The asynchronous chug of the Appaloosa 4-4-0 steamer was thick in the cool night air as it hissed to itself in the siding, parked away from the double tracks that led away from Appaloosa’s one and only train station.
Inside the cab was a white earth pony in a engineer’s cap with a cutie mark of a shovel full of grey dust who watched the gauges as the needles set themselves, frowning at unusual resistance the lever put up as he pulled the regulator to neutral. Was going to have to report that when the next engineer came in.
Once the needles went still and he saw everything was good, Ashpan finally took a moment to relax as he set the brakes. The first since he started his shift.
It had been busy day.
The long shift was always the toughest, in the engineer's mind. He had rumbled in a few minutes ago after a long haul from Manehattan, some kind of goods delivery that his tired mind could really dredge up any facts about. A haul that took at least 14 hours of nonstop work on his part, even with the support crew. Now, he was alone. Having shunted the locomotive off the mainline, the support crew had long since left, with drowsy and dull ‘Good nights’ being thrown in his direction before they were gone.
In fact, right now he could really go for some sleep, just a quick nip of a nap before he clocked out when the next engineer arrived. That and a bath. He brushed some coal dust out of his coat with a hoof not even bothering with his mane. He could do that when he got home.
Where a bed was.
Where his bed was.
He checked the clock that was kept in the cab. 8:30 p.m. The other coalpony and driver weren’t going to be here until 9 o clock. Might as well nod off.
So, with one more shovel of coal into the fire to warm up the firebox a little more and a heavy head, he leaned up against the side of cab and closed his eyes…
“Wooo-ee! Nice to see yer back, Ashpan!”
…and immediately flopped out and onto the ground with a yelp.
"Braeburn." He growled, glaring at the tan earth pony.
"You okay?" Braeburn asked, his voice several degrees over the cheery limit Ashpan had just now set.
"I'm fine." The engineer picked himself up and dusted himself off with a hoof and grumbled in annoyance. Now he was going to have to take that bath, maybe just fall asleep in the tub. "What are you doing out here?"
"Well, ah came tuh see my best friend." Braeburn responded with a wink. "Thought yuh could use the company."
Ashpan rolled his eyes. "Well, I was just about to get some shut-eye before you showed up."
"Ah'm sorry. Didn't mean to wake yuh none."
"Yeah, right." With an annoyed snort, Ashpan pulled himself back into the cab. "Thought you were busy at the farm."
Braeburn gave him a confused look. "Yuh do know that it's night time, right?"
The engineer responded with a flat look of his own. "I mean, shouldn't you be in bed right now? Applebucking season is still going, right?"
The tan earth pony rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Nope, the buffalo decided to help us this year. Cleared all 75 acres today. I got the rest of the season free."
"I thought the buffalo were staying away from the crops?"
"Well, we worked out an agr-"
Whatever else Braeburn was about to say was cut off as a red Pegasus with a stopwatch cutie mark winged down out of the sky, landing right next to the locomotive. "In Time? What are you...?" Ashpan faded as he noticed the urgency, almost fear in her eyes. Not to mention her panting as if she had just tried to take on the Wonderbolts on in a race. Now the white earth pony had worked this line for years, In Time even longer as a conductor, and this was the first time he had ever seen the 20 year veteran shaken up.
"We've got an unmanned train on the mainline."
His stomach dropped from his barrel. Empty locomotives were a rare occurrence but serious occurrence that could cause untold amounts of bits in damage, especially if they derailed. The next question meant the difference between panicking or preparing for a disaster. "Coaster or under power?"
"T-hat's just I-I-I-it." In Time took a shakey breath that steadied her voice considerably. "Rail Authority doesn't know."
"Doesn't know?" Okay, just those two words coming from In Time was both terrifying and confusing. Even Braeburn seemed to pale a bit. "It's a steam engine, either it's under power or not."
"Yeah, Ma'm," Braeburn agreed. "That don't rightly make sense."
"You think I don't know that?" In Time hissed in exasperation. "All I know is that Signal Control got a telegram to halt all opposing traffic on the mainline. When I pressed for details all they said was that it was coming our way."
Ashpan frowned, with a quick look up the line the signals were indeed red. "What about air protocol?" He knew that asking such a thing was obvious, if a train was without a driver the very first thing that would be attempted would be to have a Pegasus with engineering experience fly and land in the cab and hit the brakes.
"Like I said, no details. Just that we should see it any..." The Pegasus stopped short and it took less than a second for Ashpan to realize why.
He felt it before he saw it, a vibration that came up through his locomotive, right into his cab and through his hooves. In unison he saw both Braeburn and In Time turn their gazes to the double tracks that were next to the siding. He followed their line of sight up the tracks.
A set of lights pierced through the darkness and as the lights got closer, the vibration got more violent to the point he had to clench his jaw for fear of the vibration rattling his teeth loose. A rumble began to shake the stones under the tracks and Ashpan asked himself what in Celestia's name was coming.
His question was answered less than a second later. By Celestia, it was huge. To simply call what he was seeing just a locomotive would have been like calling his teeth just necessary for chewing. An understatement at best. It was bigger than any locomotive he had ever seen before in it's life, a huge grey/black giant of a machine with every single driving wheel chugging violently.
The dull metal sheen illuminated by the fire that was it's fuel as it plowed along the rails. Time stood still as that monstrosity and it's coaches barreled closer.
He could feel each rotation of it's wheels pound his eardrums and vibrate through every single joint. Each chug was an impact to the ground, each puff of smoke from it's stack was blacker than the night sky, as it roared past the siding and the station right after it. Even his locomotive rocked with the violent power that was being transmitted through the rails
Soon, far too soon, even it's coaches had passed, light glowing from their windows like fire in the distance.
Then it was silent. In Time was the first to speak, knocking Ashpan from his shock. She rounded on Braeburn. "You!"
The shellshocked earth pony jumped, not even noticing that his hat had been blown clean off. "M-uh...Me?!"
"Yes. You. Get to the signal house and tell them to throw the switch for siding number five!" She barked. "Hurry!!"
Braeburn hesitated for as long as it took for In Time to aim a sharp glare at him before he galloped off.
Ashpan watched, shocked as the pegasus then climbed into his cab, grabbed the shovel, opened the firebox, and began to dump coal into the still glowing hot embers. "What are you doing?"
In Time did stop shoveling coal to answer. "I'm about to kick your flank off this steamer if you don't get it moving right now."
Ashpan was familiar with that tone. Having worked with the Pegasus for years he knew when she was serious, there was that unwavering determination and a complete righteousness that she ingrained in her voice at certain times. This was one of those times. He knew what she planned to do. Her unspoken plan.
Run that monster down.
There was a metallic clink and Ashpan looked out of the cab. The points connecting the siding to the mainline had changed. Looks like Braeburn came through.
Without a moment of hesitation, he threw the regulator in full forward and slowly pushed the throttle. Slowly the locomotive began to move on to the mainline.
"Why are we going after that train?" Ashpan began, opening the throttle up a little more as the small steamer began to pick up speed. "Shouldn't we, you know, keep the track clear?"
In Time put one last shovel of coal in the firebox before shutting it. "Because we might have a chance to stop that...monster before it derails." She checked the gauges before turning to face him. "If we catch it before the incline."
Ashpan thought for a moment as the locomotive rumbled around them. Indeed there was an incline, that most trains were slow to climb but that...thing wasn't just train. "Do you really think a 4% grade will slow it down enough?"
"No. I'm just hoping it does because, if it doesn't, imagine what will happen when it hits the downgrade."
"Great." Ashpan mumbled as he open the throttle wide.