The Transporter: Second Gear

by Unit_ZER0

Part 08: Torque Converter

After the events of the previous day, as well as the group discussion of their individual impressions, Ditzy Doo had found it very difficult to sleep. When she had gotten back to her home in Ponyville, she had wanted to tell Dinky all about her day, but the current restrictions on who was privy to just what she was taking part in had made that impossible, for the moment.

So she had instead told her daughter that today had been a very good day, and the two had spent the early evening making a special batch of carrot cake muffins, with cream cheese frosting. It had been a little harder than usual to carry the muffins to class today, since she had to keep them from falling over in the box, and losing that frosting, but the extra effort had been worth it, as she entered the classroom, dropped off her delicious cargo, and set up at her desk.

As she was doing so, Earth Mover walked in, spotted the muffins, and snagged one as she completed a similar ritual.

“So, Ditzy,” the disguised changeling royal asked. “Are you excited to learn how to drive like Cole?”

“I think so…” the Pegasus replied slowly, “But at the same time, I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep all the other parts of the job straight. I mean, don’t get me wrong, actual driving looks pretty simple, and the controls are easy, but all the other stuff, the maintenance, and repairs, those don’t look too easy.”

“I agree. It’s interesting how such a mechanically complex creation is so simple to make move.”

“You two are overthinking things, I think.” Sergeant Stormcloud broke in. The thestral had been setting up his own desk when the others had begun their conversation, and had silently made his way over. “If you ask me, it’s really no different than Guard training. Day or Night shift, there are a lot of things to remember. Between regs, protocol for visiting dignitaries, and security bulletins, the level of overall complexity is pretty similar. It’s just the type of information that’s different.”

The two mares regarded the Sergeant for a beat. He was normally a stallion of few words, so this was quite the speech for him.

“Tell me, Sergeant,” Earth Mover stated slowly. “Could it be that you’re actually excited?”

“Not as such, no. But I am interested in the possibilities this technology offers. Have been since I first rode in it.”

The impromptu trio continued to discuss things, as first Balance Wheel, and finally Trixie made their way in, and also set up for another day of learning.

---

It was a few minutes further on, when the Sergeant paused. “Hold on a moment. Where’s Cole?” Oddly, the human hadn’t been there when they had arrived, nor had he come in while they had gotten absorbed in their conversation. Almost as the words left his mouth, however, the human in question walked in, holding a sheet of paper in one hand, wearing a neutral expression. He sat down at his desk, and studied it closely, then removed a blank piece of paper from the desk, and a pencil, then began scribbling notes.

All the while, all the equines in the room had noticed the human’s odd behavior, and quieted down. Balance Wheel was the first to speak.

“Mister Cole, is something wrong?”

“Not particularly,” The human replied distractedly. “Just finishing up today’s lesson. It’ll be a bit of a departure from where I was planning on going today, but it’s appropriate.” Finishing, Cole stood, took the paper in hand, and began to write on the blackboard.

“Good morning everyone. Today, we’ll be discussing proper protocol for transport of secure cargo, and hazardous goods.”

“I assume this has something to do with yesterday’s performance?” Sergeant Stormcloud asked.

“Actually, in a way, yes. It looks like our guest was impressed enough that the experimental Transport Division has been given its first assignment. In short, we are being assigned to transport a piece of cargo from the Royal Archive to a secure facility out in the Badlands. The details are few, and we won’t receive the actual destination until we’re underway, but it should be a short trip.”

Here the human finished writing on the blackboard, and turned to the class.

On the blackboard, Cole had written three topics, and underlined them:

Communication
Movement
Coordination

“Ok, Sergeant, you will know the most about this, but I’ll summarize for the others. Secure transportation works a lot like small unit tactics in warfare. It comes down to communication, movement, and coordination. Now, who can add some details to each of these topics?”

One by one, the ponies added relevant details, and Cole wrote them down under each main topic.

“Speaking to the fewest amount of people possible”
“Moving under cover of night, or when nopony will look for you”
“Having both parties involved know when the package will arrive”
“Secret Codes”
“Not attracting attention”
“Moving fast enough not to be caught”
“Making sure the sender and receiver give you a way to identify them”
“Watching out for obstacles”
“Having a way to call for help, just in case”

After a bit, the blackboard was full of comments on each topic, which Cole then summarized for the class. “So, Secure transportation involves things like making sure the sender and the receiver have coordinated on what is to be sent, and who will be moving it. The transporter themselves has to make sure they can move the item quickly, quietly, and safely. And there need to be methods of securing the item against being stolen during transport.”

Here, Cole then consulted the sheet of paper in his hand. “So, how would you transport a pony-sized object out of a capitol city, and across a few thousand furlongs of both inhabited, and uninhabited territory, and do so whilst attracting the absolute minimum of attention, while in broad daylight?”

As the class turned and began to converse, the human smiled to himself. They were a class barely a week old, and they had already learned to consult on a problem to work towards a solution.

---

Pretty soon, Trixie had raised a hoof, and summarized. Unsurprisingly, the solution involved input from all of the ponies.

“Mr. Cole, I think we’ve got something. First, it would make sense to conceal a vehicle like yours on one of the regular trains out of the city. From what Earth Mover said, you came in on the rails, thanks to her magic, but that was at night. If we hid your vehicle in one of the cargo cars, then rolled it off in a town like Dodge Junction, out the side of the train not facing the station, we could basically get a free ride for almost half the trip.”

“Hmm, a good start, the human commented. “But how would you keep the vehicle from being attacked while on the train? We can’t exactly just drive off while the train is in motion…”

Here Ditzy Doo provided the solution. “We could try hiding it inside a large box. Only it’s not a box, see. Instead, it’s a wood frame, with brown paper sides and top.”

“Well done, I assume we would have prior clearance from the Guard to even be on the train?” At the pegasus’ nod, Cole motioned for them to continue.

Balance Wheel added his comments. “It would be simple to rig the “box” with a mechanism to allow the Elantra to exit concealment like what Miss Doo describes. And the railroad already possesses cargo cars for heavy items, so no one would suspect something like, say, an unusually reinforced train car. They even have hinged ramps for easy loading and unloading.”

---

Over the next few hours the class worked out a complete mission profile for an Equestrian transport job. In the end, it was decided that, since Earth Mover and Trixie both had magic, they would provide most of the security. Sergeant Stormcloud would provide their interface with the local Guard at each point along the trip, and both Ditzy Doo and Balance wheel would handle the logistics. Once the plan was completed, Cole sent a report back to the Royal Courier assigned to liaise with the experimental division.

Soon after, word came back that the item for transport would be a standard shipping container, almost exactly the size and weight as a pony. While their final destination would be given only to Earth Mover, they would be given access to a heavy lift freight car, and special clearance to attach it to whichever train they decided to use.

Meanwhile, Cole took the time to give his vehicle a once-over. Accompanied by Balance Wheel, and Trixie, the human made a thorough inspection of all components, especially the wheels and suspension. The tires had taken a beating the previous day, but were in overall good condition, and the brakes and suspension was also tracking well. There were a few things that could have stood to be tweaked, and the fluids were topped off at the same time.

Trixie took the time to apply a spell to the vehicle’s frame that allowed it to match the ambient background of the surrounding environment. To hear her tell it: “Since your vehicle is not from this world, it stands out as a sort of ‘magic hole’, which makes it easy to detect. This way, it’ll blend in, and be a lot harder to spot with a magic scan, or pulse.” Not knowing what either of those were, Cole deferred to the unicorn’s expertise, but made a mental note to read up on just what sort of detection methods, like radar, sonar, infrared, and magnetic, existed in Equestria.

Just to be sure, Cole tested the Elantra’s electronics as well, to be sure the spell hadn’t done anything to the vehicle that might come back to bite them later.

In order to minimize the possibility of interception, but also to avoid standing out by commandeering a special train, the Elantra, cargo, and passengers were loaded onto the last outbound train from Canterlot, a task made easier by driving into their designated freight car while the train was still in the switchyard.

The Guard stationed for security had been briefed on their arrival beforehand, and thus were conspicuously absent when the Elantra rolled aboard the train. When they came back to inspect all loaded cargo, the only object noted was the large crate sitting in the third freight car. From the outside, Ditzy Doo had decided to paint on slats, making the entire crate appear to be wood, and thus far too heavy to move. With a Royal seal, and several ‘DO NOT TOUCH’ stickers placed on the outside, the Elantra, its cargo, and passengers were unmolested.

Cole was not nervous, and his calm demeanor served to calm the unicorns, when their transportation finally jerked into motion. The sergeant was, as always, unfazed.

---

The trip out of the capitol was uneventful, and the human took the opportunity to take a nap on the long ride out to Dodge Junction. With the sun slipping low on the horizon, the train pulled into the station, and began to offload passengers.

Meanwhile, on the far side of the train from the station, the ramp of freight car three swung down, and touched the ground with a soft thud. The succeeding noises of the Elantra starting up, and the concealing crate swinging open were drowned out by the naturally noisy processes associated with unloading a steam powered train, along with the hisses and clanks of the engine itself.

Nopony saw them go, and it was a simple matter to keep their speed to a bare minimum until they were behind the outcroppings across from the town, where Cole opened the throttle, and sent the Elantra whipping over the desert floor. Turning, he directed a question to Earth Mover, who was seated in the back.

“So, what’s our destination?”