Introduction: Not Wrought from the Same Iron
Ponies found the clickity-clack of a train to be relaxing and soothing. Cinder didn't; it was too repetitive and loud. Not that she'd ever fit on a train, but flying after one certainly ground on her nerves after the first ten minutes. She wondered if there was some kind of process in laying rails that could make the trains be quieter. She didn't know much about trains, but that was one huge engine pulling all of those cars. It wasn't just pulling passenger cars, and very few at that, but it was pulling cars loaded with iron and coal. Printed on the side of the engine's massive tender was "Zeus". It looked to be about a hundred and fifty feet long, and was piano black. It had a torpedo-like streamlined shape, giving the impression that it sailed smoothly across the rails, rather than rocketing across them like it actually did.
Steel Thunder loved the clickity-clack of trains. It was a soothing sound, but it also brought darker memories to her mind. Nonetheless, she was born a train enthusiast and always would be, even if she lost a limb from tragic and extreme misuse of company property, under the influence aswell. Before she became a train operator, she used to lay rails for the Equestrian Railroad Company, the government-sponsored railroad, and moved up the ranks to train operator, where she quickly became the best operator that division of the company had. Several other divisions wrestled with eachother for her service, but in the end they all lost to her first division.
She looked out of the window and tried to get a look at the behemoth engine pulling the train. She knew the notation, 6-4-4-6, but she did not know the class -- this was the first time she ever rode on an engine this large. The train began to slow down, but Steel had yet to see a station. Must be a fast train, she thought. She grabbed her suitcase and pulled it closer. She didn't take much with her, just a dress and necessities.
Eventually the station came into view, revealing a mean looking building with smokestacks pouring out black ichor into the atmosphere. Every now and then a small particle of soot would sink to the ground. The building had two fifteen feet tall doors, which reminded Steel of the gaping maw of a dragon. Inside, ponies and a few griffons were hurriedly running around, carrying hammers and wrenches. She got off of the train and inhaled. It was an unwise decision, as the thick polluted air caused her to enter a fit of coughing. Ponies made no attempt to help her; they merely glanced in her direction. Finally recovering from her fit of coughing, she glanced aside, only to be staring a dragon right in the face.
"HOLY SH-" Steel screamed, bashing the dragon in the head a few times with the suitcase. The suitcase flew open, spilling its contents everywhere. She hastily grabbed things off of the ground, hoping to Celestia nobody saw some of the more "lewd" items she carried. She glanced up, having hastily put away everything that need not be seen. She stared up at the dragon, a nervous smile on her face.
"I was going to help you, but you looked like you were having a... moment," the dragon chuckled, picking up some of the things she had missed. Steel nervously laughed, took the remainder of her items, and bolted away to the nearest pony.
"What in the hell are you doing? Oh, you one of the new guys aren't you?" the pony yelled, cigar in mouth.
"Um, yes?" Steel asked, not sure if the rude pony with the cigar actually believed she was a stallion.
"Follow me," the stallion grumbled, making his way into the imposing factory.
Cinder initially thought Steel Thunder was a stallion herself, up until she spoke. She was a dark grey mare with even darker grey hair. Her cutie mark was a railroad crossing sign. She was absurdly tall for a mare, towering over most stallions. She had a fake leg enchanted with magic to function similarly to a normal pony leg, and thus walked funny.
Cinder slinked over to the foreman, who was busy yelling at some hapless pony. She stared at the back of his head until he finished chewing out the employee.
"I'm sorry sir, but I'm a bit lost, and-" Cinder spoke, but was interrupted by the angry pony.
"What the fu-" the pony yelled, but he quickly shaped up his act in the presence of Cinder. "W-What did you need, miss?"
"I'm new, and I'm lost," Cinder flatly said, a smug grin on her face. She loved it when she could make a particularly rude pony shut up.
