open [RP] The Blackwater Quarry

[Randimaxis 8,633]

[Banner by Melted Dog]

[ OOC Thread: https://mlpforums.com/topic/133596-ooc-the-blackwater-quarry-ooc/ ]

 

THE GROUNDS; Inner Yard

 

"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.

 

 

 

=========================================

 

 

THE QUARRY; 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.

 

=========================================

 

 

THE GROUNDS; Outer Yard

 

 

"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.

[cwhip9 1,078]

The quarry-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 2hours. were 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 ponys 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 glidded over them to find any more paths for the minors to find, or rather an safer path to get away from the nest

[Randimaxis 8,633]

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.

[cwhip9 1,078]

The Quarry-deep mine
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 screem, which if cresent didn't hear on he'd be just fine, but scince there was one after what didn't feel like very long there was an buzz herd before said scream. Part of Cresents 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 ponys burns were deep and crippling. "somepony shut him up!" cresent herd 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 an wimpier cresent pulled an cord out from his saddle bag shoving it in the pony's muzzle "Bite down on this till I say so"
The pony simple 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 boss at the entrance

[Randimaxis 8,633]

THE QUARRY - In The Mine

 

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...

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

The Quarry - Doc's office.

 

Screaming? Oh dear, what was it This time then?

 

Ziggy opened the door of her little Office/Clinic and looked around at who might be coming this time with big, worried eyes behind the frames-only glasses.

 

She had been at the quarry for over a year now, but it had only been around three weeks into that before she learned that if she thought she heard screams, she had to be prepared for somepony to arrive soon. The miners were tough, granted, but everypony had a breaking point for their pain tolerance, and screaming - even the low one she heard -  around these tougher ones tended to mean it was something serious. Otherwise, they'd just knock or whimper after all.

 

Before she got employed here there wasn't much she could do about it. Her own, personal stash of remedies only worked with minor wounds and such, but after the Blackwater's hired her she had a better stash to dealing with things, even though it was to be with their employees only. Luther had been clear on making sure she knew that taking anything was counted as theft and that she would be punished to the full extend of the law if it was found out she had taken anything, but she could understand that really. Along with having to write down everything uses and the camera that was watching her from the ceiling. Some of these things were expensive after all, so she knew she for sure didn't want them to just vanish.

 

From what she had been able to gather, a few had been through that had done that, but most had just quit over the conditions of this place or complaining to Luther and gotten fired, which was why the position was vacant when she heard about it fluttering by one day. The firing part that was, the last three before that had been the ones quitting.

 

Personally, she had heard some whisperings that her chipper self would either die working here or she'd get canned within a week, but she had been smart enough to learn from previous mistakes and just do her job, file everything, and most importantly: didn't complain. The most contact she had with the higher ups these days were when she put in her forms that they were running out of something and then in the meantime improvised with what she had rather than go at them for not getting it there fast enough.

 

So far it had worked, and her skills at setting bones had saved the cost of a good deal of medical bills and time, so she didn't think she'd be close to getting fired. Combine that with her sense that these ponies really couldn't last with an amount of days without an active doctor on the clock and she considered herself to be here for a good while longer. The pay was fair enough after all and the camera it really wasn't that bad once you got used to it.

 

Her thoughts were stopped when she saw Crescent on the way with a pony and her eyes fixated on them. Not Crescent as much, as she really didn't have anything against bat ponies and he tended to bring some of the really hurt ones to her from time to time, but more the one he was helping up here. She couldn't see what was happening with the miner from this distance yet, but she was fearing something bad since he had to be supported here.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Blitz Boom

[cwhip9 1,078]

The Quarry-docs office
Cresent hated coming to this office, not because of the doctor far from it, she did miracle's every day which cresent just felt bad she had to do so much work on an regular basis. He also was glad to have her, some of the minors talked about dates with her and such, when cresent was brought up some thought they had an thing.
Cresent then reminded them they were about to step on something dangers which changed the subject entirely. Still if it wasn't for her with the times cresent got a minor out he didn't know how he'd last without taking over the mine himself. Then again that thought rarely came up only on the worst of days   

looking at ziggy apologetic like he said "ember burns cant tell how deep they are but"
looking down at the earth pony now passed out wondering how much the pony could hear the surroundings.  

"he's done mining and you know how the Backwater's are with this type of thing unless you have another miracle up your hoovs" he said lightly bringing the earth pony towards her table.

He knew all he could do was done for the minor. He sat down looking at the ceiling lost in thought breathing out trying to collect himself. He'd seen a lot in this past couple of months in terms of accidents, but for some reason and he didn't notice THIS was making him shake.

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

The Quarry - Doc's office.

 

"Oh sweet Celestia, the poor thing."

 

The second the miner was on her table Ziggy started looking over his wounds. He had passed out thankfully, but his body still twitched from the pain, and getting near the wound seemed to make it worse. And this was not just some small, insignificant wound either, no, this was the sort that burns wards tended to be for to help the pony to the fullest extend whilst their nerves were literally smouldering.

 

After zooming around the patient and looking at every angle she could on this she looked over on the lines and lines of medicines on the shelves and started to mumble under her breath. It wasn't clear what she said, but the words "No, not there." was audible now and again before she looked like a light went up over her head and her eyes went towards a barely opened box in the corner. It was barely a second after that she zoomed over and started to go through things, mumbling again, but this time either not audible enough for even Crescent or not something that would make much sense.

 

The bottles, smaller boxes etc from the box got moved to the table randomly so quickly it looked like a blur before eventually, she stopped the crazy fast movements and held up a small flask she had taken out of a box. then rotated it to make sure she had read the label wrong and went over to the shelf again, this time to get hold of a slab of cloth to press on the wound with.

 

"You're lucky this didn't happen yesterday, or the last week for that matter. I've been out of this stuff for a while, and would still be if Mr. Blackwater didn't send some refills for the shelves this morning, Although..."

 

Quickly she was over at the miner, looking worried at the wound and keeping that look once she switched her eyes over to Crescent.

 

"Well, there's no time to wait for painkillers to set in unless we wanna send him straight to the hospital, so I'd cover my ears if I were you."

 

She opened the bottle, spread the magical substance inside it to match the area she was gonna hit and then took a deep breath. She would have preferred to do this right, and with more of it, but Mr. Blackwater didn't want her wasting things, and this would help, though it was gonna sting a bit.

 

When the cloth and the concoction made contact with the miners wound the sound that rung trough the doctors office and the nearby area for the next half-dozen seconds told that she might have understated that a big deal, but what else could you expect? It would go in and patch up the wound, leave some scarring that either time or a good plastic surgeon could handle (depending on if she hit it right) and it would be some time before his mane would grow out again. Yet for all the good it did, she still pressed hard against a severe, open wound, and the potion or what you'd call it would feel like somepony had tossed fire ants into it for the first bit.

[Randimaxis 8,633]

THE GROUNDS - Inner Yard

 

Knee Slapper watched as Crescent had carried the miner across the yard to the Doc's office.  The worry on his face was evident; he liked kidding around and joking with the crew... but when somepony got hurt, he always felt bad for them.

 

He started to make his way to the office, then stopped.

 

What good would I do in there?  I don't think Ziggy needs any itching powder or whoopie cushions, so it's probably best I stay out here.  She's got this, I'm sure of it...

 

When the screaming started coming from inside, he grimaced and covered his ears, a look of abject misery on his face.  

 

On the other side of the yard, Redd Handid made his way out of the mine, a self-satisfied look on his mug.  When he saw Slapper, he froze for a moment.

 

If that incorrigible idiot sees me here, he'll start asking me a million questions; good thing that miner's bawling like a colt - it'll cover my escape... and how ironic is it that I plan to use his pain for my own gain?  Let's see you sweet-talk your way out of this one, Crescent my friend...

 

Redd turned and stealthily began sneaking away toward the Blackwater Manor grounds.  He could hardly wait to see the look on his boss' face when he told him the trumped-up story of how Crescent's negligence with the cave spiders brought about the poor miner's accident... he might even get a promotion on the spot, who knew?

 

We'll see who's making WHO clean up around here, Chuck...

[cwhip9 1,078]

the Quarry-docs office
The screaming pony brought cresent out of his thoughts seeing him react to the medice rather fiercely as he began to buck around. Cresent jumped on the screaming pony till he stoped moving and passed out. Ears ringing, he looked at Ziggy 

 "I don't know how this will go down but something tells me theres going to be a shakedown or blowback of some sort, don't know if anypony will come your way but let me know if it happens." He then let the minor go trusting the Doc to work her magic when as soon as he opened the door towards the Quarry he saw an group of minors outside, he sighed and closed the door behind him. "He's burnt badley but he'll walk again, just leave the doc to do her magic"  

 

One minor in the front asked "will he work again?"

"trust ziggy, she knows what she's doing" looking at one of the minors he reconginzed "Zappy didn't she fix your foot when that spider got you, and Sandwalker you can bucking see now becues of her. Just wait and see everypony and trust the docter" He said now making his way through the crowd, regreating but knowing what needs to be done next

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

The Quarry - Doc's office.

 

Thank Celestia, the worst was over now.

 

Ziggy hadn't been able to hold her ears when the screaming had started, and her ears rang a little still, but it was unfortunately not the first time this had happened so she had learned to brace for it. Not that she tried to skimp out on pain meds, not at all, but times like this were there wasn't time happened now and again so she were regrettably used to it. She had hoped for some time when she started that it would become a very rare thing the longer she was here, but reality had knocked and she knew now that fact of life was simply that this would happen now and again, and it was out of her hooves to prevent that. All she could do was to help them recover after the fact.

 

Not that it meant she didn't feel bad for every last pony that went through the pain because of that, but if there was one thing she'd always remember more than anything from med school it was that caring for your patients wasn't a problem, not feeling anything was, and as long as she could still feel for the poor souls she had to handle she knew she could keep doing this. If she ended up being void inside when faced with this one day... Well, if that time came, it would be time for her to hang up her figurative lab coat and retire, though she hoped that day would never come.

 

But that was the future. Right now she should focus on the present, and in that she had somepony to make sure would wake up in less pains than when he got here so he could get back to work. Mr. Blackwater would not want his workers to be gone from their stations for longer than had to be, and she was sure the miner had a family to feed so he couldn't hang up the mining pick for long either.

 

"Don't worry about me Crescent, I have somepony watching over me."

 

She managed to get the sentence and a smile towards Crescent before he left her office, though she didn't knew if he saw or heard her since his ears might be ringing pretty hard after that short, but loud screaming. She felt it still to some degree, and her hearing wasn't as great as the bat ponys so it was possible, though she did hope he heard it. She didn't want him to worry about her.

 

The camera had its perks right there in that if anypony accused her of anything while she was here, it could just be watched and they'd see and hear for themselves what the facts were. Frankly, she was more worried about him as she didn't think there were That many cameras out there in the rest of the place, and he might have to defend himself against some accusations.

 

Oh well, if that time came, she'd be there and make sure he wasn't standing alone with things and try to help if she could. He was a really big help with some of her patients, and him getting them here when he did tended to be the difference between a visit here or a trip to the hospital, so she valued him as being as big a part of helping ponies out when accidents happened as she was, perhaps sometimes even more. Besides, there was also the fact that...

 

Ziggy stopped the line of thoughts and giggled softly under her breath about where her mind had started to go a-wandering. Thoughts like that was fine when she was idle, but right now that wasn't such a time. She had work to do, and as she lifted the piece of cloth she had held against the miner's wound she could see how much roughly.

 

Quickly moving over and grabbing two other bottles and a few tools of her trade, she looked up directly into the lens of the camera and spoke with a clear voice so she knew it would go through nice and clear.

 

"A half to a whole hour should do it."

 

She wasn't sure who she spoke to when she did that, but she sorta figured the message would go along to whoever was keeping time on the miners and that would have to do. She seriously doubted it was any of the Blackwater family that was watching her, but beyond that she had no idea. For all she knew, nopony, and she was just looking a little odd when she did that.

 

Anyway, she had some skin to fix up right before the miner woke up. She had missed by a few millimetres so there was still something that had to be handled, but overall it shouldn't add anything to this. The miner would be patched up when he eventually woke up - unless it was within the next... 15-20 minutes or so - and then it was just up to her to make sure the sting he'd feel got taken care of, though she needed him awake for that sort so she could evaluate how strong pain killers she had to use to keep it down whilst still keeping him lucid.

 

She'd like to let the word spread around more, as she could swear she heard some voices outside, but she had to keep her priorities straight here after all.

[Randimaxis 8,633]

BLACKWATER MANOR - Main Hall

 

Redd made his way down the hallway, headed toward the door to Luther's workshop.  The grin on his face was huge, and the evil little twinkle in his eye shone.  He was more than ready with his story for the boss, and had every intention of not only setting up Crescent for a fall, but making things seem like Redd himself had been the hero.  He just knew for certain that he'd get the promotion he wanted, and that he would come out of all this mess smelling like roses.

 

About 20 paces from the workshop door, it opened.  Out from behind it came a voice:

 

"Sure 'nuff, Boss.  Y'know me - orders is orders."

 

Chuck List came out of the doorway and closed it behind him.  When he turned, he was face to face with Redd.

 

"Whadda you doin' here,"  Chuck snapped, "cometa cry fer yer raise again?" 

 

Redd scowled at his hated rival. "How very funny you are.  What were you doing in Mr. Blackwater's workshop, Chuck?"

 

Chuck stepped past Redd, headed for the front door.  "I was here ta let th' boss know 'bout dat accident earlier - th' one widda miner what found dem embahz?  Told 'im wha'happen, an' how Cresent brought 'im ta da Doc, so's dere ain't no confusion 'bout wha'happen."  Chuck gave Redd a pointed look, but Redd just stood there staring at him.

 

"Very... well."  Redd watched as Chuck headed out the door, watching his supposed promotion go flying out with him.

 

Before the door was fully shut, Chuck spat one more thing over his flank at the seething Redd:

 

"Jus' watchin' out f'r my workers, y'know... jus' like YOU'RE supposed ta, Redd.  Jus' doin' m'job."

 

The click of the latch catching echoed through the silent hall.  Redd took a deep breath, then eventually turned back to the elder Blackwater's door.  Before he could knock however, a small flood of water splashed down on top of him, leaving him soaking wet.  He looked up and saw a pegasus colt, an empty bucket dangling from his jaw.  The colt laughed, dropping the bucket directly onto Redd's head, covering it.  With that, he flew off into the recesses of the mansion.

 

Redd stood there with the bucket on his noggin, dripping.

 

Why, he lamented, do I even try sometimes?

[cwhip9 1,078]

outside Black watter manor
cresent breathed out "relax cres, just tell the truth and stand by it" he told himself, what took him so long to get there was how often he rarely visited the Manor. In fact the only time he remembered being there was his first day when he was told don't show up unless its important. Or something close to it, as he was focusing on something else when he was there.

Seeing Chuck leave the grounds made Cresent do a double take, none of the blackwaters had been known for compassion, chuck was more feared by the minors in terms of his ruthlessness for getting promotion's. Cresent all ignored that talk honestly do to the fact the rarely saw each other.

He breathed in and out trying to collect himself and began walking towards the manor, the two ponys passed each other cresent walking in as Chuck walking away, nothing was said between the too. If one were to see the two ponys walk by each other and base everything off the air between the two. The amount of tension would cut thru dragon scales.  
 

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

The Quarry - Doc's office. (About 10 minutes ahead.)

 

"Are you sure you're ready to get back already?"

 

The miner gave her some reassurances for the second or third time after he woke up, about 20 minutes in and barely after she was done.

 

It was true that she had said to the camera that it wouldn't be long, but this was still 10 minutes before her best estimate, and even though it had taken a few minutes with some general warnings about not removing the bandage yet to avoid infections, and then finding the right pain meds to get him through the worst, it still seemed early he wanted to get going. But she couldn't stop him if he wanted to get back to work after all, and he seemed fine enough so... Well, she supposed it was going to be okay, long as he didn't mess about with the bandage.

 

"Well, if anything happens or you feel weird in any way, come back here pronto, okay? Better if we get it early if something went wrong."

 

She gave a big, reassuring smile as he thanked, said he would and began to make his way out of her office and towards the mine again. They both probably knew though that he was unlikely to go back if it felt just a little weird and not something serious, since he already lost some time on the clock and he likely wanted to catch up to things. Still, she would say it, and hope that if by some chance it went bad, he wouldn't keep away for too long.

 

Oh well, it was out of her hooves now. She had done what she could for him, so unless he returned she might as well begin on the task of seeing if everything was in the crate that should. Mostly it was, but there had been a few times when it had been more than one and they forgot to bring the rest to her. It was an honest mistake really, but one she had to make sure was checked up on if it happened.

 

She gave a quick glance to the papers she had signed after treating the miner. It seemed in order regarding what she had used, time stamps and all, but she'd have to check them through later as well, just to be sure. But, one thing at a time.

 

"Okay, so we have this, that, a bottle less of this and... Huh, where's the gauze?"

 

It hadn't taken long to spot what was missing. The big roll of gauze she had been told was on the way was hard to miss, but apparently somepony else had as currently, she couldn't see anything in the box she had gotten. Which in turn meant that she had to get to the warehouse again to have a look around for it.

 

She didn't like leaving her office for long in case something happened, but she did have one of those pager-looking things that would buzz if somepony pushed the bell on her door in case something was serious, and she Were basically out of the gauze enough now to not even be able to cover a small hoof-damage so... It likely wouldn't hurt if she got going for a little.

 

Looking through the signs near her desk she pulled out the one saying she was at the warehouse, a small part about just pushing the button if they needed her there fast and a few doodles of smileys she had added to give it a bit more personality. After that, she went outside, locked the door, hung the sign up and then stretched her large wings out. It was time to get up, up, and awaaaaaaay.

 

With that thought she rose up, and flew in her usual odd, random turned and zig-zagged ways towards the warehouse. Hopefully somepony hadn't put the box behind others this time so it would take ages to find and dig out again. It was real boring when that happened.

[Randimaxis 8,633]

BLACKWATER MANOR - Front Porch

 

As Crescent reached the front stoop, Redd came out of the front door, dripping wet for some strange reason.  He looked at Crescent, then a slow smile spread across his features.

 

"Well, now - my good friend Crescent.  It's good to see you!  I heard all about that poor, unfortunate miner you had to bring to the doctor; good job!  Our people are so very, very lucky to have you amongst their ranks - keeping an eye out, dealing with the spiders and being oh so helpful, hmmmm?"

 

Redd gave Crescent a friendly smile.

 

"I know you won't hear it from the others around here, but your hard work and dedication are equally noticed by many of us in charge.  DO keep up the fine work, my fine batty friend."

 

With a toothy grin, Redd moved in close to Crescent.  

 

"Now, what brings you all the way out here to Blackwater Manor?  Hopefully it's good news, yes?"

 

THE GROUNDS - Outer Yard

 

The warehouses were all set in nice, neat little rows.  The transfer house, as it was called, was the warehouse closest to the front gate - it was where crates would be stored for transfer to another place.  Many things paused in here before they were taken to their proper places: office supplies, foodstuffs, tools, horseshoes... and medical supplies, of course.  If the missing gauze had fallen out of the box, it was most likely to be here.

 

But so was that mysterious crate Taps had brought in earlier...

[cwhip9 1,078]

BLACKWATER MANOR - Front Porch

 

As Crescent reached the front stoop, Redd came out of the front door, dripping wet for some strange reason.  He looked at Crescent, then a slow smile spread across his features.

 

"Well, now - my good friend Crescent.  It's good to see you!  I heard all about that poor, unfortunate miner you had to bring to the doctor; good job!  Our people are so very, very lucky to have you amongst their ranks - keeping an eye out, dealing with the spiders and being oh so helpful, hmmmm?"

 

Redd gave Crescent a friendly smile.

 

"I know you won't hear it from the others around here, but your hard work and dedication are equally noticed by many of us in charge.  DO keep up the fine work, my fine batty friend."

 

With a toothy grin, Redd moved in close to Crescent.  

 

"Now, what brings you all the way out here to Blackwater Manor?  Hopefully it's good news, yes?"

Cresent moved his head back from the dripping pony hearing the stailons blood be anything but relaxed too see the batpony.

"Just making sure everypony is on the same page and the boss probably should know the specifics of the minor. Not saying he dosent but you know I gota watch my team" said cresent thru he hopped as a convincing smile not worrying about showing his canines towards Red.

 

He hadn't met the youngest of the blackwaters yet but seeing Red like this only confirmed what the batpony had herd of the colt being a total pain the flank. He didn't plan on running into the young colt then as many story's he's herd nopony ever plans on a bucket falling on them randomly, or getting your mane burnt off while digging and hitting an rich vien  

 

Seeing Red here didn't add up from what he knew of the black waters, Not many of the black waters frequented this place unless Mr. Blackwater would call all of the blackwater's together for something, which was cresent's first hurtle. having an audience with Mr.Blakwater himself 

"So is the boss in or is it his day off?" asked Cresent

 

[Randimaxis 8,633]

Such a dumb little muffinscrap - his stupidity is only second to his disgusting appearance, Redd thought.

 

What he said was, "Oh, erm... he is in, of course... but he's perhaps a tad busy.  Since I happen to be your superior, I would gladly give him your report, if you like.  Just tell me what you want him to know, and I'll be most pleased to get the message to Mr. Blackwater as soon as possible.  I know you're a busy bee down in those caverns, and I would think that getting back to them would be important to you."

 

Now if only you could find a decent rockslide to get yourself wholly buried in, he mused to himself, then I wouldn't have to worry about you sinking those dreadful fangs of yours into my flank.  Monsters are monsters, no matter how they might otherwise act.

 

Redd stood close, lending an ear to Crescent.

 

"Simply tell me what you want your report to reflect, and I will gladly go to Mr. Blackwater himself and share your news with him.  We both know how eager he is to ensure that things are running smoothly - and I am well-trained in communications, so I could smooth out any rough edges in your words, making things better for all to hear.  Now please... what would you like me to tell our esteemed boss?"

[cwhip9 1,078]

Such a dumb little muffinscrap - his stupidity is only second to his disgusting appearance, Redd thought.

 

What he said was, "Oh, erm... he is in, of course... but he's perhaps a tad busy.  Since I happen to be your superior, I would gladly give him your report, if you like.  Just tell me what you want him to know, and I'll be most pleased to get the message to Mr. Blackwater as soon as possible.  I know you're a busy bee down in those caverns, and I would think that getting back to them would be important to you."

 

Now if only you could find a decent rockslide to get yourself wholly buried in, he mused to himself, then I wouldn't have to worry about you sinking those dreadful fangs of yours into my flank.  Monsters are monsters, no matter how they might otherwise act.

 

Redd stood close, lending an ear to Crescent.

 

"Simply tell me what you want your report to reflect, and I will gladly go to Mr. Blackwater himself and share your news with him.  We both know how eager he is to ensure that things are running smoothly - and I am well-trained in communications, so I could smooth out any rough edges in your words, making things better for all to hear.  Now please... what would you like me to tell our esteemed boss?"

The idea came to mind of bitting the ear of red just to see his reaction, then again the bloodbeats from this pony was still rageing everywhere, but he had a point.

"trust me as busy as I generly am the minors wont go anywhere near a place where one of them got hurt with a 10foot pool covered in pixi dust"

said cresent trying to calm the dripping stailon.

 

Then he remembered something, to the batponys knowledge he was the only guid in the caves for the minors yet he had herd the story and still didn't want to see him?

'something is off here' the batpony thought to himself

'of course something is off no pony just walks up to the head of he black waters, I gusse its this or seeing how his blood taste' he stoped that train of thinking when he realized he was focusing on the wrong thing, it wasn't telling him the details it was making sure the minor wouldn't get fired for this.

 

"well the minor who got burnt would need a break to recover from the no mane and him walking again. The vien is still good not many minors will touch it till I give the word. And we got to find a way to dig without hurting the ecosystem underground, we go deep the wrong way we'll be wishing the worst thing we wake up IS a spider. Next thing you know something that breaths fire will pop up or worse" he said while looking at the building looking for the colt that he hoped would interrupt them and give him the window he needed. No luck came after he gave the report he looked at Red

"or do you want me to write that down?"

[Randimaxis 8,633]

Redd's smile curdled.  He wasn't about to be sassed at by a freak like Crescent, and it almost sounded like he was pushing his weight around; Redd wasn't going to merely allow this bat-pony to think he could get away with such a thing.

 

Unfortunately, before he could open his mouth, another voice rang out from the manor behind them.

 

"Redd, there's a good colt, would you please be so kind as to help Beck and Call with my things?  I've been shopping, and my purchases must be sorted and washed correctly - and since you're SO good at organizing, I just know you'd be the perfect pony for the job, mmm?"

 

Standing there was none other than Vylia Blackwater, the wife of Mr. Blackwater and the mare in charge around here.  Behind her stood Beck and Call, her two loyal and long-suffering servants.  They were loaded down with all sorts of parcels, packages and carry bags... so much so that you could only see their eyes peeping out of the piles of gift-wrapped goodies.

 

Vylia gave Redd a stern look.  "I do believe those packages won't sort themselves, Redd.  Get moving."  Redd gave her an awkward grin, then went and began gathering gifts from the two servants.  "Why of course, Ms. Blackwater!  I'd be more than happy to-"

 

"Enough brownmuzzling!  GO!"

 

Redd and the servants took off for the manor, trying their best not to drop any of the boxes.

 

Vylia gave a sparkling laugh.  She was quite pretty, beautiful even.  She had a way of lighting up a room when she came into it, and she was always the social focus of her extravagant parties.  She knew she was meant for high society, and the fact that she was rich certainly helped.  Of course, she could be a spiteful witch when angered... but she seemed quite happy just now.

 

She turned and saw Crescent, and she took a step back.

 

"Ew.  It's the bat-pony.  What are you doing here, bat-pony?  You're supposed to be in the mines, making certain our workers keep... you know... working.  What in Celestia's name are you doing here?  At MY home?"

 

She was obviously disgusted, but she was still talking to him.

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

The Grounds - Outer Wards.

 

It hadn't taken too long to get to the right warehouse, even though she had landed at the wrong one the first time around. It wasn't anything new, as she sometimes could get confused with the number of them here, but it was getting better. Her first week she kept hopping around for a solid, 5 to 10 minutes before she found the right one, so one, tiny little misstep was an improvement for sure.

 

She didn't really check if there was anypony else before she opened the door and wandered inside.

 

"Well... Today's gonna be interesting."

 

She had expected there would be some crates and such in here since, y'know, there Always was, but she hadn't expected there to be as many as there currently was. Perhaps the ponies in charge of this was busy with other things and hadn't had the chance for a few days? Yeah, it was likely that. Or a bunch of stuff just happened to be ready for transfer today, one or the other. Or a third.

 

Getting back on track though, she had some gauze to find and an undisclosed amount of time to do it in. Her wings and larger than normal height would help her look down and see things better in her search, but the more cluttered it was the longer it would take to find this, especially if it hadn't rolled out and was in it's own separate crate.

 

Well, she'd see right? For now it was just to set a start point, then work from there and hope nopony was getting hurt until she found this. She'd rather not return without this, in case she would actually need it for somepony and... And... Oooooh?

 

Her eyes settled on a large crate. Not a normal, above average crate, but a big, Big one.

 

Ziggy was  curious sort by nature, and she liked to explore and find out new things, so the big crate drew her in slowly while her eyes almost seemed to glimmer at the thoughts of what could be in there. Could it be a drill of some kind? Shipment of picks? A statue of Mr. Blackwater? A shipment of clothes for Ms. Blackwater? Oooh, there was so many options and so little that said on the crate. Perhaps if she just had a tiny, little look she could- Wait, Hold on!

 

She stopped herself about a meter from the crate and shook her head until the curiosity clouds had cleared a little from her head.

 

What was she doing? She had come here to find some gauze, not rummaging through other stuff, and what if this really Was a thing for the Blackwater's? She'd get fired on the spot for snooping, and who would watch over the poor miners then? No, hard as it was, she had to avert her eyes from this and go back to what she had come here for.

 

The glimmering in her eyes didn't vanish right away when she looked at the box a final time before turning her back on it, though it didn't mingle well with the sort of disappointed look going over the rest of her. But that was more or less inevitable, since even though she knew her mind had won and stopped her from doing something stupid, it didn't mean that she couldn't feel sort of down over not being able to act on her compulsions, and her appearance often showed her emotions pretty easy.

 

No, no more thinking over that. It was behind her (literally) and she had something to look for. Now, where to begin...

[cwhip9 1,078]

Redd's smile curdled.  He wasn't about to be sassed at by a freak like Crescent, and it almost sounded like he was pushing his weight around; Redd wasn't going to merely allow this bat-pony to think he could get away with such a thing.

 

Unfortunately, before he could open his mouth, another voice rang out from the manor behind them.

 

"Redd, there's a good colt, would you please be so kind as to help Beck and Call with my things?  I've been shopping, and my purchases must be sorted and washed correctly - and since you're SO good at organizing, I just know you'd be the perfect pony for the job, mmm?"

 

Standing there was none other than Vylia Blackwater, the wife of Mr. Blackwater and the mare in charge around here.  Behind her stood Beck and Call, her two loyal and long-suffering servants.  They were loaded down with all sorts of parcels, packages and carry bags... so much so that you could only see their eyes peeping out of the piles of gift-wrapped goodies.

 

Vylia gave Redd a stern look.  "I do believe those packages won't sort themselves, Redd.  Get moving."  Redd gave her an awkward grin, then went and began gathering gifts from the two servants.  "Why of course, Ms. Blackwater!  I'd be more than happy to-"

 

"Enough brownmuzzling!  GO!"

 

Redd and the servants took off for the manor, trying their best not to drop any of the boxes.

 

Vylia gave a sparkling laugh.  She was quite pretty, beautiful even.  She had a way of lighting up a room when she came into it, and she was always the social focus of her extravagant parties.  She knew she was meant for high society, and the fact that she was rich certainly helped.  Of course, she could be a spiteful witch when angered... but she seemed quite happy just now.

 

She turned and saw Crescent, and she took a step back.

 

"Ew.  It's the bat-pony.  What are you doing here, bat-pony?  You're supposed to be in the mines, making certain our workers keep... you know... working.  What in Celestia's name are you doing here?  At MY home?"

 

She was obviously disgusted, but she was still talking to him.

Cresent just looked at Ms.Blackwater, he made a mentel note to help some minors settle a debt between themselves over her. And doing his best not to go on what the first thought came to mind he said "oh just delivering a message right now to your husband on an update of my job, speaking of which" he said looking at a non watch "i should go back, chow" he then spun around and flew off back towards the mines.  

 

Of all the blackwaters to run into he knew better then to try anything with Ms.Blackwater if he wanted to keep anything of his, he probably should go check on Ziggy and the minor next.

 

The Quarry-Lunch trailor

 

 "so that's how it went down guys" said cresent retelling what happened to the the wonded minors friends

 

"hey we still got you for a guid right cresent?" asked one of the minors

 

cresent looked at the minor "of course im still you guide what in the hey gave you I wasn't?!"

 

"cres its the blackwaters, you remember straw knees when Ms black water saw him, poor devel was fired on the spot"

 

Cresent did remember that day, mostly because it was one of the few days she got anywhere near the mine. Cresent was near smitten by her, she was THAT kind of pretty till she opened her muzzel. And then Cresent still made some bits betting on the side. Betting wasn't new nor well known about the quarry, half the reason is on break to sometimes kill the bordum. Cresent wondered how many minors were ex night guard

 

 

 

[Randimaxis 8,633]

THE GROUNDS - Outer Wards

 

He breathed silently as he turned the key in the lock.  Not a sound escaped the mechanism, except the small click as it released, and once inside, he made certain to lock it back - if anyone else was coming, he'd hear them unlock the door.

 

Turning, he snuck inside and began moving stealthily from shelf-to-shelf, making certain to avoid cameras.  Little by little, he made his way around to the back of the warehouse.  As he came towards his goal, he came across a box right in the center of the aisle; it had fallen from the shelf, and was now camping right in the way.  He picked it up and gave the label a look.

 

[sTERILE BANDAGES - 1 DOZEN COUNT]

 

He looked at the shelf and saw the spot for them, and promptly went to put them back... when suddenly, he heard the >snick< of the lock opening.  Panicking, he dove into the nearby shadow of a tall shelf, still holding the box.  Maybe it was just a guard on look-in watch?  He hoped so... but then, words:

 

"Well... Today's gonna be interesting."

 

His heart froze - it was the doctor!  If she caught him, then it would be in the reports that he was here!  This was bad... very bad...

 

Watching, he saw her make her way down the aisles, idly perusing the shelves.  He kept gnawing his lip and trying not to let his knees shake.  She stopped at the medical shelf, and looked it over, then shrugged and started scanning the floor.

 

A slow burn of realization crept across his face as he looked down at the crate in his hooves.  In his fearful shock, he watched as he simply dropped the crate from his grasp.  He didn't even try to catch it; he couldn't believe he was dropping it.

 

>CLATTER!<

 

The crate hit the floor.  Standing over it, looking absolutely stunned, was Dax Blackwater.  He gave Ziggy a sheepish smile.

 

"Um... you looking for... uhm, this?"  

Edited September 19, 2015 by Randimaxis

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

The Grounds - Outer Wards.

 

In the blink of an eye  Ziggy had gone from searching, to zooming over to the dropped crate. Being in this place was starting to make her paranoid about hearing things be dropped, so per instinct she had rushed as fast as she could over to see what was wrong.

 

Who she was faced with instead was a green and black pony that was neither hurt from having something dropped on them, nor one of her usual friends and/or patients. Instead she was now standing face to face with Dax Blackwater - or well, as close to face to face as she could since she were a good head or more taller than most ponies - that had the look over his face like somepony had just caught him sneaking a cookie from the jar.

 

"Heh, this is a pleasant surprise. Hello there Sir."

 

She would normally go with Mr. or Ms. before a name, but she already called his father for Mr. Blackwater, so to avoid a bit of confusion it was perhaps for the best. And Sir was still respectful after all, so it should be okay.

 

"And yeah, I was looking for those. Seems like the ponies who was gonna bring it around couldn't find it or forgot it, so I figured I'd have a look around, though it was sorta looking like it was gonna be a long search. But, thankfully you were around Sir."

 

She gave a big, happy smile towards Dax, whilst she stepped back a half meter or so. Everypony had a certain personal space they liked, and though she wasn't sure about Dax she knew that his father at least tended to want that intact, so better to just be sure. Didn't want to offend any of th Blackwater's after all, even if it was Dax.

 

Not that there was anything wrong with him. The times she had spotted him or accidentally been near the same area it looked like he was a pleasant enough pony to be around, and she liked him because his stripes looked a little like her own Zebra ones, but she had still heard some stories about what happened to those who looked to be Too close to him, and she'd rather not end there. So friendly, respectful and smiling was the way to go for now, and then perhaps another time, if she knew he wouldn't mind and there wasn't anypony there to report it, she'd give him a flying tacklehug until he looked happy.

 

She liked hugging ponies, dragons, animals... Okay, basically anything, but she still had to think of the time and place. She'd been in places before where it had Really not been the time and well... Not a pretty sight. And tht was something she didn't want to happen with the generally strict Blackwater family. Even with Dax who tended to look so down she just wanted to try and make him smile.

 

"Anything I can help with in return Sir?"

Edited September 12, 2015 by Blitz Boom

[Randimaxis 8,633]

Dax blushed.  "Uhm, you don't really gotta call me 'sir' or anything like that - that's what Father prefers.  Just Dax is fine."

 

He looked her over.  She was tall, she was pretty, she was wearing glasses without lenses in them.  Dax found her a bit strange, but not in a bad way.  He calmed down a bit, and took a deep breath.  He wasn't expecting the thanks, and felt kind of bad for having snuck in here, then being caught but not questioned on the matter.

 

If she knew why I was here, it'd be all over... unless she can keep a secret?

 

Regardless, he barely knew her.  He'd seen her out and about a bit, but she usually stuck to her office.  Still, he'd asked his Father about her; all he had gotten in response was something about her being efficient and affordable.  That was very much like Luther Blackwater - to gauge not on appearance, but on ability... and, of course, expense.  His Father was known for paying his employees well, but he was also known for firing those who didn't live up to certain expectations.

 

He shrugged, and cleared his throat.  He looked a bit nervous, and certainly as if he'd been caught with his hoof in the cookie jar.

 

"I-I-I don't think... naw, no no no... I'm okay, I'm good.  Glad I could help you out, there."

 

His eyes slid over to the giant crate, eyeballing it for just a moment before turning back to her.  

 

"I'm just, uhm... looking for... rats.  Yeah, rats."

 

Obviously, he wasn't looking for rats.

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

The Grounds - Outer wards.

 

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

 

Worry started to glow over Ziggy's eyes as she heard what Dax said he did here. Rats were cute in their own way, sure, but there was a Lot of things here that needed to work, stay clean and so forth, and rats had a tendency of being smart, cunning little things that liked to chew on things and make damage. She was sure they didn't in general meant to do so, except for when they were foraging for food, but it was still a huge problem to find yourself in the middle of.

 

"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?"

 

Ziggy wasn't stupid. She knew that he wad fidgety and seemed nervous, glancing around and acting like he'd been caught in something. Yet she was still very naive, and since she had not seen him act much different from this and never really spoken with him far as she could remember, it wasn't like she couldn't tell that this was just how he was in general and he actually had been here trying to look for some rodents.

 

Better to give him the benefit of the doubt, trust he was speaking the truth and then see if he'd let her help him look and catch.