TCB: Rails and Dreams

Hayfields and Telegraphs: I get a job
Berry Pony

It was really a beautiful day. Clouds from yesterday's storm floated in a clear blue sky. Gently rolling hills, covered with fields of grass or freshly plowed, filled the landscape. In the distance, a line of darker green marked the edges of the Everfree forest. A plume of smoke in the distance, moving across the fields, showed the afternoon train steaming towards Canterlot. And in the far distance, I could just make out the towers of Canterlot.

I trotted on country lanes through hay fields and past small copses of trees, the wooden handle of a tin lunch pail in my teeth. Gentle breezes tossed the grass leaves back and forth. The sun shone, warming my back. It was great to be alive.

I crossed over a ridge and spotted Baritone working in a field. He was using a hay fork to turn over hay lying on the ground. Putting down the lunch pail, I called out to him. With almost no effort, the grey stallion jabbed the hay fork in the ground and came up towards me.

Baritone pointed out a nearby clump of trees and we descended the ridge to lie down in the shade. He took the tin pail from me, held it in his hooves and popped the lid off with his teeth. "I see Bottlecap's got you running her errands," he said as he laid out his lunch.

"She asked me to run this out to you. I have to go in to Ponyville and see if I can find a job... um, you wouldn't have any farm work for me to do?"

Baritone stopped eating his lunch. "Begging your pardon," he said slowly. "I don't think that you're cut out to work on a hay farm."

"But..."

He held up a hoof. "I know that you mean well, but a unicorn is simply not strong enough to do the work that a hay farm requires." He paused. "I tell you what. Go down there, pull that hay fork from the ground and try your hoof at turning over some hay."

"Okay, but why do you have to turn it over anyway."

Baritone sighed. "Those constarned pegasi dropped a rainstorm on my fields yesterday. Now, the grass's too wet to cut and the hay needs to be turned over or it'll rot. I was fixing to bring up the hay baler this afternoon too."

I left Baritone to eat his lunch and walked out onto the field. The hay fork had been buried up to its handle in the ground. Taking a hold of the handle in my teeth, I pulled. The hay fork would not budge. I focused my magic on the hay fork and gave it a telekinetic tug. It was like lifting a huge tree. I let my magic lapse and turned around. Giving the handle of the
hay fork a powerful kick with my hindlegs, I felt the ground giving way. Then I turned around and placing my teeth on the handle again, worked the hay fork loose.

Panting with effort, I looked at Baritone resting under the trees. He merely signalled that I should proceed.

Raising the hay fork in my mouth - it was a bit more than my magic could lift - I slowly walked over to a pile of hay and pushed it underneath the wet hay. It slid about halfway in. I then tried to lift the loaded hay fork into the air. The hay fork resisted all my efforts to raise it. I finally gave up and walked back to Baritone.

"I guess I won't be getting a hay tosser cutie mark today," I sadly remarked to Baritone.

"At least you tried. That's more than can be said of most unicorns up in Canterlot. There's a reason that earth ponies do most of the serious farming in Equestria." He pushed an apple towards me. "Here. I'm sure that you will have more luck finding a job in Ponyville."

I bit into the apple. After a while, I quietly said, "Maybe if my magic had been stronger..."

"Cherry," he said. "You might have been able to toss some of the hay. But in the long run, using magic would have tired you out even faster than doing the usual way. There are times when magic can be used and there are times when magic shouldn't be used." He stood up and swished his tail. "And now, it's time to finish turning this hay."

He walked over to the hay fork, took the handle in his teeth and easily tossed its load over his head. As I started to head to Ponyville, Baritone had found his rhythm again, jabbing the hay fork into the hay and throwing it in the air.

Crossing the railroad tracks, I paused for a moment in the middle. The tracks looked to be a bit further apart than I was tall. I'd have to check the actual gauge with a measuring stick but if these tracks were really four feet, eight and a half inches apart-. (Or 1435 mm)

"Hey! You! Pink unicorn with the yellow mane! What are you doing? Didn't your mother ever tell you that you should never play on railroad tracks?"

I looked up to see an angry earth pony with a dark gray mane and an engineer's cap come running out of the Ponyville station.

"I... I was just..." I stammered as I hurriedly jumped off the track.

The grey earth pony stopped in front of me. "You can never tell when a train will come," he said before glancing at my blank flank. "Oh Celestia's beard! A newfoal. No wonder you were playing on the railroad tracks. Let me make this perfectly clear, newfoal. Tracks bad. Trains, stay away. No play here. Go now. Understand?"

I could only respond to him by nodding.

The earth pony turned and walked back into the Ponyville Station. I followed him inside. Before he could disappear through the door marked 'Employees Only', I said, "Um, pardon me?"

The earth pony turned back to me, his ears pinned back. "Yes," he snapped.

"Um. Who do I talk to about working for the railroad?"

His ears came forward but he was still angry. "Newfoal, what do you know about railroading? What's that thing on the front of the engine?"

"A cowcatcher."

"What's that thing underneath the smokestack?

"A smoke box."

"Let's try this, newfoal - on top of the engine, there are several domes. What purposes do they serve?"

"One is definitely the steam dome - the water boiled into steam collects there and is directed by pipes to the cylinders. I guess the other domes hold sand for using when you need a bit more traction."

"Hmm." He sounded a little less angry. "Okay, kid, you're running up a grade and your engine is starting to lose power. What do you do?"

I thought for a moment. "You would lengthen your piston stroke with your reversing lever, give a bit of sand to your driving wheels and slowly open your throttle, being careful to watch for wheel slippage," I replied.

"Well kid, you do know your way around locomotives."

My examination was interrupted by the rapid chattering of some device inside the door. The grey earth pony listened to it for a moment before turning back to me.

"Is that... is that a telegraph I hear?" I asked as the chattering stopped.

"Yes, it is. How else do you think we can dispatch trains?"

"I didn't know that you had a telegraph system. I didn't see any poles on my way down from Canterlot."

He opened the door to the 'Employees Only' room,and walked over to a device that looked like a enlarged telegraph key. Nearby was the sounder that I had heard tapping. On the wall, there was a square board with crystals. A large window gave a good view of the station and its tracks. I followed the grey stallion in and examined the board. There was writing on the board, PY, CN, HF, BL and more. I looked back at the other instruments. There was no wiring to be seen. "How does it... work?"

"Something that you unicorns came up with. The key and sounder can be slaved to any other set of keys and sounders across Equestria, using that switch board," he said, pointing to the board with the crystals. "How it exactly works, you unicorns can explain better than me. I just know that it's what allows this railroad to work."

The sounder began tapping again. It sounded like a regular pattern. "HF HF HF CN HF HF HF CN", he translated. "That's Canterlot calling Hoofington."

The instrument was silent a moment, then broke into a short clatter again. "I I HF", the earth pony said. "That's Hoofington's answer. Now the message will follow. HR 29 HF HF HF 29 CN. That's Canterlot, letting Hoofington know that the train dispatcher has orders. Hoofington will - yes, there he goes, I I HF, telling Canterlot that Hoofington is ready to take down the train order." The instrument continued to clatter.

It all sounded very similar to the message protocol that I was familiar with on Earth. "About jobs with the railroad?" I prompted.

"Sorry kid," the grey stallion answered. "You may know something about railroads and all - but we don't need any unicorns at this time. Try for something a bit more along a unicorn's strengths. Why don't you go see if the local book store is hiring." He wanted to say more but the sounder started clattering again. "PY PY PY CN - that's Ponyville. Back to work." The earth pony sat on his haunches in front of the key and began tapping.

I started to walk out the door but I suddenly stopped. "My name is Cherry Shine. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

The grey stallion waited for the sounder's tapping to stop for a second. "Cannonball, my name is Cannonball," he said before turning back to his instrument.

I closed the door and left the station.

Ponyville looked quite different to me. Gone were the threatening storm clouds and the muddy streets. I trotted past brightly colored structures that resembled Renaissance Fair tournament tents, down a street lined by half-timbered houses, underneath shady green trees and into a public square. Ponies were everywhere, shopping, walking, talking and watching their vendor's carts. Some of the ponies waved to me. I waved back.

"Cherry Shine?" shouted one of a pair of earth ponies sitting at a shaded table outside of a street cafe. She signalled that I should come over.

I walked over to her. "Hi?"

"Hi. I wanted to introduce you to Apple Cobbler. Apple Cobbler, this is Cherry Shine. She was a riot last night at Pinkie's welcoming party. You should've seen her, standing on her hind legs and dancing around a lampshade on the floor. She was shouting 'Ola' and held a rose in her teeth."

I did what? I don't remember that.

Apple Cobbler, a light brown earth pony, tittered and said, "Hi."

"Hi, Apple Cobbler. Nice to meet you." I turned to the other earth pony whose name I had completely forgotten. "I've got to go see a pony about that thing at that place. Nice to run into you." I said before leaving.

Behind me, the two earth ponies broke out in peals of laughter.

Sure sounded like the party was a lot of fun. I just wish that I could remember it.

Turning a corner, I stopped. There was a small cloud, high over the street on which a pegasus was taking a nap. I sat back on my haunches and just stared. They told us at the Conversion Bureau that pegasi sometimes did this - but talking about it is quite different from actually seeing it for yourself. The dark grey pegasus opened his eyes, shifted around and went back to sleep. I shook my head and went in search of the bookstore.

A sign of a bound volume marked a small building as Ponyville's bookstore. Several recent releases were displayed in a small bow window. I glanced at them before pushing the door open. A bell chimed over my head. Inside, I stood in a small space, surrounded by shelves of books and displays of novels. In the back, a counter stood, covered with more books and small items.

A orange unicorn with a light blue mane and small eyeglasses at the end of her nose came out of the back. She gave me a studying glance before asking, "Welcome to the Ponyville Bookstore. Are you looking for a particular book - or are you just browsing?"

"Um. I was wondering if you had any... need for help? In the bookstore?"

The orange unicorn clip-clopped closer to me. "It's just me here. The bookstore isn't quite busy enough to require another pony here."

"Thank you," I said and turned to leave.

She glanced at my blank flank. "Ah, another one of Lyra's newfoals, I see. I thought I knew all the unicorns in town. Let us see what you know. How far is your schooling, child?"

"I can make out most of the unicorn glyphs and sigils."

"Hmph. About what you'd learn in the first year at magic kindergarten. Now, can you levitate that book?"

I floated the book as she asked.

The orange unicorn turned around. "Hmm. Something a bit harder. Try levitating that display of books," she asked, pointing out a rack of Daring Doo fiction.

I reached out with my magic, surrounded the display of novels, and tried to lift it. The display shook a bit but refused to rise. I felt like the display of books was nailed to the floor.

"Enough," the orange unicorn ordered. She looked around the bookstore again before floating a few small objects in front of me. "Brute strength is not your forte, it seems. Let us try with a task requiring fine control. Here is a needle and thread. Can you thread the needle?"

I took control of the two objects from the orange unicorn and tried to manipulate them. I found that I could keep the needle and thread from falling on the floor - but I was totally unable to bring the two objects together, let alone bring the end of the thread to the eye of needle. It was making my eyes cross over.

"Fine," said the orange unicorn. "Let me take the needle before you put your or my eye out."

I relinquished control of the needle and thread.

She ran through a few more tests to determine the limits of my magic. "Child, the good news is that you have not reached the limits of your potential," she finally said. "The bad news is that you have barely begun to tap your magic skills. And that means, much more hard work ahead. If you are interested, I can help you with instruction. I do run a magical class for unicorns here at the bookstore. It'll cost you a few bits - but you will find it most helpful in the future."

"I'd need to think about it," I said. "Right now, I need to find a job."

"Hmm..." the orange unicorn said. "You can lift a few things with magic, can read simpler items like labels and instructions. Have you tried applying for a job with Filthy Rich's Barnyard Bargains?"

"Barnyard Bargains?"

"It's an old business, founded around the same time that Ponyville was founded. Filthy Rich is a nice pony but watch out for for Mrs. Rich or their daughter, Diamond Tiara. Those two are not so nice ponies."

"Thank you," I said. "My name is Cherry Shine. I'll consider your offer to further my skills in magic - once I have a job."

"My name is Colophon. Come back when you are ready to start studying magic again."

I left the bookstore and headed across Ponyville. My route took me past the town hall so I decided to check on what I would need to get my railroad company started.

I passed a pegasus and a earth pony chatting while pulling carts. The earth pony waved - I waved in return - and the earth pony said something to her companion. They seemed to be giggling a lot as I turned the corner.

I trotted up the steps of the town hall and entered the ground floor office. The silver grey earth pony was examining some papers. He looked up.

"Yes - oh it's you. I need to know where you are staying and with whom. It helps us keep track of who is in Ponyville and where to deliver mail." He reached underneath his table and pulled out a small form. "Fill this out."

After filling out the form, I levitated it back to him. "Actually, I came in this afternoon to find out how to file papers for my company."

The silver grey pony took my form, glanced at it to check if I had properly filled every line, rolled it neatly and put it on top of a pile of similar rolls. Then he stepped to a high shelf, rose on his hind legs and pulled down a small roll of papers. "Cherry, you will need to fill out this form, and present to us here at the town hall office along with a filing fee of 250 bits."

"That's a lot of bits. I suppose the royal charter is even more expensive?"

"Oh no," the earth pony said. "All you need is to get Princess Celestia to approve it. Of course, trying to find a moment of Princess Celestia's time might be a problem."

I stepped away from his desk. "I'll... see what I can do about the fee."

"Don't you want the paperwork?"

I turned to show him my sides. "I've no way of carrying the paperwork - no saddlebags. And I'm on my way to see Filthy Rich about a job. Could you hold on to it until later?" I smiled hopefully.

"I guess I can," he grumbled. He took the roll of papers, rose onto his hindlegs and tossed the paperwork back onto its shelf. Dropping to all fours, he glanced into another box. "Oh, I almost forgot. You've got some mail here. They didn't know where to send it, so they dropped it off here." He reached in and taking the envelope in his mouth, presented it to me.

I took the envelope and using my magic, opened it. The lettering looked very shaky and childish. 'Cherry Shine', the letter read. 'I have come to Dodge Junction. The work is interesting. Write when you can. Sandstorm.'

Folding the envelope, I passed it back to the silver grey pony. "It's from a friend, wondering how I have been doing. I'll come back to pick it up, I promise. For now, could you hold onto it?"

The silver grey pony took the envelope reluctantly. I smiled at him and turned to leave. "Thank you for everything," I said as I exited his office.

'Barnyard Bargains' was a large barn on the edge of Ponyville, near the station. There was a store with ponies entering and leaving. The rest of the structure was warehouse for the things that Filthy Rich sold. I walked along the front of the barn until I found a service entrance. Then I pulled the door open and entered.

"Hello?" I shouted into the vastness. "Is there anyone here?" All that there was around me was industrial shelving with cases of things.

"Over here," came a reply.

I stepped carefully into the warehouse, past a ceiling high stack of soap to find a tan earth pony standing next to a shelf . He was trying to reshelf several spilled boxes of baking soda. My horn glowed and I began to pick up loose boxes and pass them up to the earth pony.

"Thanks," the earth pony said as we finished cleaning up the mess. "I appreciate the help. Now, who are you looking for?"

"I was hoping to talk to Filthy Rich and find out if he has a job for me."

"Mr. Rich?" the tan earth pony asked. I saw him a moment ago. I think he's up front in the store. Follow me, please."

We passed through a pair of swinging doors into the store. He led me down a series of aisles, looking. In between boxes of apple jams and apple butter, he stopped a brown earth pony with a dark mane, well dressed in a collar and tie. "Mr Rich, this young unicorn is looking for a job with us."

I dipped my head. "My name is Cherry Shine. I hope you can help me."

"I'll take care of her, Pine Shavings," Mr. Rich said. As I turned, I thought I saw Filthy Rich wink at the tan earth pony. The well dressed earth pony pointed to an office near the rear of the store. "If you'll come with me, I can learn a little about you. I see you haven't gotten your cutie mark yet - so I guess you're one of Lyra's little projects."

"Yes, Mr .Rich."

Once in the office, Mr. Rich sat on his haunches behind a desk covered in papers and shipping lists. I shook my head as he offered something to drink - I was feeling a bit nervous already. He poured himself a cup of tea, poured in a bit of sugar and stirred it with a spoon held in his mouth. Ignoring the cooling tea, Mr. Rich invited me to talk about what I experienced and seen. He was very interested in my experiences on Earth, asking questions about modern big box stores like Wal-Mart and Target.

I was starting to relax a bit when the door of the office opened and Pine Shavings came in with a hand truck loaded with three large cardboard boxes. "Zap Apple Jam. They need to go out on the next delivery van," Pine Shavings said. He left the hand truck and exited the office.

"Zap Apple Jam is one of the company specialities. I ship the jam all over Equestria." Mr. Rich explained. "Please continue explaining this concept known as rolling back prices."

I began to cover the various ways that big stores sold their goods. As I talked, my eyes kept flicking back to the hand truck with the three cardboard boxes. Something about those cardboard boxes was bothering me.

Mr. Rich wanted to know more about the membership stores like Sam's Club and Costco. But first, he needed to freshen up his tea.

I took the opportunity to really examine those three boxes. Each of them had 'This side up' stickers on them, all pointing up. They all had shipping labels - but one of the labels looked wrong. A careful examination showed that the shipping label was pasted upside down. Mr. Rich was pouring sugar into his tea so he was almost ready to continue the interview.

Something else was wrong with those cases, something that I was missing. While Mr. Rich was stirring his tea, I took one glance at the cardboard cases themselves. I almost missed it but there was a discoloration along the edge of the bottom cardboard box.

"That is mostly enlightening," Mr. Rich said as he put down his tea spoon. "Now let us talk about you and your work experience."

"Mr. Rich?" I interrupted. "I hope these boxes aren't going out like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Someone's messed up in the shipping department. The middle box has its shipping labels applied incorrectly. And there's something leaking from the bottom box."

Mr. Rich stood up and walked around the desk. "I don't see anything leaking. And what's wrong with the shipping labels. They show the address of the buyer clearly enough."

"To read the shipping labels," I explained, "the box will be turned upside down. The arrows clearly show the box needs to kept right side up. And while there's no puddle around my hooves yet, there's something leaking from that bottom box."

"Would you ship those boxes if I ordered you to? If I told you that the delivery van was at the door and those boxes needed to go out?"

I looked from Mr. Rich's face to the boxes and back again. My tail swishing from nervousness, I said, "No."

"Why?"

"You said that Zap Apple Jam is one of your company's specialities. By shipping improperly crated jam, you would be hurting your company's reputation. The cost of not shipping this time would be outweighed by the cost to your reputation."

Mr. Rich sat on his haunches behind his desk. He studied me for a long moment. Finally, he spoke. "Welcome aboard, Cherry Shine."

"Huh?"

"The hand truck was a trick to see if prospective employees would spot anything wrong with a shipment. An attention to detail is one reason why Filthy Rich's Barnyard Bargins has become the cornerstone of retail in Ponyville."

"And your tea? I've noticed you poured two cups and haven't tasted either of them."

"Tea? I can't stand the stuff myself. But pouring the tea, measuring out the sugar and stirring slowly gives me time to study prospective employees."

Filthy Rich called for Pine Shavings. When the tan earth pony came into the office, he asked Pine Shavings to handle all the details of hiring me - and to take the fake boxes out of the office.

"Thank you, Filthy Rich," I said as I turned to leave. "I'll start early tomorrow morning as you asked." Then I followed Pine Shavings to fill out paperwork and receive my work apron and hat.

It was late afternoon when I left Filthy Rich's Barnyard Bargins, dropped by the town hall to pick up my mail and company papers and started to head back to Baritone and Bottlecap's hay farm. While my dream of a modern electrified railroad was still a dream, I had taken the first step to making it a reality.