Tales of the Rails: Pacesetter's Story

Chapters

Prologue/Ch1. "Signals Green"
Ch.2 "Dreams or Nightmares?"
Ch.3 "Who's on first?"
Ch. 4 “Early in the Morning”

Prologue/Ch1. "Signals Green"

Prologue

In the windy dark of a moonless night, a very tired and very soot covered pony fumbles with their front door keys. Mostly asleep from the long day and going mostly by feel, eventually the key finds it’s mark and, reaching around and flipping the light switch a soft glow from the living room light fills the doorway. The little home isn’t much, more of a “Cottage” than an actual house, but it has more than enough room for the two things they want the most, peace and quiet . Once there had been far more activity here, with the presence of multiple roommates in the form of fellow railroaders either working in the district temporarily or simply taking extended leave between assignments. Thankfully that was no longer the case, as now it was only one pony, and one light.

Tonight had been the last night of what was arguably the worst train in the division. A predawn call time with an eight hour run filled with nonstop meets and local switching, followed by another eight hours of coal mine yard duties culminating in hauling the loaded cars into town, it was a long day for anypony on the crew. The four hour “rest” in between those duties added to the insult of a long day, the crew expected to catch sleep in either the bunkhouse or their own caboose amidst the busy junction yard. It was tough, yet the pay for this five to six days a week exhaustion is what made it worth it, for some. Especially for the pony who has just gotten home, as the last two months of this ordeal had allowed them to afford to come home to this quiet house in the first place. For the first time since moving in, they could say with confidence that they had made the right decision moving out of the company housing down at the yard a few months ago. The house was only a walk or even a short Streetcar ride away from the yard, and could even boast its own garden, kitchen, bathroom, and above all distance from the never ending cacophony of a railroad in motion. The trees nearby, both wild and deliberate, created a screen so thick that when the wind was just right one could almost forget they were so close. That latter had even been put to good use in those recent early mornings, under the cover of darkness sneaking an apple or two while taking the shortcut through the Orchard. Their eyes light up and a smile appears, as they remember one of those apples taken that morning is still inside their soot and oil stained workbag.

“I think a celebratory snack is in order”, they say to themselves as the bag is heaved off their shoulder, a small cloud of coal dust rising and then slowly falling onto the wooden floor. The pony nuzzles the bag open, and without even lifting the apple out, the prize is consumed and the post exhaustion hunger is staved off a little longer. The pony sleepily takes a well deserved shower and checks the calendar one last time before bed. On the mark for tomorrow is a note written only a week ago.

NEW SCHEDULE SELECTION

9AM

DONT BE LATE ‘SET!!!

At last, after months of predawn alarm forced wake ups, 9am was going to feel more like a day off rather than a work day. Still, better safe than sorry as the alarm is spun up via mouth as a hoof awkwardly holds it in place. No time to even pull back the covers, as sleep finally envelops the pony in full before their head even hits the pillow.

Chapter 1

Signals Green

No matter how hard she tried, she just could not get back to sleep. In the tired haze that was the night before, the window curtains had been left wide open. At almost 7am sharp, she was rudely awakened by a sudden burst of light as the sun crested the mountains east of town and seemed to focus all of its power right into her face. Now here again she lay, the curtains no longer open, her body and mind practically begging to go back to sleep, yet no matter what she tried she couldn’t. Perhaps the anticipation of the day was to blame? After all, this was going to be her first time picking a schedule as a full fledged conductor! Gone were the days of being under the hoof of another pony, instead it would be her chance to shine in the company spotlight! She smiled, for while an engineer may get all the public glory, the conductor is still the one ultimately in charge. It was their names at the top of the crew lists, and their decisions that had to be made to ensure a safe and timely trip. An engineer couldn’t even get a train rolling without the conductor’s say so! It still didn’t feel real that she had even managed such a promotion, after only three years on the railroad, though the whole reason she felt so sleep deprived now had played a big part.

Her time on that last assignment had really helped tip the scales in her favor, with the regular conductor going into labor not even a few days after she herself had put in for the crew! The railroad asked for other conductors to help cover while a stable replacement was arranged, and this turned out to be the secret ingredient. This was a new run for the railroad, one the other conductors didn’t really enjoy and had never done in its entirety before. As the days went on and conductors kept switching out, she found herself, as the only “regular” on the crew aside from the ponies on the engine, being more and more relied upon to get the job done. Eventually after two weeks of musical conductors the local trainmaster, a crotchety old stallion of few words named Shlick Fellowers, who some half jokingly believed had been around longer than the railroad itself, stepped in. That morning he had joined them at the crew meeting, hot coffee in hoof and mane disheveled at the early call time, and told them that they had no conductors available for the day. Rather than send the rest of the crew home however, he surprised them by saying he would act as conductor, while at the same time training somepony to take over for the rest of the assignment. She hadn’t thought much of it, past wondering who it might be that would be coming to join them, but had grown a little concerned when they rolled out of Vanhoover with no one besides her and he in the caboose. She had wanted to ask Schlick when the “Trainee” would be joining them, but every time she had a chance he seemed too busy pouring over the paperwork or dealing with something else, so she just let it go. The hours and the miles ticked by, pick up some cars here, leave some there, and while after a time they did have other ponies eventually come join them in their caboose, all had only been passengers hoping for a ride to the next town down the line. Finally after their eight hour run stopping at what felt like every little siding between here and Vanhoover, when they had reached the junction for their four hour layover, she cornered him as he got up to leave the train.

“Mr. Fellowers sir?”, she asked cautiously, “What exactly happened to that trainee you mentioned this morning? Sorry for saying so, but it seems a little odd to not have someone be here for half the run if they are supposed to be taking over. Especially when I’ve heard some conductors complain about how much there is to keep track of. All the stops, the switching, ensuring we stay clear of the other trains, and...and... ”, she trailed off as Schlick seemed to give no response in any way. Instead he looked at her sharply for a while, then looked away as he seemed in thought.

“Well, you’re right Ms. Pacesetter,” he said finally looking back at her, “that would be an odd way to train someone.” He nodded, and with that proceeded to simply push past her and head for the cafe inside the station building to relax. She stood there, dumbfounded, unsure of how to process what he said. Was there a change of plan at the last minute? Did the other pony call in sick? Or was it...no, could it? Was she the trainee all along? Her heart leapt at this possibility! But...how could that be? There was usually at least a month or two of training, lots of formalities to go through, not to mention she wasn’t even close to the most senior brakepony in the area!

‘But,’ she thought to herself, ‘I have done a little of everything over the last three years. Take tickets, handle freight, heck even had a hoof in firing the locomotive a few times.’ She tried to push all that aside, reminding herself that there were plenty others who also met the qualifications, but that nagging possibility wouldn't leave her alone. She decided to best have her lunch alone and try to relax a little while she had the caboose all to herself, but her mind just wouldn’t stop. Every bite brought on a new thought and possibility, and she became so lost in her own imagination that before she knew it, the station clock was striking out that four hours had passed. She looked out the window and could see the rest of her crew making their way back to the train. She so badly wanted to ask Schlick again, get some clarification and put her mind at ease, but as he climbed back onboard he spoke first.

“Ok Ms. Pacesetter, I am going to be honest with you, I’m not in much of a mood to do more thinking or talking for the rest of the day. I don’t know how you ponies have done this trip so often, but I’m already exhausted. You’re already pretty familiar with this run right? Why don’t you go ahead and take over conductor duties until tonight? That way I can catch some more rest and let you worry about the paperwork and switching orders. Understand?”

“Y..yessir”, Pacesetter replied, too stunned to care as he once again simply pushed past her into the caboose.

“Good, well you know where to find me if you need me.”, he said as he set the new train orders and paperwork on the desk, promptly made his way to the first open bunk, and laid out to nap, falling asleep almost instantly.

‘Oh wow oh wow oh wow oh wow is...is this really happening??’, she thought as she almost jumped with excitement. She excitedly stood there for a moment, thoughts now whirring with the force of a hurricane. So distracting was this storm that she wasn’t exactly sure on what to do next, and would’ve possibly stood there a long time if her ears hadn’t pricked up at the ticking of her pocket watch.

‘Tick tick, time. Wow has this thing always been this loud? Or has the caboose always been this quiet? Come to think of it, why is it so quiet? Shouldn’t it be noisy because the train is…’

“Oh, right!” she said to herself as she leapt out to the back platform of the caboose. She came out of the doorway with such speed that she would have gone right off the end of the train if she hadn’t caught herself on the railing!

‘Why are you in such a rush?!’, she thought to herself as she made her way to the side of the car. ‘You have given the highball for departure HUNDREDS of times, what makes this so different?’

‘Oh I don’t know, maybe it is because the TRAINMASTER himself has made me acting CONDUCTOR for the rest of the day?! I don’t want my very first task, which is giving a simple highball mind you, to go wrong, or be forgotten, or worse make us LATE! This may be it!’

She caught herself once again, nearly stepping right off the side of the caboose while she was busy self arguing, and leaned as far out as she could to see the locomotive. To her dismay, while she could indeed plainly see the entirety of the train, she could also plainly see that the engine crew was nowhere in sight. ‘Where are they?!,’ she wondered as she began impatiently tapping a rear hoof on the wooden platform. ‘This is it; my chance is going to fall flat before it even begins. Here I am, all ready to go, and those damn engine boneheads are sabotaging my best chance yet at finally making Conductor! Don’t they know how important this is?! Why am I seemingly the only pony on this whole train who…’

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of movement up in the cab of the engine. A pony in oil stained overalls climbs down, and as they do so another in a black cap appears in the fireman’s window. The first pony gets down, points back at the second pony and laughs loud enough for Pacesetter to hear it all the way at the back of the train. The second pony shakes their head in laughter too, and then leans out of the cab, looking right squarely at Pacesetter. ‘Here we go! Let’s make this a good one!’ She lifts her left front hoof high into the sky, cups her mouth with the other, and with her best Conductor’s voice belts out, “HIGHBALL!!......woOAH!”. The latter being involuntarily added, as she suddenly found herself falling and scrambling to catch herself. In her excitement, she had thrown her arm so hard it had thrown off her balance and threatened to send her tumbling right over the side! The Firepony, with a look of such concern that it could be distinguished from all the way at the back of the train, returned the arm wave and could be seen yelling over to the Engineer on the other side of the cab. A shrill double whistle blast echoed throughout the yard in reply, and the engine began to heave their train out of the siding.

“Whew”, Pacesetter said to herself as she leaned up against the back wall of the caboose to catch her breath. ‘Other than nearly having to call “Pony Overboard”, that seemed to have gone really well!’ She smiled as she thought of herself already being the “perfect” Conductor image, booming voice and all! Mr. Fellowers would surely be so proud of her…

Her eyes went wide in horror. ‘Or he is going to be furious!!!’ She wasn’t sure what side he was on when it came to Conductors being flashy and yelling out like that when it wasn’t “necessary”. After all, the rule books only specified that the arm movement was required, no vocal cues whatsoever! The thought of him disapproving of that action was sickening enough, but the old stallion had been trying to sleep!! She very sheepishly poked her head around the corner of the open door and peered inside, fearing he would be standing right there to reprimand her. Instead, she was met with a scene of the old stallion sprawled out over the bunk, hat over his eyes, and snoring so loudly she swore it was him and not the track that was shaking the caboose. ‘I guess when you have worked for the railroad as long as he has, you learn to be a pretty heavy sleeper…’ She closed the door and stayed out on the platform just long enough to get the all clear from the yard ponies. She passed their signal up to the engineer by another wave of the hoof, who responded back with an almost giddy double whistle blast. ‘I’m sure they are still laughing at me for earlier,’ she thought as she made her way back inside, face slightly red at the possible embarrassment. Stopping at the Conductor’s desk, she glanced over at Schlick, who was somehow even more sprawled out and deep in sleep than just a few minutes ago. She shook her head and let go a little laugh at the absurdity of all that had just transpired, pulled out the chair, and she sat down at the desk to begin pouring over the paperwork.

The rest of the day wound up going by far smoother, with Schlick actually waking up on his own just as the train entered the yard for the coal mines. Just as he had said, he had her lead the entire switching operation, with him acting as Brakepony as she kept track of what cars were going where and how to do so. Hour after hour, car after car, the pieces of the switching puzzle slowly fell into place as the sun itself fell on the horizon. Eventually everything was where it needed to be, and a now very dirty and tired crew started their return all the way back down the mountain to Vanhoover, minus the few stops that they had left to make along the now moonlit valley. She was so exhausted mentally and physically from the day that when the train finally pulled into town, she had practically forgotten what excitement had made this day so special in the first place. All she knew was she was ready to get off this train, go home, get clean and rest up before the next time she had to do it yet again. So much so that when they handed the train over to the night switching crew, she was content to simply walk in blissful silence with Mr. Fellowers and the engine ponies into the yard offices. As they reached the locker room after signing out, the Engineer and Firepony began to rib each other over their respective performance on the trip that day, while the other two plodded on in exhausted silence to their respective lockers, which as it turned out were on the same end of the room. Pacesetter’s locker was mostly empty, save for a calendar, a clean uniform as backup, and a well defined space for her to leave her oil lantern. She put the lantern inside, shut the door, gave a half yawned, “Goodnight Mr. Fellowers.”, as she began to leave.

Schlick yawned back, “Hold on a second Ms. Pacesetter.”

She turned to face him, “Yessir?”

“You...did really well out there today. Even early this morning when I hadn’t asked, you were already stepping in and doing everything exactly as it needed to be.” He gave a slow, tired blink and a small smile. “I’m glad to see I can trust my conductors when they make a recommendation.”

“Well, uh, thank you sir,” she responded, “but what recommendation? Am I being considered for a raise?”

With a small chuckle he replied, “Well yes that is part of it. How do you feel about taking over as conductor on this run outright?”

Her eyes widened as her mind suddenly snapped back awake, “Oh! Oh well, I would love to! It’s just…”

“Yes?”

“Well, uh, pardon me for saying this, but after only one day with me you feel that I am really ready to do this?”

He paused for a second as he tiredly thought of his answer, “You know what? I do. Not once today did you ask for guidance on what needed to be done, especially after I had you act the part of conductor. I’m not saying you’re going straight to the Friendship Express, but I think taking over this run for the next month and a half will be a great place to see if you can really do this. After that, it will be time to make the new crew schedules anyway, and by then we will both know if you can do the job or not.”, he said with a well meaning half smile. “I’ll find you a new Brakepony to assist you. No offense, but I can’t exactly be down here running trains with you all the time. Oh, and before your next day make sure you come by and get your new uniform. Can’t have people thinking a train has two brakeponies and no conductor now can we?”

Pacesetter stammered out her answer as her excitement nearly boiled over, “Yes...Yessir! Thank you sir! You won’t regret this!”

His gaze cooled. “Make sure I don’t. I would much rather have somepony like yourself instead of some hotshot I have to beg for from Canterlot. Goodnight, Ms. Pacesetter.”, he said as he closed his locker and tiredly walked out of the locker room.

“Goodnight!”, she cheerfully called after him. Her walk home in the dark that night had the energy of a Manehatten musical, the exhaustion of the day being seemingly hosed away to the point she practically trotted the whole way to her front door. Once inside she squeed and hollered to such an extent that she was sure her neighbors were going to send the police to make sure everything was ok, but she didn’t care! Today had been her day and tonight was her night. Here was her chance to really make it, and she was going to prove she could do it! As far as she was concerned, all of Vanhoover could celebrate with her, she was far too wired to get much sleep tonight anyway!

The birds beginning to chirp outside the window told her what she really didn’t want to hear. There really was no hope of going back to sleep, considering she was now almost as excited and bubbly as she had been on that night weeks ago. She begrudgingly rolled herself back out of bed and made her way into the bathroom. Looking back in the mirror was the poster foal of a rough night of sleep. Her mane was a mess, and she could barely even see her own emerald eyes peering out from under her straw colored hair. That last month and a half had been brutal but, in more ways than one, had all been worth it. She’d even been given her official Conductor’s badge just the day before by Mr. Fellowers himself, though it was a far cry from the official ceremony Pacesetter always thought it required. It was a rather informal affair, little more than a passing in the hallway and a “Oh! I have something for you, here!”. But it didn't matter. She had actually earned it, and she was going forward a new mare with a new purpose. She wondered at the possibilities of the far-flung exciting assignments she might get as she brushed out her hair. Fireball Freight? Royal Mail? The Canterlot Flyer? As she put her jacket and scarf on she realized it really didn’t matter, because no matter what, she was a real Conductor now. Any train she’d be assigned would be her train, and her crew. With that last thought she smiled and headed out the front door, locking it behind her.

Ch.2 "Dreams or Nightmares?"

Ch. 2

Dreams or Nightmares?

The howling winds of the night before had thankfully given way to a soft but cool breeze blowing down towards the westward coast. Pacesetter looked around and noticed that aside from some stray leaves gliding on the wind, she was the only movement on the street. With the sun still barely above the snowcapped Unicorn Range, most ponies it seemed were content to sleep in as long as they could before facing the chilly fall morning.

‘They don’t know what they’re missing,’ she thought to herself as she faced the sun and closed her eyes, taking in what heat was being given. As if to spite her attempt, a sudden icy gust cut through her fur and sent a cascade of leaves rocketing out of their trees and down the street. She shivered, reached down and adjusted her coat and scarf against the cold. As the wind calmed down, she thought to both kill time and satiate the breakfast hunger that was soon to hit by taking a stroll through the creekside apple orchard. She was always up to grab a quick breakfast and from where she stood, she could even see some nice ripe apples still hidden amongst the changing leaves…’Oh, right’. She could see the apples, meaning whoever was in the farmhouse at the top of the hill would likely see her as well. Predawn work did have its perks it seemed.

‘Someday I should actually pay them for the apples I’ve taken. Though judging from the trails that crisscross through the orchard I’m far from the only one, surely…I mean if they really cared they’d put a fence up, right? …right?’

Her stomach was quick to answer, and unfortunately it seemed a free breakfast was now out of the question. With how hectic the last few weeks had been she had little of any real substance back in the house. Her mind began to wander about what sounded good. Perhaps there was still an apple or two tucked away in her locker at work? She could always hope someone brings donuts to the meeting, or perhaps she would find something on her way down to the yard? She knew one thing, standing next to her house wouldn’t fix anything, and so with the sun at her back she began to make her way down the hill, along the winding streets towards the railyard.

It had been almost two years since the railroad had asked her to move out here. Two years in a place so radically different from anything she had been used to as a filly. She smiled, remembering how crazy her mom thought she was for being so willing to take this position so far from home. Though in a way she had to admit, mom was partially right. Vanhoover was indeed a far cry from the family farm back in Bridal Park. Nestled across the river from Baltimare on the shores of Horseshoe Bay, her hometown only seemed to ever have two types of weather, hot and not so hot, always humid. The local weather team had even made it a point to keep the few winter storms at bay, as to allow for year-round growing on what farmland there was between the Buckson River and the swamps inland. Growing up she would often find herself looking north across that river at the nearby metropolis, who periodically would find themselves under a serene blanket of snow during the height of winter. Oh, how she had always loved to accompany the deliveries into the city during that time of year. With the right conditions the ferry ride across felt outright magical, with one side in the depths of winter, and the other practically summer! Now she was in a city so far out on the edge of the nation they didn’t even have their own dedicated weather team! The weather here was this ever-constant mix of what happened to flow out from the heartland of Equestria, combined with the remnants and whispers of all the “untamed” areas nearby. The air, even in summer, had this seemingly wild chill about it, serving as an ever-present reminder that they were just off the doorstep of the frozen north. For a pony who was sick of overly manicured warm weather, this might as well have been paradise.

She may have continued down memory lane comparing the places she had lived if it were not for the intoxicating smell that hit her as she crossed the stone and wood bridge over Coldwater Creek. She tilted her head back and took in a deep breath, eyes fluttering at the sensation it was causing to her hunger. She recognized the smell in an instant, though it had been quite some time since she had last encountered it. It was warm and delicious, with hints of hot dough, berries, and seasoning all wafting right down the street at her. It could only mean one thing.

“Haybagel…”, she whispered to herself as her mouth began to water. She found herself immediately full of energy as she trotted up the street following her nose. Here, in the space sandwiched between the creek and the railroad yard, is a small collection of buildings affectionately called “The Little Downtown” or even “The Hive” by railroad ponies and locals alike. Legend has it there was once a beekeeper who had lived here, though the latter name likely came from the fact that most of the buildings were interconnected to some degree, not unlike an insect nest. The “heart” of this little block consists mainly of two-story creek stone and wood buildings, anchored on the eastern and western ends by two structures that couldn’t be more opposite. These are the “Owllight Inn” and the “Rivercreek Pub” respectively, though some in town would contest you on the latter.

The “Owllight” itself is a newer three-story hotel, reportedly made from the wood of apple trees that were underproducing when the railroad was being finished into Vanhoover. This story at least had some merit, as the family who owned the nearby Orchard and Cidery also ran the hotel. Their goal was to be an affordable, but respectable establishment, and their location for that was hard to beat. They had managed to build the “Owllight” not only adjacent to the Riveryard facilities, thus catering to passing train crews, but also next to the same main road leading east out of town, which was the only real thing separating the Inn from the railroad yard itself. Thus, many traveling ponies, not wanting to pay the higher rates found across the river in Vanhoover proper, would stay, taking advantage of the Trolley that ran down the main road all the way through town to the docks. It is right next to the “Owllight” that “Haybagel”, a bakery whose specialty was bagels and pastries, was tucked into the first story of the building next door.

Pacesetter quickly reached the front door, with the bell above the doorway announcing her arrival. The actual public space inside was rather small, only enough room for a single table and the front counter, which doubled as both display area and checkout. This was only amplified by the fact that two ponies were seated at that table, and a few more milled around the shop waiting on their food. Pacesetter ignored all of them and beelined right for the register, where an elder crimson pony in her trademark Baltimare blue hat stood smiling and waiting.

“Well, if I don’t believe my eyes, Ms. Pacesetter! Here we’d thought ya maybe got sick of us.”

“Me?! Mrs. Seaboard please, you know if I could I’d be in here for every breakfast. You have no idea how much I have missed your fresh bagels.”

Mrs. Seaboard chuckled, “Oh well goodness! I take it you are finally off that dreaded assignment you had?”

“Yes!! Yes, I am, but it gets even better! I’ve been promoted, and today is my first day as a real Conductor! You can’t believe how excited I am!”

Mrs. Seaboard laughed, “Oh ho, believe me dear, you are mighty terrible at hiding it when you get excited. Why, I could see from across the street you had a bounce in your step! Congratulations!! Tell you what, in honor of your promotion, and hopeful return to more sensible hours, consider today’s bagel on the house! The usual?”

Pacesetter was stunned, “r...really Mrs. Seaboard? I mean, thank you of course, but...but I can pay for it no problem. I actually have the money this time...” She reached quickly around her jacket for the pocket which held her bits.

“No dear, I insist! You’re always such a delight when you come in here, consider this a “Welcome Back” gift. Besides, we Baltimarians need to look out for each other out here, even if you are from, ‘across the river’”, Mrs. Seaboard finished with a wink, somewhat cheekily. Without Pacesetter noticing, she had already reached back onto one of the cooling trays of bagels behind the counter. In her hoof and neatly wrapped in paper was what Mr. and Mrs. Seaboard jokingly called the “Set-Pace special”. An “everything” bagel, with a light dusting of red pepper and a blend of regular and extra spicy cream cheese. The “joke” was if you had one of those for breakfast and you weren’t prepared, one would find themselves “setting a new pace” as they rushed down ice water to chase away the spice.

“I’ll never understand why for a filly who wanted so badly to get away from the heat and live somewhere cold, you continue to eat such hot food! Most of us prefer our breakfast a little, uh, sweeter you know.” Mrs. Seaboard said with a smile.

“I guess it is one of the few things I didn’t mind about back home. But I can’t believe y’all have kept the red pepper in stock, considering I haven’t been in here in almost two months!”, Pacesetter replied with a slightly worried look.

“Oh, don’t worry dear! We actually have finally found a use for it, other than your bagels! Our “Fall Weather” spiced pastries have, well let’s just say a bit more of a kick to them this year, and from what I’ve seen it was a good decision! The only thing hotter than their taste is their sales!”

Pacesetter laughed and took the bagel from the elder pony. “Well thank you Mrs. Seaboard! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

Mrs. Seaboard laughed too. “No worries deary! Just make sure you come back more often than every two months from now on, you hear?”

“Oh yes ma’am! That’s a promise!” Pacesetter gleefully responded as she turned and trotted out the door back to the street. The shop inside may have already been busy, but the park across the street was still as empty as the streets themselves. She sat on one of the benches inside the park Gazebo and proceeded to chow down. The immediate heat from the first bite warmed her to the core, so much so she contemplated undoing her jacket and taking in the brisk breeze to compensate.

‘This is the perfect way to start today’, she thought to herself and smiled, thoroughly enjoying each bite. From where she sat, she could easily look over most of the “Riveryard” and the activity within. When she first arrived in town, she had found it funny how the railroad had laid out its own facilities in such a seemingly haphazard way. While all still connected of course, unlike the other big yards she had seen during her time on the railroad, which tried to keep the distances between facilities to a minimum, here was far more elongated. Much of that was simply due to the geography of the area and how much of the city had already been built up to that point. The result was the railroad trying to sandwich in as much as they could along the very aptly named “Narrow River”, which itself ran through town down to the docks.

One of the worst of these sandwiched areas was a small stretch of marshland created by a sharp bow in the river on the eastern end of town. Likely because it was one of the few areas left that wasn’t already better used or owned by someone else, the decision was made to fill in the marsh and erect the local locomotive facilities there. Eventually, the “Riveryard” as it became known not only held a sightly twelve stall stone roundhouse complete with turntable and refueling facilities, but also its own Blacksmithing and machine shop. Smushed into the back corner was the home of the local “Maintenance of Way” contingent, the ponies who were responsible for keeping the “Rail” and “Road” of the railroad in good enough shape to allow the trains to keep rolling. Though every pony always referred to them by their far easier acronym that could be found painted on the side of their equipment, “M.O.W.” On top of all that, smattered around were buildings of varying quality ranging from temporary crew quarters to local administrative offices, and all of this somehow in only a few acres of reclaimed land. The river formed the boundary on three sides, necessitating bridges on both ends of this section of yard. It was all on full display as Pacesetter, from her slightly higher vantage point from within the park, began to sweat from the spice of her special breakfast.

‘Oh wow...hot. I guess it has been too long since I’ve eaten like this,’ she thought, letting her mouth hang open in a desperate attempt to let the outside air cool her tongue. Thankfully, there was still nopony near to see her practically panting, in fact the only ponies it seemed who were awake were either back in “Haybagel”, or were across the road in the yard itself. She could see a few milling around the backsides of the shop, likely the overnight work crews getting off shift, as well as a growing gathering of ponies near a locomotive with caboose parked next to the roundhouse. She couldn’t quite place a hoof on it, but something about that engine seemed different. A shrill whistle blast announced that coming into “Riveryard” from town was one of the smaller switchyard engines. Nicknamed “Goats” for their diminutive stature and no-nonsense work attitude, Vanhoover was home to two of them, and ‘Set didn’t have to guess which one this was. The blinding reflection of the recently shined up bell and brass trimmings made it obvious it was “Rainy Goat”, so named because its crews took such care it was said only a constant rainstorm could make it cleaner. “Rainy Goat”’s engineer eased it to a stop next to the other locomotive, and at once Pacesetter could see the reason why ponies were gathered around it.

“Well, so the rumors are true! I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself!”, “Rainy Goat”’s engineer called out as his engine came to rest next to the much larger engine on the adjacent track.

“Believe it friend-o!”, One of the yard ponies already gathered answered back. “Came over the pass this mornin’ they did! Though I imagine the track they damaged doin’ so will keep ya “Em-O-Doubu'' foals busy for some time eh!” He let out a laugh and elbowed the poor pony next to him rather forcefully in the chest.

Some in the crowd laughed as well until one of them spoke up, “Hey, that is a good point. How exactly did you manage to get this over? It must be almost twice the size of our “Equestrian” class engines.”

“Larger actually!”, the old stallion called back from the cab of the locomotive in question. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, what you are looking at here is the future of Equestrian Railroading!”, he exclaimed, making a grandiose gesture and sliding down one of the cab railings onto the ground. He began to walk up and down the side of the engine, “You ponies can do basic math, and your eyes do not deceive you, count them! This locomotive has not only the standard four wheeled pilot truck, but no less than five sets of drivers behind it! Not only does that make this the first 4-10-0 this side of the Unicorn Range, but in all of Equestria! I tell you with the power this thing can produce…”

Meanwhile back in the cab, the two very tired and dirty ponies who had been on the engine all night, were enjoying their first chance of respite from their boss.

“Wow, would you look at him go? In town not even five minutes and he starts giving his sales pitch to the first ponies he sees.”, the young earth pony stallion in the firepony seat says, shaking his head.

“Heh, well you know how Mr. Portherd gets.”, the sky blue unicorn leaning on the wall on the other side of the cab replied. “He has this new toy of his, and he just has to show it off for all of Equestria to see.” She pushes herself off the wall. “Would you like the spare bandana I know you have hidden away? That one looks filthy.”, she says, gesturing towards the very oil and dust-stained bandana around the stallion's neck.

He looks down and pulls the bandana away from him to get a glimpse. The poor piece of cloth had reached the point where it was almost untruthful to call it a red bandana anymore, as it was nearly darker than the graphite color of his own coat. “Yeeaa I could really use a change. My bag is in the…”

“...tender leg on your side, I know.”, the mare cuts him off. He rolls his eyes as she walks the few paces to the front of the tender directly behind his seat. Reaching into the cubby-like space created by the water tank “hugging” the coal bunker, she pulls out a slightly dusty canvas bag with the letters “I. Horse” sewn on one side. “I really don’t know why you keep this hidden away, Iron.”, she says as she passes the bag to him. “Why don’t you ever leave it hanging next to your seat like I do mine?”

He reaches out and grabs it from her, “What, and have my bag be as filthy as this bandana? Sorry Tal’, I think you may be spending too much time looking over the design tables lately. You seem to have forgotten how dirty this job can be.”, he says with a laugh as he unclips the bag and starts rummaging through it.

Tal’ lets out a chuckle herself, “Oh well, I’m sorry we can’t all be doing field testing like you Iron. Some of us have to actually design and build these things you know.” Iron quickly finds his replacement, a clean pressed royal blue bandana. “Hey, there you go! Well on your way to making a good impression with the locals already I see.”, Tal’ says with a somewhat sly smile.

Iron pulls the dirty bandana off with a grunt, staring at both which now sat in his lap. “I still wish you would be at least joining me on this. I’m not exactly thrilled about my first “field” assignment being solo.”

“You know as well as I how short hooved everyone is lately. The railroad is in a similar spot to us, having a hard enough time getting ponies to hire on back east. Even more so all the way out here on the fringes of Equestria.” Tal’ waits for Iron to look up at her, “Trust me when I say Mr. Portherd isn't exactly happy to be losing you, even if it is only temporary, but we needed somepony we could trust in this position being so far from the rest of us. You should be honored!”

“Honored...right”, Iron turns and tries to take it all in from the cab window. Nothing outside the window felt familiar in any way. It was a place he had never been before, different ponies, different city, different mountains, heck even the railroad here felt different from back home in Manehattan. It wouldn’t be so bad if anypony he knew would be here too, but by tonight his only links to home would be this engine he rode in on, and the rails leading back east. “Why does it have to be here of all places? Why not what we’ve done before, like Canterlot, or Fillydelphia? Why all the way out so far from everything?”, he hung his head as he finished.

“Hey, come on now, it’ll be ok.”, Tal’ tried to reassure him as she took a step closer. “I know it isn’t fair, I mean my first solo assignment was just a different yard in Manehatten...but you know how hard it was for Portherd to get this all to come together. He wants to prove we can build an engine that can take anything the E.R.R. can throw at it. Hardly a better test for railroad extremes than all the way out here, right? Besides, the requirement for testing was that we would staff at least one pony to run it until it can be proven. I mean, I know you’re practically his son at this point, but be proud that he chose you!”, Tal’ looked out the window past Iron, getting her first good glimpse at Vanhoover in the daylight since they had arrived. After a few seconds, a half snort/laugh escapes her lips and she turns away, focusing her magic on the collection of oil cans sitting beside the engineer’s seat. “Besides, it looks like the ponies here can’t get enough of the railroad! You should have no problem making friends!”

Iron looked back at her, very puzzled, but Tal’ was already too busy with her own oil can to give any further indication. He turned back out the window, searching for what in the world she might be on about…’Wait...what?’, he thinks to himself as his eyes catch what she likely already saw. Out beyond the yard, past the buildings and the crew huts, across the street and inside what looked to be a little park; there was a pony, copper fur with yellowish hair, sitting with something in her hoof, mouth agape, and staring right at him. He froze, staring back, trying to put together what in the world this pony could be so entranced over. “Surely...they’ve seen steam engines before...right? I mean, I know this is larger than, well, any others so far here, but still…’ The two seemed to stare back at each other for a few moments until Iron, out of ideas decided to wave. Even from this distance, the other pony seemed to suddenly jolt in shock, as they quickly covered their mouth and began to rapidly trot away from where they had been sitting. The paper thing they had been holding had been dropped and left on the bench in their hurry. They got maybe five paces before they realized this, and doubled back to grab it, only this time now galloping afterwards until out of sight behind some trees.

“I don't know Tal’, the ponies in this town already seem odd to me. I don’t know if I really want to get to know them.”, Iron says, still trying to make sense of what just happened. Tal’ laughed back in response as she made her way over to the ladder behind him, not wanting to go down and oil on the same side her boss was busy giving his sales pitch to.

“Aww, you scared them off!”, she says, reaching the edge of the cab and looking towards the park. “You need to work on that; You can’t sit here and complain you don’t know anypony when the first one looking your way gets intimidated.” She then slides down the ladder railing onto the ground.

“Pfftt, please, if I happen to chase off the village idiot, that is fine by me.”, he retorts. They share a laugh as Tal’ begins her work oiling the running gear of the locomotive, Iron deciding the fire should be checked on. ‘Let’s hope I don’t have to stay here too long’, he thinks as the warm glow from the fire envelops him.

The remaining few bites of the bagel hit the rim of the trash can hard enough to give out a resounding ring. ‘That is the last time I am eating one of those in public!’, Pacesetter winced.She had thought she was far enough away, distant enough from all the commotion that surely, surely no pony would notice her trying to fight her breakfast. Yet that damn dark colored pony sure had, no doubt. He’d even had the gall to wave to her!

‘It's ok, it’s ok. I’m quite sure I’ve never seen that pony nor that engine around here before. Meaning…they won’t know anyone else well enough here yet to tell anypony…yes! That’s it!’, a slight wave of relief washed over her. Not only would the other ponies likely not listen to them and their story of the strange mare in the park with her mouth wide open, but they wouldn’t even know it was her! …hopefully

Despite it still being a little early, she figured now was as good a time as any to head for the yard offices. She took great care trying to avoid the eyesight of any pony still around the locomotives as she crossed the yard tracks, just in case she was wrong in her hopeful assumption. Obviously out in the open there was nothing to hide behind, but her goal was to walk as “normally” as possible; at least as normal as a pony could who was still fuming over the loss of half her breakfast. Even from a hundred or so paces away, she could very clearly hear an older pony ecstatically and excitedly pointing out things on the bigger engine and answering questions from “his” crowd. She thought about glancing over, curious as to what could be drawing the attention from so many of the shop ponies, but the last thing she wanted was to risk catching the eyesight of whoever had been in the cab. Before she knew it, she was safely out of sight behind the wall of the roundhouse and paused to let out a sigh of relief. The yard offices were now just a short step away, the brick two story building with its center tower looking more like the railroad variant of an old fort than where one might expect the day-to-day paperwork of a railroad to take place. Rumor was that the tower had been built to allow the first Vanhoover Trainmaster to better spy on and keep watch over their “underlings”, but thankfully these days it served as little more than a miniature greenhouse with a very unique view. Its presence however still gave the rest of the building a very authoritarian feel. Which, in fairness, is exactly the atmosphere the current Trainmaster, old Schlick Fellowers, wanted. Relaxed and free to grow and be independent, so long as you don’t forget who was really in charge.

Pacesetter pulled open the heavy wooden door before her and entered into the building’s breakroom. Like many other things with the railroad, it hadn’t started life out that way, but whatever its original purpose was had already been lost to history. A few tables intermixed with chairs and old passenger car seats now being used as couches, only added to the feeling of haphazard planning. The permanently oil stained tile flooring in the doorway acted as both welcome mat and red carpet, guiding those who entered along the expected pathway through the room. Given the proximity of the furniture, she had little choice but to add her own dirt and coal dust from outside into the same trail laid down by so many before her. Normally there would be a pony or two from the repair shops, relaxing and chatting it up with the ponies who worked in the building, swearing that the coffee here was better than their own breakrooms, but not now. Even the walls felt empty, as the usual crew lists that were posted on the far side were missing, their clean outlines standing out from the dusty wall around it. Just as she began to ponder if she may be the only one in the building, at once there came the sound of hoofsteps from down the hall, and around the corner came none other than Schlick himself. He had a collection of rolled up paper in his saddlebags, with one overflow being carried in his teeth.

“Oh!”, he exclaimed, partially muffled by the paper that he nearly dropped in his surprise. “Msh ‘Setter! Can you gii mwe a oof whish shish?”

She cocked her head and asked, “I’m sorry, what?”

Schlick begrudgingly spit the roll out onto the floor. “Help, Ms. Setter. I’m asking for help.”

“Oh! Sorry.”, she said as she gave a sheepish smile. “Are...are those the new crew sheets??”, she excitedly asked.

“Heh, why yes, yes they are here. I just got them all worked out and was about to put them…”, Schlick was cut off by Pacesetter rushing over and grabbing the one off the floor. She took it and quickly unrolled it against the wall, feverishly scanning it for her name.

“*Ahem*, Ms. Setter, I know you are excited about all this, but unless you are really eager to find out what lunch is going to be today, I doubt you will find what you are looking for on that one.”

She stopped and focused on the top of the page. The words “Riveryard Lunch Catering” seemed to glare back at her as she folded her ears in embarrassment. “Ah…right. Sorry.”, she replied as she slowly rolled it back up.

“Here”, Schlick said as he reached back and pulled out a scroll from among his bags. He passed it to her with a forehoof, “This might be what you are looking for.”

She traded the scrolls, “...thanks”. Much calmer this time, she unfurled the paper on the floor and was greeted by the far more welcoming title of “Train Conductors and Assignments”. Here it was, a list of all the Vanhoover conductor names was on the left side of the page, with plenty of space for writing in what their next few months of work would be! Schlick set his bag down on the back of one of the chairs, and began to shuffle through it, pulling out various other scrolls while she eagerly went down the list until she found her name. There it was! All the way at the bottom, denoting her newness to the position, but it was on there nonetheless! She looked up excitedly wide eyed and smiling at Schlick, until it vanished from her face, and she looked back down at the page. Unlike all the others on there, her name already had something written next to it in bold letters but taking up a fraction of the space provided.

“Extra Board?”, she asked as she looked back up at him. “What’s Extra Board?''

“It’s a new position we are trying out. It has worked rather well back east, I figured it was time we gave it a shot.”

“Ok...but what is it?”

“You know how we normally would just have the yard crews or whoever was available take whatever extra trains we would have come up? Well, traffic is getting so busy and hectic that ponies are spending more time over the road than here in the yard where they need to be. Hence the change.”

“Okay…”, she tried to take in what he had just said. “But, why already me? Why not have this be a part of the normal schedules that anypony can vie for?”

“I’ve already asked every other conductor here Ms. Setter. This being a new position with a different workflow, I wanted to ask and see if anyone wanted to jump on this first. As you can likely guess, nopony did. And you being at the bottom of the list...I had no choice.”

“...so I’m still confused”, she admitted after a few seconds. “What...what does this mean for me? Like...do I have a regular start time, or heck even a regular crew?”

“I do plan to have assignments for you posted on the “Extra Board” board here a few days before the run day at the latest.”, he gestured vaguely to the new bulletin board she had missed when first walking in. “That way you will have some idea of what to expect, but of course you are the first we will call if we need an extra crew.”

“...Ah. Okay...”, she looked down as she thought of her next response. “So...does that mean I even get a regular set of ponies with me, or does that change each time too?", the dropping of her tone giving away the rapid loss of excitement at this latest development.

Schlick sighed, “Well, we’d like to. Here, you may want to look at this next”, and he handed her another scroll. She let the other one roll up under its own tension as she spread out the next page. “Train Crews” greeted her this time at the top, with the same conductor names from before organized in a grid pattern, the names and titles of some of their crew members underneath showing who was assigned to who. Once again, at the bottom, she found her name. The Engineer and Firepony slots had been written in, but then hurriedly scratched out with no names to yet replace them, instead next to them was the acronym “TBD”.

“TBD?”, she asked.

“Well…”, Schlick now almost looked a little embarrassed. “I’m sure you saw the new engine sitting outside, right? We’re being forced to trial it out here, though I wasn’t even told about this until yesterday...” His face scrunched up into a scowl, “Already I’ve been told everything from Portherd’s ponies will take care of the whole crew to us being responsible for everything. Then this morning it was “Oh, just have a regular train crew, they will take care of the engine crew” until it suddenly was “Nevermind, they are only leaving one pony behind, you will need to find someone to assist them.” I swear Canterlot can’t just make up its damn mind before telling us anything...makes for such a shit show…”, he trailed off as he shook his head. Pacesetter continued to stand there silently, unsure of what to say next.

“...Sooooo?”, she finally asked.

Schlick sighed, “Meaning I’m sure whoever they are leaving behind will be your Engineer, and I’ll still have to pull somepony to fire for them. As for your Brakepony, I haven't even had a chance to go through their own bid sheets and see who wants to be with who. I imagine a lot of it will be the same as last time, but where that leaves you...I have no idea.”

Pacesetter was trying her hardest to hide her disappointment in all of this. She knew going in she wasn’t going to get any of the better assignments, but to now not even know what in Equestria she might be doing next week; it felt more like starting over from the bottom than a promotion, that much was for sure. As she was busy thinking everything over, Schilick turned back to his papers and began to hang them.

“Still willing to lend a hoof Ms. Setter?”,he asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Oh! Uh, sure.”, she replied half-heartedly. Had she really been so foolish to think she was going to get anything good as her first true schedule assignment? She began to worry if this was going to turn into little more than a few moons worth of MOW assignments, the very ones she had been avoiding like the plague since she first began. Sure, the work wasn’t that hard, but ponies on those crews spent far more time living in their cabooses than their actual homes. And for her just having dedicated so much time lately to being able to afford a home on her own, it felt almost like a slap in the face.

The two quickly finished the task, Pacesetter almost missing Schlick saying “Thanks” as he left to return to his office. As she stood there alone, a different thought drifted into her mind. True, “Extra Board” may mean any train including the bad ones, but it was still any train. Meaning she still may have her chance on one of the higher trains after all! This improved her spirits almost immediately, as she quickly realized that this was likely her best chance to ever be on one of those runs without several more years of experience behind her! She stopped herself though as she realized she still had no idea who she would be working with. For all she knew at this point it was going to be ponies she had never worked with before, let alone seen.

‘Or worse, one of them could even be the pony from the cab that had waved’, she thought, shuddering as she tried to be hopeful at their hopefully soon departure. Whatever the case, she had no reason to wait inside anymore, the answers she had wanted already having been answered. Schlick would have answers about her crew soon enough, might as well try to kill more time and take a walk around the yard until then. The cool air greeted her as she pushed open the door and headed back outside.

Author's Note

Quick reference for terms:
Roundhouse - Classic building for storing and working on steam locomotives. Usually comes with a "Turntable", the thing that you can spin equipment on.
Locomotive VS Engine - For the purpose of this story, interchangeable as it is in normal speech. Technically speaking, an "Engine" is only the propulsion part of the overall "locomotive".
Trainmaster - the person/pony in charge of general train operations, all crews in their area, etc.

Apologies if this is rather lengthy. Found out real quick I can't exactly have locations in the story without some sort of explanation behind them, hence how wordy this chapter is. I had to cut a few paragraphs for the final draft as I found I get too caught up in world building. All in due time!

We are in the railyard now! I promise there will be more train stuff soon.

Edit 1 8/23: Typo on "Portherd"'s name. Was typed as "Portheard". Horse puns, not hearing puns are the name of the game.

Ch.3 "Who's on first?"

Chapter 3

Who’s on first?

Pacesetter wasn’t quite sure how long she had been wandering for. She had wound her way around the entire yard at least once by now, everywhere from the riverbank to the shop buildings and back. She’d even crossed the western bridge to the Switchtower that stood guard between the end of the freight yard and “Riveryard” itself, chatting it up with the pony inside for a good long while. The glasses wearing light green mare who was stationed inside seemed happy for the company and someone to talk to in between the few times she had to get up to throw switches or adjust signals. Funny thing was, as Pacesetter started back across the bridge after what felt like at least an hour, she didn’t even know the mare’s name. She wondered what kind of pony could work all day like that with no one to talk to, as it must get incredibly lonely.

By now the commotion of earlier had long passed, the only thing remaining was the new engine itself still sitting under steam on the ready track with not a soul around it. She had taken great care to avoid the area as she had wandered around, but now figured she was due a closer look at her future “crew member”. As she approached, the true size of the machine became very apparent. Considerably larger than the “Mountaineer” that she had just spent the last two months working behind, it was possible even two “Mountaineers”s back-to-back still wouldn't match the length of the newcomer! If she were asked what the color of the locomotive was, her first answer would be black, but that wasn’t entirely accurate. The tender, cab, and some outer pieces were black yes, but the boiler jacket had a more subtle deep blue tint to it that seemed to reflect light more akin to polished metal than paint. Brass trimmings on the boiler, domes, and the short straight smokestack accented the engine, as well as the fresh whitewall paint on every wheel. In large gold lettering on the tender was the number “485”, matched in kind by the rather simple looking red round number plate which hung centered on the front end. The builder’s plate near the front stuck out to her, as instead of the usual Baldwhinney round or Alcolt rectangle plate designs the rest of the “Road” engines carried, it was a shield, the very same style she had only ever seen on some of the small switch engines like “Rainy Goat''. Prominently molded into the top of the plate was “H.K. PORTHERD COMPANY, MANEHATTEN”, with its serial number and build date in less prominent font below. Now standing directly next to it, her eyes drifted up and stared at the side of the engine’s cab. Typically, it was here that the name of the locomotive was proudly displayed, but as far as Pacesetter could tell it was just a collection of incoherent scribbles in the same gold paint as the lettering on the tender. ‘No…non…pair?’, she tried mouthing it out as her brain tried to make heads or tails of it. Infact, she was so focused that she missed the trickle of water starting to pour out from one of the pipes below the cab.

With a sudden “pwhoosh”, a small burst of steam erupted from in front of her, showering the front of her legs in a collection of hot water and mud that had been kicked up in the process. She yelped instinctively and quickly hopped back a couple of steps, only to look up again to see an unfortunately familiar dark colored pony staring back wide eyed at her.

“Oh shit! I…I thought I was all alone out here! Are you ok?”, he worriedly asked.

Pacesetter started to try to shake the mud off her legs, “Yea I’m ok…what in Tartarus are you doin’ slammin the injector on like that without lookin’?! Damn new engine watchponies, I swear I’ll take this all the way to Fellowers if I have to!”

His expression calmed a little as he raised his left eyebrow, “Who?”

“Who?!? Our Trainmaster shit for brains! I swear you ain’t gonna last long here if you already forgot-”, she stopped as a thought crossed her mind. “Wait…you ain’t one of the new watchponies, are you?”

He shook his head, “Sorry Miss, just got into town not even a few hours ago.” He looked down at the mess she was still trying to shake loose from, “I am really sorry, it’s no excuse, but I’ve been having a really rough morning…my mind isn’t in the right place. I should’ve looked to make sure nopony was close by.”

Pacesetter let out a sigh as she tried to calm herself down, “No, it’s ok. That makes two of us that ain’t exactly having the best morning so far…” She glanced around, “I take it y’all are one of the ‘Portherd’ ponies that brought this thing in then huh?”

He seemed to flatten at her question, “Yea, we ran it over the pass in the dark; to say I am exhausted after being up all night would be an understatement. But, Mr. Portherd wanted to make sure it was here by today to ensure it was ready to start testing and meet the crew who we would be working with.” He rolled his eyes, “Well, I say ‘we’, I should say ‘me’, didn’t find out until just before we got here that I would be testing alone…”

She started to say something to the effect of how brilliant it was to leave the pony who couldn’t even be bothered to check before turning the injectors on with the very large, likely expensive new engine, but stopped. It was painfully obvious the stallion was upset, and if this was in fact the pony who she would have to be working with, the last thing she wanted to do was antagonize him more. As if he could hear her thoughts, his expression quickly changed to one of amusement as he tried to hold in a laugh with his hooves. She realized why far too late, and her cheeks became red hot with embarrassment as she snapped her mouth shut.

He finally couldn’t hold it, “Hahahaha! So YOU’RE the pony from earlier! Is that a habit of yours to stare at handsome engine ponies with your mouth wide open? If so, I’m flattered!”

“I...YOU-”, she stammered out. “I WAS going to insult ya, but stopped as to not make you more upset! Next time I won't be so kind!”

He laughed again, “Next time? Ha, I mean no offense Miss, but unless you are assigned to the top Conductor around here, I doubt I’ll be seeing you very much. I don’t intend to stay here any longer than I absolutely have to, just long enough to test ‘Nonpareil’ here and then go back home. I want nothing to do with this place.”

“Colt are you in for a rude shock…”, she said more to herself as she shook her head. The pony in the cab’s ears perked up, and it looked like he was about to ask her what she had said when a third voice interrupted them both.

“‘Set!! I knew that was your voice I heard yelling!”

The two turned to see a magenta mare happily trotting over from behind the roundhouse, her black cap and blue and yellow mane bouncing as she did. As she approached, the pony in the cab pushed in the brass handle to shut the injector off and moved away from the window to check something.

“...Jazz??”, Pacesetter very confusingly responded as the mare quickly closed the distance and forcibly embraced her in a hug. “I...I don’t understand, why are you here? I thought you didn’t come back from visiting your family until tomorrow!”

Jazz released her friend, “What, and miss all the excitement of today? I’m disappointed in you, ‘Set. I thought you knew me better.”

Pacesetter smiled a confused grin at her Brakepony friend, “Excitement? Over what, the riveting nature of scheduling meetings?” She chuckled, “You’re right, I guess I don’t know you very well.”

Jazz rolled her eyes, “Not that! I mean, well yes partially that but…” She paused as she started to bubble with excitement, “Oooohhh I can’t help it! Guess who’s crew I got onto??”

Pacesetter’s eyes lit up, “Oh! Did you finally get onto the ‘Fireball Mail’ like you’ve been wanting?! I heard ‘Hot Shot’ was needing a new brakepony recently.”

“I did consider it”, Jazz laughed, “...until I realized, why work with somepony as boring as her when I can get in with Equestria’s newest and bestest conductor!”

Pacesetter was dumbstruck as she realized she was talking about her, “Wait, what?! I mean, wow thanks but, why?? You have the seniority; you could’ve easily been with anypony on nearly any run out of here! Why me?”

Jazz put a leg around her, “Exactly! After only three years I could've been with any conductor, but I didn’t want just any conductor.” She chuckled, “You remember the promise we made years ago when we met on the train ride here, right??”

“Whoever got promoted to Conductor first, the other would be their Brakepony”, Pacesetter now laughed with her. “Yea Jazz, I remember! I just didn’t think you would actually follow through with it.” Jazz scoffed and put on a look of disgust, which Pacesetter dispatched with a quick tap on the shoulder. “I’m kidding! Well tell me! You obviously have talked to Schlick, who else did we get?”

“Oh, am I not enough??”, Jazz gave a flick of her eyelashes before breaking with another chuckle. “Well, I better be, ‘Minimal Crew’ I believe is the term he used. Four ponies total, with extras being added only for specific runs. He didn’t say much past that, was too busy arguing with some round elder stallion about something or another.”

“Did the other pony have brass glasses and a green vest on?” The two turned to see the graphite stallion now sitting in the gangway between the engine and tender facing them.

“Uhhh, yea?”, Jazz replied. “‘’Set, who is your friend here?”, she asked, eyeing him up.

“Uhhh-“, was all Pacesetter could get out, realizing she didn’t actually know.

“Oh, I’m Iron!”, he said. “Did you happen to hear what they were talking about? Mr. Portherd and this…Schlick Fellowers was it?”

“That’s right”, Jazz responded. “And no, not exactly. Just that neither seemed exactly happy at the situation. It was all mostly the same stuff I’m sure ‘Set here already told you.”

“Told him what?”

“Told me what?”, the other two said in unison.

“Well, why else would you two be out here yelling? I thought you were being a good Conductor and telling your Engineer whatever bad news had this…’Portherd’ so upset.”, she replied with a smile. Iron now stared at Pacesetter as she closed her eyes.

“Wait…you’re the Conductor assigned to me?!”, Iron retorted. “What was that you said?”, gesturing to Jazz, “that she was the newest Conductor out here?? Oh it’s no wonder why Mr. Portherd is so upset, you think your T.M. would know better!” Iron now laughed, “Oh I am so sorry ladies, I think there has been some misunderstanding. You can’t have a rookie crew paired with a test engine, that just isn’t how it works! In the past we’ve always, borrowed the most senior crew, that way we have ponies who actually know what they are doing so ‘we’ can focus on the locomotive.”

The two mares scoffed in unison. “Woah woah, hold on there mister ‘Iron’”, Pacesetter sneered at him. “We’ve been workin’ out of here for the better part of two years! I assure you we know our jobs and our territory just fine.”

Now it was Iron’s turn to scoff, “Yeah, I mean YOU might know it in general terms, but I need a crew who knows the road like the back of their hoof. Who can help guide me on certain sections, where the curves are, the grades and everything. You can’t seriously expect me to put my trust into two rookie brakeponies, recent promotion or not!”

“You should be happy to have us!”, Jazz shot back. Glancing to Pacesetter she added, “Unless you heard differently, we aren’t even getting a regular Firepony on our crew.”

Iron’s mouth dropped, “Not even…WHAT?! The entire point of this endeavor is to TEST this engine! How in all of your country bumpkin west coast thinking is that supposed to work?! We need a consistent firepony to gauge what the engine is doing! I just don’t-.”

“In case you haven’t noticed you pompous prick…”, Pacesetter cut in, “EVERYPONY is shorthooved from here to Phillydelphia! I won’t lie, it’s likely why I made Conductor as quick as I did. That doesn’t mean I don’t know my stuff, but I’m now easily the youngest Conductor running out of Vanhoover.” She paused as she snorted at him, “Speaking of, ain’t you a little young and green to be in charge of testing engines? Y’all must be downright desperate for help!”

Iron flashed with anger, “I have been working with steam locomotives NEARLY my whole life!” He jumped down and got in Pacesetter’s face, “I have been testing engines since before you even likely SAW the railroad, let alone even BEGIN to comprehend all that goes on!” He turned and began to storm off in the direction Jazz had come from, “Offices are this way, yea?! No way in HELL am I putting up with this!”

As he moved away, Pacesetter, who was now boiling over herself and ready to fight, was stopped after a step by Jazz sticking a leg across her friend’s chest. “Let him go ‘Set. I know that look when I see it.”, she calmly said.

“But-…He!…”, she yelled in frustration. Jazz had a point; she was more than ready to tear him apart right here in the ash ballast of the yard. She took a deep breath to try and calm down, “Did you hear how he talked to us?! Who does he think he is??”

“A pony too big for his own hat who thinks he is hot shit?”, Jazz replied with eyebrows raised. “Look, I get it, but fighting here will only make it worse. Not to mention put your new promotion in jeopardy.”

Pacesetter sighed as she fully calmed down, fully agreeing with her friend. “Yea…I never would live that one down huh? Beat the snot out of my first engineer within mere minutes of meeting him? I’d be lucky to get transferred to station duties if I still had a job.”

“Exactly!” Jazz turned her head and watched Iron disappear around the corner. “Let him cause his own damage. We don’t have to see him again until tomorrow morning, and who knows? By then he may be on his way back east in a medical bed, courtesy of some other pony’s mean left hook.”, she said with a wink, shoving into Pacesetter’s shoulder.

“You even knew what I was going to open with?”, Pacesetter complained with a laugh. “Wow, you do have me pegged huh Jazz?”

“Somepony has to keep you out of trouble,” Jazz replied slyly. “Come on, I don’t know if you’re hungry, but I’m starved. I’ll buy ya brunch if you’re willing to listen to my family stories from the reunion!”

“I ain’t hungry, but I’ll still join you.”, Pacesetter said as they started to walk. “Just…please pick anywhere other than ‘Haybagel’.

“What?! But, but that’s like your favorite-“

“I’ll explain later,” she said with a laugh.

Author's Note

Oooh boy. This one was a struggle. This is the first time I've completely thrown out most of the chapter after the initial draft, but I think it was worth it. I really wanted the dialogue to feel tight, without dragging on forever without moving the story forward. Speaking of, "the next morning" is where wheels start rolling, literally.

Terms Used!
Road-Short for "railroad", or referring to a specific area of track.
Injector - a steam powered device that forces water into an engine's boiler while under pressure. Cool thing if you ever want to look it up.
Engine VS Locomotive - Technically speaking, an "engine" is part of a "locomotive", where the latter is the entire machine itself, with "engine" sometimes referring to just the power bits. In common speak, they are rather interchangeable.

If you want more of an idea of locomotive styling mentioned here, look up examples of 1880-1900s American Steam locomotives, as that is the athetic I'm rolling with.

As always, if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer!

Ch. 4 “Early in the Morning”

Chapter 4

Early in the Morning

Having an excuse to talk and hang out with Jazz was always welcome, and the two had ended up spending the rest of the day together, catching up on things and theorizing how their first day working as “extras” with this ‘Iron’ would go. Jazz had remained her usual hopeful and confident self, thinking Iron would come in equally optimistic; his previous worries quelled by Schlick and Portherd, ready to work. Pacesetter, on the other hoof, secretly wished Iron’s clear desire to not stay would be ultimately granted, and therefore they could skirt having to deal with the troubled pony altogether. After all, the first day of a new assignment usually came with its own troubles, why add more?

Even so, Pacesetter had come into work well rested and confident it was going to be a good day, regardless of the circumstances. She had even shown up early to get their orders for the day, the sun not even over the distant peaks as she made her way up into the “Call Room”. The little room, nestled in the corner of the roundhouse’s second story, is where crews usually meet to talk over how their day is going to go before going to handle their own duties. What normally doesn’t happen is ponies using it for sleeping quarters; yet as Pacesetter reached the top of the stairs, she was met with the sight of her would-be Engineer, softly snoring in a chair, head tilted back, with even a little drool spilling out onto his chest. She stopped, rather amused and considered waking him right then and there, but decided to settle on a quiet chuckle as she walked past. If this pony was desperate enough to sleep sitting up in one of the most uncomfortable chairs in existence, he deserved the next half hour or so before the rest of their crew arrived. She settled in on the soot stained couch a few steps away, deciding to kill time by going through the day’s paperwork, occasionally looking out the window at the quiet railyard. Other than the motions of Ponies through the dirty backlit windows of the shops, the only activity to be seen was a few birds chirping and chasing one another from the frosted rooftops of the rail cars sitting in the yard. In the distance could be heard the faint ringing of a trolley’s bell, likely their first of the day as the city slowly began to wake. Pacesetter quietly sat and took it all in, occasionally amusing herself by trying to time Iron’s snoring with the ticking of the clock that hung next to the stairs. After some time, the sudden thudding in the stairwell announced the arrival of someone coming up from the shops below. The clanking of a canteen hitting metal buttons made it obvious who it was.

“Good mornin’ Jazz!”, Pacesetter called out, deliberately a little loud in an attempt to quickly wake Iron before their Brakepony reached the top. Iron snapped awake with a jolt, eyes wide but unsure where to look, settling on Jazz as she entered the doorway.

“Hey! Uh-“, Jazz now stopped, her smile turning into a look of confusion as she stared back at Iron’s just as confused wide eyes. “…didn’t expect both of you to be here already. Have you been waiting long?”

“Oh no, you’re still somewhat early”, Pacesetter replied, taking Jazz’s gaze as Iron blinked rapidly and shook his head trying to wake up. “I was just going over our papers while ‘sleeping beauty’ here was catchin’ some rest. Ain’t that right?”, she joked as she kicked the chair closest to her, shoving it into Iron’s with a small thud.

Iron gave a big yawn and stretched, “How kind of you to let a pony get some sleep. Though as you can imagine it wasn’t the best...”

“Not the best?” Jazz said with a smirk as she went to sit near Pacesetter, “I could hear you from downstairs! I thought someone was moving chairs around up here with all that racket.”

“Yeah yeah…” Iron quietly said with a yawn, “Well, despite my thoughts about it, it seems we are stuck together after all. Not for my lack of trying…” he trailed off as he yawned again, Pacesetter and Jazz exchanging looks as he did so. “To make an overly long story short, no matter what I proposed, this is what both my boss and your boss think is best. That said, what’s our day look like Ms. Pacesetter?”, he finished looking expectantly at her.

“Uhhh, well…”, she began, looking over the order sheet sitting next to her. “I was gonna wait for whoever our Firepony is to arrive, but I guess I can tell y’all now.” She cleared her throat, “Startin’ off simple, we got a relatively easy trip on a joint low priority freight to Uniton. We’ve been paired with Conductor Daylight’s crew on train 128, so we’ll be doubled up with them until the top of the hill. Once there, we’ll take our cars up the new line to Bent Tree, tie ‘em down, and caboose hop back to Hermansa where there should be some boxcars we’ll bring all the way back here. Dependin’ on “Time and Performance”, we’ll get new orders then. Questions?”

Iron’s eyes narrowed in slight confusion, “Aside from not knowing where any of this is, you consider doubling trains as simple? I expected more of a point to point run with no stops, but I’m all for a challenge I guess.”

Pacesetter lifted the papers and pointed to the area of writing she had quoted from, “Mr. Fellowers himself wrote it out in the notes. He thinks it will be a good chance to not only test the engine, but allow you to learn the line without havin’ to assign a pilot engineer to ride with us. When there ain’t another engine, he specifically wants me in the cab after Uniton, so I can tell y’all where everythin’ is.”

Iron had begun to mutter something of the blind leading the blind when they were interrupted by the sound of yet more hoofsteps clodding up the stairs. He and the other two looked over to see a tan colored pony coming up, eyes barely open from exhaustion. His face seemed a little damp, likely from a hurried wash in the sink downstairs, though he had missed some soot and oil marks that were as dark black as his mane and tail. He seemed to glare at Iron for a moment as he reached the top of the stairs, but quickly looked to Pacesetter and Jazz.

“Morning everyone”, he said with a yawn. “Sorry if I’m late, I must've gotten the wrong time…”

“Sander?”, Jazz asked with a cough, nearly choking on the danish she was now nibbling on from her bag. “Are they making you fire for us after your overnight shop shift??”

“Well…that’s what I was told.”, he said as he sat between Iron and Pacesetter. He looked to the latter and saw the concerned look she was giving him. “Oh, heh, don’t worry. I’ve only been on the clock since just before dawn, I just haven’t had my coffee yet. I was expecting to do my regular switching duties after my quick morning downstairs, but when old Minturn…requested to get me out of the yard for once, well…you know I couldn’t say no.”

Pacesetter sighed, “Well, I’m glad to hear y’all ain’t firing again after another all nighter in the shops. Don’t need you fallin’ asleep coming downhill or anything. Like I was just tellin’ everypony else-.” She paused as she motioned behind him, “Oh! Sander, in case y’all haven’t met, this here is Iron Horse, he-“

“-is the one who got left behind with us…”, Sander jeered as he half turned towards Iron. “Yeah, we’ve already met.”

The room became awkwardly quiet with this sudden outburst. After what felt like minutes of exchanging looks between them, Iron moved first. “Well-”, he said with a sigh as he stood up from his chair, “...I already know what the plan is.” He looked past Sander to a somewhat concerned Pacesetter, “I’ll fill him in on the engine. See you trackside?”

Pacesetter blinked a few times trying to form a response. “Uhhh…sure. Sounds…good?”

Seemingly satisfied, Iron quickly headed for the stairs, Sander begrudgingly getting up to follow. As the latter reached the stairs, he turned back and saw the now fully confused and concerned look on the other two’s faces. He gave a little snort, rolled his eyes and said in a low voice, “I’ll tell you later”. With that, he quickly joined Iron at the bottom of the stairs.

The two mares left in the room didn’t quite know what to make of what had just happened. Sure Sander was usually quick to upset, but Iron’s seeming indifference to it all seemed near baffling to them. Jazz tried to make a quick joke about how maybe Sander was upset that Iron had taken “his'' chair in the call room, but otherwise she was stumped as to why the two of them already hated each other. With some hesitation, Pacesetter decided to let it go and see how things played out. After all, they still seemed willing to work together; and the last thing she wanted on her first real day as Conductor was to annul her train due to her engine crew coming to blows. To her, there was a good chance this was some minor early morning spat between two bull headed ponies, and she didn’t want to make it worse if she didn’t have to.

With that set aside for now, the two grabbed their things and headed downstairs into the suddenly deafening pounding of the roundhouse floor below. At the bottom of the steps it became apparent why, as the locomotive nearest to them was busy being the target of some shop pony’s latest aggression; or at least it’s how it looked, as they were busy hammering away at some unseen part. Pacesetter and Jazz headed down the walkway towards the locker rooms, grabbed their things, and headed out the side door into the rail yard.

“So which one is our’s ‘Set?”, Jazz asked as the pair headed towards the diverse collection of cabooses next to the carshop. At one time, each and every Conductor, no matter how new, had their own individual caboose assigned to them and only them, similar to how engineers had their own engines. Everything from paint color to design elements were up for personalization, so long as it didn’t impact the performance of the car. This of course resulted in no two looking alike, but over time had turned into a nightmare for the railroad for one big reason. If the car wasn’t ready to work, neither would the crew. In the early days when traffic was light, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but as the number of trains increased and schedules got tighter, the problem only became worse and worse. Years prior, Manehatten had been the first to change, implementing a Caboose “Pool” instead of dedicated cars to crews. Now a crew would simply be assigned whatever car was first available at train time, thus reducing crew down time. All the existing cabooses were standardized with a coat of bright red paint, and newer cars of standard design were ordered. Vanhoover, true to form, had only just implemented a small caboose pool of their own. For now, they were content to leave their existing cabooses untouched with their respective senior conductors, but everyone newer got assigned to the ‘Pool’. Despite the intention, this small collection was far from the standardized ideals of back east. Case in point was the recently arrived #0300, so recently in fact it hadn’t even spent its first winter on Equestria’s western slopes! With its heavy iron under frame and purpose built wheelsets, some claimed it rode better than the finest parlor cars, though this of course had yet to have been officially proven.

On the other end of the pool spectrum was the little ‘059’, practically hidden from view behind the looming ‘0300’ it sat coupled up to. To call this car a shack on wheels would be almost giving it too much credit. It was battered, beaten, in desperate need of a complete overhaul, and rode so rough some crews swore they’d rather walk than work in it. It was so disliked in fact, that the ‘059’ had almost met its end recently, when it was spared an untimely plunge off the then open dockside swing bridge by a rookie Brakie jumping on and applying the brakes at the last moment. No one could quite figure out how the car had not only managed to get loose, but then proceed to roll up the long incline to the bridge to its near doom with no way of gaining momentum on the level track. Certainly the switch crew and their engine who were working nearby had nothing to do with it, or at least if they did, no one ever officially came forward. The Brakepony’s reward for her heroic action was a transfer away from her home and down to the hot sands of Las Pegasus. As luck would have it, this was the car assigned to Pacesetter and her crew.

She took the first step aboard, the springs groaning and the car actually tilting as she put her weight upon it. Jazz would’ve chuckled about her friend needing to lay off the pastries had she herself not still been in slight denial.

“How…how did we get this thing?”, Jazz finally asked as Pacesetter opened the rear door. “I thought it would still be in the shop for-“

“The broken brake riggin’?”, Pacesetter finished for her. “Yea, I thought so too, but-“ she gestured towards the bottom of the car, “-take a look for yourself.”

Jazz leaned down and peered at the underside. Sure enough, the freshly painted parts stood out among their battered surroundings. “…so if you knew why didn’t you say anything to me earlier??”, Jazz demanded.

“What, and miss this reaction?” Pacesetter chuckled back. “Honestly? I was hopin’ it was a typo and we could take somethin’ else, but, as you can see-“, she tapped a hoof on the caboose wall nearest her and a smattering of red paint flakes fell off, “-we get the joy of bein’ cozy and shaken to death today.”

Jazz gave a disgruntled huff and pulled herself aboard. Inside, while not as sooty and stained as the exterior, was still more than dirty enough to sneeze at. “You’d think if they were putting this back in service they would at least clean it first…”, she half mumbled as she tossed her work bag up into the cupola.

Pacesetter, as she set her own paperwork and bag down at the conductor’s desk said, “Look, I ain’t happy either, but it’s what we gotta use. Why don’t you go ahead to the engine lead and help Iron get that engine of his in position, alright? I’ll…try to clean up a little and get this set up before we leave town.” Jazz’s reply was a quick chuckle and a wish of good luck as she headed off to collect their engine. The last thing Jazz heard as she walked away was a clatter and a yelp of surprise, most likely from Pacesetter trying to wrangle a broom out of the onboard tool closet.

Author's Note

Ch. 4 after…nearly six months. Well, hopefully you are reading this in the future. Life has been life lately, but as always if you have any questions I’m happy to answer!