Engines of a revolution

The ship had been teleported into a massive underground hanger by the time I could conjure a response.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“How would your world leaders be able to move the sun and the moon if you don’t have magic?” Celestia repeated.

“Are you serious!?” I exclaimed “It’s common knowledge that sun and moon move through orbital patters dictated by scientific factors such as mass and gravitational attraction! We don’t use this so-called ‘magic’, I know you’re over 100 years behind but it’s just downright childish to believe that they move through ‘magic’” Celestia scowled.

“It’s not childish; it’s an established fact of the arcane arts, myself and my sister, Luna, move the sun and the moon because they are too large to move themselves” she said “it’s just the nature of the world”

“I’m not going to argue this now” I replied “But this doesn’t mean you’ve won, it just means I’m not in the mood for a discussion of that level” Our attention was drawn to a massive crane making it way over, this looked like it was at a 1950s level of technology, leaving me confused.

“What the hell?, your trains are from 150 years ago compared to my world, whilst your airships are strait out of fantasy, meanwhile your cranes are from 60 years ago, and celestial bodies supposedly move through magic, not to mention technicolour talking ponies?” I paused, before throwing my arms up in the air “what high druggy thought up this shit!?” I leant against the wall and slid to the floor “I give up”

“There is nothing wrong with this planet” Celestia scoffed, rolling her eyes “we’ve merely advanced differently to your world, now whilst I’m sure you want to stay and watch, you need to be heading back home and getting sleep. You’ll need to be up bright and early to catch a train into Canterlot so that we can sort out your citizenship as well as what you shall be doing as a profession during your time here” I looked up.

“Do I get a choice in the matter of professions?” I asked.

“Of course” she answered “I wouldn’t just give you any old job” I sighed before standing up.

“Alright” I answered, before calling or Sam, he soon plodded over before sitting next to me, waiting. “How exactly does one get back to the town I’ve been staying in from here?” Celestia deactivated the spell before telling me as best she could that I needed to catch a train to a town called Ponyville, she teleported myself and her, along with Sam out of the hanger, she then summoned a bag of bits and a scroll with the locations to ask for in her language and pointed me in the direction of the train station. After bidding each other farewell, I watched her take off bound for a castle before I turned in the direction of the station and walking.

At this seemingly late hour there weren’t many of the local people around, and those that were around merely gave me a cautious greeting, or, in the case of a group of ponies that I came across that had obviously been out for a night of merriment, cheered their greetings in my direction, oblivious to my unusual appearance in there inebriated state. I soon reached the train station and looked at the clock mounted on the wall, only to find myself staring at it in confusion. There were 15 numbers, not 12, assuming it went through two full rotations per day that meant each day on this planet was 30 hours long

“Damn” I muttered “I need to find a way to reprogram the clock on my laptop” I shook my head to clear my thoughts, before making my way to the entrance. Once inside I spotted a ticket officer inside a booth who had dozed off, I rolled my eyes before walking over, leaning down and tapping on the glass, startling the ticket officer awake, he muttered something in his language before looking at me, shaking his head rapidly as if he was seeing things, and staring at me wide eyed.

“can I have a ticket for…” I looked down at the piece of paper “[Pan…er…dar] one moment…[Panedar]?” the pony stared for a moment, before I sighed and turned the sheet to him and pointed “[Panedar]?”

“Ah…yes” he said, finally understanding. ‘My accent must be thicker than I thought’. he printed me off a ticket and I gave him the required money, but not before miss-counting a few times. With that done, I stood up and began searching for the station to wait on. Eventually I found the platform, where a small train headed by a locomotive of equal stature, it’s was ridiculously garish, in bright pinks and purples, with love hearts on the cowcatcher. I scoffed and shook my head.

“Oi!” I heard a female voice call, before I saw a Burnt-orange coated pony with maroon hair poke her head out of the cab, her voice had an odd accent, and I was barely able to understand what she said “Theur gorreur problem wi' dis engine.?”

“What?” I asked "My Equestrian isn't good"

“Do you have a problem with my engine?” she asked, much slower this time.

“I sorry” I said “is just, compared to where I come from, is almost…” I paused searching for the word “childish?” She narrowed her eyes at me.

“Get in the train before I refuse to let you travel” she said, nodding her head to the coaches behind us. I decided it would be wise to listen to her and called for Sam, as I walked toward the carriages I just manage to catch her muttering loud enough for me to hear

“Foreigners” I paused just outside the coach door, and contemplated going back there, but decided against it, I needed to get back to my home. I managed to squeeze into the carriage, though I felt like Gandalf in a Hobbit hole, and managed to find an empty compartment. Sam jumped up onto the opposite seat and curled up, within a few minutes he had drifted off. Unfortunately, I did’nt have that privilege, I had to keep an eye out for or destination, a task made all the more difficult by the seemingly late hour. After some time the train jolted as it pulled away from the station, Sam stirred and looked around before going back to sleep. With nothing better to do I decided to settle down and simply watch what little scenery I could see gliding past the window. The train was slow at first, frequently picking up those last few ponies waiting at stations to catch the last train home. However, after a while, it picked up speed and the stops became more infrequent. Eventually we stopped at the station I was looking for and I woke Sam up before quickly disembarking and shutting the door behind me. As we walked towards the exit I turned and happened to spot the driver from before, watching me, whether she was glaring at me or simply regarding me with curiosity, I couldn’t tell. I shook my head to clear my thoughts before making my way into the town, as we left the station I could hear the train puffing away.

The town was quiet as I expected and after some time searching, I spotted the forest my house was located on the edge of. Walking that way I eventually found my house and opened the door the let Sam in, he quickly plodded inside before finding his bed and curling up to sleep. I made my way inside and switched on the light to the kitchen, I sighed before putting the pasta into a storage container and putting the pan into the sink. After sorting out a few other things I quickly grabbed a bite to eat before making my way up to bed, ready to rise early tomorrow.