Rosy Bliss truly was glad that she had that talk with her father. Since then, the two of them were able to maintain a closer family relationship than they ever had before.
Talking to her father about Quillflower was both a relieving experience and yet at the same time a sad revelation. There was something strangely assuring for her in being able to understand why her father didn’t seem to bring up Quillflower that often. It seemed to him that there was little need to reminisce on who his wife was when she was alive because he saw so much of her from his own daughter. Because of that, in a sense, it was though she never left him. He also tried to comfort Rosy Bliss by saying how certain he was that her mother would be proud to see how she had grown. However, Bliss always felt that there was something missing in never being able to truly experience the praise her mother may have given her had she still been alive. She especially would have liked to have known what her mother would have thought of her, since her father said that she did display a more determined and outspoken spirit than Quillflower ever had, certainly around other Ponies.
Suddenly, an odd thought came to her mind; while she had just recently began to properly learn what her mother was like, there were still a few things she didn’t know much of about her father. Bliss had joined her father who decided to go to Canterlot for a short weekend break. It was then, while they were at a charming little café in the city’s main shopping district when Bliss had suddenly asked Carbon Skies:
‘Father, would it be possible for me to see the mill?’
‘Pardon?’ Carbon Skies had a stunned look about him.
‘Could I visit the mill with you during one of your days supervising it?’
‘Oh Rosy, I am not so sure it would of any real interest to you.’
‘Nonsense! It is everything you have worked towards for us, your family, for myself, most of your life. Yet I know almost nothing about it! Do you not think I should have at least a little interest?’
Sure enough, Carbon Skies conceded, as he knew well enough that he couldn’t do anything to persuade his daughter in setting aside her curiosity.
‘Very well,’ Carbon Skies sighed ‘I’ll see if we can arrange something.’ Rosy Bliss beamed and excitedly embraced her father as she repeatedly thanked him and kissed him on the cheek.
Bliss eventually managed to accompany her father for one of his supervisions. While she was certainly impressed with the extent all the Ponies at the mill laboured away, it was little surprise to her father that she didn’t seem interested enough to attend supervision of the mill on a regular basis.
Nevertheless, in her time of visiting the mill, Rosy Bliss became better acquainted with many of her father’s associates, a good number of which had become firm friends with Carbon Skies through their time in running a business together. One such Pony went by the name of Brunet Smoke, who was the very one who suggested to Carbon Skies that he took a break to spend more time with his daughter. This was something Bliss felt rather grateful for and made sure to give Brunet Smoke her thanks. Although he was about the same age as her father, Rosy Bliss thought Brunet to be a rather handsome stallion. His fur coat was a dark shade of brown not unlike the colour you might see just beneath the surface of burnt tree bark. Brunet’s mane was fairly short, barely passing below his jawline. It was well kept and its red clay colour helped bring out his mossy-green eyes. Also, much like Bliss, he was an Earth Pony.
There was a genuine spark of charm to Brunet Smoke as he held Bliss’ hoof in greeting her, ‘It is a great pleasure to be properly acquainted with you at last, young lady.’ He said, with a solemn yet affectionate tone, ‘though your father has spoken of it already, I must say I can see that you really have taken after your mother, rest her soul.’
Rosy Bliss couldn’t help but experience a mixed feeling of delight and sadness from Brunet’s comment.
It wasn’t until about three months later, early into a new year, that Bliss once again attended supervision of the mill with her father. At first, it seemed like this was going to be no different to her last visit. That day, she was introduced to another stallion, one who was much younger than Brunet Smoke or her father. In fact, he may have only been a couple of years older than Bliss herself. He was a unicorn who went by the name of Clock Work, with a tan fur coat whose mane was a near-golden yellow and often hung down obscuring his cool blue eyes. The way his mane sometimes covered part of his face made Rosy Bliss feel that conversing with him was a little awkward since she couldn’t properly look him in the eye. It especially didn’t help that on multiple occasions, he approached as if to converse with her, only to suddenly become incredibly distant. This peculiar behaviour made things really off-putting for Bliss.
She would later find out that Clock Work had recently been brought into the mill out of recommendation from her own father and was being trained to work as a chief engineer for the place.
However, Clock Work wasn’t the only new face that Rosy Bliss saw in the mill.
To her surprise, Bliss saw that a number of young foals were also present in the mill. Not only that but they all seemed to be working among the grown-ups. She even saw some of them crawling into spaces around the mill’s machinery. This made Bliss feel uneasy, as she was aware enough of how dangerous those machines could be. She waited to speak to her father about this until the evening of that same day, since she was not certain as to how the other Ponies of the mill might react to her concerns.
It was whilst they were having their dinner when Bliss decided to speak.
‘Father,’ Bliss called out from her side of the table, looking directly to Carbon Skies.
‘Yes, Rosy?’
‘I saw that there were foals working at the mill today.’
‘Oh…’ Carbon Skies’ voice quickly trailed off. To his daughter, he seemed silent. Nevertheless, Bliss could tell from his expression that he understood immediately where her concerns lied.
‘Have they been working there just recently?’
He felt it was only fair to be completely honest, ‘Truth be told, we had foal workers at the mill last time you visited, months ago. However, the number has increased a fair bit since then.’
Bliss’ expression remained unchanged. ‘Is this normal?’
‘I suppose you could say it is normal. Since not long after the first factories started, they had foal workers. After all, they are much smaller so, as you have probably seen for yourself, they may be relied on to make sure that machines work at their best, particularly for the parts that grown Ponies are too big to reach into.’ It was then Bliss’ face revealed a sense of dread. Carbon Skies continued to speak, hoping that he could say something to reassure her. ‘However, we don’t always have the foals working around the machines. We often put them to work with helping to sort and move the finished materials.’ Carbon Skies managed to put on a confident enough look to smile and thump one hoof against his chest as he boasted, ‘Besides, our mill has the best working machinery in the entire city, if not all of Equestria! I can assure you, you don’t have to worry about the foals being in any danger.’
Rosy Bliss was able to smile at her father’s confidence. However, it quickly waned. ‘Still, it hardly seems like the mill could ever be a suitable place for them.’
Carbon Skies’ smile also faded. After a deep sigh, he looked directly to Rosy Bliss and explained to her in a tone that was matter-of-fact, yet didn’t sound completely detached. ‘Listen to me, my Rose. The truth is you have been a lot more fortunate than many other children living in this city. All the foals there come from families that are significantly poorer than us. Those families rely on every single member to do their part and help support them. That’s why those foals are working in the mill. They will almost certainly have no other place to go.’
Rosy Bliss caught a glimpse of a strange shimmer in her father’s eyes when he quickly turned his head away. He held his eyes closed for a brief moment and then turned back to Bliss. ‘I have never told you this but grandpa used to work in a factory. He even helped build some of Equestria’s first railways… and he was a couple of years younger than you are now during that time.’
Suddenly, Carbon Skies turned his head again to one side, a hoof pressed against his brow and his eyes clamped shut. ‘I think I will retire to bed earlier than usual tonight,’ Carbon Skies groaned faintly. ‘I hope you do not mind.’
Bliss simply replied, ‘Not at all.’
Just before Carbon Skies left the room, Bliss stood up to call out, ‘Wait!’
‘Yes, my Rose?’
‘Would it be possible for me to visit the foals working at the mill? I promise I won’t cause too much a disturbance.’
Carbon Skies was at the doorway, looking over his shoulder. He smiled and said, ‘I’m sure we can arrange something.’
‘Thank you.’ Bliss replied in a hushed tone and bowed her head, as Carbon Skies somewhat wearily walked down the dimly lit corridor to his bedroom.