Golden Oak Library/Twilight’s residence
Ponyville, Equestria
6 Months after “4-8-8-4”s departure

“Equestria, a land that exists on a different plane of reality that differentiates significantly from our own. Its inhabitants are made up almost entirely of an intelligent equine-like species akin to what we know as Ponies, but what makes them stand out is the fact that the Equestrians are divided between the traditional Earth Pony, the winged Pegasus, and the Magic-casting Unicorn. The core lands and all associated colonial dominions are ruled by an Alicorn Diarchy, led by two regal sisters named Celestia and Luna; who are viewed and loved by the greater majority as their immortal deities.

From their thrones in the Equestrian capital of Canterlot, to the far frontiers of the colonies, and for the past millennia since Luna was banished as Nightmare Moon, Celestia carried her nation through many of Equestria’s dark days that almost threatened to tear her nation apart at the seams through the power of Friendship and the Elements of Harmony, and Ponykind held back the forces of tyranny and disharmony without waging a major war.

However not all conflicts can be resolved through the Ponies's traditional means. Six months ago saw the end of Equestria’s first major war in a thousand years; a war against the sadistic hordes of the Griffon Khans, led by a former Duke of Griffondale who succumbed to the corrupted influence of King Sombra, who many generations ago was a tyrant of a leader that ruled the Crystal Empire in the frozen northern region of Equestria with an iron hoof. What was to be a thousand years of vengeance against the Regal Sisters who dethroned him and banished him to the depths of Tartarus was foiled by an unlikely band of heroes.

As surprising as it may seem, these heroes were not the guardians of the Elements of Harmony, led by the recently coronated Princess Twilight Sparkle; or a group of adventurers from a distant land. These beings who came to the rescue arrived in Equestria from a world ravaged by nuclear war, who rode the rails upon a train of destruction hauled by a nuclear-powered steam locomotive that would forever be immortalized in Equestrian history as the Unified States Railway Warfare Corps war-train '4-8-8-4'. The heroes that manned this ‘Battleship on Rails’ were no saints compared to the Equestrians that they fought to protect; these beings were viewed as the mythical Angels of Death that left nothing but destruction in their wake, and fear wherever they traveled. They also possessed weaponry and technology that outclassed every military on the planet of Equus by a near millennium. They were Humans by nature, but to the Equestrians, they were heroes regardless.

The person that leads this group has yet to achieve proper adulthood, but throughout his time in the U.S.R.W.C, he has matured in better ways to reach the position that he holds dearly. An orphaned refugee from the Land Down Under who lost nearly everything in the opening days of The Iron Wars against the Tri-Communist Alliance would become the youngest, and most well-respected commander of the Railway Warfare Corps. This young man and his crew stood against the tyranny of the Khans, and through a fearless act of defiance, single-handily safeguarded their newfound Equestrian allies, who in return helped them return to the atomic war-scarred rock they called home. After all, there was a war going on there that they had to help fight.

Twilight, with the help of Princess Luna, developed a device powered by the Space-Time Anomaly (STA) that was responsible for bringing the “4-8-8-4” to Equestria, and would allow the war train to travel back to her home world, and when the war was over, return to Equestria at any time. As promised by Captain Ryan, Knight Paladin Victoria, Wing Commander Michelle, and the onboard AI Serina, they would return one day to announce their victory against the Tri-Communist Alliance.

The war had left widespread devastation across the northern regions of Equestria. Canterlot was destroyed in the early days of the conflict, and the monarchy, not to mention the residents of Canterlot, were evacuated to Manehattan, which is the temporary capital of Equestria until new plans can be finalized, and Canterlot fully rebuilt. But with the original location that the capital once sat on now being little more than a flaming, irradiated crater on the mountain, thanks to Ryan’s brutal ‘Scorched Earth’ tactics, this will be a very daunting undertaking. While many still see Canterlot's destruction as being needless, it was completely overrun by the enemy, who were using it as a main base of operations against the rest of Equestria, with many high-ranking officers in the Khan Army being present there. With no choice but to destroy the city to prevent it from being used by the enemy, following being given a reluctant go-ahead by the deeply saddened Princesses, Ryan ordered a nuclear shell be fired from the '4-8-8-4' be fired at the cliff-side city, Canterlot was destroyed in a ball of atomic fire, alongside a huge swath of the enemy forces, and many of their commanding officers. A new location must be surveyed to establish a brand new capital once radiation levels have gone down. Teams of Unicorns are currently working on this task of neutralizing the radiation, but it will still take some time.

Celestia had almost been mortally wounded in her first fight against the Khan Duke who used Sombra’s powers to defeat her, only for the '4-8-8-4''s Commanding Officer, Captain Ryan, to intervene and save the life of the Solar Princess. The war raged on for six months with over two hundred thousand Equestrians losing their lives, and over half as many more being displaced. The Crystal Empire would have completely razed by the Northern Draconian Clans, but most of the Crystal Ponies and their leadership were rescued thanks to the gallant efforts of Michelle and the 101st Emerald Angels Division. The embarked super-soldiers were able to repel the Drakes’s attack at the small cost of only a few Angels, and some of the Crystal Empire was spared, including a now heavily-damaged Crystal Castle, and the Crystal Heart. Eternally grateful to the 101st, the surviving Crystal Ponies can now rebuild their homes in peace now that the war is over.

The opposition didn’t fare any better, with most of the Khan's forces being wiped out, and what little remained were banished from the continent. The rogue Duke was killed, and Sombra banished back to Tartarus permanently. Most southern towns of the Griffon Lands that were used as staging grounds were destroyed during the “4-8-8-4”s counter-offensive. A dormant volcano now rages after being rudely awakened by the war train launching a volley of nuclear-tipped kinetic rods from her 12in Gauss-cannons into its summit in a bid to collapse it into a valley filled with the majority of the Khan’s ground armies who found themselves consumed by a tsunami of lava. The Griffon capital was severely damaged, but the throne still stood when King Ravenclaw was rightfully restored as head of the Griffon Empire. The Equestrian-Khan War will forever be remembered as one of the bloodiest chapters in the two nations’s histories, but the story of the '4-8-8-4' will stand the test of time.

......Signed by Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.” Twilight muttered silently as she finished the last line of her novel, before placing the quill held by her telekinesis back into the inkwell that she got it from.

She let out a heavy sigh of relief that she had now finished her book that she’d spent countless hours on, retelling her experiences of the war from her perspective. The memories and mental scars were still fresh from seeing first hoof what a real war looked like; from the smells of death, to witnessing what the Humans were capable of doing when it came to fighting. Had it not been for their untimely arrival, Twilight, her friends and all of Ponykind would not have stood a chance against the Great Khan’s armies.

Looking out of a scorched, gaping hole in her home, the Golden Oaks Library, where her bedroom window used to be, Twilight takes in the views of what little remains of Ponyville. The town was one of many to be almost completely destroyed during the war, before the Khans were eventually pushed back over the Canterlot Mountains where they poured in from the northern lands. As far as she could see the town was being rebuilt to its former glory, with the charred remains of the old buildings being swept aside for new buildings to take shape.

Her gaze was broken by the sounds of her door opening as Spike, her young Dragon assistant, entered carrying a tray of freshly-baked chocolate muffins, and two glass cups filled with apple juice.

“Hey, Spike,” Twilight greeted her proud assistant. “Just in time for lunch now that I finally finished my book!”

“That’s awesome, Twilight!” Spike replied as he set the tray down on Twilight’s desk, and exchanged a brief hug with his stepsister. “I can’t wait to have a read when you can publish it!”

“Sorry, Spike, but you are a bit young for some of the things that I put into this book.” Twilight apologized.

“Aww, I was looking forward to reading the heroic adventures that you had with Captain Ryan and his war-train.” Spike groaned.

“Another time, Spike, I Pinkie-promise.” Twilight reassures the little Drake before using a telekinetic spell to pick up a muffin.

Looking back out of the hole, Twilight drew her attention towards town hall, which was the first building to be rebuilt after the war. On the forecourt there used to be a fountain, but like the town itself, it too was demolished. Now standing in its place was a statue of the war train’s captain and Twilight’s closest Human friend, Ryan. On the base was his name, and a brief description of him with the silhouette of the locomotive that pulled his train; the nuclear fusion-powered steam engine, formerly known as Union Pacific Big Boy 4014.

Never had there been such a machine like the Big Boy that had existed in Equestria. The latest in steam technology that was to be offered was rendered obsolete the moment that the Big Boy made its presence felt from coast to coast. 4014 was a timeless treasure, and stood as a living legacy to what little remained of pre-Atomic War history of the United States, which now stands as a mere shadow of its former self in the post-apocalyptic world that the 4014 came from.

“Do you think we’ll ever see them again, Twilight?” Spike asked as he happily munched on a diamond he brought up to snack on.

“I hope so, Spike…” Twilight replied worriedly. “I’m worried that they may not make it to the end of the war back on their world. All the things Ryan had told me about his world…..words cannot describe the horror and empathy that I have for the Humans who were responsible for their near destruction. I hope our world will never have to endure the horrifying reality of a nuclear apocalypse.”

“Me too, Twilight.” Spike agreed. He then went back to his diamond, while Twilight did the same for her muffin.

Author's Note

And, that was the Prologue

I can't take credit for this, as it was written by Iowa, though I did write a few small bits, and I did the editing, and some minor tweaking, but the bulk of it was all on Iowa. Let's all show Iowa some love in the comments for the AMAZING job that he did with writing the Prologue, can you all do that please?

And yes, this did contain MAJOR spoilers for the ending of "Rails of Destruction", but if you ignored our warnings in the Long Description, and read this chapter anyway, and had the ending spoiled, well then it's all your fault because we warned you!

But other than this, yes, I KNOW that it started off pretty slow, but this was just the Prologue. The REAL action starts in Chapter 1, and then it kicks into high gear pretty quickly, so don't miss Chapter 1 when it comes out!

In the meantime though, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this EPIC crossover story are always appreciated, and Iowa and I will see you all again in Chapter 1!

ScarFox out for now!

Until next time fellow sailors,
I'll see you on the naval battlefield!

-Iowa