Equestrian Railways

by shadowspark101

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The year is 2013 in Equestria. The Railways were falling into a state of disorganization. In order to combat the problem, Equestria National sent out orders for all railways to be nationalized into Equestria National. Many railways tried to fight it, but one by one, they all succumbed to nationalization. Now, there remained only four railways.

One of these is Equestrian National Railways (EQN), which serves Canterlot, Ponyville, Manehatten, Vanhoover, and other major cities in Equestria. This railway’s headquarters is located in Canterlot, and the board of directors is headed by the princesses, but they do not worry about the railways, so they handed power to another pony named Waybill. It was Waybill’s idea to pass the Railway Nationalization act three years before, and to see the complete nationalization of the railways into Equestrian National.

The second is called the Tall Tale & Pegacific (TPRR). This railway serves the lines between Vanhoover and Applewood. In terms of rail mileage it had the least out of the four remaining companies, and consequently, was the poorest and least equipped. The railway board decided that it was pointless to try and fight the Nationalization act, and so within four years, the railway would be absorbed into the EQN.

The last two were the Dodge City, Appleloosa, & Southern (DASRY). And the Baltimare, Northeastern, and Fillydelphia (BNFR). Both railways were class two railways, meaning that they weren’t as powerful as the EQN, but they were important to the regions they ran in. These two railways fought hard against the Nationalization Plan, but the DASRY fell five months after the TPRR was absorbed, leaving the BNFR to stand alone against the oncoming onslaught.

Now my friends, this is not where the story begins. But instead, allow us to move towards another planet, one I think you know well.

Earth. Where the railways of the planet had fallen into shadows of their once former selves. But we’ll look at two countries in particular. The United States, and the United Kingdom, which were railway giants back then.

“So Benn, what do you think of this design?”
“Hmmm. Look’s kind of messy, let my camera focus in on it John.”
Two voices spoke. These belonged to two humans, Benn and John, respectively. The two were fans of My Little Pony, better known as Bronies. And also fans of steam locomotives. John was showing Benn a drawing of a 2-6-2 ‘Jazz’ class steam locomotive, which was one of the engines he had designed. Benn nodded.
“Not bad, I see you remembered to draw a valve gear this time.” He chuckled.
John just stared at him. “Shut up ya bloody Brit.” He said, faking Benn’s British accent. This sent the two into a small chuckle fit. At least, until both of their laptops started rumbling and whining.

Both boys looked at each other through their computer screens.
“What the heck is that?” Benn asked.
John shrugged. “Dunno. But it’s starting to hurt my ears. I think we should give our vid chat a rest for today.”
Benn agreed. The two bid each other good-byes, and started to turn off their computers, when all of a sudden the computers began flashing. The boys had no time to react, as they were blinded by the very bright light.

When the light finally stopped, there was no sign of Benn, John, or their laptops and some of their belongings. They had disappeared into the unknown.

“This is an outrage!” Yelled a very angry Earth Pony Stallion. “First that damned Nationalization Plan begins, and now all the railways in Equestria are being absorbed. Do they not have ANY form of identity anymore, or are they so worried of the unknown that they have to just go and be absorbed into one railway!” The earth pony slammed his fists onto the desk in front of him with a very loud WHAM!

“Now Mr. Hoover, please calm down, remember your blood pressure?” Came a very concerned voice, which belonged to his secretary. “You were almost sent to the hospital last time you started ranting like this.”

“Blasphemy, Lightning Slinger! I’m as young as I ever was! I feel prepared to take on the EQN with one arm tied behind my-”

Hoover was cut off as a huge racket could be heard from the small printing room from behind him and Lightning Slinger. It sounded like two ponies got stuck in the tiny room, and the two ponies couldn’t help but overhear bits of the conversation.

“Ow…. What the hell? Where am I?”

“You’re preaching to the choir here. Who are you, and where am I, and to top it off. WHY IS IT SO FREAKING DARK!?”

“Oh, like I had a choice there…John?”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out. And you are?”

“You really don’t remember me? Benn, you know. From Google Hangouts.”

“Oh wow, small world Benn. Now if you wouldn’t mind. Get your ass out of my face!”

“Sshhhh. Do you hear that?”

“No, I only hear the building of my ang-ow!”

Lightning Slinger had gone over and unlocked the print closet with a key that she had in her pocket, causing the two humans to come tumbling out with their belongings. They both scrambled to their feet and looked around. They then noticed the ponies looking at them, one looked very confused and a bit scared, while the other looked angry enough to break steel with his anger, as evidenced by the pulsing temple on his forehead.

“SPIES!!!” He suddenly yelled, causing John and Benn to scramble back. “Spies from the EQN! Here to make this railway disappear like the others have you!? Well you won’t get this line without a fight! I’ll send you back to your boss in-”

“Mr. Hoover that is enough!” Shouted Lightning Slinger. “Look at them, do they look like spies to you?” She asked, pointing towards the two humans. “They’re not even ponies, so I doubt the EQN would send them, and from the racket that they made, there is no way that they would have been in there for that long without somepony noticing that they were there.”

Both boys looked at each other in disbelief. “Spies?” Benn asked out loud. “I would hardly say that we are spies.”

John nodded. “Yeah, and uhhhh. Pardon me for asking, but where on Earth are we?”

Lightning Slinger looked at the two humans. “What is Earth? You are in Equestria. And what are you, if you don’t mind me asking.”

The two humans looked at each other. “Benn,” John said. “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore….”

Benn raised an eyebrow. “Where have you been for the past five minutes? We’re in Equestria, not Earth,” He said, crossing his arms. He then looked at Lightning Slinger. “And also, what is the EQN?” He asked.

Lighting Slinger sighed. Obviously, these things obviously were not of Equestria, or they would have known of the Nationalization Plan that had been passed 3 years before, she then looked as John reached over for the newspaper. She took this time to look over the two humans.

Both were pale-skinned, and had brown hair, with John’s being a shade darker. John was wearing glasses, and both were about above the 6 inch mark, she figured. But she was also curious. Despite having hands and standing on their bock hooves like ponies, their faces were, in her eyes, horribly misshapen. They only seemed to have hair on the tops of their heads, and in John’s case, around his mouth in the form of a short beard with sideburns. She was examining the two humans so closely, that she missed the next sentence to come out of John’s mouth.

“TPRR absorbed in Equestrian National Rail,” John began, reading the newspaper that he was holding. “TPRR Board of Directors decided that on the fifteenth of October that they would be formally absorbed into the new railway powerhouse,” He then looked back up at Benn, before turning his attention to the newspaper. “When asked for his thoughts on his Nationalization Plan, Mr. Waybill quoted, ‘I created this plan in order to combat the poor and sorry state that our railways have found themselves in. It is my dream to see that the railways of Equestria are nationalized under one company and may move forward as one adhesive, wholesome unit.’ And now that TPRR has been absorbed, all that leaves is the DASRY and BNFR as the last two railways that have yet to be nationalized.” He then turned to Hoover, but it was Benn who spoke up.

“Nationalization Plan? Sounds like a load of garbage to me. He’s just using it as an excuse to try and charge what he wants. I mean, look at the railways where I came from John,” Benn said. “First there were close to perhaps a hundred. Then the ‘Big 4’ were created after World War One. Then after World War Two, the railways were nationalized into British Railways. And then BR decided to privatize itself.” He then walked up to John and Mr. Hoover. Before putting his hands on the table. “I’ll be damned if I see a railway lose its identity.”

Mr. Hoover grinned. “Now THAT’S the kind of get ‘em spirit I need for my company!” He yelled, standing to his hooves. “How would you boys like to help me run a railway, and show that EQN what a real railway is made out of?”

“Sounds like a plan.” John smirked.

Hoover continued. “But, I’ll tell ya this, the Nationalization Plan isn’t going to be easy to combat, especially considering our run-down out of date fleet of Poniston 4-4-0’s. Those wooden engines just ain’t what they used to be.”

Benn laughed heartily. “Don’t worry about that,” He said, nudging John. “We’ve got plans of our own for locomotives, the best engines that will ever roll out of your workshops.”

Hoover’s grin grew wider. “That’s good to know,” He said. “You know I’m counting on you boys, don’t try and disappoint me.” He laughed, then left his office, Lightning Slinger followed.

When he was gone, John and Benn’s faces went from pure gusto and know-it-all, to worry and fright. The two looked at each other.

“Did we just?”

“Yep..”

“And we don’t know how to run a….”

“Nope, not unless you do.”

“We’re royally screwed aren’t we….”

“Oh yeah. Big time.”

Author's Note:

Well, this is my first FIMfiction.
I hope to see some success in this fanfiction..
Proof-read by Shimmering Honor. Thanks man.

Comments

[593322]

Politics in a HIE, and taken seriously?! This shall to be interesting...

[SoralTheSol]

That... felt off.

It is not bad but something about the whole story feels off. It is like your characters are not working properly. The fact that the humans had to introduce themselves to each other inside of wherever they ended up is something I do not get. Your transition set up was not very clear. Do you mean to tell me that they were chatting over the internet before mysteriously arriving?

On top of that there is a lack of descriptions for the characters. The whole thing seems a little rushed. One moment they are home, the next they are not only in Equestria, but in-charge of a rail way. You didn't even have them prove they were not bluffing. Sure I can understand the rail owner hiring them if they had shown him some of the plans first but just on their word alone?

[fyre-byrd]

“Shut up ya bloody Brit.”

Was Equestria ever a British colony? That would explain why the ponies know English...