wanted to take a quick peek at it too, I won't tell anyone."

 

He looked like he was either waiting to be yelled at, or waiting for a partner-in-crime.

[cwhip9 1,078]

Silver sighed with relief as she heard about the miner.

 

"Oh, thank Celestia!  I'm glad that his mane burned - I mean, not that I'm happy that it burned, but I mean I'm glad that's ALL that happened.  Oh, you know what I mean, don't you?"  

 

She gave Crescent a playful punch in the side - not hard - and gave a chuckle.

 

"Anyhoof, I wanted to ask you about the incident itself.  What's all this I've heard about sparks?  Some sort of high-temperature fissure in the deep mines, right?  I thought we were nowhere NEAR a volcano... and there's no chance we're near a lava tube, the measurements were precise..."

 

Silver looked extremely puzzled.  Of course, she did LOVE a good puzzle... but this one had the potential of causing some serious damage, not to mention harm to the hard-working mining crew - and that was something that obviously concerned her greatly.

 

"I have no idea - but I'm going to work on it.  Yep yep, I know I can come up with something that can... well, you know... make things better."

 

Her smile lit up her face, but it was obvious she was still a bit troubled by the incident.  She looked back at Crescent.

 

"Okay, well - the new Mineshoes are ready, so you can let the others know that they don't have to use those nearly broken things from last month.  Good thing Mr. Blackwater ordered those new materials, or I'd just be chewing hay and wasting time.  He's not that bad, you know?  Well, it's not that he isn't BAD, actually, but he's not nearly as scary as the others say he is."

 

She glanced over at the Blackwater Manor, sitting high on the cliffside above.  It was opulent and very secluded, but one could still hear the mining operations from the manor courtyard.  She looked back at the bat-pony and grinned.

 

"Okay, well... that's my side of the mountain; what's yours, Cress?"

 

She looked to him expectantly, waiting for his response.

Cresent smiled at Silver "awesome glad to hear that about the new shoe's would make the minors less on edge with each other" Cresent said looking at the other minors milling around.

 

"ya...for Mr.Blackwater I don't see him being a bad pony, more he.....might not know what's really going on. Like the sparks form the incident today, what if...." he then looked at the cave entrance "Silver I think I found something but im just trying to make it add up. Call me paranoid but dose it seem odd that all the other guids that have ether left or had a rock slide happen to them?" he said now looking at  Silver with a longing look. Noticing how well her mane matched the evening setting sun. half marveling at it half still lost in thought and trying to say what he really wanted to. He looked back at the mine entrence

"i generly don't ask these things unless I find something, me and my burning curiousity and all. but I think I found a conection between some of the slides and the past guids but the thing is" he said now looking at the porch he sat on "finding proof might be ruffer then spiders if im right about this"

[Blitz Boom 4,621]

The Grounds - Outer wards.

 

Ziggy's first reaction wasn't one of judgement, nor one of unbridled joy that Dax had asked if she wanted to look in the crate as well, but more like a look of relief and a small giggle.

 

"Well, at least we know for sure now that there's no rats, right?"

 

It was a lie from Dax, but it had still led them to having a quick look over things to see if there really were rats, so it hadn't been the worst result from a lie that could happen. Besides, she didn't want to stay mad at anypony or carry grudges, so she'd more focus on how this meant it was 110% rat clean and then move along to the next thing than to get bogged up in small details like that.

 

"But uhm... I don't think I should look inside the crate. There might be a camera somewhere, and I don't wanna get fired when there's so many ponies that might get injured and not have a helping hoof ready. Besides, i'd like to keep the mystery alive for a little bit more, buuuut..."

 

Ziggy tapped er chin with her right, front hoof, looking thoughtful for a moment before giving a vague nod and refocusing on Dax.

 

"I could make sure that nopony would come to disturb you, and then you could say what you saw another time if you want?"

 

It burned somewhat in her chest with a hunger for getting to know what was in the box, but... Nnnngh- no, she couldn't. It would be too risky for her to look, even if she wanted to and it was the son of Mr. Blackwater that had asked her. From what she had heard, Dax wasn't exactly the pony in the family that Mr. Blackwater would let do everything he wanted without consequences, and if she were with him as he opened the Arc of the Covenant or whatever was in the box, her future here would be brief. Like, Really brief.

 

Better to guard and then find out things later. Unless it was a box full of radioactive scorpions or something like that, in which case she'd be more focused on relocating to somewhere safe. Like the moon.

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@@cwhip9

 

Silver got a distant, pondering look on her muzzle.

 

'Well... I don't know why you'd say something like that.  I mean, the guide before you had to leave because of family issues... and the one before her because she'd been stealing coffee... the one before him, now that one was a rock slide... before that one was...'

 

Silver stopped, realization creeping across her features.

 

"... you know, you might have something here, Cress.  I just never thought that it could be like that.  Well, not actually saying I never thought it could happen this way, but I never expected it to be true.  What can we do about it?"

 

 @@Blitz Boom

 

Dax visibly relaxed.

 

"I just wanted to know what's in it... I know Father will have bugbears if he knows I'm here, but..."

 

He looked toward the door, then back at Ziggy.  He got a gleam in his eye, and smiled appropriately.

 

"But Father didn't say I couldn't look at the box, did he?  How about that, then?  We'll just pull the tarp back and look at the crate itself - maybe it has an invoice on the side, and we won't have to open it at all!"

 

He looked to Ziggy, "But you do't have to go - in fact, please stay; it might be good to have witnesses, just in case."

 

Without awaiting a response, he took hold of one corner of the blue tarp covering the crate, and yanked it upward.  Beneath it, there was a label which prominently featured two faces, quite similar, wearing straw hats and smiling.  The words beneath them were small, but Dax moved closer to examine it properly.

 

"... what in Equestria is a 'Tiny Gem Shiny Extractor'?"

[cwhip9 1,078]

@@cwhip9

 

Silver got a distant, pondering look on her muzzle.

 

'Well... I don't know why you'd say something like that.  I mean, the guide before you had to leave because of family issues... and the one before her because she'd been stealing coffee... the one before him, now that one was a rock slide... before that one was...'

 

Silver stopped, realization creeping across her features.

 

"... you know, you might have something here, Cress.  I just never thought that it could be like that.  Well, not actually saying I never thought it could happen this way, but I never expected it to be true.  What can we do about it?"

Cresent smiled relaxing knowing his crush was on board "we have one pice of the puzzle we just need to find more before...well if im right on this the next incedent. We know it cant be the blackwaters, why would" he stoped himself looking around for evs droppers.

 

He then stood up and motion her to follow him towards the mine entrence still talking but low enough for only the both of them to hear each other

 

"why would they set up one of the most needed workers up like that. No we need to aim lower and keep digging. I want to have another pair of eyes with me as I double check the 'no mane incedent' then back track from there the order of the last incedents of the guids see if we can find some hard proof in hoof vs just an idea"

 

When the two ponys stood at the outside of the cave cresent looked at his crush "well its this or cross my hoofs and hope not to get fired which the bits are too good to let go" he said wanting to say 'along with you' but he didn't find the nerve.

 

He was always clumsy saying how he liked another pony but then again most ponys rarely see or think of an gentelcoat seeing a batpony

Edited September 25, 2015 by cwhip9

[Blitz Boom 4,621]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Ziggy didn't answer right away to Dax's question. Seeing the words had made her mind pick something that would fit the description, and the mental image of the box being full of Breezies with tiny vacuum cleaners they went around with in the mines to gather small diamonds whilst singing had made her go stiff as a board, not focused on the real world and with an open-mouthed smile that were both extremely happy and disturbingly eerie since she didn't move a muscle whilst it was there.

 

It took a minute or two before she would snap out of it, but when she did, she shook her head, looked down on Dax and giggled with the images still lingering in her mind.

 

"I don't know. Don't think it's what I thought off though."

 

It was rarely as fun as this, especially at a work place like this. While there was the slim chance for magic, fun, adventure or an army of vacuum-breezies, she bet it was more like something that was just for work, and sure, while it was the reason they were there, why couldn't that involve fun things?

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@@cwhip9

 

Silver glanced around a bit nervously, her eyes dancing across any unidentified shadows.

 

"Oh, this is bad, Cress... I mean, I wouldn't think that anypony would ever do anything like that, but what you've pointed out makes it really hard to ignore this.  I could always try to see what we can find out through some of the others, but I'd have to do it as quietly as I could."

 

She suddenly gasped, and put a hoof on Crescent's shoulder.

 

"You don't think... you don't think YOU or I could become a target because of this, do you?  I mean, not because we're already targets, but what if word gets around and whoever's behind this gets wind of it?  We might want to keep this to ourselves for the moment, okay?  No need to put yourself in danger - and I wouldn't want to see any of my buddies hurt!"

 

Silver gave Crescent a small smile.  "But we can do this, I'm sure of it!  Well, where do we start?"

 

@@Blitz Boom 

 

Dax gave Ziggy a strange look.  "Well, what uhm... what didja think it was?  I mean, I guess it reminds you of something funny... after all, you started gigg-"

 

There was a >CLICK< as the door to the warehouse opened again.  Dax's eyes went as wide as saucers, and he began frantically looking around for another hiding place.  He turned to her and hissed, "Find a hiding place!" as he tossed the tarp back over the crate and attempted to slip back into the shadowy corner he'd been hiding in earlier.  Unfortunately, Ziggy could see Dax as plain as day; he didn't seem to realize it, either.

 

The sound of two ponies talking drifted over the shelves and to Ziggy's ears.

 

"... and it's all ready to go for tomorrow's showing, sir.  As soon as the gentlecolts show up, all we'll have to do is send Taps in to fetch it, and the presentation can begin.  Does that sound like what you want, sir?"

 

The first voice was unfamiliar; they spoke with the grace usually reserved for the Manor staff, so that was possibly the case here.  The other voice, however...

 

"Yes.  Good.  As long as things adhere to the schedule, there will be no problems."

 

THAT was the voice of Mr. Luther Blackwater HIMSELF!  Now Ziggy knew she had to hide... or something... before the boss saw her.  And was she about to simply leave Dax to be found?

[Blitz Boom 4,621]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Ziggy had about a half second of thinking about hiding, but it didn't really get further than that. She was towering over most ponies, which made it hard to miss her, and even if that wasn't an issue, the fact that she was in some pretty bright colours didn't help on things.

 

Instead, she zoomed over to the crate with the bandages that Dax had helped her find and placed herself right behind it. She was kinda sorry what she had to do now, but Dax were terrible at hiding as well it looked like, and since it was Mr. Blackwater she heard at the end, it couldn't help with him finding either of them doing a poor job. Especially not when there was an easy solution to this.

 

"Hehe, thanks again sir for pointing me towards this. I'll remember to check behind the other crates first the next time."

 

She said it somewhat loudly with a happy tone and fully intending for Mr. Blackwater to hear it. It wasn't yelling, and it sounded natural, so there shouldn't be much of a problem when he would get within sight and she would look towards him and the originator of the other voice with a smile and bowing her neck.

 

"Oh, hello there Mr. Blackwater. Good to meet you."

 

The b ow was one of respect, and she got her head up and looking down on them with a cheery smile still planted on her face. Sure, she could be overly serious right now, but she was not in any problems. After all, all she was doing here was getting a crate she needed for work that had fallen down behind some of the others, and Dax had been so kind as to tell her where it was so she could get back to her office faster.

 

She just hoped that Dax would realise this too and not fumble over things, but who knew?

[Randimaxis 8,652]

Luther Blackwater was an individual who struck fear into many a pony at first sight.  He kept his clothes sharp, his eyes narrowed, and his frown perpetually in place.  Nopony had ever even heard of him smiling before; he always had the appearance of a very angry businesspony.  All in all, he was downright frightening.

 

He stopped walking, his eyes scanning across this section of the warehouse as he scrutinized every detail.  In turn, those indigo orbs came to rest on Ziggy.

 

"Zinger."

 

He eyeballed the crate she held, then his eyes returned to hers.

 

"I will take it as read that crate is already accounted for - and that you'll be putting in the paperwork when you return to your office."

 

His expression remained neutral - a good sign, as no emotion is most likely a favorable reaction.  Luther's gaze instead came to rest on Dax, who was standing there, looking kind of lost.  When he saw Dax simply standing there, his expression darkened.

 

"Daxter.  What are you doing in the warehouse?  Go back to the Manor - you're not supposed to be here."

 

Dax actually gave a slight grin, making eye contact with the elder Blackwater.  He trotted over to him, paying Ziggy no particular mind; it was obvious she would be able to make it away without issue, so Dax just had to occupy Luther long enough for her to get out of sight.

 

"Yes, sir."  Dax gave a cursory wave to the assistant as he headed outside.  Luther watched him go; it was obvious that something had happened here, but there was no telling what.

 

Outside, Dax let out a sigh of relief as he caught up with Ziggy.

 

"Now THAT was close!  Good thing you thought fast back there - I had no idea what I was gonna say, but you kinda saved my flank.  Thanks, Doc... I owe you one."

 

He actually gave a full smile, and his features seemed to light up - it was a rare treat to actually see him happy.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Randimaxis

[Blitz Boom 4,621]

@@Randimaxis,

 

(Before exiting the warehouse)

 

"Yep, it's on the list and everything. Seemed like it just fell off the shelf before delivery, so I figured I'd just go grab it quick.

 

Anyway, I better get back to the office before somepony gets an infection or something. Hope you'll have a nice day Mr. Blackwater."

 

She wouldn't lie, Luther Blackwater was a little scary in it, especially with that near unmoving stone face he had on constantly. She'd seen ponies that could keep up emotions before in Las Pegasus, sure, but... Daaaang this pony was good.

 

Still, she tried to be nice to everypony, even those who it seemed like it would have no effect on even if you took a straw and blew concentrated happiness directly into their nostril. Besides, she doubted that she'd be kept around this place for much longer if she'd just gone *Meh, another time* anyway, so this was likely the best approach she could go for.

 

Oh well, another time with that, she had some work to prepare for now..

 

(Outside the warehouse)

 

Must... Not... hug...

 

Ziggy stood silent with the string around the crate firmly in her teeth whilst looking at the now smiling Dax, but her eyes had a glance of somepony with a predatory glee flying through their head. Like Pinkie Pie roaming through the tall grass and settling her eyes on a wild muffin.

 

It took a lot from her not to simply tacklehug Dax now and hope that things wouldn't get weird, but she managed to speak through her torn want to either hug or keep her job, though her voice was slightly muffled by the string.

 

"Hehe, no worries Dax, I was just there after this crate, so not like it was a lie or anything."

 

As big a grin as she could muster without dropping the crate went over her face, though she did look forward to being able to let it go. It wasn't the most heavy, but it was enough to make her long for her office a little more.

 

"Anyway, it's been seven kinds of fun, but I better get back to the office before Mr. Blackwater hears that I've been away from the camera for too long. Still a bit of time until lunch after all, but hey, perhaps I'll see you around another time? Take care S- I mean, Dax."

 

With that she raised a hoof and waved at him before spreading her large wings, raising up into the air and then zoomed like zig-zagged, pink lightning over the sky towards her office.

[cwhip9 1,078]

@@Randimaxis,
Cresent hugged Silver tightly "your not going to get hurt" he said in her ear.The more he thought about it he realized he made a promise, half to himself and the other half to silver. He let her go looking her in the eye almost getting lost in them

 

"we start at the mine and work our way back. There's a line to find and every line has its source to hone in on. Im starting with the incidents at the mine, and honestly I could use those pair of eyes of yours in case I don't catch something under our muzzle" he smiled trying his best not to show he was in reality shaking from...fear?....anticipation?....nervousness?......

 

He then entered the Mine with Silver behind him nodding at the entrance guard pony. The guard pony nodded back at Cresent as if welcoming him in with no problem. Cresent soon found his way to the site of the 'no mane incident' he decided to call it as he saw caution tape and a "warning off limits zone" sign some pony must have put up since before hoof. And a pony Cresent didn't recognize standing guard by the sign  

 

"ah the trusty guide returns" said the earth pony. The pony's coat was white with spotted brown spots on it. On his saddle was a mining axe and a dynamite stick  

 

"just taking notes, think you'll let me and my friend threw um..." Cresent began

 

"well you see about that, no in fact I'm still surprised your here" said the pony

 

Several things was wrong with this picture, Cresent approached the pony showing his teeth. "and why would you say that, new guy?" the pony HAD to be new. All the regular minors knew him on sight and this would rarely happen in terms of conversations.

 

"Ha! new guy? listen I cant allow anypony, guide or other wise to be near hear till I get told other wise" said the pony

 

"and per chance where did you get these orders, I know the blackwaters wouldn't"  began Cresent

 

The pony held up a hoof still smiling "actually they did. unless you WANT to question them which if my sources are right, that wouldn't be the smartest idea" as the pony said this two other pony's seemed to appear behind Cresent and Silver

 

Cresent turned to see the other two pony's with minors tools in there hooves   

Edited October 5, 2015 by cwhip9

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@@Blitz Boom

 

THE QUARRY - Doc's Office

 

As Dax watched her leave, he waved.

 

At least I got to see the crate... sorta... and I finally got to see this doctor that Father spoke of.  Maybe we could be frie-

 

He stopped that thought right in its tracks; he remembered what happened the last time he had friends to speak of... and he wasn't about to be the reason Doc Zinger got fired.  With a sigh, he trotted back to the manor, his curiosity still itching at him but at least somewhat scratched by reading the label.

 

When Ziggy got back to her office, there was a roll of paper sticking out of her mail slot with a green band around the middle.  It was a flyer, and it proclaimed that there would be a presentation tomorrow at noon, and that every pony who still wanted a job here was to show up for this... apparently, this meant Zinger as well.  At the bottom of the page, though all the informative words were printed, there was a signature from Luther Blackwater himself.

 

Curiously, it had no mention as to what was going to be happening; only that it was mandatory for all employees. 

 

 

@@cwhip9

 

THE QUARRY - Deep Mines

 

Silver watched quietly as Crescent negotiated with the other "new miner".  She didn't seem to like where the conversation was going, but she had left it up to the valiant bat-pony... until she heard the other two step up behind them.  She turned and looked at them, and blinked.

 

"Excuse me, but I KNOW you aren't actually trying to intimidate ME, are you?"

 

Her muzzle went serious, and her eyes blazed with a rather frightening light.  If anything could be said about the unicorn, it was that she had guts.  PLENTY of them.

 

"I don't have to TRY to do anything... except keep you away from this section, of course.  And my friends and I will happily do EXACTLY THAT."

 

The three ponies began to move in on Crescent and Silver, menacingly grinning and looking pretty intimidating... but that was when Silver reached into her small satchel and produced a pair of goggles, which she immediately put on.

 

"No, see - YOU don't understand: Crescent here is a bat-pony, a master of darkness!  He could whip your sorry tails all the way back to town... and in the dark?  He's MUCH better in the dark!  And, of course, you seem to be forgetting about ME, as well..."

 

Almost to them, the speaking guard chuckled.  "And why do you say that?"

 

Silver put on her own wicked grin, then smiled at Crescent as her horn gave a small, quick glow.

 

"Because I'M the technician here... and the only one who knows how to work the lights."

 

With that, the lights in this entire section of the mines went out, and the cavern became as black as coal.

[cwhip9 1,078]

the three pony's panicked at the lack of sudden light "where in the hey?" said one of the guards

 

A loud thump, and a scuffle of hoofs were herd in the total darkness followed by a crack of something "he's over-" said the 2nd guard but was silenced by a thump from something  

 

"guys? guys were are you?!" said the first pony the two ran into activating his light bulb on the minors helm. What he saw was his two comrades knocked out he then felt something lifting him up from behind "what, what are you doing?!" the guard tried to kick his way off what ever had grabbed him. "let go of me you piece of-" he was caught off feeling himself being literally hung on a ledge of some sorts and he could see his comrades bellow him. Cresent showed up in front of him knocking the helmet off the pony. The pony could see the outline of the batpony but not his full feature

 

"now that I have your attention, lets start over" said the bat pony his voice creepily calm  "I'm going to look around this area and your going to let me and my friend do that"

 

"s-sure just d-d-don't" began the minor

 

"I'll pull you down gently when im done this is a secure ledge your 20 or so feet up above the ground if your wondering. So before I trouble myself with looking what can you tell me about the pasts leaving?"

[Randimaxis 8,652]

The frightened miner was shaking in his horseshoes.  He'd be well on his way to the Doc's with a broken something, had it not been for the bat-pony holding him up.  He was sweating buckets, and it was obvious who was the pony of the hour here.  He swallowed hard, and began to pour words like the murky stream of a silt-filled river.

 

"It w-w-wasn't our idea!  We were t-t-told to guard this s-s-side of the caverns, and n-n-not to let anypony through!  We didn't even WORK HERE 'til a c-c-couple of days ago!  We were told it was a hiring storm, and that w-w-we would be paid at the current Blackwater wages!  What pony would turn THAT down, huh?"

 

He squirmed a bit, then caught a fleeting glance at the floor below... way below.

 

"It wasn't like we kn-kn-knew what was really going on!  We're just hired help!  We didn't d-d-do anything wrong!  We just did what the forepony t-t-told us to do!  Please oh please oh PLEEEEEEEASE don't drop me, Mr.Bat-Pony sir!"

 

It was almost as if the hired hand was going to either pass out or possibly wet himself with fear... most likely, the latter.

 

Silver had busied herself with tying up the other two ponies; she had goggles on whose lenses radiated with a soft green light.  Apparently, she could see in the dark with them, as she had no trouble whatsoever with moving around in the pitch blackness of the cave.  Chuckling as she finished the last knot, she looked up to Crescent.

 

"You know... those old fissures further down the path would make a great place to hide anyponies who did what this lot was doing!"

 

Of course, she was joking... but that seemed to be of little consequence when the suspended pony heard it.  With a wavery sigh, he fainted in Crescent's grip.  Silver gave a grimace.

 

"Sorry - I was just trying to help loosen his tongue a bit... and I don't mean actually physically loosen his tongue, but more like a touch of intimidation?  Didn't mean to make him pass out..."

 

Silver's horn gave a quick blink, and the lights returned to full working order.

 

"Did I hear him correctly?  Did he say a forepony hired him for this?  I didn't think they had the authority to hire - that right belongs solely to Mr. Blackwater himself.  I don't know about you, Cress..."

 

Her brow furrowed, and her eyes narrowed.

 

"... but I smell a rat."

[Blitz Boom 4,621]

@@Randimaxis,

 

"Uuuuh, presentation of something? Perhaps it's the box?"

 

Ziggy had folded the flyer out on her table when she had gotten inside and after filing the paperwork for the gauze she had gotten from the warehouse. It was a lot of papers al things considered, but inventory, wanting to be sure if everything was there and so forth. It was a lot easier when she just rolled with it and did what you were told, which was also what it looked like she was gonna have to do tomorrow.

 

The presentation sounded like it could very well be the box that she and Dax had been at, but was it really? And what was in it? A machine was the likely, dull answer, but she would still hold some hope that it was something fun, like the hoovering breezies she thought of before or a rainbow machine to spread smiles.

 

Oh well, they'd see tomorrow it seemed. For the time being, she got the papers filled, there wasn't anypony here that seemed to be damaged yet and she didn't hear any screams so... Lunch perhaps? She could use a sandwhich right about now when she thought about it, and it was always nice to be around most of the other ponies, a few chosen ones aside.

 

Hehe, that sounded like a plan. She'd give it 10 minutes though, just in case somepony came by, but what to do in the meantime...

 

She looked around, trying to find something and eventually settled her eyes on a blank piece of paper and with too much glee in her voice for something as childish as this simple went. "Paper airplane time." before picking it up and starting to fold.

[cwhip9 1,078]

The frightened miner was shaking in his horseshoes.  He'd be well on his way to the Doc's with a broken something, had it not been for the bat-pony holding him up.  He was sweating buckets, and it was obvious who was the pony of the hour here.  He swallowed hard, and began to pour words like the murky stream of a silt-filled river.

 

"It w-w-wasn't our idea!  We were t-t-told to guard this s-s-side of the caverns, and n-n-not to let anypony through!  We didn't even WORK HERE 'til a c-c-couple of days ago!  We were told it was a hiring storm, and that w-w-we would be paid at the current Blackwater wages!  What pony would turn THAT down, huh?"

 

He squirmed a bit, then caught a fleeting glance at the floor below... way below.

 

"It wasn't like we kn-kn-knew what was really going on!  We're just hired help!  We didn't d-d-do anything wrong!  We just did what the forepony t-t-told us to do!  Please oh please oh PLEEEEEEEASE don't drop me, Mr.Bat-Pony sir!"

 

It was almost as if the hired hand was going to either pass out or possibly wet himself with fear... most likely, the latter.

 

Silver had busied herself with tying up the other two ponies; she had goggles on whose lenses radiated with a soft green light.  Apparently, she could see in the dark with them, as she had no trouble whatsoever with moving around in the pitch blackness of the cave.  Chuckling as she finished the last knot, she looked up to Crescent.

 

"You know... those old fissures further down the path would make a great place to hide anyponies who did what this lot was doing!"

 

Of course, she was joking... but that seemed to be of little consequence when the suspended pony heard it.  With a wavery sigh, he fainted in Crescent's grip.  Silver gave a grimace.

 

"Sorry - I was just trying to help loosen his tongue a bit... and I don't mean actually physically loosen his tongue, but more like a touch of intimidation?  Didn't mean to make him pass out..."

 

Silver's horn gave a quick blink, and the lights returned to full working order.

 

"Did I hear him correctly?  Did he say a forepony hired him for this?  I didn't think they had the authority to hire - that right belongs solely to Mr. Blackwater himself.  I don't know about you, Cress..."

 

Her brow furrowed, and her eyes narrowed.

 

"... but I smell a rat."

Cresent guided the unconscious minor down gently next to his company on hearing the rat remark cresents ears droped "and for once I was hopping it was just me being paranoid, this just confirms things" he said looking at the unconscious group in front of them.

 

 

"Remind me to teach you about interrogating sometime id rather he pass out then being shut up permanently" said the bat looking around only hearing the groups, silvers and his blood beats in the room. Cresent looked further in the mines ahead of them remembering where the next spot would be, if they kept going towards his answers at the incidents idea, it certainly was a good...ok well at leats no blood drawn, but more ruff start for the two.

 

"could the rat be in here as well if he sent these poor pups down here, or would he be the puppeteer type you think" said the bat now looking at his fellow quester. "I mean Mr.Blackwater himself dose have that sole authority but this also confirms there's another party the next part is who if not our boss?" 

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@@Blitz Boom

 

The paper airplanes zoomed across the room like little darts, stacking up inside the trash pail.  Each one flew straight as an arrow, never deviating, never stalling out, never doing anything but what they were supposed to...

 

In other words, they got boring fast.

 

Ziggy had already put in work today, and that had turned out okay - after the burns were treated, the miner seemed like they'd recover in due time.  Still, the idea that something in the mines would do such a thing was next to impossible.  The Blackwater Quarry had been active for many, many years... and this was the first time an incident of this nature had ever occurred on her watch.

 

Had it been the first time EVER that this had happened?  There were ways of checking; the Blackwaters supposedly had archives that dated back a long time, so those might yield some answers... but she would have to go through Luther directly to get access to those.

 

At least, that was what she'd been told.  Maybe there was another way..? 

 

 

 

@@cwhip9

 

"That's a good question... who would be able to do something like this?"

 

Silver pondered the thought for a moment.  She looked like she was concentrating, and Crescent could swear he saw steam coming out of her ears.

 

"Apart from Mr. Blackwater, there's a few ponies here that seem to get out and about more often than others; that might be a place to start, right?  Let me try to nail down who'd be on that list - not that I'd actually try to physically nail them down, but point out who'd be on the list is what I mean."

 

She began to pace as she spoke, lost in thought.

 

"I know of three ponies who have permission to leave the quarry during operating hours, and two more who don't need permission.  First would be Chuck, the head forepony... but I don't think he'd do anything like this, though.  He's pretty rough, but he actually cares about what happens to the workers.  There's Taps, but she's a sweetheart & wouldn't hurt a fly.  Then, there's Redd."

 

She made a scowl as she spoke his name.

 

"Something like this would be right up his alley - not that he HAS an alley of his own, but it's something he might actually do, in my opinion.  Other than those three, there's Vylia and Dax Blackwater.  Vylia is usually all about the money; unless there's riches involved, she wouldn't bother.  Dax?  I don't really know him TOO well... I don't know if he'd be a viable suspect."

 

Silver looked over to Crescent with a question on her face.

 

"Where do you think we should try, and do any of those names sound like they'd be suspects?"