“Your required by the railway again.”
I groaned at hearing those words. My versatility was now being turned into a joke. When I had the thought of being an Alicorn, I was in the mindset of having a pony of all three types would be a boon and not a joke.
“What is the problem this time?” I asked the one who asked.
“The yards at Equestria Canterlot Terminal Depot is a mess and your presence is required to fix the mess,” said...take a wild guess.
After another infuriated groan, I left my armor behind and donned my now rusted out shunting skills. Sometimes I believe that my versatility is being stretched beyond realistic measures. To be versatile means to be able to be adapted to many forms and functions. In other words, versatility means you can do any and all jobs as requirements desire.
Now, I hear you all scream “GARY STU!” To that, I say “London Midland Scottish Railway Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 tender engine” or for short “LMS Black Five”. These engines earned the “Go anywhere, do anything” moniker because of their ability to literally go anywhere and do any job handed to them, as well as being liked by virtually every railway crew member and passenger.
However, that doesn't mean you ignore all faults or have a complicated and tragic backstory. Mine is more or less basic-Moved to a new town to go to college and make new friends. However, for all that I am, I still have my faults. But that's not going to help here. After giving a very dejected sigh, I took off to the yard.
To say Chaos reigned would be an understatement. It wasn't just chaos, it was an utter mess. Trucks were in the wrong sidings, some were off the rails, wagons were mixed in the wrong sidings and even some were blocking bay platforms. I found a small tank engine, a Dock Tank from the LMS and began to shunt and sort the yard.
Backwards, forwards, left, right, up, down, diagonal, inside, outside, over and under, I ran around collecting wagons and sorting them into their proper trains. To anyone who complains that shunting is dull, I am going to have a pure breakdown of logistics on how important this tedious job is.
Normally, I'd be whistling a tune to the shunting, but I had so much to put right it wasn't funny. Delayed goods trains from the Gryphon Empire, Dragon Kingdom and Changeling empires near and far, as well as goods meaning to go to them.
“Remind me to lecture these lazy halftwats,” I muttered, as I shifted a rake of empty coal trucks into a siding.
No sooner had I arranged the trains, they were gone. Even A4's were pressed into service to help make up lost time. That didn't mean I could slacken in work and began to push harder, forcing me to get more trains made up and more trucks properly arranged. Soon, it boiled down to me missing meals, skipping sleep and even skipping my breaks.
“He's going to work himself to death,” I heard one shunter say to a yard pony. “Despite being an Alicorn, I actually feel bad here. He's helping us and the on duty ponies are sitting around, taking advantage of him.”
“True,” the other said. “But what can we do?”
Several weeks later, there was a meeting in the head office. A dark red Alicorn, wearing a director's uniform was glaring at all of us.
“This is not a game!” he hissed. “Brighton is not here for your beck and call and he isn't your skivvy! He's here as an heir to the Crystal Empire throne, not a maid!”
“Well, he's an Alicorn, so that's all the reason we need,” one of the ponies said.
I saw a vein start to throb as he glared.
“What...was...that?!” he snarled.
I flattened my ears and held them down hard. After forty solid minutes of yelling, I was sent back to HQ with orders that I was not to be disturbed for a week and I was to catch up on missed meals and sleep. The yard would be tended to by better ponies, which was a relief. When I returned, I made my way to my room and crashed on the bed.
“Sleep, wrap me in your comforts and peaceful dreams,” I mumbled as I drifted off.
I will say it felt great to relax. The others complained but I didn't care. When I returned to duty a week later, Nightmare Moon looked at us.
“We're on night guard duties on the towns,” she said. “Details and orders are being worked out.”
“Yes, captain,” we said.
Once out of the offices, I looked at the others.
“So what's the deal with night time guard duties in the cities?” I asked.
“Nightmare Moon talked with Celestia and the other town politicians about us working in pairs, guarding each town,” Coconut said. “She hopes these will be lucrative contracts that bring in money.”
“Ah,” I said.
“As for the partnership, that is up to us,” Prism Glider said.
“Ah,” I said again.
“Yep,” she said.
Well, we need to wait until the contracts come in.