My Little Union Pacific: Big Boys are Magic

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: WTF?
Rocket Science
Introductions and Briefing
The Voyage Out
Christmas PSA
Art Work Request and New Story Rule
JUST ANOTHER NOTICE
JUST ANOTHER F@#%*!) NOTICE!

Prologue

It was hot rainy June day, and in the Union Pacific steam locomotive shop in Cheyenne Wyoming crews were bustling about getting the Big Boy engines 4023 and 4006 ready for the day, due to the increase in freight the UP decided to double head the giants on freight. The two behemoths were built by the American Locomotive Company, forged from steel and iron, these two monsters help make up the backbone of UP freight, with weight of a million and a half pounds and length of 130 ft+ these two iron Clydesdales can tow a five and a half mile long train on level track.

The crews for the two goliaths were reading their packets and time tables to check the train at which they were assigned to haul and the route they had to travel while their locos were being prepared, the train happened to be a long mix of several loads, well over 100 cars plus a caboose “well, looks like we got a nice long train to haul,” said Jack, a burly black man with dark hair and brown eyes, he had driven the 4014 on freight service so he was selected to drive the 4023 to help the lead the rookies,

his fireman said, “it sure is great to have not one but two of these monsters running,” she was an attractive middle aged woman from Spain who moved to the US, her name was Maria and she was very fond of American steam especially the Union Pacific Big Boy, she had do a lot of hard bargaining to get her job and she proved to be head strong and determined, she was finally able to convince the railroad management to let her on board and she was able to prove herself more than capable, she had the honor serving as the fireman on the 4014 with Jack.

“Okay then, so we get a nice long train to haul, that sounds good to me,” said Bill, a blonde haired blue eyed athletic youngster who was the appointed fireman of the 4006, he was as excited as can be, he finally got the chance to work on the legendary Big Boy.

“Settle down Bill,” said the female engineer playfully, her name was Emily, a nerdy but powerfully built red head who had a very friendly personality, she acts like a big sister to Bill.

“Alright,” said the shop foreman “I need the 4023 and 4006 out of the shop and hooked on to the train, it’s go time,” he called out.

“Yes sir!” the Big Boy team called out, the Big Boys were already steaming up, the crew mounted in to them, the 4006 left the shop first and rolled on to the 135ft turntable, since it was the one hauling the train it had to be turned around first, after it was facing the right direction Emily grabbed the Johnson bar and eased it back, she then grabbed the throttle and slowly began to open it, the Locomotive backed up and was now about to be coupled, the conductor helped guide her to hook up the train.

“Alright, your looking good so far,” he said, “50 ft, 30 ft, alright start slowing down,” Emily carefully began ease the loco to a halt, “alright your good,” said the conductor. CLANK! Came the sound of the two knuckles clashing and locking firmly. Meanwhile, the 4023 was on the turntable, it was spun until the tender was facing the 4006’s direction, Jack grabbed the Johnson bar and pulled back on it, the locomotive responded by gently backing up and was soon coupled on the 4006.

“Alright, Big Boy Team you are cleared for departure, have a nice trip,” said the dispatcher,

“roger that,” said Emily, “go time,” she said through the radio Jack gave her the thumbs up sign from the cab of the cab of his locomotive, Emily grabbed the whistle cord and gave it two firm tugs

“WOOO, WOOO!” the chime whistle responded, the two engineers released their brakes and opened up their throttles, the wheels gave a mighty slip from the rain slicked rails but soon took hold as the two Big Boys snorted out of the yard going west bound, they soon crossed over the junction putting them on their assigned route, the train slowly began to gather speed as it charged down the line at a mighty clip, the wheels pounded the rails as the train accelerated to eighty miles an hour.

The two locomotives charged through the drenching downpour, as they sped down the line the two crews entertained each other with jokes and stories, spotting a tunnel up ahead the crews blew their whistles to warn anyone in the tunnel that their train was coming through. The train whizzed in to the tunnel, the crew were given gas masks in case of smoke build up so they slipped them on. But as they were traveling through the tunnel spotted a light at the end of the tunnel, the crews knew that it was not the end of the tunnel, so they blew their whistles, no response so it was not a train, “what’s going on here,” they all thought.

The light got a brighter and brighter until it flooded both cabs with a blinding shine, the crews shielded their eyes as best they could, the light then receded and darkness, returned, “what happened, is everyone all right?” Bill asked looking at Emily with concern,

“Yep, everyone is okay here,” replied Jack, the train then exited the tunnel and charged through a field, the crew looked around confused, it was as dark as night and was no longer raining,

“This does not look like our route,” they said in unison, Jack decided to blow the whistle while they were traveling through the strange landscape. Everything looked out of place, there were now rolling hills and the mountains were now behind them, the colors were to bright, and once again it was dark. The train continued down the line at top speed, Jack was relieved it was double line track but he still could not tell which line the other train would be traviling on. "WHOO, WHOO!" the whistle cried out, no response, he tried to radio the yard, nothing but an eerie static sound came through.

A lone mail mare was traviling down the dark road on late night delivery run. She was grey pegasus with a blonde mane and tail, and crossed eyes that were an orange color. her name was Derpy Hooves, she continued to travel happily down the road when she came to a railroad crossing. She heard a something that sounded like a whistle, but it was deeper in pitch and much louder than what she was used to hearing, so she decided to investigate. Flapping her wings to find the source, her crossed eyes opened in shock when she found the source of the whistle, landing softly on the ground, she witnessed two dark colored behemoths with silver fronts scream past with a loud "CHUGGA, CHUGGA," she gasped at their size, noise, and power, she was even more impressed with the train the two mammoths were hauling, she decided to finish her run and find out more in the morning so she flew away to deliver her mail, but she could not get the metal monsters out of her mind. She looked back at the giant snaking form, "was that supposed to be a train?" she said to herself "the Doctor and Dinky will want to hear about this," she muttered. She heard the whistle let another lonesome cry as the train continued forwards.

Chapter 1: WTF?

Rainbow Dash was sleeping soundly when she heard a strange sound "WHOO. WHOO!" she stirred and woke up irritated, the whistle continued to shriek nonstop, "What is up with that sound," she said, plus it did not sound like it was from Equestria, rubbing the sleep from her eyes she decided to check this sound.

She left her home and followed the sound to its source, it progressively began to get louder and louder, she then heard a menacing "CHUGGA, CHUGGA, CHUGGA!" followed by another whistle, this confused her more than ever, her flight path took her to the train tracks, while landing she spotted lights, rubbing more of the sleep out of her eyes she squinted at the lights. Her eyes opened up in shock at the sight before her. Two Iron Monsters were barreling towards her with a that same loud “CHUGGA, CHUGGA, CHUGGA!” followed by a “WHOO WHOO!” she covered her ears as the whistle shrieked, she looked wide eyed at the ghostly silver fronts with two red and green lights at the top with a bell shaped object in the middle and bright light at the bottom, the bodies of these dragon like things were black followed by separate object painted in the same color followed by two more objects that were yellow.

Normally she would have taking a defensive stand and would try to attack, but not this time. She watched awestruck at the line of metal objects on wheels that the two Leviathans were hauling. She quickly took to the sky and darted to Ponyville to warn everypony else. Looking back over, the monsters looked like a giant snake, they don’t look that fast but they sure seem to have the power to make up for it, Rainbow thought, she would of normally scoffed at something like that but these things were different, they were big, powerful, and fearsome. She quickened her pace to Ponyville.

Meanwhile at the Golden Oaks Library, Princess Twilight Sparkle along with her assistant, a baby dragon named Spike, her daughter Nyx and her adopted human son named Joshua were sound asleep in their beds until they heard the whistle. Now a train whistle would not wake them up normally, but what did wake them up was the fact that the whistle continued to blow continuously, “WHOO WHOO!”

Twilight stirred “ugh why is that whistle still blowing,” Twilight asked herself annoyed also taking note of the fact this whistle much deeper and more melodious than the whistles used on Equestrian trains, Spike looked rather intimidated from the sound the he was hearing little Nyx and Joshua were just as confused, but Joshua noticed that the whistle sounded familiar, he had heard it from a video done by Union Pacific about the Big Boy.

That sounds like a Big Boy he thought to himself.

“Have you ever heard something like that Joshua,” Nyx asked,

“no, not in person at least, but that sounds like something from my world,” he replied.

In the Carousel Boutique, Rarity along with her son Connor were also sleeping when they heard the whistle shriek. Rarity stirred and woke up, removing her sleep mask she looked around confused. She got out of bed mumbling to herself “why is that whistle keep blowing,” she walked towards her son’s room, Connor had also been woken up. Rarity smiled warmly at her little boy and trotted up to him.

“Good morning Mommy,” he said,

“Good Morning my lovely baby boy,” she said warmly, “what is up with that sound?” he asked “don’t know darling, let’s go find out,” she gently levitated him on to her back and carefully walked out of the room where they bumped into Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle was just as confused as her big sister and nephew, “I thought the trains usually didn’t blow their whistles all the time,”

Rarity nodded in agreement “come on Sweetie, let’s find out what’s going on,” Rarity said.

“Morning Aunt Sweetie,” Connor said happily.

“Good morning my cute little nephew,” Sweetie announced back causing Connor to blush.

In Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie had also been woken up by the sound, she looked around confused “did some train get lost,” she asked herself. She bounced out the door where she ran into both Carrot Cake and Cupcake who were standing in the upstairs hallway,

“what kind of train sounds like that?” Cupcake asked.

“it’s going to wake the kids,” Carrot Cake added.

Pinkie shook her head, “I was going to check on that myself,” she said brightly,

Cupcake nodded and said “I will join you,”

“I will stay with the kids,” Carrot Cake said.

"Okie Dokie Loki!" Pinkie said.

With that, she and Cupcake trotted out the door to figure out what the noise was.

As the train raced through the landscape, Emily radioed Jack and said “how is it night time and not raining?”

“don’t know,” said Jack, he continued to blow the whistle, for extra caution he ordered Maria to activate the bell, DING, DING, DING, DING, the bell responded, "I don’t like this,” said Jack, Maria nodded in agreement.

"there is a town up ahead, it looks strangely European, we should start slowing down," said Emily, everyone agreed so they began to slow down their locomotives.

BACK IN PONYVILLE

Princess Twilight Sparkle was wide awake in her library after she, Spike Nyx, and Joshua heard the strange "WHOO, WHOO!" "that does not sound like the trains we know in Equestria," said Twilight, Spike nodded, she picked up Spike with her magic and mounted him on her back and she walked outside while Nyx picked up her brother mounting him on her back and followed, other ponies were outside as well, confused and annoyed at being woken up,

"what in Equestria is up with that whistle?" said Rarity clearly irritated at the sound, everypony then headed towards the train station, just then a cyan Pegasus named Rainbow Dash landed clearly panicked,

"something big and scary headed this way, I think it is a dragon," she said, everypony gasped and looked at Rainbow with fearful looks,

"Now Rainbow darling, I assure you are over exaggerating," Rarity said, Rainbow Dash just shook her head, just then Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom came running in confused and annoyed,

"what in tarnation is going on?" Applejack demanded,

"Rainbow Dash thinks she saw a dragon," said a pink earth pony named Pinkie Pie, unlike everypony else she was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

"A dragon huh?" said Applejack bemused,

"yeah it was big had two sets of wheels, it was belching smoke, and there were two of them!" Rainbow cried.

"It's probably just a train silly," said Pinkie,

"but i have never seen anything like it," Rainbow said, before anypony else could object their came a CHUGGA, CHUGGA, CHUGGA, followed by another WHOO, WHOO, which was now followed by DING, DING, DING, DING! Everypony turned and looked their eyes and mouths opened with shock, coming around a bend, screaming like a banshee, lights blazing and belching smoke, the machines bore down on them, WHOO WHOOO, the whistle blew, DING, DING, DING, the bell rang, everypony quickly found a vantage point where they could see the machine without being seen themselves, little Nyx quickly got behind her mother, she covered her ears at the defeaning roar that filled the morning air, Twilight just stood there shocked as the machines pulled in, the sound was so deafening she covered her ears as best she could, the ground shook hard as the things passed over it, then they began to grind to a halt.

sure enough there were two of them with strange looking cars behind them, the cars were yellow with red lettering, the ones right behind the iron and steel leviathans were black with white markings, the letters read UNION PACIFIC, there was a number on the black housing thing that read 4023 followed by strange markings underneath, the other one read 4006. "what are these things?" said Twilight. "No, it can't be," Joshua muttered, staring in awe at the awesome power in front of him.

Rocket Science

Celestia's sun was just starting to rise when Twilight finally summoned the courage to inspect the locomotives, everypony else decided to inspect the two machines as well, dropping down on the platform, Twilight noticed that Rainbow Dash was right, it did have two sets of driving wheels! Rainbow Dash flew in to inspect the headlight, she looked at the shield which read UNION PACIFIC 4023, "ever heard of this "Union Pacific"?" asked Rainbow,

"no," replied Twilight, the machine was incredible, Rainbow Dash and Twilight used their wings to get a better view, they gasped at the length the train covered, "whoa, I did not know trains could get this long," Twilight said, Rainbow nodded in agreement, "go grab Fluttershy, we might need her," said Twilight, Rainbow Dash flew away to fetch Fluttershy, Twilight noticed a strange plate on the lead machine, she got closer to inspect, the plate read

AMERICAN

LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY

72780

SCHENECTADY WORKS

NOVEMBER 1944

"American Locomotive Company?" Twilight said, she was puzzled, she knew many things, but this stooped her to no end.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was standing in between the rails looking up at the 4023, "whoa," she said in awe, "it's taller than Princess Celestia,"

Twilight decided to tell the Princess, "Spike, we need to inform Princess Celestia!"

CANTERLOT

Princess Celestia had just woken up and was enjoying breakfast with her sister Luna when the tip of her glowed and a scroll popped out, it read

Dear Princess Celestia

Two strange machines have appeared in Ponyville, There big, black and silver, have the words "Union Pacific" on their sides and they have numbers that say 4023 and 4006, and the 4023 has a plaque that reads "American Locomotive Company."

your faithful student and fellow Princess

Twilight Sparkle,

"what is it Tia?" Luna asked,

"We apparently have two machines that showed up in Ponyville, we have to check it out," Celestia said.

PONYVILLE

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and a couple of guards arrived later that morning, Celestia, Luna, and their guards looked wide eyed at the machines, Fluttershy had just arrived after being informed by Rainbow Dash, "oh my," said meekly eying the Big Boys.

"Well I never," Celestia said, they inspected the locomotives closely, the behemoths let a gentile breath of steam, "their locomotives alright," Celestia said.

Meanwhile in the cab the crews could not figure out what to do, "all of them are staring at us," said Bill,

"That's not even the weird part, their multicolored horses," added Emily,

"good point," added Bill,

"Shut up you two," Jack hissed, "Emily, you come with me, Bill, Maria you stay here and take care of the train," Emily stood up nervously and climbed down her side of the Big Boy and walked over to Jack, together they walked around and faced the ponies.

Everypony looked at the two strange figures that must have dismounted the train, they were bipedal and were wearing strange looking overalls that were striped, "interesting choice of clothes," Rarity whispered to Twilight,

"they probably wear them to protect their real clothes from dirt," Twilight whispered back, Rarity nodded in agreement. Princess Celestia approached the two strange figures,

"I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria," she said in soft but firm voice,

the two humans twitched uncomfortably, "I never heard of "Equestria"," said Jack uneasily,

"you have never heard of Equestria," Everypony said in unison,

Jack sighed and said "this is going to be a paperwork nightmare."

Introductions and Briefing

Jack and Emily looked at the alicorn dumbfounded, “follow me please, we have a lot to discuss,” Celestia said in a motherly voice, the two engineers nodded and followed her. After they had gone, everypony else turned to the locomotives,

“ooh new comers, this calls for a PARTY!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, she ran back to Sugarcube Corner to start making some sweets for the party, everypony else just rolled their eyes and chuckled, when she had left Twilight decided to enter the lead most locomotive, the 4023.

Meanwhile in the cab, Maria was stunned beyond belief, she was at a loss for words she watched as Jack and Emily where lead away to discuss some matters, she sighed heavily, just then a dull THUNK! Caught her attention and she diverted her eyes to the lavender alicorn that had landed on the footplate, “Hello I am Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she said with a friendly voice,

“hi there,” Maria said nervous but polite tone.

Twilight turned her attention to the locomotive’s firewall and she gasped at the amount of levers, valves, gauges, and other devices the wall had built into it to help control the steel Goliath, she climbed into Jack’s seat and surveyed the controls from the throttle to the brake, to the Johnson bar, she was completely blown away, she was not a train lover but this amazed her to no end, she started to develop a liking for this train considering the ingenuity put into it.

Maria smiled warmly at the pony’s innocence, she looked like a child, “this is amazing!” she said to Maria,

“Aye, she sure is,” she said giggling at Twilight’s enthusiasm, “my name is Maria and I am the fireman,” she said, Twilight looked at her and said

“nice to meet you, Maria,” Twilight said offering a welcoming smile, “could I ask you some questions?” she asked hopefully pulling out a pen and some paper

Maria smiled at her and said “nice to meet you to and of course you can ask some questions, but first let me brief you on which control does what,” she said kindly, she stood and walked over to Twilight and began pointing out the different controls that give and controlled the Iron Horse’s power, “this lever right here is the throttle, this opens a valve that allows the steam to flow into the cylinders, turning the wheels,” pointed to the small levers next to her, “these are the brake levers,” she said pointing to the two small levers, “they control the brakes on the train, the top one is for the locomotive the other one is for the rest of the train,” she added, “that lever in front of you is the Johnson bar, it controls the pitch on the cylinder valves,” she said, “push it forward the train goes forwards pull it back the train goes in reverse,” as Twilight soaked all this in like a sponge, she was really interested in hear the rest of the technical aspects, such as the length, the height, and the width, “this is the whistle,” pointing to a rope, “it warns everyone that a train is coming and to get out of the way, want to blow it?” she added with a grin, Twilight grasped the rope firmly and pulled hard ”WHOO, WHOO!” the mighty chime whistle bellowed, Twilight gasped at the power that the whistle had and so did everypony else not being used to the power that stood in front of them.

Twilight smiled, she was really starting to like this iron giant. “How much does it weigh?”

“1,250,000 lbs, if you count the tender,” Maria answered. Twilight’s mouth fell open, 1,250,000 lbs? that was heavier than all trains in Equestria combined.

“length,” she asked sweetly.

“132 ft 9 1/4 in with the locomotive and tender combined,” Maria said, Twilight’s mouth opened wider.

“width?”

“Eleven feet,”

“height?”

“16 ft 2 ½ inches,”

“top speed?” she squeaked quietly.

“80 mph,”

Her mouth opened even wider “it can go that fast?”

“Yep, pretty fast for something huge,”

“how much can it tow?”

“on level track, she can pull a Five and half mile long train,”

Twilight’s mouth completely hit the deck.

“it can pull that much?” she said in disbelief.

“believe me, this iron horse can handle just about anything,”

Twilight was confused by the term “Iron Horse,” she knew Maria was referring to the locomotive but she found it confusing, she decided to ask about the kind of creature Maria was.

“So what kind of creature are you?” Twilight asked

“I am a homo sapien, or a human,” Maria said, Twilight was amazed, she had herd about and studied about humans, she knew they were usually fighting wars, were using animals for work, or inventing and exploring, she did not remember reading about big iron giants that road on rails. Sure, they had trains in Equestria, but not on this scale.

Meanwhile in another part of the universe Rear Admiral Upper 1/2 Henry Morgan was sitting in his office enjoying a cup of coffee, he had worked for the United Galaxy Defense Alliance for over twenty years and was recently appointed as the commander of the Jesus Platoon, the most feared platoon in the galaxy, his engine was called the Iron Buccaneer. He was competent, reliable, serious, focused, but underneath his hardened shell and demeanor he had a heart of gold and was not afraid to put his life at stake, he was also very caring and merciful, he would attack ruthlessly (which is where his engine gets her name) but if the enemy surrendered he would provide care for them, he is a very strong Christian and willingly tolerates the beliefs of others unless they start flaunting it.

“It’s the human thing to do,” he always says. He wore a white uniform with gold epaulettes on his shoulders, a giant gold anchor with angel wings was stitched across his chest, he wore red trousers with gold stripes, tall black riding boots, and his head gear was a white saucer cap with gold scrambled eggs and two mariner’s crosses crisscrossing over a ships helm with a shield around them and an eagle perched on top.

As he sipped his coffee, until an alarm sounded.

“EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! UNION PACIFIC 4023 AND 4006 HAVE MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHED! COMMANDERS OF THE FOLLOWING PLATOONS ARE TO MEET WITH THE ALLIANCE COMMANDER ASAP!”

He quickly got up and sprinted towards the briefing room along with the commanders with the platoons that had been listed. Fleet Admiral Isabella Amor, commander of the Bethlehem Platoon, a hardened warrior with a motherly personality, four star Admiral Sarah Stowe commander of the Silent Night Platoon, a women with big sister like personality, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, commander of the Apostle Platoon, an arrogant and brash fighter who has a serious rivalry with the honest and kind hearted commander of the Disciple Platoon and always challenges the commander of the Gospel Platoon, the one of a kind person who can put a smile on anyone’s face, Fleet Captain Nemo to a race.

Then there was Commodore Henry Washington, commander of the Moses Platoon, rather shy and timid around new comers but a fierce warrior inside. The Jerusalem Platoon, commanded by Captain Noah Greenbaum, a bit of a neat freak and always concerned with his appearance but has a lot of generosity in him. Then rounding up the bunch, is Commander Houston, a Texan with a kind hearted and honest personality with a streak of stubbornness. They each took their seats when the Supreme Commander walked in. “ATTENTION ON DECK!” Morgan shouted.

“Please be seated, alright everyone, as the announcement said, the 4023 and 4006 have disappeared, however the tracking devices installed on them were able transmit one last signal before going dark. It is this planet right here,” pointing to a map of the galaxy. “We are sending eight of you search the planet for the train, there are going to be eight so the search is faster. If the local population find out who you while you are there, try not to fire on them if they are peaceful. You are not allowed to jump there, it could raise an alarm. Good luck.” The commander said. “YES SIR!” they said and left to mount their respective trains.

The Voyage Out

The platoon commanders left the room and sprinted towards the engine house. “If we jump there it will be a lot quicker,” said Commodore Vanderbilt,

“Yeah, but if we get spotted too soon, it might raise an alarm, and we don’t even know if they are peaceful,” replied Morgan.

“Yeah you’re right,” said Vanderbilt,

“Be thankful that they managed to get a signal and were able to figure out where they were so we don’t have to search half

the galaxy,” said Commander Houston with her Texas twang,

“That is very true,” replied Vanderbilt

“I hope this mission goes off without a hitch,” said Commodore Washington nervously,

“You worry too much sometimes Henry,” Fleet Admiral Amor said soothingly

“Yeah and besides at least we get to enjoy a long trip and put our trains through their paces,” Admiral Stowe said excitedly,

“Yeah, I can’t wait to test out the new systems on the Nautilus,” said Captain Nemo,

“My Silver Knight can beat your Nautilus any time,” Vanderbilt said proudly

“Except for the one time when it broke down,” added Noah smugly.

Everyone except Vanderbilt started laughing remembering the incident. He and Nemo where racing each other, but due to the abuse the Silver Knight receives on a daily basis due to Vanderbilt attacking an enemy ship without thinking, one of the wheels on the Silver Knight came loose somehow and snapped at the axle, which then caused the traction rods to break, the wheel then fell off completely causing his train to grind to halt and it had to be towed by the Nautilus. “Man, why did he have to bring that up?” he thought fumingly.

Arriving at the engine house, they were pleased to see their trains were all set and ready to roll. Morgan sprinted up to his engine the Iron Buccaneer, “Hey old girl,” he said to his engine, the engine let out gentile breath of steam in response "She loves me," He said as he grabbed the handrails and hoisted himself into the cab and began prepping the engine for the trip. He leaned out the window and watched Commodore Vanderbilt mount his engine, Silver Knight; elsewhere in the house Admiral Stowe mounted her engine the Pocahontas,

Nemo settled into the seat of his engine, the Nautilus, he watched as Commodore Washington climbed aboard his engine, the Benjamin Franklin. Captain Greenbaum was settling into his seat on his majestic engine, the Emperor, while Fleet Admiral Amor climbed on to her locomotive, the bright red and orange La Fiebre del Oro which is Spanish for Gold Rush.

And last but not least, Commander Houston, who was climbing on to her Iron Beast, The Alamo. A metal whirring sound was heard along with an alarm as the hydraulic lifts the engines were parked on began to rise to the loading platforms,

“ATTENTION ALL CREW MEMBERS, YOU ARE NOW AUTHORIZED TO BOARD YOUR SPACE TRAINS! ENJOY YOUR TRIP!” an announcement said,

the crews gathered their equipment and began to climb on board their respective trains, once on board; the doors were shut and sealed, and in the tender of the Iron Buccaneer, the technicians were prepping the train for departure announcing it threw an intercom to the cab. “Atomic Boiler pressure is a go!” said one technician, Chief Petty Officer McHugh,

“Solar Valves are open,” said Petty Officer First Class Ganon,

“Main circuit is online,” said Lieutenant Hawkins,

“All systems are green Admiral Morgan, awaiting your command,” said the Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Ramius.

Meanwhile in the Gold Rush on Track One, Fleet Admiral Amor had just finished prepping her locomotive when she got the order for her and the rest of her group to couple, “Attention all trains! You are cleared for coupling!” she called threw the radio. She heard the satisfying sound of steam hissing as the engines eased backwards; they backed until they heard a unified “CLANK!” as the couplers crashed into each other. Once they were coupled to their trains, Amor did a radio check while waiting for the green light. “All trains check in!” she said through the radio,

“Iron Buccaneer checking in,”

“Silver Knight checking in,”

“Nautilus Checking in,”

“Pocahontas checking in,”

“Benjamin Franklin checking in,”

“The Emperor checking in,”

“The Alamo checking in,”

Just then the red light switched to yellow, the commanders grasped the Johnson Bars of their locomotives and heaved those forwards. The steam hissed as the regulators were positioning themselves, then loud voice came from the PA said in Spanish “TRES, DOS, UNO, VAMANOS!” the announcer cried, the light changed to green,

“FULL AHEAD NOW!” the commanders cried unanimously. "WAHH!" the whistles on the locomotives blared together, "DING DING DING!" the bells rang, the wheels slipped as the trains took off in the order of their track numbers, the Bethlehem Platoon left first, along with the Silent Night Platoon, The Moses Platoon was third, and the Jesus Platoon followed the Moses Platoon on Track Four, the Disciple Platoon was next with the Apostle Platoon following, the Gospel Platoon took off after them, the Jerusalem Platoon was the next and last to leave. The trains left the station and headed into a curve, and then the track headed straight for a giant ramp that would launch them into space. The trains slowly picked up speed until the wheels came in contact with a series of magnetic launchers. The trains had been modified in order to launch them faster should something happen and they need to be scrambled.

The operator watched as the trains entered the launchers, she quickly pressed a button to notify the crews to buckle up. The light then turned green telling her they had been buckled. “Good luck and God Bless,” she said, she turned to a big red button, and she gave a smile as she gently put her finger on the button, gently pressing it, making it glow red.

The crews were jerked back while their trains were flung towards the ramp at a high rate of speed. The trains screamed straight up their ramps and were soon in the stratosphere. They continued on a mighty clip to the thermosphere. With nothing in front of them Admiral Amor decided it was good time to test the weapons. “All Trains commence weapon test!” she barked, the trains then fired their laser cannons and phasers, she smiled, satisfied, “Cease Fire!” she said. The trains continued to travel towards their destination.

Christmas PSA

I was thinking since Christmas is right around the bend, I was thinking of doing a Christmas fic of me going to a Christmas Market in Germany with Princess Cadence. I am basing this of a MLP birthday game which deals with world travel, I was born on December 12th. I got a basic concept but I would like your opinion on this topic: would like the character to be regressed to younger age (5 at the least, probably 10 at the most) or just stay as a 16 year old teenager? Tell me what you guys think.:pinkiehappy:

I know this is short notice but I figured it would be appropriate for this time of year. There will probably be two versions of this story one with the character being regressed to a five year old and one where the character will remain a teenager. This will probably be a four chapter story. I will also work some more on the next chapter for this story as well. Probably might rewrite the chapter where the ponies discover the Iron Monsters we all know and love and add their reactions to the steel giants and add the original characters I asked to borrow. I am doing this for you guys because I love you.:raritywink: But I could use some help with Verbolten Speed Demons of Equestria as well (this story took over the spotlight:twilightblush:) I hope everyone has a wonderful night and remember tomorrow is Christmas Eve.

Art Work Request and New Story Rule

Okay, so I was actually thinking of posting photos of what the space trains would look like for real and I was wondering if somebody could help me. I need them to look like the ones in the Galaxy Railways anime, but here is the thing: they need to have United Galaxy Defense Alliance painted on their tenders or the acronym for it at least, I also would like them to have more weapons then the ones in the show, maybe even two main gun batteries if possible and a gun turret on the top of the tenders except the 4-4-0, maybe even a gun turret on top of the locomotives' cabs including the 4-4-0. I would also I like them to look futuristic while still keeping their classic designs (especially the 4-4-0), and for the trains I would also like them to have their own fighter squadrons that they can launch if needed. If anybody wants to help, please PM me. I also would like to know what kind of alien races you want the trains to battle. The trains also must be in color, the photos that I have are temporary until I can get some artwork posted.

EDIT: I will now be asking anybody who has favored, liked, or disliked the story why they liked it or disliked it so they state their opinion on what can be done better, what can be added, and what can be taken away. I will probably also have a little contest to see whose space train designs I like the most, so please be ready for that. Three new space trains have also been request so be ready for those as well,

JUST ANOTHER NOTICE

I have been thinking of putting a little twist on this story. If anyone has read the first chapter again, you might notice I took out the 1952 part. That is because when I was pondering the idea for this story, my friend Railroad Brony told me about The Galaxy Railways. I am not going to lie I not an anime fan, but I liked it because it had an interesting and well thought out storyline and the fact "Big One" was based of a Big Boy.

Instead of just having the team find a way home through the princesses, I decided to put the story in another world similar to Earth, but similar to Lionelville, if anyone has seen it you know what I am talking about, a world with a lot of rail lines and something like the SDF (Space Defense Force) in the Galaxy Railways. Instead of naming them after constellations, I was thinking of naming the platoons after important Christian and Jewish figures, and making six platoons each with each Captain having a similar personalty to one of the Mane 6 and the princesses, basically have the two Big Boys have special trackers built into them so they can be located and rescued, I also want this to be after the Big Boys tour Equestria and these platoons come to take them home. Tell me what you guys think and I will incorporate it or I will rethink it and then put it in.

I was thinking the platoon names could be the following (subject to change): Duluth Missabe and Iron Range 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone (modified) = Jesus Platoon, 4-4-0 General type Locomotive= Disciple Platoon, 20th Century Limited Dreyfuss type Hudson= Apostle Platoon, Pennsylvania K4 Broadway Limited= Moses Platoon, Pennsylvania T1 Duplex= Gospel Platoon, New York Central Empire State Express= Jerusalem Platoon, Southern Pacific Daylight= Bethlehem Platoon, and N&W J Class as the Silent Night Platoon. If you don't like the idea I will scrap it and rethink it, I just wanted to add a Christian touch because that is my religion. Let me know what you think and I shall add it or scrap it. God Bless you all for your support and reviews I truly appreciate it. I also want to thank all eight of my followers for their patience. One more thing everypony. Smile! God loves you all.

Reviews, Requests, and critique are once again welcomed.

JUST ANOTHER F@#%*!) NOTICE!

Please ignore that censored profanity but anyways I am going to tell you ahead of time that this story will not be as long as I would like or as long as you would like but don't worry I am not canceling it but I do want you guys to know it will probably be cut short. I do have a back up though, and if anyone has any specific train requests please either comment or send a PM to me. By train request I mean what trains you will like to see in this series and any trains are welcomed, multiple requests are fine as well. The trains can from the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Russia is welcomed as well, China, Korea, Japan, anywhere in the world, I do have a list of some that will appear but please don't be afraid to send requests, because I want this series to have nothing but trains. I also need a name for the world the United Galaxy Defense Alliance comes from cause I just don't want to call it Earth I need something a little more original than that so since I want all of you to have power over this I will let you decide. Now on to updates, I am continuing with my revision of chapter three "Rocket Science" adding the last two human OCs that we all know and love which is Toby Mason and Timmy from APoeticHeart, all credit goes to him for these two characters, now I ran out of ideas on how to make it longer so I had to turn to an outside source, I know it sounds unoriginal but please bear with me, I also thought that using them could make excellent bonding time for them, because trains do have that effect, especially the two goliaths that I chose, which I will upload and after that I will continue work on the next chapter. Now remember my dear readers that you can tell me what you would like to see in any of my stories, I Pinkie Promise I will try to fit them in as much as I can. Another thing I want to cover is if any one wants to borrow any of the trains that I used for the UGDA, please let me know, I have no problem with you using them as long as you link them back here, if want to borrow the photos I have the links posted at the bottom of the chapter "The Voyage Out", all of the characters may be borrowed as well as long as you ask first. I love you all and God Bless you all, and remember keep those Iron Horses running. Take care everyone this is BronyPacific4023 signing off for now.:raritywink: