Catching Up

by BronzeLoki

Miller Fields' - 3

Fields felt a slight shove to his shoulder, then another, and another. Opening his eyes with a frustrated mumble, he awoke face to face with Raven. Raven withdrew his hoof from the stallion's shoulder and took a rapid step back. The train continued to rattle its way down the tracks.
"Sorry to disturb you, Mr Fields, but our stop's coming up soon." Raven began tapping his hoof against the floor. Fields sat himself back up, having fallen asleep against the carriage's wall.
"Where are we?" The stallion put a hoof to his head, leaning over the booth's table to peer through the window.

The train was upon a raised platform, speeding along the line with a small brick barrier between it and a five story drop. Down below, the city stretched to the horizon. Buildings, many stories tall, bordered bustling streets. Ponies of all walks of life trotted together, looking like ants by the astoundingly large structures. In the middle of the streets, automobiles of various shapes and sizes drove harmoniously by as Fields looked on with awe. Yet, despite its greatness, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. There wasn't a plant in sight, not a trace of dirt. Any memory of the land before the city had been erased, and in its place remained a testament of the new world he found himself in.

Unnerved, Fields leaned back into his seat, distracting himself with the carriage's interior. He was surprised to find that it was just as empty as when he had first stepped on. "I thought a city train like this would be filled to the brim?" he curiously looked over to the attentive pegasus by his side.
"Oh it was! You must've really needed the rest to sleep through that." Raven fluttered upwards to peer through the Booth's window. Fields' firm glare returned.
"If there were so many, then why ain't there anypony on board now?" Fields put a hoof on the table and sat himself up. Raven glanced briefly down at the stallion.
"Miller Fields' isn't exactly a place that most ponies visit", his focus shifted back to the window, "That and we've passed the last passenger station."
"What?!" Fields hit the table with both hooves, quite startled by the revelation.
"Don't worry, Miller should still be at the works by the time we arrive."
"Works?" His shock dimmed yet still remained in his voice. With a surprised look, Raven turned his attention to the stallion.
"Miller Fields' Steelworks? Your son's business?".
Raven landed back into the aisle, his attention fully occupied by the old stallion, as the train jolted backwards. The piercing sound of screeching metal filled the carriage, Fields wincing as he braced his hooves against the table as Raven barely kept his balance with a slight flap of his wings. The train slowed to a stop, its engine hissing, as a deep, long whistle sounded. The whistle stopped and the carriage fell into a brief silence. Raven's look of astonishment fell into a small grin. "I would give you an explanation, but it'd be easier and quicker if I just showed you." He nodded his head to one of the trains many exits and started to lead the way. Raven open the carriage's door and hopped into air, hovering beside the entrance. "Mind the step.".

Fields heeded the warning and dropped from the carriage onto the gravelled ground. The air felt thick and heavy, Fields barely suppressing a cough before surveying his surroundings. It was a railyard with many tracks, most of them occupied by wagons carrying huge mounds of coal and iron, yet dwarfing the mounds was the immense brick building towering before him. Huge smokestacks pumped clouds upon clouds of black smoke into the air from the jagged sawtooth roof of the factory, the face of the building windowless and bare. There was one defining feature upon the wall, a circular logo of painted and polished steel depicting a windmill with a rising sun over yellowed fields.

"That right there is Miller Fields' Steelworks." Raven stared up at the logo, "Your son should be just beyond the factory floor.". Fields stepped closer to closed gates of the building, entranced by the logo. "Mr Fields, over here!" Fields glanced over to Raven, still in awe, as the pegasus landed by one of the corner's of the great building. Fields trotted over to the pegasus, still peering over his shoulder at the logo.
"My son owns this place?" Fields turned to face the pegasus with an incredulous look.
"Cross my heart, Mr Fields." Raven made quick cross over his chest with a hoof before trotting around the corner of the building.

Across the side of the building was a scaffolded, steel staircase leading to plain, metal door. Raven flew to the top, leaving Fields to climb the stairs, much to his displeasure.
"Why are we taking the side entrance?" Fields shouted up through heavy breaths as he ascended the stairs.
"The front entrance is for factory floor workers only." Raven stated, "Miller would have my head if anything happened to you.". Fields had managed to reach the door, but hesitated to open it.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He questioned as he faced Raven who avoided his gaze uncomfortably.
"Well the factory floor isn't the safest place. What with all the molten metals and dangerous equipment.". Fields stared at Raven for a brief moment, that seemed to last an eternity for the pegasus, before putting a hoof to the door.
"I know how to handle myself.".

He pushed open the door as a wave of hot, dry air struck him. He closed his eyes as they teared up from the blasting wave, rubbing them clear before stepping onto the meshed walkway inside. His hooves rattled the steel mesh, yet it could barely be heard over the droning of machinery, clattering of steel and the occasional screech of braking trains that he had become all too familiar with. If the air was thick outside, then the inside could be cut with a knife, with the entire factory floor being coated in a dense grey mist, gathering at the roof like a layer of miasmic clouds.
"Just follow me, Mr Fields" Raven shouted, barely managing to be heard over the clamouring of the factory floor, as he put a hoof over his muzzle and began to trot quickly down the catwalk. Fields was about to follow behind, but stopped at barrier by the edge of the walkway, with a rough cough.

Far down below, he watched the fiery glow of the factory floor. Dozens of buckets filled with incandescent liquids were heaved above the ground on hefty chains by mighty hooks. At the clattering of drawn chain-links, the buckets poured their contents into a wide, descending channels. Brilliant white sparks sprayed in all directions with the flow of the liquid, as it filled an assortment of huge cast molds mounted on train carts. Fields watched on dismayed, there were workers down there on the burning floor, Raven had said as much, yet as he searched through the smog and heat distorted air, there was no sign of life. That was until, there by the dozens of furnaces lining the distant factory wall, he saw the silhouette of a pony. His worry was only heightened when the furnace behind the silhouette roared with blazing embers, illuminating them in a deep red glow. What he saw was no pony.

Its coat was coarse and hard, with intermittent metallic buckles racing up its spine up to the back of its neck. Above its steel spine was a thick steel plating that seemed to encase its head fully, but its face truly horrified the stallion. Where a muzzle was supposed to end, a strange multi-holed protrusion hung and where eyes should have stared back at Fields, a thin black visor glistened red.

Fields stepped back in fear, refusing to take his eyes away from the thing as the smoke shrouded it once more. For a moment he was frozen. Then he felt the tap of a hoof on his shoulder. With a rugged cry of fear, Fields fell back to find Raven at his side who looked down at the stallion with a smirk behind his hoof.
"You should really listen when I tell you to follow me." The pegasus yelled over the ever-present noise of the factory. He offered a wing to help Fields up, the stallion muttering something that Raven presumed was a 'Thank you' before reluctantly grabbing onto the wing. Raven pulled Fields onto his hooves. He matched the older stallion's pace with a brisk trot, as they rounded the walkway to meet a rather out of place sight. It was a wooden door with a finely crafted inlay, which wouldn't have been out of place at a mansion. At its centre, Fields noticed, was the very same logo he had seen before at factory's entrance. Raven stepped up to the door giving it no heed, as he rapped a quick succession of energetic knocks. He turned to face Fields who was staring at the door stone-faced. How long had it been since he'd last seen Miller? What did Miller want? He steeled himself, watching the door with an intense glare. A few seconds passed and the brass handle turned.