//------------------------------//
// 1: Unscheduled Stop 
// Story: Wood and Steel 
// by CodenameOne 
//------------------------------//

The sound of hissing steam filled the air as equally as the black clouds belching out of the boiler as Drawbar opened the grate, soot streaking his face even as he waved his hoof to clear the smoke. He coughed as the acrid fumes entered his lungs and choked his breathing, forcing him to crouch low as they dissipated in the air. He cursed at the dirty boiler, empty save for the crackling fire and caked soot. The heat, once unbearable, hardly bothered Drawbar as he peered into the chamber, grumbling to himself.

"Drawbar! How's she looking?" a voice cried from behind and above him, carrying into the boiler room and nearly lost to the hissing of the steam. Drawbar grunted in deference to the empty chamber, though he knew his brother would not hear. Drawbar closed the grate to the boiler, turning back and heading for the small flight of stairs that would take him back up to the conductor's cabin.

"She's empty, Axle. I knew we wouldn't make it to Appleloosa after that holdup we had outside the Canterlot Mountains" Drawbar stated, grabbing a rag from the control console and wiping his face, the white cotton coming back black. He tossed the article back onto the console, sealing the door to the boiler room behind him.

"We was supposed to be in Appleloosa yesterday, brother. Yeah that herd'a cows slowed us up, but we woulda been running on E anyway the way we burned up the coal to make up for lost time" Axle Box replied, watching as the last of the steam billowed out of the stack and into the sky.

Drawbar grunted, turning back to look out the windshield. They were deep in the forest around the foot of the Canterlot Mountains, the nearest station a two day's hike away in Baltimare. Appleloosa was another day's ride away; three by hoof. In short, they were stranded right in the middle with no way of calling for help.

"Check the map. One of us is gonna have to start trotting. And keep the train coasting; let's get as far as we can on momentum alone before she comes to a halt."

Axle Box pulled their map up off the stand next to the console, the sound of crinkling paper the only sound in the cabin beyond the muted grind of the train along the tracks as it slowly lost speed. Axle flipped the map around, pressing it to the console as he looked it over, Drawbar keeping a watch along the track.

"Alright, we're here up in zone nine, section E7, in the Verdant Woods forest. Baltimare is back behind us, and Appleloosa is the next stop. Baltimare's closest, but that's still quite a trot, brother. You're gonna hafta take the emergency stock and hike it back to the Royal Rail office there to get us some more coal" Axle explained.

"What about there; what's that on the map?" Drawbar asked, pointing to the next section over from their current position. Faintly marked out on the map was what looked like a small compound, a river passing through the area near the edge of the compound's borders. A saw icon marked it in the corner.

"That there's a lumber mill, brother. They ain't gonna have any coal, and we can't burn wood; the chamber ain't designed for that."

"Yeah, but we might find some kind of help there. Maybe they got a working telegraph, since you broke ours" Drawbar accused teasingly. Axle feigned mock indignation, dramatically drawing his hoof back to his chest as if hurt.

"Ya'll was the one who told me to go faster when we was in those tunnels! How was I supposed'da know that rock would chip off the cave wall and cut our telegraph wire?" Axle protested. Drawbar rolled his eyes and waved dismissively at him, lightly depressing the brake lever, the wheels squealing as the tension increased, steadily slowing the train until it finally came to a stop. "What if they can't help us, brother?"

"Then I'll have to make the journey back to Baltimare on hoof. We don't really have much else of a choice, unless we want to sit around like lazy colts until the RRS sends out a search party. Heck, they may even end up doing that anyway if we're not in Appleloosa by Sunday night" Drawbar explained.

"I hear ya, brother."

"That mill's about a quarter mile away from here. Stay with the train and I'll head on up, see if I can't find anypony that can help us" Drawbar said, locking the brakes in place instinctively. Not that it could go anywhere on its own, he just did it on reflex. Putting his conductor hat on he pulled the door open, the sound of chirping birds and cicadas spilling into the cabin. He stepped out without a word, sealing the door behind him and dropping down to the gravel below. He looked up and down the track before turning left, passing the engine car and trotting along the way. The woods were a vibrant, beautiful green. Almost oversaturated, even. Tall trees swayed lightly in the wind, birds fluttering off as the branches jostled. Bushes at the base of the trees rustled with wildlife, displaced by the roar of the train and crunch of gravel under Drawbar's hooves.

It was a gorgeous day, but Drawbar couldn't find time to appreciate it, even after being locked up in the hot train for the past three days. They'd left Canterlot Sunday evening, bound for Appleloosa to pick up the goods on their manifest. Crates of apples, mostly. He and his brother were assigned to a small detail of the Royal Rail Service, tasked with retrieving the goods from the small towns on the desert plains; Dodge Junction, Appleloosa, etc. As such their train was a modest one, with one engine, a cargo car, comfort car(with beds, a kitchen, and bathroom), and the caboose. She was shorter and smaller than most, but she was Drawbar's and Axle's little joy. They had taken to calling her Little Ember. Because even the smallest ember can burn the brightest.

With the Little Ember at his back Drawbar trekked onward, the evening light slowly fading as he went along, never once realizing how much his and his brother's lives were about to change.