//------------------------------//
// Planning and Railroading 
// Story: Iron Kingdom Equestria 
// by Bitt_Player 
//------------------------------//

	The first thing Shining Armor did, right after sunrise, was check on Twilight Sparkle at the hospital, where he found her still asleep. After being assured repeatedly that he would be informed the moment Twilight awoke, the Captain returned to the town hall to meet with Allister Caine, who he lead to yet another Royal Guard office, this one in Engines Equestria's compound.
"Looks like you picked up warjack production pretty quick," Caine observed, having seen the assembly lines at Engines Equestria, "so what is this 'Project Red River'?"
"We're building a warjack," Shining Armor replied, not sure how much information he should trust his human counterpart with, "a whole new design. A truly Equestrian innovation. Or, that's what we planned on."
"But it's not working out for you?" Caine asked.
"We've hit some snags in actually implementing the concept," Shining admitted, "the warjack is unusually... complicated. We're having trouble overcoming our own engineering limitations."
"And you want the Cygnaran Armory to help?"
"Not quite," Shining said slowly, "I've heard that the Armory had some of its own engineering issues that were resolved with... outside assistance."
"The Church of Cyriss?" Caine said, "they're who you're after?"
"As I understand it, they offered the Cygnaran Armory mechanikal design assistance in exchange for being officially recognized as a religion, am I right?"
"You are, but there's a problem here," Caine pointed out. "We don't control the Church of Cyriss. Our government can't just tell them to send some of their gearhead-priests up here to give you a hand."
"So, you're saying you're not able to help us?" Shining Armor asked. Caine appeared to consider this for a moment before replying.
"I know some Cyrissists with connections high up their hierarchy," Caine admitted slowly. "All I can do is let 'em know Equestria's looking for a little help from their church, I can't promise anything will come of it."
"Well, I guess that'll have to do," Shining Armor said. Suddenly, a thought struck him, "you know, I just thought of something else you might be able to do for us." With that, he got out a map of the Thornwood and the surrounding area. A number of points were marked on the map, three of them in Cygnaran territory. "Speaking of dealing with outside forces," Shining continued, "we have the Circle Orboros working on another project for us, which should -if everything works out- get us home and out of everyone's hair."
"Let me guess, they're doing one of their twisted Devourer rituals at those points you've got marked."
"I'm not sure how much involvement the Devourer Wurm has, but more or less." Shining said with a nod. "Anyway, as you can see, they need to do some work within Cygnar's borders."
"You want us to look the other way?" Caine seemed incredulous.
"I know you Cygnarans don't like the Circle," Shining admitted, "in fact, I've got it on good authority that they deserve it. But, like I said, this ritual is our only real chance to get home, so we'd appreciate it if the Cygnaran Army could just give them a pass for a couple months."
"It won't be a popular idea, but I'll see what I can do."
"Good enough."



Elsinberg was a city that had, until a few years ago, stood on the border between Khador and Llael. For hundreds of years, the Llaelese soldiers at Elsinberg watched the western woodlands for any sign of invaders. It had fallen when the feared attack came, and it was now garrisoned by soldiers of Khador's First Army, who had constructed a fortress nearby. While its personnel had until recently been relatively few in number for an occupied city, the sudden appearance of Equestria had prompted a massive increase in the fortress's roster, as it was once again a border garrison. Rail lines had been hastily laid down and a smaller fort constructed nearer to Equestria, but that was little more than a monitoring station. Elsinberg was the closest Khador-held location with any significant military force, and one day on a military train followed by two more days of marching to the southwest could bring that entire force to the foot of Canterlot Mountain. A vanguard unit could probably shave a day off that time if they brought no warjack support.
Applejack sat in her room in one of Elsinberg's Khador-controlled inns, considering these facts. On the one hoof, she wasn't happy with the general Khadoran unwillingness to put her in touch with anyone of significant importance, and worried that they might be plotting an attack. They certainly didn't seem interested in negotiating peace. On the other hoof, Canterlot was eminently defensible, being accessible only by air and railway. Since none of the Iron Kingdoms seemed to have any kind of aircraft or soldiers who could fly under their own power, this meant that a Khadoran force attacking Canterlot would have to follow the train tracks that wound around and through the mountain. Applejack supposed that such an attack could be halted simply by stopping a train halfway through one of the tunnels and leaving it there. At the very least, it would force the attackers to waste time, coal, and water having their warjacks push the train back out of the tunnel and off the track.
Applejack tried to quell her worries by reminding herself that the warcaster who had recently been transferred to Elsinberg as its commanding officer was Kommander Izak Harkevich, who didn't seem likely to invade anywhere. Compared to the other Khadoran officers she'd met, Harkevich was laid-back and easy-going, at least with civilians such as herself. The mare didn't think Harkevich's superiors would mobilize him as part of an invasion, his bright, friendly eyes lacked the coldness that she'd seen in Khadoran officers elsewhere in occupied Llael. Even though he held his soldiers to the highest standards, Applejack couldn't imagine Harkevich leading any kind of offensive action. She'd heard that Harkevich was usually deployed in defensive positions -holding border fortresses or overseeing reconstruction efforts- and hoped that his presence at Elsinberg was just a move by Khador to prepare for the possibility of Equestrian aggression. Still, she sensed an unease among the soldiers that had nothing to do with their new Kommander's seemingly-endless drills.
The pony's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a train's brakes. Gritting her teeth at the screeching sound that seemed to fill the entire city, Applejack looked out the window. From her inn's location near the rail yard, she had a good view of every train to arrive and depart. It was another supply train -the fourth in three days, a fact that added to Applejack's nervousness- and the train's crew had already begun unloading. Amid the clusters of humans and trollkin carrying crates and sacks was a sight Applejack hadn't expected to see. A pony with a pearly-white coat and an immaculately-curled indigo mane was guiding a similarly-colored warjack as it stepped out of one of the train's steamjack cars. As Applejack watched, Harkevich himself joined the pony and her warjack, no doubt welcoming them to the city. Applejack dashed out of the room and started down the stairs. She was sure that something extremely important must be about to happen. Rarity had come to Elsinberg.



"So, what it all comes down to is, we gotta find Pinkie and git back to Equestria," Applejack said, summarizing Rarity's long explanation. Harkevich had left the ponies and returned to drilling his soldiers. Applejack and Rarity stood near the train and Rarity's warjack.
"Quite right," the unicorn confirmed, cleaning stray bits of grime off of Glam's hull.
"All right," Applejack said, "well, it ain't like they're keepin' me prisoner. Not exactly, anyway. I can up and leave if'n I have to, an' I don't think anyone here'd try to stop me. The part I'm seein' trouble with is finding Pinkie Pie. Last time I saw her, she'd gone and run off with a gang of trolls."
"Really?" Rarity asked, "I wonder if one of the trollkin who work on the railway know where she is. They seem to travel all over, doing manual labor, as you can see." She motioned to the trollkin still unloading the train. Most of the humans who had started to remove supplies from the train had left, leaving much of the work to the trollkin who had traveled with the machine.
"I doubt it, these fellers seem more... civilized, I guess. This bunch came outta the woods, led by a big lug with some kinda crazy fur collar on his coat," Applejack said, not realizing that one of the trollkin had stopped to listen, "never got his name. Had a big ol' mace, and a bunch of bigger trolls with 'im. Couple dire trolls, even."
"Think I know who yer talking about," the trollkin said, "only one trollkin I can think of like that. Borka Kegslayer."
"You've met this fellow?" Rarity asked.
"Nah, but I've heard of him," the trollkin answered, "I'm from up north, an' so's Kegslayer. Sorta famous 'round those parts."
"If that's so, d'you know anyone who could find this feller?" Applejack asked.
"From what I hear, his warband's been wandering around a while. I know some trollkin who came from his kriel, some of 'em have kin in his band."
"Is there any chance one of them might be convinced to relay a message?" Rarity asked, "I'm willing to make it worth the effort for everyone involved."
"Wouldn't be easy, not at all," the trollkin replied, "have to track 'em down, see if any of 'em are still in touch with their kin in the warband, gotta get one to..." he trailed off as Rarity offered him a small drawstring bag, open to show the uncut diamonds that filled it. He took the bag from Rarity's magical glow and lifted a diamond out, examining it carefully. Finally he returned the gem to its bag, which he then slid into a pocket inside of his jacket. "'Course, just because something's difficult doesn't mean it's impossible."
"I'm glad we could come to terms," Rarity said cheerfully.
"We jus' need to let Pinkie know she's needed in Canterlot," Applejack said. "And, what d'you figure, Rarity, should we tell her she can bring her friends?"
"I don't see why not," Rarity answered, "I must admit that anyone going around calling himself 'Kegslayer' is probably rather... uncouth, but I don't think Princess Celestia would object."
"Okay, I'll get the message passed along," the trollkin said, "might be a while, but it'll get to her, no worries. Now, I'd better get back to work, yeah?" With that, he returned to the task of unloading the train.
"Diamonds, huh?" Applejack asked.
"Why yes, diamonds. I recently participated in a highly profitable enterprise." Rarity explained. "While most of the proceeds have gone to funding Equestria's warjack production, my share has proven supremely useful. I'm sure you've had your own encounters with the discommodious bureaucratic tangle one has to venture through to be allowed on a Khadoran military train, and you wouldn't believe how much a well-placed bag of jewels speeds up the process."
"I can scarcely imagine," Applejack said laconically.



Two days later, Applejack and Rarity once again found themselves in Elsinberg's rail yard. Most trains that arrived at Elsinberg turned around there, but on that day a train was coming that would continue to the southwestern outpost. Rarity had secured both traveling supplies and permission for both ponies and her warjack to ride the train to that outpost. From there, they would hike to the foot of Canterlot Mountain and improvise. They hoped to meet one of the Royal Guard air patrols and send word of their arrival. In case they weren't able to do that, Rarity had gathered supplies enough for them to travel to the town of Hollow Shades, where they would likely be able to catch a train up the mountain. Rarity wasn't sure she wanted to rely on civilian transportation, however, as even heavy cargo trains might not have the means of securing a warjack for transport. Most cargo carried in trains could be set in its car and expected to make the trip without issue, so she wasn't sure they'd be able to anchor the chains needed to properly secure Glam for transportation.
Rarity was surprised at herself when she realized how much Glam meant to her. It was, after all, just a machine. A large, brutish, smoke-belching, killing machine at that. Despite the dangers of the Black River and occupied Llael, she had made the trip north without incident, making the warjack little more than an expensive burden; a seven-ton hulk of iron, steel, and underutilized potential. Yet, its loud, sooty presence was comforting, and she couldn't help but feel that having the 'jack at her side was perhaps the reason why she hadn't encountered any dangers while traveling. She was sure that any bandits or thieves who might have otherwise leaped from hiding and demanded her valuables had no interest in brawling with a Nomad over the contents of her wagon.
So lost in thought was Rarity that she didn't hear the train's engine. Only the nerve-grinding shriek of its brakes could have brought her back to the present, and they did exactly that.
"I swear when we get back to Equestria, I shall do everything in my power to avoid riding trains," Rarity told Applejack through clenched teeth. "Pegasus chariots and zeppelins for the rest of my life, if I can possibly help it!"
"Neither of those operate out of Ponyville," Applejack pointed out, "so I don't see how that'll work for ya."
"Well, I don't expect my resolution to last very long," Rarity admitted as the train's crew began to unload it, "and I doubt I could manage Twilight's temporary-wing spell. Still, a mare can dream, can't she?"
"Fine, fine, jus' keep a lookout while ya dream," Applejack said, "they're sayin' at the fort that another warcaster's arriving today, I wanna see if we can... oh my..." The earth pony trailed off as a giant of a man stepped out of the train's front car. He was obviously the rumored warcaster, as the broad smokestack behind his head revealed. Smoke poured from the stack, indicating that his arcane turbine was powering his heavy, battle-worn armor. Applejack wondered if he'd kept the boiler running throughout the entire train ride, heedless of the dangers of combining thick smoke and enclosed spaces. The warcaster stood more than seven feet tall, and in his hands was an axe of nearly that length, with an arcane glow emanating from openings in its blade. For all of this, it was the man's eyes that most stood out. They embodied a dark, seething rage that seemed to radiate outward, suppressing everything around him. The warcaster gave the impression of barely-contained fury, as if at any moment he might lash out with axe, magic, or warjack to murder anyone who crossed him. Or anyone he just happened to feel like killing. A more sinister individual Applejack could not imagine. She had faced enemies before, dark beings with dire intentions, but all of them had had some element, some motivation, that allowed her to at least understand their actions, even when they were directly opposed to everything she stood for. This man, this Khadoran warcaster, was something new. The hatred emanating from him drowned out everything else, and Applejack was sure that his reasons for being a warcaster were no less or more than for the opportunity to calm the bloody-minded rage that lurked just behind his eyes. She could not imagine what could fill someone with such hate.
"Menoth preserve us," said a quiet voice to her right. Applejack started and looked for its source. A Winter Guard trooper had walked up beside her unnoticed. Applejack saw that he, too, was transfixed by the newly-arrived warcaster and his unfathomable, unspoken hatred.
"Ya know that feller?" Applejack asked quietly. She didn't want the warcaster to overhear their conversation as he oversaw the unloading of his warjacks. Applejack noticed that he was as large as the trollkin laborers, and that even they seemed intimidated by him. The concept of intimidated trollkin was novel to the pony.
"You mean you don't know who that is?" The Winter Guardsman asked his voice just above a frightened whisper, "I knew there was another warcaster coming, but I didn't expect him! That's Kommander Orsus Zoktavir, the Butcher of Khardov!"
Hearing Zoktavir's nickname convinced Applejack that her suspicions were correct. Khador hadn't let her near their higher-ranked officers, or civilian government, because they intended to attack Equestria and didn't want her to find out. The High Kommand planned to have the Butcher try to quell his unfathomable blood lust on Canterlot's defenders, then send in Harkevich or someone like him to pick up the pieces and try to convince the citizens that Khador hadn't really meant it. Meanwhile, the threat to the rest of Equestria would be unspoken, but very clear: 'Do as we tell you, or the Butcher will come to your town next.'
"Rarity, I believe we need t' change our plans," Applejack told her unicorn friend, who nodded mutely in response.



The supply train had departed early the next day, and arrived at the Khadoran outpost the following morning. Applejack and Rarity had unloaded Glam and connected him to Rarity's reinforced wagon in the light of dawn, and had the wagon laden with supplies and ready to move before most of the garrison's soldiers were awake. However, they decided to stay and discuss their options from that point. By the time they decided to head southeast towards Hollow Shades, the train had already left.
At least, going to Hollow Shades was the reason Rarity gave the Men-O-War at the gate for their traveling east. Applejack, aware of her limitations, had refused to speak, even when addressed directly. One of the Men-O-War even asked Rarity if Applejack was mute. Applejack also studiously avoided looking at the unmarked crate in the wagon, which had been a last-minute addition to their supply cache. Having left the outpost and traveled for some distance, Rarity took advantage of the rolling hills which now blocked the base from view in order to direct Glam to turn northward. The railway between the outpost and Elsinberg passed through a small stretch of woodland that would serve Applejack's purpose quite well. The trick was in getting there unnoticed.
"You're sure this will work?" Rarity asked as Glam stopped the wagon several feet from the treeline, "I'd hate to go so far out of our way for no reason."
"Don't you worry none, jus' git that big metal friend of yours t' unload our new toys." With that, Applejack grabbed a pry bar and her saddlebags, then hopped off the wagon seat and made her way through the woods to the train tracks. Rarity and Glam followed, Glam carrying the unmarked crate.
"All right, Glam, set it down right here. Careful now," Rarity told the warjack. Glam obediently placed the crate in front of Applejack, who pried it open to reveal that it was filled with sticks of dynamite.
"If they can git us stuff like this," Applejack said with a grin, "maybe diamonds really are a mare's best friend." With that, she and Rarity began removing dynamite sticks and placing them under the rails, pushing aside the loose gravel between the wooden ties to do so. Eventually, they had placed all of the dynamite under the rails. Applejack set about the delicate process of connecting all of the fuses to longer lines taken from her saddlebags, which she would eventually bind to a single primary fuse.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, darling?" Rarity asked, "I'm sure the Khadorans will suspect we're responsible, and they're bound to take it very badly."
"Rarity, you saw that Zoktavir lug too," Applejack said, tying the final secondary fuse to the primary line, "jus' lookin' at him, ya can tell he's all kinds of bad news. And they're meanin' to send him to Equestria whatever we do. Why else would he be in Elsinberg? Zoktavir leads assault forces, it's about all they use him for. So we might as well slow 'im down if'n we can. Besides, I did some askin' around while you were gettin' this stuff. Zoktavir's a homicidal maniac. They say once he gits all worked up t' fight he'll kill anyone he can get to. Guy takes out more of his own soldiers than his enemies do."
"And you believe these rumors?"
"Rarity, when I looked at Orsus Zoktavir, I saw a man who was havin' trouble remembering why he wasn't murderin' everyone he saw. Don't try t' tell me you thought any different. That man is angry, so angry ya can feel it jus' by looking at him, and whatever's got under his skin has him so mad he'll slaughter folks just hopin' it'll make him feel better. That man's gonna kill and kill and kill until somethin' finally kills him. And he's been a warcaster fer twenty-some-odd years now, so killin' him doesn't seem likely."
"Frankly, it's just horrifying to believe that any military would employ such a man," Rarity admitted, "one would expect them to lock him up, maybe even end his life themselves if he's that difficult to handle."
"One of the rumors I heard was that High Kommand is scared that one day Khador'll run outta enemies, 'cause then they won't have no one to send Zoktavir after." Applejack said, double-checking the dynamite fuses, "whether that one's true or not, he's an uncontrollable killin' machine an' I'm not having him anywhere near Equestria. Now, you an' Glam git behind the wagon, I'm gonna light this here fuse and then I'll join ya right quick."



Rarity nodded and made her way to the wagon, Glam following like an obedient dog. A few minutes later, Applejack vaulted over the wagon, shouted "cover yer ears!" and followed her own demand. Rarity barely had time to clap her hooves over her ears before the dynamite exploded. The explosion shook the ground, and the shock wave rattled Glam's armor.
"Yee-haw!" Applejack declared, leaping around the side of the wagon to survey the damage. Rarity's ears were ringing so badly that she could barely hear her friend. She took a deep breath, flinching slightly as her ears popped, then followed Applejack. Most of the trees in the immediate area of the blast had been shattered, and many of them uprooted as well. The rails themselves were curled upward in a slightly absurd manner that reminded Rarity of her own mane-style.
"Well, that was... effective," Rarity commented.
"Yep! No way that madman's gonna git t' Equestria through here," Applejack said gleefully. Rarity felt that Applejack's wide grin would've been more appropriate at a fireworks show than an act of guerrilla warfare.
"I had a thought, while I was hiding behind the wagon," Rarity continued, "will Princess Celestia approve of us demolishing Khadoran rail lines?"
"Uh." Applejack declared, her grin failing, "I had not thought of that. I figure we better tell her, though. Better she find out from us than them, y'know?"
"What say we tell her about Orsus Zoktavir before telling her about blowing up the train track?" Rarity offered, "she might see things our way. Now, let's get out of here, they were bound to hear that explosion at the outpost, and I shouldn't like to be in the area when they investigate."
"Right you are, Rarity," Applejack agreed.