Thorax stepped through the doors of the Cheval factory and witnessed a stunning spectacle inside. The foyer was decorated with all sorts of memorabilia, from old advertisements for wooden carriages, to cross section diagrams of more modern carriages, to photographs of noteworthy models that were sold in the past.

And on display in the center of the room was a large carriage. It was painted white and had gold and pink accents. At its front was a rigging that allowed up to six ponies to pull the carriage, and the body was large enough to easily seat as many as ten. Thorax approached the carriage and took notice of a small plaque mounted on a stand next to it:

This is a replica of the carriage used by Princess Celestia during official functions such as the Summer Sun Celebration. The original is maintained in Canterlot by a team of ponies specially appointed by the princesses and composed of our most expert employees to ensure the carriage is kept in prime condition.

Few ponies know that an identical copy of this carriage is also maintained for the newly returned Princess Luna, with many features colored to match the princess of the moon.

A reproduction of this carriage is for sale to the general public for the sum of 500,000 bits.

Thorax looked back up at the carriage. It was easy to understand the cost when the quality was considered, and the fact that the carriage was made for a princess, but he knew that the average pony wasn't going to be able to afford a price that steep.

Looking away from the carriage, Thorax saw a desk seated underneath another copy of the company logo, and sitting behind said desk was a mare that was tapping away at a typewriter, a device the changeling had only seen a few times before. He walked up to the mare and addressed her.

The mare turned her attention away from him as she went into a filing cabinet and produced a paper. She then retrieved a quill and ink pot and placed them onto the desk along with the paper.

"Cheval Carriage Company requires all ponies who wish to tour our facility to sign a legal waiver stating that, by visiting this facility, they assume all risks, such as any and all possible injuries they may sustain on the factory floor."

"Yes, sir" the mare responded. "It's rare, but accidents do occasionally happen. Most of the time it's some colt who wants to get a little closer to our manufacturing process and sticks his muzzle where it shouldn't go."

"However, if you follow our rules and don't act dumb, you shouldn't get hurt. This is really just a standard boiler plate to prevent a lawsuit."

Thorax had heard the term used by ponies before. He took the paper and read over it, and it was pretty much what the mare had described to him.

-The Cheval Carriage factory was a manufacturing facility that used industrial machines to manufacture their products.

-There were various signs throughout the facility to denote work areas unauthorized ponies were to stay out of and markings to denote safe distances for untrained and unauthorized ponies to stand behind.

-By signing the paper, Thorax agreed not to touch any of the machines and would obey all signs and markings posted in the facility.

-If Thorax ignored those warnings and got hurt in the facility because of his own actions, then he would have no legal right to bring a personal injury lawsuit against Cheval Carriage beause they had fulfilled their legal obligation to warn him about the dangers of entering their facility.

Reading it over, Thorax agreed to all of the disclaimers and signed his pony name on the dotted line.

"Very good" the mare said as she took the paper and placed it into a basket, then retrieved a metal cashier box. "The tour of our facility costs twenty bits."

Fishing out the correct amount, Thorax hoofed the coins over to the mare, who placed them in the box. Returning the box to its place under her desk, she turns her attention back to Thorax.

"The next tour group will be going through soon" she tells him, then points with her hoof. "Head through those two doors over there to join them. A guide will come out a lead you on the tour. It starts with a walk-through of our history museum, followed by the tour of the production floor, showing a carriage being made from raw materials all the way to rolling out the door to be taken to a dealer to be sold or claimed by a pony who paid to reserve one."

"Thank you" Thorax told the mare as he turned and walked through the two doors the mare pointed out.

Walking through the doors, Thorax was greeted by a waiting area, with several chairs, a few small tables, and some machines off to one side that dispensed food or drinks, provided one put in the correct amount of bits for the desired items. Adorning the walls were posters advertising products made by Cheval, including their carriages, but also replacement wheels and axles, as well as replaceable upholstered seats for when the ones that came with the carriage wore out.

Seated in many of the chairs were other ponies. It was a mixture of stallion, mare, colt, filly, and foal. All of them were waiting for somepony to come and take them on a tour of the facility.

The question startled Thorax and he jumped back a little. Looking around, he eventually directed his eyes downward to see a small colt looking up at him. He was a pale blue color, and had a messy mane that was colored in various shades of orange and brown. With the way it was shaped, it reminded the changeling of leaves in the fall.

Thorax looked to the new voice and saw a mare approaching with a stern look leveled at the colt. Her coat was a yellow color, but her hair was similar to the colt, albeit combed straight and being pulled up into a bun.

"I am so sorry for my son" the mare said to Thorax as she got close. "Ever since they taught them about the royal wedding and the changelings, he's been asking everypony if they're secretly a changeling."

"It's fine" Thorax replied to the mare. "Every foal gets curious when they learn about new things."

"Still, he shouldn't be asking questions like that" she persisted. "He asked that same question to a guard in the city last week and his superiors put him on reserve duty for several days until he was able to prove that he wasn't a changeling."

Thorax winced a bit. He'd heard about reserve duty in the Crystal Guard and understood how undesirable it was. It consisted of doing the more unpleasant work that was often saved for new recruits as a sort of hazing ritual, like peeling vegetables for meals and cleaning out latrines. In this way, it was a punishment that helped keep the guards performing their duty at the expected level.

"I'm Autumn Belle" the mare told Thorax, then gestured to her son. "This is Autumn Dew, but he likes to be called Dewey."

"Heya Dewey" Thorax said to the colt with a wave. The colt darted behind his mother's front legs and looked up at Thorax with a shy look.

"Dewey!" Autumn admonished her colt. "You get out from under there and say hello to this nice stallion!"

Reluctantly, Dewey stepped out and did a quick wave with his hoof. "Hello" he said quietly.

"I'm Crystal Hoof" Thorax told Autumn and Dewey. Upon hearing his name, Autumn looked closer and her eyes went wide.

"Uh, yeah" Thorax said a bit nervously. "I didn't think we were that rare outside of the empire."

"Not too many of you guys have gotten out and visited other places" Autumn told Thorax. "In fact, you're the first one I've actually seen up close before."

"Mhm" Autumn replied. "You're the first. I gotta admit though, I can understand why there's not many that would want to come visit during the winter. I mean, you all have that heart thing shielding you from bad weather all the time."

"The Crystal Heart," Thorax corrected, "and it doesn't protect us all the time. We still need to have some rain and snow in order for the crops and stuff to grow."

"Really?" she says in surprise. "That's interesting. Most ponies here don't know that, or at least I don't think they do."

Before the conversation can continue any further, a voice calls out above all of the conversations.

Thorax and Autumn both look to see a unicorn mare with a bright yellow with golden blonde mane and tail, with bright orange eyes. Her cutie mark, just barely visible under her safety orange vest, is a spotlight.

"Welcome to the Cheval Carriage factory!" she greeted everypony. "My name's Shine, and I'll be your guide today as you take a tour of the world famous Cheval Carriage Company!"

"Now, before we begin, I would like everypony to follow me into the next room. We'll be giving each of you a safety vest and a protective helmet. Unicorns, don't forget to request our special helmet with slot that you can fit your horns through."

Everypony followed Shine through the next set of double doors. On the other side was a room with racks of safety vests and bright yellow hats, some of them having a slot in the front. In the center was a table where a pony was waiting with several piles of safety vest and a rolling rack with helmets on it.

"Just step up to the table and tell us your barrel measurement" Shine instructed everypony. "If you don't know, we can take it for you right here." Shine then used her magic and held up a thin ribbon with markings on it, which Thorax instantly recognized as a tape measure.

The ponies ahead of Thorax all approached a table, with some of them telling Shine their measurement or shaking their head and standing still as the tape measure wrapped around them. When Shine finished, she levitated a vest to the pony. When it came Thorax's turn, he smiled at her sheepishly.

"I... don't quite remember my measurement" he tells her. "I think it's either 21 or 22."

"No problem" she tells him as she wraps the measure around him. "We'll just take it real quick and be sure."

Thorax felt the tape go taught and hold for a second. Shine looked closely at the markings before releasing the tape.

She then levitates a vest over to Thorax, who takes it and steps aside. He then slips it on and is given a helmet for his head. Once properly dressed, he steps over with the other ponies to wait until everypony is ready. When all the vests and hats are handed out, Shine heads over to a pair of doors marked "MUSEUM" and addresses all the visitors.

"Now we're going to take a trip through our company's history museum. We have lots of fun and informative exhibits, as well as a gift shop where you can grab a souvenir. After that, we'll be going onto the production floor, where we'll see a carriage being made, from raw metal being made into a frame and going the whole way through until the carriage rolls out to our storage lot where it'll wait to be sent off to a dealer or a customer."

"We have a lot to do and so little time to do it, so if everypony can follow me now. Let our tour begin!"

The museum was... informative, if not a little underwhelming. It started with a film, which told the viewer about the company's founder, The Duke of Cheval. He was a noble that became rather irritated with having to walk every place he needed to go and messing up his clothes and hooves.

After seeing some foals riding in the back of a two wheel hay cart and holding open an umbrella, he got the idea to make a cart whose purpose was to ferry passengers where they needed to go in relative comfort. After investing some bits into a lumber business and hiring a pony skilled in cart making, he designed his first carriage.

That had been five hundred years ago, and the company has been making carriages ever since. About two hundred years ago, the company acquired the means to manufacture carriages from metals such as steel, and began designing more affordable models for the everyday pony.

Unfortunately, even with the focus on making prices more affordable for the average pony, carriages were still prohibitively expensive for most, with the most economic model, the Ladybug, costing around 45,000 bits. The average pony salary, as Sunburst had told Thorax, was around 12,000 bits annually.

The company still did good business despite this. They had a buyback program that allowed them to purchase their customer's carriages back when they were finished using them in exchange for a discount on their next purchase. The repurchased carriage was then either refurbished and sold at a discounted price as "pre owned" or broken down into the most basic components and either reused on other carriages(if the parts were still in good and usable condition and were compatible) or melted down into raw materials to be used in future carriages.

At the end of the museum tour, Thorax was sure of one thing: He wouldn't be able to afford a carriage, even if he wanted one. Sure, he could ask Princess Cadance for one and she probably would get it out of a desire to make up for her past wrongdoings against him, but he would never stoop so low as to take advantage of her kindness in that way.

Besides that, the carriages needed a driver to operate them, and Thorax couldn't afford to pay a pony a salary either. He'd just have to be happy with riding a train, walking or flying wherever he needed to go. Of course, for the last one, he'd need an approved pegasus disguise; the Crystal Empire was currently the only place where he was aloud to fly in his changeling form.

Shine moved to stand in front of a set of double doors, these painted in yellow and black alternating stripes and warnings about heavy equipment adorning it. Thorax deduced rather easily that they were now about to enter the actual factory.

"Okay everypony!" she called out to the group so as to have everypony's attention. "We're about to enter the production floor now, so please pay attention to all of the safety signs and the lines marked on the floor that mark safe distances from the machinery. Parents, please keep hold of your foals so that they don't wander off by accident."

"Please, stay with our tour group for the whole duration of the tour. I'm asking you to do this for your own safety. I know the temptation to get a closer look is hard to fight sometimes, but we don't want any accidents today, or ever, so please be mindful of where your standing and respect the safety markings on the floor and walls. Those hardhats only protect you so much."

With her safety speech concluded, Shine pushed a button, and the two doors began to slide open, a yellow strobe light and a ringing bell alerting nearby ponies to the door opening.

"Now," Shine said as she turned to walk through the now open door, "please follow me everypony! We're about to see a carriage being made!"

Past the two doors was one of the most impressive sights Thorax could recall seeing. The large building was filled with all sorts of machinery, some of it powered by steam, while other parts were fed magical current from a unicorn operator. Strangely, he also saw pegasi and earth pony operators running these machines. The magic they used came from a pendant of crystal around their necks.

"This is our production floor" Shine called out clear as day, a spell cutting out surrounding noise while boosting her own voice. "Here you can see many ponies hard at work crafting our world famous carriages from start to finish. If you'll all follow me, we'll head down to the foundry area where you can see our metalsmiths converting the raw ore we receive into usable metal for what will become the frames and bodies of our carriages."

The ponies followed, but Thorax was too curious about the magic using pegasus and earth ponies. "Miss Shine?" he calls out to her.

Shine turns and looks at Thorax with a smile. "Our first question already" she says bemused. "I think I know what it's going to be about, but please, what is your question?"

Thorax feels a little embarrassed about how Shine called him out, but his curiosity gets the better of him.

"I noticed there's some earth ponies and pegasus using machines that look like they run on magic. Are they really using magic?"

Shine chuckles before looking at Thorax. "Indeed they are" she answers before gesturing towards a pegasus using a magic-powered hook to move a carriage frame to the next part of the assembly process.

"We hire all kinds of ponies to work here at our factory, and no position is off limits to them because of their race. If there is an earth pony or pegasus that wishes to work with magically powered machines, we provide those ponies with the pendants you see them wearing. Those act as a focal point for them to use their magic in the same way a unicorn would use theirs."

"Of course, we can't just let anypony have a pendant and begin using it untrained. While positions with magic-powered machinery are not off limits to anypony, pegasus and earth pony candidates must pass a basic magic channeling and spell work course to prove they have the ability to operate these machines as required by their job function. The course isn't as strenuous as you might think, but it is not something to be taken lightly either."

"Those who prove themselves capable of using magic with the pendant are brought out to the production floor with a unicorn supervising them for a week to monitor their abilities with the pendant and their overall quality. If they're satisfactory, then they receive full authorization and can work without supervision. If they're not, then we try to place them into a position better suited for their abilities. We don't like to fire ponies if we don't have to."

Autumn Belle quickly admonishes her child for his question, but Shine just laughs again.

"It's okay, ma'am" Shine tells Autumn before looking at Dewey. "Well, to answer your question, they could, at least in theory. All the information that everypony researching them has found points to them having a similar level of magical competency as a unicorn. So, if there was ever a situation where we had to rely on a changeling to use one of these machines, then yes, they would be able to operate it, or perform any of the other jobs here at our factory."

Dewey seems satisfied with the question. Autumn leans down and gives her colt a scolding, telling him that they'll leave the tour early if he keeps asking ponies about changelings. Dewey looks as though he's going to be upset, but quickly nods and tries to hide behind another pony to avoid his mother's gaze.

"Now then," Shine continues, "we'll make our way down to the forges. I want everypony to keep their eyes and ears open while we're down there. We'll be passing some heavy equipment that will be moving pretty fast, and like I said before, those helmets only protect you so much. The best way to keep safe is to stay alert."

"Also, keep your eyes and ears open down in the foundry. The forges themselves get to a temperature in excess of 2,000 degrees in order to get the steel to smelt properly. That temperature is so hot it can literally cook the flesh right off your bones, so pay attention to all the signs and stay behind those safety lines."

The forges were, for lack of a better word, hot. Thorax had heard an older pony describe them as being similar to "the underbelly of Tartarus". Needless to say, he quickly found no need for his hat and scarf while in the very hot room.

"Here you can see our ponies hard at work converting this raw ore into usable material" Shine explains while holding up what appeared to be a large rock that shined brightly in the dim lights of the foundry. "This metal is from our newest supplier: The Dragon Lands."

"Thanks to the efforts of Spike the dragon and Princess Twilight Sparkle, ponies and dragons have formed peaceful relations between each other. Using our gem reserves as currency, we have negotiated a deal for a large quantity of metal ore from the Dragon Lands to be used in a new line of carriages, one of which you'll see being made here today."

"According to our dragon suppliers, this steel is of a high purity, which was verified by our metallurgists, and would produce quality product to last the test of time."

"As you can see here," Shine says while gesturing to ponies at work, "we have some workers who are now adding some raw ore to a large smelting pot. These unicorns you see at the bottom of the pot all have special talents related to electricity and lightning, making them the ideal ponies to be using our arc forges."

Thorax looked to where Shine was pointing and saw a team of ponies standing near one of the large smelting pots. One pony, an earth pony, was standing on a catwalk and dumping metal buckets full of the shiny metal ore into the pot. Once he was finished, he gave a signal for the unicorns to start the next step. The four unicorns all nod to each other and then put a special mask over their face that leaves their horn exposed. Stepping up to the pot, each unicorn places their horn against a special divot and casts a spell. Almost immediately, Thorax hears a strange noise and sees the pot start to glow an orange color.

"The unicorns are casting an electric arc spell now, and the forge is heating up very quickly" Shine explains. "Despite how bright you see the forge getting, it's made of a very strong material composed of metal and ceramic. It's a costly material, but the metalsmiths of the world like to use it for smelting because it is highly resistant to heat. We can use this smelting pot for billions of smeltings before it would need to be replaced."

The tour group again oohed and ahhed at the information. Shine continued speaking.

"Once the ore is hot enough to become molten, a pony will stick a stirring rod into the ore and begin separating the metal from the slag. Once the slag is separated and filtered out, the molten metal will be transported to the area where we will pour it into molds that will create the beginnings of our carriage frames."

Thorax watched as the pot got a bright orange and gave off a visible amount of heat. A pony on a catwalk above the pot stuck a large rod down into the pot and began stirring it in a fashion not too dissimilar from what Thorax saw once when he saw the chefs in the Crystal Palace kitchens stirred a pot of stew.

After the pony finished stirring, they removed the rod and then produced something resembling a ladle with a long handle and stuck it into the pot. A few more stirs later, and the ladle came up full of... something. The closest description he could give was ashes from a fire pit, except they were sticking to each other. The substance was then dumped into another large smelting pot and the ladle went back into the previous one and the process was repeated.

After several minutes, in which the amount of material pulled out had lessened to not even visible in the ladle, the pony on the catwalk gave a nod to the others and they nodded back. The unicorns running the arc spell stopped and stepped away, removing their masks once they were at a safe distance from the smelting pot. Each one of them was panting and sweating, and a pony came around with glasses of water for them to drink.

Another pony walked up and took hold of the smelting pot in magic, leading it over to an area where there were several block-like objects set up. As they got closer, they then moved the smelting pot onto a hangar and affixed a hook and cable to a loop between two of the points where the unicorns had put their horns.

"Now that the metal has been smelted and cleaned of impurities," Shine explained as she gestured to the pony pouring metal, "this pony here will now pour the molten material into these molds that will shape the metal into the pieces that will become the frames for our carriages."

"The pony doing this must be careful when pouring the metal. If they overfill the mold, then that wastes precious material, costs time at our finishing department, and causes headaches for a lot of ponies. They must also pour the metal in a smooth and consistent flow. If they don't, it could create defects in the metal that would compromise the structural integrity of the carriage, which could lead to an accident during operation and lead to a pony getting hurt."

"Cheval Carriage takes our manufacturing process very seriously, and we train all of our employees in the process of producing our metal and pouring it into molds correctly. We don't allow anypony to work on the production floor until we are certain that they are able to perform the duties of their position without fail. Their failure to perform their job in at least an adequate capacity could result in a catastrophe for our customers, so it is important that we perform our duties to our fullest ability to ensure our products are not just high quality, but also safe."

Thorax turned his attention from Shine back to the pony pouring metal. They had finished pouring one mold and had moved onto the next. As they tilted the smelting pot, a thin stream of molten metal poured out and landed in the mold. The pony kept the stream flowing for a few more seconds before the tilted the pot back upright and moved on to the next mold.

"If everypony could follow me," Shine said to get the group's attention, "we're now going to move onto the next phase, where another team of ponies will remove the pieces of frame from the molds, inspect them and clean them, and then fit them together to make the frames that the carriage body and axles will attach to."

The group moved into the next area. In this part of the building, ponies were moving molds that had had metal poured into them a bit earlier and were in the process of cooling down. A few ponies were taking molds that had cooled down completely and were removing the newly formed parts inside them.

Thorax dared to take a peek inside one of the molds. As expected, it was hollow, but the hollow part was in a weird shape, almost like a minotaur's bow. He also saw that the two mold halves were a bit different from one another; one had pegs and the other had round holes. Seeing them put back together, Thorax realized they were to help the mold fit properly so the parts turned out in the correct shape.

The ponies who had removed the parts from the mold now had them on a table and were going from piece to piece with a stethoscope and gently tapping their hooves on the piece. One had finished and took a marker of some sort and made a check mark on the piece before handing it to another pony that laced it on a cart with other pieces that had a checkmark on it.

Several others were doing the same thing, but one pony had caught Thorax's attention. This pony had stopped with their stethoscope at a spot on the part and kept tapping their hooves around this area. After doing this for a few moments, the pony shook their head and drew a circle with an X in it on the part and put it on a second cart, where other pieces that had circles and Xs on them were sitting.

"Those ponies there are conducting our quality control test for these parts" Shine explains. "When the metal comes out of the mold, they place stethoscopes all along the metal and tap it with their hooves to listen to the harmonics of the piece. If they're good, they'll mark it with a check mark and send it on down to a pony that will use it and other pieces to begin assembling the frame. If there's a spot where the metal has a defect, such as what that pony has there," she points to a stallion who is marking a defect wit the circle and X, "they'll mark that area and place it on a cart so that the forge ponies can re-smelt that metal into a new and hopefully good piece."

"Just past these inspection ponies, you can see the assemblers. They use spells that secure the pieces of frame together in a fashion similar to osmosis. The metal pieces literally absorb each other and create a bond stronger than any kind of welding. Besides the strength, it makes for a visually more desirable piece."

Thorax watched as a pony took two pieces of metal and carefully set them together at just the right location. Once they were satisfied, the pony, in this case, a pegasus, used their focusing pendant and cast the spell. The two pieces of metal became enveloped in magic and suddenly fused together, and when the spell was released, they looked as though they had been made that way all along.

"Now," Shine says, getting everypony's attention, "we'll move onto the next part of the process, where we'll see pieces of the body being made. Once finished, they will be added to the frames, and from there, they'll get their axles and wheels, where we'll show you our patented 'free floating' suspension system being made."

The group moved to another area of the foundry portion of the factory, where the smelted metal was being poured onto what looked like a large flat table. Markings on the table told ponies to be careful around it, and a look up showed Thorax a large metal plate attached to a machine.

"This portion of our factory is where we produce the various pieces of the carriage body that will be assembled and added to the frame later. This area is actually pretty all encompassing, but we are starting down here at the foundry, where our workers are going to make a large sheet of metal that will produce the exterior pieces of the carriage."

The group watched as a smaller smelting pot was slid underneath the large metal plate and a valve on the bottom was turned by a pony. As soon as the valve opened, molten metal poured out and began filling the large table. Once the pony watching the pot decided there was enough, he she the valve and moved the pot to another large table nearby.

A series of warning lights and sirens suddenly went off as the tour group took a step back.

"Please stand clear now, everypony!" Shine called out to the tour group, her voice bolstered by a spell. "One of our workers will now operate a press that will turn this piece of metal into a sheet that our body pieces will be made from."

Thorax watched as a pony at a nearby console watched around the table to make sure there was nopony in the way of the machine. Once he was sure, he hit a switch, and another loud set of sirens sounded out, and the large metal plate above the table descended. The plate came the whole way down until the edges fit inside some guide rails that had been painted the customary black and yellow.

"This very powerful press is now turning the molten metal into a flat sheet" Shine continued. "It's gonna stay locked there until the metal has cooled down enough to be handled safely."

"Once the metal is cool enough, it will be removed and ponies will perform a quality test on it to make sure that there are no defects that could result in later problems. There's some ponies about to conduct a test now."

Shine pointed to a group of ponies, causing the tour group to look over and watch.

The ponies, a mix of unicorns, pegasus and earth ponies, used levitation magic to lift the piece of metal out of the table and onto another. Once lowered into place, the ponies stepped back and stopped their magic. The earth ponies and pegasi looked a tiny bit winded, the use of their magic by way of focal point likely taking more strain than if had been directed through their wings and hooves as it would naturally.

"Now that the metal has finished cooling and our ponies have moved it out of the press," Shine continues, "one of our inspectors will come in and check it for any defects. While they will still check it in a similar fashion to how the frame pieces were checked, a second check will be performed with a jeweler's eye loupe across the whole piece. This is a visual cosmetic inspection."

"If the piece meets our cosmetic standards, then it will move onto a cutting machine that will turn the sheet of metal into usable parts for production. The excess from the sheet will be taken back to the foundry and recycled into another batch of material being made into a sheet of metal."

Thorax turned his attention to the pony that approached the metal sheet. They had a stethoscope like the ponies before did, but also a piece of equipment that looked like a small funnel. They placed the stethoscope to the metal and tapped it like before, but when they were satisfied with the results of that test, they then climbed onto the metal and began inspecting the piece with the eye loupe.

"Miss Shine," a pony in the group called out, "what happens if the sheet fails inspection?"

"Well," Shine begins, "it depends. If it fails the test for cosmetics, then a worker evaluates whether or not we can remove that cosmetic defect and still use the sheet. If we can, we either polish it out or cut it out and send the sheet for cutting. If we can't, then the sheet is taken back to the forges and re-smelted."

Thorax turned his attention from the group back to the sheet of metal, which had apparently passed the test and was being moved to a second table. There, a unicorn standing behind a large machine with a glass lens at the top began looking through it and casting a spell. The machine came to life and began projecting a powerful laser through the lens, cutting the metal into rough shapes.

"That unicorn over there is using one of our new laser cutting machines" Shine comments. "These state of the art machines use special lasers that cut quickly and also remove burrs created during the process. Once finished, these 'body blanks' as we call them are moved to another pony who will use special presses to form them into the correct shape. Once that's done, they will then move onto the next part of the process."

Thorax watched as an earth pony took one of the sheets of metal in magic created by the focal point and moved it onto a machine. Once there, they pressed a lever on the machine and a large metal block with a recess in it came down firmly onto the piece. After being there for a few seconds, it came up and showed that the metal now roughly resembled a small door, even having holes for a door handle and lock cut into it.

"Okay everypony!" Shine called out. "We're now gonna be heading further on down the line, where we'll see our workers put these body pieces together and prepare to set it onto the frames. Hurry now! Time is wasting!"

The tour moved on to another portion of the factory. This part featured the various pieces of bodies being put together. Several ponies were assembling the pieces, using what looked to be the same fusing spell that was used in the other parts of the process.

"This section is where our carriage bodies are assembled" Shine explained. "These ponies will put these bodies together and fuse the pieces much like the frame pieces you saw earlier were assembled. Once they're finished putting them together, they'll place the finished body onto the overhead hooks and it will be carried to the part of the process where body and frame are joined."

Thorax watched as the ponies worked, fusing the pieces together in a way the left no visible seams. Once they were finished, a pony brought over some chains attached to a track, with each chain having a hook covered in rubber.

The ponies assembling the body each took a hook and attached it to the carriage body, and another pony pulled the chains up until the carriage body was at the correct height, then they locked the chains into place, leaving the assembled piece to swing slightly like a sort of pendulum.

"If everypony can follow me, we're going to go back over to the frames and watch as the axles are put in and the 'free floating' suspension is added.

The tour group followed behind Shine as she moved them onto the next part of the factory, but Thorax paused in place. He sensed a lot of different emotions, and most he had blocked out, but the emotions he felt now were not the same kind he had felt since he started the tour.

Thorax looked around to find a possible source for the emotions, but couldn't place them. At first he thought about just moving on with the tour group and ignoring the strange cluster of feelings, but he felt them sharply again, and upon looking around, eventually found their source.

Off to one side of the factory floor were some filing cabinets, with each drawer having its own individual lock. Standing near the filing cabinet were two unicorns with manes and tails colored like candy canes. The two looked... out of place. Both were tall and thin, which was nothing like the other ponies working in the factory. Besides that, they also only wore the safety vests like Shine had given him earlier, but theirs looked to be ill fitting.

Thorax watched the two for a moment to see what they were doing. The two unicorns appeared to be doing the same thing, but had not taken notice of him. They watched as a few workers walked past them, pretending to be discussing something related to work. Once they were past, the two unicorns went to look around.

There was no doubt that the strange emotions were coming from the two, but Thorax couldn't figure out why...

The one unicorn nodded to the other, who had a mustache on his muzzle. The mustache unicorn nodded in turn and faced the filing cabinet. He used his magic and produced what looked like a key and placed it into one of the cabinet's locks. With a twist, the lock opened and the unicorn slid the drawer open.

The first unicorn looked around and produced some blank parchment, passing it to the second. The second pulled out some papers from the filing cabinet and looked them over. Smiling, he took one of the blank papers and placed it over top of the document from the cabinet, casting a spell to duplicate it.

Thorax knew right away what he was looking at: corporate espionage. The two unicorns were spies that came here to steal trade secrets!

Thorax jumped a little, his focus so much on the unicorns he didn't sense this new pony approaching behind him.

She was a mare and had a stern look on her face. She had on a safety vest and helmet, but her helmet had a sticker on the front that said "SUPERVISOR".

"By those filing cabinets" Thorax said while pointing his hoof. "They pulled out a paper and made a copy of it."

Thorax nodded. "They were acting really suspicious, and looking around like they were making sure they weren't seen."

The mare continued looking at Thorax for a few moments before looking at the two unicorns Thorax indicated.

"Well," she does eventually concede, "they aren't wearing all the proper safety equipment, so I'll have to talk with them anyway. I'll check that out while I give them a scolding. You better go catch up with your tour group."

"O-Okay" Thorax replied and trotted off in the direction of the tour group. The supervisor continued watching the two unicorns for a moment before she realized something.

Thorax had quickly caught up to the group, who was watching the assembled bodies from before being moved over top of the carriage frames. The frames themselves were having some metal tube-like pieces attached to them.

"Here we can see the frames getting their axles installed" Shine tells the group as they see the frames, held up with wires, having thick metal rods installed into matching holes on each side of the frame. "Once the axles are through, bearings will be slipped over the ends and fit into the holes. These bearings will allow the axle to spin free and not rub against the frame."

"When our company first started making carriages, the only way to resist wearing on the axles was to use copious amounts of grease that would allow the axle to move freely in the frame. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the design at the time, ponies traveling by carriage would need to plan stops and install new axles or lubricate the existing ones at different points along their journey. With the advent of bearings, that process was all but eliminated. In modern carriages, bearings prolong the life of axles significantly, but they are still susceptible to wear from the elements, and a hard enough hit in a ditch or pot hole can bend the axle and force a carriage owner to replace it."

"Steel is not a good conductor of magical energy," Shine explains, "and none of the metals that do conduct enchantments well are ideal for use in axles. At current, making the axles in the fashion we do is the most efficient and practical method. However, we have an R and D division that is not a part of this tour that works everyday on new innovations to make our carriages better than the generation before them."

"Well, the best currently is the 'free floating' suspension system you see being installed today." Shine then gestures to a pony working on a frame. Four studs are mounted onto the frame and fused into place. A set of eight springs is then added to the frame, with two in each corner. Once they're in place, a set of strings is then strung between the springs and tied off at the corners.

"The 'free floating' suspension system was developed here at this facility neary ten years ago" Shine continues. "A set of springs, eight in total, are mounted onto each corner of the frame, and then a string is drawn between all of the springs and tied into place."

"On the body of the carriage itself are a series of dampeners that mount onto the string and hold the body in place. The purpose of the design is to mitigate shock from the road as much as possible. The body essentially 'floats free' on the string, and the dampeners and springs work together to dampen the shock of a rough road significantly."

"What about the string?" a pony in the group asks. "I can't imagine they're that strong."

"Those strings you see are diamond wire, extruded through special magical processes from real diamonds. The springs and dampeners have special enchantments on them that hold the string in place and prevent it from cutting into either part. This ensures the highest level of durability possible."

"I thought you said steel wasn't a good conductor for enchantments?" A pony points out.

"It isn't," She reaffirms, "but the metal used around the diamond wire is an alloy that uses metal that does help to conduct enchantments."

"It's not practical" Shine answers. "If we used that metal for making frames, then we couldn't sell a carriage of any sort for less than 250,000 bits. That's why the free floating suspension is an option that can be added to a carriage being built here in our factory for a customer that's special ordered a carriage."

"I heard there were significant accidents when the 'free floating' suspension was first released" a stallion in the group calls out, his voice sounding rather accusatory.

"Admittedly, there were some incidents during the first year" Shine says with sadness in her voice. "At that time, we were convinced that the steel cabling we were using would be durable enough, but as you said, there were incidents that caused us to re-examine our design and we determined that the steel cabling was not strong enough to stand up to daily rigor."

"As for the incidents that happened, we handled all costs associated with any medical care needed by affected customers and offered to either completely refund, replace, or repair the affected carriages with the newer and proven design. Since the change to the diamond string, there have been no incidents involving the new suspension system."

The ponies seemed to be placated by Shine's explanation about the defect and how the situation it caused was resolved. Thorax thought back to the carriage he had seen in the Crystal Empire and recalled that it did not have the new suspension system.

"Could a pony get the new suspension put on the carriage they already own if they wanted it?" Thorax asked.

"Unfortunately, no" Shine said with regret in her voice. "When the free floating suspension was developed, the carriage body and frame were redesigned to allow the system to fit properly. An older carriage would need to have the body modified to use the new system, and with the cost of that combined with the cost of the system, it would be much more cost effective to simply purchase a new carriage with the system already installed."

Thorax nods at the answer. Shine continues with the tour, indicating a group of ponies putting some large curved metal rods between the axle and frame.

"While the free floating suspension is a wonderful addition to create a smooth ride," she tells the group, "it doesn't really do anything to help the frame of the carriage itself to absorb shock from the road. This is why we still use a traditional suspension spring between the frame and axles to help it absorb road shock and reduce the potential for damage."

"Up next, we'll be seeing the bodies getting their paint and interiors, then they'll be mounted onto frames, and the carriages will get wheels so that they can roll on out of the building and into somepony's life as a comfortable way of moving around."

Shine goes on to the next part of the process, with everypony following close behind her. As the group does so, two ponies quickly move past them. The star-like badges around their necks tell Thorax that they're either police ponies or some kind of security for the factory. Regardless, he elects not to interfere with their job duties and continues following the tour.

The paint area was not something Thorax could say he was a fan of. For one thing, it smelled, and not pleasantly. In fact, he was sure that the ponies in the spray booth were suffering from some sort of perverse oxygen deprivation, as they seemed to act rather goofy as they went about painting the carriage bodies on the line.

"Don't stand too close to the paint booth" she warned the ponies on the tour. "The fumes from the paint can be pretty overwhelming."

"Now, these ponies here use special tools to spray paint onto the carriage bodies, making sure to coat every surface that requires paint. They first start with a light grey primer, then a layer of the base color, and finally a clear coat that will protect the second layer from scratches."

"Now, once we finish painting the body, we move it to a special machine that acts like a sort of oven. It doesn't get quite as hot as your ovens at home, but it does get warmer. The main purpose of the oven is to use powerful UV lighting to help the paint harden quicker. If we didn't do this, it would take two to three weeks for the paint to harden naturally on its own."

She then gestured to further down the line. There, ponies were laying towels down on different parts of the frame and climbing over top and inside. Once there, other ponies would hand them different things, such as pieces of fabric, large cushions, or tools of different kinds.

"Once the carriages are painted and the paint is hardened, workers go inside the carriages and begin adding things such as upholstery and seating. In some of our higher end carriages, lighting is added to allow ponies to better see during nighttime rides and stormy days. Each carriage that comes through the line has a serial number attached to it that informs the ponies as to what amenities are to be added to that specific carriage."

"When those ponies finish, the bodies are then sent to the final part of the assembly line, where the bodies will join the frames and we'll put our wheels on the carriages and send them out to our lot for safekeeping until we're ready to send them on their way."

The tour moved on to the last part of the assembly. The carriages were mounted onto the frames and the diamond wire was threaded through the various dampeners and studs until it held the body of the carriage aloft. Thorax wasn't sure how it accomplished the feat, but the body and frame moved down the line and the body didn't seem to jostle whatsoever as the frame transferred from one line to another.

Thorax was actually tempted to ask if the diamond wire came from the Crystal Empire, but he thought that may have been a forgone conclusion; a trip with Sunburst to a hardware and home goods store had shown him some of the material for sale in large spools, along with special shears to cut it with.

The frames then move to the next part of the factory, where ponies install wheels onto each axle and secure them with five large nuts. The wheels all have large rubber treads on them that are covered with large studs, and Thorax quickly deduces that these are to give the wheels traction over various terrain. In fact, he recalls a sign at the dealership informing him of a "retreading service" offered to ponies that have worn out their wheels.

With the wheels put on the carriage, the process of construction is complete, and a pony in a yoke hooks up to each carriage and leads it out of a large door open at the end of the building. Outside, Thorax can see a lot full of carriages of various kinds. Some appear to be simple carriages a pony would ride in, while others appear to be large enough for a pony or two to use like a portable dwelling, with room enough for essentials and such.

"The construction process for a carriage is complete" Shine tells the tour group. "With the carriages built, the only thing left to do is ship them off to the pony or dealership that requested it from us. Before they leave, however, they go through a rigorous testing process to ensure that each carriage is functioning as intended. If we find a defect anywhere in the carriage, we hold it and fix it. Once repaired properly, the carriage will go out with a letter of apology to the pony for the lateness of their item."

"That concludes our tour. Now, are there any more questions that all of you have?"

The question got looks from many of the ponies. Shine just laughed before giving an answer.

"Admittedly, the prices of carriages still paint them as something more of a luxury item. That said, we have reduced our costs considerably, and we're hoping to do so in the future if we can negotiate a new headquarters for our manufacturing processes."

"Nothing is set in stone," Shine tells them, "but Manehattan is one of a few locations being considered."

"What will happen to the workers here?" Another pony asks, an air of mistrust apparent in their voice. "This town leans pretty heavily on Cheval for labor."

"I don't have an answer for that question right now," Shine admits, "but I would like to think that our corporate offices could either facilitate moving employees to the new facility, or at least offer a generous severance package to any employees unable or unwilling to move."

The new voice catches all the ponies off guard. Thorax looked around trying to find which pony was calling out, but could see none. As he looked up, he saw the speaker and realized that what he had heard was an intercom message.

"Would the crystal pony touring the factory please come to the front desk. I repeat, would the crystal pony touring the factory please come to the front desk. Thank you."

Thorax looked confused for a moment before looking at Shine. The mare looked equally as confused as he did.

"If everypony would follow me please" she addressed the group, then looked at Thorax. "Please fall in beside me so I can lead you back to the front desk."

Thorax gave a nod and fell into step next to Shine. The group moved towards a familiar looking set of double doors and stepped back through into the room with the vests and hard hats.

"If everypony could turn in the vests and hard hats they used, we would appreciate it" she asked each pony, who complied and began taking the vests off. Thorax went to take it off but Shine stopped him.

"You need to get out there now" she told Thorax. "That voice you heard was our CEO, and he doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Thorax looked a bit surprised, but nodded and headed back into the waiting room and back out to the front desk he'd seen when he came inside originally. As he looked at the desk, he saw the supervisor mare from before, as well as an older looking stallion. He was wearing a suit jacket, dress shirt and tie, but his coat and mane were blue and silver respectively.

In all honesty, he resembled Elbow Grease a little bit, but with amber eyes instead of red.

The two ponies were having a conversation that Thorax couldn't quite hear. As he was walking over to them, the supervisor stopped the conversation and took notice of Thorax.

The irritation changed to relief and gratitude as the stallion approached and grabbed one of Thorax's hooves and began shaking violently.

"I must thank you, my dear boy!" the stallion says enthusiastically. "This supervisor here went to confront those two ponies and they bolted. They were halfway across the factory before security apprehended them. When they were searched, we found copies of very sensitive information that those bozos were gonna use to start their own carriage company."

"They would've pulled the rug out from under us if you hadn't have said something. Thank you, boy, thank you!"

"Y-Y-You're W-W-Welcome!" Thorax replied, the stallion still shaking his hoof quite vigorously.

"This calls for a special honor I don't do very often!" the stallion says as he looks at the mare and nods. She reaches into a desk and produces a paper and gives it to the stallion. The stallion takes the paper and then grabs a quill, scribbling some info down on it and giving it to Thorax, who was still recovering from the handshake. Once steady, he took the paper and read it, his eyes going wide as he finished looking it over.

This pony is hereby awarded a voucher for a total of 50,000 bits good towards the purchase of any product manufactured by the Cheval Carriage Company. It is to be honored at all dealers and businesses who sell products manufactured by Cheval Carriage Company.

Azure nods. "Those two would've cost us a lot of money, maybe even put us out of business. The city guard came and took them a little bit ago. We gave them a description and they told us they were a pair of con ponies named Flim and Flam. They're fast talkers who can convince ponies of any number of things they tell them."

"One of their more famous exploits was making a cider pressing machine that could make cider faster than any team of ponies ever could. Of course, the quality was horrible and they were run out of town."

"They have a real knack for raising funds and getting manufacturing capital. Darn shame, really. If they'd just stay on the straight and narrow, they could really make something of themselves. Now, they'll be spending some time behind bars and likely doing nothing but plotting their next scheme when they get out."

"Anyways, you stopped them, and that's my reward to you. Eagle Eye will get a nice promotion from this too. If you're interested, I can finance you to move here and have a job with this company. My board of directors have wanted to create a chief security officer for a while now and this incident will convince the members opposed to the idea to get on board."

Thorax thinks it over, but he shakes his head. "I appreciate the offer, but I like what I do now back in the Crystal Empire. I do appreciate the voucher you gave me though."

The stallion feels a bit dejected but doesn't show it. "Darn shame, my boy. Hard to find truly good help. Well, we'll just have to find somepony else to fill that role. The voucher is yours though. You can do with it what you wish. Use it, give it to another pony. Whatever you wanna do."

"I have to get back to my office now, so I'll let you go. Thank you again, and you're welcome back anytime you'd like."

With that, Azure went over to what appeared to be an elevator and stepped inside. He waved back at Thorax before the door shut and a set of lights indicated the elevator car going up.

Thorax waved back and then looked at the paper again. The old stallion had given him enough bits to buy a carriage and even have some bits left over. Would Thorax use it? Maybe, or maybe not. Right now, all Thorax wanted to do was go back to his room at the inn and rest for a while. He needed to figure out where to go on his trip next.

Fitting In Is Hard To Do

by origami

Part IV, Chapter 6 - Detrot, Part 3 - The Cheval Carriage Factory