Glacies Perfuro flew through the skies, her engine huffing in a steady, beating rhythm. The sky-continent that housed the Crystal Empire was getting further and further away, slowly disappearing in the haze. Everyone was silent as the locomotive flew the marked distance, and turned to a new course, heading south-by-southeast, five degrees down angle.
“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Mecha said, “Kapitän, do you mind if I give the new crew a short tour?”
Tin nodded, while scribbling something in the journal on the control console, “Mhm. And get Smolder to Ashes, please”
“Aye-aye!” the unicorn saluted, “Come! I’ll show you around!” he gestured for the group to follow him.
Tin snorted and scribbled more text into the journal. As the six creatures followed Mecha downstairs, he let out a weary sigh and slightly adjusted the locomotive's course, watching the gauges of steam pressure, direction of their travel and locomotive velocity.
Ten’ rose his gaze from his papers, looking at the stallion, shook his head and went back to writing his notes. Belfry chittered quietly.
Glacies was spartan on the inside. The interior lacked decorations as well as paint… or any sense of coziness, really. Bulkhead walls with various pipes, tubes and heavily insulated wires going through along with cables. Dim, cheap electric lights hung on the ceiling, flooding the hallways with warm, sickly yellow-orange light. In other words, a typical griffish locomotive that was used in the war. Utilitarian and bare-boned, no excessess. Including space, which was at premium. Hereby, cramped, claustrophobic hallways, small quarters, steep stairs.
Before the tour, the group carried their stuff to the crew quarters, except for Silverstream; as Mecha explained, she was to live in the officer side. That is, on the opposite half of the locomotive, officer quarters, where he and Tin currently resided.
The locomotive itself was divided into four decks. The bridge was the top deck. The second deck was dedicated to living space. Crude crew quarters and hygienic facility on the portside, officer and captain quarters on the starboard side with the recroom/galley jammed in between them. Below laid the steam main, battery, cargo and fuel bays, and engineering - engineering, in fact, occupied the entirety of the front section. Finally, the lowermost deck was not exactly a deck, since it was outside the locomotive, and contained the carriages with wheels and pistons. Crammed between the motor compartments was a rock-drill, used for breaking sky-rocks to reveal their hidden riches.
Of course, the six didn’t visit the lowermost deck, because it was outside.
Smolder huffed as she entered the engineering, dropped off there by Mecha. It was pleasantly warm inside. A huge cylindrical boiler stood in the middle of the room, with coal pits on the sides. Curiously, the boiler had eight fireboxes, each hot and burning bright, filling the room with humming of the flames. Smolder could feel the air flow into the room from the vents in the walls, pushing into the furnaces, bringing in more oxygen for the fires. Still, even that flow couldn’t deal with the generated heat, and, while for her it was pleasantly warm, she suspected that her friends might have a heat stroke if they stayed in the room for too long.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Ashes’ voice.
“Who’s there?” she asked from somewhere behind the boiler, then peeked out, her dark form standing out somehow in the room's dim lighting, “Oh. It’s you. I’ll be out in a moment,” she disappeared behind the boiler again and grunted, “This stirling generator is being disagreeable again. Unbelievable...”
Smolder snorted. That dragoness somewhat reminded her of Pinkie’s sister…What was her name again, Mood? Mole?.. Mold?.. Something along those lines.
She didn’t mind, though. Even if she never saw herself being an engineer on one of those sky-trains, her spot at least was warm.
Ashes’ head popped from behind the boiler once again.
“Toss a shovelful of coal into the furnaces on the left,” she asked, before disappearing again.
Smolder shrugged, grabbed a shovel and went for it. Might as well.
Sandbar and Gallus returned to the bridge after the short tour. Sandbar went to the weapons console, while Gallus simply stood next to Tin. Truth be told, he just didn’t want to be in those cramped, claustrophobic hallways. Even the recroom, that was just a little smaller than the bridge, felt small. The bridge, however, offered a view of the skies, even if slightly altered due to the darker color of the windows’ and portholes’ glass. He thought he was over his claustrophobia - well, it wasn’t as bad as before but he still was quite uncomfortable with all those hallways.
“Did you settle in?” Tin asked without turning his head, the only sign of him paying attention to the gryphon was his ear that turned towards Gallus.
“Yeah, we did,” Gallus replied, stepping closer to the control console. Everything was neatly labeled by small brass plaques with text engraved into them. ‘Steam Pressure’, ‘Water Level’, ‘Velocity’, various voltages, temperatures, ‘Main Drive’, ‘Wheels drive’, ‘Full Steam’, ‘Lateral Thrust’, and so forth.
“Good,” the stallion replied, looking into the skies behind the glass, his face just ever-so-slightly reflecting in the colored glass of the bridge window. He continued to push and flip various levers and switches. His ear moved slightly to be aimed at the stern of the locomotive.
Then, a few seconds later, a loud rattling came from the engine section, followed by a whistling sound which was getting louder and louder.
Tin nodded, his ear returned to a neutral position.
“Um, is everything alright back there?” Gallus asked.
“Yup,” Tin replied, not even turning his ear towards him.
Gallus huffed, “Fine, be that way,” he glanced at the gauges again. Specifically, the velocimeter. The dial face was displaying speed, and the arrow was steadily hanging at about ¾ of the maximum, showing 35 knots.
“Can't this thing go any faster?” the gryphon complained. Tin smirked for a moment.
Below, Yona, Ocellus and Silverstream heard the rattling too - more muffled than on the bridge - followed by whistling. Mecha smiled.
“I suggest you sit down and prepare for acceleration,” the unicorn noted with a smile.
“Acceleration?” Yona looked at Mecha in confusion. The unicorn merely nodded and raised his hoof to hold his peaked cap.
On the bridge, the whistling became louder and louder, and the pitch of the sound became higher.
“Brace yourself, Gallus,” Tin deadpanned, putting his goggles on, opening the window and sticking his head outside for a few moments to check something. Gallus rolled his eyes and huffed.
Sandbar looked at the back of the bridge with a slight worry in his face.
Ten’ yawned, wide.
In the engineering, Ashes once again looked from behind the boiler block.
“Smolder,” she said in her usual calm tone.
“What?” the dragoness looked at Ashes.
“Grab something.”
Despite the deadpan delivery, Smolder immediately went for the conveniently placed railing near the boiler. Something told her that this was important.
Gallus looked at Tin, who held his hoof on a lock-lever, labeled ‘Full Steam’. The stallion grabbed the lever’s lock with another hoof, and pushed the lever forward with a loud, snapping click.
The whistling turned into shrieking for a short few seconds. Then, it was like something exploded in the rear section of the locomotive. Suddenly, the machine abruptly lunged forward, startling Gallus and throwing the gryphon across to the rear of the bridge, his talons leaving scratches on the metal floor as he desperately tried to resist this sudden burst of speed.
“Wheee!” Belfry squeed happily as she held onto Ten’s flowing mane.
“I told you to brace yourself,” came from Tin, while Sandbar jumped from his console and rushed to Gallus to help him back up. The earth pony shot a glare at the sky-captain.
“Dude, are you alright?” Sandbar asked his friend, “Talons intact? Nothing bruised?”
“Just my ego,” the gryphon rubbed his side and grunted, standing back up as he admired the scratch lines his claws left on the deck. The train continued to accelerate, thundering through the sky, “The one I took to the Empire flew smoother…”
"Passenger trains have different engines," Ten' said calmly, "They allow a gradual build-up of speed and pressure. Glacies is a war vessel, first and foremost. It needs sharp maneuverability..." the shadow steed made a pause, “Plus, her age is showing. No offence to Ashes and her work...”
Gallus huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. Belfry let out some rapid chittering.
"He was warned," Ten' said, looking up at the flying fox. Belfry let out a whistling sound of indecipherable meaning.
Sandbar returned to his station, Gallus to Tin's side. Sandbar took time to better acquaint himself with his station. A binocular-like aiming apparatus, levers controlling guns aiming with stiff triggers, two ammunition counters (showing 120 and 2500), two gauges showing weapon heat level, and several lamp indicators of different conditions.
"Captain, what are our armaments?" Sandbar asked, turning a little bit towards Tin.
"Beak&Wing Kriegsforge 150mm 'Executioner' autocannon on portside, Stalwart Herd co. 30mm 'Hailstorm' rotary cannon on starboard side," Tin replied without missing a beat, "'Executioner' for hard targets, 'Hailstorm' for soft ones"
"Hard?.." Sandbar raised eyebrow.
"Locomotives and fortifications are hard targets," Tin explained with a huff, "Sky-beasts and creatures are soft targets… mostly."
While Sandbar thought why would anycreature shoot living beings with 30mm bullets, Tin switched his attention to Gallus:
"Are you sure you're checked out on this class of vehicle?"
Gallus stared at Tin. The stallion sighed and rolled his eyes, "Can you fly the locomotive?"
Gallus shifted his gaze onto the control panels. Even if everything was neatly labeled, there still were too many levers, switches, buttons, indicators and lights.
Still, he put on a brave face.
"Well, it's easy?" he said in a somewhat questioning tone, "I mean, you have your throttle, this here maneuvering levers, up-down, left-right, and this… lever thingie…" he caught a rather unamused glare from Tin, and sighed, "Okay so maybe it was a bit too much to read for me and the diagrams were too complex, but it's no arcana science?"
The silence was audible. One could hear a strand of mane fall - if it hasn't been for the chuffing and roaring of the engine.
"...Yeah, you're not touching the controls on your own for a while, pal," Tin turned back to the windshield, "Come back in a couple of hours, I'll show you the ropes when we're in clear sky…" he made a short pause as he pulled out his pocket watch, then gazed at the bridge clock, "We're making good time. We'll be arriving at New Canterlot in a day, at most. From there, off to Ponyville"
"Why do we need to go to New Canterlot?" Sandbar asked with obvious displeasure.
"Business," Tin replied in 'because' tone, "You two are to stand down for the time being. Dismissed"
Sandbar stood up and walked down the stairs to the middle deck. Gallus shot a glare at Tin, flicked his tail, and followed his earth pony friend.
Sandbar and Gallus joined Ocellus, Yona and Silverstream in the recroom. It was lit slightly brighter than the rest of the locomotive interior - well, other than the bridge. The humble furnishings included a well-worn table with ten no less worn metal chairs, small kitchen counter, small stove and a fridge. Above the counter hung a poster with a cheerful-looking earth pony saying 'Today's special: Shut up and eat!', followed by a sticker note saying 'Don't ask the cook for a recipe', and ending with a sign most likely taken from some griffish field kitchen, 'No seconds!'
"So," Sandbar said as they sat down at the table, "What do you think so far?"
"I don't like Tin," Gallus said, "And this thing is too cramped for my taste…"
"And the situation as a whole?"
"We're getting into a mess," the gryphon replied, then chuckled "Like in the old days, back in Twilight's school! Remember Cozy Glow?"
Everycreature nodded.
"Can you believe that it has been twenty-three years since?" Gallus leaned back in his chair.
He got weird looks in return.
"What?" he asked.
"Um, Gallus…" Ocellus said, rubbing her foreleg with a hoof, "It's only been twenty-one year since the War of the Bell…"
This time, Sandbar, Silverstream and Yona gave Ocellus weird looks.
"Twenty-four," Yona said.
Silence filled the recroom from this revelation. Something was off. Horribly off. Everycreature looked at Sandbar. The earth pony seemed utterly confused.
"Twenty-two," he said, looking at Silverstream.
"Twenty and a half," the hippogryph replied with a blink, "Seventeen since the Disaster…"
Silence once again filled the recroom.
"This does not make any sense!" Gallus finally exclaimed, throwing arms up, "How can time go differently in different parts of the world?!"
"Well, to begin with… The world is kind-of broken," Ocellus remarked humbly, her ears pressed to her head, "And second, it's difficult to keep track of time without seasons, or celestial bodies…"
"Yak agree with gryphon friend," Yona said, "Time must go constant! Not jump!"
"Does it mean we all aged differently?" Ocellus said suddenly. Everycreature stared at the changeling in silence, making her squeak and transform into a vase, and fall under the table.
"Well, this… this is weird," Sandbar said and blinked slowly, "Maybe Tin knows something about this phenomenon?"
"Oh, he knows alright!" Mecha chimed in, making everyone jump a little, and Ocellus turned from a vase into a bucket. The unicorn let out a chuckle and shook his head, "In fact, it's a problem all skyfarers face, and nobody knows the reason why it is the way it is!"
Silverstream reached under the table and pulled bucket-Ocellus out. The changeling turned back into her natural form, as the group tried to digest this information.
"So what will I be doing here?" Smolder asked as she approached Ashes. She still was busy with the stirling generator - whatever it was - behind the boiler.
"Helping me keep us all alive," Ashes replied, "Come over, I need a hand"
Smolder went faster, turned around the corner, and saw Ashes, kneeling over some machinery… and her body was strapped with various black belts, rings and fasteners-
"Wait, are you wearing-" Smolder's eyes opened wide.
"Fireproof leather harness, yes," the black dragoness replied, looking up from the contraption she was working on. Strange thing with two piston-cylinders, rods and a flywheel, connected to a gearbox via axle, which, in turn, was connected to some strange device, "I got a spare one, too-"
"Uhhh…" Smolder grinned sheepishly, "I'm not into that kind of-"
"It's a work uniform," Ashes cut in, then nodded at the flywheel that she held, "Keep this thing steady for a few moments"
Smolder grabbed the wheel and held it, while Ashes examined the connection axle. She huffed, letting a small puff of smoke from her nostrils.
"Thirty bits for a replacement," she said bitterly, "They don't make them like they used to. Or maybe it was just one bad apple," she shrugged, then hooked up the rods coming from pistons to the flywheel, "Let go."
Smolder did. Ashes twisted a small valve on one of the cylinders, and waited. Then, the flywheel began to spin, slowly at first, but as time went on it picked up speed. It was painfully obvious that the connection axle was not too straight. Ashes cringed a little, and put a metal cover over the flywheel, tightening the bolts that held it.
"Hopefully it will hold," the dragoness muttered, "Need to write a report on that… Right. Back to you," Ashes shifted her gaze over at Smolder, "You are not an engineer. You do not have a degree, or experience. I suspect our dear captain shoved you here just because you are a dragon. I can see his logic. Being fireproof and having tough scales helps in our occupation-"
Smolder huffed.
"-yet, despite him thinking of me as haughty, I will not reject another pair of hands. Fact is, I was thinking about saving up for an artificial pair," Ashes continued, "So at most and at first, you will do what I say, how I say, and, mostly, it will be you helping me do my job. Like you did just now," she nodded towards the stirling generator, "Plus, feeding the boiler," she turned towards the massive construct that was occupying almost the entirety of the room, "The engine is always hungry…"
"Yeah, no offence, but this all sounds kinda boring-"
"So?" Ashes shrugged, "This boring work keeps everyone aboard alive. Plus," the dragoness grabbed a shovel, "Our good captain may rule upon the bridge, and his word is an iron law, but what do you think truly moves this locomotive?" she made a pause, before gesturing to the boiler, "My engines," up to the ceiling, "Lord," and then pressed her paw to her chest, "And me" she made a pause, then shrugged and reached her arm out to Smolder, "And now you, too, I guess. Anyway, welcome aboard Glacies and to the Skies," Ashes smirked lightly, "Come for the sights, stay for madness."
Smolder wasn't sure what to make out from this statement.
"Now, let's feed this metal glutton some more and get you suited for the job"
"Do I have to-"
"-Yes."
Gallus stood in front of the locomotive control console, looking at… well, everything on it. Gauges, lights, switches and levers… even if everything was neatly labeled, it still caused minor information overload.
"...So this is a throttle," Tin was explaining in the meantime, "Push it forward, train moves forward, pull it back, train stops. Pull it back all the way, the train goes reverse. This here are steering gears," his hoof gestured at a pair of levers, one horizontal, yaw, other vertical, pitch, "They work in reverse, so get used to it. As in, you pull up, the locomotive leans down, you pull left, locomotive goes right…"
"Why is it so?" Gallus asked, as he grabbed the yaw lever and gave a try steering the locomotive. It didn't respond too well.
"Hel' if I know," Tin shrugged, "Also, as you might have noticed, the locomotive isn't very responsive to your attempts to control it. That's because we're going full steam. Unless very specific instructions, this means the power of our maneuver thrusters is lowered, and the broadside jump-jets are disabled altogether, since all steam goes to power the main engine.."
The earth pony pushed Gallus a little to the side, while he grabbed the yaw lever and pushed it all the way to the right. The locomotive began to turn, as Tin pulled it all the way to the left, turning the train back to its original course, before resting it back in the middle.
"...So you need to give it more push to maneuver. Got that?"
"Yes, I think," Gallus nodded, "Though, mind if I ask something?"
"I do, but still, ask," Tin replied.
"Why assign me as a pilot?"
The gray pony snorted and rolled his eyes.
"This is a gryphon-made locomotive," he said, "By gryphons, for gryphons. You'll have much less trouble adapting to it," there was a pause, "Of course, that crayon bug friend of yours would have much easier time with controls, with magic and shit," Gallus frowned at Tin referring to Ocellus as 'crayon bug', "But I'm afraid her timid nature will be our downfall..."
"Must you be such a... an… abrasive person?" Gallus asked.
"You just need to get on my good side," Tin smiled at the gryphon, then turned towards Mecha, "First officer! See that he does not crash the train on the first watch. I'm going to get some rest"
"Aye, kapitän!" Mecha saluted cheerfully. Tin nodded and went downstairs. Oddly enough, this was the first time Gallus paid attention to Tin’s cutiemark. A pair of interlocked gears, one brass, another of corroded steel, put on a spanner handle like on an axle.
After the earther stallion disappeared, the unicorn trotted over to Gallus and patted the gryphon on the back, "He's telling the truth, you know! Tin ain't that bad if he lets you get to know him!"
"I said that before and I'll say this again: hardly believable," Gallus huffed as he looked up ahead, yaw lever gripped in his paw.
The young five were sitting in the recroom, enjoying their evening (according to the locomotive's clock) meal as much as they could. A simple buckwheat gruel, nothing special. Then, Smolder walked in, wearing a harness.
"What in Celestia's name were you doing down there?!" Sandbar asked, shocked, as Smolder took her place at the table, her face deadpan, but eyes having sparks of amusement in them.
"Having fun with some unruly machinery," came a reply from Ashes, who came into the room, wearing exactly the same harness. Sandbar spat out his tea at Yona, who sat with a very unamused expression, amber liquid dripping from her muzzle.
"You don't want to know what kind of mental image that gave me!" the stallion said, wiping his snout, and grinned sheepishly at the yak cow glaring at him, "Uh, sorry, Yona-"
"I think I've seen some examples of that… 'unruly machinery'," Gallus smirked mischievously.
The black dragoness demonstratively tugged one of the straps on her harness.
"Also, if you are into this kind of stuff, Tin has a riding crop in his quarters~" Ashes said in a sultry tone, making Sandbar actually choke on his food. The black dragoness then grabbed her plate of gruel and turned to leave.
"Hey, Ash, maybe we could repurpose the stirling generator?" Smolder said through a mouthful of buckwheat.
The black dragoness stopped for a moment and winked, "I do have an adapter kit-"
Sandbar's face changed from that greenish-yellow color he normally had to red as his head met the table, and his hooves covered his ears. To his side, Ocellus turned into a kettle and fell on the floor. Ashes laughed quietly, while the rest of the gang - minus Ocellus and Sandbar - guffawed.
The crew quarters were just as simple and crude as the rest of the locomotive. Three cabins, each with four lockers and four bunks. Insulated pipes carrying steam to the radiator for heating. Interestingly enough, there also were simple electric space heaters. Each cabin had a single, solitary porthole made from stained glass, just like ones on the bridge, and a single lightbulb, not unlike those in the hallways.
The bedding, while worn, was clean... More or less. After all, the age was showing, as once white cloth got that slightly yellow-ish tint. And it had a distinct, ingrained scent of sweat, tears, blood...
And stallions.
Lonely stallions, specifically.
And, in two cases, lonely mares.
"...Eh. Seen worse in Gryphonstone," Gallus shrugged as he climbed on the upper bunk, "Goodnight, everycreature!.."
Sandbar muttered something from the lower bunk through his slumber as the light went out.
On the opposite side of the locomotive, Silversream examined her cabin. A strange mix of a study and a bedroom, a folding bed in the wall, a trunk, small wardrobe, a desk, bolted to the floor, and a chair, along with a Saddle Arabian carpet on the floor. On the desk was a book, open. The hippogryph flipped through the pages. Accounting data, along with supply and fuel log and cargo manifests, neatly organized date after date after date. One page was filled with blocky, crude hasty writing, signed by Tin Pest; the rest of the book was filled by somepony named Bitter Bread.
Going through the desk, Silver found some more papers; she felt cringing on the inside. Paperwork was so boring! And Tin, in his infinite wisdom assigned her to be the quad… quartet… quartermaster of his locomotive. Which meant that all the supplying, accounting and cargo manifesting was on her!..
She checked the final entry in the book. 5 crates of supplies (Silver decided that this was food), some odd equation next, and conclusion that this will last them up to ten days. Of the fuel - coal - they had 15 'measures' of it, whatever it meant, with a note saying 'Consult Ashes daily!', written in red and underlined several times.
Sighing, Silverstream put a worn bookmark (interestingly, it was in a form of unicorn Twilight Sparkle, with a tail made of some sort of colored strings) into the book and closed it. Her crest perked up when she remembered the possibilities skyfaring opened to her: new places! New friends! New sights and adventures with her school friends!
And with those happy thoughts, she went to bed for the night.
Unlike the Äther around the Crystal Empire, which was of a brilliant azure shade, the Äther over New Canterlot seemed to be of a darker blue above the city, turning into a sickly brownish-orange smog below.
Gallus watched as the train was approaching the station, passing by other engines. The heart of the speciesist order looked similar to the old Canterlot - same spires, plazas, lavish houses… but it felt wrong. Even the white-and-gold aesthetics didn't make it seem any friendlier. Instead, it felt cold, distant, alien.
And it was guarded. The skies around were patrolled by armored gray engines, Determined Destriers, heavy locomotives armed with a pair of coaxial cannons and a turret-mounted rotary cannon. And closer to the city itself, they were joined by Steeds'O'War; lumbering, clumsy gilded huffing steel behemoths, carrying batteries of sponson-mounted cannons on the broadsides, a rotary cannon turret on the top, and a missile rack mounted between the undercarriages. A force to be reckoned with, and, according to Ashes, known as 'Terrors of the Skies' in certain circles.
Glacies shuddered as her lead carriage snapped to the rails, followed by motor ones. The wheels squealed as brakes were applied, and three short whistles pierced the air. The locomotive came to a stop, releasing excess steam from vents and safety valves. All the while, Silvertream was stuck to the windows and portholes, watching the sights go by.
"Alright, we'll be staying here for two hours at most," Tin said, "For everycreature's safety, these crewmembers may disembark with me: Mecha, Sandbar, Ten' if he uses doors, and Ocellus, if she puts on a pony disguise"
"Um, won't they find me out with a detection spell?" Ocellus asked warily.
"Oh don't worry," Mecha suddenly snapped, "Ever since black changelings went extinct, those spells were abandoned, because you Crayons are just too wimpy to try anything"
Ocellus winced at the tone the unicorn used. Semi-accusatory, semi-bitter. His emotions were those of annoyance as well.
"Don't call Ocellus and the changelings 'crayons'!" Gallus snapped back, crossing his arms over his chest. So did Silverstream.
Mecha looked at Ocellus and tilted his head.
"Bright, colorful, soft. Crayons, in my book," the unicorn shrugged.
"Make up your minds," Tin said sharply in an annoyed tone, flicking his ear, “We’re burning skylight here”
"I'm going," Mecha said.
Sandbar nodded, "I'm coming too. I want to look around a little"
Ocellus shuffled her hooves a little, then disappeared in a flash of bluish flames, changing into a yellow earth pony with bright mint mane, buck teeth, and a ladybug for a cutiemark.
"I'll come with Sandbar," she said.
"..." Tin tilted his head, "Word of advice, get rid of the buck teeth. Somepony might think you're from the slums or something and react accordingly, and you will not like it"
"Great," Sandbar sighed as Ocellus once again shapeshifted, removing the buck teeth, "Not only we're dealing with speciesists here, but also bigots…"
"I'm staying," Ten' said monotonously, not even raising his head from the stack of papers he was writing on, "Someone has to watch the engine…"
"Very well," Tin nodded, "Aight! Meet me at the main access hatch in fifteen minutes, and we'll be out and about!"
Just then, the intercom buzzed. Tin sighed and walked over to the apparatus, “Yes, Ashes?”
“Captain, the stirling generator transmission axle is bent. I’ve filled the requisition form, and I’ll be thankful if you get one while we’re in the port,” came Ashes’ voice from the speaker.
The gray stallion sucked air through his teeth and groaned.
“Ashes, we’ve got spares”
“And we might need a spare later!”
“Ashes, we have, like, six. Six spare axles, Ashes. Why do we even need this many?” Tin rubbed his temple.
“Mid-flight repairs!” the dragoness replied from the other side of the intercom, “Stirling gen is our main source of electricity that powers literally every single electric thing aboard, captain…”
“...Should have invested in those steam turbine things…” Tin mumbled under his breath, “A moment, Ashes,” the stallion then turned to Silverstream, “You’re coming with Sandbar and Ocellus, the three of you are to procure the part Ashes requested...” he closed his eyes again and rubbed his temples once more, “...And for Umbra’s sake, please, please, please don’t stray away from them, for your own safety…”
There was a momentary pause as Tin looked at Mecha. The unicorn’s ear flicked, and he nodded. Tin sighed, and walked over to a locker built into the bridge wall. Picking the key, he opened the lock and pulled out something small and shiny - a gun. A revolver with a large trigger and a leg strap, which he hooved over to Sandbar. The earth pony stared at the gun, whatever thoughts he had in his head all tangled up.
“Is this necessary?” he asked in a shaky voice.
“If anything, it will serve as a deterrent,” Tin said sternly while Mecha pulled out a holster and levitated it next to Sandbar, “Don’t go around brandishing it, and you’ll be fine… And if you have to use it, make sure you know who (or what) you are shooting and, more important, what is behind it.”
Sandbar reluctantly took the revolver and examined it. The gun wasn’t cocked, but it definitely was loaded. He swallowed nervously as Mecha fastened the holster on his chest.
“Uh, won’t it cause the guards to ask questions?..” Sandbar began, but Tin shook his head.
“You've got your crew token. Wear it," Tin said, rolling his eyes, "The sky is dangerous, so the skyfarers are often seen with their armaments. As I've said, don't go brandishing it, and you'll be fine. The guards in the city proper might have some questions…" he made a pause to stamp a few permits, and hooved them over to Silverstream. Then he continued, "Or not. Don't think anypony here will care. Though you may be asked to leave your weapons if you are going to the Council Hall…" the stallion squinted, "You're not planning on going to the Council Hall, right?"
"No," Sandbar exhaled and holstered the revolver.
"Good," Tin said, "Now if you excuse me, I need to prepare as well."
With that, the stallion turned and walked down the stairs.
Up close, New Canterlot didn't look any friendlier. Thankfully, there were no hitches in leaving the platform section, and getting into the station was relatively easy. A distant tune of a brass orchestra was heard over the clamour of the station and PAs. A crowd has gathered at a faraway platform, around a locomotive parked there.
"Huh," Tin mused, "Wonder what's that about…"
Mecha squinted and leaned forward.
"Either I haven't seen a locomotive like this before, or one of the two," the unicorn said, "What do you say, Tin? Shall we take a closer look?"
The earth pony nodded, "Yes, let's. At least see what the commotion is about"
The group went forward, towards the crowd. As they approached, the sounds of music became more clear. A military band was playing some lively march, but they were not the focus of the crowd. No, they were an addition, the entourage for the main attraction - a brand new, shiny locomotive docked at the platform. It looked fragile, thin, delicate, nothing like her sister Destriers and Steeds, but her armor was curved and slated to deflect shells, even if it was lighter than her sister locomotives'. Thin boiler cylinder ended in a tuning fork-like structure. In the aft was a very low bridge-cab that was barely poking above the boiler top. There were no windows, except for several tiny portholes of the bridge.
In front of the locomotive stood a fancifully dressed white unicorn stallion, who seemingly has been delivering a speech.
“...presenting here to you today, the first of the Beholder class locomotives!” he bellowed cheerfully, “Those fine engines will be the eyes and ears of the Council in the Äther, standing a watchful guard against the enemies of ponykind!”
“Well ain’t that a beauty,” Tin sneered, examining the locomotive sceptically. The crowd cheered in the meantime. Mostly. Sandbar snorted, and Ocellus noticed the tinge of discontent in the crowd, while Silverstream gawked at the smooth curves of the Beholder.
“...We’re offering a free tour of the new engine for anyone interested in it!” the unicorn continued in the meantime, “Come and behold the marvels of technology that made this machine a possibility!”
Tin and Mecha looked at one another.
“Know thy enemy,” Mecha said, and Tin nodded, making both Ocellus’ and Sandbar’s ears perk. The two stallions joined the group of ponies next to the official, as the crewmembers invited them inside the Beholder, one at a time.
Sandbar decided against it. After all, he had to keep an eye on Silverstream, and he doubted that she’d be allowed into the engine. So he stayed. And, surprisingly, so did Ocellus.
"Bah!" a well-dressed earth pony mare next to Sandbar sneered, "Who do you think those 'enemies of ponykind' are?"
The question seemed to be directed at him.
"Uh?" was all that the earth pony managed to squeeze, before the mare continued:
"Marauders? Bandits? Non-ponies? Those whose opinions differ from official ones?"
"Ain't the first one of them either," grunted a unicorn in a station worker uniform next to Ocellus, "Those things are out there already, lurking, watching… Bloody mongrels..."
"I heard they are using some sort of kirin magic to keep the thing powered," muttered a pegasus skyfarer, "Hypocrites…"
"An' all this fanciful sensor and proddin' equipment?" another pony gave his voice, "Sniffin' out smugglers an' contraband. An' secrets, too, them ministry whorses..."
Ocellus felt a tinge of worry come from several ponies nearby.
"Do you think our captain is a smuggler?" she whispered to Sandbar, "I mean, Mecha said 'know thy enemy'..."
Sandbar frowned and shook his head. He really didn't want to think about that right now. The ponies around the trio continued to grumble and complain to each other.
Tin was frowning. Inside, the Beholder was even more cramped than the Glacies, and lacked crew quarters, instead having fold-up wall cots in a single room. The galley was tiny, fit only for two ponies at a time. Hygienic facilities were also extremely lacking, and calling it a 'washroom' would be disrespectful to actual washrooms.
Tin only glanced once at the engineering. The only thing he approved of was auger-fed furnaces. The rest was not to his liking.
"And let's leave it at that," he grumbled.
The bridge was just as cramped as the rest of the locomotive. Cramped and crammed with various detection equipment. From magic proximity sensors to sonars, and even something called 'radar'...
"Ten' would've had a field day with this thing," Tin chuckled to himself.
"Kapitän, check out the scope!" Mecha said as he examined said device. The earth pony joined him and took a look through it. His jaw dropped a little as he could clearly see the distant patch of the sky the scope was pointing at. He could clearly see a Steed'O'War lazily fly around - and figure out every single detail of the engine, like rivets, seams, portholes, hatches, barrels on the rotary cannon, silhouettes of ponies in the portholes and windows… Even the nameplate of the locomotive in question, 'NCL Platinum', with another plate underneath, saying '1 mile'.
"Wait, what?" Tin said as he backed from the scope, bumping into Mecha, who bumped into a console nearby.
"Hey, careful," a unicorn crewmember said, "That's her gun controls"
"Gun?" Mecha asked and blinked, "Just one?"
"She only needs one," the unicorn replied with a smirk.
"Does it really have a range of one mile?" Tin asked.
"Not really," the crewmember replied, "About half of that…'' then he leaned over to Tin and whispered, "And in all honesty it's even lower. The gun is affixed in the hull so we have to turn the entire locomotive to aim it..."
Tin let out a groan.
"I want to have a couple warm words with whoever developed this thing," he said in frustration, "Destriers are less cramped than-scratch that, Friendlies' Owls have more space than this thing!"
"Be glad you're not stuck serving on one," the crewmember grumbled.
"Aren't you going to get in trouble for saying stuff like that?" Mecha asked.
The crewmember simply gestured at the insignia on his uniform chest, showing that he, in fact, was from the Ministry of Morality.
Tin and Mecha quickly excused themselves and scrambled out of the locomotive.
"Great," the ministry stallion grumbled, "Another set of fear-mongers..."
"Good thing Ashes wasn't here to see it," Tin complained to Sandbar and Ocellus as the group went away from the Beholder, "And better that I never mention the technical details to her… Ah, whatever!"
The group was going through the busy station. At one point, Tin stopped and gestured to the side, "There, technical station. Silver, Sandbar, Ocellus you know what to do…"
"Um, may I stay?" Ocellus said, "I'm not-"
"I'll go instead then!" Mecha piped in before Tin could say anything, "Come, we've got an axle to order!"
"Fine," Tin exhaled, "Aight, let's go, Cello, we've got places to be"
Ocellus followed Tin out of the station into what she could only describe as some sort of a bazaar. Ponies all around, selling, buying, bartering, arguing… yet Tin ignores all of it, swiftly making his way through the crowd. Ocellus barely managed to keep up with him. The two ended up at something that looked like a bounty board from Appleloosa, with a group of sky-captains standing in front of it, examining the sheets of paper nailed to it, snatching one or two every now and then and leaving. Once there are too few sheets left, a bulky, grim-looking earth pony nailed new ones to the board, driving nails in with a single strike of his iron-shod hoof.
"What is this?" the disguised changeling asked Tin.
"Trade prospects," the stallion replied as they got closer to the board, "Every creature always needs something and some are willing to pay a premium to get it…" Tin's ears perked as he noticed something and snatched one sheet from the board, "...And since this is the larger port around, all the requests end up here"
"So are we going shopping later?" Ocellus asked. Tin shook his head.
"No. Large ports like this have too quick of the ware turnover rate. You need to be extremely lucky to snatch a deal here, and as such, no one really bothers. So you make notes and…" Tin's ears perked up again as he snatched another sheet from the board, "...keep your eyes open in smaller ports. Sometimes you might snatch a very good bargain there, straight from the tap, so to say…" he made a pause while the grim stallion hammered on new sheets, "So the idea is, buy low, sell high; and always, always plan your route accordingly…"
As the captain examined the new set of sheets, he hummed, and shook his head, "Okay, we're good here. Let's go"
Tim shoved both sheets into his saddlebags and walked away. Ocellus followed.
"So… Are you a trader?" she asked.
Tin stopped and sighed.
"...No," he said after a moment, and continued to walk back to the station, "I'm a... freelancer, so to say. An opportunist, and…"
There was a tinge of bitterness that Ocellus felt.
"...I don't want to talk about it," the stallion exhaled, "Come on"
The disguised changeling decided against pressing on.
Tin and Ocellus returned to the station and went back to Glacies. Sandbar, Mecha and Silverstream were already waiting for them at the main hatch.
"We've delivered the axle to Ashes, kapitän!" Mecha saluted. Tin nodded.
"Any problems?" Tin asked. Silverstream shook her head, "Aight, good. I have a new job once we get to Ponyville," the stallion pulled the sheets he took from the board out of his saddlebags and gave them to Silverstream. The hippogryph took them and examined the papers.
"Five bushels of Sweet Apple Acres apples for Cathedral, and six barrels of Sweet Apple Acres cider for Reach?" she asked, "What's a Cathedral and Reach?"
"Ports we'll be visiting after Ponyville, since they are along the way to the place where I found that damned hunk of junk," Tin replied.
"They have strange names," Sandbar remarked.
"The Cathedral is literally a town built around a formerly underground cathedral," Tin explained in a slightly annoyed tone, "And honestly, ponies never were very creative in terms of naming things. The Reach is the farthest of the ports in the direction we'll be going, and, coincidentally, the last port in that direction right now. Beyond lies the Outer Verge, and beyond that - the Great Unknown..."
"An underground cathedral?.." Ocellus muttered, the sense of uneasiness forming in her chest.
"Former," Tin exhaled, "The disaster blew everything sky-high, and no one was pleased with the results…"
"What cathedral is built underground?" Silverstream asked.
"That of the Church of Benevolent Darkness," Tin replied. Ocellus felt chills run down her spine, sending shivers through her body, "Of her Unseen Grace, Umbra"
"You seem to know a lot about this church," Sandbar said.
"I trust Her Grace to keep me and mine safe," was Tin's reply, his hoof touching his chest - or, to be more precise, feeling something under his bomber jacket down there.
This time Ocellus barely managed to stop herself from changing into something tiny, unnoticeable, and, preferably, nigh-invincible. Like a water bear.
Tin Pest was a follower of the Church of Benevolent Darkness. Or, how it was named in history books, the Cult of Umbra, the Destroyers of Light, Liberators of Darkness.
"Alright, luck has it we're done here quicker than I anticipated!" the stallion continued in the meantime, while Ocellus was having her little freak-out, "All aboard and we're leaving!"
As she boarded Glacies once again, Ocellus couldn't shake off the feeling of worry. She could not stop thinking if Tin had other motives than getting rich from this venture. It was gnawing on her, distracting her from everything else, as the locomotive chuffed and huffed, taking off to the skies once again. And it seemed that her friends seemingly had no idea about the nature of the Church.
They had to know.