//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: MINNESOTA BOUND! // Story: Rise of the fallen // by Iron Sides //------------------------------// Iron ore is something that every country needs, but few actually have strikes within their borders. Equestria is one such country. They relied on dealing with the diamond dogs for the iron they had but soon relations grew hot and the connection was severed. That was 100 years ago and nothing has been done to help the situation since. The solution was to evict the beasts, which would be a job for the remains of the US army. While the railroad pushed through Iowa unicorn ponies were busy with their human mechanics trying to convert the gas guzzling vehicles to magic power. A tough task to say the least. ________________________________________ Back in Lazarus, the machines or war were being taken apart for refitting. "Up just a bit further." said a young man, motioning for the engine hoist to pull up a few more inches With a grating sound the heavy V8 engine tore free of the ancient Humvee and swung lazily from the chain it was suspended from. It was a turbo diesel. It would be set aside for some other project once they had the means to drill for oil or something like that. The helicopters on the other hand were being ripped apart piece by piece. The jet engines had already been torn out the day before in preparation. Un-needed electrical parts lay strewn about the complex and an organized chaos fashion. Separate piles for different things with different uses. "Hey boss! You think we need this here temp gauge anymore?" asked a greasy mechanic from inside the cockpit of the heli "I don't think its unnecessary but I suppose we should keep it just in case. Throw it in the misc pile." ordered the head engineer. He turned around to consult with his unicorn counterpart, "OK Mr. Spark. So tell me, what do we need for all this stuff to work?" "Lots of magic and lots of gems." stated the blue, stocky unicorn stallion The engineer went wide-eyed and asked, "You mean diamonds, rubies and stuff like that?" Spark looked at him with a smile and said, "Yep!" "You know how hard it is to get those things in North America?!?!?! Those were all IMPORTED!!!" shouted the irate engineer "Calm down Jack! It isnt even that hard to get them, hell their scattered all over the place in abundance!" said Spark "What do you mean you crazy pony?" asked a quizzical Jack, still slightly angry at all the wasted hard work "I could go outside and dig some up with a shovel." "They take MILLIONS of years to form! I can take the magic thing but diamonds everywhere? Cant happen." stated jack, crossing his arms and looking at all of his men tearing into the equipment With a determined look on his face the pony stood up and cantered out the nearby service door. After finding a shovel he lit up his horn with a spell. With a grin spread across his muzzle he walked forward to a glowing chunk of earth and released the spell. Grabbing his shovel, he dug a foot down before the iron tip connected with something that was, indeed, much harder then the tool. A strenuous grunt later a floating clutch of about 5 diamonds, 6 sapphires, and 8 fire rubies floated alongside the stallion. He walked through the door and dropped the gems in front of a now extremely surprised human. "Told you." stated Spark before sitting down with a satisfied smile The astonished engineer stared at the pile of priceless rocks for a minute before snapping out of his stupor, "Ha.. how... how did you FIND all of these?" "Right out there." said Spark, pointing to the said location Jack blinked his eyes a few times before turning back to the progress of the other equipment. Without turning his head Jack asked, "So when is all of this going to be done?" Putting a hoof to his chin the unicorn took a moment to run some numbers. After about a minute he threw out a rough number, "I would have to say... about one to two weeks." "Hmm, I have learned to not ask questions. Especially if it concerns ponies." said the engineer with a chuckle _____________________________________ Smoke drifted across the open plains of Iowa, 5 miles from the boarders of Minnesota. Every crew member was extremely nervous. Hostile territory was close. They could smell it. Every inch that the rails pushed forward was another inch closer to conflict, a conflict that no one wanted to see. Sentries stood at the corners of the camp with their assault rifles, primed and ready for action. Each man wore his military issued ACU clothing, covered form head to toe in camo. The rest of the crews worked tirelessly on the railroad. Richard was currently sitting in a tent waiting for something to happen, something exciting. Though he was sure it wouldn't come for a few days he took it upon himself to plot the rest of the route. At this time the head was just outside what used to be Fort Dodge. The next leg of the trackage would take them to Humboldt Iowa, a scant 30 miles straight north. If the crews kept up their 10 mile a day pace they would be there in 3 days time. In the past month the railroad had progressed greatly. 269 miles lay between Fort Dodge and Lazarus. A good many miles that could be traveled in only a day. In that time Richard had instructed rookie firemen/fireponies and engineers on how to fire and control one of the precious iron steeds. He took great pride in his teachings and soon there was a couple towns along the line that were serviced daily by a mixed freight headed by the Wood fired Inyo. The train consisted of 4 boxcars and as many passenger coaches. All of this was held together by the settler ponies that in fact payed to ride the train to the new towns. Farms began to be built by the ponies and ranches started by the humans. Sure the little 'test tube' cattle had yet to mature but the fact still remained that once they were fully grown there would have to be a place to keep them. All of this happened in only ONE month. True expansion if I do say so myself. Sitting back in his make-shift chair, Richard collected his thoughts. Closing his eyes he decided to take a quick cat nap. Everything was going according to plan. After only a moments rest a loud shriek of the damn inyo's whistle snapped him out of his sleeping state. Grumbling, the engineer threw on his duster and his Stetson before storming out of the tent with an angry look on his face. The Inyo had been sent back an hour ago. What was it doing back. Walking up to the hissing locomotive he climbed into the cab and confronted the sooty engineer and firepony. "What are you two doing back so early?" he asked sternly "I hate to say it but the tracks have been torn up." stated the clam engineer With a look of shock Richard responded, "What do you mean 'torn up'?" Crossing his arms in front of him the human leaned against the cab side, "I mean just that. The rails were ripped right out of the ties. Looked like a bunch of paw prints scattered around it of all things." "I was afraid of this." sighed Richard "Afraid of what?" questioned the brown firepony who stopped midthrow of chucking a log into the fire "Diamond dogs." stated the young mechanic. The log hit the floor while the pony stood wide-eyed in shock, "DIAMOND DOGS!?!?!?" "Calm down Ash. We'll keep you safe." said the stoic engineer with a down motion of his hand "These are Diamond dog Dave! They could kill us all in ONE SWIPE!!" retorted Ash "We got a few things they don't." Said Richard with a grin "Oh ya? And whats that?" asked the pony "Guns and explosives." replied Richard with a smirk Ash raised an eyebrow, "Your gonna blast them out?" "Maybe, we aren’t really sure what we need to do yet, but if they continue to sabotage our line we will have to take 'action'." said Rich with 'air quotes', "but ya, that's the idea." "Can’t argue with that logic." said Dave with a mischievousness grin as he turned back to the locomotives back head "Well, you ARE the man in charge so its your decision." commented Ash with a roll of his eyes and picked the log up off the floor and chucked it in the fire "I need to catch a ride back with ya guys. First things first though. We need to fix the tracks and I am guessing we need new rails, right?" asked Richard "Yep, the gone and bent them around the trees." said Dave with chuckle "Huh, sounds like what the rebels did in the Civil War." replied Richard "What’s the 'Civil War'?" asked Ash with a questioning look "That is something I will not tell you about. Look in one of the Libraries back in Lazarus. Tons of books on it." stated the young historian/engineer Richard leaned out the cab and called out, "LENNY!! DANIAL!! WE NEED ABOUT 4 RAILS AND A SPIKE MAUL!!" "YES SIR!!" Yelled 2 burly men in the track gang They broke off of the mass of moving bodies and headed for the equally crowded stack of rails. These men walked around all buff and tough but they were the nicest guy you could ever meet. Hell, sometimes you would even see them having tea with the mares!! They were that well mannered and civil. Surprised the hell outta me the first time I seen it. Each man took one end of a rail and heaved it into the air with a grunt. After a few minutes they quickly loaded 4 into an empty boxcar. With that through they threw in some complementary spikes and last but not least, the maul itself. A wave of hands later and a hoot of the whistle the train was backing down to a small why track to turn around. Once that was done Dave threw open the throttle and the 2150 year old locomotive lurched forward. Loosing grip for a moment the wheels quickly regained it and it chugged loudly out of camp with the wooden cars clacking on the rail joints. A full hour passed before the train reached the torn up section. Richard jumped out and walked to the coaches to let the occupants know of the delay and that it would be over shortly. He shut the coach door and leaped off the vestibule (the platform at the ends of the cars). With a chuckle he asked Dave and Ash to come help him with the repairs. Dave climbed into the boxcar and dragged the rail out far enough for Ash to position himself under one end and Dave on the other. Rich took his position in the middle and they slowly moved the heavy rail over to the bad section. "How did those two do this all by themselves?" asked the pony as he panted from the exertion "I may know allot of things but that aint one of them." Replied Richard with a slight smirk, he wiped his brow with his Stetson and retreated back the boxcar with his makeshift team in tow One by one the rails were brought over and hammered into place. An hour after beginning the process they had finished and were on their way. Taking the time, Richard clambered over the wood in the tender, over the boxcar roofs and into the lead passenger coach. With a sigh he sat down in the plush seat. Leaning back, he covered his eyes with his hat and drifted off to sleep _________________________________ Sorry for the long wait guys. Been struggling with writers block, but I have some through with something. And as mentioned in the chapter there WILL be explosives used!