One minute, we were all riding peacefully in a rail car. The next minute, there was an explosion and the train was disabled.
We had been heading directly north to the Crystal Empire for a diplomatic meeting and supposedly, we were going to meet up with yaks(?) to discuss supporting the Equestrian effort. The yaks, despite being a very lightly populated nation, could be an important potential ally due to their nation's resources.
The Day Before
With a light click, the long metal gun case had popped open. It was one of the four that Discord had left behind for the humans and inside it, was nothing. A second after being opened, a KRISS Vector and its magazines were gently placed inside the case. Wilson closed the case and moved it onto the ground where a pile of other equipment had been sitting. Among the pile were his medic's bag and various medical items.
"Yaks?" Wilson asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean those big hairy things that live on arctic mountain tops?"
Rarity nodded. "Yes, but don't say anything like that near them. Yaks have very big tempers and are prone to outbursts." Rarity's horn lit up and she floated over a medium-sized wood crate. "Here's your armor." She opened up the crate and revealed Wilson's IOTV. The burns the armor had earned in the defense of Ponyville were gone, having been freshly repaired.
Wilson picked up his body armor and opened it up, checking the plates and kevlar. They were still there. 'Good', Wilson thought.
Rarity's magic brought in another wooden crate. This one revealed a pair of two armored plates. "These are for your friend. We weren't able to make a ceramic set as he asked but we made a steel counterpart with enchantments to absorb impact and fragmentation. Hopefully, it'll be an adequate substitute."
Wilson took the plates from her. "He'll probably won't complain too much and I'm pretty sure he'd be gracious that he was able to get a replacement set."
-X-X-X-
Tran sat in front of a large table with a map of Equestria on it. Standing there with him was Princess Twilight with a pointer stick held in her magic. "Yakyakistan, the many millennia old home of the yaks located in the far north," Twilight started. "Early on in the war, they adopted a policy of isolationism in regards to military or economic involvement."
'I don't blame them,' Tran thought. "So why are we going there now?" he asked.
Using the glow of her magic, she highlighted the various mountains that Yakyakistan existed on. "Their nation owns these mountains in the northwest and a few decades ago, these very mountains were found to be inundated with coal and iron ore deposits."
Tran blinked. "Again, why are we going there now? You said they don't want anything to do with the war."
Twilight pointed at Ponyville and Manehattan. "Due to recent military victories, the Yaks have decided that they're interested in a trade-focused alliance. They're also interested in meeting you and your friends."
Tran raised an eyebrow. "Out of curiosity's sake, what exactly does Equestria have that Yaks are interested in?"
"The usual items, gold, gemstones, and machine guns," Twilight answered.
"I can understand the first two but machine guns?"
Twilight pointed at Tran's hand cannon of a sidearm. "Typically, yaks prefer their weapons big and loud but they've taken a liking to Equestria machine guns. Apparently, they're amusing to them. Their king has a personal collection that would rival some state arsenals."
"They can't make their own?"
"They're not known for complicated manufacturing capabilities." Using her magic, Twilight lifted up a large wooden crate and placed it down on the table, covering up half the map. She ripped off the crate's lid, revealing a half dozen machine guns. "You'll be giving them these as gifts."
Twilight removed the crate from the table and highlighted a series of railroad tracks. "The route is secured but you'll be passing within a hundred kilometers of Manehattan, a griffon occupied city."
Tran leaned back in his chair. "And I'm assuming this is when you'll be describing our resources?"
She teleported in a color photo and placed it in front of Tran. The photo pictured the side of a train, one that resembled a porcupine considering the number of gun barrels sticking out of it. "That's the Dauntless, one of seven armored trains in Equestria's arsenal. Eighty millimeters of steel protecting every possible angle, five mortars, eight direct fire cannons, thirty-four machine guns, and a crew of one hundred fifteen ponies. You'll also be accompanied by your bodyguards, Rarity, and Prince Blueblood, Equestria's diplomatic representative."
She brought in another photo, this one picturing the entirety of the train from an aerial view. "Her main coal fired-engine moves her at a max speed of fifty kilometers an hour but if they go out, she has an additional two coal-fired engines that can propel her at half speed if used individually and a lightning-powered engine that can propel her at full speed but only for three hours."
"Did you just say lightning powered?" Tran asked.
"Yes, bottled lightning," Twilight answered.
"Lightning in a bottle, as in the electrical discharges that come from the sky during a storm? A bottle filled with that stuff?" Tran further questioned.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I take it, catching lightning in a bottle is not common where you're from?" Tran's deadpan expression was all she needed to answer her question. "Right, I'll make sure the rest of the supplies you need are delivered."
-X-X-X-
The four humans and company stood in front of a massive rolling fortress. "Holy shit," Logan said.
"No kidding," Eric added, eyeing one of its many artillery pieces.
Tran started walking up to the train. "It's impressive, load up. We can admire it from the inside."
-X-X-X-
The Dauntless slowly screeched to a halt with its front main engine on fire. Her pegasi crew members were quick to put the fire out with various nearby clouds. While everyone else was in full alert status and manning their battle stations, Tran and Rarity had gone to find the senior-most engineer of the Dauntless. It wasn't a difficult search, the pony in question wore a completely charcoal stained version of the Royal Equestria Army uniform while also being stained charcoal black.
"Sabotage?" Rarity asked.
The engineer nodded. He reached into one of his coat pockets, pulling out what appeared to be a lump of coal, and tossing it to Tran. "Coal Torpedo. Fake Coal lump filled with explosives," the engineer explained. "Classic sabotage."
Rarity looked at the main engine of the train. "How bad?"
The pony wiped some of the charcoal off of his face. "The trip was supposed to take two days. Now? I'm not sure. The main engine is dead weight and before we fire up either spare, we have to inspect all of the coal."
"Casualties?" Tran asked.
The engineer shook his head. "Luckily the firebox was closed and vented the blast sideways."
Tran turned around and surveyed their surrounding area. They had only traveled for half a day so far and were in a heavily forested area. To make matters worse, clouds plagued the skies. "Good spot for an ambush or artillery barrage."
Rarity nodded and faced the engineer. "Get the lightning engine ready." She walked over and stood beside Tran. "See anything?"
Tran narrowed his eyes. "Not Yet."
-X-X-X-
A distant voice pierced through the cloud cover. "Fix Bayonets."