Tales of the Rails: Pacesetter's Story

by Trolley Car Brony

Ch.2 "Dreams or Nightmares?"

Ch. 2

Dreams or Nightmares?

The howling winds of the night before had thankfully given way to a soft but cool breeze blowing down towards the westward coast. Pacesetter looked around and noticed that aside from some stray leaves gliding on the wind, she was the only movement on the street. With the sun still barely above the snowcapped Unicorn Range, most ponies it seemed were content to sleep in as long as they could before facing the chilly fall morning.

‘They don’t know what they’re missing,’ she thought to herself as she faced the sun and closed her eyes, taking in what heat was being given. As if to spite her attempt, a sudden icy gust cut through her fur and sent a cascade of leaves rocketing out of their trees and down the street. She shivered, reached down and adjusted her coat and scarf against the cold. As the wind calmed down, she thought to both kill time and satiate the breakfast hunger that was soon to hit by taking a stroll through the creekside apple orchard. She was always up to grab a quick breakfast and from where she stood, she could even see some nice ripe apples still hidden amongst the changing leaves…’Oh, right’. She could see the apples, meaning whoever was in the farmhouse at the top of the hill would likely see her as well. Predawn work did have its perks it seemed.

‘Someday I should actually pay them for the apples I’ve taken. Though judging from the trails that crisscross through the orchard I’m far from the only one, surely…I mean if they really cared they’d put a fence up, right? …right?’

Her stomach was quick to answer, and unfortunately it seemed a free breakfast was now out of the question. With how hectic the last few weeks had been she had little of any real substance back in the house. Her mind began to wander about what sounded good. Perhaps there was still an apple or two tucked away in her locker at work? She could always hope someone brings donuts to the meeting, or perhaps she would find something on her way down to the yard? She knew one thing, standing next to her house wouldn’t fix anything, and so with the sun at her back she began to make her way down the hill, along the winding streets towards the railyard.

It had been almost two years since the railroad had asked her to move out here. Two years in a place so radically different from anything she had been used to as a filly. She smiled, remembering how crazy her mom thought she was for being so willing to take this position so far from home. Though in a way she had to admit, mom was partially right. Vanhoover was indeed a far cry from the family farm back in Bridal Park. Nestled across the river from Baltimare on the shores of Horseshoe Bay, her hometown only seemed to ever have two types of weather, hot and not so hot, always humid. The local weather team had even made it a point to keep the few winter storms at bay, as to allow for year-round growing on what farmland there was between the Buckson River and the swamps inland. Growing up she would often find herself looking north across that river at the nearby metropolis, who periodically would find themselves under a serene blanket of snow during the height of winter. Oh, how she had always loved to accompany the deliveries into the city during that time of year. With the right conditions the ferry ride across felt outright magical, with one side in the depths of winter, and the other practically summer! Now she was in a city so far out on the edge of the nation they didn’t even have their own dedicated weather team! The weather here was this ever-constant mix of what happened to flow out from the heartland of Equestria, combined with the remnants and whispers of all the “untamed” areas nearby. The air, even in summer, had this seemingly wild chill about it, serving as an ever-present reminder that they were just off the doorstep of the frozen north. For a pony who was sick of overly manicured warm weather, this might as well have been paradise.

She may have continued down memory lane comparing the places she had lived if it were not for the intoxicating smell that hit her as she crossed the stone and wood bridge over Coldwater Creek. She tilted her head back and took in a deep breath, eyes fluttering at the sensation it was causing to her hunger. She recognized the smell in an instant, though it had been quite some time since she had last encountered it. It was warm and delicious, with hints of hot dough, berries, and seasoning all wafting right down the street at her. It could only mean one thing.

“Haybagel…”, she whispered to herself as her mouth began to water. She found herself immediately full of energy as she trotted up the street following her nose. Here, in the space sandwiched between the creek and the railroad yard, is a small collection of buildings affectionately called “The Little Downtown” or even “The Hive” by railroad ponies and locals alike. Legend has it there was once a beekeeper who had lived here, though the latter name likely came from the fact that most of the buildings were interconnected to some degree, not unlike an insect nest. The “heart” of this little block consists mainly of two-story creek stone and wood buildings, anchored on the eastern and western ends by two structures that couldn’t be more opposite. These are the “Owllight Inn” and the “Rivercreek Pub” respectively, though some in town would contest you on the latter.

The “Owllight” itself is a newer three-story hotel, reportedly made from the wood of apple trees that were underproducing when the railroad was being finished into Vanhoover. This story at least had some merit, as the family who owned the nearby Orchard and Cidery also ran the hotel. Their goal was to be an affordable, but respectable establishment, and their location for that was hard to beat. They had managed to build the “Owllight” not only adjacent to the Riveryard facilities, thus catering to passing train crews, but also next to the same main road leading east out of town, which was the only real thing separating the Inn from the railroad yard itself. Thus, many traveling ponies, not wanting to pay the higher rates found across the river in Vanhoover proper, would stay, taking advantage of the Trolley that ran down the main road all the way through town to the docks. It is right next to the “Owllight” that “Haybagel”, a bakery whose specialty was bagels and pastries, was tucked into the first story of the building next door.

Pacesetter quickly reached the front door, with the bell above the doorway announcing her arrival. The actual public space inside was rather small, only enough room for a single table and the front counter, which doubled as both display area and checkout. This was only amplified by the fact that two ponies were seated at that table, and a few more milled around the shop waiting on their food. Pacesetter ignored all of them and beelined right for the register, where an elder crimson pony in her trademark Baltimare blue hat stood smiling and waiting.

“Well, if I don’t believe my eyes, Ms. Pacesetter! Here we’d thought ya maybe got sick of us.”

“Me?! Mrs. Seaboard please, you know if I could I’d be in here for every breakfast. You have no idea how much I have missed your fresh bagels.”

Mrs. Seaboard chuckled, “Oh well goodness! I take it you are finally off that dreaded assignment you had?”

“Yes!! Yes, I am, but it gets even better! I’ve been promoted, and today is my first day as a real Conductor! You can’t believe how excited I am!”

Mrs. Seaboard laughed, “Oh ho, believe me dear, you are mighty terrible at hiding it when you get excited. Why, I could see from across the street you had a bounce in your step! Congratulations!! Tell you what, in honor of your promotion, and hopeful return to more sensible hours, consider today’s bagel on the house! The usual?”

Pacesetter was stunned, “r...really Mrs. Seaboard? I mean, thank you of course, but...but I can pay for it no problem. I actually have the money this time...” She reached quickly around her jacket for the pocket which held her bits.

“No dear, I insist! You’re always such a delight when you come in here, consider this a “Welcome Back” gift. Besides, we Baltimarians need to look out for each other out here, even if you are from, ‘across the river’”, Mrs. Seaboard finished with a wink, somewhat cheekily. Without Pacesetter noticing, she had already reached back onto one of the cooling trays of bagels behind the counter. In her hoof and neatly wrapped in paper was what Mr. and Mrs. Seaboard jokingly called the “Set-Pace special”. An “everything” bagel, with a light dusting of red pepper and a blend of regular and extra spicy cream cheese. The “joke” was if you had one of those for breakfast and you weren’t prepared, one would find themselves “setting a new pace” as they rushed down ice water to chase away the spice.

“I’ll never understand why for a filly who wanted so badly to get away from the heat and live somewhere cold, you continue to eat such hot food! Most of us prefer our breakfast a little, uh, sweeter you know.” Mrs. Seaboard said with a smile.

“I guess it is one of the few things I didn’t mind about back home. But I can’t believe y’all have kept the red pepper in stock, considering I haven’t been in here in almost two months!”, Pacesetter replied with a slightly worried look.

“Oh, don’t worry dear! We actually have finally found a use for it, other than your bagels! Our “Fall Weather” spiced pastries have, well let’s just say a bit more of a kick to them this year, and from what I’ve seen it was a good decision! The only thing hotter than their taste is their sales!”

Pacesetter laughed and took the bagel from the elder pony. “Well thank you Mrs. Seaboard! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

Mrs. Seaboard laughed too. “No worries deary! Just make sure you come back more often than every two months from now on, you hear?”

“Oh yes ma’am! That’s a promise!” Pacesetter gleefully responded as she turned and trotted out the door back to the street. The shop inside may have already been busy, but the park across the street was still as empty as the streets themselves. She sat on one of the benches inside the park Gazebo and proceeded to chow down. The immediate heat from the first bite warmed her to the core, so much so she contemplated undoing her jacket and taking in the brisk breeze to compensate.

‘This is the perfect way to start today’, she thought to herself and smiled, thoroughly enjoying each bite. From where she sat, she could easily look over most of the “Riveryard” and the activity within. When she first arrived in town, she had found it funny how the railroad had laid out its own facilities in such a seemingly haphazard way. While all still connected of course, unlike the other big yards she had seen during her time on the railroad, which tried to keep the distances between facilities to a minimum, here was far more elongated. Much of that was simply due to the geography of the area and how much of the city had already been built up to that point. The result was the railroad trying to sandwich in as much as they could along the very aptly named “Narrow River”, which itself ran through town down to the docks.

One of the worst of these sandwiched areas was a small stretch of marshland created by a sharp bow in the river on the eastern end of town. Likely because it was one of the few areas left that wasn’t already better used or owned by someone else, the decision was made to fill in the marsh and erect the local locomotive facilities there. Eventually, the “Riveryard” as it became known not only held a sightly twelve stall stone roundhouse complete with turntable and refueling facilities, but also its own Blacksmithing and machine shop. Smushed into the back corner was the home of the local “Maintenance of Way” contingent, the ponies who were responsible for keeping the “Rail” and “Road” of the railroad in good enough shape to allow the trains to keep rolling. Though every pony always referred to them by their far easier acronym that could be found painted on the side of their equipment, “M.O.W.” On top of all that, smattered around were buildings of varying quality ranging from temporary crew quarters to local administrative offices, and all of this somehow in only a few acres of reclaimed land. The river formed the boundary on three sides, necessitating bridges on both ends of this section of yard. It was all on full display as Pacesetter, from her slightly higher vantage point from within the park, began to sweat from the spice of her special breakfast.

‘Oh wow...hot. I guess it has been too long since I’ve eaten like this,’ she thought, letting her mouth hang open in a desperate attempt to let the outside air cool her tongue. Thankfully, there was still nopony near to see her practically panting, in fact the only ponies it seemed who were awake were either back in “Haybagel”, or were across the road in the yard itself. She could see a few milling around the backsides of the shop, likely the overnight work crews getting off shift, as well as a growing gathering of ponies near a locomotive with caboose parked next to the roundhouse. She couldn’t quite place a hoof on it, but something about that engine seemed different. A shrill whistle blast announced that coming into “Riveryard” from town was one of the smaller switchyard engines. Nicknamed “Goats” for their diminutive stature and no-nonsense work attitude, Vanhoover was home to two of them, and ‘Set didn’t have to guess which one this was. The blinding reflection of the recently shined up bell and brass trimmings made it obvious it was “Rainy Goat”, so named because its crews took such care it was said only a constant rainstorm could make it cleaner. “Rainy Goat”’s engineer eased it to a stop next to the other locomotive, and at once Pacesetter could see the reason why ponies were gathered around it.

---

“Well, so the rumors are true! I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself!”, “Rainy Goat”’s engineer called out as his engine came to rest next to the much larger engine on the adjacent track.

“Believe it friend-o!”, One of the yard ponies already gathered answered back. “Came over the pass this mornin’ they did! Though I imagine the track they damaged doin’ so will keep ya “Em-O-Doubu'' foals busy for some time eh!” He let out a laugh and elbowed the poor pony next to him rather forcefully in the chest.

Some in the crowd laughed as well until one of them spoke up, “Hey, that is a good point. How exactly did you manage to get this over? It must be almost twice the size of our “Equestrian” class engines.”

“Larger actually!”, the old stallion called back from the cab of the locomotive in question. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, what you are looking at here is the future of Equestrian Railroading!”, he exclaimed, making a grandiose gesture and sliding down one of the cab railings onto the ground. He began to walk up and down the side of the engine, “You ponies can do basic math, and your eyes do not deceive you, count them! This locomotive has not only the standard four wheeled pilot truck, but no less than five sets of drivers behind it! Not only does that make this the first 4-10-0 this side of the Unicorn Range, but in all of Equestria! I tell you with the power this thing can produce…”

Meanwhile back in the cab, the two very tired and dirty ponies who had been on the engine all night, were enjoying their first chance of respite from their boss.

“Wow, would you look at him go? In town not even five minutes and he starts giving his sales pitch to the first ponies he sees.”, the young earth pony stallion in the firepony seat says, shaking his head.

“Heh, well you know how Mr. Portherd gets.”, the sky blue unicorn leaning on the wall on the other side of the cab replied. “He has this new toy of his, and he just has to show it off for all of Equestria to see.” She pushes herself off the wall. “Would you like the spare bandana I know you have hidden away? That one looks filthy.”, she says, gesturing towards the very oil and dust-stained bandana around the stallion's neck.

He looks down and pulls the bandana away from him to get a glimpse. The poor piece of cloth had reached the point where it was almost untruthful to call it a red bandana anymore, as it was nearly darker than the graphite color of his own coat. “Yeeaa I could really use a change. My bag is in the…”

“...tender leg on your side, I know.”, the mare cuts him off. He rolls his eyes as she walks the few paces to the front of the tender directly behind his seat. Reaching into the cubby-like space created by the water tank “hugging” the coal bunker, she pulls out a slightly dusty canvas bag with the letters “I. Horse” sewn on one side. “I really don’t know why you keep this hidden away, Iron.”, she says as she passes the bag to him. “Why don’t you ever leave it hanging next to your seat like I do mine?”

He reaches out and grabs it from her, “What, and have my bag be as filthy as this bandana? Sorry Tal’, I think you may be spending too much time looking over the design tables lately. You seem to have forgotten how dirty this job can be.”, he says with a laugh as he unclips the bag and starts rummaging through it.

Tal’ lets out a chuckle herself, “Oh well, I’m sorry we can’t all be doing field testing like you Iron. Some of us have to actually design and build these things you know.” Iron quickly finds his replacement, a clean pressed royal blue bandana. “Hey, there you go! Well on your way to making a good impression with the locals already I see.”, Tal’ says with a somewhat sly smile.

Iron pulls the dirty bandana off with a grunt, staring at both which now sat in his lap. “I still wish you would be at least joining me on this. I’m not exactly thrilled about my first “field” assignment being solo.”

“You know as well as I how short hooved everyone is lately. The railroad is in a similar spot to us, having a hard enough time getting ponies to hire on back east. Even more so all the way out here on the fringes of Equestria.” Tal’ waits for Iron to look up at her, “Trust me when I say Mr. Portherd isn't exactly happy to be losing you, even if it is only temporary, but we needed somepony we could trust in this position being so far from the rest of us. You should be honored!”

“Honored...right”, Iron turns and tries to take it all in from the cab window. Nothing outside the window felt familiar in any way. It was a place he had never been before, different ponies, different city, different mountains, heck even the railroad here felt different from back home in Manehattan. It wouldn’t be so bad if anypony he knew would be here too, but by tonight his only links to home would be this engine he rode in on, and the rails leading back east. “Why does it have to be here of all places? Why not what we’ve done before, like Canterlot, or Fillydelphia? Why all the way out so far from everything?”, he hung his head as he finished.

“Hey, come on now, it’ll be ok.”, Tal’ tried to reassure him as she took a step closer. “I know it isn’t fair, I mean my first solo assignment was just a different yard in Manehatten...but you know how hard it was for Portherd to get this all to come together. He wants to prove we can build an engine that can take anything the E.R.R. can throw at it. Hardly a better test for railroad extremes than all the way out here, right? Besides, the requirement for testing was that we would staff at least one pony to run it until it can be proven. I mean, I know you’re practically his son at this point, but be proud that he chose you!”, Tal’ looked out the window past Iron, getting her first good glimpse at Vanhoover in the daylight since they had arrived. After a few seconds, a half snort/laugh escapes her lips and she turns away, focusing her magic on the collection of oil cans sitting beside the engineer’s seat. “Besides, it looks like the ponies here can’t get enough of the railroad! You should have no problem making friends!”

Iron looked back at her, very puzzled, but Tal’ was already too busy with her own oil can to give any further indication. He turned back out the window, searching for what in the world she might be on about…’Wait...what?’, he thinks to himself as his eyes catch what she likely already saw. Out beyond the yard, past the buildings and the crew huts, across the street and inside what looked to be a little park; there was a pony, copper fur with yellowish hair, sitting with something in her hoof, mouth agape, and staring right at him. He froze, staring back, trying to put together what in the world this pony could be so entranced over. “Surely...they’ve seen steam engines before...right? I mean, I know this is larger than, well, any others so far here, but still…’ The two seemed to stare back at each other for a few moments until Iron, out of ideas decided to wave. Even from this distance, the other pony seemed to suddenly jolt in shock, as they quickly covered their mouth and began to rapidly trot away from where they had been sitting. The paper thing they had been holding had been dropped and left on the bench in their hurry. They got maybe five paces before they realized this, and doubled back to grab it, only this time now galloping afterwards until out of sight behind some trees.

“I don't know Tal’, the ponies in this town already seem odd to me. I don’t know if I really want to get to know them.”, Iron says, still trying to make sense of what just happened. Tal’ laughed back in response as she made her way over to the ladder behind him, not wanting to go down and oil on the same side her boss was busy giving his sales pitch to.

“Aww, you scared them off!”, she says, reaching the edge of the cab and looking towards the park. “You need to work on that; You can’t sit here and complain you don’t know anypony when the first one looking your way gets intimidated.” She then slides down the ladder railing onto the ground.

“Pfftt, please, if I happen to chase off the village idiot, that is fine by me.”, he retorts. They share a laugh as Tal’ begins her work oiling the running gear of the locomotive, Iron deciding the fire should be checked on. ‘Let’s hope I don’t have to stay here too long’, he thinks as the warm glow from the fire envelops him.

---

The remaining few bites of the bagel hit the rim of the trash can hard enough to give out a resounding ring. ‘That is the last time I am eating one of those in public!’, Pacesetter winced. She had thought she was far enough away, distant enough from all the commotion that surely, surely no pony would notice her trying to fight her breakfast. Yet that damn dark colored pony sure had, no doubt. He’d even had the gall to wave to her!

‘It's ok, it’s ok. I’m quite sure I’ve never seen that pony nor that engine around here before. Meaning…they won’t know anyone else well enough here yet to tell anypony…yes! That’s it!’, a slight wave of relief washed over her. Not only would the other ponies likely not listen to them and their story of the strange mare in the park with her mouth wide open, but they wouldn’t even know it was her! …hopefully

Despite it still being a little early, she figured now was as good a time as any to head for the yard offices. She took great care trying to avoid the eyesight of any pony still around the locomotives as she crossed the yard tracks, just in case she was wrong in her hopeful assumption. Obviously out in the open there was nothing to hide behind, but her goal was to walk as “normally” as possible; at least as normal as a pony could who was still fuming over the loss of half her breakfast. Even from a hundred or so paces away, she could very clearly hear an older pony ecstatically and excitedly pointing out things on the bigger engine and answering questions from “his” crowd. She thought about glancing over, curious as to what could be drawing the attention from so many of the shop ponies, but the last thing she wanted was to risk catching the eyesight of whoever had been in the cab. Before she knew it, she was safely out of sight behind the wall of the roundhouse and paused to let out a sigh of relief. The yard offices were now just a short step away, the brick two story building with its center tower looking more like the railroad variant of an old fort than where one might expect the day-to-day paperwork of a railroad to take place. Rumor was that the tower had been built to allow the first Vanhoover Trainmaster to better spy on and keep watch over their “underlings”, but thankfully these days it served as little more than a miniature greenhouse with a very unique view. Its presence however still gave the rest of the building a very authoritarian feel. Which, in fairness, is exactly the atmosphere the current Trainmaster, old Schlick Fellowers, wanted. Relaxed and free to grow and be independent, so long as you don’t forget who was really in charge.

Pacesetter pulled open the heavy wooden door before her and entered into the building’s breakroom. Like many other things with the railroad, it hadn’t started life out that way, but whatever its original purpose was had already been lost to history. A few tables intermixed with chairs and old passenger car seats now being used as couches, only added to the feeling of haphazard planning. The permanently oil stained tile flooring in the doorway acted as both welcome mat and red carpet, guiding those who entered along the expected pathway through the room. Given the proximity of the furniture, she had little choice but to add her own dirt and coal dust from outside into the same trail laid down by so many before her. Normally there would be a pony or two from the repair shops, relaxing and chatting it up with the ponies who worked in the building, swearing that the coffee here was better than their own breakrooms, but not now. Even the walls felt empty, as the usual crew lists that were posted on the far side were missing, their clean outlines standing out from the dusty wall around it. Just as she began to ponder if she may be the only one in the building, at once there came the sound of hoofsteps from down the hall, and around the corner came none other than Schlick himself. He had a collection of rolled up paper in his saddlebags, with one overflow being carried in his teeth.

“Oh!”, he exclaimed, partially muffled by the paper that he nearly dropped in his surprise. “Msh ‘Setter! Can you gii mwe a oof whish shish?”

She cocked her head and asked, “I’m sorry, what?”

Schlick begrudgingly spit the roll out onto the floor. “Help, Ms. Setter. I’m asking for help.”

“Oh! Sorry.”, she said as she gave a sheepish smile. “Are...are those the new crew sheets??”, she excitedly asked.

“Heh, why yes, yes they are here. I just got them all worked out and was about to put them…”, Schlick was cut off by Pacesetter rushing over and grabbing the one off the floor. She took it and quickly unrolled it against the wall, feverishly scanning it for her name.

“*Ahem*, Ms. Setter, I know you are excited about all this, but unless you are really eager to find out what lunch is going to be today, I doubt you will find what you are looking for on that one.”

She stopped and focused on the top of the page. The words “Riveryard Lunch Catering” seemed to glare back at her as she folded her ears in embarrassment. “Ah…right. Sorry.”, she replied as she slowly rolled it back up.

“Here”, Schlick said as he reached back and pulled out a scroll from among his bags. He passed it to her with a forehoof, “This might be what you are looking for.”

She traded the scrolls, “...thanks”. Much calmer this time, she unfurled the paper on the floor and was greeted by the far more welcoming title of “Train Conductors and Assignments”. Here it was, a list of all the Vanhoover conductor names was on the left side of the page, with plenty of space for writing in what their next few months of work would be! Schlick set his bag down on the back of one of the chairs, and began to shuffle through it, pulling out various other scrolls while she eagerly went down the list until she found her name. There it was! All the way at the bottom, denoting her newness to the position, but it was on there nonetheless! She looked up excitedly wide eyed and smiling at Schlick, until it vanished from her face, and she looked back down at the page. Unlike all the others on there, her name already had something written next to it in bold letters but taking up a fraction of the space provided.

“Extra Board?”, she asked as she looked back up at him. “What’s Extra Board?''

“It’s a new position we are trying out. It has worked rather well back east, I figured it was time we gave it a shot.”

“Ok...but what is it?”

“You know how we normally would just have the yard crews or whoever was available take whatever extra trains we would have come up? Well, traffic is getting so busy and hectic that ponies are spending more time over the road than here in the yard where they need to be. Hence the change.”

“Okay…”, she tried to take in what he had just said. “But, why already me? Why not have this be a part of the normal schedules that anypony can vie for?”

“I’ve already asked every other conductor here Ms. Setter. This being a new position with a different workflow, I wanted to ask and see if anyone wanted to jump on this first. As you can likely guess, nopony did. And you being at the bottom of the list...I had no choice.”

“...so I’m still confused”, she admitted after a few seconds. “What...what does this mean for me? Like...do I have a regular start time, or heck even a regular crew?”

“I do plan to have assignments for you posted on the “Extra Board” board here a few days before the run day at the latest.”, he gestured vaguely to the new bulletin board she had missed when first walking in. “That way you will have some idea of what to expect, but of course you are the first we will call if we need an extra crew.”

“...Ah. Okay...”, she looked down as she thought of her next response. “So...does that mean I even get a regular set of ponies with me, or does that change each time too?", the dropping of her tone giving away the rapid loss of excitement at this latest development.

Schlick sighed, “Well, we’d like to. Here, you may want to look at this next”, and he handed her another scroll. She let the other one roll up under its own tension as she spread out the next page. “Train Crews” greeted her this time at the top, with the same conductor names from before organized in a grid pattern, the names and titles of some of their crew members underneath showing who was assigned to who. Once again, at the bottom, she found her name. The Engineer and Firepony slots had been written in, but then hurriedly scratched out with no names to yet replace them, instead next to them was the acronym “TBD”.

“TBD?”, she asked.

“Well…”, Schlick now almost looked a little embarrassed. “I’m sure you saw the new engine sitting outside, right? We’re being forced to trial it out here, though I wasn’t even told about this until yesterday...” His face scrunched up into a scowl, “Already I’ve been told everything from Portherd’s ponies will take care of the whole crew to us being responsible for everything. Then this morning it was “Oh, just have a regular train crew, they will take care of the engine crew” until it suddenly was “Nevermind, they are only leaving one pony behind, you will need to find someone to assist them.” I swear Canterlot can’t just make up its damn mind before telling us anything...makes for such a shit show…”, he trailed off as he shook his head. Pacesetter continued to stand there silently, unsure of what to say next.

“...Sooooo?”, she finally asked.

Schlick sighed, “Meaning I’m sure whoever they are leaving behind will be your Engineer, and I’ll still have to pull somepony to fire for them. As for your Brakepony, I haven't even had a chance to go through their own bid sheets and see who wants to be with who. I imagine a lot of it will be the same as last time, but where that leaves you...I have no idea.”

Pacesetter was trying her hardest to hide her disappointment in all of this. She knew going in she wasn’t going to get any of the better assignments, but to now not even know what in Equestria she might be doing next week; it felt more like starting over from the bottom than a promotion, that much was for sure. As she was busy thinking everything over, Schilick turned back to his papers and began to hang them.

“Still willing to lend a hoof Ms. Setter?”,he asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Oh! Uh, sure.”, she replied half-heartedly. Had she really been so foolish to think she was going to get anything good as her first true schedule assignment? She began to worry if this was going to turn into little more than a few moons worth of MOW assignments, the very ones she had been avoiding like the plague since she first began. Sure, the work wasn’t that hard, but ponies on those crews spent far more time living in their cabooses than their actual homes. And for her just having dedicated so much time lately to being able to afford a home on her own, it felt almost like a slap in the face.

The two quickly finished the task, Pacesetter almost missing Schlick saying “Thanks” as he left to return to his office. As she stood there alone, a different thought drifted into her mind. True, “Extra Board” may mean any train including the bad ones, but it was still any train. Meaning she still may have her chance on one of the higher trains after all! This improved her spirits almost immediately, as she quickly realized that this was likely her best chance to ever be on one of those runs without several more years of experience behind her! She stopped herself though as she realized she still had no idea who she would be working with. For all she knew at this point it was going to be ponies she had never worked with before, let alone seen.

‘Or worse, one of them could even be the pony from the cab that had waved’, she thought, shuddering as she tried to be hopeful at their hopefully soon departure. Whatever the case, she had no reason to wait inside anymore, the answers she had wanted already having been answered. Schlick would have answers about her crew soon enough, might as well try to kill more time and take a walk around the yard until then. The cool air greeted her as she pushed open the door and headed back outside.

Author's Note:

Quick reference for terms:
Roundhouse - Classic building for storing and working on steam locomotives. Usually comes with a "Turntable", the thing that you can spin equipment on.
Locomotive VS Engine - For the purpose of this story, interchangeable as it is in normal speech. Technically speaking, an "Engine" is only the propulsion part of the overall "locomotive".
Trainmaster - the person/pony in charge of general train operations, all crews in their area, etc.

Apologies if this is rather lengthy. Found out real quick I can't exactly have locations in the story without some sort of explanation behind them, hence how wordy this chapter is. I had to cut a few paragraphs for the final draft as I found I get too caught up in world building. All in due time!

We are in the railyard now! I promise there will be more train stuff soon.

Edit 1 8/23: Typo on "Portherd"'s name. Was typed as "Portheard". Horse puns, not hearing puns are the name of the game.

Comments

[RRBrony]

Ah, so she was always more of a country mare. See that makes sense why she likes the place she's working in. Also, it is kind of unique that this area is where the untamed weather clashes with the overflow of the controlled weather. Wonder if that causes some really screwed up weather. Like, does that mean abnormally heavy winter storms like snownados? Or dumping insane amounts of snow in the mountains? That will be quite interesting for sure.

Still, I'm surprised the pegasi would let the weather be rogue in this area. Guess the reason is because it was such a small town that recently exploded with growth, which begs the question. Would the ponies living there accept or reject the weather ponies controlling the weather in the future? Would there be a feud? Could the railroad get caught in the middle of that? Like, the pegasi are trying to freeze out the ponies with relentless storms to get them to acquiesce.

Ok, I totally got derailed there, time to get this train of thought back on track.

As I thought, the railroad reared its ugly head with seniority and the low pony on the list got the short stick. Welcome to the railroad Set, hope you don't let this get you down, I'm sure it'll end up for the better in the end.....maybe.... hopefully.... ok, who am I kidding. Its going to be hell.

On the bright side, that 4-10-0 sure sounds a like a beast of an engine. Way outstrips that little 4-4-0 they're using, should make for some funny scenes if the bigger engine literally pulls the little one in half. Ok.... maybe just breaks the draw bar between the engine and tender. After all, wouldn't want to breach the boiler and blow the poor ponies into Celestia's sky. Or send them to meet the pale horse.

All in all, I'm excited to meet this I. Horse character, as I have a feeling there will be fireworks when they meet with each other. Both already seem to have a negative reaction to each other. As he called Pacesetter a country bumpkin and she is embarrassed that he saw her. So this is gonna be good. I will need my popcorn when reading the next chapter.