The Conversion Bureau: Iron Horses

The sun rose high in the sky over an island off the northwest coast of England. A railway roundhouse was slowly gaining some activity as shed doors opened only for steam locomotives with faces slowly rolled out into the morning sun.

These are the engines of the famous North Western Railway. One of these engines was just backing up to two coaches in the yards not too far from the sheds. “Morning ladies,” the engine said cheerfully.

“Morning Thomas,” said one of the coaches.

Thomas was a six wheeled E2 tank engine originally built for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway until he was transferred to the NWR. He wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but his home on Sodor where many of his friends live, both old and new.

Speaking of new, as Thomas approached the platform he noticed something in the sky. He then whistled. “Morning Derpy.”

Above Thomas in the sky high above the tracks, there was a grey pegasus with a wall eye stare. She looked down at Thomas, smiled, and waved as she flew off. Thomas smiled and as he waited for his first passengers to board, his mind went back to an event that happened not so long ago.

About a year ago a strange Island appeared somewhere in the ocean roughly many miles from the Island of Sodor. Many people soon found out this mysterious island was an entire country filled with talking ponies. Many of them could fly and do magic. Naturally it took some time for the shock to settle in but soon the world met it’s ruler, a tall white alicorn dubbed Princess Celestia.

She expressed an interest in a peaceful co-existence with the human world. It wasn’t long before nearly the entire world wanted to see these supposed alien equines. With Sodor being the closest land by a one day boat ride, it was natural for many ponies to come here and see the sites of Sodor.

Thomas’s thoughts were interrupted by a guard’s whistle. He was soon on his way with his first local passenger run. He was excited as some of his passengers were ponies looking to travel on his branchline.

As he traveled along he saw his good friend Henry in a siding. He had birds perched on him. Near him was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. Thomas whistled hello to his friend who whistled back. Of course it scared the birds away but despite that both the large green engine and the pegasus laughed.

Everywhere Thomas looked there was always a pony or some sapient equine exploring Sodor with curiosity and even interacting with the locals from people to engines. As he approached the junction on his return journey to the big station he stopped at a signal to let another train come by. Soon a large orange engine came thundering by pulling a long train with lumber, bricks, steel beams, and other construction material. “Wow,” he said. “What’s going on? Is a new station being built?” he asked his driver.

“No,” replied the driver. “Some new fancy hospital is being built at Harwick.”

“Oh I see,” Thomas said as his signal dropped and he continued on his way to Knapford Station.

He soon pulled into the station and his passengers disembarked. However, much to the tank engine’s surprise, a little dragon came running up from his coach Annie. Thomas heard this Equestria nation had a young dragon living there. “Oh hello there young one. Did you enjoy your trip on my branchline?”

The little dragon nodded as the driver stepped out of Thomas’s cab. “Hey kid, want to see how this engine runs?”

The little dragon nodded excitedly but as he stepped forward a voice shouted. “Spike! Our bus is leaving soon!”

A lavender alicorn was by the entrance and was waving the dragon over. Spike was disappointed but walked away towards the alicorn anyway. Thomas was also slightly disappointed but on the other hand he was confused. Bertie nor Bulgy the buses would leave so soon he doesn't even think they arrived yet.

Spike soon caught up with the pony at the entrance. The pony looked down at him with an almost annoyed look. “I thought I told you to not interact with them as much,” she said.

“Aw, but Twilight I just wanted to see how he worked,” Spike groaned.

“That's why we have books and this so-called Internet,” Twilight said with a small hint of anger. Spike now knew it was best to not push his luck further.

Meanwhile in an office a man was looking over the railway schedule. This man was Sir Topham Hatt otherwise known as the Fat Controller. As he was reading over the schedule a knock came. “Come in, the door is open,” he called.

A man walked in, stumbling a bit. He was dressed in overalls. “Ah Albert,” the Controller said. “How can I help…” he trailed off as he noticed his stance and his sweat. “Good lord Albert, you look worse than yesterday.”

“Yes sir,” Albert responded before letting out a slight cough. “My wife is right, I think it's really serious. I think I need to take the rest of the day off.”

Sir Topham stood up and walked to the door and opened it. “Albert, take a week off and see a doctor. I don’t want to see you in that uniform until I know you’re well.”

“Thank you sir,” Albert said as he began walking to the door.

Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle was in a phone booth while Spike was playing on a playground nearby in the park. “Your majesty, is it ready?” she asked.

“Yes my student,” a voice on the phone responded. “The formula has worked well although I made a few minor adjustments to improve its effectiveness.”

“That's good but are you sure this is necessary? I mean what if they resist?”

“They need this Twilight,” Celestia responded. “Their history is horrific and we can’t let them go on like this. War, Greed, Dogma, all that ends. The only thing we now need is to test this on a terminally ill person.”

“Of course your majesty,” Twilight responded as he noticed a man in a railway uniform walking towards what looked like a clinic. “It will be done.”