Sol-less Equus

Chapters

I - Red Letter Day
II - The Crew
III - Take-off
IV - The journey begins
V - Ponyville
VI - What was, will be-

I - Red Letter Day

Just like some cliched old story, it all began with a letter.

Gallus the gryphon let out a small huff and looked over the text on the paper, written in a delicate, yet official manner.

Dear Gallus,

Your presence is required in Crystal Empire. Attached to this letter are the Transfer and Summon requests to smoothen any bureaucratic issues, as well as the sum necessary to purchase the ticket for the express train from Gryphonstone to the Crystal Empire. Please arrive as soon as possible, there is a matter that requires private discussion.

Signed,
Her Royal Imperial Majesty, Sovereign of Love, Empress Mi Amore Cadenza
His Royal Imperial Majesty, Protector of the Empire, Emperor Shining Armor

Nothing new, nothing old, everything just as cryptic as it was when he first received it three days ago. Still, the letter had the genuine seal of the royal family, and has been delivered by an imperial courier, so probably this was important.

The gryphon sighed and looked out of the frost-covered window. The skies were of a beautiful azure shade, filled with shimmering dots, both above and below the train. Snow was flying by as the train steamed on ahead, towards the glimmering pink dot on the horizon. The gryphon shook his head and closed his eyes. He wanted to go back to a much simpler time, when he was just a fledgeling. Before the world was torn apart by the Disaster.

He felt a headache arise. With a sigh, he opened his eyes and stared blankly at the void behind the glass. Contrary to popular belief, it didn’t stare back at him.

He sat like that for the rest of the ride.

“Now arriving at Crystal Empire Rail Terminal. Please gather your luggage and proceed to the exit; the train has arrived to the final terminus”

Gallus opened his eyes and stood up from his seat. He heard the train wheels clang and screech as one by one when they touched down on the rails of the receiving line, as the engineers were applying brakes. He pondered how it looked from outside. Would the locomotive let off a lot of sparks as wheels grind on the rails? The gryphon smirked. Yes, perhaps that would be quite a spectacle that Silverstream would like to see.

He probably should write to his friends soon. After three years of isolation that followed the world shattering he was more than just relieved to get letters from them (and send his own letters!) and learn that while they were shaken, they were alive and well. Well, mostly well. But they were alive, and that was what was important.

Grabbing a suitcase with his simple belongings, and headed to the exit. He was glad to finally leave the confines of the train, seeing how he was the only creature on it going that far along the line.
Actually, he was pretty sure he was the only creature on that train, period. Gryphons were not too fond of going that far west. Despite west no longer existing in the usual sense of the world.

Either way, he got off the train and looked around the platform… And felt his beak open as he saw a group of five creatures.
An earth pony of that strange pale green-or-yellow color and teal mane.
An orange dragoness standing proud, arms crossed over her chest.
A large brown female yak with mane braided in two hoops on the sides of her head.
A pale blue changeling with soft red elytra and pink neck fin and tail.
And of course, the pale purple hippogryph who already noticed him and now was flying towards him at an alarming speed.

“Gallus!” Silvestream shrieked as she collided with the blue gryphon, and they both tumbled along the platform, “Oh I am so happy-happy-happy to see you!”

Yup, the Disaster didn’t change her one bit.

“Hey dude,” Sandbar welcomed Gallus by helping him up, “Long time no see”

“Yak missed gryphon friend!” Yona proclaimed. She grew up, perhaps even more than the rest of their group, the gryphon realized.

Gallus raised his paws up, “N-no hugging, please - or at least not right now”

Smolder huffed and offered a fist-bump. Gallus accepted.

Finally, he nodded towards Ocellus, who returned the gesture.

“Glad to finally see you again, guys,” the gryphon exhaled, “Been too long since our last meeting. Sure, letters are fine and all, but… I guess I was missing seeing you in person… Ah, whatever! Yona, forget what I said earlier,” he laughed as the group shared a warm, prolonged hug.

“Hey, Gallus,” Sandbar said afterwards, “A question. Are you here because you’ve got a letter too?”

“Wait, really?” the gryphon looked at the earth pony and blinked, “You guys did get one too?”

“Mhm”
“Yup”
“Yak got letter!”
“Yah”
“Yes”

The group went silent as they exchanged glances.

“Well, I guess we’ll hear an explanation soon,” Sandbar said, nodding to the side.

Everycreature turned to look in the direction Sandbar nodded to. There, they saw a group of ponies approaching them. Two of them were immediately recognizable as Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor, rulers of the Crystal Empire. Along with them was a group of four elite guards, vigorously guarding the ruling pair. And a bit to the side, under a watchful gaze of two more elite guards, walked another pony. A stallion of earth tribe, with dark gray coat, short, messy dark blonde mane and tail. He had three strong, pale-yellow hooves with unshorn fetlocks. The fourth hoof was made of steel, for the stallion had a prosthetic left hind leg from slightly above the knee. The stallion was wearing a bomber jacket - gryphon-made, as Gallus noted from the insignia on the shoulder - a pair of flight goggles on his neck, and a simple naval-styled cap. He seemed utterly disinterested in whatever was going on around him, and his eyes - left one swamp-green, right one almost gray - were half-closed.

"Greetings, Your Majesties!" the six creatures bowed to the approaching royalty.

"Hello, friends of the Empire," Cadance replied with a small nod, "And welcome. I hope your journey here was good?"

"Yes!" Silverstream nodded vigorously, "Even if there weren't many creatures on the train, it was still enjoyable!"

"Yak no like new train," Yona grumbled, "Old train on rail. New train fly. Yak no like flying"

"Alas, such are the times we live in," Shining said, "Without them, we'd remain isolated from one another"

"Yak still no like them"

"Ahem!" everycreature turned their heads towards the gray stallion, who spoke in a raspy voice, "Could we please hurry up? I don't have all day"

"Yes, I think that would be for the better," Cadance nodded. Shining nodded in agreement, "I have summoned you here for a reason"

"We've figured that much," Gallus rolled his eyes, "Why though?"

"Please, come with us," Shining Armor nodded, "It would be better if we show and tell"

The group went through the busy railyard, through the platforms, passages, bridges and arches, moving past departing, arriving, and awaiting trains.
Trains, giants of steel. But those were not ordinary trains, no; those were trains in the name only. Each and every one was a much more complex machine now, at least twice as big as locomotives of the pre-Disaster era; they were sturdier, heavier, and much, much more powerful than the engines of old. No longer were they made for rails, no. They were made to soar through Äther, the great void that was surrounding the shattered continents of the world of Equus, broken by the Disaster.

'Ride on the wheels of steel, fly on the wings of steam,' was the slogan of modern society.

And, to everyone's surprise, the sight of trains excited not only Silverstream, but Ocellus as well.

"...that large one that just departed, was the Steelgrad Bellus-oh-eight engine. There are rumors that the previous model, oh-seven, had experienced a disastrous failure in the prototype stage and was scrapped immediately afterwards. And that one, with dual chimneys, is Root&Joy Co. Rail Yards Horo Hauler; it has folding wings and tail fins for improved stability and maneuverability. Oh and see this one, with scratched hull and a mountain emblem on its boilerplate? I think it's one from the Griffin's war a few years ago…" the changeling spoke to the hippogryph, who was looking at metal behemoths around them with a glee.

After all, there never was much traffic through mt.Aries station. Not before, nor after the Disaster.

About thirty minutes later, the group arrived at the 'technical' side of the station, where the depots and service stations of all kinds were located. There, ten or so more minutes of walking, they stood before a heavily guarded hangar.

"So what are we doing here?" Gallus asked, looking at the massive doors.

"Well… Tin, will you do the honors?" Cadance glanced at gray stallion.

"Joy," the gray stallion, Tin, huffed, "Never thought you'd ask," he walked to the smaller door in the gates. The guards stepped aside, as the stallion pulled out a keyring and, after some fiddling to find the right key, opened the lock, "Thought you'd keep parading me around like some sort of trophy prisoner. Come on in"
The elite guards at his sides rolled their eyes in judgemental silence.

With that, he opened the door and stepped inside. The six creatures exchanged confused looks, and followed him inside.

"I don't know who you are and why am I even supposed to do that, but you don't just say 'no' to an empress," Tin continued inside the hangar. Most of it was engulfed in the darkness, barring the catwalk the group climbed on. They could see a silhouette of a locomotive in the darkness, faint glimmer of something shiny on the hull, "So I'll tell you what I told her"

"We were on a salvage-and-slash-or-mining operation deep within the Outer Verge. Perhaps I went further than we had to," the stallion stopped near a large control panel, "And our engine got hit by an Äther-storm. We endured, and when everything cleared up, we saw… This"

Tin turned on the lights in the hangar, momentarily blinding everycreature inside.

"It was just… There"

‘It’ turned out to be a battered äther locomotive. Its once white hull was covered in dents and rust, the brass ornaments green with corrosion, bridge-cab windows shattered. Here and there, splinters of green glass were sticking from the hull.

And on the side of the cylindrical hull was a nameplate, with large, intricate letters spelling the word ‘HHML Harmony’, right next to something no creature seen for the last twenty years.

A purple six-point star, surrounded with five smaller white stars.

A replica of the cutie mark of Twilight Sparkle, the now presumed dead ruler of Equestria.

The silence fell as the six creatures stood there, looking at the battered locomotive in front of them, pondering on the possibilities.

"There. Can I go now?"

And just like that, Tin broke the spell.

"Just a little longer, Tin," Cadance said, making the stallion groan in frustration. He mumbled something akin to 'This was a mistake', pulled a flask from a pocket on his jacket and took a swig from it.

"So, wait a moment," Sandbar said, turning towards Cadance, "You called us here to show this… thing, but… why exactly?"

"Yak wonder that too!" Yona nodded vigorously.

"Well, we wanted to show you this engine," Shining explained, "More specifically, the emblem on it. And then there is this," his horn lit up as he pulled a book - or, to be more specific, a large, leather-clad journal, from one of the guard's saddlebag, and levitated it over to the Sandbar.

The journal was then rather quickly snatched by Silversream who shouted in excitement, "Hey, look, it has Twilight's cutie mark as well!"

"We believe it is her research journal and logbook of sorts, looking at what is written there," Cadance said, "We didn't read much, but we suspect that this journal might have some clues on what Twilight was working on before… well, what happened happened"

Tin huffed and took another swig from his flask, earning a disapproving glance from 'his' guards.

"So, uh, you want us to figure out what happened with Twilight by reading her journal?" Ocellus asked, pulling said journal from Silverstream.

"No. We want you to find her," said Shining Armor.

This caused the gray stallion to spit another sip from his flask and guffaw, loudly, and the six gawked at the crystal empress and her spouse.

"Uh, not to sound disrespectful, Your Majesty, but isn't a bit far-fetched?" Smolder crossed her arms over her chest, “I mean, it’s been a while since she disappeared… Along with others”

“About twenty years, to be precise,” Tin said through his wheezing, “And it ain’t been long enough”

Shining shot an angry glare at Tin. The earther stallion didn’t seem to care though.

“We know it’s been a long time, yes,” Cadance said somberly, “But this,” she gestured at the battered ‘Harmony’ with her wing, “Could be a sign”

“Okay, princezz, hold on for a second!” Tin flashed, “Why am I still here? What do I have to do with any of this?!”

“Yeah,” huffed Smolder, snorting out two thin streams of smoke from her nose, “I mean, he told us what we needed, and now he’s just being annoying and distracting”

“See?” the gray stallion gestured towards Smolder, “She understands!”

Cadance rolled her eyes.

“You are here, Tin, because we want to hire you to take this locomotive to-”

“Nuh-uh! Wait a minute!” Tin raised his hoof and scowled, “I ain’t doing that! I don’t know how things are in the palace, but the skies have their own rules. Written and unwritten,” the stallion stopped for another swig from his flask, but Shining grunted in annoyance and tugged it away from him, earning a glare from Tin. So the stallion let out an annoyed whinny, and continued, “And unwritten rule number one is: under no circumstances any sky-captain would commandeer a derelict vessel, lest the wreck’s bad luck be contagious”

"Superstitions," one of the guards grumbled, earning a small glare from others.

"Superstitions? Yes, maybe," Tin agreed, "But there are stories upon stories of how captains who dared to take a derelict as a vessel of their own suffer from streaks of bad luck that eventually led them to their death or madness. By the way, unwritten rule number two," the stallion reached his hoof towards Shining, "Never stand between sky-captain and their booze. Give it back. Now"

Shining shook his head, "No. For Celestia's sake, show some respect, captain Tin, you are acting unprofessional and shame your fellow captains..."

"Pffft. As if I care," the stallion made a dismissive gesture, "And if you want to go all rank and file, first, it's Kapitänleutnant Tin, and second… I don't give a crap!" He shrugged, "I sail the skies under Equestria's banner, yes, but I ain't nopony's lap dog," he took a step to Shining and prodded his chest, "We free sky-captains are ones who pulled the world together after your sister ruined everything!"

Shining sucked air through his teeth, and was about to say something rather offensive, but got interrupted.

"Shiny, just... Give him his booze back," Cadance sighed. The crystal emperor rolled his eyes and gave the flask back to its rightful owner.

"Thanks, your Majesty," Tin bowed mockingly to Cadance before taking another sip.

"Wow. Attitude much?" Smolder snorted.

"Well excuse me, princess!" Tin snorted, "And, speaking of which, another reason I won't touch that derelict: we found it completely empty, adrift, but it was loaded, stocked and stoked. Stoked! Fire in the firebox, boiler hot. Hel', when we got to the mess hall, we found food on the table! Sure it was cold, but it was fresh. As if the crew sat down for a meal in the middle of a trip, and disappeared," Tin swung his hoof abruptly, "So, no, I am not taking that thing anywhere but to the scrapyard…"
He made another pause, and added, "Besides, it is, in Ashes' words, 'amorally morally outdated'. Inefficient boiler, inefficient steam distribution, aluminum buswork…"

"Who's Ashes?" Silverstream interjected.

"My stoker/engineer," Tin answered curtly.

"How about we hire your engine then?" Cadance asked suddenly.

Tin choked on the air.

"What?!"

"We want to hire you, your crew, and your engine to mount a search expedition for Twilight Sparkle," the empress repeated in more detail.

Tin frowned, and swung both his hooves in a protesting motion, "No! Nuh-uh! I refuse! Ya hear? Whatever happened to Twilight, and that locomotive, I ain't want to be a part of it! No! Nein! Nada! Zilch! I'd rather haul cargo from port to port for the rest of my life!"

"We'll pay you," Cadance made emphasis on the word 'pay'.

"Yeah? What worth of money is it that I'm going to risk my life in an insane chase of the thing that might not even be?" Tin sat down and crossed his forehooves over his chest.

"Enough for you to retire in a newly built governor manor," Shining said. Tin's ear flicked and turned towards the white stallion.
"And never ever lift a hoof to do anything ever again," he continued.

Tin slowly turned his head towards the crystal emperor. He raised his hoof and began asking something, but Cadance interrupted him, "Of course, your crew will be rewarded as well… not as much as you, but still enough for them to live a prosperous life"

Tin snorted.

"One question," he asked, before pressing both hooves to his chest, "Why me?!"

"Because you were the one who found this," Cadance gestured at 'Harmony' again, "You remember the place where you found her..."

"Äther is ever-changing, Your Majesty," Tin replied, "Especially out in the Verge. What lies beyond is unknown. No creature dares to venture too far out there…"

He looked at the battered locomotive once more, "...Alright, your Majesties. You got a deal," the stallion nodded, stood up and raised his hoof, "But! On two conditions"

"Nothing too crazy," Shining said sternly.

"First," Tin gestured at the exit from the hangar, "I want you to perform repairs and refits on Glacies Perfuro, my locomotive. By that I mean you pay expenses," Tin clarified when he saw confusion on Shining's face, "Consult Ashes. She knows about Glacies' systems more than I do"

For some reason, the locomotive name sounded familiar to Gallus.

"And what is the second one?" Cadance asked.

"I'm going to need an advance payment," Tin replied as he took a sip from his flask, before frowning and turning it upside-down. Nothing came out.

"How much?"

"Either Wild Pega whisky, or Steelgrad Becherovka, or Blacksteed Brandy. Three crates," The stallion exhaled, "Darkness knows, I'm going to need that…"

"Sodding alcoholic…" Shining muttered to himself.

"Royal colt-toy," Tin muttered in response.

Whatever Shining wanted to reply was lost in two yelps - his and Tin's - as Cadance's horn lit up, and her magic aura tugged at both stallions' ears.

"That's enough, both of you," the empress told sternly, "You two are grown-up steeds, and you act like foals right now! Do I have to discipline you two?"

"No, ma'am," both stallions replied in unison.

"Good," she then released them, "Now, Tin, please lead us to your locomotive so we could finalize the contract"

"Uh-huh," the gray stallion nodded, flicking his ear a few times, "Just one more thing," he gestured towards Gallus and Co, "What's the matter with them?"

"As I've said, I want them to find whereabouts of Twilight Sparkle," Cadance said, "And I am hiring you to assist them"

"Wha-" Tin's jaw dropped as he stared at the six creatures, before facehooving, "...Oooh, good one, Your Majesties. Good one. Played the tired old stallion like a fiddle now, did ya?" He shook his head, "Should've asked what you were hiring me for…” he made a pause and facehooved again, “Oh, wait, right. You did mention it… And their involvelvement… So, my bad, but, well… Wealth!" He glanced aside and mumbled, "Umbra, please let it be worth it…"

"I have a feeling you're not mentioning something, sky-captain?" Cadance inquired with a smile.

"...Ah, squall. Make it five crates," the stallion replied, "Alright, are we going to move or not? If memory serves, you two have a state to run, and I have a group suicide to plan"

"Such optimism," Smolder huffed.

"Yeah, dude needs to brighten up a little bit," Sandbar nodded.

Yona scratched her chin, "Yak not understand. If pony hate job, why pony take job?"

"Because, my dear yak, as I've said before," Tin cleared his throat, "Pony not say no to empress"

And so, they left the hangar, departing towards Tin's locomotive. When the lights inside the hangar were turned off, the only remaining sound was a faint ticking of the clock on the bridge of 'Harmony', despite the clock's gears being perfectly still.

II - The Crew

“What do you think of this whole situation?” Smolder asked Gallus as the group was following Tin through the railyard. All around them everything seemed to be in constant motion: technical crews running back and forth, engineers shouting at one another, mechanisms clanking and rumbling. Smaller tug-locomotives zip back and forth.

“No clue. But that stallion is definitely something,” the gryphon shrugged as he dodged a crystal pony carrying a large box with tools, “Hel’, had I not seen him I’d think he’s a gryphon or something…”

“Yeah, that dude is a mood-killer,” Sandbar rolled his eyes, “And, apparently, we’re stuck with him”

“It’s not you who are stuck with me,” the gray stallion said, turning towards Sandbar, “It’s me who is stuck with you”

“What’s with the attitude, dude?” Sandbar asked. Tin’s ear flicked and he groaned.

“I’ve been stuck in a gilded cage for a week!” he replied, “After I burned through the skies like crazy, towing that hunk of junk here. Naive me, hoping to get a reward!”

Sandbar could feel the stallion roll his eyes, such was the tone of his voice, despite him not turning back to them.

“But what do I get? No ‘thank you’, no coin, no - get locked up in the palace guest wing and not being allowed to leave until all six of you have gathered. At least food’s been nice,” Tin continued in the meantime, “And now I am doing this…”

“Yona had a point back there,” Ocellus piped in quietly, “If you don’t want to do it, why did you agree to it?”

“Money, ladybug,” once again, Sandbar felt Tin’s eyes roll, “I’m not getting any younger, and I’d like to have some funds for at least decent retirement”

“So you’re just a sellsword who’d do just about anything for money?” Gallus asked with a huff. He’d cross his paws over his chest, had he been flying, to emphasize.

“Oh please, as if it’s something bad,” the stallion chuckled for a moment, then exhaled and continued in a stern tone, “However, I do have standards. I did a few dirty things in my career, aye,” ‘laundry,’ Gallus thought to himself, rolling his eyes, “After all, who didn’t?.. But there are things that I just will not do. After all, the only decency in the skies is the one we bring with us,” he finished with a flick of his tail.

“Sheesh. You know, Your Majesty,” Smolder turned to Cadance, “I’d like to ask you from under which rock did you dig this fellow up, but I know the answer: you didn’t, he came to you on his own”

Shining snorted in amusement. Cadance courtly nodded.
Finally, after what felt like an hour of walking, the group arrived at a different part of the station. The docking berths. Tin’s ears perked up.

“Ah, we’re getting close…” he raised his gaze up at the signs, “Berths N-11 to N-20… 21-30… Aha, this way!”

As they followed, they could make out some other sound coming through the clamour of the engine-yard. Through the constant clanking, rumbling, shouting and PA shout-outs, a subdued melody could be heard. Someone was playing some stringed instrument. Acoustic guitar, most likely.

And someone was singing to it.

Tin smiled a little as they were getting closer to the source of the music. Soon, the group could make out words of the song, coming from a dark-ice-blue colored locomotive that occupied berth N-25.

“...I know thy skies are very, very wide
And our train in truth is small
And those who dwell within her hide
I care for, one and all…”

The singer was a female, her voice, despite being monotonous and calm, still carried on the emotions of the verse, giving off an almost motherly tone.

“...Their safety rests upon my skill
Their lives within my grasp
Each day I swallow bitter pill
And pray that dangers pass...”

Turning on the side of the berth, the group finally saw the singer. It was a - relatively - young black dragoness, with a pair of short straight horns, short frills around her ears, and oddly slim-looking wings. Color-wise, she was coal black, with her chest and belly plates being dull gray, as were her wings’ membranes. Her eyes were dark blue, like the midnight sky that was now lost. She was sitting on an empty crate near the main hatch of the locomotive and was playing guitar, and singing along.

With her was a gray unicorn stallion, with dark blonde mane and tail. His mane was made into a ponytail. Just like Tin, he was wearing a bomber jacket, and, in addition, he had a peaked cap on his head. He was slightly more fluffy than Tin, too. His cutie mark consisted of three brass gears - two had their teeth interlocked, and another one was connected by a belt. He was sitting on the platform, eyes closed, and was bobbing his head to the tune.

“Behold these huffing engine hearts
That keep us all alive
I know them down to smallest parts
That I and Mine may thrive”

Then the dragoness jumped up on the crate, and sang just a bit louder, acapella. Putting more energy into the song, making it sound more solemn and triumphant, with one of her paws on her heart:

“And foals may be all those who fear the mighty engines roar
Because those fools got all the rights to deserve my abhor!”

The dragoness played a couple more chords, and stopped.

“Humble as always, Ashes,” Tin said with a smirk.

The gray unicorn’s eyes - icy blue - snapped open.

“Captain on berth!” he bellowed. His voice, while gentle, was firm and held authority to it.

One could think that this stallion was the captain of the locomotive, not Tin.

Tin simply rolled his eyes, “Mecha, I told you multiple times, no need for that. We’re not in the navy”

Mecha smiled.

“What can I say, captain? Some semblance of discipline wouldn’t hurt!”

“You’ve brought company,” Ashes said dryly, putting her guitar aside, “Guess this is what took you so long?”

“Your ability to state the obvious is astonishing,” Tin said, with obvious sarcasm, yet without any malice, “But yes. I have news… Is Ten’ around?”

“On the bridge, as usual,” Ashes replied, “Should I give him a holler?”

While the talk was happening, Ocellus suddenly felt something strange. A subdued feeling of despise was coming off the gray unicorn, directed at her and Shining Armor. She blinked in confusion, and looked at the stallion. He caught her glance, his nostrils flared - just a little - and he turned his head away from her.

“Wait, seriously?!” Gallus said, a bit louder than he probably should, “You have royalty in front of you and you’re going to completely ignore that?!”

“...I’d really rather have the whole crew gathered,” Tin replied coldly. He then took a deep breath, and yelled, “HEY! TEN’! DROP YOUR SCRIBBLING AND GET OUTSIDE!”

The window of the locomotive bridge opened, and a bat flew out. Then, something that looked like liquid shadow poured out onto the platform from it. Shining Armor gasped, his horn lit up as a shield dome appeared around him and Cadance. The guards drew their lances. The young six took a few steps back.
Tin let out a frustrated groan and facehooved. The shadow, in the meantime, was taking a shape, a form of a unicorn stallion. Fur black as charcoal, mane white like fresh paper. Curved, blade-like horn with subtle glowing green highlights crowned his head. Then he opened his dull green eyes and looked around with a bored expression.
And then the bat returned and nestled itself on the top of shadow stallion's head.

Tin sighed.

"Ten'. For the countlessth time: use doors, you freak others out"

The shadow stallion looked at Tin. It was hard to read his expression, as it was completely neutral. Then he looked at Shining, Cadance, and the guards.

“I apologize for this display,” he said. His voice grave and calm, “I did not expect the rulers of the Crystal Empire themselves to pay a visit to our humble engine. Had I known, I’d used a more conventional way of presenting myself”

Ten’ then tipped the bat as if it was a hat, and nodded, “Greetings, sir, ma’am”
The bat squeaked something.
“Be nice, Belfry,” Ten’ sighed.

“I would really appreciate it if you all stopped looking at my navigator as if he’s Sombra reincarnated,” Tin said dryly.

Shining stared at the shadow stallion for a minute longer, before dropping his shield and sighing, “Guards, stand down”
The guards, begrudgingly, obeyed. But they still kept a close eye on the shadowy stallion. He didn’t seem to mind.

“Alright, now with this out of the way,” Tin said, “My crew. This here, as you might have deduced already, is Ten’, navigation officer, and Belfry, our scout,” he gestured to the shadowy stallion. Ten’, once again, tipped his ‘hat’.

“Sir. Ma’am”

“Squee,” added Belfry.

“The dragoness here is Ashes. Stoker, engineer, humble as pie,” Tin nodded towards the black dragoness. She merely nodded, acknowledging the presence of royals.

“And this is my first officer, Working Mechanism. Mecha for short,” the gray unicorn walked closer and smiled as Tin spoke his name.

“Your Majesties,” he bowed low, and reached his hoof out to Cadance. The empress let out a giggle and reached her hoof out as well, which Mecha held in his and gave it a kiss.

“And those are?” Ashes nodded towards the six other creatures, “Swear I’ve seen the dragoness somewhere…”

“Well!” Smolder said, crossing her arms over her chest, “We are from the first batch of students of Twilight’s School of Friendship…”

Tin groaned, loudly and facehooved.

“Umbra save me,” he groaned, making everyone look at him, “We’re going to have Friendlies aboard?”

“Um, no, dude, we’re not Friendlies. We just studied in Twilight’s school,” Sandbar said.

“Yak no understand. What friendlies?” Yona tilted her head in confusion.

“Ugh…” this time it was Sandbar who facehooved, “I’ll explain it later. So, uh, well! I’m Sandbar,” he said, then gestured to his friends, introducing them one after another, “These are my friends, Yona, Smolder, Gallus, Ocellus and Silverstream”

“Charmed,” Tin rolled his eyes.

“Pleased to meet you,” Mecha saluted. Still, Ocellus felt that tingle of disdain coming from him towards her.

Ten’, for the third time, tipped his bat-‘hat’. Bat let out yet another squeak.
“Be nice, Belfry,” Ten’ said to the bat.

Actually, upon a closer look, Belfry turned out to be a flying fox.

“Alright, I’m a little bit lost, captain,” Ashes said, jumping off the crate, “Care to explain where you have been for the whole week with no note, and why do we have bleeding royalty on our berth? My first guess would’ve been a mighty tour on brothels, and, honestly? I would’ve preferred brothels, captain.”

“Crew, we’re hired”

The silence that hung over the platform was palpable. Even though in the background, the noise of the railyard continued on.

“Great news, captain!”

“I’m listening”

“Go on”

‘Squeek!’

“We are to assist those six in their search of Twilight Sparkle,” Tin continued.

Once again, silence fell on the platform.

Ashes sighed without changing her facial expression, “I stand by my previous statement.”

Then it exploded in two simultaneous “What?!”

“But it’s been twenty years!..”

“Oh. That’s an opportunity”

“We’re getting paid,” Tin continued further, and raised his hoof to stifle further discontent, “Enough for us all to retire - or, in your case, Ten’, buy out a locomotive of your own and strike out to finish your magnum opus. And Ashes?”

The dragoness looked at the stallion, arms crossed over her chest, the expression of scepticism on her face.

“Bring out requisition forms”

Scepticism turned into dull surprise.

“The Empire is paying for our locomotive repairs and refurbishment...”

Sparks shone in the dragoness’ eyes for a moment.

“Aye captain,” Ashes turned around and… disappeared. The only thing that was registered by everyone present was the clang of the access hatch.

“Well that happened,” Tin shrugged, “Alright, Your Majesties, shall we proceed with writing the contract?”

Cadance nodded, “Yes. Let’s finish this”

“Follow me,” he nodded at the hatch, “Careful, it’s cramped in there. Watch your horn”

Gallus swallowed nervously.

“Hey, uh… How cramped is it exactly?”

Tin didn’t reply, disappearing inside the hatch along with ‘his’ guards. Cadance and Shining followed inside.

Ten’ looked after them, then at the six friends.

“I will be going, if you’ll excuse me,” he tipped his bat-hat one final time. Belfry took off and began circling around, while Ten’s body turned back into that liquid-like shadow and flowed back into the locomotive bridge window. Belfry followed inside. A moment later, the window closed.

That left the six with just Mecha.

“So yak ask! What friendlies?” Yona said, looking at Sandbar.

“Oh!” Mecha smiled warmly, “‘Friendly’ is a term used to describe the followers of the philosophy of Twilight Sparkle, the ideas of interspecies equality, companionship, compassion and camaraderie!” his smile then waned, “And they are the ones who fight against the nobles of New Canterlot…”

The unicorn bit his lip and looked away, “See, back in the early days… Hmm, I think it was about… fourteen years ago. Yes, around that time. The nobles were… Well, let’s say old habits die hard. Equestria was quite fine by itself, self-sufficient and self-contained for a long time, under Celestia’s rule. So when Twilight introduced the new ideas, the nobles were… well, less than accepting”

“Oh, like chancellor Neighsay?” Silverstream said.

Mecha nodded, “Yes? No?.. Maybe. I don’t know him. So, anyway, the resistance of nobles did not weaken with time, even after the…” he made a pause and a shadow of some… undecipherable emotion flashed on his face. But Ocellus felt anger below that shadow. Anger and pain, “...the whole ‘stand united’ shebang happened. Some even argued that Equestria became so weak that it couldn’t handle the threat on its own”

“The most radical nobles began the exodus from Canterlot in protest of the changes Twilight was making. Most of those who stayed there were her supporters… And we all know what happened,” the gray unicorn sighed, “So it just happened that the anti-Twilight nobles survived, and founded New Canterlot. They successfully managed to gather support for their ideas, their vision of unity… So, naturally, the fact that Ponyville and the School of Friendship - and, what was worse, Twilight’s ideas - survived the Disaster came as a shock to them”

Sandbar nodded, “Ponyville stood for the ideals of Twilight Sparkle, and the interspecies friendship. I’m not exactly sure when exactly the term was formed, but it was used as a derogatory nickname specifically for ponies who believed in interspecies friendship,” he smiled bitterly, “I know; I’ve been called that”

“And later, the populus of Ponyville went and took that nickname, and now proudly wears it,” Mecha concluded, “Friendlies oppose the nobles, nobles oppose Friendlies, but there’s no, uh, official war,” he frowned and glanced to the side, “They don’t shy away from hiring unaffiliated sky-captains for their little dirty ‘games’...”

“And have you participated in any of those?” Smolder asked with a squint.

Mecha huffed.

“Captain prefers to stay out of politics. Or, rather, stay out of the way of politics,” the unicorn’s ear flicked, “Did you know that this locomotive was the one of the many that took part in the gryphon civil war? Though, I wasn’t serving on her back in the day. And Tin wasn’t a captain. I think he served as an engineer on her. He’s…” he scrunched his snout, “He’s not exactly fond of talking about the events from back then. I just know he lost his leg in that war, somehow”

Gallus looked at the platform, suddenly finding it more interesting than everything else. But then he raised his gaze and looked over the locomotive. Armored broadsides of her ‘cab’, her long ‘boiler’ cylinder hidden under angled steel plating, nozzles of maneuver steam jets, and a large, complex steam drive in the aft. The locomotive did not have a number, but instead it had a name plate with ornate letters spelling ‘Glacies Perfuro’.

“That was around seven years ago,” Gallus said, “And here I was thinking the name sounded familiar. Glacies, she was one of the Discord’s dozen of locomotives that took down the defences of Gryphonstone,” he blinked, “But wouldn’t that mean that she’s outdated?”

“Don’t let Ashes hear you say that,” Mecha quickly replied, “The captain and her were working their plots off on improving and upgrading it. Sure, it’s still that old-style, cramped locomotive at first glance, but it’s more than that! Efficient boiler from Crown&Misery Railyards! Steam piping system by Root&Joy! Flim-Flam’s plumbing system - cold AND hot water! Lavatories that flush!” Mecha was grinning wide, “This old gal may look old, but she’s got some power to her!” the unicorn stopped grinning and glanced aside, “Plus, information for consideration… Locomotives have an effective lifespan of fifteen to twenty years,” he tapped his chin, “And up to thirty, if you’re really stingy. Unless something really big is cooked up, like some new metalwork technique or something, she’ll be good”

“Oh, yeah, um…” Gallus flashed a nervous grin, “How cramped is it, exactly? I’m… claustrophobic”

“I’m quite comfortable!” Mecha replied with a charming smile, “Reminds me of the mines!”

“Oh this is going to be great,” the gryphon facepawed.

“I’ll ask Tin to assign you to the bridge. It’s the largest room on the locomotive,” Mecha told Gallus, “The second one is galley slash messroom slash common room”

“Assign?” Gallus tilted his head.

“Yup. What, did you think you’ll be freeloading?” the unicorn’s expression became serious, “Even if I wanted to give you all a free pass, the captain wouldn’t let me. And, speaking of which… Have any of you got any sky-faring experience?”

The six friends looked at each other in silence.

“I take that as ‘no’ then,” the unicorn scrunched his face, again, “Tin will be delighted to hear that…”

“Because he’ll get to teach us?” Silverstream asked in her usual cheery manner.

“Silver, that was sarcasm,” Smolder beat Gallus to inform the hippogryph.

“Oh,” the hippogryph blinked, “Well then we’ll learn by doing! Right, guys?”

“Maybe we can find some useful literature?” Ocellus said. She still could not figure out what was the deal with the unicorn and his constant stream of subtle despise going her way, “Technical manuals and instructions and such?”

“Ocellus, you are a genius!” Sandbar smiled, “Yes, we can do that - then we’ll have theoretical knowledge of things!”

“I do have some doubts about her though,” Mecha nodded at Yona, “Will she even fit inside?.. As I’ve said, the interior is somewhat cramped…”

With an inquisitive ‘Hmm’, the unicorn approached Yona and looked over her. Then he walked around her a couple of times, still sounding that inquisitive ‘Hmm’. After that, he trotted to the hatch, and peeked into the locomotive’s interior, and ‘Hmm’d again. This time his ‘Hmm’ returned as a quiet echo.

“Aaaaye I think she should be good,” Mecha nodded, “Careful on the turns though. Don’t want you to get stuck”

At this moment, one of the guards came out from the locomotive. Another one followed, and afterwards, Cadance and Shining exited, followed by four more guards, and Tin.

“...You’ve surprised me, Captain,” Shining said, “Had you not gone back to check that paragraph, I’d swear you were not even reading the contract”

“Worked many works before; all required to recognize paperwork,” Tin waved off, “Anyway, now when this is all done, we’ll be waiting for your agent to show up. Surely, Ashes will decide something by that time. Good day, Your Majesties”

“Good day and goodbye, captain Tin,” Cadance nodded to him, then to Mecha, “Goodbye, first officer”

“Goodbye, your Majesties!” Mecha once again bowed.

And so, the monarchs of the Crystal Empire departed back to the city heart, and very soon were out of sight.

Tin then exhaled, and took another swig from his flask. He must’ve refilled it back on the locomotive. Mecha gave him a disapproving look.
However, this swig was much shorter than any of the previous ones. More like a small sip.

“Okay, with that out of the way, let’s try and figure you out,” Tin said, putting the flask back in the pocket of his jacket, “So…”

“It’s all bad, kapitän,” Mecha shook his head, “They’re greener than verdant growth”

“Not surprised,” Tin’s ear flicked as he rolled his eyes, “Alright, listen up. I know your names. You know the names of my crew, but only know half of my name. So, I am Tin. Kapitänleutnant Tin Pest…”

He got interrupted by a dragoness barging out from the locomotive, holding a large amount of papers in her paws.

“Captain, I have prepared the basic list of things, for your approval,” she said as she piled the papers on the crate she was sitting on before, “Also, I have prepared a requisition order and invoice for Beak&Wing Kriegsforge for one of their Großerkanone”

Tin gave her an unamused look. Mecha’s jaw dropped a little.

"Ashes, we can't afford a Großerkanone," Tin said in a tone a father uses to explain to a foal that they can’t have that new toy.

"But we have fundings of the entire empire!" Ashes pouted. Not unlike a foal, indeed.

Tin sighed, "Ashes, we'll have to gut half of the engine to make room for it"

This actually made Ashes blink in surprise, "...Wait, Glacies does not have support systems for heavy weaponry?"

"...Ashes, you tell me, you're the engineer"

The dragoness let out an awkward laughter, "...I guess I got a bit carried away with excitement..."

"Wait, Ashes? You? Excited?.." Tin blinked in confusion.

"Well, not every day a bloody emperor comes to your gantry and tells you that due to a deal made with your captain, they are to fund any modification of your engine!" Ashes huffed, a tiny puff of smoke escaped her nostrils, her fists on her waist.

The earth pony chuckled.

“And the first thing you want to use his funds on is… A gun,” Gallus deadpanned, “Don’t get me wrong, it must be a very big gun, but… Seriously?..”

Ashes huffed again and demonstratively turned away, crossing her arms over her chest.

“If you have to know: the Großerkanone was the last thought,” she said haughtily.

Tin approached Ashes and gently patted her back.

“Look at the bright side,” he said, “At least none would say that you’re compensating for something!”

Ashes snorted again.

“Anyway,” Tin’s ear flicked, “Let’s see what you’ve wrote up here…”

Both him and Ashes moved to the crate. Tin pulled out a stamp and began going through the papers, as Ashes was quietly explaining to him what was what. The only thing that the six could hear coming out from the pair was ‘M,’ ‘M!’ and ‘Mhm!’, and the crunching sound the stamp made as he stamped one sheet after another.

“Uhm, what do we do in the meantime?” Gallus asked, “It’s not like all those refits will be complete in a couple of hours…”

Tin stopped the stamping, and looked at the blue gryphon.

“I say…” he looked at Ashes. She glanced at the pile of papers, then showed three fingers to Tin. Though, after a moment of reflection, she reduced the number to two, “Three weeks tops. Two if we get the right specialists who will be willing to work with Ashes,” he shrugged, “I make it sound harder than it is”

“So where will we stay then?” Gallus asked, “I… I honestly did not expect something like this to drop on our head…”

“Um, and why so many papers?” Sandbar leaned to take a look at the stack of papers Tin was stamping.

“Requisition forms,” Tin replied, “Three counterparts. One for the ship’s accounting, one for the shop, one for treasury. Ministry-stamped permits, three counterparts. One to authorize the form, another to authorize the authorization, and third to confirm that authorization of authorization was legal…” Sandbar squinted sceptically, to which Tin sighed bitterly, “I am not making it up, I swear… And the rest is just more bureaucracy,” he finished with a rather strong stamping, as if to drive the point home.

“And as for a place to stay, go find some hostel, or cheap hotel in the Station Terminal district,” Ashes said in her calm near-monotone voice, “There should be a bunch of those nearby for crews. It’s a busy terminal, after all”

“Mind the brothels though,” Mecha deadpanned.

“Well, can you suggest any?” Sandbar asked. Tin shrugged in response.

“I’d recommend you get a room in a hostel. Cheaper, and you may find one room for all six of you…” he stamped yet another paper, “...mind the bed bugs though.”

Mecha snorted. Ocellus once again felt a tinge of dislike sent at her from the gray unicorn.

“Plus, aren’t you some kind of… what was that, ‘friends of the Empire’?” Tin asked again, “Maybe the royal couple will be eager to provide you with living accommodations”

“I highly doubt it,” Gallus crossed his arms over his chest.

“Anyway, not my problem,” Tin waved off, “Get settled ashore, then return here and report your staying place to me or any of my crew. I’ll send a messenger for you when we're done. Now shoo! Off with ya!”

“I’ll show them the way out,” Mecha quickly said and nodded. Tin just waved him off. The unicorn sighed and shook his head, “Come on, and… remember the road. It’s unlikely Glacies will move until the refits are finished...”

They walked in silence for a while, but when they were about to retrace their steps, Mecha called to the six. Turns out, there was a tram network in the terminal, for crews and personnel transportation.

“And we didn’t use it because?..” Gallus asked while they were waiting for the tram.

Mecha shrugged, “I guess no creature thought about it,” he said, “Alright… Look, I know Tin does not make a good first impression…”

Gallus snorted, while Sandbar grimaced, and Smolder rolled her eyes.

“...Deep inside he’s a good pony. He just doesn’t like to show it,” the unicorn ignored that.

“We’ll see,” Sandbar said.

“This is berth section N. Our berth is N-25,” Mecha continued in the meantime, “But, you’ll need crew tokens to get in… Or ministry/royalty-stamped permits…” the unicorn sighed and rolled his eyes, “Tin, of course, didn’t think of that… Right. So this is what we’ll do: you go now and get settled, and I’ll meet you tomorrow at the main gate at two p.m., and you’ll tell me where you’ve settled…” he rubbed his chin, “Though if I may... Look if ‘Ben ‘n Bow’s inn’ has any vacancies. Price-quality balance is great… Uh, keep in mind that Ben is a diamond dog”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Ocellus nodded. She still felt the disdain coming from the unicorn. And his eyes… For some reason, she felt cold when Mecha locked his eyes with hers. However, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the inbound tram.

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Mecha saluted, “I should go”

With that, he turned around and trotted away.

The six boarded the tram, and took it to the main gate.

Now when the unicorn was out of sight, Ocellus allowed herself to think more about it. He definitely did not like her, but… Why? He didn’t seem like one of those ponies who still hated the changelings (even after their species underwent the metamorphosis), but then again… Maybe he was? But he didn’t look that old… Family upbringing?.. Was he from New Canterlot?.. No, he wouldn’t be working on the multi-species crewed locomotive if that was the case…

“Empire to Ocellus, do you read?”

“Huh?” the changeling blinked, her eyes refocusing on Sandbar’s hoof waving in front of her face.

“We’re approaching the main gates,” the earth pony informed her, “And you looked like you’ve spaced out on us”

“Oh,” Ocellus said with an awkward smile, feeling a bit ashamed, “S-sorry. It’s just that unicorn… Working Mechanism…”

The tram came to a stop at the platform with a screech of brakes and hiss of released steam.

“What about unicorn pony?” Yona asked as the group disembarked.

“Well… I don’t know how to put it, but…” Ocellus looked around, then continued in a quieter volume, “He doesn’t like me...”

“Huh,” Smolder raised her eyebrow, “Why?”

“I don’t know!” the changeling shook her head, “I've never seen him before - and he’s too young to remember… Well, the previous us”

Sandbar frowned.

“Maybe he’s one of the New Canterlotians?” he asked, and got dope slapped by Gallus.

“If he was one of them, he wouldn’t be working on a multi-species crewed locomotive,” the gryphon said, “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out”

“Yeah, Occy! Don’t you worry!” Silverstream piped in, “We’ll figure it out eventually! For now, let’s go find that Bell-Boeing inn!”

“Yak support changeling friend!” Yona nodded.

“So in the meantime… we have two weeks to ourselves,” Gallus said, “And… Um, well… I’m kind-of broke…”

“Hey, don’t worry about that!” Silverstream smiled, “We’ve got your back! That’s what friends are for, right?”

The gryphon chuckled and smiled. Oh, how he missed that. Oh, how he missed that!..

“Thanks, guys,” Gallus smiled and pulled Silverstream into a hug. Then the rest of his friends joined.

“Alright, guys, let’s go and get settled,” Sandbar said, “And I suggest we read some of that journal, to figure out where to start!”

“And I’ll go and see if I can buy some manuals or textbooks on skyfaring,” Ocellus said with a smile. The unicorn’s disdain towards her, forgotten.
After all, with her friends, everything will be fine.

Mecha sat in his cabin, his hind legs crossed, front hooves pressed together in a circular gesture, his eyes were closed, facial expression neutral. Scent of incense filled the cabin, the unicorn was breathing it in, slowly and steadily.

There was a knock on the door.

“May I come in?” came a muffled Tin’s voice.

“You may, captain,” Mecha said, not even opening his eyes.

The door creaked and the sound of hooves stepping on the metal floor came from behind the sitting unicorn.

“I am sorry, captain,” Mecha said before Tin could say anything, “I let my feelings overcome me. I will not allow myself to slip again”

“Forgive me, my friend,” Tin said in a somber tone, “I thought about myself first; I…”

“No, captain,” Mecha’s ear flicked, “I understand your desire…”

“No, Mecha,” Tin shook his head, “Don’t. Don’t. It’s all on me. We shouldn’t have picked up that blasted engine at all. Should have blasted it to sky-dust…”

“What’s done is done, captain,” Mecha said, “Don’t feel bad about that. Don’t blame yourself for something that is not your fault,” he opened his eyes and gave Tin a reassuring smile, “Now, tell me what crazy mods Ashes came up with with funding of the whole empire”

III - Take-off

‘Ben ‘n Bow’s Inn’ had vacancies. So the six friends stopped there. Once settled down, they caught up on the times passed. Separated for years, with letters being their only way of communication for the longest time, they all went through some tough times. Especially during several years after the Disaster, when Äther still was 'the great unknown', and the state of other species of Equus was a mystery.

The hippogryphs' exodus from mt.Aries, the Yak (still) dealing with consequences of their land being thrown sky-high (in both senses of the word - Yakyakistan was placed much higher than the rest of the floating islands and continents of broken Equus), the New Canterlot ideology, the gryphon civil war, the hardships of new realities of dragon migrations (the skies were vast and cold and full of terrible wonders), and difficulties of changelings’ love collection…

The world surely changed over twenty years. And, sadly, most of those changes were for the worse.

But now, there was hope, the Young Six thought, as they carefully opened the leather-clad journal of Twilight Sparkle. Hope that things will get better.

Even the fact that they could not read most of the journal didn’t diminish that hope. Ocellus deducted that the journal was, in fact, protected by a ward that kept the information written in it from falling into wrong hooves… Well, in theory. But at the same time, it also prevented them from getting any useful information from the journal.

Other than some general idea that Twilight was going to do something big in Canterlot, the gang couldn’t get anything else.

“Alright, any ideas how we can get any more information from this journal?” Gallus asked as he laid on a bed, looking at the ceiling.

“We could ask Sunburst to help us,” Ocellus suggested, “He should be able to identify the ward and whether or not it could be safely removed”

“Good idea,” Sandbar nodded, “Hopefully we will be able to schedule an appointment with him. He’s a busy stallion nowadays, being the court mage of the Empire”

“I’m sure he’ll manage to find time to help old friends!” Silverstream said in a chipper tone, "In fact, I'm going to go and ask him right away!"
And with that, the hippogryph bolted out of the room.

"I should go and make sure her mind stays focused on the task," Smolder sighed, "We'll be back later"

The dragoness followed Silverstream out.

"...Yona not like new trains," Yona said, looking at the floor, "Yona no like Tin. Yona not sure about this adventure…"

"Well, Tin is kind-of brash and blunt," Gallus said and rolled to his side, "I'm actually surprised to learn that he served on Glacies before becoming her captain…" he gulped nervously, "I am more worried about cramped conditions…"

"Yona always too big for trains. Before sky and after sky," the yak said, "Yak understands friend Gallus fear"

“Don’t worry, we’ll be there for you," Sandbar said encouragingly. He thought for a few moments, then turned towards Ocellus, "Hey Ocellus! What are your thoughts on Tin and his crew?"

The light blue changeling looked away from the journal (she was thankful for that distraction, the jumbled lines on the pages were hurting her compound eyes) and flicked her ear thoughtfully.

"Well… from what I managed to gather, Tin is tired, and constantly annoyed at… well, everything. It's like a shell of sorts. I can't break through it right now to tell more," she said, "Ashes… I don't know what's wrong with her, but it's like she suppresses her emotions on purpose…"

"That can't be healthy," Gallus said, sitting up.

"Yes," Ocellus nodded, "But she allows short bursts of emotions out every now and then. Wonder why is she that way…"

"And that… Ten', what about him?" Sandbar asked. Yona shivered.

"Yak fear no creature. But Ten'... it scares yak," she said.

Ocellus frowned. It seemed that even her carapace darkened.

"I… I do not know who or what Ten' is. His emotions are more… intricate, subdued, and complex than of, say, pony or gryphon or yak," she then shivered, "And… Well, I'm not sure how to describe it, but they tasted… oily"

"Oily?" Gallus and Sandbar looked at Ocellus in confusion.

"It's the best way I can describe it!" the changeling said, frowning some more, "Oily and smoked, to be more precise"

The group was silent for a little while.

“Well, this is ominous,” Sandbar concluded, “And Mecha?”

“He doesn’t like me,” Ocellus said, “But other than that he seems quite friendly and upbeat”

“Unlike the rest of the crew. ‘Group suicide’, geesh,” Gallus rolled his eyes, “That Tin is sure one ray of sunshine…”

“Ray or not, we’re stuck with him,” Sandbar said, “Look, one step at a time. Let's just wait for Silver and Smolder to return and go from there..."

“I am really sorry, but I can not help you,” Sunburst said with a slightly sad look on his face.

“But why?” Silverstream asked, her ears drooping.

The orange unicorn stallion sighed and shook his head, “Cadance and Shining already asked me to help with that journal. So I can only tell you what I already told them; the journal is heavily warded,” Sunburst picked a notebook from his desk and flipped through it, “The best way I can describe it… this ward is very complex, and self-destructive in nature, any attempt to dispel or tamper with it will cause it to destroy itself and the object it’s warding. Whatever is in that journal, princess Twilight didn’t want anyone to see…”
He rubbed his beard, which grew to an impressive size over the years.
“...Except for the ones she trusted the most”

“Hold that thought,” Smolder raised her hands up, “Ones she trusted the most?..”
Sunburst nodded.
“And neither Shining nor Cadance could read?..”

“Neither of them,” Sunburst nodded.

Smolder and Silverstream looked at one another.

“This is unlike Twilight,” Silverstream spoke, confused, “She didn’t trust her own family with… this?..”

“Well, this is surely ominous,” Smolder crossed her arms over her chest, “What’s in that journal that she wouldn’t trust anypony with?”

“Well, whatever is in there, I have a bad feeling about it,” Sunburst frowned, “I am not sure I want to know what secrets it holds; sure, we may figure out what caused the Disaster… But at the same time, we might stumble upon something horrible”
With that, the stallion closed his notebook.

“Well, thanks for trying to help us, anyway!” Silverstream said, her mood obviously soured, but she nevertheless kept her chin up.
Or, rather, her beak.

“This sucks,” Gallus exhaled, once again staring at the ceiling.

“Yes, this is a tough situation,” Sandbar stood up and began to pace around the room, “Unless we’ll find someone who can read the journal, this quest will end before it can even begin properly!”

SIlence fell upon the group, with only sound being the clopping of Sandbar’s hooves on the wooden floor as he paced back and forth.

“What if we’ll go through Twilight’s friends?” Ocellus suggested after several minutes of silence.

“They are gone, Ocellus,” Smolder huffed, “They all disappeared with her when that big bang happened that shattered the world…”

“Headmare Starlight,” Sandbar said suddenly.

Everyone turned towards Sandbar as he finally stopped pacing.

“You might be onto something there, Ocellus,” the earth stallion said, “But with Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie gone, Starlight will be our first choice. After all, she was her first student, and she was going to Canterlot from time to time to meet with Twilight…”

"And if she can't read it either?" Smolder asked, arms crossed over her chest.

"Then we will have to go to dragon lands and get Spike," Sandbar replied, his ear flicking, "That is if he's still there..."

"Still there," Smolder said, but then shook her head, "But he's not exactly keen on seeing visitors nowadays. He's been like that since the Disaster"

"Well, let's hope that he'll be able to help if Starlight won't be able to!" Silverstream chirped.

“So, first stop is Ponyville then?” Smolder leaned against the wall, arms still crossed over her chest. Sandbar nodded.

“Well, that’s settled then,” Gallus said, “How about we go get something to eat?”
The six agreed on that, and promptly went out.

A day after they informed Mecha where they settled in, he and Tin paid the six a visit.

"Alright," Tin said without much fanfare or introduction as the group took the pair to their room, "The renovations of Glacies are underway. Should take about two weeks. I'll send Mecha to inform you when we are ready to depart," the stallion sat at the desk, "Speaking of which, does any of you have any idea on how to approach this quest?"

"We thought of visiting Ponyville first," Sandbar said. Tin raised his eyebrow, so the yellow-green-ish stallion continued, "We'll need a consultation from Starlight Glimmer on…"

Both Tin and Mecha frowned at the mention of the name. Ocellus sensed a suppressed flash of anger coming from the stallions, but it was hard to discern from which one exactly.

"Geesh, why the sour look?" Gallus asked.

"None of your business," Tin cut the gryphon off with a glare enough to make him reel back a little, "Just a name we could live without ever hearing again. So, we get to Ponyville, get her to read the journal, and then what?"

"We'll see when we're there," Sandbar said. Tin sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Alright then, I guess we'll have to work with what we have," he said, "I don't like it one bit. But we're under contract, so we'll have to see it through…"

Mecha coughed into his hoof.

"Ah, right. Here," Tin reached into his saddlebag and dropped six minted tokens on the desk, "Your crew tokens. Don't lose those. That's first," he then looked over the group of creatures, "Second. As Mecha might have suggested already, you won't be freeloading on my locomotive. Yes, I could go out to the station and hire a bunch of ever-willing gray mass of faces out there; but! The locomotive ain't made of rubber. Thus, I can't afford to hire a proper crew AND take you all aboard. So you'll have to pull your weight"

The six looked at each other.

"Now I know this is a VERY short notice, so you'll have to study on the go, so to say," the gray stallion continued, "Unsatisfactory? Yes. For me especially. Still. Anyway, to the list of duties…"

"Gallus. Second pilot"
The gryphon tilted his head questioningly, but said nothing.
"Sandbar. Gunner"

"Gunner?" Sandbar blinked, "W-why?"

"Ocellus. Navigation assistant,” Tin ignored Sandbar’s question, “Not that Ten' needs a substitute… But he'd appreciate help"
The cyan changeling couldn't figure out whether she should be excited or upset.
"Smolder. You'll be assisting Ashes, and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. From her, that is"
The orange dragoness huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Silverstream. Quartermaster..."
The hippogryph looked confused. Tin sighed, "Ensuring we have enough supplies to last..."

"Oh!" Silverstream gleamed.

"...And Yona," Tin looked at the yak with a bewildered expression, "...You know what, you'll be our mascot. Um, no offense. Because I honestly have no idea what you could do…"

Yona huffed and squinted at Tin.

"...Third, you're going to need your own sky-suits and protective goggles," the stallion continued without missing a beat, "A one of each would be enough, but better to have a spare one, too..."
The earth pony then reached into his saddlebags and flippantly tossed two bags of bits on the desk.
“...Should be enough. Anything else?” Tin looked at Mecha.

“Nay, kapitän,” the unicorn replied, “All is covered, for now”

“Good,” Tin nodded, “Aight! If anything pops up, we’ll get you informed. Dismissed!”

"Yona no like Tin," the yak grumbled after the stallions left, "Yona no mascot!"

"Well, at least we know what we should focus on," Ocellus said, "Let's find where we can get sky-suits done, and then commence the skyfaring study!"

The rest of the young six were not as enthusiastic about studying as the changeling was. With the exception of Silverstream.

Two weeks passed by in a blink of an eye. Between their studies and catching up on old times, time really flew. Eventually, on the morning of sixteenth day of the six’s stay in the Empire, Mecha came in and informed the group that the renovations of Glacies were done, and the train was ready to take-off. Specifically, Tin insisted on them departing as soon as tomorrow noon. Something about ‘the sooner we start, the sooner we’ll be done’.
So after they’ve spent half of that day packing up their stuff, making sure they didn’t forget anything, they now sat at a table in a tavern just outside Ben ‘n’ Bow’s Inn.

They discussed the prospect of them departing for their first journey through the sky. Silverstream could barely suppress her excitement. Or, to be fair, she could not at all, despite all five of them trying to urge her to keep it down.

That was until the waitress suddenly placed a tray with six shots of crystalline amber fluid on their table.

"Uh, excuse me, miss?" Sandbar said, "We didn't order this"

"Oh," she said, "It's from…" she looked around, then at the door, "...a diamond dog sky-miner. Somewhat a regular here, kind and friendly soul. He just left though…" her ear flicked, “He also asked to tell you, 'The sky is wide and good friends are too few'”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Smolder crossed her arms over her chest.

“My guess?” the waitress shrugged, “He probably felt your close kinship, and wanted you to keep close together. Now, excuse me, but I have work to do,” she smiled and trotted away.

The group looked at the glasses before them, filled with crystal whiskey. Silverstream was the first one to pick one up and sniff the liquid.

"Oh, smells funny!" she said, her ears and crest perking up, "Smells of berries, and something sharp, like that special punch that makes your head feel funny!"

"That's because it's whiskey, Silverstream," Sandbar said, picking up another shot and looking close at it. Catching her questioning look, he continued, "It's a strong alcoholic drink"

"Oooh!" Silverstream beamed, "I never had one of those!"

Gallus leaned towards Smolder and said quietly, "I think I know why..."
The dragoness snorted and nodded slightly. Silverstream, in the meantime, examined the shot glass with great interest, admiring the crystal-like liquid inside it. Despite being liquid, crystal whiskey (and, to be fair, all liquid produce made from any sort of crystal berries) looked like it had edges inside, and the surface looked like a web of cracks on the glass.

"It looks funny!" the hippogryph concluded, "Are we going to drink it now?"

Sandbar thought for a moment, looking at Ocellus, who seemingly had some doubts about the drink before her, but the changeling quickly shook it off, and said, "Well, I think we could have one? I just hope I will not pass out, my head already feels a bit heavy from scent alone"

"Fear not, Ocellus," Gallus reached over and patted the chitinous shoulder, "We've got you covered!"

"Yak carry friend Ocellus to inn for sleep!" Yona joined in reassurance.

"You don't have to do it if it makes you uncomfortable," Sandbar started, but got interrupted by Ocellus.

"No-no-no, I'd like to," the glass was enveloped in her magic aura and levitated up from the tray, "It's supposed to be a toast for our friendship… or something like that, if I understand it right"

"Sure it is," Smolder nodded, "Look at us, world torn to pieces, and yet here we are, together again, about to pull things back together!"

"Yes, aren't we awesome," Gallus grabbed his glass, "It's good to have you all by my side again, guys. Missed seeing you in person, all of you. Twenty years with just letters now and then? Too long"

Then Gallus noted something. Ocellus and Sandbar had a momentary expression of confusion on their faces, but that faded just after a moment.

"Yes, it's good to be back together," Sandbar chuckled, and raised up his glass, "May our friendship last forever, and be stronger than steel!"

"To friendship!" six voices cheered as six glasses clinked, and six shots of crystal whiskey were poured down six throats.

Then five creatures coughed from the burning sensation caused by strong alcohol, while Ocellus let out a dull hiss and slipped under the table as her body went limp.
Changelings never were good in drinking department.

The morning came a bit too fast for the six's liking. Morning meal, final packing, checking out from the inn. The whole morning, until their arrival to the Crystal Empire rail terminal was kind-of a blur.

Yona insisted on carrying most of the group's supplies. Sky-suits, for the most part. Those were warm and heavy, with faceplates made of colored glass to protect against the cold of the skies, and from the sky-sickness, should the need arise to go outside the locomotive mid-flight.

Silverstream bounced in excitement as the group went through the rail terminal towards the tram station.

"I'm so excited I can barely hold it! Just can't wait to see it all, to-oof!" she bumped into a pair of stallions, "Oops, sorry there!"

"'ey, seagull," one said with an annoyed frown, his voice bearing a heavy Appleloosian accent, "If yer lookin' fer sight-seein', the Empire's over' there!" he pointed at the exit from the terminal building.

"Geesh, you'd think they'd get over their fascination with stairs and plumbing after the first decade," his companion, a lanky unicorn, added, "Giving the fish-brains too much credit, I suppose?"

"HEY!" Sandbar barked, "This was uncalled for! You two should apologize!"

"Oh bite me, milk-sucker," the appleloosian stallion snarked.

"Come on, Cookie, let's go or we're gonna miss our train," the unicorn huffed.

"Yeah, wha'ever," they both laughed and trotted away.

Silverstream's mood ebbed a little… And immediately jumped back up when she saw a familiar gray unicorn trotting towards them.

"Hey, Mecha!" she waved to him.

"There you are!" Mecha said cheerfully, "Come! We've been moved to-"

"...Attention. Would the crew of ‘Glacies Perfuro' report to platform 9, section 1/4 in fifteen minutes. Thank you," came an elderly voice from the loudspeakers above. The mare doing the public announcements was the most lively character the young six have ever heard...Not.
Truly, she sounded like she'd prefer to be anywhere but here.

"...Yeah, that," Mecha scrunched, "Come on, kapitän is waiting"

Announcement continued, in the meantime.

"...Captain of ‘Thunder in Paradise', please report to the customs office, your cargo is missing some accompanying papers. To whomever took the 'L' from the name plates of ‘The Lost Vault', thanks for the music..."

The six creatures and Mecha took the steam tram to platform 9. Though they were wondering what the ‘¼’ actually meant. After a short ride they had to board a large elevator platform and move up a few stories. Once their ride was finished, the platform 9 was in clear view of the six creatures.

Docked to the platform stood Glacies Perfuro. The locomotive looked almost new. Plating refreshed and repainted. The drive nozzles in the stern were shiny and polished. Bridge windows and portholes shined with brand new glass. Even the nameplate seemed like it was freshened up for a parade, golden letters shining brightly in the light. Docking crew was still about, doing final checks on various pipes, small jets of steam shooting from maneuver nozzles and safety valves, along with a constant stream of steam coming from the valve at the locomotive steam dome. A thick gray stream of smoke and steam was pouring slowly from the locomotive chimney.

And it wasn't the only locomotive on the platform. The platform had four separate tracks, marked from 9 ¼ to 9 4/4. The platform ¼ was occupied by Glacies Perfuro. Platform 2/4 was free. On ¾ stood a small, stocky locomotive, with four well-suited unicorns standing outside. Trottinghamians, judging by their accents. The nameplate of the locomotive - "Lucky Colt" - had an image of a flying owl on it. Finally, on the platform 4/4 stood a stoked and fuming Horo Hauler, "The East Wood", belonging to the Equestrian Logistics Bureau, or E.L.B, for short.

"Look! There they are!" Silverstream pointed at the platform where Tin and, to the group's surprise, the entire royal family - Shining, Cadance and young Flurry Heart - stood. The earth stallion was looking at his pocket watch with an annoyed expression.

"Hey! Hey Tinny!" the hippogryph waved to the earth pony as the group approached him and the royals.

Tin slowly raised his gaze from his watch and looked over the group.

"You are late," he stated coldly.

"What?!" the group gasped. Mecha rolled his eyes in a half-hearted manner.

"We're, like, forty minutes early!" Sandbar protested.

"You are late," Tin repeated in the same cold tone.

"Yak not late!" Yona huffed, as Smolder crossed her arms over her chest.

"I am the captain. If I say you are late, then you. Are. Late!" the gray stallion snorted and closed his watch with a very loud click, "Get aboard and get your plots settled,” he then glared at the royal family, “We're leaving as soon as these fellows will buzz off"

The young six couldn't decide what was more shocking - Tin's blatant disrespect of royalty, or their calm reaction to such disrespect.

"Come on, mr.Tin," Flurry said with a small smile, "Don't be so hard on them..."

"My locomotive, my crew, my rules," Tin snapped at the crown-princess, "I'd really prefer to be done with this sooner than later…" he glanced at two other locomotives on the platform 9, "...And not to hold up the others"

"Yes, we understand," Cadance nodded. Her expression was calm, but Ocellus could feel that she was a bit annoyed with the sky-captain's attitude. Shining just smiled apologetically at the six.

"Dude. That's some impressive work done on the locomotive," Sandbar said as the group approached the steel giant, "I can't even guess how much bits went into the renovations! It looks just like new!"

Tin smiled, and Mecha chuckled, shaking his head, before disappearing into the locomotive. The docking crew jumped off the locomotive and trotted away, done with pre-flight checks.

"Well, I always believed that you can not put a price on having family being together," Cadance smiled.

"Believe me, all of this is a small change compared to having my LSBFF back," Shining added.

"Yes, this will be enriching for all of us," Tin said with a roll of his eyes. Gallus rolled his eyes as well. Truly, this stallion was more of a gryphon than a pony.
His thoughts were interrupted by a monotonous voice from above.

"Captain?" the shadowy stallion looked out of the bridge window, "The locomotive is rigged for take-off. We're ready and been given a launch permission"

"I hear ye," Tin nodded and ushered the six creatures into the locomotive, "Come on. It's time!"

"Bye, your Majesties!" Gallus and friends waved as they entered into Glacies, one by one, followed by the captain.

"Make us proud, friends!" Cadance said.

"Please, bring aunt Twilight back," Flurry Heart asked humbly.

"No promises!" Tin barked in response and slammed the hatch close, turning the wheel on it to lock it.
After that, he turned towards the six that were now occupying the passageway, "Okay. Smolder, get to the engineering and report to Ashes. Sandbar, Gallus, Ocellus, to the bridge with me. The rest, settle in the rec-room for a while until we take off"

"Aww, but I wanted to see the launch!" Silverstream pouted.

"Yak want see launch too!" Yona said. Tin sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Okay, fine!" the stallion groaned, "Just… let me… through!" he then squeezed through a rather narrow hallway of the train, past young six - even somehow managing to move past Yona - and trotted towards steep metal stairs going up.

The bridge was quite spacious, compared to the engine’s passageways. Main control console on the starboard side, a navigation console in the center-back of the room, occupied by Ten’, weapons console with a complex aiming apparatus in the front-center. Mecha was peeking from the window on the portside, looking behind the locomotive. Once he heard Tin’s hoofsteps on metal, he leaned back in, shut the window close and saluted him.

“Käpitan!” he said, then raised an eyebrow at the company entering the bridge.

“To your stations,” Tin commanded as he walked over to the main control console. Sandbar scurried to the weapons console, Ocellus inched towards the shadowy stallion at the navigation station, who looked like he was doing anything but his job. Silverstream stuck to the starboard-side window, as Tin spoke again, “Ten’, guide?”

The shadowy stallion raised his eyes from the stack of papers on his station, and a fraction of a second later his body shuddered as if he awoke from some kind of a trance.

“Ascension angle zero-three-nine, altitude four-zero-zero,” he said in a bored tone, “Seven-point-five clicks, turn to south-by-southeast, descent by zero-zero-five”

“A bit abrupt, but will do,” Tin grunted and tugged several levers. The locomotive hissed, groaned and creaked. The stallion nodded, leaned to the intercom, “Ashes, open the steam main”

“Copy,” came a response in nearly the same bored tone as Ten’s. Steam began to hiss and whistle somewhere in the stern of the locomotive.

Silverstrean then let out a squee.
"Oh wheee!" she bounced with joy, "Oh I just can't wait, can't wait, can't wait to sail the skies! So many wonders, so many miracles to see, so many places to be, friends to make!"

Tin and Mecha looked at her, and Ocellus could feel cardinal difference in their reaction. Tin was annoyed, but at the same time pleased in a strange way, while Mecha seemed to be happy with hippogryph enthusiasm. Shaking his head, Tin tugged another lever on the console, and at the same time, tugged a cord hanging from the ceiling of the bridge twice. A siren sounded through the locomotive's insides, while outside two loud, haunting wails of Glacies' whistle pierced the air. A push of a button, mooring hooks undone, and drawn back into the hull with audible clanging. The gray stallion pulled the throttle. The steam hissed in the cylinders, chuffed and huffed through the injection valve. The pistons moved in perfect sync, driving rod pushing at the wheels and the side rod, moving the locomotive forward, towards the edge of the platform, towards the end of the rails, cloud of steam forming around the undercarriage of the steel giant.

Silverstream watched the platform move by as the train rolled forward with almost foal-like glee. Tin pushed the throttle further, letting more steam into cylinders. The locomotive's nose then dipped lightly.

"Lead carriage unrailed," Ten' said nonchalantly, not even bothering to lift his gaze from the stack of papers on his station.

"Steam main open, captain," came Ashes' voice from the intercom, "Primary pressurization complete. She's all yours"

"Begin preparation for full steam," Tin responded, as he pushed another throttle forward, slowly, gently. The locomotive's nose dipped again, this time more, as new, louder chuffing sound came from the back - the main engine of the locomotive awoke, and began to push the train forward.

"First motor carriage unrailed," Ten' commented, still as disinterested as before. After a few seconds, he added, "Second motor carriage unrailed. Tailing carriage unrails in five..."

Truly, five seconds later the rear end of the locomotive dipped down, as every creature aboard had a strange feeling of a lump in their stomachs. Tin pulled back the first throttle, and pushed the second one all the way forward. The chuffing in the back of the locomotive began to pick up pace and volume, as the train began moving forward, faster and faster.

"Eeeee! We're off, we're off!" Silverstream jumped with joy, rushing to the rear window of the bridge, to see the station get further and further away, partially hidden by a mixed jet of steam and smoke.
She saw three small figures at the platform waving at the departing locomotive, and, though she was sure they could not see her, she waved back at them nevertheless.

Shining Armor watched the train move towards the end of the platform. He saw it dip lightly forward as two front carriages slipped off the rails and hung over the endless void of the skies. His wife and his daughter both sat down and waved the departing Glacies goodbye. The unicorn stallion thought for a few long moments, raised his hoof and lit his horn, a magic field forming around his hoof into a thumbs-up gesture - something he saw Spike do.

Behind everyone's backs, however, his magic field formed into another gesture he'd seen - index and middle fingers crossed.

He really, really, really hoped this search would not be fruitless.

In the distance, Glacies' headlights turned on, illuminating the locomotive's way through the dark skies...

IV - The journey begins

Glacies Perfuro flew through the skies, her engine huffing in a steady, beating rhythm. The sky-continent that housed the Crystal Empire was getting further and further away, slowly disappearing in the haze. Everyone was silent as the locomotive flew the marked distance, and turned to a new course, heading south-by-southeast, five degrees down angle.

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Mecha said, “Kapitän, do you mind if I give the new crew a short tour?”

Tin nodded, while scribbling something in the journal on the control console, “Mhm. And get Smolder to Ashes, please”

“Aye-aye!” the unicorn saluted, “Come! I’ll show you around!” he gestured for the group to follow him.

Tin snorted and scribbled more text into the journal. As the six creatures followed Mecha downstairs, he let out a weary sigh and slightly adjusted the locomotive's course, watching the gauges of steam pressure, direction of their travel and locomotive velocity.

Ten’ rose his gaze from his papers, looking at the stallion, shook his head and went back to writing his notes. Belfry chittered quietly.

Glacies was spartan on the inside. The interior lacked decorations as well as paint… or any sense of coziness, really. Bulkhead walls with various pipes, tubes and heavily insulated wires going through along with cables. Dim, cheap electric lights hung on the ceiling, flooding the hallways with warm, sickly yellow-orange light. In other words, a typical griffish locomotive that was used in the war. Utilitarian and bare-boned, no excessess. Including space, which was at premium. Hereby, cramped, claustrophobic hallways, small quarters, steep stairs.

Before the tour, the group carried their stuff to the crew quarters, except for Silverstream; as Mecha explained, she was to live in the officer side. That is, on the opposite half of the locomotive, officer quarters, where he and Tin currently resided.

The locomotive itself was divided into four decks. The bridge was the top deck. The second deck was dedicated to living space. Crude crew quarters and hygienic facility on the portside, officer and captain quarters on the starboard side with the recroom/galley jammed in between them. Below laid the steam main, battery, cargo and fuel bays, and engineering - engineering, in fact, occupied the entirety of the front section. Finally, the lowermost deck was not exactly a deck, since it was outside the locomotive, and contained the carriages with wheels and pistons. Crammed between the motor compartments was a rock-drill, used for breaking sky-rocks to reveal their hidden riches.

Of course, the six didn’t visit the lowermost deck, because it was outside.

Smolder huffed as she entered the engineering, dropped off there by Mecha. It was pleasantly warm inside. A huge cylindrical boiler stood in the middle of the room, with coal pits on the sides. Curiously, the boiler had eight fireboxes, each hot and burning bright, filling the room with humming of the flames. Smolder could feel the air flow into the room from the vents in the walls, pushing into the furnaces, bringing in more oxygen for the fires. Still, even that flow couldn’t deal with the generated heat, and, while for her it was pleasantly warm, she suspected that her friends might have a heat stroke if they stayed in the room for too long.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Ashes’ voice.

“Who’s there?” she asked from somewhere behind the boiler, then peeked out, her dark form standing out somehow in the room's dim lighting, “Oh. It’s you. I’ll be out in a moment,” she disappeared behind the boiler again and grunted, “This stirling generator is being disagreeable again. Unbelievable...”

Smolder snorted. That dragoness somewhat reminded her of Pinkie’s sister…What was her name again, Mood? Mole?.. Mold?.. Something along those lines.

She didn’t mind, though. Even if she never saw herself being an engineer on one of those sky-trains, her spot at least was warm.

Ashes’ head popped from behind the boiler once again.

“Toss a shovelful of coal into the furnaces on the left,” she asked, before disappearing again.

Smolder shrugged, grabbed a shovel and went for it. Might as well.

Sandbar and Gallus returned to the bridge after the short tour. Sandbar went to the weapons console, while Gallus simply stood next to Tin. Truth be told, he just didn’t want to be in those cramped, claustrophobic hallways. Even the recroom, that was just a little smaller than the bridge, felt small. The bridge, however, offered a view of the skies, even if slightly altered due to the darker color of the windows’ and portholes’ glass. He thought he was over his claustrophobia - well, it wasn’t as bad as before but he still was quite uncomfortable with all those hallways.

“Did you settle in?” Tin asked without turning his head, the only sign of him paying attention to the gryphon was his ear that turned towards Gallus.

“Yeah, we did,” Gallus replied, stepping closer to the control console. Everything was neatly labeled by small brass plaques with text engraved into them. ‘Steam Pressure’, ‘Water Level’, ‘Velocity’, various voltages, temperatures, ‘Main Drive’, ‘Wheels drive’, ‘Full Steam’, ‘Lateral Thrust’, and so forth.

“Good,” the stallion replied, looking into the skies behind the glass, his face just ever-so-slightly reflecting in the colored glass of the bridge window. He continued to push and flip various levers and switches. His ear moved slightly to be aimed at the stern of the locomotive.

Then, a few seconds later, a loud rattling came from the engine section, followed by a whistling sound which was getting louder and louder.

Tin nodded, his ear returned to a neutral position.

“Um, is everything alright back there?” Gallus asked.

“Yup,” Tin replied, not even turning his ear towards him.

Gallus huffed, “Fine, be that way,” he glanced at the gauges again. Specifically, the velocimeter. The dial face was displaying speed, and the arrow was steadily hanging at about ¾ of the maximum, showing 35 knots.
“Can't this thing go any faster?” the gryphon complained. Tin smirked for a moment.

Below, Yona, Ocellus and Silverstream heard the rattling too - more muffled than on the bridge - followed by whistling. Mecha smiled.

“I suggest you sit down and prepare for acceleration,” the unicorn noted with a smile.

“Acceleration?” Yona looked at Mecha in confusion. The unicorn merely nodded and raised his hoof to hold his peaked cap.

On the bridge, the whistling became louder and louder, and the pitch of the sound became higher.

“Brace yourself, Gallus,” Tin deadpanned, putting his goggles on, opening the window and sticking his head outside for a few moments to check something. Gallus rolled his eyes and huffed.

Sandbar looked at the back of the bridge with a slight worry in his face.

Ten’ yawned, wide.

In the engineering, Ashes once again looked from behind the boiler block.
“Smolder,” she said in her usual calm tone.

“What?” the dragoness looked at Ashes.

“Grab something.”

Despite the deadpan delivery, Smolder immediately went for the conveniently placed railing near the boiler. Something told her that this was important.

Gallus looked at Tin, who held his hoof on a lock-lever, labeled ‘Full Steam’. The stallion grabbed the lever’s lock with another hoof, and pushed the lever forward with a loud, snapping click.

The whistling turned into shrieking for a short few seconds. Then, it was like something exploded in the rear section of the locomotive. Suddenly, the machine abruptly lunged forward, startling Gallus and throwing the gryphon across to the rear of the bridge, his talons leaving scratches on the metal floor as he desperately tried to resist this sudden burst of speed.

“Wheee!” Belfry squeed happily as she held onto Ten’s flowing mane.

“I told you to brace yourself,” came from Tin, while Sandbar jumped from his console and rushed to Gallus to help him back up. The earth pony shot a glare at the sky-captain.

“Dude, are you alright?” Sandbar asked his friend, “Talons intact? Nothing bruised?”

“Just my ego,” the gryphon rubbed his side and grunted, standing back up as he admired the scratch lines his claws left on the deck. The train continued to accelerate, thundering through the sky, “The one I took to the Empire flew smoother…”

"Passenger trains have different engines," Ten' said calmly, "They allow a gradual build-up of speed and pressure. Glacies is a war vessel, first and foremost. It needs sharp maneuverability..." the shadow steed made a pause, “Plus, her age is showing. No offence to Ashes and her work...”

Gallus huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. Belfry let out some rapid chittering.

"He was warned," Ten' said, looking up at the flying fox. Belfry let out a whistling sound of indecipherable meaning.

Sandbar returned to his station, Gallus to Tin's side. Sandbar took time to better acquaint himself with his station. A binocular-like aiming apparatus, levers controlling guns aiming with stiff triggers, two ammunition counters (showing 120 and 2500), two gauges showing weapon heat level, and several lamp indicators of different conditions.

"Captain, what are our armaments?" Sandbar asked, turning a little bit towards Tin.

"Beak&Wing Kriegsforge 150mm 'Executioner' autocannon on portside, Stalwart Herd co. 30mm 'Hailstorm' rotary cannon on starboard side," Tin replied without missing a beat, "'Executioner' for hard targets, 'Hailstorm' for soft ones"

"Hard?.." Sandbar raised eyebrow.

"Locomotives and fortifications are hard targets," Tin explained with a huff, "Sky-beasts and creatures are soft targets… mostly."

While Sandbar thought why would anycreature shoot living beings with 30mm bullets, Tin switched his attention to Gallus:
"Are you sure you're checked out on this class of vehicle?"

Gallus stared at Tin. The stallion sighed and rolled his eyes, "Can you fly the locomotive?"

Gallus shifted his gaze onto the control panels. Even if everything was neatly labeled, there still were too many levers, switches, buttons, indicators and lights.
Still, he put on a brave face.
"Well, it's easy?" he said in a somewhat questioning tone, "I mean, you have your throttle, this here maneuvering levers, up-down, left-right, and this… lever thingie…" he caught a rather unamused glare from Tin, and sighed, "Okay so maybe it was a bit too much to read for me and the diagrams were too complex, but it's no arcana science?"

The silence was audible. One could hear a strand of mane fall - if it hasn't been for the chuffing and roaring of the engine.

"...Yeah, you're not touching the controls on your own for a while, pal," Tin turned back to the windshield, "Come back in a couple of hours, I'll show you the ropes when we're in clear sky…" he made a short pause as he pulled out his pocket watch, then gazed at the bridge clock, "We're making good time. We'll be arriving at New Canterlot in a day, at most. From there, off to Ponyville"

"Why do we need to go to New Canterlot?" Sandbar asked with obvious displeasure.

"Business," Tin replied in 'because' tone, "You two are to stand down for the time being. Dismissed"

Sandbar stood up and walked down the stairs to the middle deck. Gallus shot a glare at Tin, flicked his tail, and followed his earth pony friend.

Sandbar and Gallus joined Ocellus, Yona and Silverstream in the recroom. It was lit slightly brighter than the rest of the locomotive interior - well, other than the bridge. The humble furnishings included a well-worn table with ten no less worn metal chairs, small kitchen counter, small stove and a fridge. Above the counter hung a poster with a cheerful-looking earth pony saying 'Today's special: Shut up and eat!', followed by a sticker note saying 'Don't ask the cook for a recipe', and ending with a sign most likely taken from some griffish field kitchen, 'No seconds!'

"So," Sandbar said as they sat down at the table, "What do you think so far?"

"I don't like Tin," Gallus said, "And this thing is too cramped for my taste…"

"And the situation as a whole?"

"We're getting into a mess," the gryphon replied, then chuckled "Like in the old days, back in Twilight's school! Remember Cozy Glow?"
Everycreature nodded.
"Can you believe that it has been twenty-three years since?" Gallus leaned back in his chair.

He got weird looks in return.
"What?" he asked.

"Um, Gallus…" Ocellus said, rubbing her foreleg with a hoof, "It's only been twenty-one year since the War of the Bell…"

This time, Sandbar, Silverstream and Yona gave Ocellus weird looks.

"Twenty-four," Yona said.

Silence filled the recroom from this revelation. Something was off. Horribly off. Everycreature looked at Sandbar. The earth pony seemed utterly confused.
"Twenty-two," he said, looking at Silverstream.

"Twenty and a half," the hippogryph replied with a blink, "Seventeen since the Disaster…"

Silence once again filled the recroom.

"This does not make any sense!" Gallus finally exclaimed, throwing arms up, "How can time go differently in different parts of the world?!"

"Well, to begin with… The world is kind-of broken," Ocellus remarked humbly, her ears pressed to her head, "And second, it's difficult to keep track of time without seasons, or celestial bodies…"

"Yak agree with gryphon friend," Yona said, "Time must go constant! Not jump!"

"Does it mean we all aged differently?" Ocellus said suddenly. Everycreature stared at the changeling in silence, making her squeak and transform into a vase, and fall under the table.

"Well, this… this is weird," Sandbar said and blinked slowly, "Maybe Tin knows something about this phenomenon?"

"Oh, he knows alright!" Mecha chimed in, making everyone jump a little, and Ocellus turned from a vase into a bucket. The unicorn let out a chuckle and shook his head, "In fact, it's a problem all skyfarers face, and nobody knows the reason why it is the way it is!"

Silverstream reached under the table and pulled bucket-Ocellus out. The changeling turned back into her natural form, as the group tried to digest this information.

"So what will I be doing here?" Smolder asked as she approached Ashes. She still was busy with the stirling generator - whatever it was - behind the boiler.

"Helping me keep us all alive," Ashes replied, "Come over, I need a hand"

Smolder went faster, turned around the corner, and saw Ashes, kneeling over some machinery… and her body was strapped with various black belts, rings and fasteners-

"Wait, are you wearing-" Smolder's eyes opened wide.

"Fireproof leather harness, yes," the black dragoness replied, looking up from the contraption she was working on. Strange thing with two piston-cylinders, rods and a flywheel, connected to a gearbox via axle, which, in turn, was connected to some strange device, "I got a spare one, too-"

"Uhhh…" Smolder grinned sheepishly, "I'm not into that kind of-"

"It's a work uniform," Ashes cut in, then nodded at the flywheel that she held, "Keep this thing steady for a few moments"

Smolder grabbed the wheel and held it, while Ashes examined the connection axle. She huffed, letting a small puff of smoke from her nostrils.

"Thirty bits for a replacement," she said bitterly, "They don't make them like they used to. Or maybe it was just one bad apple," she shrugged, then hooked up the rods coming from pistons to the flywheel, "Let go."

Smolder did. Ashes twisted a small valve on one of the cylinders, and waited. Then, the flywheel began to spin, slowly at first, but as time went on it picked up speed. It was painfully obvious that the connection axle was not too straight. Ashes cringed a little, and put a metal cover over the flywheel, tightening the bolts that held it.

"Hopefully it will hold," the dragoness muttered, "Need to write a report on that… Right. Back to you," Ashes shifted her gaze over at Smolder, "You are not an engineer. You do not have a degree, or experience. I suspect our dear captain shoved you here just because you are a dragon. I can see his logic. Being fireproof and having tough scales helps in our occupation-"

Smolder huffed.

"-yet, despite him thinking of me as haughty, I will not reject another pair of hands. Fact is, I was thinking about saving up for an artificial pair," Ashes continued, "So at most and at first, you will do what I say, how I say, and, mostly, it will be you helping me do my job. Like you did just now," she nodded towards the stirling generator, "Plus, feeding the boiler," she turned towards the massive construct that was occupying almost the entirety of the room, "The engine is always hungry…"

"Yeah, no offence, but this all sounds kinda boring-"

"So?" Ashes shrugged, "This boring work keeps everyone aboard alive. Plus," the dragoness grabbed a shovel, "Our good captain may rule upon the bridge, and his word is an iron law, but what do you think truly moves this locomotive?" she made a pause, before gesturing to the boiler, "My engines," up to the ceiling, "Lord," and then pressed her paw to her chest, "And me" she made a pause, then shrugged and reached her arm out to Smolder, "And now you, too, I guess. Anyway, welcome aboard Glacies and to the Skies," Ashes smirked lightly, "Come for the sights, stay for madness."

Smolder wasn't sure what to make out from this statement.

"Now, let's feed this metal glutton some more and get you suited for the job"

"Do I have to-"

"-Yes."

Gallus stood in front of the locomotive control console, looking at… well, everything on it. Gauges, lights, switches and levers… even if everything was neatly labeled, it still caused minor information overload.

"...So this is a throttle," Tin was explaining in the meantime, "Push it forward, train moves forward, pull it back, train stops. Pull it back all the way, the train goes reverse. This here are steering gears," his hoof gestured at a pair of levers, one horizontal, yaw, other vertical, pitch, "They work in reverse, so get used to it. As in, you pull up, the locomotive leans down, you pull left, locomotive goes right…"

"Why is it so?" Gallus asked, as he grabbed the yaw lever and gave a try steering the locomotive. It didn't respond too well.

"Hel' if I know," Tin shrugged, "Also, as you might have noticed, the locomotive isn't very responsive to your attempts to control it. That's because we're going full steam. Unless very specific instructions, this means the power of our maneuver thrusters is lowered, and the broadside jump-jets are disabled altogether, since all steam goes to power the main engine.."

The earth pony pushed Gallus a little to the side, while he grabbed the yaw lever and pushed it all the way to the right. The locomotive began to turn, as Tin pulled it all the way to the left, turning the train back to its original course, before resting it back in the middle.

"...So you need to give it more push to maneuver. Got that?"

"Yes, I think," Gallus nodded, "Though, mind if I ask something?"

"I do, but still, ask," Tin replied.

"Why assign me as a pilot?"

The gray pony snorted and rolled his eyes.

"This is a gryphon-made locomotive," he said, "By gryphons, for gryphons. You'll have much less trouble adapting to it," there was a pause, "Of course, that crayon bug friend of yours would have much easier time with controls, with magic and shit," Gallus frowned at Tin referring to Ocellus as 'crayon bug', "But I'm afraid her timid nature will be our downfall..."

"Must you be such a... an… abrasive person?" Gallus asked.

"You just need to get on my good side," Tin smiled at the gryphon, then turned towards Mecha, "First officer! See that he does not crash the train on the first watch. I'm going to get some rest"

"Aye, kapitän!" Mecha saluted cheerfully. Tin nodded and went downstairs. Oddly enough, this was the first time Gallus paid attention to Tin’s cutiemark. A pair of interlocked gears, one brass, another of corroded steel, put on a spanner handle like on an axle.

After the earther stallion disappeared, the unicorn trotted over to Gallus and patted the gryphon on the back, "He's telling the truth, you know! Tin ain't that bad if he lets you get to know him!"

"I said that before and I'll say this again: hardly believable," Gallus huffed as he looked up ahead, yaw lever gripped in his paw.

The young five were sitting in the recroom, enjoying their evening (according to the locomotive's clock) meal as much as they could. A simple buckwheat gruel, nothing special. Then, Smolder walked in, wearing a harness.

"What in Celestia's name were you doing down there?!" Sandbar asked, shocked, as Smolder took her place at the table, her face deadpan, but eyes having sparks of amusement in them.

"Having fun with some unruly machinery," came a reply from Ashes, who came into the room, wearing exactly the same harness. Sandbar spat out his tea at Yona, who sat with a very unamused expression, amber liquid dripping from her muzzle.

"You don't want to know what kind of mental image that gave me!" the stallion said, wiping his snout, and grinned sheepishly at the yak cow glaring at him, "Uh, sorry, Yona-"

"I think I've seen some examples of that… 'unruly machinery'," Gallus smirked mischievously.

The black dragoness demonstratively tugged one of the straps on her harness.
"Also, if you are into this kind of stuff, Tin has a riding crop in his quarters~" Ashes said in a sultry tone, making Sandbar actually choke on his food. The black dragoness then grabbed her plate of gruel and turned to leave.

"Hey, Ash, maybe we could repurpose the stirling generator?" Smolder said through a mouthful of buckwheat.

The black dragoness stopped for a moment and winked, "I do have an adapter kit-"

Sandbar's face changed from that greenish-yellow color he normally had to red as his head met the table, and his hooves covered his ears. To his side, Ocellus turned into a kettle and fell on the floor. Ashes laughed quietly, while the rest of the gang - minus Ocellus and Sandbar - guffawed.

The crew quarters were just as simple and crude as the rest of the locomotive. Three cabins, each with four lockers and four bunks. Insulated pipes carrying steam to the radiator for heating. Interestingly enough, there also were simple electric space heaters. Each cabin had a single, solitary porthole made from stained glass, just like ones on the bridge, and a single lightbulb, not unlike those in the hallways.
The bedding, while worn, was clean... More or less. After all, the age was showing, as once white cloth got that slightly yellow-ish tint. And it had a distinct, ingrained scent of sweat, tears, blood...
And stallions.
Lonely stallions, specifically.
And, in two cases, lonely mares.

"...Eh. Seen worse in Gryphonstone," Gallus shrugged as he climbed on the upper bunk, "Goodnight, everycreature!.."
Sandbar muttered something from the lower bunk through his slumber as the light went out.

On the opposite side of the locomotive, Silversream examined her cabin. A strange mix of a study and a bedroom, a folding bed in the wall, a trunk, small wardrobe, a desk, bolted to the floor, and a chair, along with a Saddle Arabian carpet on the floor. On the desk was a book, open. The hippogryph flipped through the pages. Accounting data, along with supply and fuel log and cargo manifests, neatly organized date after date after date. One page was filled with blocky, crude hasty writing, signed by Tin Pest; the rest of the book was filled by somepony named Bitter Bread.
Going through the desk, Silver found some more papers; she felt cringing on the inside. Paperwork was so boring! And Tin, in his infinite wisdom assigned her to be the quad… quartet… quartermaster of his locomotive. Which meant that all the supplying, accounting and cargo manifesting was on her!..

She checked the final entry in the book. 5 crates of supplies (Silver decided that this was food), some odd equation next, and conclusion that this will last them up to ten days. Of the fuel - coal - they had 15 'measures' of it, whatever it meant, with a note saying 'Consult Ashes daily!', written in red and underlined several times.

Sighing, Silverstream put a worn bookmark (interestingly, it was in a form of unicorn Twilight Sparkle, with a tail made of some sort of colored strings) into the book and closed it. Her crest perked up when she remembered the possibilities skyfaring opened to her: new places! New friends! New sights and adventures with her school friends!

And with those happy thoughts, she went to bed for the night.

Unlike the Äther around the Crystal Empire, which was of a brilliant azure shade, the Äther over New Canterlot seemed to be of a darker blue above the city, turning into a sickly brownish-orange smog below.

Gallus watched as the train was approaching the station, passing by other engines. The heart of the speciesist order looked similar to the old Canterlot - same spires, plazas, lavish houses… but it felt wrong. Even the white-and-gold aesthetics didn't make it seem any friendlier. Instead, it felt cold, distant, alien.

And it was guarded. The skies around were patrolled by armored gray engines, Determined Destriers, heavy locomotives armed with a pair of coaxial cannons and a turret-mounted rotary cannon. And closer to the city itself, they were joined by Steeds'O'War; lumbering, clumsy gilded huffing steel behemoths, carrying batteries of sponson-mounted cannons on the broadsides, a rotary cannon turret on the top, and a missile rack mounted between the undercarriages. A force to be reckoned with, and, according to Ashes, known as 'Terrors of the Skies' in certain circles.

Glacies shuddered as her lead carriage snapped to the rails, followed by motor ones. The wheels squealed as brakes were applied, and three short whistles pierced the air. The locomotive came to a stop, releasing excess steam from vents and safety valves. All the while, Silvertream was stuck to the windows and portholes, watching the sights go by.

"Alright, we'll be staying here for two hours at most," Tin said, "For everycreature's safety, these crewmembers may disembark with me: Mecha, Sandbar, Ten' if he uses doors, and Ocellus, if she puts on a pony disguise"

"Um, won't they find me out with a detection spell?" Ocellus asked warily.

"Oh don't worry," Mecha suddenly snapped, "Ever since black changelings went extinct, those spells were abandoned, because you Crayons are just too wimpy to try anything"

Ocellus winced at the tone the unicorn used. Semi-accusatory, semi-bitter. His emotions were those of annoyance as well.

"Don't call Ocellus and the changelings 'crayons'!" Gallus snapped back, crossing his arms over his chest. So did Silverstream.

Mecha looked at Ocellus and tilted his head.
"Bright, colorful, soft. Crayons, in my book," the unicorn shrugged.

"Make up your minds," Tin said sharply in an annoyed tone, flicking his ear, “We’re burning skylight here”

"I'm going," Mecha said.

Sandbar nodded, "I'm coming too. I want to look around a little"

Ocellus shuffled her hooves a little, then disappeared in a flash of bluish flames, changing into a yellow earth pony with bright mint mane, buck teeth, and a ladybug for a cutiemark.
"I'll come with Sandbar," she said.

"..." Tin tilted his head, "Word of advice, get rid of the buck teeth. Somepony might think you're from the slums or something and react accordingly, and you will not like it"

"Great," Sandbar sighed as Ocellus once again shapeshifted, removing the buck teeth, "Not only we're dealing with speciesists here, but also bigots…"

"I'm staying," Ten' said monotonously, not even raising his head from the stack of papers he was writing on, "Someone has to watch the engine…"

"Very well," Tin nodded, "Aight! Meet me at the main access hatch in fifteen minutes, and we'll be out and about!"

Just then, the intercom buzzed. Tin sighed and walked over to the apparatus, “Yes, Ashes?”

“Captain, the stirling generator transmission axle is bent. I’ve filled the requisition form, and I’ll be thankful if you get one while we’re in the port,” came Ashes’ voice from the speaker.

The gray stallion sucked air through his teeth and groaned.

“Ashes, we’ve got spares”

“And we might need a spare later!”

“Ashes, we have, like, six. Six spare axles, Ashes. Why do we even need this many?” Tin rubbed his temple.

“Mid-flight repairs!” the dragoness replied from the other side of the intercom, “Stirling gen is our main source of electricity that powers literally every single electric thing aboard, captain…”

“...Should have invested in those steam turbine things…” Tin mumbled under his breath, “A moment, Ashes,” the stallion then turned to Silverstream, “You’re coming with Sandbar and Ocellus, the three of you are to procure the part Ashes requested...” he closed his eyes again and rubbed his temples once more, “...And for Umbra’s sake, please, please, please don’t stray away from them, for your own safety…”

There was a momentary pause as Tin looked at Mecha. The unicorn’s ear flicked, and he nodded. Tin sighed, and walked over to a locker built into the bridge wall. Picking the key, he opened the lock and pulled out something small and shiny - a gun. A revolver with a large trigger and a leg strap, which he hooved over to Sandbar. The earth pony stared at the gun, whatever thoughts he had in his head all tangled up.

“Is this necessary?” he asked in a shaky voice.

“If anything, it will serve as a deterrent,” Tin said sternly while Mecha pulled out a holster and levitated it next to Sandbar, “Don’t go around brandishing it, and you’ll be fine… And if you have to use it, make sure you know who (or what) you are shooting and, more important, what is behind it.”

Sandbar reluctantly took the revolver and examined it. The gun wasn’t cocked, but it definitely was loaded. He swallowed nervously as Mecha fastened the holster on his chest.
“Uh, won’t it cause the guards to ask questions?..” Sandbar began, but Tin shook his head.

“You've got your crew token. Wear it," Tin said, rolling his eyes, "The sky is dangerous, so the skyfarers are often seen with their armaments. As I've said, don't go brandishing it, and you'll be fine. The guards in the city proper might have some questions…" he made a pause to stamp a few permits, and hooved them over to Silverstream. Then he continued, "Or not. Don't think anypony here will care. Though you may be asked to leave your weapons if you are going to the Council Hall…" the stallion squinted, "You're not planning on going to the Council Hall, right?"

"No," Sandbar exhaled and holstered the revolver.

"Good," Tin said, "Now if you excuse me, I need to prepare as well."
With that, the stallion turned and walked down the stairs.

Up close, New Canterlot didn't look any friendlier. Thankfully, there were no hitches in leaving the platform section, and getting into the station was relatively easy. A distant tune of a brass orchestra was heard over the clamour of the station and PAs. A crowd has gathered at a faraway platform, around a locomotive parked there.

"Huh," Tin mused, "Wonder what's that about…"

Mecha squinted and leaned forward.

"Either I haven't seen a locomotive like this before, or one of the two," the unicorn said, "What do you say, Tin? Shall we take a closer look?"

The earth pony nodded, "Yes, let's. At least see what the commotion is about"

The group went forward, towards the crowd. As they approached, the sounds of music became more clear. A military band was playing some lively march, but they were not the focus of the crowd. No, they were an addition, the entourage for the main attraction - a brand new, shiny locomotive docked at the platform. It looked fragile, thin, delicate, nothing like her sister Destriers and Steeds, but her armor was curved and slated to deflect shells, even if it was lighter than her sister locomotives'. Thin boiler cylinder ended in a tuning fork-like structure. In the aft was a very low bridge-cab that was barely poking above the boiler top. There were no windows, except for several tiny portholes of the bridge.

In front of the locomotive stood a fancifully dressed white unicorn stallion, who seemingly has been delivering a speech.

“...presenting here to you today, the first of the Beholder class locomotives!” he bellowed cheerfully, “Those fine engines will be the eyes and ears of the Council in the Äther, standing a watchful guard against the enemies of ponykind!”

“Well ain’t that a beauty,” Tin sneered, examining the locomotive sceptically. The crowd cheered in the meantime. Mostly. Sandbar snorted, and Ocellus noticed the tinge of discontent in the crowd, while Silverstream gawked at the smooth curves of the Beholder.

“...We’re offering a free tour of the new engine for anyone interested in it!” the unicorn continued in the meantime, “Come and behold the marvels of technology that made this machine a possibility!”

Tin and Mecha looked at one another.

“Know thy enemy,” Mecha said, and Tin nodded, making both Ocellus’ and Sandbar’s ears perk. The two stallions joined the group of ponies next to the official, as the crewmembers invited them inside the Beholder, one at a time.

Sandbar decided against it. After all, he had to keep an eye on Silverstream, and he doubted that she’d be allowed into the engine. So he stayed. And, surprisingly, so did Ocellus.

"Bah!" a well-dressed earth pony mare next to Sandbar sneered, "Who do you think those 'enemies of ponykind' are?"
The question seemed to be directed at him.

"Uh?" was all that the earth pony managed to squeeze, before the mare continued:

"Marauders? Bandits? Non-ponies? Those whose opinions differ from official ones?"

"Ain't the first one of them either," grunted a unicorn in a station worker uniform next to Ocellus, "Those things are out there already, lurking, watching… Bloody mongrels..."

"I heard they are using some sort of kirin magic to keep the thing powered," muttered a pegasus skyfarer, "Hypocrites…"

"An' all this fanciful sensor and proddin' equipment?" another pony gave his voice, "Sniffin' out smugglers an' contraband. An' secrets, too, them ministry whorses..."
Ocellus felt a tinge of worry come from several ponies nearby.

"Do you think our captain is a smuggler?" she whispered to Sandbar, "I mean, Mecha said 'know thy enemy'..."

Sandbar frowned and shook his head. He really didn't want to think about that right now. The ponies around the trio continued to grumble and complain to each other.

Tin was frowning. Inside, the Beholder was even more cramped than the Glacies, and lacked crew quarters, instead having fold-up wall cots in a single room. The galley was tiny, fit only for two ponies at a time. Hygienic facilities were also extremely lacking, and calling it a 'washroom' would be disrespectful to actual washrooms.

Tin only glanced once at the engineering. The only thing he approved of was auger-fed furnaces. The rest was not to his liking.

"And let's leave it at that," he grumbled.

The bridge was just as cramped as the rest of the locomotive. Cramped and crammed with various detection equipment. From magic proximity sensors to sonars, and even something called 'radar'...

"Ten' would've had a field day with this thing," Tin chuckled to himself.

"Kapitän, check out the scope!" Mecha said as he examined said device. The earth pony joined him and took a look through it. His jaw dropped a little as he could clearly see the distant patch of the sky the scope was pointing at. He could clearly see a Steed'O'War lazily fly around - and figure out every single detail of the engine, like rivets, seams, portholes, hatches, barrels on the rotary cannon, silhouettes of ponies in the portholes and windows… Even the nameplate of the locomotive in question, 'NCL Platinum', with another plate underneath, saying '1 mile'.

"Wait, what?" Tin said as he backed from the scope, bumping into Mecha, who bumped into a console nearby.

"Hey, careful," a unicorn crewmember said, "That's her gun controls"

"Gun?" Mecha asked and blinked, "Just one?"

"She only needs one," the unicorn replied with a smirk.

"Does it really have a range of one mile?" Tin asked.

"Not really," the crewmember replied, "About half of that…'' then he leaned over to Tin and whispered, "And in all honesty it's even lower. The gun is affixed in the hull so we have to turn the entire locomotive to aim it..."

Tin let out a groan.

"I want to have a couple warm words with whoever developed this thing," he said in frustration, "Destriers are less cramped than-scratch that, Friendlies' Owls have more space than this thing!"

"Be glad you're not stuck serving on one," the crewmember grumbled.

"Aren't you going to get in trouble for saying stuff like that?" Mecha asked.

The crewmember simply gestured at the insignia on his uniform chest, showing that he, in fact, was from the Ministry of Morality.

Tin and Mecha quickly excused themselves and scrambled out of the locomotive.

"Great," the ministry stallion grumbled, "Another set of fear-mongers..."

"Good thing Ashes wasn't here to see it," Tin complained to Sandbar and Ocellus as the group went away from the Beholder, "And better that I never mention the technical details to her… Ah, whatever!"

The group was going through the busy station. At one point, Tin stopped and gestured to the side, "There, technical station. Silver, Sandbar, Ocellus you know what to do…"

"Um, may I stay?" Ocellus said, "I'm not-"

"I'll go instead then!" Mecha piped in before Tin could say anything, "Come, we've got an axle to order!"

"Fine," Tin exhaled, "Aight, let's go, Cello, we've got places to be"

Ocellus followed Tin out of the station into what she could only describe as some sort of a bazaar. Ponies all around, selling, buying, bartering, arguing… yet Tin ignores all of it, swiftly making his way through the crowd. Ocellus barely managed to keep up with him. The two ended up at something that looked like a bounty board from Appleloosa, with a group of sky-captains standing in front of it, examining the sheets of paper nailed to it, snatching one or two every now and then and leaving. Once there are too few sheets left, a bulky, grim-looking earth pony nailed new ones to the board, driving nails in with a single strike of his iron-shod hoof.

"What is this?" the disguised changeling asked Tin.

"Trade prospects," the stallion replied as they got closer to the board, "Every creature always needs something and some are willing to pay a premium to get it…" Tin's ears perked as he noticed something and snatched one sheet from the board, "...And since this is the larger port around, all the requests end up here"

"So are we going shopping later?" Ocellus asked. Tin shook his head.

"No. Large ports like this have too quick of the ware turnover rate. You need to be extremely lucky to snatch a deal here, and as such, no one really bothers. So you make notes and…" Tin's ears perked up again as he snatched another sheet from the board, "...keep your eyes open in smaller ports. Sometimes you might snatch a very good bargain there, straight from the tap, so to say…" he made a pause while the grim stallion hammered on new sheets, "So the idea is, buy low, sell high; and always, always plan your route accordingly…"

As the captain examined the new set of sheets, he hummed, and shook his head, "Okay, we're good here. Let's go"

Tim shoved both sheets into his saddlebags and walked away. Ocellus followed.

"So… Are you a trader?" she asked.

Tin stopped and sighed.
"...No," he said after a moment, and continued to walk back to the station, "I'm a... freelancer, so to say. An opportunist, and…"
There was a tinge of bitterness that Ocellus felt.
"...I don't want to talk about it," the stallion exhaled, "Come on"

The disguised changeling decided against pressing on.

Tin and Ocellus returned to the station and went back to Glacies. Sandbar, Mecha and Silverstream were already waiting for them at the main hatch.

"We've delivered the axle to Ashes, kapitän!" Mecha saluted. Tin nodded.

"Any problems?" Tin asked. Silverstream shook her head, "Aight, good. I have a new job once we get to Ponyville," the stallion pulled the sheets he took from the board out of his saddlebags and gave them to Silverstream. The hippogryph took them and examined the papers.

"Five bushels of Sweet Apple Acres apples for Cathedral, and six barrels of Sweet Apple Acres cider for Reach?" she asked, "What's a Cathedral and Reach?"

"Ports we'll be visiting after Ponyville, since they are along the way to the place where I found that damned hunk of junk," Tin replied.

"They have strange names," Sandbar remarked.

"The Cathedral is literally a town built around a formerly underground cathedral," Tin explained in a slightly annoyed tone, "And honestly, ponies never were very creative in terms of naming things. The Reach is the farthest of the ports in the direction we'll be going, and, coincidentally, the last port in that direction right now. Beyond lies the Outer Verge, and beyond that - the Great Unknown..."

"An underground cathedral?.." Ocellus muttered, the sense of uneasiness forming in her chest.

"Former," Tin exhaled, "The disaster blew everything sky-high, and no one was pleased with the results…"

"What cathedral is built underground?" Silverstream asked.

"That of the Church of Benevolent Darkness," Tin replied. Ocellus felt chills run down her spine, sending shivers through her body, "Of her Unseen Grace, Umbra"

"You seem to know a lot about this church," Sandbar said.

"I trust Her Grace to keep me and mine safe," was Tin's reply, his hoof touching his chest - or, to be more precise, feeling something under his bomber jacket down there.

This time Ocellus barely managed to stop herself from changing into something tiny, unnoticeable, and, preferably, nigh-invincible. Like a water bear.

Tin Pest was a follower of the Church of Benevolent Darkness. Or, how it was named in history books, the Cult of Umbra, the Destroyers of Light, Liberators of Darkness.

"Alright, luck has it we're done here quicker than I anticipated!" the stallion continued in the meantime, while Ocellus was having her little freak-out, "All aboard and we're leaving!"

As she boarded Glacies once again, Ocellus couldn't shake off the feeling of worry. She could not stop thinking if Tin had other motives than getting rich from this venture. It was gnawing on her, distracting her from everything else, as the locomotive chuffed and huffed, taking off to the skies once again. And it seemed that her friends seemingly had no idea about the nature of the Church.

They had to know.

Author's Note

Fixed a few spelling errors in previous chapters and added a missing bit of text which no one noticed for some reason.

Thanks for taking time to read this story, delicious reader. Double-thanks if you leave a comment afterwards!

V - Ponyville

Glacies' engine chuffed and huffed as the locomotive flew away from New Canterlot. The train was slowly descending towards the brownish-orange smog down below. Tin did not want to linger; steaming ahead, they soon left the murky skies behind. The rest of the crew seemed to share this desire.

"I think I saw something in that smog," Ocellus said, "Pipes, structures… what is it?"

"No clue," Tin said grimly, "But New Canterlot ponies call it 'The Factory'. Bad place. Very bad place. Wagons of raws come in, finished goods come out..."

"Raws?"
Ocellus immediately felt she should not have asked that question. No, she realized she didn't want to know.

"Minerals, gems, lumber, metals, non-ponies…" Ten' listed with a sigh, "That thing chews up everything and anything. It… It’s not natural"

The changeling looked at the shadowy stallion. He remained an enigma, too. Why did he look kind-of like Sombra, except, well, gray-green eyes and horn instead of red?..

"And I swear it gets bigger every time we visit this thrice-damned city," Mecha spat out, looking in the rear windows of the bridge, "It's like this bloody thing is alive or something…"

"Is everything skyfarers face so… scary?" Ocellus asked quietly. That was meant to be a rhetoric question..

"Welcome to the skies," Tin grumbled, "Come for the sights, stay for the madness."

"True," Ten' said, looking at Ocellus with a neutral expression, "The skies are full of terrible wonders..."
His expression then softened, a smile appeared on his lips, "...But they also are full of wonderful terrors…" he made a pause, looking at Tin, who slightly turned his head towards Ten' with a frown on his face, then at Mecha, who was grinning ear to ear, "But it depends on how you see it… Case in point," he gestured at Tin, whose ear flicked, indicating rising annoyance, "You have journeyed far and wide across the Äther; You've been at every port, from Empire to Klugetown; You've seen all of the known heaven, and even ventured outside a little. Tell me, what does the Äther hold?"

"Horrors," Tin said grimly and turned away, "We were never invited here. This Disaster never was meant to happen. We are intruding in the grand house and we are not welcome here. Thus, we must learn to tread lightly, and carry a big, very big friggin' gun"

"Right," Ten' nodded, "Now you," he gestured at Mecha, "Same question"

"Wonders!" the unicorn answered chipperly, little sparks dancing in his eyes, "The Äther holds so much beauty and miracles waiting to be discovered, by those who are bold and brave to venture where no one dared to go before, and sturdy enough to endure the winds!"

"See?" the shadowy stallion's smile grew, "Two ponies, two opinions, both valid."

"And what is your opinion?" Ocellus asked Ten'.

"Both," he said with a smirk, "The skies are full of horrific wonders and wonderful horrors. Both worth to write about"

"So, um, you're a writer?"

"Yes," Ten' nodded, "And I am writing something that hopefully will be remembered forever, and will inspire others to explore the Äther..." there was a momentary pause, tickling his chin with a quill tip, "...Say. I'd like to hear about some of your experiences sometime. More specifically, how you got here. Come talk to me when we are in port, and bring your friends along. More accounts will never hurt"

"Okay," Ocellus nodded, "I'll keep your suggestion in mind"

It was later that day when Ocellus gathered her friends in the crew quarters.

"I need to tell you something important"

Everycreature looked at Ocellus with varying emotions.

"Hope it's something quick," Gallus huffed, "I'm needed on the bridge soon"

Ocellus made sure that the door to the cabin was closed, and took a deep breath, "There is evidence that Tin may be with the Church of Benevolent Darkness"

"So?" Gallus flicked his tail in annoyance.

"This… organisation had different names in the past, but most prevalent ones are 'Cult of Umbra' and 'Liberators of Darkness'," Ocellus explained, "Their goal over the ages was plunging Equus into utter darkness in the name of their unseen mistress, Umbra…"

"So night eternal, like Nightmare Moon?" Sandbar asked.

Ocellus shook her head, "No, not night eternal. 'Our goal is to make it so that neither Sun, nor Moon, nor any star close or distant, nor lantern nor fire would defile the sanctity of our mistress' shadow', said their manifest. They wanted to plunge the world into utter lightless dark, to eliminate all sources of light!"

There was a momentary pause.

"Sounds grim, but over the top," Sandbar said sceptically, "How did they want to do that?"

"I do not know," Ocellus said, "But I know that over the years, this cult has been destroyed several times by Celestia's finest… And it still came back every time"

"Yona think changeling friend worry too much," Yak said, patting Ocellus' elytra, "Yona no like Tin. But Yona thinks Tin not that bad!"

"Look, let's just keep an eye and ear on him and the crew," Gallus said.

"Dude's right," Sandbar nodded, "Let's not jump to conclusions, but observe and decide then"

Ocellus bit her lip.
"If you say so," she sighed, "But please, be careful-"

"You know, I think we've got nothing to worry about," Silverstream said suddenly. Upon everycreature looking at her questioningly, she elaborated, "Tin constantly says Umbra's name, in case you haven’t noticed! Pretty much like anypony would use Celestia or Luna's name. So, either this cult of darkness isn't all that sinister and evil, or our good captain just does not give a damn about belonging to it, or just being blasphemous!" she then shrugged, "I mean, if they were evil, the followers would at least not mention their goddess’ name out in the open, right?"

Ocellus bit her lip a bit harder. Maybe she was trying to look too deep into it, after all…
"Maybe you are right. But still, please, keep an eye out on Tin," she said.

It was a bright high noon when Glacies came to a screeching halt at Ponyville platform.

"Aight," Tin said, "Silverstream, you have your orders, plus two measures of coal for Ashes. The engine is always hungry… And a rations crate would be nice, too," followed by a sigh, "So, who's coming to Starlight?"

Mecha huffed angrily.

"I'm coming," Sandbar said, "I've got the journal"

"I'm coming too," Ocellus added.

Gallus shrugged, "I'm in."

"Yeah, me too," Smolder nodded.

"Yona go with hippogryph friend!" Yona proclaimed, "Yona help carry things! Yak best at carrying!"

"M-hm," Tin nodded, "Aight, Sandy, lead the way. The rest are free to do as you will. Meeting here in two hours. Dismissed!"

Mecha huffed again and trotted away, without even acknowledging his captain's dismissal. Ocellus looked after the unicorn with a worried expression. His emotions were in a turmoil. Not unlike a storm.

"So why are you coming with us?" Sandbar asked Tin in the meantime. The stallion flicked his ear in mild irritation.

"I don't want any surprises with this operation," he said, "The last thing I'd want to hear before departure is something like 'We need to go to the dragons' lands because lettuce!', you get my point. Forewarned, forearmed."

"Yeah, about that," Sandbar chuckled nervously, "If Starlight can't read the journal, we might need to go there and look for Spike…"

Tin stopped and stared at Sandbar. The yellowish-greenish earth pony grinned sheepishly.

The gray earth pony sucked air through his nostrils, making them flare a little. Then he exhaled in a loud, frustrated snort.

"Just… Let's get done with this," he sighed. Sandbar quickly nodded and the group proceeded onward.

Twilight's (technically now Starlight's) School of Friendship stood proudly still, despite everything. What's more, it still was full. Ponies, gryphons, changelings, kirins, even some dragons, abyssinians and diamond pups were present among the students. Some even recognized them as former students (and national heroes) and greeted them. Ocellus could sense the nostalgic tingle that Gallus and Smolder were feeling as they walked through the halls, towards headmare Starlight's office. Truth to be told, she felt the same. It's been too long since she's been here...

Sandbar knocked on the office door.
"One moment!" came a reply from the other side, "Please, come in!"

The stallion opened the door, "Hello, headmare Starlight," he said with a smile.

"Sandbar!" Starlight smiled warmly. Her face got a few wrinkles from age, and a few gray hairs appeared in her mane, but otherwise, she didn't change much, "What brings you-Gallus?.. Ocellus? Smolder?" she blinked in slight confusion, which turned into joy a moment later, "Oh, it's so good to see you all again!" Starlight smiled warmly, "Where's Yona and Silverstream?"

"They are away on an errand from me," Tin said as he entered the office as well, making Starlight look at him in confusion.

"Ah, I don't believe we've met, sir?.."

"Kapitänleutnant Tin Pest, captain and proprietor of Äther-train Glacies Perfuro. And don't 'sir' me, I'm not from the navy," Tin scoffed, "Get to the point of our visit, Sandbar."

Sandbar glared at Tin, then once again turned towards confused Starlight, "Empress Cadance hired him to help us find Twilight Sparkle, and it seems that the job does not exactly agree with him..."

This time it was Tin who glared at Sandbar.

"...So before this dude pops a hernia or gets a funny aneurysm," Sandbar reached into his saddlebag and pulled out Twilight's journal, "We've got this. However, it's heavily warded and we can't read most of it. We hoped Twilight trusted you enough to allow you to read it…"

Starlight took the journal and examined it.
"Hm," she said and frowned, "Yes, I've seen it before. Twilight never showed it to me, however… well, the contents, that is…"
The unicorn mare opened the journal and flipped through a few pages. Her frown deepened.
"Yes, I do feel the ward on this thing… My, it's a strong one..." she mumbled as her horn lit up a bit brighter. Then her eyes widened, "I think-I got it! I got it!" she plopped the journal on the table.

“What?” Tin said with an annoyed flick of his ear.

“Shh,” Starlight hushed, and flipped through the pages. The gray stallion peeked over her shoulder at the pages.

“You can read this gibberish?” Tin said sceptically.

“It’s warded against prying eyes,” Starlight said, “But it seems to react to my magic signature somehow. So, yes, I can read it…”

“Good,” Tin snapped, “Now tell us where Twilight is so we could go back to the Empire and inform her brother on her whereabouts”

Starlight squinted slightly at Tin. The stallion kept looking at her with a stony expression. She sighed, and flipped through the pages to the end of Twilight’s writing (or so it seemed). Then she frowned.

“...Strange,” she muttered, flipping back a page, then another, “...This… This doesn’t seem like Twilight writing this, yet it’s her penmanship…”

Tin slightly tilted his head and flicked his ear. Gallus rolled his eyes and elbowed the stallion’s side, earning a glare from him.

“What’s wrong?” Sandbar asked.

“She keeps mentioning Elysium,” Starlight replied, “...And… uh… Okay, it’s strange to say it out loud, Her Harmonic Majesty, Empress Celest… Celeste?..”

“And yet nobody finds it strange that princess Cadance changed her title to empress,” Sandbar huffed.

“Empires are led by emperors and empresses,” Tin retorted, “Taking up proper title means they decided to step up in responsibility…” he flicked his ear again, “And seeing how the Empire prospers, they take them seriously… But, without digressing,” the stallion frowned, “I’ve been all over the known Äther, and never have I ever heard of a port, or city, or a place called Elysium. Unless,” he huffed, “We’re talking about that Elysium”

“I highly doubt that this is the case,” Starlight huffed in response, looking at Tin in annoyance, “How would this journal be here if she was dead?”

“I could name at least two…” he paused for a second, “Three explanations for this. All include the current state of the world. Get back to reading,” Gallus once again elbowed Tin’s side, making the stallion glare at the gryphon, “...Second pilot, stop that. I have an authority to reprimand you, and I will not tolerate insubordination.”

“Pilot?” Starlight blinked, and earned another glare from Tin, “Okay, maybe later. Right…” she went back to reading the journal, “Hm… Okay, let’s try earlier entries…”
The pages flipped as Starlight went through the text, her frown deepened.
“I don’t understand,” she muttered, “How did that even?.. Oh… Ohm…”

Tin tapped his hoof on the floor. Impatiently.

“Be quiet,” Starlight grunted. Flipping through several more pages, she sighed and closed the journal.

“Well?” Tin asked.

“I do not have a conclusive answer,” Starlight said and turned around, “We need to check something first”

“Oh good, is that some ancient doorstopper?” the sky-captain rolled his eyes.

“No… but…" Starlight said, and bit her lower lip for a moment, "We need to go where… Where the Disaster originated from,” she looked out of the window of her office, at barely visible orb or purple mist in the distance, “We need to go to Canterlot.”

“What.” Tin stared at Starlight.

“It seems that something happened to Twilight and everypony there when they activated the device Twilight worked on,” Starlight said, picking up Twilight’s journal and stuffing it into her saddlebags, “Something happened to them and threw them to someplace she later referred to as Elysium…”

“What was that thing she was working on, headmare?” Ocellus asked.

Starlight frowned once again.
“She called it ‘The Dawn Machine’... And it appears that something went wrong when they activated it…”

“Understatement of the century,” Tin rolled his eyes. This time, it was Smolder who elbowed him, “Crew. Stop. That.”

"I need to make a few arrangements first," Starlight said, "Where is your locomotive right now?"

"Why are you asking this?" Tin squinted.

"Well, you're going to need an arcana expert…" Starlight began but Tin cut her off.

"My first officer is one."

"Can he read the journal?" Smolder quipped, crossing her arms over her chest. Tin huffed, and the orange dragoness smirked, "Thought so"

"And as such, you are going to need me to fully understand how to get to Elysium and find Twilight," Starlight said, "I apologize for any inconveniences this may cause you, captain-"

"Inconveniencing me should be the least of your worries," Tin replied grimly. Starlight tilted her head questioningly.

"I think the crew of Glacies ain't holding you in high regard," Gallus deadpanned.

"Oh-uh-um, why-"

"That, too, should be quite low on her list of things to worry about," Tin made a pause to take his flask and take a swig from it, earning a small glare from the headmare, "No, the main problem with this scenario is that Mecha, my first officer, actually wants her dead."

This left every creature in the office silent.

“Wha-why?!” Sandbar finally squeezed out, dumbfounded.

“Reasons,” Tin said grimly. Gallus immediately remembered both stallions’ reaction to Starlight’s name. ‘Just a name we could live without ever hearing again’, as Tin put it, “But I think I can hold him back for a little while. But be prepared for a lot of hostility from him”

Starlight frowned.

“When will you be ready to board?” the captain continued meanwhile.

“Oh, uhm…” the unicorn mare stuttered for a moment, “Uh, I’m going to need about… Two to three hours?”

Tin let out a hum. Then he grunted and shook his head.

“Is Berry’s Bedazzling Brews still operational?” he asked.

“Yes,” Sandbar answered instead of Starlight, “Though Ruby is stepping in as the runner of the place…”

“Good,” Tin snorted and flicked his ear, “Find me there when you’re done with your whatever”

With that, he turned around and stepped out of the office.

“Hey, wait!” Starlight put on her saddlebags and trotted after him. Tin did not stop, trotting on ahead, “Captain Tin, wait-”

“You have my crew to show you the way,” the stallion said in a slightly annoyed tone, picking up pace, seemingly in a hurry to leave the School of Friendship.

Curiously, everyone seemed to prefer to keep some distance from him.

“It’s not that!” the mare said as the two exited the building, “I’m just trying to-”

“Trying to what?” Tin stopped and turned around, causing Starlight to bump into him, “Understand why we are, so to say, upset about you?”

“Um, yes,” she said, taking a step back.

“Well, to make a long story short, you ponies have hurt us,” Tin said, taking another swig from his flask.

“The rules forbid consumption of alcohol on the school grounds,” Starlight frowned.

“Bite me,” Tin replied, putting the flask back into the pouch of his jacket, “And yes, you ponies have hurt us. Me, less so than Mecha. I managed. He…” the stallion made a pause and his expression darkened, “He, less so”

“But, what happened?” Starlight asked uncomfortably.

“And why do you care?” Tin huffed in response, as Sandbar, Gallus, Smolder and Ocellus caught up with them, “For all you know we’re just some random strangers brought to you by a twist of fate. This whole endeavor will be over soon and you’ll most likely even forget we ever existed. So, again, why do you care?”

He tapped his hoof on the ground as Starlight looked at him in shock.

"B-because that's what-"

“'Because that's what friends do'? Really? Let me be clear, Starlight," Tin let out an irritated grunt, "You are not my friend. Twilight was not my friend. And after what you all did, I am very cautious about whom I call friends. Real friends, not ones who pretend to be one because they fear a tyrant!"

"What?.." Starlight blurted out. A couple of ponies turned to look at the ranting stallion.

"Yes, there were ones who were genuinely happy. But many more were putting on a happy face because of fear. Everyone remembered Twilight's 'little' breakdown with the 'want-it, need-it' spell. Everyone remembered that, but few talk of it nowadays," Tin scoffed in the meantime, "Because everyone was afraid. Sure, all is well right now, but what happens next? What if she snaps? What if she begins to 'reform' everycreature that does not fit her vision of friendship and harmony? She had resources for that," the stallion began to circle around the group, "She had the mare, who, while being a unicorn, was comparable to her - an alicorn! - in magic power and knew mind manipulation..."

"Hey! I put that behind me long ago!" Starlight protested.

Tin ignored that outburst, "She had an omnipresent near-deity that could bend reality over and have his way with it. She had two retired princesses to back her up, and don't get me started on that 'rainbow of friendship' crap. But oh, that's not just it," the stallion's expression turned to a scowl as he began to pace around Starlight like a wolf, "What if she took it a step further? What if she began to turn creatures into stone left and right, just because they didn't fit into that perfect little world of friendship she had imagined?"

"Okay, Twilight would never do that!" Starlight scoffed.

"Yeah? You sure?" Tin sneered, "Because I got a trio of creatures who'd disagree with-oh wait, they can't! Because they're DEAD!" the stallion barked in Starlight's face. The mare's eyes opened wide in shock and Tin continued with an eyeroll, "Oh come on, don't look at me that way. No creature and nothing could survive being in the epicentre of whatever magic disaster our friendly princess caused. I'm not sure what you hope to find there. Now where was I-oh, right! Well, your princesses were surely quick to turn the three to stone. Despite them all actually KNOWING how it feels to be petrified! Hay, I know that myself! Anything chicken-shaped is bound to give me nightmares because of this!"

"But they were irredeemable!" Starlight snarled, "They caused the Windigo to return and almost freeze us all!"

"Oh for ffff-" Tin raised his hoof to slam on the ground when he noticed a colt among the ponies overlooking the conversation, "-Ffffaust's sake, Starlight! You just took the easy way out without solving ANYTHING! Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy, Sombra, Pony of Shadows - they all are SYMPTOMS! Not the CAUSE! Open your bloody eyes already and wake the fff-fowl up! Not every problem has the solution floating on the surface like shhhhh-ship!.. Dig! Deeper! But nope. Petrify them forever, trapping sapient beings in total sensory deprivation, problem gelöst, and leave the one truly guilty free!"

He pawed at the ground angrily.

"I mean, have you ever, ever tried to figure out what Cozy's problem was before you gleefully sent her to Tartarus, and then turned her into a lawn ornament?"

Silence was the answer.

"Figures. See where I'm coming from? We all lived in the shadow of a friendship terror. Now? We're free. Sure, we face new horrors and trials, but they are nothing compared to the return of the dreaded Checklist Princess…" Tin sucked air through his teeth, "And I am driving an expedition to find her. This damn reward better be worth it..."

"You said a bad word!" gasped the colt who was overhearing the conversation.

"You're going to hear a lot more bad words in my line of work, kiddo," Tin deadpanned, "Now scram, before you will hear more bad words from me!"

A mare (presumably the foal's mother) glared at Tin and pushed the colt away, despite his protest.

"Dirty-mouthed sky-mongrels," she muttered angrily.

"Zip it, land-blubber, you won't last a day in the Äther!" Tin sneered loudly, then looked at the other creatures watching the scene, "And you all - scram as well! Don't you have things to do? Get. Lost!"

The creatures around them did their best to actively ignore the sky-captain and proceed on with their lives.

"That was unnecessary," Starlight mumbled, "And, for the record, I was against sending Cozy to Tartarus-"

"And that worked swimmingly," Tin scoffed, speech oozing with sarcasm, "Didn't it? The princesses, like, totally listened to you!"

Starlight averted her gaze and pawed at the ground anxiously. Tin sighed.

"Get doing whatever you need to be done. I'll be at Berry's. This exchange is over," he said and trotted away.

Starlight stood there, looking after the stallion walking away, her expression unreadable, but underneath it, Ocellus could taste sadness. Tin, in the meantime, was carrying away with him the feeling of bitterness, suppressed anger and disappointment, spiced with tones of painful nostalgia.

"The skies are wide and good friends are too few," the changeling said quietly. Suddenly this phrase had a whole new meaning to her.

"So, seeing how our ray of sunshine left to get totalled, what do we do now?" Gallus asked.

That lightly startled Starlight, bringing her out from her thoughts, "I need to make a couple of arrangements and grab a few tools…"

Mecha wandered through the streets of Ponyville in a seemingly aimless stumble, without a goal or purpose, going wherever his hooves would take him. Now and then a passer-by would greet him with a nod, or a wave, but nothing more. Just small, friendly gestures, without any recognition. He was unsure if it was good or bad. Perhaps the former. Eventually, he moved away from the center of the town to the outskirts… where he saw a familiar-looking house.

Mecha stopped and looked at it. It was a simple two-story building, really, and did not stand out at all. Plaster-covered brickwork, with some decorative wooden beams supporting the walls. Square windows, with bright-green frames and shutters. Thatch roofing, gray brick-and-mortar chimney, smoke coming out from it. A smell of apple pie coming from the open window, and the atmosphere of content and love seeped from inside.

Once, he called this place his home.

Mecha sighed. A question popped in his head, the one he asked so many times: when did it all go so wrong? Yet now, there were new ones: Was there anything that could be done? Was everything rigged against them in the first place? Was it wrong of him and the other few to show loyalty?..

Maybe he should try to drink. Like his captain does whenever he has nightmares. Drink and forget. Forget what he saw, forget the secrets that gnaw…

If only, if only it was this easy.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Mecha blinked at the voice drawing him from the trappings of his mind. The house door was open, and a unicorn mare stood in the frame. A filly peeked out cautiously from behind it, and a rather imposing earth stallion watched from behind her.

"Did you want something?" the mare asked cautiously.

Mecha averted his gaze.
"Sorry," he said, "I, uh, a friend of mine used to live here…” the stallion lied through his teeth, “But not anymore it seems… Do you know where he left?.."

The mare's expression softened.
"I'm sorry," she said, "We've been living here for two decades and some years. We bought this house from the town, because its last owner disappeared without a trace..."

"I see," Mecha replied, hiding his bitterness. Nopony recognized him here anymore, and there truly was nothing left for him here, "I'm sorry for, erh, being creepy at your doorstep. I should go. Farewell."

"Wait!" the mare called, before disappearing in the house for a few moments. She returned with a warm slice of an apple pie on a paper plate. Mecha raised an eyebrow as the mare levitated the plate over to him.
"Here," she said, "I'm sorry about your friend, but maybe this will make you feel a bit better. A taste of home, so to say, for a weary skyfarer…"

Mecha accepted the plate and nodded curtly, "Thank you, ma'am. Farewell, and… Please, take care of this house. It… It means a lot to me"
And with that, he turned away and walked back towards the town center.

He thought back, to the times before everything. The times when he was younger, the times when he lived here and made small mechanical contraptions that didn't do anything per se, but had such intricate workings that just watching them was pleasing on its own. Then… one ill-fated happening, a movement born of desperation…

'And can you keep your head, your backbone, or your heart…'
They all found out the answer on the day it fell apart.
Things only went downhill from there, and in a brief moment when all seemed well… there was an insidious backstab. Loyalty. Ponies preached loyalty, and yet… and yet…

He remembered the feeling. Betrayed. Surrounded. Outnumbered. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run. No acceptance. Alone. No place to call his own. Alone. Cold white stone. Alone. Screams of anguish. Alone. Searing pain. Alone. Losing yourself. Alone. Alone. Alonealonealonealone...

There was a rumble of thunder above Mecha's head, distracting him from the ravenous thoughts gnawing on his consciousness. Ponies around him gazed up in confusion, murmuring something about no storm being planned for today. Mecha shook his head.
"No," he muttered, gazing up at the skies, "None of that."

He got no response, but felt the pain of the stirring memories and gnawing doubts subside, his worries put to rest, at least for the moment.
All seemed well.

Mecha looked at the pie he still had on the plate. A moment later, his ears perked up. Tea. Yes, tea will go nicely with it. Tea is always a good idea.

In a universe of horrors, tea is never wrong.

"Hey Applebloom!" Silverstream waved at the bright yellow mare at the market stand, "Long time no see!"

"Silvehst’eam! Yona!" Applebloom smiled wide, "Welcome back! I's been too lon'!"
Too long, indeed. Time turned the filly into a strong, good-looking mare… that still kept that adorable bow on her head, though now it looked smaller, since its bearer grew.

"Yak happy see Apple friend!" Yona said as the three hugged.

"Sorry, we can't stay and chat!" the hippogryph said apologetically, "We have things to do - oh! Take a look at these," she pulled out two sheets with requests that Tin gave her, "Could you help with it?"

Applebloom grabbed the requests and glanced over them.
"Five bush'ls of apples and six barrels of cider?" she asked, "Sure… but, say, why are you-" her voice cut off when she noticed the crew token on Silverstream's neck, "-well ah'll be, since when didja become a sky-farer?"

"Just a few days ago!" the hippogryph replied cheerfully.

"...Never thought of you being a quartermaster," Applebloom mused, "Alright, so where should I deliver the required goods?"

"Neither did I!" Silversream replied, "But the grumpy old captain told me so, and here I am!" she made a pause and gestured at Yona, "And she is our mascot!"

"Yak no like captain," Yona grumbled.

"As for where…" the hippogryph continued, "Wait, aren't we going to carry it?"

"Not an order this big," Applebloom said, once again looking over the requests, "That Cathedral place is sure interested in our apples, them keep sendin’ requests ‘t least twice a month fer the last couple of years…" her expression became thoughtful as she mumbled, "Maybe I should ask Sweetie if one of ours can investigate…"

Silverstream looked at the mare questioningly, but got a glare in response.

"Nothing," Bloom said with only her lips. Somehow, it was less than reassuring.

"Ponyville station, platform eight, locomotive Glacies Perfuro," Silver said. Something told her she did not want to know what this was about.

"Glacies Perfuro? Soun’s familiar," Applebloom rubbed the back of her head, then grunted, "Say, is she run by a stallion who goes by th’ name of Tin 'Totalled' Pest?"

The hippogryph's ears perked up, "Yup! He's a bit of a grumpy fellow however…"

"Ah see," Applebloom sighed, "What happen' ta Bitter Bread? Their ol' quartermaster… you know, never mind, not my place to ask or to know. What happens in the sky stays in the sky," she sighed and flicked beads on an abacus, "...Tha'll be three hundred bits. Ah'm giving you a 'school of friendship' discount, ya 'know, fer ol' times' sake"

"Why thank you kindly!" Silverstream smiled and hugged Applebloom again, "Okay, here-" she opened the coin pouch and began counting golden rounds, putting them on the stall one by one. Three stacks of ten large golden coins, "-we go! Recount, if you'd like?"

Applebloom, did, and, satisfied, hid the bits into the metal box inside her stall. Then she pulled out two slips of paper - some sort of consignment notes - signed them, placed a stamp on them, and hoofed them over to Silverstream, "Sign those.”
Silverstream did. Applebloom nodded, took one, and left the other one for the hippogryph.
“There ya go. Thank you for yer patronage!"

"Thank you!" the hippogryph replied.

"And if y'all ever need somethin', anythin', come to our ol' clubhouse," Applebloom continued, "We'll see if we can get it for ya!"

"Thanks, we'll be sure to drop by if we need anything!" Silverstream nodded, "Well, we'll be on our way! Bye Applebloom!"

With that, she walked away. Yona remained behind for a few more moments.

"Yona has suspicion," she said, "Apple friend not honest fully."

"Some thin's are not discussed in the open, Yona," was the response. The yak shrugged, turned around and left as well.

Silverstream wandered around the market, wondering where she could get rations for the crew and the coal for Ashes - though on the former she was more concerned on what to get. Buckwheat was nice and all, but it was quite bland. Lost in her thoughts she realized that she must have wandered into a more multi-species part of the market, as her nose caught a sweet, familiar scent of fresh fish.

That, and Yona complained about not liking the smell and sights.

"Little Stream!"

Silverstream's ears perked up at the voice. She looked around, and saw an aging hippogryph waving at her. His fur and feathers of soft aquamarine color with few streaks of silvery gray here and there.

"Murex!" she cheered and rushed over at him and hugged him, "It's been ages!"

"Little Stream," Murex chuckled, hugging her back, "Good to see you again! Finally decided to move out, too?"

Silverstream shuddered. The pain those words caused was not physical, but nevertheless, they hurt.

"No, I'm just looking for somepony!" she replied as the two broke the hug.

"Sandbar, I presume?" Murex asked, waving at Yona, who approached as well.

"Nope!" Silverstream smiled, and tapped her crew token, "We are on expedition to find Twilight Sparkle!"

Murex looked at the token, and even pulled it to take a closer look.

"My," he said with a sad smile, "Little Stream, how you have grown… I still remember you being that fidgety fry, always coming for a fresh catch, always so energetic and cheerful…" he made a pause and averted his gaze for a moment. Silverstream clicked her beak softly, making him return his attention to her, "Say, how… How are things back?.."

This time it was Silverstream who looked away. An awkward pause hung in the air.

"Empty," she finally said, "Most hippogryphs have left to seek a better place to live. I can't really imagine how queen Novo feels with so many of her subjects… not being her subjects anymore," once again she averted her gaze for a moment, but then looked straight into Murex's eyes, "Murex, why? Why did everyone just… pack up and leave?.. Why did you leave our home?.."
Silverstream barely held back tears.

Murex let out a bitter sigh.

"We were afraid," he said, "We were afraid that once again we will end up in complete isolation"

Yona tilted her head, "Isolation?"

"Silver… you were born underwater," Murex said as his expression became sadder, and he seemed to have aged a decade more, "You never experienced what we, the older generation, did. The sheer despair of being driven away from your homes by a power that you cannot resist. To be forced into hiding, only now and then sending out scouting parties only for them to report the same old thing: we can not go back," he sobbed. Silverstream once again clicked her beak, as Murex continued, "Until eventually, we stopped sending scouts all along and just… isolated ourselves, safe inside our bubble…"

"Why didn't you ask ponies for help?" Silverstream asked. Murex's sadness suddenly was replaced by bitter anger.

"We never expected them to help us in the first place," he almost hissed, "For you see, several generations ago they have dropped all forms of contact with us. Withdrew diplomats, stopped sending correspondence, stopped trades and visits. As if we ceased to exist for them," he clicked his beak angrily, "Chased away our contact parties…" he made another angry click, and continued with a venomous tone, "And yet after all that, they had the gall, the nerve to come and demand our aid in bringing down the Storm King! I'm surprised Her Majesty did not throw them out the moment they've shown up…"

Silversream's beak opened as she wanted to say something, but… she had no words.
Did… did ponies really do something like this? Why would they do this?..

"In fact, they were lucky the Windigo were posing a threat for all of us," Murex continued bitterly, "Otherwise we'd happily leave them to rot, like they did us"

"That's not right!" Silverstream shouted. She didn't want to shout, but it somehow went this way.

"And was it right to abandon us as if we were nothing, and come beg for help years and years later?"

The young hippogryph's head lowered and her general posture sagged.

"No," she answered quietly.

Murex’ anger seemed to subdue after that. His expression softened and his gaze lowered to the ground.

"No, it was not," he sighed, "But after that… when the world blew up… we could not stand the thought of being isolated once again," he lowered his head as his wings drooped down, "We just could not. We barely returned to the world at large, and the world, well… Did this,” he gestured around him. Silverstream’s and Yona’s gaze followed the gesture. Honestly, Ponyville looked almost the same as it was when they left it last time… Minus the islands and locomotives in the sky. And the sky itself looked like it wanted to be something else.

“And thus, the first chance we got, we fled, fled from this isolation… fled our fear of being alone again," Murex finished with a sad chirr. Then, he raised his gaze at Silverstream, and asked, “Why did you stay, Little Stream?”

The younger hippogryph’s ears perked up.

“Because that’s our home!” Silverstream almost shouted, “I’ve lived there just for a few years, but I liked the place! Besides!” she pushed Murex’ chest, “Think of our poor queen Novo! She just barely got her queendom back, and, and…” her voice quivered as she felt like crying, “And then her subjects bolted! Abandoned her realm! At this point, she is a queen of nothing!”

She had to sit down for a moment. Truth to be told, she just wanted to collapse and cry. She never really realized how much she held inside. Yet, the moment her forepaws gave in, she was held by a hooved foreleg on one side, and a taloned paw on the other.

“Yak hold friend! Yak help!” Yona said.

“Easy, Little Stream,” Murex said calmly, “Easy…”

Silverstream sobbed.

“I understand your feelings,” he continued as he gently patted her back, “Trust me, I often dream about going back there. But I can’t…” he looked around, “Every time I think about it, I’m afraid. That if I leave, I’ll never come back here…” his gaze moved up, to the sky above the marketplace, “I’ve made a good life here, Little Stream...”

"I understand," Silverstream sobbed, "But… it still… hurts… to feel abandoned…"

At that moment, she felt a chill on her back. Not the usual chills down the spine, no, the literal feeling of an ice cold touch on her back. Just for a moment, and then it was gone.
"I…" she shuddered, "I should go. I still need to find coal and supplies for the crew-"
Truth to be told, she just wanted to get away from here.

The older hippogryph sighed and let her go, stepping back to his stand.

"You know what, Little Stream?" Murex said, "Have this, on the house"
He grabbed a small net-bag and tossed several large fishes into it, and handed it over to Silverstream.
"For old times' sake," Murex said with a half-sad smile.

Silverstream nodded and accepted the gift. Yona grumbled about the smell.
"Thank you, Murex," the young hippogryph said, "Thank you and goodbye"

"Goodbye, Silverstream," Murex replied, "Do come by sometime"

She wasn't quite sure if she would.

After buying another crate of supplies for the crew (sure it was the same old gruel, but she really did not want to wander around anymore), Silverstream and Yona returned to the main part of Ponyville. Her thoughts were in a bit of a mess after the encounter.

Thus she was caught completely off-guard when a hoof gently touched her beak.

“Why the long face, quartermaster?” she blinked and looked at the source of a sudden boop. Mecha stood before her, holding a carton plate with a half-eaten slice of apple pie and a cup of steaming green tea in his telekinetic field.

"Oh, it's nothing, really!" she managed a strained smile, but Mecha gave her an... odd look which was saying 'I know something is up', so she sighed, "No, really, nothing serious! Just… met someone from my past and-"

"Oh!" Mecha's ears perked, "...case of bad nostalgia, I assume?"

"Yes," Silver nodded. Mecha reached out and patted her shoulder.

"There, there," he said, "Look, don't dwell too much on the past, okay? Whatever happened, happened. Trust me, nothing good ever comes out from clinging to the debris of yesterday…"
Then, his nose twitched a little.
"Fish?" he asked and blinked.

"Oh!" Silver's crest perked up, as she felt her mood improve slightly. Mecha… had a point, "I was given those on the house by the fishergriff, since he knew me since I was a small fry!"

"You better remember this," Mecha said, licking his lips in a manner that made Yona take a step back, "This is how you get goods, cheap! You are who you know, not who you are, as Bitter used to say!" he made a short pause to sip some of his tea, "Oh, I know! How about we go and buy some spices for the fish?"
Silverstream's ears perked up as did her interest. That actually sounded like a great idea!
"And once we're back in Glacies we'll bake it!" the unicorn continued with a wide smile, "Tin would love it! And I bet Gallus and Smolder and Ocellus too!"

"Yak not eating this," Yona said with barely hidden disgust.

"Your loss!" Mecha said cheerfully, "So, what do you say, Silver?"

"Sure thing!" the hippogryph beamed, "What would you recommend?"

"No lemongrass," Mecha said, scrunching his snout, "Cray-uh, changelings don't like it very much. Garlic, rosemary, and chives, on the other hoof!.."

Silverstream smiled, while Yona grimaced and stuck her tongue out in disgust.

Time ticked onwards in its weird way. Starlight did quite a lot of things in a short amount of time. Asked Trixie to cover the school for her while she was on a mission. Grabbed a few books from the library, bought some writing supplies. Picked her toothbrush and paste, and some warm clothes - not a sky-suit in the long run, but she didn't exactly have time to order one. Besides, it was meant to be a short expedition. She grabbed a few arcane measuring tools, and some arcana supplies - gems, mainly, with some gold conduits.

All the while Tin's words still somewhat rung in her mind. 'This whole endeavor will be over soon and you’ll most likely even forget we ever existed', ‘You ponies have hurt us’, ’We all lived in a shadow of friendship terror’. She could not understand what caused such hostility from him. And then of course there was this Mecha character who wanted… well, wanted to kill her. This was troubling her. So much so that she walked right into somepony without noticing.

"Hey, watch where-Oh, hello, miss Glimmer"

"Scootaloo," the mare said, smiling, "Told you many times, no need for titles. We're all friends here"

"Yeah, yeah, details!" Scootaloo waved off, then saluted to Sandbar, Gallus, Smolder and Ocellus, "Yo, guys, good to see you!" then turned back to Starlight, and said in a quieter tone, "A bird tweeted that you're going somewhere in the skies?"

Starlight nodded.

"Be careful," the pegasus said, "Our agents report that N-Cants are fielding some new engine…"

"Beholder," Sandbar said, "From what we gathered, it's meant to be a watchdog to detect contraband-"

"Hold up," Scootalo raised her hoof, and turned towards Sandbar, "Detect contraband?.."

Sandbar nodded and explained what he heard at the presentation, and shared some thoughts that Tin and Mecha brought up.

"I see," the orange pegasus frowned, "Thank you for this information, Sandbar. CMC owes you big time," she shook up, "Well then, I need to inform the other crusaders about this development… And tell Turner to push the Vindicator project harder instead of the Time Looms, I guess. Bye!"

She took off in a… strange manner. Not exactly flying, since her hind hooves vere just barely above the ground level. Her flight never properly developed, and was more like that of a changeling flight, with her wings buzzing loudly as she sped away.

"What was this all about?" Smolder asked, looking at the trail of dust the pegasus left behind.

Starlight sighed and rubbed her temples, "To keep it simple, the New Canterlot lords have very strict ideas about what should and should not be in the markets. Some ponies think… different," she sighed, "And the Crusaders… well, they coordinate those ponies, at least those who have Ponyville as their base of operations…"

"Are you saying they became heads of a smuggler ring?" Gallus blinked in confusion. That was unexpected.

"They prefer the term 'Rogue Traders'," Starlight pawed at the ground, "But that's not important. Where is your locomotive, again?.."

“Uh, didn’t Tin tell us to pick him up from Berry’s?” Ocellus said meekly.

Starlight huffed, “Well, he’s a grown-up stallion. He does not need us to come pick him up”

“...I’ll go grab him,” Sandbar said, “Just don’t go into the locomotive yet. If what he said about Mecha is true… I’d really rather not have you be inside the enclosed space with him”

“I’m sure I’ll be alright!” the unicorn said with a smile, “We’ll talk it out-”

“I’m with Sandbar on this one,” Gallus said, crossing his arms over his chest, “Starlight, you’ve heard what Tin said; so excuse me but I have my doubts about you finding a common language with Mecha without our captain’s help...” he made a pause as Sandbar ran off, then added, "Besides, they are skyfarers. They… Are different from us…"
He stopped and frowned as Tin's words rose in his memory. 'Come for the sights, stay for madness'. And in fact, he was kind-of sort-of a skyfarer himself now...

Starlight bit her lip.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out..."

Entering the 'Berry's Bedazzling Brews', Sandbar saw Tin sitting in the booth with Berry Punch and a couple of bottles between them. They were surrounded by a group of ponies, watching the two in excitement. As he approached, he realized what the two were doing.
A drinking game.
And, despite two emptied bottles, neither seemed drunk.
Or even tipsy.

"Captain?" Sandbar said, making everyone turn towards him, "Uh, you're needed at Glacies…"

Tin turned towards Sandbar, ears perked, while Berry looked at him with an annoyed expression.

"Starlight has finished her preparations," he continued, "And going to the locomotive-"

"What." Tin asked with a blink. He did not sound drunk at all, "Excuse me, is she going to Glacies?.."

"Yes-"

The stallion stood from the booth, and tossed a small bag of coins on the table.

"I yield," he said, "But I want a rematch next time I'm here"

The gathered ponies let out a disappointed "Aww…"

"Sure thing," Berry said, sounding sober as well. She pushed the coin bag back to Tin, "An' don't. We both know we did not even get to the interesting part..."

But the stallion was already gone. Sandbar barely registered him dashing out… in a surprisingly steady gallop.
He followed.
To Sandbar's surprise, Tin rushed to the rail port, his gallop still steady and sure. It was as if he did not even drink an entire bottle of apple whiskey. If not more...

Two stallions rushed to the platform where Glacies was docked. Tin came to a grinding halt with a neigh as he saw Starlight standing near the main access hatch, along with Gallus, Ocellus and Smolder. He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. Then closed it again, shook his head and approached the group with a frown on his face.

"What are you doing here?!" he half-hissed, half-growled, pawing at the floor of the platform, “I told you to pick me up at Berry’s first!”

"I managed to get everything done quicker than I expected," Starlight said, "Um, why are you upset?"

"Well, remember what I said about my first officer?" Tin said, "Well, I wanted to-oh, horseapples." he looked somewhere to the side, his expression turning to a frown.

"What?-" Starlight asked, but then looked where Tin was looking, and saw a gray unicorn in a bomber jacket and peaked cap, accompanied by Silverstream and Yona, "-oh. That him?"

"That’s him," Tin grunted. His posture got a lot more tense.

Mecha let out a happy snort as he trotted along with Yona and Silverstream. They got spices they needed to cook the fish, so now he wanted to get said fish into the fridge.

However, all of his good mood evaporated the moment he entered the platform where the Glacies was docked at. For there, he saw her, standing there, talking to the Kapitän.

Starlight Glimmer.

Frowning, he angrily stomped towards Tin, having a very bad feeling in his gut.

"What is she doing here?!" he hissed, ears pressed to his head. Ocellus' ears perked. That was... odd.

"...I had hoped you'd show up earlier," Tin sighed, "She's coming with us. Unfortunately."
Mecha's head slowly turned towards the mare, his expression changing from angry to outright murderous.

"Um, hi," Starlight said sheepishly, "Um, you must be Mecha-"

"It’s Working Mechanism, buck you very much," Mecha almost snarled.

"Oh, r-right!" Starlight managed to produce a stiff smile, "Look, Working Mechanism, I don't know what I did to make you angry, but I'm sorry about it..." she reached her hoof out to him, "Could we perhaps start over?"

Mechanism looked at her outstretched hoof and it seemed like his face was getting darker by a second. Ocellus blinked. She thought she saw small bolts of lightning spark in the unicorn’s eyes.

Then, he angrily slapped Starlight’s hoof away.

"Funny!" he said in a surprisingly cheerful tone, "Funny how you apologise but don't know what for! You think what you did could be helped by a simple 'I'm sorry'? No! No it's not!" his tone shifted to anger, making Ocellus reel away from him as she tasted his negativity, "There is somewhere around six hundred miles of synaptic fiber in my brain. If the word 'hate' was imprinted into every single micrometer of that fiber, it would not cover even a hundred-thousandth of the amount of hate I hold against you, Starlight Glimmer. And I'm pretty sure that if I tried, my hate for you could extinguish a star!"

"But what did I do?" Starlight said, taking a step back, ears flat against her head.

"Why do you care?!" Mecha huffed and turned away, "After all, in the eyes of the masses, you did the right thing! You're the hero! You don't need to think of the consequences of your actions, because that's what heroes do! So go and bask in your heroic glory. No need to worry about silly old me!"

With that, Mecha stormed inside the locomotive and slammed the access hatch behind him, loud enough to make a lot of heads turn. Or, at least those who did not already turn at Mecha’s shouting at Starlight. And the sound of metal slamming against metal made Tin cringe.

A moment later, he slammed it back open and pointed his hoof at Tin and stated in the same angry-accusing tone:

"By the way, Kapitän, the fish that Silversream brought was given to her for free, and I paid for the spices from my own pocket!"

He slammed the hatch close again, making Tin cringe again. Silverstream’s mane fell and her ears drooped slightly. She liked Mecha, he was way more cheerful than Tin, and seeing him so suddenly get so angry made her sad.

“Well that went smooth-ly,” the captain deadpanned, “Like an un-lubed log up your arse…” he then turned towards the hippogryph, and looked at her carrying the bags, “So... fish?”

Silverstream nodded. To her surprise, the stallion actually smiled and… licked his lips.

“Good, good!” he nodded to her, “Stuff it in a stasis chamber in the fridge. That’s the upper one. Will prevent it from spoiling and save it from freezing and destroying the flavor”

“Will do!” Silverstream said, her mane perking up again, “Oh, and I ordered apples and cider from Applebloom, and rations, they should arrive here shortly, but… where can I get coal?..”

“Station master’s office,” Tin said, “They have a fuel requisition section. Two measures-”

“Yes, I remember!” Silverstream nodded, “I’ll just put the fish in the fridge and go get some then!”

“You do that,” Tin nodded. Then he looked at Starlight and sighed, “Now, you. You’ll stay in the crew quarters. It’s best for you both that your path does not cross with Mecha’s much. Preferably - at all. Now, let’s go get you settled…”

He opened the hatch again, and entered the locomotive. Starlight followed him with some hesitation.

About an hour later, Glacies sounded her horn twice and took off the platform, turning towards the great purple nebula in the distance, leaving behind a trail of steam and smoke.

As it took off, another engine moved from its parking spot a couple miles away from it and Ponyville. Its sleek form slipped from behind a large sky-rock behind which it hid, and proceeded after Glacies, while keeping its distance.

VI - What was, will be-

The engine of Glacies was working in a steady beat, pushing the steel behemoth forward. The colossus did not care for the atmosphere of tension inside it, plowing through Äther like it usually did.

Smolder was the first one to actually get a feel of it as she entered the engine room. Inside were Ashes and Mecha. The unicorn was angrily pacing back and forth in front of the boiler, while the dragoness was feeding the furnaces with her usual neutral expression.

"-can't believe it, I just can't!" Mecha ranted, "The last pony in the world I want to see aboard Kapitän's train is actually aboard!"

"Again, remind me, why are you here?" Ashes deadpanned from behind the boiler, "Honestly, this is the worst place you could pick to cool down."

The unicorn sighed, "Yes, yes, I know. It's just that you are the most level-headed here, and your calmness has an influence on me…" he looked calm for a moment, before scowling and stomping angrily, "That damn bitch! I swear, I could live a life without ever hearing her name again, not to mention seeing her in person, not to mention having her aboard! It's all Tin's fault, him and that-"

A chunk of coal flew over Mecha's head, making the unicorn duck to avoid it, and shattered against the wall.

"Colt. Calm down," Ashes said with surprising chill in her voice, her expression barely changing - but enough to indicate the anger underneath, "And shut up, before you say things you'll regret later"

The gray stallion took a few deep breaths, and closed his eyes.

"...I apologize," he muttered, "You are right. I… I am still angry, but I need to keep my emotions in check. It will be over soon and I will not have to worry about her..."
The unicorn grit his teeth and exhaled, "I… I'd better go. Tin-Kapitän needs me."

With that, Mecha trotted out of the engine room, still tense and with his teeth grit.

"Wow," Smolder muttered, "Does he really hate Starlight this much?"

"I heard him shout at her all the way from here. And the hatch slams, too," the black dragoness said, "I think it's quite obvious."

"Well, I hope Tin will be able to keep him from killing Starlight," Smolder frowned, reaching out for a shovel, but Ashes shoved an oil can in her paws.

"Grease up the generator's gearbox first, please," she said, "And on our next stop we'll have to add more oil to the engine cylinders lube box."

The orange dragoness nodded.

"As for your hope… I do hope for that, too. But in his own words…" Ashes cleared her throat, "Quote, 'when I get to killing her it will take some time: slow and painful', end quote"

"And what's your opinion?" Smolder asked, noting to inform the others about this development as she walked towards the whirring stirling generator and a rumbling gearbox.

Ashes shrugged.
"The situation is unpleasant, but we'll have to grit our teeth and do our jobs," she said. After a short pause, she added, "And if you were asking about Starlight, I'm too busy to care."

And after an even shorter pause she added:
"And don't forget to apply brakes to the stirling flywheel before greasing anything!"

Ocellus tried to shake off her uneasiness, sitting next to the navigation desk and watching Ten' work. The shadow stallion's eyes were half-closed as he was plotting a course for the locomotive on a sky-chart that made little sense to Ocellus.
Both the chart, and the course. Sky-navigation turned out to be a harder thing in practice than it was in theory.

"Worried?" Ten’ suddenly asked her.

"Uh…" Ocellus swallowed a lump in her throat, "Yes? A little bit?" she looked around. Tin was standing next to Gallus at the control console, the stallion's posture tense, his emotions a mix of irritation, annoyance and regret. Mecha was gazing through the side porthole with a stony expression on his face. Though it looked like if one was to put a rock candy into his mouth, he'd crush it into dust in a blink of an eye, and underneath the seemingly calm exterior was a storm of anger. The changeling sighed and added, "It's all this negativity. It affects me, and makes me feel ill..."

"I see," Ten' nodded with a frown, "Well… no can do about it," he shook his head. Belfry offered a sympathising chitter, "All we can do is wait."

"But…" Ocellus once again looked at Mecha, then whispered to Ten', "...Why? Why does Mecha hate Starlight this much?"

"Not my place to tell," Ten' replied. Ocellus’ ears drooped - more than usual. Then her ears perked back up slightly as she heard voices and hoofsteps coming up the staircase.

"...and up here is the bridge. Watch your step, the stairs are steep," Sandbar told Starlight as he ascended to the bridge. The unicorn mare followed him shortly, looking around the relatively spacious room. Mecha's ear flicked and his tail lashed from side to side.

"Good evening, miss Glimmer," Tin said in a neutral tone, "We are currently heading towards the Canterlot Nebula. Estimated time of arrival…" he glanced at Ten'.

The stallion looked over his charts once again, and ran a pencil line across it. A pause was made as he hummed, before saying, "A day and a half, if the Stars be willing, captain."

"...A day and a half," Tin nodded, "I shall inform you of our arrival."

"Very well," Starlight acknowledged. She looked around the bridge and pawed at the metal floor, then spoke again, "Um, nice locomotive you have here, captain."

Tin turned his head slightly and quirked an eyebrow. Mecha merely moved his ear.

"What I mean is, she's very well-maintained!" Starlight smiled, "She's just like new!"

"Some parts are," Tin muttered, "She was refurbished and repaired at the Crystal Empire yards… And as for maintenance, Ashes does wonders. Plus I help from time to time."

"Ashes?" Starlight tilted her head.

"Our chief engineer," Tin replied, then turned to Gallus, "Right, pilot. Engage full steam when ready. Sound the siren before throwing the lever"

"Aye, captain," the gryphon replied, his eyes running across the board, "Uh, which gauge-ah, found it"

"Anything else, Miss Glimmer?" Tin asked. Starlight shook her head, "Very well then. Please vacate the bridge now; we do not need distractions."

Starlight nodded firmly and moved downstairs. As her hoofsteps got more distant and disappeared in the noise the engine was making, the captain let out a sigh of relief.

Then Mecha suddenly turned to Tin and asked in completely flat, deadpan tone:
"Can I kill her?"

Sandbar just stared at the gray unicorn in shock. Asking questions like this, in the open? That's-

"Later," Tin grumbled. Sandbar's jaw dropped, Gallus abruptly turned his head towards Tin, and Ocellus eeped and turned into a flower pot. Ten’ merely shook his head while Belfry kept her silence.

Yup, this journey definitely became interesting.

Time marched onwards. Minutes, then hours, and the day was coming to an end.

"Yona can't smash. Yona can't stomp," Yona grumbled as she looked out of the porthole, "Yona can't even help carry stuff…" she let out a bitter sigh, "Yona bored."

Behind the stained glass, the scenery of the skies flew by. Sky-rocks and sky-islands. Some were verdant with different flora. Others were barren and covered in shiny seams, with some of those being surrounded by locomotives - so small from up here - and tiny figures of ponies and diamond dogs tearing the shiny bits out, with picks, drills and sometimes, explosions. Occasionally, a large silhouette of some sky-beast drifted by, uncaring and uninterested in the passing locomotive.

And there were stars. Lots of stars. Tiny dots, glistening in the dark, through the cold haze of the Äther. Tin said their light drives insane. Every creature said their light drives one insane. Yet, Yona wondered, in her boredom - with her home being thrown this high onto the skies, how much closer were those dots?
What were those dots, anyway?
Could she butt heads with them?
Could she stomp them?
Could she smash them?

A tiny dot of light flashed in the darkness amidst others and disappeared. Was that another star? Or just a locomotive headlight?

"Hey, Yona!" Silverstream's voice made her look back at the door, "What are you doing?"

"Yona bored," Yona grumbled, looking back through the porthole. She made a pause, "Friend Silverstream? Yona wonders..."

The hippogryph approached and peeked into the porthole, too, "What is it?"

"Yona wonders… are we getting closer to the stars?" the yak asked.

"Well, I sure hope we are!" the hippogryph cheerfully said, "I always wondered what those are like up close… Oooh, what is that?" she gestured at the approaching silhouette of a sky-beast. Yona snorted. The beast looked like a crossbreed of a whale and woodlice. Leaving Silverstream to watch the grotesque chimera fly along with Glacies, Yona turned around and walked to the recroom, squeezing through the dimly lit, claustrophobic hallways.

The recroom met her with the scent of buckwheat gruel, the aroma of tea, and the sounds of guitar strumming. The room had five occupants: Ocellus, Starlight, Sandbar, Gallus and Ashes. The draconic engineer sat separately from the group, holding a guitar in her paws and strummed the strings every now and then, producing a random chord, without anything tying them together.

"Hey, Yona!" Starlight waved to her, "The gruel's still hot-"

"Yona not hungry," Yona said, "Yona bored..."

"Oh," the unicorn mare blinked, "I see. Well, the locomotive doesn't seem to offer much in terms of entertainment, I agree…"

"We've got a deck of cards," Ashes noted, "We also had a chess-and-checkers set, but there has been… an accident with one of our former crew members," she made a pause and strummed another chord, "I'm not sure what he did, but from what Tin said afterwards, that sky-beast looked deeply offended and at the same time, greatly distressed"

"Do I want to know what happened?" Sandbar deadpanned. Ashes shrugged.

"R.Waul died a while ago," she said, "So we'll never know what really happened out there… and where the chess set went."

There was a momentary pause, then Gallus raised his paw and asked, "So, out of curiosity, how many of the crew died aboard this thing?" Ashes tilted her head slightly at the word 'thing', "I mean, what are our odds?"

The dragoness hummed and produced a few more chords, tying them together into a short tune.
"Well, in my service time… Four," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Waul and Laney were shot dead when we tried to scavenge a marauder engine for fuel. Shame about Laney, that dog had talent. Her paws were golden," another pause, "Zevran, our zebra pilot, went off the rocker and ran away when we docked at Everfree preserve. And finally, the most recent loss, Gerthrund, gryphoness pilot. Became star-seared and jumped from the hatch mid-flight, naked."

"Star-seared?" Yona asked.

"Starlight drives creatures insane,'' a voice came from behind her, making the yak jump a little and turn around… or try to. Ten' silently slipped past her into the recroom, Belfry clinging to his withers, "The light of the Stars, that is. Starlight - the mare - only drives our first officer mad," the mentioned mare's ears drooped a little for a moment, "The stained glass filters off the maddening light, but some of it still leaks through. It does not elicit madness in most creatures, but some are… more susceptible to that miniscule amount. Though to be fair, it's the sense of isolation that does most damage..."

The shadow stallion stopped by the table, and sat on one of the chairs. His horn lit up, and several dark tendrils rose from his shadow. One pulled a folding knife from a small pouch hanging from his neck. Another opened the fridge door, and another one pulled out a mango from it, much to Belfry's delight. The flying fox let out a series of squeaks, as Ten' closed the door, pulled a plate and began to cut the mango into slices.

"That's… rather unusual magic," Starlight noted, "What is it? Some sort of summon spell?"

"Nope," Ten' said, shaking his head, "By the way, have any of you seen our captain? He's not in his cabin."

Ashes sighed.
"He's in the boiler room," she said. Ten' was about to say something, but was interrupted as the dragoness added, "He came right after his shift and sent me off."

"I take it this isn't normal?" Sandbar asked, sipping some tea. Ten' gave a slice of a mango to Belfry, who hopped off his back onto the table and began munching on it in a rather adorable and enthusiastic manner.

"There is only one, single condition why captain would work his old spot," the dragoness frowned a little bit, "When he wakes up from a particularly bad dream"

"But he came to the boiler room right after his shift, you said that yourself," Sandbar said.

"Yes, and this is troubling me," Ashes replied, her fingers gripping the guitar neck a bit firmer. Her posture then tensed a little, "Wait. Gallus, if you are here, and Tin is down in the engineering… is Mecha at the wheel?"

"Yes," Ten' said nonchalantly, "Why do you ask?"

The dragoness put the guitar down and stood up.

"I better go check on him before he steers us into something," she said and quickly left the recroom. Starlight blinked.

"He can do that?" she asked Ten'.

“Not on purpose, but in his current condition...” the stallion shrugged in response. Belfry chittered something through a mouthful of a mango slice.

"Be nice, Belfry," the shadow stallion grunted. The flying fox pouted before quickly finishing the slice. Then she chittered again. Ten' nodded, "Very well. Ten minutes and I'll let you outside."

The flying fox let out a prolonged chirr and climbed back on Ten's withers.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Ocellus asked, "I mean, we are going quite fast-"

"Around sixty knots," Ten' said matter-of-factly, "Don't worry. We've done it before... a lot. And at higher speeds."

"But why?" Yona wondered.

"Skies are wide and treacherous, and you can't always see far. That's where scouts come in," Ten' turned his head, gazing at Belfry. The flying fox let out another chirr, "She's our eyes in the sky. She flies ahead and reports of any findings, be it something ghastly, something grave, something that glistens or something to crave."
The last sentence that Ten' spoke in a slightly sing-song tone, as Belfry nodded from his back.

"And you can understand it?" Starlight quipped, "I know Fluttershy was able to communicate with animals-"

"I can," Ten' answered curtly, followed by a small frown, "And kindly, don't call her an animal."

The flying fox let out a slightly higher-pitched squeak. Ten’ shrugged and stood up, did a small bow to the creatures in the recroom, and left.

Smolder watched Tin with a bit of a worry. The stallion was working in a steady, nearly mechanical rhythm, as if he was in some kind of stupor or trance. Shovel up coal, turn around, shake off coal into the ever-hungry furnace. Rinse and repeat.

He only broke that routine to turn some valves when the gauges were showing him something he didn't like. Shut off this, open that. Shovel more coal. Open this, shut off that...

"So… why are you doing this?" Smolder finally asked.

The stallion's trance broke mid-shovelful of coal, making him stop and look at the orange dragoness.
"Exhausting myself," he replied, turning around and shoveling the coal into the burning maw of the furnace.

"Why?"

"Distraction," Tin sighed as he put the shovel down, "And as a nice bonus, a dreamless sleep."

Smolder crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head.

"You can't have a nightmare if you never dream," the stallion explained as he walked along the boiler room towards the back of the room. He stopped at some inconspicuous spot next to the last coal pit and looked at the wall with a blank expression.

However, before Smolder could ask him anything, he simply stated in a blank and empty tone, "And here is where I lost my leg..."

The dragoness blinked as Tin just looked at the wall for a short while. That came out of nowhere.
"Do you, uh, want to talk about it?" Smolder blurted without thinking. She mentally facepawed. In truth, she wasn't all that interested in listening to ramblings of a cripple.

"...Maybe later," Tin replied in the same blank tone. He then sighed and walked over to the intercom and called Ashes in. Without waiting for her to arrive, he left the boiler room, wearing the same blank expression.

Starlight was sneaking through the locomotive hallways towards the officer quarters. She knew what she was going to do was wrong. She knew she was going for forbidden practices. She knew that if Twilight learned about it, she'd be gravely disappointed. But Starlight had to know. She had to know what Mecha's deal was. She wanted to know what she did to make him so angry with her.

She quietly opened the door to the first officer's cabin and slipped inside, walking quietly, her steps muffled by spell. In the dim light of a lonely night lamp she could see Mecha laying on the bed, sleeping peacefully. The air in the cabin was filled with the aroma of lavender and something citrus. The unicorn mare moved over to the bed, and held her breath. Now all she had to do is to touch her horn to his head-

-Starlight found herself standing on a steep cliff. Stiff wind blew at her side, threatening to push her off. The mare leaned down, clinging desperately to the rocky surface. Over, around, and under the cliff were dark, stormy clouds. An occasional lightning jumped between the clouds, sending rumbling waves of thunder. But within that storm was something else. A huge mass of something was moving in them, twisting, shuffling, getting closer, making nerve-wracking noises. Closer, yet closer, yet closer. Closer.

Then a lightning struck the cliff she was clinging to, making it collapse. Starlight shrieked… or, rather, wanted to. No sound came from her throat. She hung on the remains of the cliffside, desperately scraping her hind legs trying to get back up from her precarious position.

Then, her hoof slipped.

She fell, screaming without making a sound. She tumbled down, towards the stormy clouds beneath. She caught a glimpse of the thing in the storm. A mass of eyes, all focussed on her with a burning, hateful gaze. Lightning flashed, thunder roared. The lightning had eyes, too. Words burned into Starlight's retina and into her mind as she plunged into the darkness, still screaming without making a sound, words writing-

G E T. O U T.

-and Starlight came to her senses back in the hallway, staring at the wall. She wasn't falling, she wasn't screaming. She wasn't-
-she wasn't staring at the wall. She was staring at Mecha. The unicorn stood in the doorway of his cabin, looking at her with a cold, unsympathetic gaze.

"I will suffer no trespass," he said in an even tone. Starlight swallowed nervously. The unicorn then leaned towards her, gaze turning into a glare, "And if you try doing what you just did to me to the Kapitän, I will bury you alive. Good night."

He bowed politely, turned around and closed the door in a surprisingly calm manner.

Starlight was not sure if she would sleep tonight, though.

She did. Her sleep was restless and, thankfully, dreamless.

That actually helped her to hide her anxiety when she encountered Tin.

"Rough night, miss Glimmer?" he asked. She nodded, somewhat reluctantly. The stallion then nodded too, "Aye, I understand. Well, get yourself in shape. We'll be arriving to the Canterlot nebula in about a day"

That talk happened almost a day ago. A day filled with anxiety and more tension. But it seemed that Mecha didn't tell Tin of Starlight's nocturnal encounter.

And now she stood on the bridge of Glacies, watching their approach. A great purple mist laid before the locomotive, thick and eerie. One could see the faint outlines of the few spires floating in the Äther, weathered by time and storms, losing brick after brick, like an old mare losing her teeth.

"Well, this is it," Tin said as the locomotive came to a stop with a hiss of brake jets, "The Canterlot Nebula."

Starlight swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. Up close, the nebula gave off very sinister vibes. And they were going in there.

"Many have tried to brave it," the stallion continued as his tail flicked, "Few returned, even fewer - sane..." he turned to Starlight, "Do we really have to go there?"

"Yes," Starlight replied, "We need a clearer picture on what happened and why..."

"And we absolutely can't figure stuff out without going there?" Tin asked in a doomed tone.

"No, we can't."

"...Perfect," Tin sighed bitterly, "Ten', echoes to max. All headlights to max," the shadowy stallion flipped switches on his desk as Tin was giving orders, and pulled all of his papers off the surface, freeing space for some crystal framed in metal and clunky-looking headphones, "Gallus, slow ahead," the gryphon pushed the throttle forward as the captain leaned to the intercom and broadcasted to the whole locomotive, "Attention, crew. Close the shutters on all portholes. Stay on guard. The locomotive is entering the hazardous zone."

"Echoes?" Ocellus asked Ten' in the meantime.

"Echolocator, like that of bats and thestrals," the shadowy stallion explained while he put the somewhat clunky-looking headphones on his head, "It is mostly used for forward-oriented scouting and probing, however. As in 'what is directly ahead of us'..." he made a pause as he flicked a few switches on the console, "...Of course there are several other sensitive sound receptors placed around the hull. Those are the recent additions. They can send the sounds they pick up to these," he tapped his headphones, "Or on the sound system of the bridge. Supposedly to help the pilot to orient better using their auditory senses…"

"Horseapples," Tin grunted, "I've been flying Glacies using my own perception and ears. That extra auditory system is pointless. Besides, I don't think anyone wants to be deafened by the sound of a cannon firing..."

"Well, only time will tell if this system will get any traction," Ten' shrugged, though there were notes of sarcasm in his tone. The purple mist got closer and closer. Soon, the front of the locomotive hull plunged into it, and a mere moment later it was like the nebula swallowed them.

"Sqwrrr!" Belfry squeaked.

"Belfry!" Ten' glared at the flying fox, "Don't be saying such rubbish!"

"What did she say?" Ocellus asked.

"You're all going to die," Ten' said.

"Wow, thank you for being so reassuring, bat," Gallus deadpanned. Belfry chittered angrily.

"He's got a point," Ten' said neutrally, earning a glare from the flying foxxo.

“What are we even looking for here?” Tin asked Starlight.

“The Canterlot Palace,” the mare replied, “That’s where Twilight was working on the Dawn Machine.”

“Joy,” Tin grunted, “Well, it’s not like we’ve got a choice…”

The locomotive slowly slogged through the fog. It clung to Glacies' hull like cotton candy. The beams of the locomotive's headlights provided barely enough light to see ahead.

Time passed. The train pushed forward. The engine huffed. Nocreature said a word. Ocellus observed Ten' watching the nav-crystal - a twelve-sided gem, which projected a faint aura on the desk, showing rough outlines of their surroundings. Every now and then, the shadow stallion formed some tentacles from his shadow to press the headphones tighter to his ears.

At some point, Mecha came to the bridge, too. He spoke nothing to no one, just watched the mist outside. The only other thing he did was mournfully remove his peaked cap and lower his head as their locomotive passed a mangled wreck of a less fortunate one - ironically, the nameplate was ‘Prospector’s Fortune’. Gallus swallowed nervously at the sight. Tin merely shook his head and muttered something like "Poor souls…"

More time passed. Ocellus felt incredibly and hopelessly lost. No matter where she looked there was thick purple mist. And in addition to that, the glow of the nav-crystal dimmed.

"Captain. Please excuse my use of scientific terms, but..." Ten' looked at the nav-crystal's dimmed light, "...I am getting a jumble of nothing here. Echoes reports objects that are not there, and at the same time misses those that are..."

Tin looked at the shadowy stallion with an unamused expression.

"Then send out Belfry! We can't afford to fly blind in these conditions!"

"I'm sorry, Tin. I can not do that," Ten' said calmly. Tin's deadpan expression turned into a glare, "It's the fog, captain," Ten' said as he walked to the bridge window, and looked at the swirling purple mist, "I don't like it."

"Who does?" Gallus rolled his eyes.

"It's not that," Ten' said. His voice... Despite it being calm, Gallus sensed a note of fear in it, "There is something in it. Something's out there, kiddo. Watching us..."

That did not sound reassuring at all.

"Hey, captain, is it me or are we slowing down?" Gallus suddenly asked. Tin, Mecha and Ten' exchanged confused glances.

"Must be the fog," Mecha said. Ten' merely shrugged, while Tin frowned.

"Something's not right here," he turned towards Ten', "Navigation shows anything?"

The shadow stallion rolled his eyes.
"Nothing changed since I began getting this interference," he said as he looked at the desk, "Still something-" he blinked. Ocellus blinked too. There were faint outlines of something moving towards them, "-Okay, this is just not right. Captain, something's coming towards us, and it's like-" he made a pause to look at the desk, "-it's half-here, half not!"

"What nonsense is that?" Tin turned towards the navigator and approached his desk, "What is it, even-"

His speech was interrupted by a shriek of a train whistle.

"Incoming!" Gallus yelled, throwing the locomotive to the starboard. Yet, despite the blast of steam from maneuvering side-jets, the locomotive moved painstakingly slowly, as if it was plowing through viscous, sugary syrup.

All the while the light of another locomotive shone straight into the bridge as it moved closer and closer. They were going straight at each other, no space to turn, maneuver or stop. Gallus grabbed the whistle cord and desperately tugged it-

The whistle made a low, deep bass sound. Steam erupted from it in slow-motion.

Then the world outside Glacies suddenly came to a stop.

"What in the name-" Mecha said.

And then the scenery outside the windows and portholes suddenly changed. The nebula, the locomotive, the detritus and debris faded away, turning into bright strings, falling apart and to bits, as if some mischievous foal found and pulled a stray string that caused a masterfully-weaved tapestry to unravel, leaving behind nothing but glossy darkness - before exploding into a white flash with a subtlety of a sledge to the face.

"-of the Seven Alphabets?.." the unicorn finished, blinking.

"What-" Tin blurted out, "-Oh for Faust's-"

"You guys are seeing this, right?" Gallus asked, dumbfounded.

They were no longer in the fog. Instead, they were surrounded by clear skies of a beautiful azure hue, with stars glittering - yet they were not in the places where they should have been. And, actually, the skies were mostly clear, since there were clouds scattered here and there.

"What happened?" Starlight looked around in shock, "Where are we?!"

"No idea-" Ten's eyes went wide, "-Captain, I'm getting something big-"

Something whirred past the locomotive, leaving a dark trail.

"Scheiße!" Tin shouted, dashing to the control station, and shouted into the intercom, "Gefechtstationen! Ashes, give me more steam!" he turned to Gallus, "Evasive maneuvers - and turn 'er around!"

"What stations?" came a reply from Smolder in the boiler room.

"What the hel' is this noise…" Ten' muttered to himself, pressing the earphone with his hoof.

"What noise?" Tin asked, as the blue gryphon abruptly turned the locomotive around. The ribs of Glacies groaned from abrupt force application. Down in the boiler room, Smolder lost her footing and was thrown into a coal pit with a loud 'Oof!'.

"Like something burning but louder," Ten' said, "Outputting-"

Another something whirred past the locomotive, this time coming from a different side and angle - roughly from the direction the first something went.

"Shells!" Mecha suddenly barked, "Shells-"

And then the sounds filled the bridge. The most prominent and dominant one was rumbling. It, indeed, sounded like something burning, but it sounded… off. Then there also were sounds of groaning steel, and some deep mechanical howling.

"Sounds like whatever it is it's straight ahead," Tin muttered, "Right behind that cloud-"

"-It's going to show up soon," Ten' said in an ominous tone.

Everycreature on the bridge tensed up, watching the cloud. Sandbar and Gallus jumped a little when a loud boom resonated through the speakers on the bridge. Something stirred inside the cloud, and eight shells flew from it - not aiming at Glacies this time. It seems that they simply were in the wrong place the first time. Seconds passed, each stretched into an uncomfortable eternity.

A shape outlined itself in the cloud. Dark shadow moved forward, plowing through dense vapor. Then, it bursted out, carrying with it some of the cloud mass.

"Set me on fire, throw into the sky and call me a Judgement," Mecha blurted out, "It's… enormous!"

It was a ship. Well, it looked like a ship. Vaguely. And it was huge. If Glacies was the size of a house, this ship was like a grand mansion. Or a small palace. Hull made of steel. In the middle of the deck stood two armored metal towers. One had several holes torn in it, from shell impacts, it seemed. A few more holes were in the ship's broadside near the aft. On the deck, two on the fore and two on the aft, were boxy turrets, large, heavily armored, slowly turning towards an unseen target, each carrying two guns. And the guns in those turrets…

"I think Großerkanones are smaller than those," Tin said with worry in his voice, "Gallus, all ahead full, get close to the ship!"

"Are you crazy?" Gallus turned towards Tin, but got silenced by the slam of the stallion's hoof on the deck floor.

"Get close to the ship, now!" Tin barked, "Closer and under the ship, they have no guns underneath-NOW, PILOT!"

Glacies abruptly dove down as Gallus pulled the levers. The engine chuffed rapidly, spewing steam as smoke rushed from the stack. The huge guns boomed again, sending more shells towards an unseen foe, who responded in kind a moment later. Shells hit the hull of the ship, some bounced off, at the angle, some hit the superstructure, one slammed into a turret and exploded, making one of the barrels bend awkwardly to the side.

"Uh… Smaller turrets are turning towards us!" Starlight noted, looking at the colossal vessel as their train rapidly approached it.

"Don't fly in a straight line!" Tin barked at Gallus, "Fly like a drunken tavern wench after a long night!"

"What." Gallus deadpanned, turning towards Tin.

"What you heard!" the captain replied, "Come on!"

Gallus listened and tried his best. Sharp to port, to starboard! Up and speed up!

"The Hel's going on up there?!" Smolder asked through the intercom, "I almost fell into the furnace!"

"Sorry, Smolds,'' Gallus grunted, "There's a big ship here and-" a series of muzzle flashes and bangs interrupted him as he desperately threw Glacies to the side. The shells howled as they rushed past the locomotive, with one glancing at the hull with a loud 'thud!' and flew off, another exploded on the plating in fiery shrapnel, leaving a dent and sending a shudder through the whole hull.

“Just a scratch!” Tin shouted reassuringly. Gallus, however, wasn’t as sure. He felt the locomotive shudder on the impact, like a hurt living thing. He felt it through the floor, through the levers he held, through the atmosphere on the bridge. His body became rigid as his claws gripped the controls tighter-

-That was insane. This was insane. Gallus fled, ran, his heart was beating so fast. Around him was Hel’. Shells rained down, detonating on impacts with the ground, sending clots of soil and metal shrapnel flying in all directions. He heard whistling and howling of the projectiles, screams of Kronprinz troops panicking as the bombardment continued. He heard Grandpa Gruff yell something, but it didn't matter. He just ran. He cared not where, he just had to run, to get away from this, to-

“-him up!”

When did he get on the floor? Why is Tin at the controls, and why is Ocellus hugging him? What is she saying?

“Unbelievable!” the gryphon suddenly heard Mecha gasp, “They are using fire to propel their ship! Fire!”

“Peculiar engines,” Ten’ said monotonously, listening to his headphones. His expression got slightly darker, “Captain, the anomaly’s back. It’s-”

“We’re in a weft of unravelling time,” Tin hissed through clenched teeth, “One hell of a start-”

The world outside Glacies once again ground to a standstill, before falling apart into strings of color.

“Weft of unravelling time?” Sandbar asked. Gallus stood up, Ocellus still holding him.

“A rare anomaly,” Ten’ said, “But usually it’s just one or two crewmates who experience… unraveling…”

“And most of the time it’s fatal,” Tin finished, before the world once again exploded in a white flash.

This time, there was ground below the locomotive. Well, somewhere far below the locomotive. It was very difficult to see because the train was surrounded by a rather vicious snowstorm.
And mere moments later, the sensors picked up a sound coming from outside. That sound, resembling a very distorted, nightmarish neighing, made pretty much every creature on the bridge shudder. Except Mecha, for some reason. He remained stoic, though he bit his upper lip.

“Oh come on!” Tin barked, “Why can’t we be somewhere nice?..”

“Is… This isn’t what I think it is?..” Ocellus swallowed nervously.

“The Windigo,” Mecha stated, “They are coming!”

"But how?" Starlight asked.

"We have strayed into a place where the weave of time has frayed!" Tin said, steering the engine somewhere through the blizzard. A layer of rime ice began to form on the hull. The sky groaned around them, "Where the borders that separate past and future crumble, and we've been sucked in!"

“Can’t you fly us out?” the mare asked. Tin sneered in response.

“What do you think I am trying to do here?!” he looked around, steering the engine frantically, “We need to find an edge of the weft-”

The horrifying neighing interrupted the stallion's speech as he clenched his teeth and focussed entirely on flying. This time, the sound was louder, clearer, and even more blood-curling. Then it repeated, sounding even louder. Sandbar swallowed nervously, ears flat against his head as he recalled the day Equestria almost fell. But that time, the spirits of cold and hatred were far. There was at least a mile between them and him, if not more. This time, all that was between them and him was a hoof of metal plating at best and a pane of reinforced stained glass at worst.

The hull groaned as the wind got stronger. A layer of ice began to form on the inward corners of it. The neighing got even louder-

"It's all your fault!" Sandbar shouted, pointing at Mecha. He felt as if his body was acting on its own, and his mouth was speaking without his consent, "It's all your fault! It's your hatred for Starlight that's luring them in here! Your hatred has doomed us all! You-"

THUD.

Words died in the young stallion's throat, as well as all the sudden fire within he got out of the blue. With ears pulled back, he slowly turned around, to look in the direction Tin, Mecha, Ocellus and Gallus were looking. He knew what he would see there. Yet he wasn't prepared for what he saw.

Pressed to the glass was one of the windigos. It looked him straight in the eyes with its glassy white ones. Its emancipated body was covered in a layer of hoarfrost. Its mouth was full of sharp, predatory teeth.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

More of them landed on the locomotive around the bridge, eyeing the crew inside through stained glass with wolfish gazes. The cold began to seep into the bridge, icy whisps flowing from the windows and portholes. Tin clenched his teeth and tugged the whistle cord, sending out a loud blare through the blizzard. The windigos jumped off, startled, but returned less than a minute later, this time trying to break in.

"Why aren't we moving yet?!" Sandbar shouted, heart pounding with each strike of the windigos' hooves on the window.

“Something’s not right,” Tin said, glancing at the control panel, “What the-there’s a pressure backlog!”

“Pressure backlog?” Starlight asked, shivering.

"No questions when we're about to die!" the captain shouted in response, "Ashes! Vent steam, all points, now!"

"On it!" the dragoness dropped the shovel, scattering coal over the floor and rushed to one of the control stations. Smolder grabbed the railings. Just in case. Ashes grabbed the largest lever, labeled 'emergency vent', clenched her paws on the lock, making it click loudly, and pulled the lever hard. Some kind of mechanism rumbled deep inside the giant machine.

Then, jets of steam erupted from numerous vents located throughout the hull, surrounding the train with a cloud of hot water vapour. The windigos screeched in pain and anger, scalded by the cloud, and once again bolted off the hull. Still, the cloud was quickly turning into rime ice and blown away by rising wind, the locomotive continued to move slowly.

"Pressure's down to fifty percent," Ashes said into the intercom, "Coming back up"

"It's not getting to the engine, Ashes!" Tin replied from the bridge, examining a series of gauges, "Wait, it's not getting out! We're getting fresh pressure," Tin looked from one gauge to the next one, and another one, "It's getting into the main, to the compressor system, but it's… it's stuck in the engine, and not coming out!"

"I'm going outside to check the nozzles," Ashes said.

"No you're not, that's an order!" Tin barked back, "I am not losing you in the weft!"

"Well you're not going either!" Ashes retorted.

"Of course I'm not, those ice whorses would freeze me solid!" Tin growled through grit teeth as he gave up on steering. The locomotive groaned and bucked under the gusts of wind, as engines stopped working altogether.
"Do you know any combat spells?" the stallion asked Starlight. Mecha's horn lit up and a ghostly blade of ice formed from the air.

"A few," she said, looking at the bridge window warily, how the windigo were trying to break through the ice and stained glass. Everything seemed so distorted, looking through the layer of ice. But the number of vile spirits clinging to the locomotive grew, and their numbers were… alarming.

"Stupid weft!" Tin cursed, "Did that damn thing fixed-"

Through the layer of ice, a bright dot of light flickered. Then it grew brighter. Larger.

"-what in the?.." the stallion finished. Starlight blinked, while Mecha just stared at it.

The windigo outside seemingly noticed the growing light, turning to look at it in… confusion? Some of them hopped off the locomotive's hull and flew away. The light was getting brighter and brighter, and was getting closer…

"The fires of friendship!" Ocellus suddenly gasped, "It's the fires of friendship!"

"Fires of friendship my plot!" Tin barked, bracing for whatever would come. The windigo seemingly realized that something was wrong, and abandoned the locomotive entirely, flying away with terrified shrieks. The light washed over the locomotive as the reality around it groaned in pain.

Seconds passed, but the light didn't seem to subside or weaken.

"What?" Tin asked, "What is it now? Is this weft broken?"

"No, the weft is still here, but this light…" Ten' said, as everyone tried to make out anything in the light.

Then, the light began to shrink, shift, change color and form and shape...

"Oh. Oh dear…" Ten' muttered as he slowly descended on the floor and then hid under the navigation desk.

"Merciful Umbra…" Tin rasped out.

Starlight stared at the colossal orb of fire behind the stained glass. It was huge, fiery, raging, unimaginably ancient, merciless, spiteful, unfathomably powerful. Their engine hung in front of it, like a speck of dust, tiny and insignificant and uninvited-

Their engine was right in front of it!

"THE JUDGEMENT!" Mecha screamed - no, shrieked in terror, as he ducked under the windshield, "IT'S THE STAR! THE STAR!"

"Take cover! Don't let them see you!" Tin yelled, ducking under the control station and slammed the throttle just as far as it would go, tugging the control lever to make the locomotive turn to starboard. But the locomotive barely moved, let alone turned. Tin's mane quickly became wet with sweat as he bit his lower lip.

"Come on, come on," he muttered as he tried to push the throttle even further. The engine whined and wheezed, coughing up steam, but not to any noticeable effect.

Starlight stared at the star, at its burning light. She suddenly felt so weak, so vulnerable, so… bare. Yes, ponies did not wear clothes, but she somehow felt naked, standing in front of this entity, as if her flesh and meat were vaporised and her core, her very soul was laid bare...

Then she felt as if the floor was slipping away from her hooves as she was plucked away from the bridge and pulled into brightly burning darkness...

"Where are we?!" Starlight asked.

"No bucking clue," Tin replied as he continued to desperately tug and push the throttle, covering under the control station, "Past? Future? No ide-"

"But there's nothing here!" the unicorn mare shouted, gesturing around.

"No shit, because there is a Star here!" Tin turned to look at Starlight, and went silent.
Her pupils were shimmering in gold.
"Oh, thestral-feathers," he muttered, "Mecha! She-"

"I don't believe you!" Starlight angrily stomped her hoof and took a step towards the windshield.

"She's…" Mecha tilted his head as he stepped aside, "She's… in a trance, of sorts, I think. The Star wants something from her, but-"

"Change my mind? You don't know anything about me! I was perfectly happy before you and your friends ruined what I built!" Starlight continued to advance angrily towards the windshield, pointing her hoof at the Star in an accusing manner.

"What is she talking about?" Gallus asked, looking between other crewmembers on the bridge.

"I think… it has something to do with her village," Sandbar said, "But I thought it was left behind and forgiven-"

"But not forgotten," Mecha said dryly.

Ocellus, in the meantime, was trying to shake Starlight out of this trance, while Ten’ was trying to pull the changeling under the desk.

“That map of yours is connected to every part of Equestria, and this part is my home,” Starlight continued her rambling.

“She must be talking about the cutie map,” Sandbar muttered. Tin even paused his efforts in making the locomotive to move again and watched the unicorn ramble on about something.

"Sunburst and I did everything together. In fact, I don't remember us ever being apart…" her face darkened as she made a pause, "Until today."

Tin and Mecha exchanged… strange, unreadable looks. But it seemed they both understood each other. Ten' frowned.

"But they were literally inseparable," Sandbar said, "Every time Sunburst had a chance he visited Ponyville… Even after the Disaster, he still visited her almost as soon as the Äther-trains began to make their rounds-"

"So she is talking about that little dictatorship town of hers," Tin snarled.

"Sounds like it," Mecha replied. Then his ear moved a little, "Hey, you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Tin said, "...Wait, whistling?.."

Indeed, there was a faint sound of whistling coming from the rear end of the bridge.

"And just like that, my friend was gone. His family recognized his magical talent and sent him off to Canterlot. I never saw him again!" Starlight continued to rant about her past to the Star, standing right next to the nav-desk. The whistling was getting more intense, and a few cracking sounds rumbled through the bridge.

"The windigo must have frozen the drive nozzles," Gallus guessed, "And this star… is thawing the ice?"

The unicorn, in the meantime, was getting angrier, "Because of his cutie mark! He got his, and I didn't! He moved on, and I didn't! I stayed here and never made another friend because I was too afraid another cutie mark would take them away, too!"

"Wonder where her parents were looking," Tin muttered.

"Not everypony's lucky enough to get their cutie mark at the same time as their friends!" Starlight sneered angrily. Then her horn lit up. With a surprised squeak, Belfry levitated in the air, surrounded by Starlight's magic, "You don't know what it's like! To lose a friend because of a cutie mark!" her expression became more grim, "But once I stop the rainboom, you will!"

"What?" everyone on the bridge blurted out.

Belfry squeaked louder as Starlight pulled at her wing. Ten's ears perked, eyes squinted. Glacies shuddered and pushed forward, just a little bit, but that made Tin grab the control levers once again.

"Stop the rainboom?" Mecha asked, "What-"

"And when I destroy this scroll, there'll be no way for you to change it!" she said angrily and tugged at the flying fox's wing. Belfry let out a distressed shriek and squeaked and chittered in panic. Tin sneered. Ten's lips curled in a scowl, revealing his fangs, his ears pulled straight back, like arrows. His horn lit up in a dark green aura.

"What scroll?" Mecha looked at Tin. The stallion squinted.

"Starlight, stop!" Ocellus cried out, "You're hurting Belfry!"

The unicorn mare stopped. Her expression became confused as she looked at Belfry, who continued to chitter angrily. Then suddenly the blockade on the engine was gone, and the locomotive jolted forward and to the starboard, much to everyone's surprise, throwing the mare off balance for a moment. A dark tendril shot up from her shadow, coiled around her neck and tugged, slamming her jaw on the nav-desk. The mare collapsed on the floor, dazed.

"Why did you do that?!" Ocellus shouted at Ten'.

"No-one hurts Belfry," the shadow stallion replied coldly. Tin threw the caution to the wind and stood up, quickly examining the surroundings. Noticing some large piece of architecture - a palace? Temple? Ruins? - floating around, he sharply turned the locomotive to fly there, into the salutiferous shadow, away from the piercing light. Just as their train hid from the gaze of the Star, the world groaned again, before unraveling once more.

This time they were surrounded with a familiar purple mist. Their engine moved forward through it.

"Are we back?.." Sandbar asked, peeking into the window. He jumped a little when Tin suddenly tugged the whistle cord, a shrill of their whistle pierced Äther. A moment later, another whistle came in response - dead ahead. Tin threw Glacies to the side, the light of another locomotive's headlights flooded the bridge as it headed straight at Glacies-

And then the sky groaned, and with a thundering 'THUMP' the incoming locomotive vanished in a fold of the Äther. Glacies rushed past the collision point and flew onward for a whole more minute until Tin finally pulled the throttle back, stopping the engine.

"I think we're out of the weft, captain," Ten' said as he got from under the nav-desk, "Echo readings back to normal… Or whatever passes for 'normal' here. Though we might need to check the date," he then glared at Starlight, who let out a pained groan and tried to get up. Ten' huffed angrily, and reached his hoof out to Belfry. The flying fox eagerly climbed onto the shadowy steed as he returned to his station, "Interesting… It seems that we made a 180 turn while we were in the weft…"

"Twilight?.."
Gallus and Sandbar rushed to help Starlight to get up. The mare looked around in confusion.
"What-Where am I?"

"Aboard Glacies Perfuro, an Osprey-class Äther-train," Tin deadpanned.

"What train?" Starlight blinked, "How did I-"

"The Star might've scrambled your brain a bit," Tin said, turning back to the control station. Pushing a lever he turned the locomotive around and throttled ahead.

"What star?" Starlight asked again, "I was just about to tear up the Star Swirl's scroll to… to.. to…" she blinked slowly. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead, "I… It was… a… hallucination?.. A vision?.." she shuddered, "...no. A memory..."

"To what?" Mecha asked coldly. Ocellus could taste his suspicion, and Starlight's growing anxiety, "Tear up scroll to what?"

Starlight expression became terrified.
"I… I'm so ashamed of that…'' she muttered, "I… I did my best to bury that memory as deep as possible-"

"What is it?" the first officer advanced to the mare menacingly, eyes squinted. Both Sandbar and Gallus stood between Working Mechanism and Starlight.

"Look, it's none of your business if she does not want to talk about it-" Gallus said, but was pushed a bit to the side by Starlight.

"N-no, I think… This needs to be said," the mare said, swallowing a small lump in her throat, "I… I have to get it off my chest, it's been a secret for too long, and this experience didn't make it any easier-"

Mecha grunted.

"Speak up," Tin said in a grim tone. Ten' said nothing, while Belfry let out a hiss.

Starlight lowered her head.

“I wasn’t… exactly a good mare in the past,” she said, “You probably all know about Our Town-”

“We do. Go on,” Tin snapped.

“...After Twilight and her friends… banished me from Our Town, I had to lead a rather… hidden and low life. But I was bitter about it," she pawed at the metal floor of the bridge, "And angry. I wanted revenge. So I was spying on them here and there, until I learned two things"

She made a pause while Mecha continued to drill into her with his gaze.

"One, there was a scroll in the forbidden section of Canterlot library, written by Starswirl, and containing a spell that allowed time travel… and second, Twilight and her friends got their cutie marks on the same day in the event known as 'the Rainboom'. A quick cross-reference check… and I had a plan. I snuck into the forbidden section of the Canterlot library-"

"Wait, you did so?" Tin asked, tilting his head, "...Were there any guards? Wards?"

"There were guards," Starlight confirmed, "But they didn't see me-"

"Vo loshaki…" Tin muttered, "If we by any chance encounter that section, I'm blowing it to ashes. A favor to everyone surviving, if security was this lax..."

"So I stole the scroll with the spell and used it to go back in time and prevent the Rainboom from ever happening, and…" Starlight once again pawed at the floor anxiously, "...and Twilight, she. She showed me the error of my ways. She showed what my actions would lead to, and… I gave up. I surrendered to her… and she took me as her student-"

"Hold that thought," Mecha said, raising his hoof, "So you're telling me that you-" an ice paw appeared in the air next to the unicorn, and began fold fingers as he continued, "-enslaved a small village, evaded arrest, trespassed, stole a dangerous magical object, used it to alter the events in the past…" he looked at the paw now balled into a fist, then back at Starlight, "Those are criminal offenses!"

"I know!" Starlight replied, looking at the ice fist nervously, "But Twilight and her friends forgave me… and my townsfolk did too-"

"They forgave you for screwing with their past?" Mecha asked eerily as his ice fist made cracking sounds, "Just like that?!"

"N-no!" Starlight backed away a bit more, "F-for messing with them in my town! Twilight never told anyone about the time travel-"

Tin's eyes widened. Mecha's eyes did, too, and his shock was like a hit of a whip to Ocellus.

"What." the unicorn deadpanned, "What?!"

His ice fist cracked some more as both Gallus and Sandbar once again stood between him and Starlight. Then the ice shattered into pieces as rage began to boil inside the gray unicorn.

"Are you telling me that you enslaved ponies, stole their cutie marks, evaded arrest, stalked, trespassed, stole, messed with time…" he spoke through clenched teeth, glaring at the unicorn, "And… and… AND. NOTHING?!" Working Mechanism suddenly shrieked, "No jail time, no community service, no petrification, no being exiled to the Moon, not even a fine?!"

Starlight looked away, tears welling in her eyes.

"You did all those crimes…" Mecha said in a shocked disbelief that somewhat overwhelmed his rage, "And your punishment was to… learn. Friendship?"

"Mecha…" Tin said in a stern, but worried tone.

"They… They just... They spared you," the unicorn stated in an emotionless tone.

And then the bridge was dead silent. It was so quiet, one could hear bacteria split.
At least, had the engine chuffing not been there.

Ocellus slowly laid on the floor, ears flat against her head, feeling sick in the stomach from all the negative emotions radiating and flooding the bridge. Starlight whimpered something. Sandbar and Gallus were no longer sure of how… morally right the situation was. The bridge was still filled with shock, anger, and, in Mecha's case, barely contained rage.

"They spared you," Mecha muttered over and over and over again, staring at - no, through Starlight, through everything, "They spared you. They spared you. They spared you. They spared you..."

"Gallus, take the helm," Tin said, slowly, surprisingly calmly as he approached the shell-shocked gray unicorn, and hoisted him on his back. However, under this calm facade laid a murderous undertone. Starlight tried to say something but Tin glared at her with such intensity she backed away, then snapped at her, instantly losing his calm posture, anger bursting through the dam, "Shut up, whorse! This entire episode just made my point even more solid..."
With that, he carried still shocked Mecha off the bridge, the unicorn still muttering the same thing over and over again. Gallus somewhat reluctantly took the helm, looking between Ten' and Starlight.

"But-" Starlight reached her hoof out after Tin, but was stopped by a dark tendril that wrapped around her hoof and forced it down on the deck with a loud slam.

"Quiet," Ten' said in a surprisingly cold tone, "You've done enough damage as. It. Is."

The fact that he actually gave Starlight a cold glare didn't help either. Even Belfry got from his mane, stood on the navigation desk and chittered angrily at the mare, going as far as to stand on her hind legs and comically attempt to ball her wings into fists, bouncing like a boxer.

"Be nice, Belfry," Ten' said in the same cold tone. Then he added, "Or don't… seeing how she tried to rip your wing off..." the stallion then looked at the flying fox and summoned one of his shadowy tendrils, pulled out a toothbrush from his pouch and used it to brush Belfry. That calmed her down a little.

Starlight whimpered something incomprehensive.

Before, the atmosphere in the locomotive was tense. Now, it felt like Glacies was on the brink of a disaster. The already slow pace at which the engine crawled through the nebula was reduced even further after the 'adventure' in the weft of unraveling time. Nocreature wanted another go - except Silverstream, who somehow managed to sleep through the whole ordeal. And the news of Starlight's 'heroics' did not help at all. The mare herself retreated to the crew cabins and shut the door.

Several hours after the incident on the bridge, when Gallus, Silverstream, Sandbar and Smolder sat in the recroom, Tin barged in, limping on three hooves, holding a bottle of whiskey in the fourth. His jacket was messed and crumpled, his goggles missing, his snout bruised, his eyes bloodshot. His breath reeked of alcohol. The stallion limped to the table, placed the bottle on it in a one heavy motion, then pulled a glass from the cupboard, slammed it next to the bottle, grabbed it and poured some more whiskey to himself. Then he sat there, staring at it.

Silverstream was the first one to break the silence.
"Are you alright?" she asked meekly.

The stallion gave her a look that could curdle milk.
"I had to drug my first officer because he was getting violent," he slurred, drooling a little bit, sending his booze breath across the table, "A tablespoon of laudanum! A tablespoon of the stuff! How'd you think I am, huh? Huh?!"

"A tablespoon?!" Sandbar exclaimed as Silverstream reeled away from the drunk stallion, "Dude, that stuff’s dosage is measured in drops-"

"Shut it!" Tin barked, making a pause to down a glass, spilling half of the contents in the process, "You!"
His hoof shot up, pointing at Gallus, "Hay's your problem?"

"What problem?" the gryphon covered his beak to block the booze reek coming from the stallion.

"You froze up there!" Tin replied, pouring another glass, "After the shells hit us. You could have got us all killed!"

“Well I-” the gryphon said, “-I… I… It’s just that-” Tin’s look turned into a threatening glare, “Look, I just remembered the war, and-”

“What war?” Tin sneered, “The Gryphon Civil? Where did you serve?”

"I didn't!" Gallus replied, "I was-"

A hoof slammed heavily on the table, making both the bottle and the glass jump a little, spilling some whiskey. Silverstream backed away further from the table and shrunk. Even Smolder seemed to be a bit unnerved.
"Then don't talk to me about war!" Tin yelled angrily at the gryphon. The stallion stood up from his place, one hoof on the table, as he continued, "Who were you? No one and nothing! Hiding somewhere, probably! I was a sapper, a mechanic, an architect, an inventor – all while shells fell and bullets flew!" his face turned into a scowl as he seemed to be running out of breath to yell, "What did this war take from you?! It took my innocence, my comrades, my friends, my real friends who spilled sweat and blood with me, and on the day of Kaiser's triumph over the Kronprinz, it took my mentor's life and my leg, on this very vessel!"

The stallion made a pause to down a glass of whiskey; his hoof was shaking badly, and not from inebriation.

"The Skies are wide and vast, and full of horrors," he continued afterward, no longer yelling, but still speaking in a louder volume, "Horrors that just can't wait to murder us in ways innumerate. Bandits. Marauders. Sky-beasts. Eldritch horrors. They all want us dead!" Tin sat back down, "So kindly pull yourself together. Are you a gryphon or a gib?"

"Dude!" Sandbar frowned, leaning towards the sky-captain, "Rude!-"

"And do you think I wanted any of this?" Gallus suddenly sneered, "I wanted to enroll in Canterlot Royal Guard academy-"

"Oh," Tin's expression darkened, "Well, too bad that's gone," sarcasm was pouring from his mouth at this point, dripping on the floor along with saliva, "You would have fit right in with those… useless… losers!"

Catching a shocked look from all four creatures, the stallion shouted again, "Oh come on, don't tell me they were not! Name one, just one instance when they were not instantly defeated by a major crisis!"

Four friends remained in silence while Tin stood up and paced back and forth, "Okay, I understand, Nightmare Moon came out of nowhere. Okay, I understand Discord, I mean, what a pony with a spear can do to a god?.. But after Chrysalis maybe somepony should have thought something like 'Si vis pacem para bellum' and do something. Something to prepare them for future encounters. But no!” Tin once again slammed his hoof on the table, leaving an indent on it, “They failed and they failed and they FAILED! Over and over and over again, our country had to be saved by the same. Six. Civilian. Mares!”

The stallion’s breath became ragged as he was shaking with anger.

“This is what disgusts me the most. Equestria’s safety was hanging on six civilian mares. The image of a perfect country crumbled to debris when the Storm King came. Remember the Storm King? Remember how Tempest beheaded Equestria’s government in one swift motion? Remember how the royal guard was trampled into the mud, yet again?” another half-spilled glass of whiskey found its way into Tin’s mouth, “If the fair and glorious and oh-so-caring princess Celestia had bothered to make a functioning army, this. Would. Not. Have. Happened. But no. Instead, we’ve shown the whole world, the whole world how easy it is to take us”

The stallion fumbled to pour yet another glass, but ended up dropping the bottle on its side on the table.

“I don’t know how we managed to exist this long. I don’t know, honestly. Was it because everyone feared that the princess would take the sun away? Or turn them to stone? Or send them to the moon? But now we don’t have princesses, no,” Tin shook his head, “This is why we made guns. And cannons. And missiles. And sturdy armor. Crystal Cruisers, Steeds’o’War, Determined Destriers - they exist to not just protect us from the sky-beasts. They also deter others from attacking and conquering us. But, eh, what do I know?” he shrugged in an angry manner, “I’m just a jaded, drunk war veteran who’s rambling about things he has no idea about. And all you care about is friendship lessons and finding princess Bookshelf.”

Having said that, Tin stood up and swiveled towards the door of the recroom. The stallion reached out and closed the door, while looking at the four creatures in the recroom, “No need to listen to stupid, worthless old me!”

“Captain, wait-” Gallus raised his taloned paw, but it was too late - Tin turned away from him and walked snout first right into the door he closed.

“Ow! Buck! Load! Of ass!” the stallion swore, rubbing his now doubly-bruised nose. Then he opened the door and limped out into the hallway.

As he left, Gallus made a strange whine-like sound, grabbed the bottle Tin left behind. Finding some amber liquid remaining inside, he poured it all into Tin’s glass and downed it in one go.

“Are you okay?..” he felt Silverstream’s taloned paw on his shoulder.

“...I don’t know,” Gallus replied quietly.

“That was completely uncalled for,” Sandbar said with a shake of his head, “What the captain said here, I mean-”

“I don’t know, Sandbar,” Gallus shook his head, trying to coax at least some more whiskey from the bottle, but there were only a few droplets left, “I really don’t know anymore...”

“Hey, don’t get yourself in a knot,” Smolder lightly punched the gryphon’s shoulder, “We’ll figure it out…” she made a short pause, snorting a tiny gout of flame from her nostrils, “Hopefully”

Gallus met Working Mechanism the next… morning? Morning. Morning is a time of day when one wakes up, so to him it was morning. The unicorn had a blank expression, and looked like he spent the night crying. His cap was missing, and his jacket looked like he used it to vent his anger on it.

“How are you feeling?” he asked the unicorn cautiously.

Mecha gave him a long pause, before answering with a shrug, “...Could be marginally better.”

The two then proceeded to the bridge. Upon ascending to the room, they saw a rather interesting scene. Ocellus was busy at the nav-desk, wearing headphones that were too big for her. Ten’ was standing ‘at the wheel’, steering the locomotive through the mist. And in the back of the bridge, next to the wall, laid Tin, sleeping and drooling. Mecha’s snout scrunched as he approached the stallion and caught a whiff of booze breath. Without saying a thing, he hoisted the unconscious steed on his back and carried him away.

Gallus took the helm shift from Ten’, who released Ocellus from the navigation duty. The light blue changeling then left the bridge with a tired yawn. A minute later Mecha returned, and stood next to Gallus, looking ahead through the stained glass windshield. The headlight of the locomotive struggled to pierce the thick veil of purple mist around the vessel.

“How are you holding up?”

Gallus turned his head. Mecha’s question came out of the blue.

“I don’t know,” the gryphon exhaled, “This is a mess…”

The unicorn sighed, “A damn fine mess,” his head turned slightly so he was partially looking at the gryphon, “But we have to make it. Make it out alive...” he paused and huffed, “And hopefully sane.”

Gallus shuddered at that one specific detail.

Honestly, he wasn’t entirely sure of his sanity at the moment.

Starlight remained in the crew quarters the whole day.

That evening - judging by the bridge clock - the locomotive headlights and echolocator began to pick up things in the fog. Things other than detritus and ‘chronosolar anomalies’ (Whatever the hay that was), larger pieces of landmass. Navigation became a bit more difficult as now Glacies had to maneuver between sky-islands in the fog, avoiding decaying and long abandoned buildings.

Once a capital of ponykind and a shining beacon of nobility and friendship, now a dead and empty husk in the skies.

By this time, Tin sobered up and was out and about - though he avoided looking at Gallus whenever they were in the same room. Despite him keeping a calm exterior, Ocellus could sense a certain stirring of guilt underneath it.

Starlight was called upon the bridge when Gallus noted how he recognized some of the structures - or, rather, remains of the structures that they were passing by. Despite being blown sky-high and being in the epicenter of a magical explosion, the city layout remained mostly unchanged by some miraculous circumstances.

“There!” Starlight pointed at the silhouettes in the fog, “The castle!”

“Slow ahead,” Tin ordered, “Look for the place for us to dock or moor the locomotive.”

“Captain,” Ten’ suddenly said, “I would like to ask permission to leave with the away party.”

Tin looked at the shadow stallion for a few moments, then nodded, “Granted.”

Ten’ nodded. Belfry chittered and bounced a little on his back. Tin was about to reach for the intercom, but was stopped by Mecha.

“Captain, I would like to go too.”

Tin raised his eyebrow at that.

“It’s not related to our… guest,” there was a notable change in tone when he said ‘guest’, “But rather to that thing Twilight was working on.”

“The Dawn Machine?” Starlight asked, “Why?”

“I have my suspicions,” the unicorn replied coldly - however without any hints of anger, “If it was the thing responsible for the Disaster…” he made a grunt and turned away from the windshield, “I have a really bad feeling about this.”

Tin nodded, then said into the intercom, “Attention, crew. We have reached our destination. Away crew: Starlight, Mecha, Ten’, Sandbar, Silvertream, Smolder, Yona and me. Arm yourself.”

The crew moored Glacies to one of the castle’s balconies, and the away crew left. Following Starlight were the assigned crewmembers and Tin, who again gave his ‘I want no surprises’ explanation - however before the party left Ocellus felt there was something else to it. A feeling of… worry?..

Clad in their sky-suits, garments of several layers of waxed canvas lined with felt and fur to keep the cold away (in case of Starlight, she just put on several layers of warm clothes she considerately packed beforehoof), air filtration masks, and stained glass goggles to filter any bit of starlight that somehow might have crept through the mist, the crew walked through the halls. The castle was completely empty, desolated, deserted, and was slowly falling apart, like everything else. The purple mist crept everywhere, obscuring the vision like a strange, airy syrup. Hallway after hallway, with nothing but wail of wind outside and their own echoing hoofsteps.

“There,” Starlight pointed at the hall with stained glass windows, “Twilight put The Dawn Machine in the throne room. We’re almost there.”

No creature said anything as they walked onward.

Miraculously, a few stained glass windows survived the cataclysm untouched.

"We should try and dismantle them on the way back," Tin said, "Might fetch a fair price from the collectors… Or scrap dealers"

“That’s history, dude,” Sandbar said disapprovingly, before glancing into one of the missing windows-

-fields of decaying grass under a putrid sun. A cemetery. A lonely dilapidated church. He’s standing there, older… rougher. He feels his chin adorned with unshaved bristly stubble. He’s tired, but he feels determined. He’s carrying a double-barrel shotgun on a sling over his back. A stalk of long dead wheat between his teeth. He walks towards the church door and opens it. Inside are two gryphons wearing robes with hoods obscuring their faces.
“So you’ve come,” one of them spoke, “Infidel.”
“Indeed,” Sandbar replied, pulling the shotgun off his shoulder, “I came to end you and your cult”
“Heretic!” the second growled, and hurled a glowing red gem at Sandbar. He dodged behind a pew without much grace and fired his gun, sending the gryphon flying away in a heap.
“You can not stop us!” the first gryphon snarled, “There will be reckoning! It will not be postponed indefinitely!”
Sandbar looked at the gryphon and frowned.
“It will not come as long as I live, Gallus,” he said as he pulled the trigger-

“Dead history,” Tin responded grimly. Sandbar shook his head, blinking the strange vision from his eyes. What was that all about?..

First one depicted the defeat of Discord at the hooves of Twilight and her friends. The second one showed the defeat of Tirek. Another one depicted the victory over the Storm King. The final one...

Mecha looked at the window with an unreadable expression on his face. Every facet, every little bit of glass mocked, taunted, leered, jeered at him. He didn't think, he just lit his horn and picked up a bunch of small stone pieces from the floor...

The group stopped at the sound of glass shattering and metal framework collapsing. Turning around they saw Mecha stand, staring at the now shattered and destroyed window, breathing heavily. Tin tilted his head in disapproving silence.

"Sorry about that, Kapitän..." the gray unicorn mumbled, pulling his peaked cap over his face. Tin shook his head and sighed. Silverstream backed up a little to see what was that which brought the first officer’s ire. It was difficult to figure out what was depicted there now, but the remaining panes were showing a red lightning bolt in a yellow circle in the middle of the top part of the window, with a rainbow in the background. The framework remains suggested that the rainbow... zig-zagged through the window? And ended in something black and pink at the bottom-

-She was flying! Or was she? Was she not? She felt so great, so joyous! So many things! Bats! Cats! Old broken things that nocreature wants - I know, right? - what a waste! The lovely patterns of entropy! Oh how they weave into one another, - A connoisseur of things broken? Delightful! - And oh how fun, how fun! And how easy, how easy those tiny creatures break before her, from her, for her! - Oh, how about this? - A locomotive wreck comes into view. There are two creatures on it. A filly in rags and a hippogryph mare of cocoa-beige color. They talk, the hippogryph puts away her art supplies. And the filly, she is so sad, so alone, so… empty, and the hippogryph turns a little and gives her a small wave-

-She blinked. Odd. She trotted onward, following the group who had reached the doors to the throne room.

Starlight stopped right before the doors. She felt her mane - no, scratch that, all of her fur suddenly stood up as shivers jolted through her body.

“You guys felt that?” Sandbar asked, “I…”

“I don’t like what’s behind this door,” Tin muttered.

In fact, the only ones who remained somewhat unfettered were Mecha and Silverstream. Even if the latter’s ears were pressed down.

“Let’s just-” Smolder pushed Starlight away and put her paws on the doors “-open it and be done with it!”

As the door opened, the sight behind made the group stop. Looming over the throne was a rattling, clanking, screeching mess of elliptic rings, gears and dimly lit, eerie red sigils that made eyes ache and mind burn, even through the stained glass of the goggles.

“Twilight…”

Mecha’s voice was full of shock, horror and desperation.

“What have you done?!”

And then the light drowned out all worries and sorrows...

Author's Note

The segment with the weft of unraveling time went through, like, four rewrites, one of which was rewriting from scrap.

Thank you for your attention, delicious reader.