TRUST TO RUST

PART 1

"Well, look who decided to show a hoof!" Dr. Whooves sneered.

The mare grunted, but didn't reply.

"So you've FINALLY decided to do some work, AS REQUESTED by OUR Princesses and controller, no less..." the Doctor went on.

"I was busy with my REAL job!" she retorted angrily.

"Yes. Busy NAPPING!" the earth pony grinned.

"Just give me the bucking workorder!" she snapped.

"Not so fast!" Dr. Whooves replied, a bit more serious this time "Your work requires you to have a training in railmareship. Since you signed up so late, you'll have to cover for the TWO last jobs available."

"Buuut I don't HAVE to." the mare smirked. To her surprise, the Doctor smirked back.

"Oh, yes, you do! The railway's leaderboard itself sent me a message about you. You'll HAVE to learn to do both jobs. Whether you will actually DO it or not is none of my concern." the stallion explained, and hooved over some papers "Now. These pages contain the information about your workplace, the engine you'll be working with and looking after..."

"Wait a minute! "Looking after"?" she asked.

"Yes. You'll be both the driver AND fitter of the engine." the Doctor explained "If you need any help in completing these tasks, don't be afraid to ask other workponies, your friends, or Spike. Now, off you go!"

She couldn't believe it.

Not that she didn't deserved it, now that she thought back - backstabbing her own friends (she still felt sore about that)...

Skipping job and making excuses.

She knew that she deserved it, but she hated the feeling. So she flew on, faster and faster, trying to avert her thoughts from it. It was still early in the morning, just around sunrise, and the sky was red.

"Red sky in the night states delight. Red sky in the morning states warning. That's how the saying goes..." she pondered.

As she flew towards her destination, a smell caught her nose. A smell that was getting stronger...

"Eeugh! What a stink!" she coughed.

It was the smell of smoke, foundry smoke, to be precise. Soon, she was maneuvering between thick clouds of floating ash and soot, the sky heavy with plumes of thick black smog. The air became so dense that she could barely breathe - she had to lower altitude.

Ducking beneath the smog layer, she could see where the pollution was coming from.

Far ahead of her stretched the saturnine buildings of Smelters.

The Cavalry Ironworks were not a new addition to the railway by any means. It had been there for as long as the ponies could remember - it was there, perhaps, before the railway was built. It's buildings were dark and smeary from long years service in conditions unbearable for the humble pony. The recent expansion and modernization of the railway certainly made it busy - from all around Equestria (except Stalliongrad Oblast), the older equipment was transferred to the Smelters to taken apart, scrapped, and eventually melted down. Thus, the outskirts of the sheds, the yards, and even a narrow ring outside the area's fences was littered with rusting scrap.

But that was nothing than the long sidings of decaying engines laid out on the sidings, in various stages of oxidation and damage, some even partly thorn apart, the others falling apart. The damaged ones were the worst, the many dents, cracks and twists misshaping them into horrific caricatures of themselves.

An unsettling place to begin with, the place was made even worse with all the murky diesels roaming around it, especially at night, while the Works' "feeding lines", where the necessary oil and coal was unloaded was run by electric shunters, humming ominously, intent on their toil.

It wasn't haunted or anything, but the place pretty much a death theme park - some of the cranes even looked like gallows.

The mare gave a sight.

This was her new workplace. At least, where she should start from.

From the sky, she scanned the area, her gaze scrolling over the junk to find a living soul. Finally, he spotted a workcolt from afar.

Swiftly diving down, she landed beside him with an audible thud. Instantly, he turned toward her. He was an older stallion with a graying, short mane and tail, and fading golden yellow fur, wearing an orange light-reflecting vest and a scratched, weatherworn yellow helmet, with the Smelter's insignia (three industrial smokestacks fumigating white smoke in a sharp-teethed cogwheel) on it.

"Hello." she greeted him "Are you the forecolt?"

"One of them." the stallion replied. He had a raspy voice, which, she had to admit, fit VERY well into his environment - shreds of twisted scrap laid everywhere.

"I came here to work." she explained. The other pegasus raised an eyebrow.

"You?" he asked "What for?"

The mare sighed.

"Well, you know... The railway's aiding program... And stuff..."

"Ah! Ya came here to work with the engines!" the workcolt's face brightened up "OK, just wait for a moment!"

Using his wing as a hand, he lifted the microphone of his radio transceiver.

"This is 081 calling the Dispatcher, I repeat, 081 calling Dispatcher." he stopped for a moment, then added "You there, Smokey?"

The radio soon cracked to life, and the reply came in the form of a mare's voice.

"I hear ya, Tumult, hold your horses!" the dispatcher laughed "What's up?"

"There's a mare here, from Ponyville, who came here to do some work a la treins. Ya think we got sum'in' for her?"

"Has she got any papers?" Smokey asked back "If she does, bring it to me, and I'll see what we can do!"

"Right. Over and out." Tumult replied, and placed the microphone back into it's holder. He then turned to the mare.

"Alright, gal, follow me!"

They landed not far from one of the smelter sheds, near the railway lines, all rusted, but their running surface was ground shiny by it's users.

She handed her papers to the stallion.

"I'll be right back!" he spoke up, and flew away towards a tall, office-like building in the distance.

She slumped down onto her flanks, and gave a tired groan. She had barely been here for a few minutes, and her fur and mane was already soaked in sweat, and smelled like smoke. She took a glance up at the sky. It was smothered by smoke, leaving it striped with black streaks, and the blue sky was turned into an angry orange color by the fumes. In the distance, she could see it dispersing, and the land regained it's original color there, too - under the smog, everything had gained a sepia color scheme, or was brown to begin with, thanks to the rust spreading over the scrap and polluting the soil. She saw it: the few trees that grew around, or - Celestia forbid - IN the yards were gnarly, rugose, and misshapen beyond any visual amenity, not to mention that they were dead and their bark was blackened, making them look like fixings from a cheap horror movie. They looked scary, none-the-less...

"Why would Fluttershy want to become something like THOSE?!" the mare pondered. when the pegasus workcolt arrived back.

"Alright, it's all settled." he said, handing her papers back "Your engines will arrive in a jiffy. Just wait here."

"OK." she uttered, but her eyes went wide "Wait... 'EngineS'?!"

But the stallion had already left, flew away back to where she met him.

So, she sat down again, and waited.

Out of boredom, she checked on her papers a bit more thoroughly.

It wasn't anything interesting, a page detailing her personal infos, such as age, gender, birthplace, present or previous jobs, ed cetera, ed cetera... The other gave details about Ponyville Marshalling Yard, where she was directed from - most of which info she couldn't read, 'cause they were codes, and a final page, detailing the engine most preferable for her - not her decision of course, but she could've expected that...

With a deep sight, she put the pages away, and mentally readied herself of what was to come.

Despite all her efforts, she didn't expected what DID come, trundling down the track, growling deeply with a noticable volume.

She jumped as she heard two similar electric horns, buzzing brashly through the dense air, both deep, but the second just an octave deeper.

As the burr became louder, she stood up, her eyes momentarily blinded by two beams of yellowish light, which only grew stronger. Covering her eyes with her hooves, and peeking through them, she could see the source of the light: two black blocks were approaching her - they had the lamps. Standing back, she prepared to battle, as the rumbling became closer, but just a few meters from her, it stopped, followed by two quick, pneumatic hisses.

"Well well well... Loo' 'ho's 'ere!" a deep, Glaswegian voice spoke up.

"Eh... Could ya... Turn the lights down... A bit?" she asked.

"Oh. Shorry." another voice, a bit more monotonous replied. This one's Glaswegian accent also had a bit of South Londonian in it. Slowly, the lights grew fainter, until only the filaments themselves became visible - and so did their owners.

"'Allo, Rainbo' Dash."

"Yeah. Welcom'."

Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes, and looked up.

Before her stood Iron 'Arry and Iron Bert, the Other Railway's scrap diesels. These two thuggish shunters were notorious for their grim appearance and grim jobs. And now, there they were, in all their greasy glory.

Both engines had black and yellow hazard stripes around their faces, yellow cabs and greenish gray bodies with a fainter yellow stripe running horizontally across on both sides, in level with their oblong windows. Their wheels, traction rods, buffer plates and buffers were all black with smirch that got stuck on them through the long hours of their work.

They were twins, and could only be distinguished by their faces: 'Arry only had a Soul-patch that reached down to his chin and some stubbly mustache-excuse, while Bert had a full 5 o'clock stubble which fused with the same stubble-stache his brother had. 'Arry's eyes were a bit narrower, which also helped to differentiate them.

But, of course, the real difference between them were their personalities. To put it short, 'Arry was the more violent one, while Bert... The more stupid. Both were incredibly dim and rude, and not to mention dour. Through their life, the twins had always worked around foundries, refineries, power plants, and, of course, the scrap yards and smelters. For many, they were simply known as "the Scrapping Diesels" (and, for a short time, as the "Yellow Diesels". For the Other Railway and the Mane Six, they were known as the Iron Twins.

Brutish, brash, and simple. Radical as they could get.

The twins had a nasty streak, too:

Their joy in scrapping and melting down old steam engines. They had countless on their list from their old home, but here, they could scrap all the engines they want: Equestria had MILLIARDS of steam engines, most of which we would deem COMPLETELY inefficient and uneconomical.

They weren't alive like them, which took part of the fun, but it was enjoyable to melt them down, nevertheless.

Diesel, Spamcan or CoBo would sometimes join them in their work, though not for long - they had other business to do, and beside the twins, only a few diesels could bare the heat and lingering fumes of the Ironworks.

In one way, 'Arry and Bert were just what Rainbow wished for: they were though, strong, and stubborn, not willing to give up, especially if it was about scrapping. On the other hand, they were quite the contrary of her desires: they were grimy, dark, and not too fast, as they were shunters, Class 08s, like Diesel (thought, they WERE faster than their own class). More importantly, they were earth-bound.

The polychromatic pegasus gave a deep sigh again.

"Lemme guess..." she muttered "One of you is the engine I'll have to work with."

The twins exchanged looks.

"Eeeh. Both o' us, actu'lly." Bert replied "You'll be ou' fi'e'."

"An' th' drive' o' one o' us." 'Arry added "Well, ya can change ev'ry no' an' 'den..."

"Uhuh..." Rainbow muttered "And just HOW am I going to drive BOTH of you?"

"One o' us co'ld go solo fo' a shor' toime. We'v' wo'ked wi'h ou' drive's b'fo'." 'Arry replied.

"B'sides, we'e no' noobs. We know ou' way 'roun' th' wor's, don' we, 'Arry?" Bert put in.

"Shu' up, Bert." his brother growled.

"Oh. Righ'-o. Shorry, 'Arry. Shorry Oi da'ed t' blu'dy spoke!" he replied with a grumble.

"Great..." the mare muttered to herself "Now I got dumb and dumber to work with."

She took a deep breath, and turned to them with a forced smile.

"Okay..." she grinned "What to do now?"

Again, the two shunters just exchanged looks again.

"We dunno." Bert said simply.

"Ya go' yer papers back, th' wo'ko'de' sh'uld be wi'h 'em." 'Arry added, a hint of impatience.

Rolling her eyes, she checked. And indeed, found a fourth, smaller paper hidden between two of the pages.

"OK..." she muttered, a bit embarrassed, and read their timetable. There wasn't much to do, only three jobs for the day, but those were long shifts.

"Simple AND boring..." Rainbow thought, as she read trough the short note, before turning to the twins.

"OK, it says here that we start with some shunting at Yard Number 6. Where's that?"

The two diesels smiled.

"Don' worry. We'll sho' th' way." 'Arry replied "Hop on board!"

The mare eyed them up.

"Eh... Nnno thanks." she smirked "I think I'll fly there. I'd like to get this done FAST!"

"I's still be'er if ya follo' us." Bert spoke up "Least ya won' ge' lost in 'ere."

"Lost?!" Rainbow exclaimed "ME?! You've gotta be kiddin'! I'm the best flier in Equestria!" she grinned, but the twins just gave her incredulous looks.

"Well, in Ponyville, anyway..." she corrected herself with an embarrassed smile "Anyways, I can get there by myself!"

"Ya sure?" 'Arry asked "Ya may be goo' flie', bu' me an' Ber' 'av' bee' wo'in' 'roun' dis ya'd fo' sum' toime by no'."

"We kno' i' loi'e th' back o' ou' buffe's." Bert added.

Rainbow's competitive nature was piqued.
"Oh yeah?! I bet I can get there, ten. Seconds. Flat!" she declared.

The twins exchanged roguish smiles.

"Yer on!" 'Arry declared, and with a dual hiss of their air brakes and two quick honk from their horns, the twins raced away, quite fast for their class.

Rainbow stared, then, a smirk became present on her face.

"Piece of cake..." she muttered, and flew after them.

The scrap diesels were easy to follow for multiple reasons. For starters, their yellow stripes gave them away easily. Second, since they were reversing, their headlamps on the left of their fronts have been turned off, and their red tail-lamps in the middle have been turned on, which glowed brightly enough for the pegasus to see. Third, there was the audible, deep rumbling of their motors, and third, the pungent whiff of their exhaust fumes, diesel exhaust mixed with cigarette smoke and wood nafta. The foul scent came like a trail, and for a long time, Rainbow followed them with her eyes closed, relaxing...

But as they got closer to the Works, things changed. The noise of the blow torches and the machinery from inside the sheds made the sound of the two diesels' inaudible, while the foul, scathing smell of the smokestacks and chimneys smothered the sky even as low the level she was flying at - and she couldn't go any lower, as the many piles of junk would be hard to dodge.

All she could rely on was her vision, which worsened as she got nearer to the sheds - the smoke made blocked her sight, and the scent was hurting her eyes. Also, the red glow from inside the big hangars was making it hard to see the two diesels' tail lamps.

Finally, she decided to lower altitude, and follow the twins - or, at least, the tracks.

'Arry and Bert had gotten so far ahead, she could barely make out their stripy front in the distance.

To her utter surprise, the two suddenly went sideways - 'Arry to the left, Bert to the right.

As she arrived to the spot they separated, she could see that the two lines parted there.

She decided to follow 'Arry, thinking that the smarter - or at least, not AS stupid - brother would be using the quicker way.

What she didn't know that Bert actually knew himself around the yard better.

Soon enough, Rainbow encountered a switch. Again, she flied to the left, following the left-hoof-wall rule she once heard from Twilight.

To cut things short, she quickly found herself lost, and ended up in Celestia-forsaken parts of the lonely scrap yard, becoming increasingly disoriented and worried. The smog was so dense that a literal layer of it covered the orange sky, shrouding the place in darkness.

Finally, she stopped when she reached an old, abandoned depot.

"Now I'll NEVER find that damn yard!" she cursed. Just then, she heard some chatter.

Looking around, she saw nopony, moreover, no-ONE! No workcolts, no workmares, no engines, no trucks.

The sounds of speaking hit her ears again. Listening carefully, she hovered closer to the dark buildings. Most of the doors were still on, with their windows broken and their frames cracked, the leafs themselves dangling crooked on their hinges.

One of the sidings, however, missed it's door, so she could see in.

In the darkness, she saw four bright white, but not blinding headlights, two at the bottom, and two at the top, a bit to the right from the other two. She recognized the pattern of the twins' headlamps - they had three at the bottom, and one at the top. The chatter was definitely closer.

"Hey, guys!" she called out to her. Suddenly, the chatter stopped. There was a long pause. Then, the lights began to grow smaller.

"Wait!" Rainbow shouted, and flew after them. She could hear the sound of engines, but these were different - the sound was lighter and much quieter, moreover, the smell of the exhaust fumes was faint and simple.

She saw two block-like shapes appear in the dim light outside, as they passed through the doors on the other side. She continued to follow them, and for a short time, she was getting closer. But as she did...

"Wait... You aren't..."

The next second, the two lights disappeared, and Rainbow found herself being plunged into darkness...

...And crashing into the side of 'Arry.

"OOF!" she cried.

"OW! FUCK!" 'Arry yelled.

Rainbow slid down his side, landing on his flank on the diesel's running board.

"Ah, yer 'ere!" Bert called out to her "Finally! An' i' o'ly took... FOIVE minu'es! 'bou' bl'udy toime!"

"Yeah... Real smoo', Rainbo', REAL smoo'..." 'Arry grumbled.

"Well, I could have arrived earlier if you two would have gone down the same track!" she hissed at him "And just what on Equestria were you doing in those old sheds?"

The twins exchanged looks.

"Which ones?" Bert asked.

"The ones in the middle of the bucking scrap yard!" Rainbow Dash snapped at him.

Again, the two shunters just looked at each other, puzzled. There was a long pause.

"Loo'..." 'Arry began "We 'no' ou' way 'roun' dis place, an' 'no' LITER'LY ev'ry inch o' it..."

"Dere's NO way tha' WE didn' 'no' o' a shed i' th' middle o' th' yards..." Bert added, when something struck him "U'less yer talkin' 'bou' the ol' storm depot..."

"The what?" Rainbow asked back.

"Th' storm depot." 'Arry replied "I' use' t' be th' main sheds o' th' Wo'ks b'fo' i' was relocated nea' th' Smel'e's."

"Th' wo'kcol's said dey use' i' as an emerg'ncy shed afte'wa'ds, loike whe' big storms we'e commin'..." Bert continued "Bu', i' burned down once, an' th' ponies decided t' abandon i'... Ya 'no', suppa'stissions an' stuff..."

The mare gave it a deep thought...

"I... See..." she said finally "But what were YOU guys doing there?"

Blank looks peered down at her.

"Rainbo' Dash..." the narrow-eyed diesel began solemnly "We've neve' been th' dose sheds... No' eve' a sin'le toime since we arroived..."

"Der's no way tha' ya saw us dere..." his brother went on "We don' visit tha' place. Nobo'y does..."

Rainbow went pale.

"W-Why?" she muttered.

"We jus' don't..." the twins replied in unison.

There was an awkward pause.

"...But... If you guys weren't there... Who was?" Dash asked.

The two diesels didn't reply, as they were lost in their thoughts... For once.

Minutes passed in silence.

Then Bert spoke up.

"Oi thin' we best ge' t' wo'k..." he muttered.

The mare sighed, and nodded in agreement.

The first job was fairly simple. They had to arrange the older, empty trucks into lines in one of the inner yards of the Works. It was an easy job for the shunters, but Rainbow found it tedious.

She had to learn how to drive both diesels - and both were exactly the same. Well, almost. Bert was a tad more dim, so it was easier handling him, but 'Arry was more quick-tempered, and she sometimes found it difficult to control him.

The job itself was boring, but it had a certain unnerving edge: as she found out, there were a few bent, uneven, rusty sidings on the far side of the small yard, which were also the longest. The twins called them "the Slaughter Lines". As it turned out, many of the trucks were due to be scrapped, but a certain number of them was still worthy to be repaired, once more. In the end, only a few were selected, and the masses ended up on the Slaughter lines, dent, broken, rusting, rotting away...

All they did was groan and wait 'til the twins took them away.

There was a large shed at the end of a lonely siding leading away from the small yard. This shed was long, and at it's end was a tall, jet black smokestack, blowing out thick clouds of smog the same color as the chimney itself... The long shed's tin roof, the barren ground around it, the piles of scrap near it, and even the single-track siding leading up to it was dull black with smirch and soot that fell from the oily clouds of the stack.

"I's loike black sno' in th' winte'..." 'Arry explained when the job was done "I's o'ly visible if i's cold."

Rainbow Dash coughed. The smell lingering around the yard was olid and thick. It didn't hurt her eyes or lungs, like the smog-layer above, but it was dense. It smelled like an old paraffin stove the size of a factory, and it obviously came from the shed. Bert reversed from it, having pushed the last of the soon-to-be scrapped trucks into it. The sliding doors closed with an echoing bang, just as the Class 08 stopped beside his sibling and trainee.

There was a long silence.

The trucks that were spared - barely twenty - were quiet. Too quiet. They've just been saved, spared from the fate of the others, as they were marked with a round, green blot on their sides, indicating they've passed.

They should've been happy. But they weren't. They looked just as morose as before, but now with a hint of guilt on their worn faces.

So far, Rainbow Dash didn't cared about the things going on around her. The job was lame and the twins were slow. Slower than what she wished for, but, being shunting diesels, like the one Twilight drove, she knew she couldn't expect much. Ad to that, that despite their speed, they were still able to go faster than their class, much faster if necessary, but in a very jerky way - they made rough quick stops and bashed the noisier, complaining trucks relentlessly, also making her trash around in their cabs. She was sure that under her cyan fur, her skin was darker blue and purple in several spots.

The work environment was crap, too...

The place was full with sharp, pointy object that were horrendously grimy, and provided great opportunities to get instantly infected wounds. The air was thick and she was sure it was toxic as well, so she felt that her chances of joining the Wonderbolts decreased with every second, as her lungs grew heavier with smoke. What's worse, this was only the beginning, as there were two more tasks in front of them.

The two diesels weren't the best colleagues, either. Sure, they were glad to answer her questions - even if the answer turned out to be blatantly obvious and right in front of her - and seemed to enjoy having her as a college. Well, Bert did, at least. But on the other hoof, the twins were disgruntled, bloody-minded, grueling and grim, always lashing out at each other (especially 'Arry), swearing and cursing loudly, berating one another, or grumbling to themselves. After some time, Rainbow found herself snubbing them with a yell, loosing patience over the twins' banter. And in each case, her outburst was greeted with puzzled surprise, and a momentary, awkward silence.

Then, they soon continued from a different point, making her efforts fruitless.

Another tiresome aspect of the Ironwork Bros was their off-color sense of humor. Rainbow Dash herself knew that she had a great tendency to be brash, but these two had the worse obscene and gallows humor she ever had to endure, mocking the trucks who whined the loudest mercilessly. Sometimes, she felt like covering her ears, when one of the shunters brought up a trashy, graphic horror tale on cue of the topic they were discussing - or arguing about.

At other times, the two acted like their complete opposites: both silent to the point of being cold and rigid, moving the trucks so smooth that Dash felt she was flying with them, with Bert being more concentrated and quick, and 'Arry seemingly daydreaming, moving the trucks leisurely, lost in his thoughts...

While she felt relieved, the moments of silence soon grew just as irritating as the two diesel's constant macabre-themed chat or brusque argument. The air grew even more dense in these cases, but also dry, and despite the inevitable heat, she shivered, feeling cold and uncomfortable, while sweat still dripped down her mane and fur.

Her mane was a bit longer now, still shaggy like it usually was, and so was her tail. After being told off by her friends, her best friends, her mood completely drooped. For days, she would just lay on a cloud, eyes closed as she wept, alone and silent. She felt forlorn and disheartened. For weeks, she just roamed the sky, keeping it clear, venting all anger onto the clouds. She sometimes had to stop herself from destroying too many clouds, fearing that she'll cause a drought - and betray her friends even more.

Part of her wanted it - leave them in trouble they couldn't find their way out, until they would beg her to return.

She never went home, and she couldn't really remember when she ate or drank... Her movement grew sluggish, and her mane and tail was left uncut for long. Finally, when she couldn't bare it any longer, THAT was when she decided to give the rails a shot. She couldn't loose much, could she?

But the periods of silence reminded her of those days where she was loss for all hope, and distraught by the actions of her friends, an her own self.

Sure, 'Arry and Bert kept her company, but she longed for someone else to talk to. There were a few workcolts around, but the blank and tired looks on their faces told her that it was a lost cause.

As the work ended, amid the sudden, dead silence, she noticed a certain somber atmosphere taking place. Sitting beside the front buffers of the two engines, she also noticed the solemn look on their faces.

The silence and coldness, the sudden sincerity, and even a noticeable cast-iron stringiness - it scared her.

"What's going on?" the mare asked.

"I's th' end." Bert replied simply.

"The end?"

"Yeah." 'Arry continued "Dese trucks will be sen' t' th' carri'ge wo'ks, an' put ba' t' service."

"Bu' th' rest..." his brother sighed "Dey aren' tha' luc'y..."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow's voice was jumpy with fear.

The two diesels didn't replied at first. Then...

"Ya see tha' long, black shed ove' dere?" 'Arry asked, glancing at the ominous building "Ya 'no' wha's goin' in dere?"

"No..." the pegasus replied, gulping...

"Jus' lis'en..." the diesel muttered, felling silent...

She didn't understood at first, but as they sat in silence, she began to hear them.

The screams.

They weren't the screams of a filly or colt in terror. They weren't the screams of any throat.

They were the shrill and moaning screams of metal and machinery. Wails and shrieks of frames being tortured: crushed, bent and cut up...

Saws buzzed and whirred, torches whistled and hissed, tearing into frames soon to be thorn apart.

The sound of metal and wood, both aged and no longer desired, hitting the ground like unsteady, dying heartbeats...

The industrial noise was ear-splitting and heart-shaking, yet muffled, snuffed by the thick doors of the dark hangar.

The mare's face was pale, she was covered in cold sweat and her eyes were wide open, her mouth agape, as she fell back, landing on her haunches.

"Dey keep th' foire burnin' wi'h th' wood." Bert added, looking at the smokestack "Da's why i's always black: ro'en wood doesn' ma'e a good foire..."

The mare was silent.

"Ya 'no', th' wo'kco'ts said tha' tha' shed us'd t' be a crematorium fo' P.O.W.s... Bac' in th' ol' days, durin' th' Gryph'n Wars, o' sum'in'..." Bert went on "Tha's why ya won' foind any birds in th' scrap yards... No' eve' pigeons..."

Something in the very core of the pony stirred. She felt a loss of breath, and colder than ever.

"Sum' REAL nasty shi' wen' down durin' th' war. Many o' th' wo'ke's don' eve' 'no' 'bou' i'." 'Arry continued, on a dry voice "Prison'rs o' War were fo'ce' t' do 'ard labor. Dey were kept relat'vly well, so dey coul' do mo' wo'k, bu' i' th' end, dey all died..."

"An' nu'hin' keeps th' soldier as warm as th' burnin' co'pse of th' enemy, roigh'?" Bert smirked darkly.

"Shu' up, Bert!" his brother told him off.

By now, Rainbow felt... Deeply disturbed... She felt nauseous, and her head was spinning...

Just then, the direction of whatever wind blew up there changed, the smoke pouring over the yard.

"Bloody 'ell..." 'Arry cursed "I' smells loike ol' times ev'ry toime i' blows ove' us..."

And as if by magic, the smoggy cloud, born in the chimney of incinerator shed, carpeted the yard, high and low: the sky went dark with smoke, even more so than usual, graying the colors of the area, while white soot began to fall from the new-formed clouds, covering the ground, the rails, trucks and engines alike in a bone-white sheet.

The sight was... Beautiful in it's own grotesque way.

However, the cloud and the dead snow also brought up a old scent from the depths of the stoves that...

The twins wished they could forget.

Dash's hooves fell on her stomach, as she retched, with tears forming and flowing out from her eyes, now squinted shut. After a few attempts - whether they were to force the gush back or not remains a mystery - she vomited into the cess beside the tracks, coughing and choking...

The twins sighed, and waited for her to stop.

When she finally did, 'Arry amicably opened his cab door, and the pegasus, still nauseous and woozy, groggily crawled back into his cab.

With two simultaneous rumbles, they left, oiling towards their next job, towards the smelting sheds...

She woke up with a sore throat, an empty stomach, and a great pounding in her head.

Sweet Celestia, did she hate puking!

Groggily, she stood up on all fours, and waited for the cotton inside her brain to disappear. Opening her eyes, she was blinded by a great red light for a moment, and lifted her hoof up to cover them. As a result she fell against a thin, metallic wall. It was made of tin, smooth and flexible, so she didn't hit herself badly. After a few deep breaths and blinks, she could stand up, and took a few unsteady steps.

Everything around her was dark red: walls, ceiling floor, all murky crimson. Looking around, as her vision cleared, she could see that it was a larger, low-roofed, cheap and under-equipped engine shed, with long sidings, and vertical girders supporting the thin roof, which went higher and higher as it approached the back of the shed. Looking out towards where the bright light came from, she saw the... "Entrance" of the depot. She had to walk towards it, not finding the strength to fly. As she reached it, the light suddenly got dimmer. Glancing outside she could see the source: not far from her was the mouth of an enormous blast furnace, stretching on the ground like some hellish swimming pool, filled with molten iron.

There a few, enormous beams some hundred yards away in each direction, holding an what appeared to be a strong overhead structure. She could even see engines up there, working with pegasi and griffons, pulling odd looking trucks. The noise was unbearable, so constant and fluid that she could barely distinguish the sounds she heard. There were twelve, long sidings that made up the depot's interior, separated into groups of three by the support beams that held up the shed's roof. Outside, a ton of switches, and six lines leading away from the sheds, three to the right, three to the left.

Rainbow sighed.

Boring and hot. Excruciating. At least her wooziness was gone.

Everything had the same color in various shades, even her: her cyan fur seemed dark red, and her multi-colored tail and mane just showed various shades of it. Her cutie mark's cloud seemed black, and the red part of the lightning disappeared. The air was thick, but not as much as outside, especially not like in the smog layer. Nor did it had the same smell. In one way, it was much more cleaner than the smoke outside - she assumed she was in one of the smelting sheds -, not littered with ash and soot. But it was still rank with the heavy smell of molten metal, and the heat made it feel almost touchable, as if she was pushing a lightweight wall in front of herself.

The place was enormous, by the way: she could barely make out the roof in the distance, there were pipes, cranes and sidings full of trucks not far from the depot, and the blast furnace she first saw was ONE of the many of a double-row that stretched in to the distance in either side of her - bowels of an industrial giant, still just a dwarf compared to the facilities up north.

She sat there, at the three lines that run in front across the sheds, unsure of what to do, when she heard a familiar deep, buzzing horn. Soon enough, one of the Iron Bros rolled up to her with a line of trucks filled with scrap metal. As he stopped beside her, his air brakes hissing quietly, she could make out that it was Bert - mostly out of his smile, as 'Arry usually had a frown or a nasty smirk.

"Yer awake." he pointed out "Goo'. Well, c'mon, cloimb aboa'd, we'e goin' to th' sidin's."

"What for?" she asked, reluctant to stay longer in the devilish conditions.

"T' wo'k, wha' else?" Bert snickered "Hop aboa'd!"

This time, Rainbow did, not keen on getting lost in the smelting sheds.

Bert rolled casually down the lines, the long trucks clattering behind him. Over the pass few months, he and 'Arry had gotten familiar with the Works, the layout, the yards - he now knew them by heart, even more so than his brother.

'Arry didn't liked to bustle about. Neither did him, but he didn't mind working in the big sheds, unlike his brother. As far as he could remember, the Sodor Ironworks weren't exactly big as in height or interior space, but they were considerably large - they had to be, metalwork takes up a lot of space.

The Cavalry Ironworks were HUGE, however. They usually didn't even work in the main sheds, but rather in a smaller, outer hangar, primarily used to melt down the wrecked steam engines. That department was secluded, along with a few other sheds where nonferrous metals were melted - the Ironworks clearly worked with MORE than JUST iron.

The big sheds were where the iron ore and the recycled metal from the smaller compartments were all gathered and made into useful things, so that the cycle could go on and on. Bert trundled, thoughtless, on the straight tracks. These were made of much larger pieces than those used for the main and branch lines of the railway, so there was less joint between them. This made the ride seem slower for Rainbow Dash, who was unaware of the difference.

Inside the cab, the deafening noise was muffled to a constant rumble. Unlike the hellish atmosphere of outside, it was cool behind the control cubicle. Almost cold, even, and Rainbow Dash found herself leaning against it's side, as there was some heat coming from the engine block. She didn't felt like sitting in the seat, despite the fact that she had already tried it during the "ciderless" cider party they had when the diesels arrived to Equestria.

You know, in the five-part prequel. Haven't read it? That's your problem, mate.

Anyways, whilst leaning against the panel (Bert could drive himself just fine, if you haven't recognized it yet), Dash had some time to think.

Heck, she had the past few weeks to do so...

And THAT was exactly what bothered her.

Why the long time?

She had fallouts with her friends before, tons of it! Why did it... Hurt so much this time?

Maybe because of the diesels. Diesel, Old Stuck-Up and Spamcan were there when... IT happened. She still wasn't quite sure what went wrong. One second, she had friends and was telling of another for her behavior, the next, she lost all...

And the diesels sure didn't helped her situation. No surprise there, though...

Diesel was one of the oldest, most hardcore member of the Other Railway, the very essence of it, according to many, an insufferable, unlikable git most of the time, intolerant and insensitive. Old Stuck-Up was the haughty, upperclass twit of the group, conceited and snobbish, and as such, looked down on the pegasus. Spamcan was the local macho, unlikely tough guy, brutish and simple, but trustworthy. But he, like Applejack, seemed to value honesty - to some extend, that is - and thus, turned against her, while he usually didn't hold a grudge against her, like Applejack.

Then there was CoBo, Gilda's engine, a rare loco, which, according to the others, was the last of his kind, and a misanthrope.

And finally, Steamie, Pinkie's loudmouth and accused-to-be-sociopathic tank engine.

She barely know them, and couldn't care less about what THEY thought, yet...

Their disapproval just made it feel worse.

"Even the last bastard berates me..." she thought now. She was angry at them. Not the diesels, in particular, as she was well aware of their gritty and grim nature, but at her friends.

THEY, out of all ponies, turning against her like that! Sure, she hasn't been acting "loyal" exactly the pass few days, but were THEY? She doubted it.

Everyone had heard about the event. That's why she hid away. Ponies were giving her looks. Cold, malicious, patronizing, dismayed. She didn't even dare to face Scootaloo. The other engines were ignorant: Bowler looked down at her, as usual, Derek seemed rather perplexed, but said nothing - literally, along with Fluttershy, which hurt her even more -, BoZo just rolled his eyes, and steamed off, leaving a smaller cloud behind, Pip and Emma ignored her, rushing out of the station as they saw her - though, they could've been simply on duty. Cromwell attempted to be sympathetic, but Mr. Bottomsly didn't seemed to agree, and the new recruit, the aged home-made rail lorry, Juggernaut seemed too senile to understand. The coaches snobbishly turned their eyes away from her, and the trucks sang songs, rude and loud, which echoed across the yard, and made the engines smirk with malice, laughing on her woe on the inside - as they usually do when some unfortunate event happens to someone, she assumed.

The song was annoying her to no end...

Fastest pegasus all around,
Faster than light, faster than sound,
Has no time to be earth bound,
Still, her fame just hit the ground!

Rainbow Dash, you treacherous twit!
Why ya had to be such a massive git?
Now they all hate you, so hit the pit!
Your words deceiving, your mouth full of shi--!

At this point, they were usually biffed into submission by one of the shunters, usually 'Arry or Bert.

Matter of fact, only these two diesels seemed to still like her - why, she couldn't guess...

Now that she thought back through the days events so far - she had no idea what time it was, she lost her sense of time when she passed out, but she guessed it was already well in the evening - she realized that the two had never, not even once, treated her badly. Sure, they had a grim job and a dark sense of humor, but they were rather nice. They seemed a bit dim at first look, but as she listened to the topics they discussed or argued about, they seemed well informed about the world, even schooled! She knew: Her friends, too, had never considered her to be the brightest bulb, or thought she was insensitive. She was brash, she had to admit, but where were THEY, most of the time? Twilight all locked up in her bubble world in the library - quite like how Diesel described it... A.J. always working her hooves off in the orchard, or selling apples, rarely having time for friends - well, at least, SHE had a reason. Fluttershy, as socially awkward she was, always locked up in her mansion at the edge of the bucking Everfree Forest! Rarity, also stuck inside her doll-house, playing dress-up from dawn 'till dusk, and even earning from it, which, made the pegasus' brain throw off the fan belt at times. And Pinkie Pie... Partying 'till the sky comes crashing down, frolicking with the laws of physics, and getting on everypony else's nerve, when she's not actually, all-four, on the ground - which was a rare as white crow.

As hypocritical as it sounds, they all had it easy in some way, EASIER than her!

She? Sure, she napped a lot, but that was between her job at keeping the sky clean and practicing for the Wonderbolts. NOW, she also had to work in a bucking foundry with two grisly shunters!

At least, said shunters were nice enough to not to DEMAND her to be loyal and give NOTHING in return!

This thought alone eased her.

She was with the Iron Twins now.

They had no demands. No expectations. All they did was work, and seemed to found their pleasure in it. Nasty and uncomfortable it was, they went on. Loyal to themselves, doing their part, and ready to help out their disgruntled colleagues.

They even saved Cromwell from some terror they call HiT!

But like her, they got nothing in return.Then again, they were part of the Other Railway. It was only normal.

"So... Ho's wo'k?" Bert suddenly asked, his deep voice echoing in the cab. Rainbow jumped... And then remembered what Twilight and Rarity said about "cab-talk".

"Meh... Fine... Bit hot..." the mare replied "And uncomfortable..."

"Cheer up, i'll o'ly ge' worse!" Bert chuckled. The pegasus didn't reply now...

There was a long pause...

Then...

"Bert?"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you guys ever felt like... All the others hate you?"

Bert thougth for a moment.

"Yeah, in fact, we feel tha' all th' bl'udy toime!" he chortled. Rainbow was shocked.

"H-How can you laugh about THAT?!"

"Wha'? Dere's no su'proise innit..." the shunter explained "Dis IS th' Othe' Railway we'e talkin' 'bou'! B'sides... Wi'h us wo'kin' in'ere... Dere's no tellin' when we'll pull ou' own comrades into these sheds..."

Bert's voice lost it's glee all of sudden, and seemed very solemn... This, like the sudden silences through their previous job, set of the pegasus...

Finally, they arrived to the right location. The trucks were unloaded via electromagnetic crane, their contents landing in the shredders and crushers next to the tracks. 'Arry was also there, with his load of scrap metal.

But his load was different:

He had towed in five old Equestrian steam engines - their paints scraped off, the bare metal rusted and full of graffiti, windows smashed in, traction rods taken off, and a cover on the funnel to stop rain from filling the smoke box. One of them, a large tender engine at the front, was disconnected from the row, and towed near some heaps of selected scrap, locomotive pieces, respectively. 'Arry, disconnected, and rumbled next to Bert. Rainbow flew out of the shunter's cab, landing between them at the front.

Just in time.

The next moment, out of the shadows, ponies and griffons emerged, quickly as the wind. Torches hisses, the joints of masks creaked, and they pounced on the wrecked engine. Within minutes the first buffer fell off, followed by the one right next to it. Then the couplings... Then the funnel, the dome, the roof, the cylinders... Soon enough, the engine was reduced to a boiler on a chassis and wheels. The door of the smoke box was also thorn off, and ponies were already working on the boiler on the inside, the sound of pipes dropping echoed around.

Within half an hour it was done, all pieces cut up and placed into the right pile. THEN they moved onto the next engine.
Rainbow watched with awe. Their work was so straightforward, so precise... And so fast...

She couldn't believe it!

"Tha's th' main reason dey 'ate us..." 'Arry spoke up suddenly. Dash looked at him.

"Why is that?"

"Well, ya shee..." the diesel went on "We 'ave a pre'y grim job..."

"Towin' steamies an' even olde' diesels an' electrics in'o deir demise..." Bert added "Nasty job, bu' SUMONE has t' do i'..."

"An' while we'e at it, why can' we 'ave sum fun?" his brother went on "Da's why dey call us th' "Grim Messengers o' Doom", o' sum'in'..."

"Dey hate us loi'e dey hate death..." the other twin continued "Bu' unloi'e death, we'e avoidable. AN' we'e jus' doin ou' job..."

"Yeah... Bu' 'o 'no's 'o will we be takin' next? O'ly th' director coul' tell..."

"Un'il tha', i's a mystery fo' even us! So dey 'ate us loike the plague."

The pegasus was stunned.

"But... How could you bare THAT?!" she gasped. The two diesels smiled wearily.

"I's ou' job." Bert explained "An' th' others 'no' tha'. Dey trust us, an' accept us as colleagues..."

"As fo' wha' dey thin' o' us..." 'Arry went on "We don' giv' a FU'K 'bou' tha'!"

"Dey 'no' dey can coun' on us, bu' 'ho giv's a flyin' fu'k 'bou' deir opinion." Bert smirked "We 'no' wha' WE have t' do, an' we do i'. Sure, dey're goo' chums, bu' I won' cry my eyes off fo' 'em."

"No' poin' i' worryin' ove' ev'ry an' each o' deir hissy-fits, roigh'?" 'Arry put in "I mean, tha' woul' o'ly throw us back! Le's ta'e YER case, fo' example."

This caught her by surprise - she was listening carefully as the twins explained their way of thinking. For her, this was rather unorthodox.

"Mine?" she asked now, a bit worried.

"Yeah, 'bou' tha' li'le fallou' o' yer wi'h th' others an' tha' Gilda gal." 'Arry muttered "I say ya shou'n't giv' a toss."

"Oh, so you heard of... Wait, what?!" she WAS surprised.

"Yeah." Bert went on "Loyalty is one thin', yer element, but TRUST is another. Trust is a two sided thing. If yer frien's wouldn' do deir part, why shoul' ya do yer's?"

This made the pegasus think... Was it really worth "keeping up" with her element, when all it did was cause her grief? But still, she couldn't bring herself to decide...

"I can't just abandon my friends! I'd never leave 'em hangin'!" she proclaimed. The diesels looked at her sympathetically.

"Ya don' 'ave to..." 'Arry explained "Ya 'no' th' diff'rence be'wee' "trust" an' "loyalty"?"

Dash deadpanned.

"Loyalty i' sum'in' tha' doesn' needs emotions to i'..." Bert explained "Ya coul' be loyal t' yer boss, ya coul' be loyat t' th' Prin'sess, ya coul' be loyal t' th' othe' membe's o' a gang yer in... Eve' if dey ar'n't..."

"Trust i' diff'rent..." 'Arry went on "Ya o'ly trus' dose 'o ya 'no'. Loi'e yer frien's, yer family... Dose 'o ar' close t' ya, dose 'o trus' ya back. No', yer frien's decided tha' dey don' trust ya, ergo, dey don' really wanna be yer frien's, at LEAS', a' th' moment."

"Dey're angry a' ya, an' tha' was enough t' broke deir trus' towar's ya. Which means tha' deir frien'ship was fragile. Weak."

Dash didn't wanted to believe this. She knew her friends liked her. They had to, that's why they were friends! She didn't wanted to hear any more of what the Twins had in store for her.

"No... No, that's not true! We're good friends! The best friends! They'd never turn away from me!" she claimed, tears welling up in her eyes. 'Arry and Bert felt sorry for her.

"Oh? Did dey com' searchin' fo' ya, after ya didn' turn up fo' days?" 'Arry asked now "Did dey look after yer tortoise while ya we'e gone?"

The mare's eyes widened.

"Don' worry, WE did!" Bert spoke up quickly "Th' poor bugger showed up a' th' sheds a few days ago. I bet he was searchin' fo' ya. We ma'e a burro' fo' th' li'le cri'er, an' th' wo'kponies loo'ed afte' 'im fo' ya." he finished.

Dash gave a relieved sigh.

"Us diesels kept ou' eyes peel'd fo' ya, by th' way..." 'Arry informed her "We agreed, well, Pip an' Emma ma'e us agree, tha' ou' o' loyalty towar's ou' new drive's, we'll kee' a loo' ou' fo' ya. We thought DEY we'e searchin' fo' ya as well. Turns ou' dey we'en't. "Giv' ya sum' toime", dey claimed." the Class 08 chuckled "Fat lo' o' goo' tha' did, as Oi see..."

"Noice hair cut, though..." Bert added.

The mare couldn't believe it. While her own friends didn't even seem to worry about her, let alone look for her, and used such a threadbare excuse to weasel out it?! Even the diesels looked for her, well, kept a look out for her! And THESE were her friends?!

She felt rage building up her veins to the thought. The twins quickly noticed this, and, not wanting her to "blow a gasket", they spoke up again.

"'ey, don' worry..." 'Arry muttered "We coul' be wrong..."

"Yeah, maybe dey jus' didn' wan'ed t' talk wi'h ya..." Bert added.

"Yer no' 'elpin', bro!" the narrower-eyed sibling snapped at him "Bu' yeah, i' coul' be tha' dey don' 'no' wha' t' say..."

"Yeah, maybe dey're feelin' guil'y!" Bert quickly joined in again.

"Well they BETTER be!" Rainbow spat venomously. The Iron Twins quickly exchanged worried looks.

"Loo'..." 'Arry began, slowly and carefully "Maybe ya shoul' pu' 'em on trial..."

The pony didn't reply for some time...

"...How?" she asked finally, her curiosity kindled.

"Simple..." the diesel replied "Giv' 'em th' col' shoulde' fo' sum' toime."

"Don' be brash, be distant!" his brother added "IF dey ar' guil'y, dis'll o'ly fuel i', so eventu'lly, dey'll apologize, or sum'in'."

"O' ask wha's wrong..." 'Arry continued "DEN ya can tell 'em wha' we told ya."

"'Trust is a two-sided thing.'" Rainbow cited, a nasty smirk spreading on her face "And they're in dept."

"If DEY wanna win back yer trust, dey betta' sta't wo'kin' on i'..." 'Arry put in, he and Bert also carrying the same wicked look.

"Good..." Rainbow uttered deviously "Let's see how THEY like it when I TRULY turn my wings at 'em!"

"Bu' ya won' leave 'em hangin', roigh'?" Bert asked suddenly, and with a hint of concern. Rainbow looked up, smiling.

"Of course!" she replied, reassuringly "I won't leave them in trouble, or anything, but I don't trust 'em just yet!"

"An' if ya grow lonely, jus' visi' us 'ere, o' a' th' sheds..." 'Arry added, smiling "Dis place can fee' loi'e a real 'ell'ole, bu' trus' me, YA can grow use' t' i'..."

"I'll try..." Rainbow smiled "After all, you guys ARE my engines, after all!"

"An' We'd neva' leave ya hangin'!" Bert smiled, and the mare beamed back at him.

"Jus' don' piss us off, OK?" 'Arry added, grumpily.

"Got that!" the mare saluted, and flew into his cab - Now, what's our next job?

TO BE CONCLUDED...