Love Made of Metal and Apples

by Gearsmash King

Chapter 3: A Small Situation Turned Big

A week after the Grand Galloping Gala, Copper Finish was in his workshop. He and some of his assistants, were working on a grand statue, made of several different kinds of metal. The statue, itself, was going to be an alicorn, when it was finished. The wings and horn were made of aluminum, because they needed to be a lighter material than the base. Otherwise, they would be to heavy and would bend. The body was made from a special and rare kind of metal. This metal was called, diamond steel, because even after it was melted down, it shined like diamonds and stayed strong, but it was a lot heavier. It was perfect for the body. However, they were about to run out of diamond steel and there was only one mine, in Equestria, that had this metal.

"Copper Finish." one of the assistants called.

Copper Finish was at his workbench, looking over the plans for the statue. He was slightly tanned and dirty from standing near the forge. He was wearing his brass goggles, which were also dirty, a black cape to protect himself from sparks, gray cowboy hat, and his hoof gauntlets.

"Yes," he replied, still looking at the plans, "what is it?"

"Um, we've run out of metal, but the body is only half complete." stammered the assistant.

Copper Finish turned away from his bench and started climbing to the upper platforms. The body was going to be one piece, so they made a very big mold. When he reached the top platform, he looked into the top and saw the mold, only half full, with molten metal.

"How much more do we need?" Copper Finish asked, hoping that they only needed a small amount.

The assistant thought for a moment and then came up with his best answer.

"About, two tons." he said. "But, for all the other orders, we'll need ten tons, total."

Copper Finish looked in disappointment and shook his head.

"Great," Copper Finish said, sarcastically, "just great. The deadline is in four days and we're not even close to finished yet."

"Not to mention," he continued, "we have other projects that need this metal."

As he climbed down from the platform, he thought about all the things that still needed to be done.

"The wings still need to be properly cleaned and detailed, the horn isn't shaped correctly, the emerald eyes aren't in yet, and now, to top it off, there isn't enough diamond steel to make the biggest part." he muttered to himself.

When Copper Finish got back to his bench and got a scroll from one of the drawers. He opened the scroll and looked, hard, at it. The scroll was a map, on this map were locations to mines and quarries. He soon found what he was looking for. According to the map, the only diamond steel mine was two miles south of Ponyville, at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Copper Finish then called for his second in charge.

"Fire Bolt!" He called.

At that moment, a gray pegasus stallion with black hair and a flaming bolt, on his flank, flew down from one of the upper levels. He landed, gently on the floor and walked over to Copper Finish.

"Yea, Coppa," he said in a Manehatten accent, "you called?"

Copper Finish and Fire Bolt had been friends since they were colts. Only once, were they separated. That was when Fire Bolt had to move away with his family. But, he moved back to Canterlot years later and started working with Copper Finish again.

"Yeah, Bolt." Copper Finish said casually, "Is it possible, to get to Ponyville via airship?"

"Yea," nodded Fire Bolt, "why'd ya ask?"

"Well," Copper Finish started, "we need to collect ten tons of diamond steel and the airship is fast enough to..."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Fire Bolt said, interrupting his friend, "Are your goggles on too tight or somethin'?"

Copper Finish looked at Fire Bolt, confused.

Fire bolt continued, "The airship can only handle half that and it still has trouble, not to mention the strong winds up there."

"Then, there's only one option." Copper Finish said sighing, "We'll have to take our locomotive, two flat beds, and the steam wagon."

Copper Finish walked over to a door, on the side of the workshop, and opened it. Through the door was a small train shed. In the shed was a black steam locomotive, three flat bed cars, one passenger coach, and a wagon with a steam powered engine. Each had their own place in the shed. The locomotive had, four small wheels on the front, six big drive wheels in the middle, and two more small wheels under the cabin. The boiler had three steam stacks, two whistles, and six pipes on each side. The coal tender only had six wheels and, "Little Puffer," painted on the side.

"It's been awhile since we used this." Fire Bolt said, looking at the dust on the steam wagon.

"Yeah," Copper Finish said, "but, it's better than trying to drag the metal back to the train."

Copper Finish went over to the big doors to open them. He lifted the latch and pushed open the door for the locomotive. Then, he went over to the locomotive, to start it's fire.

"Hey, Bolt." Copper Finish called, waving Fire Bolt over to him.

"Yea," he said, "what do ya need?"

"Could you open the other doors and get the steam wagon ready, please?" Copper Finish asked as he climbed into the cab.

Fire Bolt nodded and went to unlatch the doors. As Fire Bolt did what he was asked, Copper Finish opened the door to the firebox to clean it.

"Holy flying gears!" He exclaimed, "When was the last time anyone cleaned this thing?"

The firebox was blackened by the soot and charcoal, that was left inside. Copper Finish reached for a steel brush and dust pan, hanging on the side, next to the drivers seat. After he finished cleaning, he started to put small pieces of wood inside to start the fire. But, before he started the fire, he noticed that the water level was low. Then, he grabbed the water hose and began to fill the boiler.

"So," Fire Bolt started, "I've been meanin' to ask ya about the Gala."

Copper Finish was half done with the boiler, when he replied.

"Oh," he said, "it was nice."

"Nice?" Fire Bolt said, walking over to the steam wagon, "That's all your gonna tell me?"

Copper Finish filled the boiler and went back to start the fire.

"Well?" Fire Bolt continued, "Aren't ya gonna tell me more?"

Copper Finish looked at his friend. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Tell me details," Fire Bolt replied, preparing the wagon, "I want to know how it went."

"Alright, alright," Copper Finish said.

He started to tell Fire Bolt all about the Gala as he waited for the fire to start heating up the boiler. He started with how he got invited, then went on about how wonderful the place looked. Copper Finish was about to talk about the Calliope and how well it played. But, instead he stopped mid sentence. He suddenly had an image of Applejack in his mind. He was about to go into a daze, when Fire Bolt interrupted.

"Hey!" Fire Bolt said, loud enough to get his attention, "Is everything alright?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, everything's fine." Copper Finish said, returning to reality, "Why'd you ask?"

"Well, you zoned out on me for one." Fire Bolt replied, looking at his friend, curiously.

"Normally," he continued, "ya don't do that. Unless, somethin' else is on ya mind."

Fire Bolt looked hard at Copper Finish, trying to find out what was bothering him.

"Aha!" Fire Bolt said, after a moment, "Ya met someone, don't ya?"

"What?!" Copper Finish blushed, "No!"

"Oh, really?" Fire Bolt said, raising an eyebrow and smiling, "Then, what were ya thinkin' about?"

"Uh... Um..." Copper Finish stammered, trying to find an excuse. Finally, he thought of one.

"Apples." he said, feeling somewhat stupid.

"Apples? Really?" Fire Bolt replied, with a blank expression.

"Um, yeah." Copper Finish said, looking at a clock on the wall, "Hey, what do you say we get moving? I don't want to be later than we already are."

He pushed a lever and the locomotive started moving forward. Fire Bolt, still doubting what his friend said, loaded the steam wagon on one of the flatbeds. Copper Finish got to the other side of the switch and changed it towards the flatbeds. Then, he backed the locomotive up to the flatbeds, with Fire Bolt guiding him. After they were attached and Fire Bolt climbed aboard, they started toward the main line. When they reached it, the tracks were switched and they headed for Ponyville.

Copper Finish was still thinking about Applejack as they left Canterlot. Fire Bolt picked up on this very quickly.

"So, what's her name?" Fire Bolt asked, grinning.

"Applejack." Copper Finish said softly, still daydreaming.

Realizing what he just said out loud, Copper Finish turned and glared at Fire Bolt in disbelief and was instantly frustrated with his friend. Fire Bolt, however, started laughing and stamping his hooves on the metal cabin floor.

"Oh!" Copper Finish exclaimed, "Oh, that was uncalled for!"

"I knew it!" Fire Bolt said excitedly, "So ya did meet someone!"

Copper Finish groaned and said, "Alright! Alright, yes, I did meet someone." Then he went quiet.

Fire Bolt was still excited for his friend, "So tell me. Tell me about, Applejack." He said, "What's she like?"

They entered a tunnel, which echoed with the sound of the pistons pumping and wheels grinding. It was to loud to talk so Fire Bolt waited for an answer. When they exited the tunnel, Copper Finish spoke again.

"Well," he said, trying to remember everything, "she was very kind."

"And?" Fire Bolt said, trying to get all of the information he could.

"She was an earth pony like me." Copper Finish continued.

"Okay," Fire Bolt said, now becoming annoyed, "and?"

"She smelled like freshly picked fruit in summer." Copper Finish said, regretting ever mentioning her name out loud.

"Oh, come on!" Fire Bolt said, completely fed up with waiting, "You're killing me here, Coppa!"

"What?!" Copper Finish said in an annoyed tone, "What do you want to know, Bolt?"

"I want to know if she kissed ya." Fire Bolt said, looking hard at Copper Finish.

"Oh, for the love of Celestia." Copper Finish said, trying not to yell at his friend.

"Well, did she?" Fire Bolt said impatiently.

Copper Finish raised his voice, "No! No, she didn't."

"The only thing we did, together, was dance." He continued, starting to calm down, "She's actually a pretty good dancer."

Fire Bolt stared, in amazement, at Copper Finish. He was amazed at the fact that Copper Finish, his oldest friend and the most quiet pony he had ever known. Somehow managed to dance with another pony and enjoy it.

"I didn't know ya could dance." Fire Bolt finally said.

"Yeah," Copper Finish said under his breath, "neither did I."

For the rest of the trip, the two ponies didn't say anything else. The only sound that was heard was the train going along the tracks. Copper Finish pushed in the throttle and slowly applied the brakes. They started to slow down as they reached Ponyville. The tracks were switched and they pulled into a siding, just past the station. When they came to a stop, Fire Bolt flew over to unload the steam wagon. As Copper Finish climbed out of the cabin of the engine, he heard a small voice.

"Wow! I've never seen a train like this before." said the voice.

Copper Finish turned to face the voice. In front of him stood three small fillies. A light yellow earth pony with a pink bow in her hair, a silvery-white unicorn with a two-tone mane in curls, and a light orange pegasus standing on a scooter. They were all looking at the locomotive in amazement.

"Hello there," Copper Finish said to the three fillies, "I'm guessing, you've never seen a steam engine like this before, have you?"

They all looked at him and shook their heads.

"Did you build it yourself?" asked the little pegasus.

"There's no way he could've built it himself." said the little unicorn, before Copper Finish could answer, "Do you see how much stuff is on it?"

"Actually," he started, "I had a little help putting it together."

The little earth pony was looking at the name on the tender.

"Little Puffer," she said in a country accent, similar to Applejacks, "that's an interestin' name."

"Yeah," Copper Finish said, "we decided to call it that, because we wanted it to be a little ironic and funny."

"Speaking of names," he continued, "mine is Copper Finish and that's my friend, Fire Bolt."

He pointed at Fire Bolt, who was almost done unloading the steam wagon.

"Hi," said the unicorn, "I'm Sweetie Belle, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Scootaloo," the little pegasus said, "is it easy to drive?" She pointed to the levers and gauges inside.

"It's fairly easy," Copper Finish said, "but it took some time to figure out."

He then turned his attention to the little earth pony.

"And, what's your name?" Copper Finish asked.

"My name's Apple Bloom," she said, "Are you stayin' in Ponyville for a while?"

"No." he said, "Just came to get some supplies."

"Hey, Coppa!" Fire Bolt called.

Copper Finish turned to look at Fire Bolt. He was finished unloading the steam wagon and waiting for Copper Finish.

"Okay, hang on!" he called back. Copper Finish turned back to the fillies.

"Got to go, girls." he said as he turned and started walking to the wagon, "It was nice to meet you, goodbye."

Copper Finish climbed in the wagon and pulled the throttle lever. The wagon jerked forward and began to roll away. Leaving the three fillies next to the locomotive. Copper Finish steered using an old valve for a steering wheel. Fire Bolt flew alongside, he wanted to stretch out his wings after the long train ride.

As they went, ponies stopped to watch this strange vehicle pass by. But, Copper Finish and Fire Bolt didn't mind the attention, they actually welcomed it.

Soon, they reached the edge of town. In the distance, Fire Bolt noticed an apple orchard and smiled.

"Remind ya of anythin'?" he said to Copper Finish, pointing at the apple orchard.

"Oh, be quiet!" Copper Finish snapped, "That's not funny anymore."

But, it did remind him of something. He just wasn't going to say anything. They reached the mine shortly after. As they waited to be loaded, Copper Finish decided to go for a walk near the Everfree Forest. Fire Bolt stayed by the wagon to supervise. As he walked, Copper Finish came to the top of a small hill and looked into the distance. He could see all of Ponyville, Twilight's castle, and the apple orchard. Copper Finish stopped and stared at the apple orchard for a moment. From where he stood, he thought he saw Applejack kicking a tree. But, he was to far away to be sure. Copper Finish wanted to go down and see if he was right, but was interrupted.

"Come on, Coppa!" called Fire Bolt, "We're losin' day light."

The sun had gotten lower and Copper Finish had to be back in Canterlot before dark. He rushed back to the wagon, released the brakes and pulled the throttle. The wagon jerked forward and began to roll away from the mine. It creaked under the weight of the metal, but it was reinforced to handle such weight. As they passed the apple orchard again, Copper Finish looked to see if he had seen Applejack earlier.

"If ya want to see her so badly, why don't ya stop?" Fire Bolt asked, in a nice tone this time.

Copper Finish thought for a moment, but decided to stay quiet and keep going. When they reached the station, they noticed that their train was missing. Copper Finish stopped the wagon and rushed inside to see the station master.

"Hey!" He said, bursting into the station, "Have you seen my train?!"

"Yes," said the station master, in a panic, "it left five minutes ago, with three fillies in the cabin! I tried to..."

"Wait," Copper Finish said, interrupting the station master, "did you just say, three fillies?!"

Copper Finish's face changed to pure terror. "Which way did they go?!" he asked desperately.

The station master pointed in the direction they went and Copper Finish ran out of the station. A crowd had gathered to see what was going on. As he ran along the tracks, he realized he wasn't going to catch them. Suddenly, Copper Finish felt himself being lifted off the ground. Fire Bolt had come to help. He was very strong, so he managed to pick up Copper Finish easily.

"What's wrong? Where's the train?" Fire Bolt asked, flying as fast as he could down the tracks.

"We have to catch it!" Copper Finish said, "It took off with three fillies in the cabin and we have to stop it before someone gets hurt!"

"Good enough for me," Fire Bolt replied, understanding the situation, "let's go!"

Fire Bolt flew as fast as he could, with Copper Finish hanging underneath. Soon they saw the train up ahead. As they got closer, they both realized that the steam was to hot over the engine. Then Copper Finish got an idea.

"Put me on the flatbeds!" Copper Finish said, still terrified for the fillies inside.

He knew it was the furthest away from the cabin, but it was the only safe spot to land. Fire Bolt nodded and lowered Copper Finish down. As soon as Copper Finish landed, Fire Bolt let go and flew ahead to fly alongside the engine. Copper Finish raced over top of the empty cars with ease. As the train thundered along the line, Fire Bolt scouted the horizon for hazards. He looked in the distance, and was horrified by what he saw.

"Coppa!" Fire Bolt called, pointing at the problem, "We're not the only ones out here!"

Copper Finish was on the tender and looked at what Fire Bolt had seen. There, in the distance, was a passenger train coming straight at them.

"Bolt!" Copper Finish called, "Try to stop them and hurry!"

"What about you?!" Called Fire Bolt, concerned for his friend.

"Don't worry about me!" Copper Finish called back, "Just stop that train, now get moving!"

Fire Bolt nodded and flew ahead to warn the other train, leaving Copper Finish to deal with his. He climbed down into the cabin, where he found the three fillies. They were screaming and holding each other with their eyes closed in fear. The gauges and firebox doors were all red, sparks flew everywhere, and one of the pipes started hissing with steam. Copper Finish still had his black cape and threw it over the girls.

"Cover yourselves!" He exclaimed, "Quickly!"

They took the cape and pulled it over their heads. Copper Finish, now exposed to the sparks and steam, reached for the emergency brake and pulled hard.

"AARRGGHH!" He screamed as he was blasted with steam and sparks.

The brakes were set and the wheels locked up. But they were still being pushed by the weight of the train. Even though, the locomotive and flatbeds were empty, they still weighed quite a bit by themselves. Fire Bolt, who managed to stop the other train, heard the screeching wheels and watched as the "Little Puffer" came to a stop, inches from the other engine. He raced over to see if everyone was alright. As Fire Bolt approached the engine, he saw the small fillies climb out wearing Copper Finish's cape. They weren't hurt, but Copper Finish didn't follow.

"Where's Coppa Finish?!" he cried, fearing for his friend, "Where?!"

"It's alright," Apple Bloom said, "he's still in the cab."

"But," Sweetie Belle said, concerned, "he got hurt pretty badly."

Fire Bolt raced passed them and to the cabin, to see what had become of his friend. He looked inside and found Copper Finish frozen to the brake with fear. Copper Finish was covered with sweat, ash, and had burn marks from the hot ambers. His hoof gauntlets were blackened with soot, his goggles were broken, and his hat was burnt around the edges. The cabin, itself, was a mess of swollen pipes and broken gauges. Fire Bolt climbed aboard to help Copper Finish.

"Hey." Fire Bolt said softly, "Hey, it's okay. The scary part's over."

He removed Copper Finish's hoof from the lever and helped him out of the cabin. As they climbed out, Copper Finish was in shock from everything that happened. He found it hard to walk, but managed to get to the other train. Fire Bolt helped him aboard and went to talk to the conductor. Some of the passengers helped Copper Finish to a bench and brought him some water.

Meanwhile, Fire Bolt was talking to the conductor about what to do.

"Could you bring us and our train back to Ponyville, please?" he asked, still worried.

"Of course." said the conductor, "After everything you two did, you could use a break."

"Great," Fire Bolt replied, "I'll get our train hooked up and then we can go."

As Fire Bolt attached the two locomotives, he saw the fillies looking at him with worried faces.

"Is he going to be okay?" Scootaloo asked.

Fire Bolt knew that she was talking about Copper Finish. He turned to the three fillies and gave a brave smile.

"Coppa." Fire Bolt said, reassuring them, "He's the toughest pony I know." he paused and thought for a moment.

"He's not gonna let some burns stop him." Fire Bolt finally said, "I'm sure he'll be alright."

Then the four of them made their way back to the passenger coach. As they entered, Apple Bloom, who was still wearing his cape, walked over to Copper Finish and sat on the bench next to him. They felt the train jerk and they started back to Ponyville. It was dark when they pulled into the station. As they exited the train, Copper Finish was exhausted and having trouble standing. They were greeted with applause and cheers from the crowd.

"You're a hero!" one pony said.

"Well done! Well done!" said another.

Copper Finish could only smile, weakly, as he was complimented and praised. He stood on the platform and didn't move, fearing he would fall.

"Apple Bloom!" said a voice.

Copper Finish recognised the voice and looked to see who was there. From the crowd raced Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. They were all so happy that the fillies were safe. They didn't notice Copper Finish still standing on the platform.

"What were y'all doing on a train?" Applejack said, hugging Apple Bloom.

"Yeah," said Rainbow Dash as she flew over to Scootaloo, "you could've gotten hurt."

Rarity was more worried than happy, but she gave Sweetie Belle a small hug and straightened her hair.

"Just look at you all," Rarity said, "you're a complete mess."

The three fillies were a little dirty, but happy that they were safe.

"We were trying to get our cutie marks for train driving," Scootaloo said, "but we didn't know how to stop."

"We thought it would be easy," Sweetie Belle said, feeling sorry, "I guess we were wrong."

"We're sorry." all three fillies said.

Then, Applejack saw that Apple Bloom was wearing a black cape.

"Where did ya get that?" Applejack asked, pointing to the cape.

Apple Bloom looked at the cape. She had almost forgotten that she was still wearing it.

"Oh," Apple Bloom said, remembering who gave it to her, "We got it from the driver, when he saved us."

Apple Bloom pointed at Copper Finish and smiled. Copper Finish started walking over to them. Every step he took, his hooves ached and trembled under his own weight. But, he managed to reach the group.

"Hey," Rainbow Dash said, looking at him with a thoughtful expression, "don't we know you?"

"Well," Copper Finish replied, smiling, " the last time you saw me. I was wearing a top hat, polished brass goggles, and a nice suit jacket."

"What are you doing here?" Rarity asked, looking at the dirt on Copper Finish.

Copper Finish coughed and said, "I'm here, because I needed to collect diamond steel from the mine."

He could feel his legs starting to give way, but remained standing.

"But," he continued, "I think, I'm going to be a little late."

The sun had gone down and the locomotive was going to need some repairs.

"Well, at least you're not to badly hurt, are ya?" Applejack asked, looking at the burn marks on Copper Finish.

Copper Finish was about to answer, but his legs finally gave out and he fell to the ground.

"Oh my goodness!" Rarity exclaimed, "Are you alright?!"

Fire Bolt was talking to some other ponies when he saw Copper Finish fall. He raced over to his friend to help.

"Hey!" Fire Bolt exclaimed, "Hey, you okay, Coppa?!"

Copper Finish looked, weakly, at Fire Bolt and bravely smiled. "I'm... I'm alright, just a little tired."

Copper Finish looked at Applejack and said, "Applejack, this is Fire Bolt."

"Nice to meet ya." She said, more concerned for Copper Finish.

"It's nice to meet you to." Fire Bolt said looking at her, but holding Copper Finish.

Copper Finish continued, weakly, "Now... You... Can... Stop... Asking... Bolt."

Fire Bolt was about to say something, but didn't.

Copper Finish smiled and then fainted from exhaustion. Fire Bolt rushed him to the hospital, while the other ponies followed.