//------------------------------// // II - The Crew // Story: Sol-less Equus // by Wolfwaffe //------------------------------// “What do you think of this whole situation?” Smolder asked Gallus as the group was following Tin through the railyard. All around them everything seemed to be in constant motion: technical crews running back and forth, engineers shouting at one another, mechanisms clanking and rumbling. Smaller tug-locomotives zip back and forth. “No clue. But that stallion is definitely something,” the gryphon shrugged as he dodged a crystal pony carrying a large box with tools, “Hel’, had I not seen him I’d think he’s a gryphon or something…” “Yeah, that dude is a mood-killer,” Sandbar rolled his eyes, “And, apparently, we’re stuck with him” “It’s not you who are stuck with me,” the gray stallion said, turning towards Sandbar, “It’s me who is stuck with you” “What’s with the attitude, dude?” Sandbar asked. Tin’s ear flicked and he groaned. “I’ve been stuck in a gilded cage for a week!” he replied, “After I burned through the skies like crazy, towing that hunk of junk here. Naive me, hoping to get a reward!” Sandbar could feel the stallion roll his eyes, such was the tone of his voice, despite him not turning back to them. “But what do I get? No ‘thank you’, no coin, no - get locked up in the palace guest wing and not being allowed to leave until all six of you have gathered. At least food’s been nice,” Tin continued in the meantime, “And now I am doing this…” “Yona had a point back there,” Ocellus piped in quietly, “If you don’t want to do it, why did you agree to it?” “Money, ladybug,” once again, Sandbar felt Tin’s eyes roll, “I’m not getting any younger, and I’d like to have some funds for at least decent retirement” “So you’re just a sellsword who’d do just about anything for money?” Gallus asked with a huff. He’d cross his paws over his chest, had he been flying, to emphasize. “Oh please, as if it’s something bad,” the stallion chuckled for a moment, then exhaled and continued in a stern tone, “However, I do have standards. I did a few dirty things in my career, aye,” ‘laundry,’ Gallus thought to himself, rolling his eyes, “After all, who didn’t?.. But there are things that I just will not do. After all, the only decency in the skies is the one we bring with us,” he finished with a flick of his tail. “Sheesh. You know, Your Majesty,” Smolder turned to Cadance, “I’d like to ask you from under which rock did you dig this fellow up, but I know the answer: you didn’t, he came to you on his own” Shining snorted in amusement. Cadance courtly nodded. Finally, after what felt like an hour of walking, the group arrived at a different part of the station. The docking berths. Tin’s ears perked up. “Ah, we’re getting close…” he raised his gaze up at the signs, “Berths N-11 to N-20… 21-30… Aha, this way!” As they followed, they could make out some other sound coming through the clamour of the engine-yard. Through the constant clanking, rumbling, shouting and PA shout-outs, a subdued melody could be heard. Someone was playing some stringed instrument. Acoustic guitar, most likely. And someone was singing to it. Tin smiled a little as they were getting closer to the source of the music. Soon, the group could make out words of the song, coming from a dark-ice-blue colored locomotive that occupied berth N-25. “...I know thy skies are very, very wide And our train in truth is small And those who dwell within her hide I care for, one and all…” The singer was a female, her voice, despite being monotonous and calm, still carried on the emotions of the verse, giving off an almost motherly tone. “...Their safety rests upon my skill Their lives within my grasp Each day I swallow bitter pill And pray that dangers pass...” Turning on the side of the berth, the group finally saw the singer. It was a - relatively - young black dragoness, with a pair of short straight horns, short frills around her ears, and oddly slim-looking wings. Color-wise, she was coal black, with her chest and belly plates being dull gray, as were her wings’ membranes. Her eyes were dark blue, like the midnight sky that was now lost. She was sitting on an empty crate near the main hatch of the locomotive and was playing guitar, and singing along. With her was a gray unicorn stallion, with dark blonde mane and tail. His mane was made into a ponytail. Just like Tin, he was wearing a bomber jacket, and, in addition, he had a peaked cap on his head. He was slightly more fluffy than Tin, too. His cutie mark consisted of three brass gears - two had their teeth interlocked, and another one was connected by a belt. He was sitting on the platform, eyes closed, and was bobbing his head to the tune.  “Behold these huffing engine hearts  That keep us all alive I know them down to smallest parts That I and Mine may thrive” Then the dragoness jumped up on the crate, and sang just a bit louder, acapella. Putting more energy into the song, making it sound more solemn and triumphant, with one of her paws on her heart: “And foals may be all those who fear the mighty engines roar Because those fools got all the rights to deserve my abhor!” The dragoness played a couple more chords, and stopped. “Humble as always, Ashes,” Tin said with a smirk. The gray unicorn’s eyes - icy blue - snapped open. “Captain on berth!” he bellowed. His voice, while gentle, was firm and held authority to it. One could think that this stallion was the captain of the locomotive, not Tin. Tin simply rolled his eyes, “Mecha, I told you multiple times, no need for that. We’re not in the navy” Mecha smiled. “What can I say, captain? Some semblance of discipline wouldn’t hurt!” “You’ve brought company,” Ashes said dryly, putting her guitar aside, “Guess this is what took you so long?” “Your ability to state the obvious is astonishing,” Tin said, with obvious sarcasm, yet without any malice, “But yes. I have news… Is Ten’ around?” “On the bridge, as usual,” Ashes replied, “Should I give him a holler?” While the talk was happening, Ocellus suddenly felt something strange. A subdued feeling of despise was coming off the gray unicorn, directed at her and Shining Armor. She blinked in confusion, and looked at the stallion. He caught her glance, his nostrils flared - just a little - and he turned his head away from her. “Wait, seriously?!” Gallus said, a bit louder than he probably should, “You have royalty in front of you and you’re going to completely ignore that?!” “...I’d really rather have the whole crew gathered,” Tin replied coldly. He then took a deep breath, and yelled, “HEY! TEN’! DROP YOUR SCRIBBLING AND GET OUTSIDE!” The window of the locomotive bridge opened, and a bat flew out. Then, something that looked like liquid shadow poured out onto the platform from it. Shining Armor gasped, his horn lit up as a shield dome appeared around him and Cadance. The guards drew their lances. The young six took a few steps back. Tin let out a frustrated groan and facehooved. The shadow, in the meantime, was taking a shape, a form of a unicorn stallion. Fur black as charcoal, mane white like fresh paper. Curved, blade-like horn with subtle glowing green highlights crowned his head. Then he opened his dull green eyes and looked around with a bored expression. And then the bat returned and nestled itself on the top of shadow stallion's head. Tin sighed. "Ten'. For the countlessth time: use doors, you freak others out" The shadow stallion looked at Tin. It was hard to read his expression, as it was completely neutral. Then he looked at Shining, Cadance, and the guards. “I apologize for this display,” he said. His voice grave and calm, “I did not expect the rulers of the Crystal Empire themselves to pay a visit to our humble engine. Had I known, I’d used a more conventional way of presenting myself” Ten’ then tipped the bat as if it was a hat, and nodded, “Greetings, sir, ma’am” The bat squeaked something. “Be nice, Belfry,” Ten’ sighed. “I would really appreciate it if you all stopped looking at my navigator as if he’s Sombra reincarnated,” Tin said dryly. Shining stared at the shadow stallion for a minute longer, before dropping his shield and sighing, “Guards, stand down” The guards, begrudgingly, obeyed. But they still kept a close eye on the shadowy stallion. He didn’t seem to mind. “Alright, now with this out of the way,” Tin said, “My crew. This here, as you might have deduced already, is Ten’, navigation officer, and Belfry, our scout,” he gestured to the shadowy stallion. Ten’, once again, tipped his ‘hat’. “Sir. Ma’am” “Squee,” added Belfry. “The dragoness here is Ashes. Stoker, engineer, humble as pie,” Tin nodded towards the black dragoness. She merely nodded, acknowledging the presence of royals. “And this is my first officer, Working Mechanism. Mecha for short,” the gray unicorn walked closer and smiled as Tin spoke his name. “Your Majesties,” he bowed low, and reached his hoof out to Cadance. The empress let out a giggle and reached her hoof out as well, which Mecha held in his and gave it a kiss. “And those are?” Ashes nodded towards the six other creatures, “Swear I’ve seen the dragoness somewhere…” “Well!” Smolder said, crossing her arms over her chest, “We are from the first batch of students of Twilight’s School of Friendship…” Tin groaned, loudly and facehooved. “Umbra save me,” he groaned, making everyone look at him, “We’re going to have Friendlies aboard?” “Um, no, dude, we’re not Friendlies. We just studied in Twilight’s school,” Sandbar said.  “Yak no understand. What friendlies?” Yona tilted her head in confusion. “Ugh…” this time it was Sandbar who facehooved, “I’ll explain it later. So, uh, well! I’m Sandbar,” he said, then gestured to his friends, introducing them one after another, “These are my friends, Yona, Smolder, Gallus, Ocellus and Silverstream” “Charmed,” Tin rolled his eyes.  “Pleased to meet you,” Mecha saluted. Still, Ocellus felt that tingle of disdain coming from him towards her. Ten’, for the third time, tipped his bat-‘hat’. Bat let out yet another squeak. “Be nice, Belfry,” Ten’ said to the bat. Actually, upon a closer look, Belfry turned out to be a flying fox. “Alright, I’m a little bit lost, captain,” Ashes said, jumping off the crate, “Care to explain where you have been for the whole week with no note, and why do we have bleeding royalty on our berth? My first guess would’ve been a mighty tour on brothels, and, honestly? I would’ve preferred brothels, captain.” “Crew, we’re hired” The silence that hung over the platform was palpable. Even though in the background, the noise of the railyard continued on. “Great news, captain!” “I’m listening” “Go on” ‘Squeek!’ “We are to assist those six in their search of Twilight Sparkle,” Tin continued. Once again, silence fell on the platform. Ashes sighed without changing her facial expression, “I stand by my previous statement.” Then it exploded in two simultaneous “What?!” “But it’s been twenty years!..” “Oh. That’s an opportunity” “We’re getting paid,” Tin continued further, and raised his hoof to stifle further discontent, “Enough for us all to retire - or, in your case, Ten’, buy out a locomotive of your own and strike out to finish your magnum opus. And Ashes?”  The dragoness looked at the stallion, arms crossed over her chest, the expression of scepticism on her face. “Bring out requisition forms” Scepticism turned into dull surprise. “The Empire is paying for our locomotive repairs and refurbishment...” Sparks shone in the dragoness’ eyes for a moment. “Aye captain,” Ashes turned around and… disappeared. The only thing that was registered by everyone present was the clang of the access hatch. “Well that happened,” Tin shrugged, “Alright, Your Majesties, shall we proceed with writing the contract?” Cadance nodded, “Yes. Let’s finish this” “Follow me,” he nodded at the hatch, “Careful, it’s cramped in there. Watch your horn” Gallus swallowed nervously. “Hey, uh… How cramped is it exactly?” Tin didn’t reply, disappearing inside the hatch along with ‘his’ guards. Cadance and Shining followed inside. Ten’ looked after them, then at the six friends. “I will be going, if you’ll excuse me,” he tipped his bat-hat one final time. Belfry took off and began circling around, while Ten’s body turned back into that liquid-like shadow and flowed back into the locomotive bridge window. Belfry followed inside. A moment later, the window closed. That left the six with just Mecha. “So yak ask! What friendlies?” Yona said, looking at Sandbar. “Oh!” Mecha smiled warmly, “‘Friendly’ is a term used to describe the followers of the philosophy of Twilight Sparkle, the ideas of interspecies equality, companionship, compassion and camaraderie!” his smile then waned, “And they are the ones who fight against the nobles of New Canterlot…” The unicorn bit his lip and looked away, “See, back in the early days… Hmm, I think it was about… fourteen years ago. Yes, around that time. The nobles were… Well, let’s say old habits die hard. Equestria was quite fine by itself, self-sufficient and self-contained for a long time, under Celestia’s rule. So when Twilight introduced the new ideas, the nobles were… well, less than accepting” “Oh, like chancellor Neighsay?” Silverstream said. Mecha nodded, “Yes? No?.. Maybe. I don’t know him. So, anyway, the resistance of nobles did not weaken with time, even after the…” he made a pause and a shadow of some… undecipherable emotion flashed on his face. But Ocellus felt anger below that shadow. Anger and pain, “...the whole ‘stand united’ shebang happened. Some even argued that Equestria became so weak that it couldn’t handle the threat on its own” “The most radical nobles began the exodus from Canterlot in protest of the changes Twilight was making. Most of those who stayed there were her supporters… And we all know what happened,” the gray unicorn sighed, “So it just happened that the anti-Twilight nobles survived, and founded New Canterlot. They successfully managed to gather support for their ideas, their vision of unity… So, naturally, the fact that Ponyville and the School of Friendship - and, what was worse, Twilight’s ideas - survived the Disaster came as a shock to them” Sandbar nodded, “Ponyville stood for the ideals of Twilight Sparkle, and the interspecies friendship. I’m not exactly sure when exactly the term was formed, but it was used as a derogatory nickname specifically for ponies who believed in interspecies friendship,” he smiled bitterly, “I know; I’ve been called that” “And later, the populus of Ponyville went and took that nickname, and now proudly wears it,” Mecha concluded, “Friendlies oppose the nobles, nobles oppose Friendlies, but there’s no, uh, official war,” he frowned and glanced to the side, “They don’t shy away from hiring unaffiliated sky-captains for their little dirty ‘games’...” “And have you participated in any of those?” Smolder asked with a squint. Mecha huffed. “Captain prefers to stay out of politics. Or, rather, stay out of the way of politics,” the unicorn’s ear flicked, “Did you know that this locomotive was the one of the many that took part in the gryphon civil war? Though, I wasn’t serving on her back in the day. And Tin wasn’t a captain. I think he served as an engineer on her. He’s…” he scrunched his snout, “He’s not exactly fond of talking about the events from back then. I just know he lost his leg in that war, somehow” Gallus looked at the platform, suddenly finding it more interesting than everything else. But then he raised his gaze and looked over the locomotive. Armored broadsides of her ‘cab’, her long ‘boiler’ cylinder hidden under angled steel plating, nozzles of maneuver steam jets, and a large, complex steam drive in the aft. The locomotive did not have a number, but instead it had a name plate with ornate letters spelling ‘Glacies Perfuro’. “That was around seven years ago,” Gallus said, “And here I was thinking the name sounded familiar. Glacies, she was one of the Discord’s dozen of locomotives that took down the defences of Gryphonstone,” he blinked, “But wouldn’t that mean that she’s outdated?” “Don’t let Ashes hear you say that,” Mecha quickly replied, “The captain and her were working their plots off on improving and upgrading it. Sure, it’s still that old-style, cramped locomotive at first glance, but it’s more than that! Efficient boiler from Crown&Misery Railyards! Steam piping system by Root&Joy! Flim-Flam’s plumbing system - cold AND hot water! Lavatories that flush!” Mecha was grinning wide, “This old gal may look old, but she’s got some power to her!” the unicorn stopped grinning and glanced aside, “Plus, information for consideration… Locomotives have an effective lifespan of fifteen to twenty years,” he tapped his chin, “And up to thirty, if you’re really stingy. Unless something really big is cooked up, like some new metalwork technique or something, she’ll be good” “Oh, yeah, um…” Gallus flashed a nervous grin, “How cramped is it, exactly? I’m… claustrophobic” “I’m quite comfortable!” Mecha replied with a charming smile, “Reminds me of the mines!” “Oh this is going to be great,” the gryphon facepawed. “I’ll ask Tin to assign you to the bridge. It’s the largest room on the locomotive,” Mecha told Gallus, “The second one is galley slash messroom slash common room” “Assign?” Gallus tilted his head. “Yup. What, did you think you’ll be freeloading?” the unicorn’s expression became serious, “Even if I wanted to give you all a free pass, the captain wouldn’t let me. And, speaking of which… Have any of you got any sky-faring experience?” The six friends looked at each other in silence. “I take that as ‘no’ then,” the unicorn scrunched his face, again, “Tin will be delighted to hear that…” “Because he’ll get to teach us?” Silverstream asked in her usual cheery manner. “Silver, that was sarcasm,” Smolder beat Gallus to inform the hippogryph. “Oh,” the hippogryph blinked, “Well then we’ll learn by doing! Right, guys?” “Maybe we can find some useful literature?” Ocellus said. She still could not figure out what was the deal with the unicorn and his constant stream of subtle despise going her way, “Technical manuals and instructions and such?”  “Ocellus, you are a genius!” Sandbar smiled, “Yes, we can do that - then we’ll have theoretical knowledge of things!” “I do have some doubts about her though,” Mecha nodded at Yona, “Will she even fit inside?.. As I’ve said, the interior is somewhat cramped…” With an inquisitive ‘Hmm’, the unicorn approached Yona and looked over her. Then he walked around her a couple of times, still sounding that inquisitive ‘Hmm’. After that, he trotted to the hatch, and peeked into the locomotive’s interior, and ‘Hmm’d again. This time his ‘Hmm’ returned as a quiet echo. “Aaaaye I think she should be good,” Mecha nodded, “Careful on the turns though. Don’t want you to get stuck” At this moment, one of the guards came out from the locomotive. Another one followed, and afterwards, Cadance and Shining exited, followed by four more guards, and Tin. “...You’ve surprised me, Captain,” Shining said, “Had you not gone back to check that paragraph, I’d swear you were not even reading the contract” “Worked many works before; all required to recognize paperwork,” Tin waved off, “Anyway, now when this is all done, we’ll be waiting for your agent to show up. Surely, Ashes will decide something by that time. Good day, Your Majesties” “Good day and goodbye, captain Tin,” Cadance nodded to him, then to Mecha, “Goodbye, first officer” “Goodbye, your Majesties!” Mecha once again bowed. And so, the monarchs of the Crystal Empire departed back to the city heart, and very soon were out of sight. Tin then exhaled, and took another swig from his flask. He must’ve refilled it back on the locomotive. Mecha gave him a disapproving look. However, this swig was much shorter than any of the previous ones. More like a small sip. “Okay, with that out of the way, let’s try and figure you out,” Tin said, putting the flask back in the pocket of his jacket, “So…” “It’s all bad, kapitän,” Mecha shook his head, “They’re greener than verdant growth” “Not surprised,” Tin’s ear flicked as he rolled his eyes, “Alright, listen up. I know your names. You know the names of my crew, but only know half of my name. So, I am Tin. Kapitänleutnant Tin Pest…” He got interrupted by a dragoness barging out from the locomotive, holding a large amount of papers in her paws. “Captain, I have prepared the basic list of things, for your approval,” she said as she piled the papers on the crate she was sitting on before, “Also, I have prepared a requisition order and invoice for Beak&Wing Kriegsforge for one of their Großerkanone” Tin gave her an unamused look. Mecha’s jaw dropped a little. "Ashes, we can't afford a Großerkanone," Tin said in a tone a father uses to explain to a foal that they can’t have that new toy. "But we have fundings of the entire empire!" Ashes pouted. Not unlike a foal, indeed. Tin sighed, "Ashes, we'll have to gut half of the engine to make room for it" This actually made Ashes blink in surprise, "...Wait, Glacies does not have support systems for heavy weaponry?" "...Ashes, you tell me, you're the engineer" The dragoness let out an awkward laughter, "...I guess I got a bit carried away with excitement..." "Wait, Ashes? You? Excited?.." Tin blinked in confusion. "Well, not every day a bloody emperor comes to your gantry and tells you that due to a deal made with your captain, they are to fund any modification of your engine!" Ashes huffed, a tiny puff of smoke escaped her nostrils, her fists on her waist. The earth pony chuckled. “And the first thing you want to use his funds on is… A gun,” Gallus deadpanned, “Don’t get me wrong, it must be a very big gun, but… Seriously?..” Ashes huffed again and demonstratively turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. “If you have to know: the Großerkanone was the last thought,” she said haughtily.  Tin approached Ashes and gently patted her back. “Look at the bright side,” he said, “At least none would say that you’re compensating for something!” Ashes snorted again. “Anyway,” Tin’s ear flicked, “Let’s see what you’ve wrote up here…” Both him and Ashes moved to the crate. Tin pulled out a stamp and began going through the papers, as Ashes was quietly explaining to him what was what. The only thing that the six could hear coming out from the pair was ‘M,’ ‘M!’ and ‘Mhm!’, and the crunching sound the stamp made as he stamped one sheet after another. “Uhm, what do we do in the meantime?” Gallus asked, “It’s not like all those refits will be complete in a couple of hours…” Tin stopped the stamping, and looked at the blue gryphon. “I say…” he looked at Ashes. She glanced at the pile of papers, then showed three fingers to Tin. Though, after a moment of reflection, she reduced the number to two, “Three weeks tops. Two if we get the right specialists who will be willing to work with Ashes,” he shrugged, “I make it sound harder than it is” “So where will we stay then?” Gallus asked, “I… I honestly did not expect something like this to drop on our head…” “Um, and why so many papers?” Sandbar leaned to take a look at the stack of papers Tin was stamping. “Requisition forms,” Tin replied, “Three counterparts. One for the ship’s accounting, one for the shop, one for treasury. Ministry-stamped permits, three counterparts. One to authorize the form, another to authorize the authorization, and third to confirm that authorization of authorization was legal…” Sandbar squinted sceptically, to which Tin sighed bitterly, “I am not making it up, I swear… And the rest is just more bureaucracy,” he finished with a rather strong stamping, as if to drive the point home. “And as for a place to stay, go find some hostel, or cheap hotel in the Station Terminal district,” Ashes said in her calm near-monotone voice, “There should be a bunch of those nearby for crews. It’s a busy terminal, after all” “Mind the brothels though,” Mecha deadpanned. “Well, can you suggest any?” Sandbar asked. Tin shrugged in response. “I’d recommend you get a room in a hostel. Cheaper, and you may find one room for all six of you…” he stamped yet another paper, “...mind the bed bugs though.” Mecha snorted. Ocellus once again felt a tinge of dislike sent at her from the gray unicorn. “Plus, aren’t you some kind of… what was that, ‘friends of the Empire’?” Tin asked again, “Maybe the royal couple will be eager to provide you with living accommodations” “I highly doubt it,” Gallus crossed his arms over his chest. “Anyway, not my problem,” Tin waved off, “Get settled ashore, then return here and report your staying place to me or any of my crew. I’ll send a messenger for you when we're done. Now shoo! Off with ya!” “I’ll show them the way out,” Mecha quickly said and nodded. Tin just waved him off. The unicorn sighed and shook his head, “Come on, and… remember the road. It’s unlikely Glacies will move until the refits are finished...” They walked in silence for a while, but when they were about to retrace their steps, Mecha called to the six. Turns out, there was a tram network in the terminal, for crews and personnel transportation. “And we didn’t use it because?..” Gallus asked while they were waiting for the tram. Mecha shrugged, “I guess no creature thought about it,” he said, “Alright… Look, I know Tin does not make a good first impression…” Gallus snorted, while Sandbar grimaced, and Smolder rolled her eyes. “...Deep inside he’s a good pony. He just doesn’t like to show it,” the unicorn ignored that. “We’ll see,” Sandbar said. “This is berth section N. Our berth is N-25,” Mecha continued in the meantime, “But, you’ll need crew tokens to get in… Or ministry/royalty-stamped permits…” the unicorn sighed and rolled his eyes, “Tin, of course, didn’t think of that… Right. So this is what we’ll do: you go now and get settled, and I’ll meet you tomorrow at the main gate at two p.m., and you’ll tell me where you’ve settled…” he rubbed his chin, “Though if I may... Look if ‘Ben ‘n Bow’s inn’ has any vacancies. Price-quality balance is great… Uh, keep in mind that Ben is a diamond dog” “We’ll keep that in mind,” Ocellus nodded. She still felt the disdain coming from the unicorn. And his eyes… For some reason, she felt cold when Mecha locked his eyes with hers. However, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the inbound tram. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” Mecha saluted, “I should go” With that, he turned around and trotted away. The six boarded the tram, and took it to the main gate. Now when the unicorn was out of sight, Ocellus allowed herself to think more about it. He definitely did not like her, but… Why? He didn’t seem like one of those ponies who still hated the changelings (even after their species underwent the metamorphosis), but then again… Maybe he was? But he didn’t look that old… Family upbringing?.. Was he from New Canterlot?.. No, he wouldn’t be working on the multi-species crewed locomotive if that was the case… “Empire to Ocellus, do you read?” “Huh?” the changeling blinked, her eyes refocusing on Sandbar’s hoof waving in front of her face. “We’re approaching the main gates,” the earth pony informed her, “And you looked like you’ve spaced out on us” “Oh,” Ocellus said with an awkward smile, feeling a bit ashamed, “S-sorry. It’s just that unicorn… Working Mechanism…” The tram came to a stop at the platform with a screech of brakes and hiss of released steam. “What about unicorn pony?” Yona asked as the group disembarked. “Well… I don’t know how to put it, but…” Ocellus looked around, then continued in a quieter volume, “He doesn’t like me...” “Huh,” Smolder raised her eyebrow, “Why?” “I don’t know!” the changeling shook her head, “I've never seen him before - and he’s too young to remember… Well, the previous us” Sandbar frowned. “Maybe he’s one of the New Canterlotians?” he asked, and got dope slapped by Gallus. “If he was one of them, he wouldn’t be working on a multi-species crewed locomotive,” the gryphon said, “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out” “Yeah, Occy! Don’t you worry!” Silverstream piped in, “We’ll figure it out eventually! For now, let’s go find that Bell-Boeing inn!” “Yak support changeling friend!” Yona nodded. “So in the meantime… we have two weeks to ourselves,” Gallus said, “And… Um, well… I’m kind-of broke…” “Hey, don’t worry about that!” Silverstream smiled, “We’ve got your back! That’s what friends are for, right?” The gryphon chuckled and smiled. Oh, how he missed that. Oh, how he missed that!.. “Thanks, guys,” Gallus smiled and pulled Silverstream into a hug. Then the rest of his friends joined. “Alright, guys, let’s go and get settled,” Sandbar said, “And I suggest we read some of that journal, to figure out where to start!” “And I’ll go and see if I can buy some manuals or textbooks on skyfaring,” Ocellus said with a smile. The unicorn’s disdain towards her, forgotten.  After all, with her friends, everything will be fine. Mecha sat in his cabin, his hind legs crossed, front hooves pressed together in a circular gesture, his eyes were closed, facial expression neutral. Scent of incense filled the cabin, the unicorn was breathing it in, slowly and steadily. There was a knock on the door. “May I come in?” came a muffled Tin’s voice. “You may, captain,” Mecha said, not even opening his eyes. The door creaked and the sound of hooves stepping on the metal floor came from behind the sitting unicorn. “I am sorry, captain,” Mecha said before Tin could say anything, “I let my feelings overcome me. I will not allow myself to slip again” “Forgive me, my friend,” Tin said in a somber tone, “I thought about myself first; I…” “No, captain,” Mecha’s ear flicked, “I understand your desire…” “No, Mecha,” Tin shook his head, “Don’t. Don’t. It’s all on me. We shouldn’t have picked up that blasted engine at all. Should have blasted it to sky-dust…” “What’s done is done, captain,” Mecha said, “Don’t feel bad about that. Don’t blame yourself for something that is not your fault,” he opened his eyes and gave Tin a reassuring smile, “Now, tell me what crazy mods Ashes came up with with funding of the whole empire”