//------------------------------//
// 2 No. 2003 
// Story: HorkosWorks 
// by Brass Polish 
//------------------------------//

	The 150th anniversary gala guests were lined up in the loco yards along a tall wooden fence and next to a snack table. Jumping Bean stepped smartly before the crowd as one of the shed doors opened. He bore no sign of disdain at the refreshments most of the guests had with them, but no one who’d been on the evening train yesterday had forgotten his strange reaction to Trailblazer letting them all know that food and drink was allowed in the yard.
“Thank you for your attendance, mares and stallions,” Jumping Bean said. “These yards have not been open to the public for years, and your behaviour so far might well prompt the management to make this an annual thing.”
Steam began to billow from the open shed door.
“For this morning’s demonstration of the engine crews’ daily routine,” announced Jumping Bean, “I present to you our main goods engine; no 2003.”
With a bark like a dog behind a megaphone, a massive red steam engine moved slowly out into the open and stopped next to the water tower.
“And the one giving this practical demonstration… our general manager, Brass Polish.”

A tall green pegasus jumped down from 2003’s cab.
“Hey you lot,” he waved to the visitors. “Nice to see you all here. So, let me tell you about this engine. She was designed by William Stallionier, and like the rest of our locomotive fleet, runs on coal and water, and needs to be refilled regularly.”
Sweetie Belle chuckled quietly. “So a steam engine needs to be watered constantly. I’ll be darned. Lazybug’s a steam engine.”
Lazybug said nothing as he sprayed himself with his spritzing bottle. Brass Polish went into several details about 2003, such as her wheel arrangement, her tender’s fuel storage capacity, and her tonnage with and without a tender.
“Anyone have any questions before I show you how we fill the tender tank?” he asked.
Nyx raised her hoof. Lazybug and Diamond Tiara frowned. They knew Nyx wasn’t technically breaking the agreement she and Lazybug made outside the Crystal Empire because they weren’t in Cheerilee’s class at the moment.
“Yes?” Brass pointed to Nyx.
“Um, what are all those pipes for?” Nyx asked, pointing to the thin lashings of copper on the locomotive.
“Some of them are for the sanding gear, and some of them are for lubricating the joints,” answered Brass. “The sand gear is for getting better grip on the rails in wet weather. And when we oil certain points of this engine, some of it gets special treatment. This here…”
He indicated a small device on the engine’s frames above the running plate.
“Is an oil atomizer, invented by Stallionier. This is the only engine in the roster that has one. It uses steam to thin the oil out in certain areas. There’s a story here; it’s run by the same lever that expels condensed water from the cylinder drain cocks. And if you don’t put the brakes on and close the drain cocks, steam will build up in the cylinders and the engine will move off on her own, even if the regulator’s shut.”
“Rainbow definitely wouldn’t have liked this,” Scootaloo whispered to her friends.

Brass Polish assured everypony that he definitely screwed 2003’s hoofbrake down, so she wouldn’t go anywhere during the watering demonstration.
“It’s pretty straight forward,” he said. “Just open the lid, insert the water pipe, and pull the chain.”
He did the first two steps, but found the third step wasn’t getting results. No matter how hard he pulled the chain, no water came out of the pipe. Undaunted, Brass Polish flew up to the top of the water tower to look inside. He found only a few puddles of water on the bottom of the tank, along with “Give us back our sister” spray painted in large letters.
“Figures,” he groaned, and turned to face the guests. “Working on the railway is a demanding job, everypony. But some ponies really love it, and stick with it no matter how hard they have to work and how much of their time gets eaten up. There are a number of employees and volunteers on this railway whose families and friends can’t understand or cope with the nature of this business. They seem to think I’m stealing their loved ones from them, and every so often, I have to contend with acts of sabotage. That’s not the only reason ponies vandalise my property, but it’s a big one. I have to report the water tower tank has been drained. So I’m gonna take a few liberties and grab a cloud from the sky and drain the water from it into the tender tank.”
Scootaloo scratched her head as Brass took off. “Rainbow Dash said Finetooth Comb had all those window panes and spare levers. Maybe those are for whenever somepony vandalises the signalbox.”
“Wow. That signalmare must’ve thought Rainbow Dash was another vandal wanting payback for losing a friend to the railway staff,” said Apple Bloom. “Girls, I think we mighta found the problem the Map called our sisters for.”

Brass Polish descended from the sky holding a cloud, which he parked above the tender tank.
“So, any pegasi in the crowd who’d like to drain this cloud and fill the water tank?” he asked, scanning the crowd. “How about you? Wanna fly up here?”
Scootaloo’s face went a bit pink. “Oh. Uh, I can’t fly.”
Without missing a beat, Brass swooped down, and picked up Scootaloo, and flew up to 2003’s tender, perching Scootaloo on his back.
“Anything stopping you now?” he asked.
Scootaloo chuckled. “Nope.”
“Go on, then,” smiled Brass, pointing to the cloud hovering next to them. “It’s like milking a cow.”
Scootaloo grasped the cloud and gave it a squeeze. A stream of water dropped down into the open lid of the tender tank. Scootaloo and Brass were pleased, but they noticed the stream was getting wider. Scootaloo let go of the cloud, but the water flow kept increasing. Before either of them could speak, the tank was overflowing.
“How do I turn it off?” asked Scootaloo hastily as water gushed over the edges of 2003’s tender.
Brass sighed “Looks like a grabbed an arctic cloud. Sometimes they drift into town from the north. They’re not so easily controlled by pegasi. So we’ll just park the cloud above the water tower and let it drain.”
He took Scootaloo off his back and dragged the still spitting cloud away from the tender and over the water tower.

“Hey!” someone in the crowd shouted. “Who took my coffee?!”
Brass shot down rapidly and slammed his hoofs down on the ground next to 2003.
“JUMPING BEAN!” he roared.
Jumping Bean zoomed up to Brass.
“Yeah?” he yelped.
The crowd started to chatter amongst themselves. Jumping Bean’s appearance had changed drastically. His face was tense, his pupils has shrunk, his mane and tail had hairs out of place, and he was fidgeting. Brass looked back at the shed, and then glared at his guard.
“You know we have a crisis fund for relapsing after addiction therapy, right?”
Jumping Bean stammered. Brass glanced at the shed again.
“I trust that you didn’t know that,” he said. “You should have, though. You know we can’t have you drinking any coffee. You’ll never form a solid sleeping pattern if you keep downing that goo.”
He turned away from the shamefaced Jumping Bean and walked briskly into and out of the shed. When he returned, he was carrying a bag of money.
“Here,” he said, forcing it into Jumping Bean’s hoof. “Now get away from my engine and back to the clinic. We’ll keep watch over your brake van while you’re away. And don’t worry about the ghost tour tonight. I’ll get Trailblazer to take your place.”
Jumping Bean sighed. “Thanks, Brass.”
The same guest whose coffee had gone missing called out again.
“Oh, come on! He drank it all!” she pointed angrily at the empty coffee pots sitting pitifully on the snack table.
“Don’t let me catch you having a sugar crash, Beanie!” Brass called to his guard as he left the yard. “I’ll leave you wherever I find you! Even if it’s on the tracks!”
Scootaloo heard splashing coming from the base of the water tower and looked down.
“Brass! Water’s coming out of the pipe!”
“Oh. I forgot about the chain,” Brass grimaced. “Excuse me a minute.”
He flew up into the tower tank. Everypony could hear banging from within it, and when Brass re-emerged, he had a large bruise on his forehead.

The Crusaders couldn’t wait for the coaling demonstration to be over so they could go and tell Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash about the problems the railway workers were having. But the three council members were nowhere to be found. They split up into three pairs, and one of them stayed at the hotel in case they came back. It was dusk when Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow arrived at the lobby, and Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara told them what they’d witnessed in the yard.
“Golly. You six made more headway in one hour than we did in a whole day,” remarked Applejack.
“So this town’s full of vandals and stress cases, and this guy Brass Polish’s causing it,” said Rainbow Dash.
“I don’t think he’s the cause of it, Rainbow,” said Rarity. “From what these two fillies told us, and going by Finetooth Comb and Jumping Bean’s behaviour, it sounds utterly plausible that most of the strife is caused by the nature of the job.”
“Speaking of that,” said Applejack, “did y’all say Brass wants Trailblazer to take Bean’s place hosting that castle tour tonight?”
Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara nodded. They looked at the front desk. The day clerk was still there.
“Trailblazer shouldn’t have to work on his only night off this month,” frowned Rainbow Dash. “Let’s go to the station and make sure he’s not actually gonna go to the castle.”
At last, she, Applejack, and Rarity were on the same page. All three of them took off, right as Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Lazybug, and Nyx returned.

Two passenger trains was idling at Steeds Central. One was long, and was just leaving Platform 1 as Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity arrived. The other one, which was shorter, wasn’t ready to leave yet. And standing next to the brake van was a plainly unhappy Trailblazer.
“Hey Trailblazer, we’ve heard a silly rumour,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Is it that I’m covering for Jumping Bean while he’s away at coffee addiction relapse therapy?” asked Trailblazer. “If so, it’s not a rumour.”
“Why in Tartarus would you agree to this?” asked Applejack. “This was supposed to be your only night off this month.”
Trailblazer sighed. “It’s no different than any night off that’s ever been on my calendar.”
The council members blinked.
“I’m always having to cover for some poor driver or porter,” Trailblazer nodded.
“You’ve never been able to take your monthly night off?” gaped Rarity.
“One time, I did,” Trailblazer smiled wearily. “It was the happiest night of my life… and I was asleep through most of it… right here on the platform.”

“Trailblazer, you’re gonna drop like a stone any day now if you keep this up,” warned Applejack.
“More like any second,” put in Rainbow Dash.
“This is the life I chose, ladies,” said Trailblazer obstinately. “I have a responsibility to my caffeine-addicted colleague.”
“Trailblazer, we’d must speak with your manager, Brass Polish,” Rarity insisted.
“I appreciate your concern,” said Trailblazer, “but he’s gonna be…”
“It’s not just concern, darling,” interrupted Rarity. “We have a responsibility too.”
And she told them about the mission the enchanted Map in Princess Twilight’s castle had given her, Rainbow, and Applejack.
“And there is no question that the friendship problem we are meant to rectify in this town,” she concluded, “is that the demanding and exhausting nature of life on the railway is tearing families and friends apart.”
Trailblazer nodded. “Well, in that case, Brass Polish ought to be in the works shed damping fires in a few minutes.”
“The manager does that?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“He works just as much and just has hard as his staff and volunteers,” said Trailblazer, swaying a bit.

Applejack had no confidence in Trailblazer’s abilities.
“Are ya sure ya can’t get outta relieving Jumping Bean?” she asked. “I’d hate for my little sister to come back from the castle telling me the tour guide keeled over.”
Trailblazer suddenly stood upright and rigid.
“Your sister’s coming on the ghost walk?” he asked.
“So is mine,” said Rarity.
“Well I assure you, I will not be shirking my responsibilities,” said Trailblazer firmly, “I will perform the ghost tour in Beanie’s place, and I will tell supernatural tales that will set your young sisters’ imaginations to work.”
And he blew his whistle, announced to the passengers who’d been standing behind him and the council members that it was time to board, and walked into his brake van. Rarity spotted Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo in the crowd of passengers.
“I take it Lazybug, Diamond Tiara, and Nyx have gone off to the city ghost walk?” Rarity said as she and her colleagues walked alongside the coaches.
“Yep,” nodded Sweetie Belle. “So how are you gonna help solve the city’s friendship problem?”
“For a start, we’re off to the engine shed to have a word with Brass Polish,” said Rarity.
“We could offer to keep an eye out for vandals and saboteurs, and see where it goes from there,” suggested Rainbow Dash.
“If ya can’t keep watch on your money, what makes you think you can watch out for vandals?” sniggered Applejack.

The three Friendship Council members were still bickering when they arrived at HorkosWorks shed.
“Perhaps we should have spoken to an employee and gotten him to escort us here,” ventured Rarity as Applejack knocked on one of the shed doors. “Brass Polish is sure to consider us trespassers.”
“All we gotta do is tell him we’re here on royal business,” Applejack insisted.
The door opened and out came Brass Polish.
“Hullo,” he said, eyeing Applejack. “I remember you.”
Applejack blinked. “Ya do?”
“You paid to use one of our brake vans on a trip to Appaloosa so you could transport a tree,” Brass nodded. “And a herd of buffalos pinched it.”
“Oh. Right,” Applejack shuffled her hooves.
“Scared the stuffing outta one of our guards,” Brass went on, his frown becoming more pronounced as he spoke. “The story he gave me as to why he wasn’t in the van at the time it was stolen was because he got sick of hearing you being all soppy-woppy to Wil Bwoomberg. Wasn’t too happy when I heard about this debacle, on top of the loco’s blast pipe cracking during that trip causing a ton of platelayers to drop what they were doing to haul the whole train to Appaloosa when there were no spare engines available.”
“Well… ya got your brake van back, right?” Applejack said tentatively.
Brass’s expression relaxed a bit. “Yeah. And we dealt with the thieves as well. I guess it worked out OK. So what do you want?”
“Wait. What do you mean you dealt with the thieves?” asked Applejack.
“Just got some volunteer work outta the ringleader, Little Strongheart. She’s done good work for us on the Southern Region since then,” said Brass. “So what do you want?
“You made Little Strongheart work for…?”
Brass Polish grabbed Applejack’s hat and swatting her over the head with it.
“What do you flippin’ want?” he growled.
Rainbow Das hastily told Brass that they were in town on royal business to deal with a friendship problem.
“And you think my railway has something to do with it?” asked Brass calmly. “Well, I guess you’re right. I used to consider the ponies I worked with on this railway friends. Now they’re a means to an end to me. Not happy about that.”
And he beckoned Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity inside.

The high stone walls of the Caerfilly Castle courtyard made Trailblazer’s voice echo as he told his first ghost story to his ghost walk guests.
“This castle was once the home of the former rulers of the Crystal Empire after King Sombra had caused it to vanish. Princess Straightlace and Prince Resplendence lived quite contently here for several years, awaiting the undetermined return of the Empire they hadn’t managed to protect. Now Princess Straightlace had earned her wings, but never forgot her humble background. And when she and her husband were called away, she called upon a friend from her youth, Cinder Block, to sit for them while they were away from the castle. Cinder appeared keen to serve her friend, swearing on the tiara Straightlace gifted to her for the occasion that she would fulfil her request and keep the castle safe until they got back. They later returned to find that Cinder had staged a mutiny with their guards, who barred them from this castle and forced them to leave. Princess Straightlace felt betrayed and downhearted, especially when she discovered the tiara she had given to Cinder snapped in two outside in the yard. But Prince Resplendence wasn’t too bothered. He told his wife as they left the city that he had planted something on his throne when Cinder Block had made her promise to look after their home and their soldiers until they came back. What he placed on his throne… was Horkos’ emblem. Horkos was the guardian of promises, who punished those who made false vows. A small silver emblem was his window into Equestria, from which he could observe ponies making promises. He would leave the emblem if a pony he’d witnessed broke their promise, and he would take them away into his domain, where they would remain for life. Princess Straightlace dismissed her husband’s precaution at first, claiming that the emblem he’d inherited from his grandfather had a mere myth attached to it that could not help them. But when they returned with more soldiers to quell the munity, they found it empty. All the mutineers were outside waving white flags, and there was no trace of Cinder Block anywhere. None of the guards knew what happened to her, but the Prince and Princess knew. Unfortunately, they found they could not move back in. They never found Horkos’ emblem after they got back into the castle, and they considered it too risky to stay there if they unintentionally made a promise they couldn’t keep in the emblem’s presence. But even after they moved into a second new home, they became worried to make or break promises at all. Because no one knew where the emblem was. No one ever found it. It could be anywhere, making it dangerous to make false promises or break verbal contracts.”

A shiver ran through the crowd as the story came to a close.
“If you’d like to join me in the entrance hall, I’ll tell you more,” said Trailblazer, turning towards the large wooden front doors. “Of course, if you find yourself truly terrified by what I’m telling you, by all means, head back to the platform.”
He opened the doors, and most of the guests stepped forward. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo however were impeded.
“Come on,” hissed Sweetie Belle, grabbing their tails with her magic and dragging them away from the castle.
“What are you doing?” demanded Scootaloo. “The story wasn’t that scary.”
“Oh yes it was,” said Sweetie Belle, not breaking stride.
“Well if you’re scared,” frowned Apple Bloom as Sweetie Belle carried on dragging her and Scootaloo away, “why don’t you just go back to the train and let us…?”
“All three of us should go back,” insisted Sweetie Bell. “I think Trailblazer was trying to give a clue.”
“Well, you could use one,” groaned Apple Bloom.
Sweetie Belle got to the castle station platform and let go of her friends’ tails.
“I’m talking about how Brass Polish manages his workers and volunteers,” she said. “How he makes contracts. I think he has Horkos’ emblem.”

Scootaloo sighed. “I get it. HorkosWorks. Look, just because the works shed’s named after Horkos, doesn’t mean…”
“Don’t you remember what he was doing he was telling off Jumping Bean?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Trying not to flip his lid?” Apple Bloom recalled. “And failing?”
“He kept glancing at the shed. He asked if Jumping Bean knew about one of the company rules, and he said he believed he didn’t after he looked at the shed,” Sweetie Belle reminded them. “He was worried that Horkos’ emblem would punish Jumping Bean right in front of everypony. And when he sent him away, he said he’d make sure to keep his brake van safe. He’s a guard. He must have sworn to uphold his employment contract on his van.”
Scootaloo scratched her chin. “And maybe Finetooth Comb, the signalmare, swore on her signalbox. That’s why she has all those spare windows and signal levers. So she can fix it the second it gets damaged so the emblem doesn’t get her when someone trashes it.”
“Jumping Bean did say a lot happens in that works shed. Maybe Brass does hire all his workers and volunteers in there with Horkos’ emblem lying around,” Apple Bloom was suddenly frantic. “We gotta stop our sisters from offering him help!”
Sweetie Belle covered Apple Bloom’s mouth with her hoof and looked back at Trailblazer, who was still seeing guests into the main hall of the castle.
“We can’t let Trailblazer know we’re leaving to stop his boss,” she hissed. “We gotta make like we’re scared of his story. Then he can’t come after us while there are ponies who want to stay.”
“Can he come after us if we use that?” Scootaloo pointed to a siding where a pump trolley was parked.
A notice hung on the base read “Reserved for scared punters”.