After taking a moment to collect herself, as well as thinking of what she was going to say, Twilight leaned over and began to shake her husband gently.
"Don? Don, wake up."
Don suddenly jerked awake. "Huh? Eh, what?" He sat up and looked over at his wife of almost 4 years. "What's......what's wrong Twilight?" He asked.
She looked at him. "Don, I've just had a dream. This was a dream unlike ANYTHING I've ever seen before!"
Don was scared. "What.......kind of dream?"
"Nothing awful Don, I assure you. My dream was all about a machine."
"Huh? A......machine? What did this machine do?"
"Well, if my dream is to be believed, then the machine that I saw in it just MIGHT be the ticket to get you guys back to Earth!"
Don looked at her before sighing. "Twilight, we've been over this. I don't even WANT to go back to Earth, and neither does anyone else."
"No, hear me out Don. I mean that this machine might be able to send you guys back in time to Earth during WW6! Remember? You were always talking about wanting to do your part for ending the war, but got sent here. Now I think that I see a way to make that dream a reality."
"Yes, but it was just a dream Twilight. Dreams aren't real."
"This wasn't just a dream Don. This one seemed to be more like a vision. All I could see in my dream was this machine, and I could see EVERY last detail of it in vivid detail!"
Don sighed. "Well, normally I would say that we talk to Jim about this, but since it's the middle of the night, we'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning. Can you put your memories of your dream into a Memory Crystal?"
Twilight nodded, and after grabbing one off of a nearby shelf with her magic, she did just that. Then, once the memory of her dream/vision was safe, She snuggled close to her husband, and was soon fast asleep.
The next morning, the 2 of them went to talk to Jim about what Twilight had seen in her dream. When they found him, he was sitting in his office on the Battleship Express working on more blueprints for future weapons development. He looked up when Don entered his office.
"Hello Don. It's been a while."
"Likewise Jim. And I've said this before, but I still find it so bizarre that even though the Battleship Express is here at the Imperial War Museum, you STILL come to work at your office in here every day!"
Jim chuckled a bit. "Don't act so surprised Don. I mean, I may be 65 years old now, but what else would I do if I didn't work? I don't want to play golf, and I still don't think that Melanie's in any condition to do too much."
"And........how is your wife doing these days Jim?"
Jim sighed. "Well, I think that Melanie may be doing better. Ever since we've arrived here in Equestria, even though she still does hide in the shadows of the train, she comes out for longer periods. I think that her mind may be slowly putting itself back together, but please remember Don, we lost all 4 of our children, and both of our grandchildren during the world wars. All of them fell in the line of duty, and that destroyed Melanie. I fared little better." Jim seemed to be close to tears.
Don knew all too well what he was talking about. Jim's wife Melanie was probably the greatest legend of the Battleship Express outside of the ghost of Major Jeff Coleson. Once the train was fully up and running, Melanie lived on it with her husband, though no one but Jim ever saw her. She was always there, but never seen. I myself saw her only twice, and even then it was for only a few seconds. Still to this day some doubt her existence, but as Jim, Don, myself, and a select few others will tell you, she is real, and she's still there on the train.
Jim then looked back up at Don. "However, I get the feeling that you're here to talk to me about more than just myself and my wife."
"Yes, I have. What if I told you that my wife Twilight just MIGHT have a solution for our returning to Earth to finish what we started in WW6?"
"Well, then I'd be all for listening to it." Jim then turned to Twilight. "What do you have Mrs. Twilight?"
Twilight then pulled out her Memory Crystal. "Well, last night in a dream, I saw the machine that you're about to see. I could see EVERYTHING about it in vivid detail, and I think that it might work, but yet Don and I wanted a second opinion." She then accessed the memory that she put into the Crystal, and showed it to Jim.
When Jim saw the machine in question, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The whole machine was nothing but a maze of pipes, cables, valves, gauges, gears, and control switches. It was a Steampunk's wet dream, and was maybe 10 feet by 8 feet, though he was hoping to be able to compact it, assuming of course that it could even be built to begin with.
Jim then looked back up at Don. "Ok, so what do you want to do with this? Do you really want us to build it?"
Don sighed. "That's what I don't know Jim. I mean, you know as well as I do that we have to get back to Earth to finish what we started, but yet at the same time, we have to have a way to get there. Is this machine even within the realm of feasibility?"
"That's what I honestly don't know Don. I mean, I would be able to create blueprints for it, but to know what it could and couldn't do, we would actually have to attempt to build it, and THAT'S where my levels of concern come from. Remember Don, we'd be crossing the barriers of not only Space, but Time as well. We'd be building a machine never before seen, and there's no clear readout on if it would even work. And even if it did, Time Travel is something that Man wasn't meant to mess with. We'd be playing God by doing so, and the way I see it, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'. However, if you could secure supplies, I believe that myself, my engineers, and anyone else who wanted to help could indeed build this machine. And heck, even if it didn't work, it still would look pretty cool!"
Don was surprised. Never did he ever think that Twilight's idea would even get off the ground. Sure, maybe the chances of it actually working were pretty slim, but yet at the same time, if Jim was willing to go for it, then maybe it was an idea that had some merit to it after all!
"And how long until you think you could have the blueprints ready Jim?" Twilight asked.
"Well, I should be able to have them done by the end of the week, assuming of course that I can use your Memory Crystal."
Twilight nodded. "Of course you can Jim. I made a copy before I brought you the original, so I have another one back home."
Twilight and Don then left, while Jim got to work on the blueprints.
It was a long couple of days, but by August 3rd, Jim finished the blueprints; at least a rudimentary first set. It was then that the rest of us were who knew how to build machines were called up to help, myself included.
"So, what exactly are we even doing Jim?" I asked him.
"Well, a few days ago, Don's wife Twilight had a dream. In that dream, she saw a machine that she believes would be capable of sending us back to Earth so that we can finish WW6 before returning home. Thanks to a Memory Crystal, I was able to create blueprints for it, and that's where the rest of you come in. We just have to build it, test it, figure out how to attach it to the Battleship Express, and then use it."
When Jim showed us the rudimentary plans, many of us thought that he was just messing with us. There was no WAY that the machine would work!
"Are you being serious Jim? It REALLY sounds like you're just messing with us right now!"
He just shook his head. "No Leopard, I'm actually being perfectly serious right now. I was the one who created these plans, and although they may look rudimentary, they may indeed hold the key to our return to Earth!"
"But Jim, I don't WANT to go back to Earth! There's nothing left for me there!"
Jim turned to him. "Don't worry Alex, the trip would only take about a week at most. We go back, run the Futas out of town, and then come back here."
I was still looking at the plans. "Wait Jim, are you actually saying that we build a time machine, combine it with a teleporter, and then attach it to our train?!"
He sighed. "I'm not going to sugarcoat this. The short answer is yes, we are going to do that, and if we succeed, then we become the first Humans to travel through Time and Space. However, the risks of such a machine are great. No such technology currently exists, and the plans that I've made from what Don and Twilight showed me are very rudimentary. Not only will we be building a machine that has been called 'impossible' in the past, but we'll also be testing it, and then trying to attach it to the train." He then looked at all of us. "So, how many of you guys are even with me in this?"
To Jim's surprise though, all of us raised our hands.
I spoke up. "I think that I speak for all of us Jim when I say that time travel has been my dream since I was young, and to actually be able to build such a machine would be AMAZING!"
The other guys all cheered as well, and then we got to work.
I'll be perfectly honest, at first, we thought that the "Mechanics Project" that we were working on was going to be easy, but later on, it became an absolute nightmare. Building the machine was the easy part; the hard part was actually getting it to do something!
For starters, we had NO IDEA how we were going to power it! It would take more energy than even our Big Boy was able to produce, so we had no choice than to try and build a sort of reactor. For some reason, one of the engineers INSISTED that a reactor powered by carbide would work.
Jim put his hands over his face. "For the last time Jensen, it WILL NOT WORK!!! They tried it with Shooting Star, and what happened to that contraption?! It's STILL broken!"
I knew what Jim was referring to. Located in one of our supply cars was a machine so broken that nearly all of us had forgotten about it. "Shooting Star" as it was known, was a mechanical battle machine, commonly known as a "Mech". This odd contraption stood about 20 feet tall, and was all gray and blue with gold trim. It had a crew of 3; a driver, an engineer, and a gunner. It had chain guns, missile launchers, and was capable of launching nuclear ordnance, but it was seen as a failure. It was slow, bulky, and had awkward movements. The Mech was powered by a prototype carbide reactor that was ALWAYS breaking down, and had problems. It was first built by the Army during WW5, but it never got past the prototype phase. It was the only one of its kind completed, and even then, it was a dud. The crew compartments were tiny, hot, and hard to ventilate. The operator was on top, and saw everything through the eyes of the Mech. Directly below him was the gunner, and directly below him was the engineer. The 3 sat on top of each other in a space that was on par with a phone booth! Eventually, the Mech was thrown to the curb, and was meant to be scrapped. However, the RWD managed to secure Shooting Star, as although it was an oddity, it was a weapon, and it could kill Futas. It saw very little action, although over time, some of its faults were corrected, and its systems were given the attention that they needed.
However, even with these additions, Shooting Star was still in storage in crates on the train, and seemed doomed to never see combat, as its carbide reactor was a failure. After looking over the blueprints in detail however, Jim believed that he knew how to fix it. He set his mind to work on it, and with a few engineers who had experience with chemistry and nuclear physics helping him, they created a carbide reactor that not only looked good, but it also functioned as it should as well, at least for a while. This reactor was used as a model for the one that our machine would one day use.
"What are you guys even working on anyway Stud?" Dash asked me one night.
I sighed. "Well, remember how some of us have been talking about possibly heading back to Earth long enough to finish WW6?"
"Yeah."
"Well, Jim thinks that he's got the machine to do just that. Unfortunately though, we have to build it, figure out how everything works, and then work out any kinks with the machine! If you ask me, it'll NEVER work, and we can't even seem to finish building it!"
Dash looked at me with wide eyes. "Wait, are you guys building a TIME MACHINE?!?!?!"
"Eh, to an extent. We're building a machine that'll not only take us back to Earth, but will hopefully send us to just before the Battle of Vegas so that we can be able to prevent the nuking of not only it, but the rest of southern Nevada as well. Assuming of course that we can even get that contraption to even DO anything!"
"It's that bad huh?"
I nodded slowly. I didn't want to see the project as a failure, but yet if we didn't start seeing some results soon, I was possibly going to lose it!
Luckily I didn't lose it, as progress was being made not too long after. By the end of August, we at least had the machine part of it built, while Jim and Co. were working on the reactor, and the kinks that came with it, while another group was working on another aspect of the machine; the ability to head to another world.
This was the hardest part about the machine to understand. It involved Quantum Physics, Physics, HUGE scientific words that I had no clue what they meant, and chalkboards the height of a vaulted ceiling PACKED with scientific and mathematical equations that I had absolutely NO IDEA what they meant!
From what I was able to piece together though, these scientists, aided by Pony scientists, traveled back to the Everfree Forest, and managed to locate the spot where our train had come through to Equestria from Earth. Using some kind of special device, they managed to "capture" the Dark Matter-infused Anomaly that had sent us there, which was going to also be used to power the machine, in addition to the carbide reactor. These 2 elements were going to be mixing in the reactor, as was steam from the Big Boy. I still wasn't quite sure how exactly this was going to work, but I was told that the carbide worked for the time travel, while the Dark Matter of the Anomaly worked for the portal end. The steam was just to give it the energy that it needed.
I just did my part, and focused on the machine itself. Building the machine was fun. Even though it was a mountain of pipes, valves, gears, gauges, control knobs, buttons, switches, wires, and tubing, I knew how to build everything, and with help from guys like Alex, Todd, and others, I was able to do my job well enough.
Another problem that we had to overcome was where to even put the machine on the train. We needed it to be in an accessible area, but yet preferably one FAR AWAY from people just in case anything went wrong! In the end, we decided to use our old pillbox. Still located at the front of the Battleship Express, on top of the platform just above the front cowcatcher, directly behind the headlight and number plate, was a metal and concrete pillbox. It was 10 feet wide, 5 feet long, and 4 feet tall, and was also filled with machine guns and machine gun ammo, but it had never really been used due to the extreme danger that the crew inside faced if we had to ram something. It had been abandoned, but yet never removed. Now it would serve as a housing for our machine, which we dubbed "Oddball", due to it being such an oddity.
We gutted the inside of the pillbox, and soon began to disassemble Oddball in stages, before hauling the pieces up to the front of the train, bringing them through the little door at the back of the pillbox, and then reassembling them inside. The guns and ammo were all removed, the tiny little slits and gun holes were enlarged, and filled in with bulletproof glass. The exterior of the pillbox was also reinforced with heavy armor, so as to better protect the machinery inside.
Once the reactor was installed, Oddball was then connected to the Big Boy. Hoses, wires, cables, and pipes were all attached to various points along the engine, including the front set of drive cylinders, the boiler, backhead, and even the smoke stacks, so that waste gasses could be expelled, though all of these were hidden after they were installed, so as to hide the fact that they were there, thus minimizing their chances of becoming a target during combat. Oddball still wasn't fully ready, but it was well on its way.
"It looks pretty Steam Punkish to me." Alex said to me one night.
"Yeah, I agree with you there Alex. But yet, I think that it looks kinda cool. I mean, look at this!" I showed him a picture taken inside of the pillbox with Oddball's components, "Doesn't this look cool?"
"Yeah, it LOOKS cool, but the question of the year is will it even DO anything?!"
I sighed. "I certainly hope so Alex. I mean, Jim, his team of engineers, and the Pony scientists helping them are the best in the business, but bear in mind, this is technology that not only is very little understood, but no such examples even exist! We were the first Humans to travel through Space, and now it looks like we could become the first to travel through Time as well!"
"Yeah, assuming that it even works. But even if it doesn't, we're no worse off than we were before."
"Yeah. So I guess we just try to look on the bright side, and keep hoping for the best."
Alex agreed with me, and we walked back to the workshop behind the Imperial War Museum where Oddball had been built, and Jim and Co were still working on everything else.
The next morning, Jim called us all together.
"Guys, we've got a problem."
"What's wrong Jim?" Don asked.
"Well, while running through more calculations for Oddball, we've discovered 2 more problems. One is that the machine will have to at least be in partial control of itself to calculate the jumps through time and space, meaning that it will have to have a computer brain. This problem can be solved with DELCI's help, but that leaves us with the real problem."
"Which is what?"
Jim pulled up a set of blueprints. "The truth is, in addition to our reactor, Oddball will need a bigger boost. To put this in layman's terms, speed will have to be a factor in the generation of energy. However, therein lies the problem. The speed required is faster than the Big Boy was designed to go."
I looked at him. "Let me guess Jim, we have to go 88mph?"
"Close. According to the latest calculations, we'll have to have the Big Boy going at 100mph."
I was shocked. Big Boys were designed to go 80mph. An extra 20mph may not seem like much, but with a steam engine, it has to have been designed to hit that speed, or something EXTREMELY bad could happen! Plus, no Big Boy had ever even gone 80mph, even though that was its design speed. Now we were about to make one go 100mph, or possibly die trying!
"Jim, are you......being serious right now?"
"As serious as I can be Leopard. Either we get the Big Boy up to 100mph, or we're not going back to Earth."
Don put a hand over his face. "PLEASE tell us that you've got some plans for this Jim. I mean, you ARE the train's chief engineer, and didn't your dad help design the Big Boys to begin with?"
Jim nodded. "Yes, my dad was one of the ones who designed the Big Boys, and yes, I do have a plan for this. All we have to do is rework the boiler, firebox, and drive pistons. We won't have to do a lot, and if you're worried about the Big Boy losing a lot of her original parts, don't be. She'll still be the roughly 55% original parts that she was back in 1944."
I sighed. Some people didn't even consider our Big Boy a "true" Big Boy, due to the fact that she was never completed like the others were. Her number is 4009, when it should have been 4025. She was about 55% completed before she was canceled, and left to rot for a number of years before FINALLY having her construction completed, and then pressed into service running supplies during WW3. She was finished by Union Pacific, but yet she was given the numbers "40" because of her being a part of the 4000 Series of locomotives, and "09", because she was the 9th locomotive restored by Union Pacific. It's a debate that still hasn't been settled today, but ask ANYONE in Battalion 4009, and they'll tell you that our 4009 is as real as it gets!
Now that Jim had laid out the plans, all we had to do was rework the Big Boy so that it could hit 100mph. We realized that this was probably going to take until the end of September, but yet we knew that we had to do it right.
The Big Boy was in the Big Boy Engine Workshop behind the Imperial War Museum, and we had most of the boiler, firebox, pistons, and tubing taken apart. I wasn't quite sure what we were doing, but yet Jim had us putting things together slightly differently, lining the piping and tubing with certain chemicals, coating the boiler components with heat-retardant substances, adding a number of new parts, and then we had to put everything back together again!
During this time, aside from a little bit of time in the evening, we didn't see our families too much. At home, I had 3 wives, and 6 kids, with another one on the way in Spitfire's tummy.
"Why aren't you home too much Daddy?" Midnight asked me.
I sighed. "I want to be Middy, but right now, all of us in Battalion 4009 are EXTREMELY busy with the project that we're working on."
"Which is what Daddy?"
I sighed. "Well, remember how some of the guys from the Battleship Express have been talking about returning to Earth?"
"Yeah."
"Well, the truth is, we're all working on a machine that will enable us to return to Earth during the end of WW6, and then finish what we started, before coming back here. We all made a vow to end WW6, and now we feel that it's time to uphold that vow. And before you ask 'why now?', I'll tell you. We now have the capability of actually doing something, and this was something that we didn't have before."
"And when do you think that you'll be ready Daddy?" Amber asked.
I shrugged. "With how everything's currently progressing, our target date is sometime in mid-October of this year, 2034."
My kids then all continued to ask me more questions, and I explained to them what I could about Oddball, the work that I was doing on the Big Boy, as well as what our plan was once we'd gotten everything working. They all seemed interested, but my wives looked less than thrilled. I didn't blame them to be perfectly honest. I too was scared of something going wrong.
"Hey Stud?" Spitfire asked me.
"Yeah Babe?"
"Promise me that you'll be careful with this. I mean, you guys got lucky the first time with coming here intact. You might not be so lucky on the return trip. The tracks that you guys used to get here might not exist anymore."
"That....is a possibility Babe, however I doubt that they've been torn up. Most likely, they got buried in sand, which our engine can push out of the way. Plus, Dren and the Wabash Cannonball used the same tracks that we did, and that was only about 15 months ago."
Spitfire put a hand over her forehead. "Oh yeah, duh!" We then talked about this for a little while longer.
Just before I went to bed that night, I gently lay my head on Spitfire's swollen belly. Spitfire was about 8 months pregnant with our daughter Blazie, and she had more of a reason to fear something going wrong than my other wives did. Amber and Midnight were now 4 years old, and Misty and Skyler weren't too far behind. Cara and Cassidy were now 8 months old, and were still dependent on Dash.
"Please be careful Stud", She whispered as she gently ran a few fingers through my mane. "I don't want to be left a pregnant widow."
I looked up at her. "You won't be left a pregnant widow Spits. At worst, we don't go anywhere, and if the machine explodes, nobody will be hurt, as Oddball's on the front of the train, and the closest guys to it are the ones in the cab. We'll be ok Babe."
I heard her sigh. "I'd like to believe you Stud, but yet I STILL worry for you!"
I held her close to me. "I know Babe, and I PROMISE that I'll be as careful as I possibly can with this!"
Spitfire sighed, and then tried to get some sleep.
About 2 weeks later, the Big Boy was fully reassembled, and the time had come to begin to test her new speed capabilities. Primary Crew were the ones who were driving, and under the care of Joe, Frank and Carl, Big Boy 4009 exceeded her design speed, and reached speeds of 95mph!
"Just 5 mph short of what we need. Not too shabby for a first run Joe!"
Joe Dixon shrugged. "Thanks Jim. However, if we didn't have to slow down at that one section of the line, I KNOW that we could have hit 100!"
Jim looked over the chart that he was holding. "Yes, I know Joe. And on the actual day of the trip, We'll be heading back the way that we came here, so I know that we stand a pretty good chance of hitting 100mph."
"I hope so Jim."
A few days after this, Oddball's final assembly was commencing. The carbide reactor was fully installed, and was turned on for the first time. It powered up as it should, and most of Oddball's systems were brought online for the first time. Everything seemed sound at first, but Jim and his engineers still had a bit of tweaking to do. This same day, the parts of the machine that contained the Dark Matter were installed as well. ONLY those who had degrees in Quantum Physics were allowed to handle and install those parts, as Dark Matter can be VERY dangerous if mishandled!
After this, only a few more critical parts needed to be installed, one of which was a main clock so that we could track Oddball's first trip through time, (even though the clock was REALLY only there for aesthetic purposes!) The next part was a primary control gauge. This large gauge gave readouts on Oddball's current status. There were 5 zones; Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red, and each zone had a label. Blue read "System Failure", Green read "Good to go", Yellow read "Holding on", Orange read "Systems Critical!", and Red read simply "Whoops!" However, if the needle ever reached "Whoops!" the results would be anything but. If that happened, we were looking at a reactor explosion, as well as an uncontrolled release of Dark Matter. So far, the needle hadn't gotten past the Green Zone, but yet Oddball also hadn't been fully powered on yet either.
The final piece was the most important. It was a combination of a keyboard, computer screen, and of course, Oddball's sort of "brain". The keyboard was for inputting the destination, as well as the date and time, while the screen was for displaying the data. The "brain" was for Oddball itself to keep everything running with aide from DELCI.
By the end of that day, everything was in place, and final assembly was complete. Now came the most critical part of all; running Oddball at full power, though not giving it the speed required for the upcoming Jump. ALL non-essential personnel were evacuated from the Big Boy Workshop, and the ENTIRE building was covered in a Magic shield to contain any fallout should a disaster occur. Waiting outside of the shield while the engineers and scientists did their work was one of the most agonizing waits of them all. Time almost seemed to stand still, but eventually Jim came out to tell us that everything worked as it should, and that in 4 days, on October 11th, 2034, we would attempt to make the jump back to Earth, with our target date being June 5th, 2029, giving us 3 days to prevent the nuclear apocalypse that happened during the Battle of Vegas.
On that morning, Big Boy 4009 was driven to the holding area in the Imperial War Museum, where she was coupled up to the rest of the Battleship Express train, and then pulled it out into the main railyard. Behind her, Lt. Daryl Meers and his crew were also getting Iron Glory ready to go, as she was the supply train of the Battleship Express. (It was also decided that Don's brother Tim, my brother Dren, the Wabash Cannonball, and its crew, would stay behind just in case the Battleship Express had to be rescued).
The members of Battalion 4009 were also pulling together everything that they were going to need for their journey. This included their weapons, ammunition, food, water, medical supplies, spare parts, tools, spare railroad ties and rails, and other essential items. After putting on my trusty Battalion 4009 Field Uniform, I grabbed my trusty Fire Ax, my rifle, Glock 9mm, my Kitsune Mask, and even Sombra's cape and armor. I didn't know why, but I felt that I should take them with me. I also grabbed Sombra's horn, and locked it up tight in the safe in my room on the train. Aurora also rounded up her battle armor, as well as all of the ammunition that went with it.
As I was still packing, Briana landed on my shoulders. "And I'm coming with you too, right?"
I shrugged. "If you want to. I mean, I won't stop you. Plus, even if I said no, you're literally Life, so what could I do to stop you?"
I heard her giggle a bit. "Good answer!" She then continued to ride on my shoulders as I finished packing up. Once I was ready, I gathered everything together, before taking it out to the Battleship Express. For the mission, I would be driving, Alex was my fireman, Todd was my brakeman, and Fred and Andy were my engine guardsmen. Yes, you read that right. If all went according to plan, I was going to be the engineer of the first "Time Machine Train"!
Once I arrived at the train, Briana and Aurora went to my room, and once I had all of my stuff stowed away in my room as well, I assisted with getting the rest of the train ready to go. Other crew members were scurrying about as well, and Ponies were starting to gather to watch us, including members of the local media. ALL of them were extremely eager to see the first time machine in action, as well as recording everything that happened.
Eventually though, we were all ready to go. Iron Glory and her train were hitched to the caboose of the Battleship Express, all of the trains's crews were onboard, and the soldiers of Battalion 4009 were either on the Battleship Express, or Iron Glory.
As I was walking up to the cab with Alex and Todd, I looked to the front to see Jim and Co doing a final systems check on Oddball. "Everything look good up there Jim?" I asked him over my radio.
"So far so good Leopard. Everything seems to be holding steady, and the needle is holding at ‘Good to Go’. Everything is running, and soon will be up to full power."
"And then the real fun begins, right?"
"Yes, then the real fun begins. Then we see if all of our hard work actually pays off, or if we spent all of this time, effort, expense, setbacks, delays, mechanical problems to overcome, and scientific advancements made for nothing."
"Yeah, so let's hope that this all pays off!" I then climbed up into the cab.
Since last time, a few new gauges and controls were added, although this was so that we could control Oddball from the cab, as well as monitor all of its systems. DELCI was also keeping a close eye on it, and we were just waiting for the final word from Don.
It was also during this time that we were all saying goodbye to our families. There were so many tearful goodbyes, pleas to be careful, and more hugs and kisses than we know what to do with.
"Please be careful Stud!" Dash was telling me, "I'd be DEVASTATED if I lost you!"
"Yeah, I know Dash." I then hugged Spitfire and Daring, before turning to my kids. "You all be good for your Moms while I'm gone. I'll only be away for about a week, but for me, it could easily be a few months! However, this is due to Time travel, so it just kinda works out that way!"
My kids laughed at this a bit, and then after hugging them one last time, I climbed up into the cab, but since the window was open, I was still able to see and wave to my family, just as Alex, Todd, Fred and Andy were able to do as well.
Suddenly though, Don's voice came over the intercom. "Ok, guys, this is it! all stations report in." One by one we all sounded off.
"Ok, and now that we've done that, just before we leave, Father Charles wanted to take the mic for a second." Don then handed the intercom mic over to Father Charles, our battalion chaplain.
"Thank you Major. Now then, as I'm sure that you're all aware, what we're about to do is VERY risky, so before we depart, I would just like to lead us in a quick prayer." He then paused for a moment to allow all of us who did pray to bow our heads.
"Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you today just before we embark upon this mission. We pray that you protect us while we finish what we started, and we also pray that you keep our families safe while we're away. You've carried us through for this long, and for that, we thank you, as we continue to do your Good Work here in Equestria. In your name we pray, Amen!"
"Amen." I said softly. I then helped Alex begin to go over the final systems checks.
Eventually, by about 1pm, everything was ready to go. Don had the Princesses on the radio, and they too were wishing us the best of luck, and to be careful with what we did.
"Please be careful Major. If we lost you now, we would never forgive ourselves!"
"We will be Princess Celestia, you can count on it! It'll just be a trip there, do what we have to do, and then get home again. It should only be about a minute for you all, even though it'll be a couple of months for us!"
"We'll be praying for you Major. Now then, get on out there, and get your train into the history books for being the first machine to travel through Time!"
Don laughed a bit. "You got it Princess Luna!" He then radioed me. "Hey Leopard?"
"Yeah Don?"
"Get DELCI to put on an appropriate song for this mission!"
"You got it Don! DELCI?"
"Yes Sir?"
"You know what to do."
"Oh yes Sir!" DELCI then began to play the best song for the occasion.
Then, as the music began to play, we all ran over a few final checks, triple-checked Oddball's systems, before Jim entered the date for our trip. "Location: Las Vegas, Nevada. Date: June 5th, 2029. Time: 8am." He then fully brought Oddball online, and after exiting the pillbox that housed everything, he closed it up, before taking his seat in the cab with us, so as to be better able to monitor his new creation.
Then, with a final blast of the Big Boy's whistle, I began to ease the throttle forwards, and the Battleship Express began to leave the Ponyville Railyard, with Iron Glory close behind her. Just as we were pulling out, Alex and I pulled our goggles down over our eyes, and after waving to our families one last time, I shut the cab window on my side, while Alex did the same on his side. We then pulled out for our date with Destiny.
"I'm really going to miss them while they're gone." Dash said sadly.
"So am I Rainbow." Twilight sighed. "But yet, it IS because of my dream that they're able to do this. However, yes, I REALLY hope that they all come back to us safely!"
Twilight and her friends all continued to watch us, little knowing that they were all soon to be relics from a timeline that was about to cease to exist.
Once we were out of the railyard, our primary task was to set the train on a course that would take us around Ponyville, before sending us back through the Everfree Forest. All along the way, we had to pick up speed so that once we reached the big stretch of straight track that we were aiming for, we would be able to hit 100mph.
Faster and faster our train went. From about 10mph, we were soon up to 20, then 30, then we had to wait as we rounded a corner, and all too soon, we reached the stretch of track that we rolled past when we first arrived over 5 years prior.
"This is is guys!" I radioed back to the rest of the guys. "Just a little bit more speed, and then we'll be through the Time Barrier!"
"Just don't tear us up Leopard!" Don warned. "I'd rather be alive with an aborted mission, than dead with our names in the history books!"
"Oddball's holding steady so far Don." Jim informed him, "And you'll be the first to know if anything goes wrong!"
I then opened the throttle all the way, and helped Alex with stoking up the fire in the firebox. From 30, we were soon up to 40, then 50, 60, then 70. "Passing 70mph! Just hit 75!"
"Come on Oddball!" I heard Jim mutter behind me. Hold together for me a little bit longer!"
Suddenly though, we ran into a problem. Something inside of Oddball's systems began to malfunction. Sparks began to fly from the system, and Jim received a warning in the cab. "Uh oh, Don we might have a slight problem up here!"
"What's going on Jim?"
"One of Oddball's systems is beginning to malfunction. I don't think that it's serious yet, as the gauge is still in the Green Zone, but I think that it's something to keep an eye on."
"Tell Leopard to be ready to abort if anything goes bad."
"I will Don."
"Just passing 80mph!"
The sparking in the system continued, and the gauge jumped up to "Holding on", in the Yellow Zone. It was holding there, but began to fluctuate up and down.
"90mph!" Then, from Oddball's systems, a bluish energy began to be emitted. I knew that this energy meant that the systems were getting ready for a jump through Time and Space, and not that something bad was about to happen. It was also around this time that we entered the Everfree Forest, getting closer and closer to the spot where we first arrived.
Jim was starting to get concerned though. Oddball's systems were really starting to get strained, and he was worried that something bad could happen.
"95mph!"
Suddenly though, the needle on the gauge jumped to "Systems Critical." Something was going severely wrong inside of Oddball, and if something wasn't done soon, disaster could follow!
"Don, we've got trouble!" Jim suddenly yelled into his radio.
"What? What's going on?!"
"The needle just jumped to 'Systems Critical'!"
"TELL LEOPARD TO STOP THE TRAIN NOW!!!!!"
Unfortunately however, it was too late. While Jim was still talking to Don, the Big Boy hit 100mph, the remainder of Oddball's systems were activated, and then in a flash of bright blue energy, the train made its jump through Time. We had just done the impossible, but yet was it truly worth it with what was about to happen next?