The railway from Hoofington to Rosemarein was going to be a blessing for everypony involved. It brought work, would let the farmers in Rosemarein sell their produce farther, and give Hoofington the benefit of being the main outlet for everything leaving and going into Rosemarein for a time being. This had worked wonders for Dodge City and Appleloosa, so why not here as well? For the recent migrants into the region though, work was the biggest boon from this new venture. It took many hooves to lay a railway with any kind of speed and required specialized magic and skills to make that speed reasonable.
One may think it’s as easy as getting some unicorns to carrying crossties and the heavy steel and iron rails, but it simply isn’t. First, tons of gravel and dirt must be moved to make a smooth surface for the rails to be laid on. Then when placing them, these rails can easily reach several hundreds of pounds apiece and the crossties a bit less. Next, heavy iron spikes must be driven into the ground to hold the rails to the crossties. Last, the rails must be bolted together with several heavy screws and bits that must hold as possibly dozens of trains cross over it daily. Simple telekinesis can only do so much so instead small armies of earth ponies, pegasi, anycreature that can lift weight must be employed.
The unicorn is still invaluable in these operations. The greatest obstacles besides keeping dozens of ponies in tune at speed is the land itself. Trains can only handle so much incline carrying the Sisters know what so if you meet a particularly large hill or mountain you have to go around or through it. A unicorn gifted in turning rockface into rubble is worth a hundred other ponies with pickaxes and shovels. Explosives are an option, certainly, but it is both an expensive and dangerous business. Better to find a unicorn or two who can throw magical bombs.
Hazard was one such unicorn. It was about the only kind of magic he was ever good at. He never showed much skill with magic as a colt until he was ten when he accidently blew out the kitchen windows trying to practice levitation. He attempted to “push” a pencil and instead threw an apple sized ball of magic right into it. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt but his parents didn’t know if it was a blessing or curse their colt was starting to show magical talent. Needless to say, the family would cough up more than a few bits over the years to pay for the aftereffects of his practice. Eventually he’d even managed to pick up telekinesis finally without blowing holes in the kitchen table.
Now, seventeen years later, he was well versed with his abilities. He could hurl a raging ball of magic into anything knowing exactly how much would be destroyed, how safe it was to be away from it, and how long it needed to go. When he wasn’t doing that, he could drive rail spikes into the wood faster than any earth pony with a just a hammer’s head and his magic. Perfect for a rail layer.
One way or another, this had led Hazard to the D&L Rail Company’s project to connect Hoofington and Rosemarein. The only thing keeping Hazard here was the promise of a hefty payday once the rail was done, much like everypony else. Work was grueling. The “Mild West” certainly didn’t seem so mild under the hot sun and fine, dry dust that coated everypony and everything out here. The line boss kept everycreature in line, his voice sounding like the crack of a whip every time he sensed a slowdown. It had been three weeks in the near wilderness and Hazard still didn’t know this earth pony’s name. Maybe that was best. After all, he only wanted to be called “boss” or “sir.” Only reason the work boss probably had this job was his iron discipline or rather his slave driving attitude. The saving grace was the boss’ propensity to sleep late in the mornings. He would chew out the work teams if nothing got down before he was awake. Work got done but no one felt the strong need to wake him up and be forced to work that much harder.
It was one such morning on the dry plains and rocky hills that one of the few pegasi swooped down from the empty sky with a start. Time Catcher was her name and her skill was allegedly she was able to forecast the weather to the hour, but she was doing just fine carrying buckets of railroad spikes to and fro for the time being. Her sudden entrance earned complaints from the nearest work crew as the force of her wings kicked up a thick spray of dust and sand.
“Somethin’s comin’ up the way!”
Hazard put down his hammer and cocked an eyebrow, unpolished hooves kicking up more dirt into his charcoal fur as he approached the growing crowd. “The supply wagon isn’t supposed to be up for a few more days.” He said what everyone was else thinking. The wagon always came like clockwork and frankly, something out of the ordinary made most of the workponies uneasy. There was something nice, maybe calming was a better word, about the weeks of the same routine in and out. A feeling of certainty for the immediate future at least.
Time Catcher waved her hooves down at Hazard, “Well, I dunno what ta’ tell ya’ but it’s somethin’!” The pegasus brought a hoof up to cover her eyes and squinted back out at the horizon.
“Should we wake the boss?” One of the younger ponys asked. A few groans and curses were made to answer the question before he sank back into the mass of workers. The group of work teams stood in a moment of uneasy silence. Two picked back up their tools, not wishing to be caught standing around if the boss woke up on his own. The rest were quick to follow and the chimes of metal on metal and toolbelts clinging together sounded before the hammer falls returned into the open nothingness of the plains once more.
Hazard lingered and took the moment to push back his mane, usually jet black but sporting a thin layer of dusty greyish brown right now. He could see the whisps of a smokestack slowly getting larger as whatever “something” was approached. The dull blare of a steam whistle in the distance stopped work again and the growing sight of black smoke and steam were enough to keep the attention of the workponies this time.
Immediately, speculation began. It certainly wasn’t a train; it was on the road and not the rail though… It certainly looked like a train from here! Sounded like one too by that whistle. One of them, an earth pony named Rubble Waltz, said maybe it was farming equipment. The others scoffed.
“What kind of farming equipment’s that? Ain’t a plow.”
“No, no, it’s for pulling stuff. I’ve got an uncle way up north who’s got one. A, erm, tractor, yeah, a tractor! Ya’ pull plows behind it or you can hook a wagon to it.”
“Plow or wagon? That seems a bit specific. What if I want one that does both?”
“You can remove the other. It’s not stuck to one or the other.”
“Wouldn’t it crush all the plants?”
“I think the wheels are wide enough apart they can-“
Another whistle blew, this time much closer and shriller. The group turned to look up the little hill the tents and wagons that were the workponies’ homes for now and where the whistle had come from. The work boss was standing atop it and looking none too pleased at the sight before him.
“What in Celestia’s good name are you slackers doing, standing around with your jaws halfway to the floor?!”
He began to trout down the hill. His flat cap bounced atop his blood red mane with each hoof-fall, each step making the previously brawny workponies seem more timid as the piercing green eyes of their boss neared.
“What the blazes are we paying you for? Huh?”
Time Catcher cleared her throat and stuck a hoof up. “There’s a tractor comin’ sir!”
“A tractor? We aren’t gettin’ any tra-“ The work boss suddenly stopped short and his face lightened up to something resembling surprise from its stern glare. A moment later, a grin began to spread across it that made everyone else uneasy. It was never good when such a stallion looked pleased like that.
“That’s no tractor.” He corrected. “It’s a steam drill.”
Hazard had been watching the machine approach, too distracted to fully register the boss’ approach but the mention of a steam drill turned one of his ears back to listen.
Hazard joined the rest of the workers as their boss settled them down. “Everyone’ll get to see it in a bit, I think we can let ya’ rest for now.”