Quete

by Comrade Bagel Muffin

L'Effondrement

Escutcheon wiped the sweat off of his brow smearing his forehead with black coal dust. Level 5-A was the deepest he had ever been, and consequently it was a lot hotter than he was used to. He continued pushing the cart full of coal up the mine shaft's steep incline. Even with his magic it was a near impossible task, he couldn't imagine how the other Coal Colts, all of whom were earth ponies could do it.

After what felt like an eternity he crested the steep side shaft. He pushed the cart along the rails and pulling a lever pushed it up against the other four full carts of coal. He pulled the lever switching the active rail, and again wiped the sweat of again. He drank what was left of his morning water ration. It wasn't close to being enough to quench his thirst. He grabbed the next empty cart, and headed back down. When he had first started his job three days ago he had been tempted to ride the cart down the steeper side shoots. However, the older Coal Colts had advised him against that, saying it was a bad idea, and even with his magic the cart would be going to fast at the bottom and would end up jumping the rails. He tightened his magic's grip on the cart as gravity began pulling hard on the cart. He began guiding the mine cart back down to the other miners, guiding it slowly down was nearly as strenuous as pushing the full carts up the steep angle. He continued down for several minutes before reaching the bottom. He grabbed each the coal bags of each of the other six miners emptying them into the cart, before arriving a his point in the wall. He grabbed his pick ax and got back to work.

"That was cart number five wasn't it. Not bad Coal Colt, not bad at all." Pick Ax dumped a bag of coal into the cart. He was Escutcheon's trainer. They had been working with each other for the past three days. Pick Ax also would also escort him back to his inn, to make sure that he wasn't mugged. That and he was also a frequent customer at the bar.

"Yeah just an hour before lunch. I just wish that the crew would hurry up and get down here I would like to be able to work with out the fear of the ceiling coming down on my head. I don't think this will do us much good in a cave-in." He tapped the helmet on his head.

"Eh, they don't do much of anything," Pick Ax said walking away. "They've been down here some twenty times. This damn hole is called Death's Lottery."

"Good to know." Escutcheon wiped the sweat off his brow with all the coal dust and soot, he could have easily been confused as having a black coat. He had nearly finished filling the sixth cart of the day. When his ears perked up at the sound of hoof steps echoing down the shaft.

"Lunch time everypony." Their overseer called as he walked down the shaft. "Time to eat and get some rest, come on let's get out of here." There were hoots, as everypony dropped their tools. Suddenly there was a rumble. Escutcheon's ears flopped, the rocks that formed the ceiling above them gave way. Instantly Escutcheon's horn lit up.

"Run!" He screamed before gritting his teeth. The older ponies ran up the shaft, thinking that he was right behind them. He tried to keep up, but the strain of lifting nearly ten tons of stone was to much. He dropped it not clearing the area. He put up a small shield to keep the rubble from crushing him like a bug. His legs gave way underneath him. His horn hurt, but the second the spell failed it would be over. If he dropped the shield to teleport away he wouldn't have enough time to complete the spell before being crushed.

"Escutcheon! Coal Colt!" The others voices were muffled but sounded like they were yelling.

"Heeelllp!" He screamed as loud as he could.

"Don't worry we're coming, colt!" He grit his teeth his horn was really starting to hurt.