Escutcheon's head throbbed as the weight of nearly a ton of rocks pushed down on his shield. He grit his teeth, he had to keep his shield up, no matter what he had to keep it up. "Escutcheon are you okay." The voice of his manager came through, muffled by the wall of stone.
"FIne, I'm don't know how much longer I can keep my shield up though." He yelled back as loud as he could, hoping that they could hear him. He perked his ears up and pressed them against the wall of stone. between him and freedom was around four meters of stone. He couldn't hear anything on the other side. "Please don't leave! I'm alive!" He waited in silence, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Can you teleport out of there?" Escutcheon let out a breath he hadn't known that he was holding. They hadn't abandoned him, they were still out there. He calmed down a little.
"No if I tried to teleport I wouldn't be able to maintain my shield spell!" he yelled at the top of his voice. He heard some of the rocks tumbling down.
"Okay just keep the shield up Coal Colt we're going to get you out of there, I've already sent to get more hooves to help." Again he heard the sound of stones tumbling from the other side. "Are you still with us?"
"Yeah!" He tried to focus on anything other than his head.
"Okay." There was a long pause. To Escutcheon it felt like hours. His horn felt like it was going to burn out any minute, and the air had gone stale. He wiped the sweat off his brow He whole body was hot. "Escutcheon We've got more help. We're almost to you. Okay." The voice didn't sound any closer. "Escutcheon. Come on Coal Colt I need you to talk where are you?"
"Over here!"
"Tell me Escutcheon what's the first thing that you want to do when we get you out." There was a short pause. Escutcheon's thinking was sluggish. "Do you want to see Dusk."
"Yeah," he said softly. The sound of rocks falling came through his little hollow.
"You want to see Dusk right!"
"Yeah!" he yelled.
"A bit more to the left!" The sound of pick axes was getting louder. "Where's you're home again Escutcheon!" There was another pause. "Come on Coal Colt. Where are you from!"
"Equestria!" he yelled again. The rocks in front of him were pulled away.
"Get him." Pick Ax and his manager grabbed him as his shield evaporated. They pulled him out, just a second before a three-hundred pound rock fell into the space where he had just been. There was a bunch of cheering as miners, Coal Colts, and managers gathered around. "Give the colt some space!" his manager yelled to the other miners, as Escutcheon was put on his back. "Come on kid let's go get some fresh air."
"Yeah." Escutcheon sighed as his manager took him back up. He was taken back to the surface. The sun was just starting to make it's way back down. His manager walked up to the mine owner's office. Without knocking he walked in.
"We got him dad."
"That's a relief." An elderly stallion walked around a very ornate red cherry wood desk. "Is he okay."
"A little out of it but he's fine."
"Well sit the poor colt down I'm sure a comfortable chair would be good for him." The owner guided his son over to a comfortable love-seat , and lay Escutcheon down on it. "Are you okay Coal Colt."
"Yeah I think so." Escutcheon nodded.
"My son told me what happened you held up the rocks so that the other miners could make it to safety." The owner walked over to his desk and pulled out a ledger. "That could have been a disaster were it not for your magic, courage, and fast thinking." He looked over at the colt. "So, your going to get a one time pay bonus, a promotion to Foreman of the Coal Colts, and a raise."
"All do respect sir thank you, but I'm going to have to turn down the offer."
"What why?"
"Dusk and I are going back to the Colony. I'll make the money I need there. I'm glad I was able to protect the ponies, but it was only dumb luck that I was able to hold all those stones. So I'm only going to be working here for a few more days."
"Well at least take the payment as my gratitude and the gratitude of their families as well." He pulled out a bag of coins and counted out forty copper coins in front of Escutcheon. "After all I'm grateful and sure their families will be just as grateful that you saved them. You can have the raise as well. Seven copper coins a day isn't a bad price. Now get a drink and go home. Iron Vein, make sure he gets home safe and sound."
"Yes sir." Escutcheon's manager nodded. He gave Escutcheon a hoof and a bottle of water which he quickly drank down, before the two of them left. Escutcheon made his way back home to the inn, riding on Iron Vein's back. "Good job Escutcheon," He said as they made their way back. "You did a good job. I'm proud of you and grateful that you did what you did."
"I just did what anypony would have done."
"I wish that were true. Enjoy your day off. I'll try and make your last seven or so shifts a bit more bearable okay."
"Okay." Escutcheon nodded. He walked into the inn on his own four hooves and said good-bye to Iron Vein. After paying the rent for the next three days he made his way back up to his room. He tried to slip in as quietly as he could.
"You're home early." Dusk sighed half asleep.
"There was a bit of a problem at the mine every things okay though. I paid for the next five days already." He floated her the other thirty copper coins. "I'm going to get a bath then I'm going to bed. Okay?"
"Okay. You're safe that's all that matters to me. I'll get your spot nice and warm for you." She smiled. After his bath he got into bed next to her. The two of them pulled the blankets up and enjoyed the rest of their nap. Until 7, two hours before Dusk's job began.