//------------------------------// // A brief holiday in Manehatten // Story: Life of the Whistle // by SteamingWhistle382 //------------------------------// The train raced through the night, carrying some of Equestrias biggest VIPs with it, heading northwards along the Ponyville-Dodge Junction main line. Steaming and Emerald soon found out that the praises of the engineers weren't without reason. The 'Polar Star' ran smoother than any engine they've ever worked on, this being agreed from Jacky who had fallen asleep in Steamings lap. The engineer kept smiling whenever he looked at the girl in his arms, which happened every few seconds, still not fully grasping the fact that they were together now. Emerald himself had a hard time staying awake as well, the smooth gliding of the engine on the tracks beneath them and the chuffing of the cylinders making his eyes flutter shut every few seconds, making him jerk himself awake every time that happened. Steaming noticed that his friend had a hard time keeping awake, and quickly grabbed the whistle cord. He was about to pull it when Jacky moved slightly, trying to get even more comfortable in the railway mans arms. Steamings right arm moved underneath his seat, where a small compartment where the engine crews would store their tools and equipment in it. He moved his hand around until he felt what he was searching for, grabbing it, and pulling out a pair of woolly earmuffs, which the engineers used in the winter months. He placed them gently on Jackys head, and finally blew the whistle of the locomotive, successfully getting Emerald awake for a few minutes. "Thanks." Yawned Emerald, stretching, before standing up to shovel some coal into the firebox. "Get yourself something to drink, coffee or some Earl Grey. We've still got a long night ahead of us." Said Steaming, as he pointed to the two thermos cans above the firebox. "Will do. You want some as well?" Asked Emerald, as he grabbed himself the can labeled with 'C', while he picked up the one labeled with 'T' and held it out towards his partner. "Yeah, will need the caffeine to stay awake for the rest of the bloody night. Jacky's lucky to be sleeping right now." Said Steaming before yawning as well. "We could always wake her up." Suggested Emerald cheekily. "Yeah, but then we would both be skinned by her, and afterwards, I would kill you for waking her up." Said Steaming with an eerily calm voice as he filled a cup with the tea, making Emerald slightly nervous at the proposal. "Also, where did you threw the schedule for the run? I hadn't got the time to read it before we departed." Asked Steaming, taking a sip from his drink. "Right in front of your nose Trinity." Chuckled the fireman, as Steaming looked to his left, seeing a small piece of paper stuck to an board. "Hm, let's see where we're bringing the newlyweds then..." Muttered the engineer, reading the destination. "Ah yes, here, lovely Manehatten. Looks like they're going to either spent their honeymoon there or continue via ship over to Prance, Germainy or Colt Britannia..." He said, before checking the complete timetable. "Hm, via Ponyville, need to take 'the tunnel' instead of the main station to avoid a headshunt... Take on some water in the older yards, and then it's plain sailing for the next three till four hours until Manehatten tunnel. With any luck, we should reach it just before dawn." Smiled Steaming, but began to frown when he saw the times behind the stops. "Looks like we can't allow delays with this one; whoever came up with this timetable must've checked their math thrice! They kept the timing so tight, we only just have time to fill up the tanks with water before we need to get back on the main!" He sighted. "Meh, we'll be on time, don't you worry. After all, nothing ever stopped us from reaching our station on time." Chuckled Emerald as the first yellow signals appeared in front of them, indicating that they were getting closer towards Ponyville. Steaming reduced the speed, as they rounded the bend, and got onto the Las Pegasus-Ponyville-Canterlot main line. Steaming opened the regulator again as the train picked up speed again, soon cruising at 90mph again. They raced through Ponyville, passing by the late night stopping passenger train that stood on the opposite platform, heading straight towards Canterlot. The run went smoothly, they kept on going, being slightly ahead of schedule, until reaching the gradient before Canterlot. They raced up the mountain, but even though the speed was steadily declining, they managed to get over the top before they went slower than 50. Once they had beaten the mountain, Steaming closed the regulator completely, letting them roll down the line. They soon came up to the complex point work in front of the main station, but both engine men were confused when they saw that they wouldn't continue onwards towards 'the tunnel', but towards the main station! Steaming quickly jumped forwards, grabbing the brake lever and started to brake the train down to yard limits, waking Jacky in the process who panicked slightly when she couldn't recognize where she was. Once she noticed she was still partly on top of Steaming, she relaxed again, cuddling against the chest of the engineer. "What's wrong Steaming?" She yawned, the sleep still obvious in her eyes and voice. "Looks like we've been rerouted. We're heading into the station, not to 'the tunnel'." Explained Steaming, as they slowed down gradually, just before reaching the station. They slowed to an stop at the buffers, where an confused porter ran up to them. "What's this? They've cut the Cannonball down to two coaches now?" Asked the man. "Huh? We're not the Cannonball, we're the excursion train for the Royal couple! Why did you bring us in here, we should've gone through the tunnel and onwards to Manehatten!" Asked Steaming, as from the other platform, a loud whistling could be heard. They looked at the station throat, where a large 4-6-0 steamed into the station, pulling a train of 7 coaches, coming to an stop with an loud hissing. "Hey lad! We've just come back after being rerouted into the tunnel! Care to explain what happened?" Came a gruff voice from the cab of the 4-6-0. "The signalman must've made a mistake. He must've mistook the excursion for the Cannonball and vise versa." Concluded the porter. "That's all fine and dandy, but we have a timetable to keep to, and we surely have missed our path through the tunnel." Complained Steaming. "How about you couple your train behind ours and we go through the tunnel together. Would save the signalman the problem of getting you another path through the tunnel, and you could follow us to Manehatten. The Cannonball has top priority on the road after all." Came a gentle, feminine voice from the cab of Cannonball Express. "Hm, what do you think Trinity?" Asked Emerald. "Let's do it! I'll be damned if we don't get this choo choo here in on time! Come on Em! Let's get those Axle boxes moving!" Called Steaming from his and Jackys side of the cab, as he threw the brake lever into the 'released' position, and after the air had been emptied out of the brake pipe, the excursion reversed quickly out of the station. "Wait! You'd have to speak with the signalman first!" Shouted the porter, but the engineer couldn't (or wouldn't) hear him. "Don't worry lad, we'll take care of the signalman, you just make sure that the passengers are ready for departure." Said the engineer of the Cannonball. "Will do Steaming, just make sure that those newbies don't cause trouble." Sighted the porter, as he moved further along the train to make sure everything would run smoothly in the boarding process. The excursion quickly coupled up to the express train, with Steaming getting more and more frustrated the longer they stood at the platform. Emerald was getting frustrated as well, but not with their current situation, but with the engine. He had a difficult time with the locomotives mechanical lubrication system, as it was showing that it was running out of lubricant again. "I think I finally found out why only three of these girls were build. They might've run as smooth as anything, they drink the lube away like a man downing water after a week in the desert!" Grumbled the fireman, as he opened the lubrication pipe. "Wait a sec, I'll give you a hand. Better get my mind off of things before I go up and tell that so called 'Express' engineer to get a bloody move on." Fumed the engineer, as he walked over to his friend, helping him refill the system. Jacky watched silently from the engineer seat, as someone from outside the cab called up to her. She looked out of the window and saw a women in her mid 40s, with long, dark red hair that she had pulled in a ponytail. She wore the same uniform as every railway employees wore, however, on the left side of her torso, just above her heart, the words 'Cannonball Express' were stitched into the fabric. She looked at the girl with kind Amber eyes. "Where's the engineer?" She asked. "He's helping the fireman refilling the engines lubrication system." Answered Jacky. "What are you doing in the cab then? Only the driver and fireman are permitted access to the cab." Asked the woman again. "I... was persuaded. I needed to get somewhere safe, and I knew that whatever the odds are, Steaming would keep me safe." Explained Jacky, as the woman raised an eyebrow. "Steaming you say?" "That's his name, Steaming Whistle." Explained Jacky, as the woman's eyes grew a bit. "How old is he?" Asked the woman suddenly, confusing Jacky a bit. "He's 15." "I'm 16 since a week ago damnit!" Came a call from within the cab. "Shut up and concentrate, you're spilling all the lubricant!" Cried Emerald, pulling Jackys attention from the woman. She turned around a few seconds later, but when she looked down to where the woman just stood, she saw that no one was there. She looked in both directions, but she couldn't see the woman anywhere. "Huh, strange..." Muttered Jacky. "What?" Asked Steaming. "That woman. She's probably a crew member of the Cannonball. She came and asked for you, and when I told her your name, she suddenly asked me how old you are, and then she just disappeared!" Explained Jacky. "Strange indeed. Meh, we'll just ask the lady once we're in Manehatten." Said the engineer, as they could hear a loud whistle from the front of the express train. Steaming blew a loud blast of his three-chime whistle in return, and opened the regulator slightly, letting the cavalcade reverse out of the station. Once they had passed the signal box, they stopped, so that the points could be set to 'the tunnel'. In front of the 4-6-0, a loud clanking could be heard, followed by another clanking from above them as the signal arm fell, allowing them to proceed. The two engine blew their whistles one after the other, and with an loud chuffing, the two trains made its way over the points, and into the long tunnel. The tunnel had been build as part of the underground railway project, and connected the north most line with the south most goods station, as to enable through goods trains from places like Manehatten, to places like Las Pegasus or Appleoosa. After the grouping, the tunnel had been extended and rebuild to allow more trains to pass through, and to accept passenger operations as well. Since then, it has been used as a way to enable through Express runs from the south and southwest to the east and northeast, without the necessary of changing trains or to ride through the complete town to get to the northern station. The tunnel went underneath the whole town, with numerous access points along the way so that the maintenance crews could reach problems inside the tunnel quickly and without the problem of going in on one side and moving all the way to the troublesome part. The railway had a strict policy about the running inside the tunnel, as the engineer should always cut off steam before entering the tunnel, as to prevent the crews from suffocating from the smoke of the engines. Steaming and Emerald had been told of the tunnel by Westing, and knew what they needed to do. They heard two short blast of the express engines whistle, followed by a long, and again two short ones, the whistle code to cut off steam. Steaming closed the regulator, and within moments, the whole train plunged into the tunnel. Neither Steaming nor Emerald or Jacky could see a thing in the dark, the only lights coming from the firebox door of their engine, and the dimmed lights inside of the last passenger coach. Steaming yawned, he always felt more sleepy when he would go through tunnels, but shook his head strongly, to keep him awake. The train clanked through the darkness for a few minutes already, but Steaming noticed that they were going slower. "This ain't good." "What's not good?" Asked Emerald. "We're slowing down! Looks like we're dragging the express down! If we stop in here, we're all going to suffocate in here!" Shouted Steaming back, before grabbing the regulator, pulling it as far as he dared. "Are you crazy?! We're going to die if you do that!" Cried Emerald, trying to pull Steamings hand from the handle, but Steamings grip was tight. "We're going to die if I don't do it! Now get yourself something to cover your mouth, it's going to be pretty heavy to breath in here!" Said Steaming as the engine's bark started to echo inside the tunnel, and thick black smoke started to erupt from the loco's funnel. The smoke started to stream into the partly opened cab, blinding the engines crew and the girl inside. Steaming quickly took of his bandana and quickly pressed it into Jackys hand. "Cover your mouth!" Coughed the engineer, as Jacky did as she was told, finding it a bit easier to breath again. Steaming coughed heavily, tears in his eyes as the smoke distorted his vision. He pressed his arm on his mouth and nose, trying hard not to pass out from the toxic fumes. He felt light headed, and was slightly wobbling in his seat, as suddenly, the smoke stopped streaming into the cab. The echoing stopped, and the barking was only one straight sound again. Steaming whipped the tears out of his eyes, and looked out of the cab side windows, seeing that they we're finally out of the tunnel. "Guys! We're out!" He croaked, his throat burning from the smoke, craving for water. Three short whistles came from the leading engine, signaling to stop. Steaming pulled the brakes, and the cavalcade slowed to an stop. He jumped out, feeling wobbly as he landed on the ballast that was on the ground. He slowly walked along the train, but he could already see the glow of an lantern, moving quickly towards him. He waited, as the person came close enough to him. Said person turned out to be the engineer of the Cannonball, being pretty nervous, and pretty annoyed. "What the buck were you kids thinking?!" Shouted the man. "We were slowing down. We were going to stop if we didn't pushed the train." Explained Steaming, as the engineer started to chuckle, shaking his head. "Oh you gullible idiot. The tunnel has a pair of electric helpers down at the break point! They push the trains out of the tunnel once we pass them!" Laughed the man, as Steaming looked at him with an dumbfounded look. "Here," chuckled the man, passing Steaming a bottle of water. "Drink it, and get back on your loco, we need to get moving again!" Steaming took the water without answering, quickly going back to his loco and climbing back on board, before downing the bottle in one go, thankful to finally have something to sooth his throat. "So?" Asked Emerald. "They just said it was good we helped when we did." Said Steaming shortly, not taking his eyes off of the tracks in front of him. "Is that so?" Smirked Jacky, as Emerald shared a similar grin. "Yeah, why?" "Oh, just because an engineer came up and said: Who was the idiot who nearly killed himself while doing my job as a banker?" Smirked Jacky, as Steaming stiffened, his face going bright red, while both Jacky and Emerald burst out laughing. They quickly got on their way again, and this time, nothing went wrong. They sped along the main line, and after a few hours of high speed traveling, accompanied by nearly a quarter of an hour of running through the Manehatten tunnel, the outer suburbs of Manehatten came into view. The tracks doubled, from the normal double tracks to four tracks, as they passed numerous small commuter stations along the way, with the rare sight of a lone late night commuter train, waiting at one of the stations for its right of way. The small, two story high houses passed for skyscraper and apartment buildings, with lights coming from every direction. The front engine whistled, and they started to slow down, as they started to go over numerous switches. Said switches lead to what the railway men duo could only describe as the biggest shunting yard they had ever seen. There were thousands of trucks, waiting for their next engine to take them away, and countless amounts of shunting engines of every size, type and wheel arrangement. They quickly passed through it, and soon passed a large roundhouse, larger than anything they had ever seen. It was a complete circle, with a few of the shed rows having a door at the back for the engines to go to the servicing stations that were situated outside of it. Behind the sheds, a large, rectangular building followed them for nearly half a mile before it ended. Both Steaming and Emerald were awestruck by the size of the yards, sheds and workshops. "Wow, I've heard that the yards in Manehatten were big, but never thatbig!" Said Steaming, letting the scenery sink in. "I doubt that both Dodge and Canterlot together would be this big!" Gasped Emerald. "And you haven't even seen all of it." Chuckled Jacky, as she pointed ahead of them, where a large station welcomed them. With 10 canopies, 20 tracks, and an additional 4 tracks underneath the station building for the local, inner city commuter railway, the second biggest station in Equestria, the Manehatten Central Station welcomed its guests, as numerous trains departed and arrived simultaneously at the platforms, including a certain, high priority express train, and a just as important excursion train. With a slight squeal of the brakes, the two trains came to an stop at the buffers that marked the eastern end, of the Canterlot-Manehatten main line. The porters opened the doors and put down the steps, as the passengers impatiently disembarked from the train, heading for the exits to make their way to their homes, hotels or wherever they would rest for the night. Whilst Emerald uncoupled their train from the express, Steaming made his way to the special coach, to tell his passengers that they had arrived at their destinations. Steaming stepped inside, walking up to the large double doors at the front of the coach. He knocked firmly on the door, waiting a few seconds before he could hear a muffled voice, followed by footsteps, before the door was pulled open by a tired looking Shining Armor. "Steaming? Something wrong?" Asked the captain of the Royal guard. "Nope, we just arrived at our destination. Welcome to Manehatten, prince Armor." Chuckled Steaming, as the tiredness disappeared out of the captains eyes. "Oh! How time flies! We'll be ready shortly!" Said Shining, and quickly closed the door. "Take your time! We don't have to hurry!" Called Steaming with a laugh, as he exited the coach again, and made his way back to his engine. "Alright, once they are out of the train, we'll bring it to the yards, and leave it to the hands of the night shed crew. We'll take it back home tomorrow at 10:40." Explained Steaming. "Sounds good enough to me." Shrugged Emerald. "And where shall I sleep? They didn't really counted me in when they ordered the train." Asked Jacky. "Oh, don't you worry. I'll take a single bed room and you two can share a double bed." Smirked Emerald, as the engineer and girl in front of him turned bright red. "W-w-well, we'll have to see if they even have two such rooms left at the hotel." Stuttered Steaming, his mind crying at him to punch his longtime friend in his face. Luckily (or unluckily) the hotel had indeed two spare rooms for visiting engine crews, one a single bed and the other a double bed room. Before Steaming could say anything, Emerald already snatched the key out of his hand, and rushed off to the room, wish both a good night, and adding that they shouldn't stay up all night long. Steaming growled, thinking up ways to torture him on the run back up the line, when Jacky gently pulled him towards their room. They got inside, but as they were about to change into their nightwear, they noticed another problem. "I doubt you had time to grab your nightwear when you were escaping from the Stirling guy, right?" Asked Steaming as he saw Jacky standing in the room with an slightly embarrassed look on her face. "Thought so." Sighted Steaming. "Do you think that a store might still be open?" "Nope, not at this hour. But don't worry, I can lend you my shirt." Sighted the engineer. "And you?" "Meh, I always have an undershirt, in case my shirt gets ruined, which happens a lot more often than it should... Anyways, I'll be fine, don't worry." Winked the man, as he pulled an shirt out of his traveling bag, passing it on to Jacky. The girl made her way into the bathroom to change into 'her' nightwear, while Steaming changed in the room. He laid himself onto the large double bed, smiling about the soft mattress, and sighting in pleasure of the comfort. "That's the life!" Murmured the man, as the door to the bathroom opened. His eyes fell onto the woman that stood in the doorframe and his mind only created one word. "Cute" Jacky was dressed in the shirt that Steaming lend her, but it was clearly a few sizes too big for her. It went halfway down her legs, with the upper few buttons left open, giving him a clear view of her (for her age) moderate cleavage. When Jacky heard the comment from the railway man, she blushed lightly, only proving his words right. "Oh stop it." She chuckled, as the engineer smiled brightly. "What? I'm only telling the truth! You look adorable." Smiled the man, as Jacky walked around the bed, getting into the bed alongside him. Steaming quickly flipped off the lights, and turned to Jacky, wrapping his hands around her and pulling her close, before pressing a light kiss on her temple. "Good night Jacky." Whispered the engineer. "Good night Whistle." Whispered Jacky back, using his real name for the first time in a long time. They were woken up at 9:30am the next morning, or rather, Jacky was woken up, who in turn pulled Steaming out of the bed to get him out of his sleep. The engineer groaned when he hit the floor. "Give me 5 more minutes... Or 50..." Yawned the railway man, closing his eyes again as he went to sleep on the floor. "Steaming, you've got three seconds to get up, or I'll get Emerald to throw you into the bathtub, and I promise you that the water won't be warm!" Threatened Jacky, as Steaming shuddered at the thought, and stood up with a sight. "Alright, you win, I'll get up." Sighted the man, as he finally got up, while Jacky smiled victoriously at him. Steaming narrowed his eyes, as a mischievous thought went into his mind. As Jacky turned towards the bathroom door, Steaming came up behind her and started to tickle her. The giggles and laughs of Jacky quickly filled the air, as she pleaded him to stop. "Please stop it Steaming, your killing me!" Laughed Jacky, but Steaming only kept on going. "No can do sweetheart, you've played with dirty tricks, but I can play with them as well!" Smirked Steaming, as a knock came from the door. "OY! Steaming! If you finished pleasuring your girlfriend in there, could you come downstairs please?! They are already serving breakfast you know!" Came the voice of Emerald, as both room occupants went red with the thoughts of each other in the act, but Steamings embarrassment quickly changed into anger, as he howled at the door. "Emerald, you better hope they have damn good Earl Grey down there, or Celestia help me I'm going to kill you! AND IF YOU EVER SUGGEST SUCH A THING AGAIN, I'M GOING TO TIE YOU TO THE REAR COUPLER OF THE TRANS-EQUESTRIA EXPRESS!!!" Shouted Steaming as they could hear quick running from outside of the room, indicating that Emerald made the wise choice of starting breakfast without them. "You shouldn't have been so hard on in." Chuckled Jacky, even though she partly thought that Emerald deserved it. "Oh don't worry, you know that I'm joking." Chuckled the engineer in reply. "Yes, but does he know as well?" "... Let's keep it at that, shall we?" Smirked Steaming smugly, as he took a look at the clock, seeing that they already had wasted an quarter of an hour. "But he has a point. We should hurry up and get ourselves some breakfast." Said Steaming. "Um, not to sound impolite or something, but may I suggest a quick shower beforehand?" Said Jacky, as the engineer stopped dead in his tracks. "Hm, that wouldn't be that bad would it? Care to join me?" Asked Steaming cheekily, as Jacky went red once more. "U-um..." Spluttered the girl, not knowing how to reply to the offer, as Steaming laughed. "It's okay, was just a joke." Grinned Steaming, as he disappeared into the bathroom. "...at least for now." He whispered to himself. After a quick shower, the two of them quickly made their way downstairs to the buffet, where Emerald was waiting for them at a table, several plates already on his side, downing several of their contents. "I see your back in your usual diet plan." Said Steaming smugly, as Emerald downed a pancake before speaking. "Free food for railway men Steaming~" Retorted Emerald in a sing-song voice, as Steamings eyes grew. "If you two shall excuse me." Said Steaming as politely as he could, before charging towards the buffet, gathering several plates to get the contents for his part of the breakfast. He returned a few minutes later, having filled the plates with sausages, eggs, buns, yams, butter, bacon, baked beans, cheese, bread, pancakes and a full can of tea. "Are you really eating all of this?!" Asked Jacky, shocked about the amount of food. "That's only the first course my dear!" Smirked Steaming, as he took his seat, and quickly dug into his meal, while Jacky only shook her head at the sight of the two men eating their meals as if they were starving. "I'd suggest getting something as well before we finish what is still there." Said Emerald between bites. Jacky pondered for a moment if they really would be able to do that, but seeing how quickly her boyfriend and his friend were eating, she took no chances and got herself something from the buffet as well. After half an hour, and nearly completely raiding the hotels kitchen of its storage inventory, the trio slowly made their way to the engine sheds. "Best breakfast in a while!" Laughed Steaming, as Emerald agreed with him via a loud burp. "Do you always eat that much for breakfast?" Asked Jacky. "Guess why the station cafe in Dodge got a 12-men crew working in the kitchen." Winked Emerald. "And not just the breakfast I tell you that!" Laughed Steaming. "How come you eat so much?!" Asked Jacky. "Hehe, these muscles need their energy! Especially if you use them like we do." Chuckled Steaming. Jacky just shook her head at the duo, as they reached the entry to the shunting yards. Passing the dispatcher building and the shunters shack, they slowly walked over the tracks, always making sure that they wouldn't be surprised by any engines or trucks that might headed towards them. After a little while, they reached the sheds, and walked towards the berth where they left their engine the night before, only to notice that she wasn't there anymore! "Um, didn't we left the 'Polar Star' in this berth last night?" Asked Emerald. "I thought so as well. Maybe one of the lads over there know where she went." Suggested Steaming as he pointed to a group of cleaners who were busy cleaning one of the engines on the opposite side of the shed. "Hey lads! You know where engine #31 went?!" Asked Steaming, as they came into earshot of the cleaners. "Yeah! She said you two are lousy engine men and left for a proper crew!" Came the reply from one of the cleaners, before he and the others laughed. "Very funny. Now where is she? We need to get back on track you know!" Called Steaming back, as they stopped laughing. They got down from the engine, and walked up to the trio. "We told you. She's gone. Why don't you bugger off back where you came from and make space for some decent people?" Asked the man who made the bad joke, staring into the eyes of the young engineer. "E, do you think what I think?" Asked Steaming, not breaking eye contact with the man, pulling his revolver without reviling it to the cleaners. "I think so." Smirked Emerald, as he grabbed the revolver and pulled out his own, handing them subtly to Jacky. "Would you take care of these for us? It won't be long." Whispered Emerald with an wink. "You don't want to-?" Whispered Jacky back, but couldn't even finish her sentence, as Steaming quickly punched the leader of the group of cleaners, before ducking underneath the punch from the man to his right, retorting with another punch to the stomach and a kick to his chest. "Get them!" Shouted the leader, holding his nose in pain. Steaming quickly went to the engine the group had been cleaning, jumping onto the running board, kicking one of his pursuers into his guts and into his comrades, before grabbing some of the cleaning scrubs and brushes that were left by the cleaners, and threw them at said men. "You missed a spot there!" Laughed Emerald, slapping one of the man hard across his face, placing him in perfect line to Steaming. "On it!" Laughed Steaming, as he threw the scrub he had in his hand and hit the man square in the face. Some of the men already were up again and we're now on the running board of the engine, trying to get to Steaming, while some of the others fought on the ground against Emerald. Steaming quickly punched them off the locomotive, letting them fall onto of each other on the ground. He quickly jumped onto the heap, getting a few hurt groans from it. Emerald was fighting off some of the other cleaners, when one of them came up behind him, slamming a small bench onto his back. Then bench wouldn't break, and Emerald was still standing, so the man continued, hitting the engine man over and over again, without making any progress. Steaming had picked up one of the brooms that laid around, and used it to make the men trip over and into each other. "Timber!" Shouted Steaming mockingly as he made two of them trip as they charged at him, flying into the driving wheels of the engine behind him. The remaining few cleaners were quickly dealt with, with the exception of the one who still tried to knock Emerald over with the bench. Steaming walked over to his partner. "Hey pal, there's someone trying to get your attention." Grinned Steaming, as Emerald turned around. "I wondered why I had such a tingling in my back, listen, I'm more endurable than that thing." Said Emerald, before taking the bench. "Here, let me show you how it's done." Smirked the fireman, smashing the bench onto his head, breaking it to pieces and knocking the cleaner out. "So, what now?" Asked Emerald, as he threw the rests of the bench away. A loud whistling came from behind them, and they turned around to see that some of the cleaners got up again, smirking at them with a bunch of different tools in their hands, ready to throw them at the duo. "Now, we'll take cover." Said Steaming, grabbing his partner and dragged him into one of the inspection pits, as the cleaners started to throw the tools. After a few minutes of clanking and banging of tools falling onto tools, they stopped, mostly because they had run out of tools. Some of them walked up to the pits, to look if the two were still alive. When they looked into the pits however, they were shocked to see that the engine men had disappeared! "Where are they?!" Asked one of them. "Right here dimwit!" Chuckled a voice, as they turned around, just to see that the cleaners that stayed behind were taken out of commission, with Steaming and Emerald standing above them with a pair of large wrenches in their hands. "And now for the final act!" Smirked Emerald, as the cleaners cracked their knuckles, as the duo swung their tools in a threatening manner. However, before they could make a move, the cleaners eyes widened, before they rolled back into their heads as they fell forwards. Behind them appeared Jacky, smirk on her face as she threw the wrench she had used to knock them out into the inspection pit behind her. "I don't know what you took so long with these guys." Said Jacky smugly, giving the two men their handguns back, while Steaming smirked. "If you want to fight against such a group next time, nobody'll stop you." Returned Steaming in a just as smug voice, stepping up to her until he was right in front of her. "Oh, does that mean the big, strong engineer needs help from his girlfriend to take down some simple cleaners?" Asked Jacky mockingly. In reply, Steaming lifted her with his right hand, lifting her over his shoulder. Jacky let out a yelp in surprise of the man's rash action. "S-s-steaming! Let me down!" She spluttered in embarrassment. "Oh, so you need help from your boyfriend to get down then?" Sniggered Steaming, as Jacky hammered on his back, shouting at him to let her down. Emerald just stood off to the side, chuckling at the scene with a slight shake of his head. "Come on Steaming, let her down. You can claim that she's yours later once we've made our way to Canterlot." Smirked Emerald. His words did the trick, as Steaming quickly let the girl get onto her feet again, both their faces red with embarrassment. Steaming glared at Emerald, but before he could punch his best friend, his eyes saw a slight movement from one of the cleaners. He quickly grabbed the downed man, lifting him up with both his hands, pushing him against the wall. "Come on you runt. We have a schedule to keep to, and need our train to follow it. So, where is it?" Growled Steaming, trying to intimidate the man. "I-I'll talk! Please, no more punches!" Stuttered the man, scared by the duo that took him and all of his 23 coworkers out. "Where is the 'Polar Star'?" Asked Steaming. "W-we were ordered by high management to hide her and her train in the shunting yards, and to send anybody who asked about her to the hospital!" "Who ordered you?!" Thundered Steaming, a suspicion rising inside him. "S-Sans Pareil Stirling!" Squeaked the cleaner, scared that the man would punch him again. Instead, he pushed him out of the way, and began to march towards the shed entry. "I suggest that you tell nobody we were ever here. Otherwise we'll be back." Smirked Emerald, as he grabbed a wrench, and broke it in two. He and Jacky quickly rushed after Steaming, who was quickly making his way towards the shunting yards. "Steaming, wait up!" Shouted Emerald, as he came up next to the engineer. His face was pulled into an angry frown, and his eyes were piercing everything that was in his path. "You could at least try to clear me up man! Who is this 'Sans Pareil Stirling', and what does he have against us?" Asked Emerald. "He is Novelty Stirlings father. As for what he might have against us, his son is after my dads position as general manager, and wants to marry me so that he can run the railway once my parents are dead. And on the wedding party yesterday evening, he tried to... I don't even know what he wanted to do, but whatever it was, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it. Anyways, he rushed after me after I kindly rejected him-" "You kicked him in the jewels, right?" Asked Steaming with an unconvinced look. "...yeah." "That's my girlfriend." He chuckled as he kissed her briefly. "Well, after that I came to you, and I think you know the story from there. I guess Novelty framed you and Emerald for 'abducting' me and his father ordered some of the guys around here to catch the two of you." Said Jacky, as Steaming pondered thoughtfully. "If that's the case, we need to get back to Canterlot ASAP, before those birdbrains send the guards after us. We might've fought against them in the past as well, but we're beyond that now, right E?" "Yeah. It isn't fun anymore since they keep sending the weaklings against us. But how are we going to find our train in this mess?" Asked Emerald, as he pointed to the large line of trucks that indicated the border of the yards. Steaming looked around, and finally saw something. "Problem solved E! Lucky us that the signalmen got a crows nest here!" Grinned Steaming as he pointed to an high, rectangular building that stood tall in between the tracks. They quickly made their way up onto it via its staircase that was build on the outside of the building, and stopped when they were halfway up. They could see over the top of the truck roofs, and could see a stationary stream of smoke, coming from within the yards. "I think that's her!" Shouted Emerald. "Hm, she's pretty deep inside of it. How shall we get them out of there?!" Asked Steaming, as they heard a voice behind them. "OY! You! Your not allowed to be up here! Get back to the sheds." They turned around, and looked at a tall, slim man with light yellow hair, dressed in blue coveralls with an white shirt underneath it. The man stopped in his tracks when he noticed two men. "Trinity? Bambi? What the hell are you doing in Manehatten?!" Asked the man. "We could ask you the same question Bill!" Scoffed Steaming, as they starred at each other. Their stare down lasted around five seconds before they burst out laughing, high-fiving each other. "Jacky, this is locomotive Bill. He's an former signalman from Dodge. Say Bill, how come you ended up over here?" Asked Steaming. "Long story. How about you?" "Brought up a special excursion with the 'Polar Star', but some of the cleaners got bribed or something like that and hid her in the shunting yards." Said Steaming, as he pointed into the direction of the smoke. "Hm, they didn't slack on hiding her, that's for sure. Tell you what, I'll get that train out of the yards, and you three go and look around Manehatten for a bit. As far as I know, you two never visited the city, so count it off as an extended stay if you will. I'll call ahead to Canterlot so that they know what's happening." Suggested Bill. "Thanks Bill. But you don't need to." Said Emerald. "Oh but I do. We can't have the pride of Dodge Junction stuck in the yards amongst dirty old trucks, don't we?" Chuckled locomotive. "Hm, you've been listening to Golden Dome again, didn't you?" Smirked Steaming. "You know it." Smiled Bill, as Steaming and Emerald laughed. "Alright then, Jacky is it? Make sure those two don't blow Manehatten bridge up while they are in the town, and that they'll have a fun time in the city." Bill said to the girl. "Don't worry, I know exactly where to take these two." Smirked Jacky. They had been traveling through Manehatten for a few hours now, but Jacky still wouldn't tell them where they were heading. By all they knew, they felt like Jacky was taking them on a long sightseeing tour through the town, proven right when they passed the large road junction that she called 'Times Square'. Finally, Steaming had enough, and walked in front of Jacky to confront her. "Alright Jacky, we've been patient for long enough. Could you please tell us where the buck we are heading to?!" Snarled Steaming, annoyed at being kept in the dark for so long. "Sure. We're nearly there anyways." Smiled Jacky, not intimidated by the steamed up boy, as they walked around another corner. Steaming and Emeralds yaws hit the floor. In all their days, they have never seen so much water. The ocean spread for miles and miles both northwards and southwards, disappearing when the coastline bent around. "Wow..." They whispered. "I'm guessing you like my surprise?" Asked Jacky playfully. "This... This is..." Began Emerald. "Amazing..." Finished Steaming, awestruck by the scenery. "Now come on, don't just stand there! Let's go down to the sea!" Laughed Jacky, as she ran slightly ahead of the two of them, before turning around to them. Steamings yaw slacked a bit when he saw Jacky, the sea behind her being the perfect background for the beautiful girl in front of him, as she looked like an angel to him. "Simply amazing." Whispered Steaming with a small smile, as he picked up the pace and quickly followed after his girlfriend, Emerald chuckling to himself, having heard Steamings whisper. They made their way down a large stone stairway, and soon reached the golden beach that was at the end of it. It was mostly abandoned, with only a few other people in the distance. Jacky took of her shoes and motioned Steaming to do so as well. The engineer followed her lead, and once his shoes were safely placed next to hers, he was pulled off towards the water. Steaming shuddered a bit at the feeling of the cold water against his feet, but this quickly disappeared in favor of a comfortable feeling, as his body got accustomed to the water temperature. They quickly splashed through the water, laughing and giggling like kids, having way too much fun to notice the confused looks of the people they passed. After a little while, they slowed down and went for a calmer pace, as Jacky snuggled to Steamings arm, leaning against him as they made their way along the coastline. "You know, I never imagined I would ever be this happy." Said Steaming softly. "You don't need to imagine it. You have the real deal right here." Chuckled Jacky lightly, as Steaming pulled her even closer to him. "Hmhm, quite right. And you know what? I'll make double sure that nothing could ever change that." Smiled Steaming, kissing the girl on the cheek, getting a soft giggle in reply. "It's getting late. We should probably get back. They must've gotten the train out of the yards by now." Muttered Jacky. "Hm, seems like I'm in a pinch now. Either go back and do my honorable duty and bring my train back in record time, or screw it and keep staying here with you. Which one to choose, both sound so very tempting..." Purred the engineer, moving in to kiss his girl, only to meet with a finger, instead of a pair of lips. "As much as I would love to stay with you here, you are still engineer on the railway my father manages, and that means that I'm somewhat of an superior of yours. And as your superior, I order you to stick to your duty, so that you can keep your job, and" she gave him a quick peck on his lips. "Return on the next train to me." She finished, whispering the final part. Steaming had a slight glow on his cheeks, as he smiled a sly smile at his girlfriend. "Who am I to disagree with something my superior orders me to do?" Chuckled Steaming, as he quickly picked Jacky up, surprising the girl, who yelped slightly at the actions, and raced off back to where they started. "S-Steaming! What are you doing?!" Shouted Jacky, but couldn't contain her laughter, which made Steamings heart flutter at the sound. "Just making sure we are right on time my princess!" Replied Steaming with an grin, making Jacky blush at the nickname. "What's with the nickname? I as much a princess as you are the manager of the railway." She asked. "You are a princess in my eyes, and that's what counts." Whispered the engineer directly into her ear, making her blush even more, as he gave her a warm smile. They quickly reached the place where they had left their shoes, and couldn't help but feel a bit foolish when they saw that Emerald was there as well. They had completely forgotten about their third friend when they had rushed off. "Hey E! Sorry that we rushed off like that." Apologized Steaming. "Eh, it's alright. I saw how happy you two were, I wouldn't want to interrupt your alone time." Chuckled the other man, as Steaming place a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks lad. Now then! Let's get back to the shunting yards, shall we?" Said Steaming, as he put his shoes back on. "Sounds good! I was starting to get pretty bored out here anyways!" Grinned Emerald as he started off, leaving the other two behind. "Looks like our friend wants a race. Care to make him eat our dust?" Asked Steaming with a sly smile. "Hehe, I wouldn't mind, but I doubt I can ran that much in these shoes." Chuckled Jacky, since she was still wearing her high healed boots she wore for the wedding reception. "Don't worry, we've got that one covered!" Smirked Steaming, as he quickly scooped her up again. "Hold on tightly!" He laughed, and rushed off, while Jacky held onto his neck tightly, shouting and laughing wildly at the chase. It didn't took them more than 15 minutes before they reached the gates to the shunting yards, both men out of breath, but still with high spirits, grinning from ear to ear because of their little race. "Hehe, you never were the faster one of us two!" Smirked Steaming. "I never said I was! My blows are all the harder to make up for it though." Winked Emerald, as they started to walk towards the signal tower again. "Um, Steaming?" Asked Jacky. "What is it princess?" "Could you let me down?" Asked the girl, glowing slightly at being called princess again. "Let me think about it... No." Grinned the engineer, ask they climbed up the staircase to the actual workplace where the signalmen worked in. They were greeted by Bill, who smiled broadly when he saw Steaming carrying the woman in his arms. "Was about time you found yourself a proper girl Choo Choo boy! Good to know you finally got the boss's daughter out of your head, not like you had a chance at her or anything." Chortled Locomotive, as the trio in front of him gave each other knowing smirks. "Anyways, we've got your loco out of the shunting yards. She's waiting with her train next to the sheds, near the coaling plant." "Thank you Bill." Smiled Emerald. "No problem lads. See ya around." Waved Bill, turning around. "You know, before I forget it, I completely forgot to properly introduce my girlfriend to you." "Huh? What do you mean? You already told me her name is Jacky." "That's her nickname. He complete name is Junction Spike." Smirked the engineer, as Bill stiffed, and he was sure he heard his yaw hit the floor. "As in, Iron Spike's daughter, Junction Spike?" Asked the signalman with an shaky voice. "The one and only, Mr. Bill. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to get back to Canterlot. We can't let my father wait." Smirked Jacky, as they exited the signal tower, leaving a stunned Bill behind. They made their way across the yards to the sheds, where true to his words, the 'Polar Star' stood, hissing lightly to herself, waiting for her crew to return. "Am I glad to see the old girl again!" Sighted Emerald, lovingly rubbing his hand over the piston of the engine. "Agreed. Even though Manehatten was quite a nice city to visit, I'd much rather go back home to good old, calm and quiet Dodge Junction." Said Steaming with an slight yawn, finally placing Jacky back onto her own two feet again, before pulling her up onto the footplate as softly as he could, holding her closely as they stood near the cab entry. Before they could do anything else however, Emerald cleared his throat, pulling the attention to himself. "Not to spoil your mood or anything, but we are already pretty late, and knowing your boyfriend over here, he'd rather get run over than to be any minute further late." Chuckled Emerald, as Steaming rolled his eyes, before pulling Jacky with him towards the drivers seat. He sat down, shifting to make space for Jacky, who ignored the free space next to him for the free space in his lap. The young man blushed wildly, trying everything to keep the blood in his face or anywhere further above his belt. He grabbed the whistle cord and tugged it shortly, before pulling it a further two times, this time longer, the railways whistle code for "Engine requesting path". After a few minutes, the signal for their track changed from red to a white light. Signals in the yards usually used a white light to indicate that the path for a train that would move within the yard limits was free to proceed, so that they wouldn't mistake the signal as that they could proceed further down the mainline. Steaming slowly opened the regulator, and they steady beat of the steaming shooting out of the funnel rang in their ears once more, as they slowly moved away from the sheds, and along the line at a steady pace of 15mph. They soon reached a further signal set to 'danger', but before Steaming could even reach for the brakes, the arm lifted, giving them the all clear to move. Steaming pulled the regulator wide open, as the bark increased in volume, copied by the trains speed, which climbed steadily with every meter they moved forward. "We're coming home." Muttered Jacky with a smile. "Better let them know we're coming then, aye?" Smirked Steaming, as he gripped the whistle cord, making the chime whistle rang through the air, as they started their way on the long journey back home. It has been a few uneventful hours, as they were nearing the Capitol of their country. Jacky had fallen asleep once again mid journey, and was cuddling with Steaming, who was once again in high spirits. "Nearly there Emerald old chap." Smiled Steaming, as Emerald finished stocking the fire. "Old chap? Since when did you start calling me like that?" Chuckled Emerald, raising an eyebrow playfully. "Since today! Seems fitting to you." Chuckled the engineer in return, as they plunged into the Canterlot tunnel, with Steaming wisely shutting off steam and keeping his hand away from the lever. They rolled through the tunnel, not losing so much speed as they did on the run to Manehatten, since they didn't had a full load in front of them to hold them down. When they reached the other end of the tunnel however, they were surprised to see a yellow distance signal in front of them, indicating that a red home signal would be coming up. "Huh, looks like dispatch has raised the flags. Wonder what they want from us." Muttered Steaming, as he brought the train to an slow stop at the red signal, right in the middle of the yard. The engine men duo looked around, waiting for a dispatcher or a signalman to arrive, but nobody came. "Hey E, don't you think this is a bit strange?" Asked Steaming quietly. "Yeah, I know the signalmen are a slow bunch, but even they know that they shouldn't leave a track blocked that long." "Not that! ...Well, maybe that as well, but look around! The yards are abandoned!" Exclaimed Steaming. Indeed, the yards were dark and quiet. Usually, there would've been a slow goods train coming through, or at least a small shunter, pushing some trucks past them, but there was nothing. The shunting yards of Canterlot, were silent. "I don't like this. Something must be up!" Grumbled Steaming, as he softly shook Jacky awake. "Jacky, Emerald and I need to get down for a few seconds. Something is off about the yards, and we need to see if everything is alright. I trust you to guard the train?" Asked Steaming, as Jacky smiled at him. "Of course you can. I'll make sure nobody gets on board without permission." Said the girl with a soft smile, making Steamings heart flutter. "Hehe, you're working your way up the railway ladder. You already sound like a conductor!" Chuckled Steaming, before giving Jacky a soft peck on the lips. The two men slowly climbed down from the cab, standing next to their engine with their guard up, their hands close to their revolvers, in case of an ambush. Steaming set a cautious step forward, as from all around them, lights flickered up, blinding the two men, as a large amount of men rushed up to them, attempting to restrain them. Steaming and Emerald, although startled, quickly fought back, pushing and punching the men away from them. It only took a few minutes before the men had been dealt with, but reinforcements quickly rushed at them. Steaming was just about to punch another one of the men into his dreams, when he saw one of the ones he had already knocked out. A royal guard. "Mother of-! Emerald! Stop fighting! Those guys are royal guards!" Shouted Steaming, getting out of his fighting stance, as some of the guards quickly restrained him, placing cuffs on his wrists, a further two men did the same with Emerald. "In the name of princess Celestia, you two are under arrest!" Said a voice from beyond the lights. "Oy mate! If you would've told us that you guys are guards, we wouldn't have beaten some of your guys up. On the side note, WHY THE HELL ARE WE UNDER ARREST?!" Shouted Steaming. "For kidnapping of Junction Spike, assaulting Novelty Stirling, restraining against law enforcers, and purposely injuring 23 people in the sheds of Manehatten!" "It were 24 you idiot!" Barked Emerald. "Thank you for your confession." Said the voice, the smirk audible in it, as Steaming tried to facepalm, only to stop when the cuffs on his hands prevented that. "Hey, we didn't kidnap Jacky! We rescued her from some lunatic wannabe noble punk who was after her! You can ask her yourself, she's in the cab!" Shouted Steaming. "How dare you badmouth my son like that?! You should be grateful I told the guards not to shoot you when you assaulted their men!" Came the smug reply, as out of the lights, the smiling faces of Sans Pareil and Novelty Stirling stepped forwards towards them. "You! You framed us that we kidnapped Jacky! Grrr, if I weren't cuffed up, I'd punch that stupid look right out of your stupid face!" Growled Steaming, enraged about the presence of the persons who wanted to use his girlfriend for the sake of the ownership of the railway. "So it really was the filthy shunting runt who danced with my precious Jacky at the reception. How foolish of myself to not notice you right at the spot. You should've kept your hands off of her, you mutt. But it isn't to late to repair all this. All you have to do, is to hand over my Junction and vow to never lay your eyes on her again, and you and your friend here can leave on this train back to your dirty little sheds." Offered Novelty, whispering into Steamings ear, whilst the engineers eyes narrowed at the offer. "What do you say?" Asked the noble with an smug smile, as Steaming head butted him, breaking his nose in the process, making the man scream in pain. "No chance whimp! And even if I'd agree with you, it wouldn't work, 'cause there is an huge error in your plan, namely that Jacky wouldn't go out with you, even if you were the last bastard left on the whole continent!" Smirked Steaming, as Novelty whipped the blood from his face. "Bring them to the outpost, they'll stay there until the court will see them!" Shouted a voice, probably the superior of the guards, as Steaming and Emerald were pushed away. A few further guards climbed on board of the engine, but were shocked to see that Jacky wasn't there. "Sir! The girl isn't here!" Shouted the soldier closest to the cab entry. "She isn't in the coaches either sir!" Came a voice form the coaches. "They must've hid her somewhere in Manehatten! We'll find her, even if we have to squeeze the answer out of those two!" Barked the commanding officer, as Sans Pareil and Novelty smirked broadly. Their plan was working beautifully. Meanwhile, Jacky was hiding in between two trucks, having jumped from the engine when she heard the voices from the two Stirlings. She quickly disappeared from within the couplings, and followed the two railway men from the safe distance of the other side of the trucks, until she saw Steaming and Emerald being pushed inside a horse drawn coach, with the windows blocked via iron pipes. She saw Steaming looking out of the window, his eyes searching through the yards until they landed on her. He smiled, and winked, before blowing her a kiss as the coach began to move out of the yards towards the guards outpost. Jacky smiled, before a determined look went on her face. She would make sure that both Novelty and his father wouldn't come through with this. But first, she needed to make a few visits...