• Published 23rd Sep 2014
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Upgrading the Railway Network - The Stainmore Phoenix



Celestia sends one of her guards to find his calling in life and ends up upgrading the railway network

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Chapter 21

Chapter 21

After a few weeks, Dangersignal and Rainbow Dash got married in Canterlot. Some time later, Rainbow Dash had triplets-two unicorns (one a boy and the other a girl) and a Pegasus (a girl); then Dragonstorm and Lightning Dust were married. They soon had their own kids-two pegasi (both boys) and an earth pony (a girl). Dangersignal was now working full time as the controller of the Equestrian Railways, while Flash Sentry took over the Elder Alicorn Brother’s guard duties. Stormstrike took up Dragonstorm’s duties.

The two male Alicorns were constantly making sure timetables were kept and their wives worked hard with the weather and tending to the children. The children were typical children. As they grew, the railway grew and more jobs were made. By the time the kids were old enough to attend Ponyville School, they were enrolled.

“It’ll be an experience,” said one of the pegasi fillies.

“Agreed,” the other fillies said.

Lightning Dust took them to school, where they met up with the other students. The five got the “Blank Flank” treatment from a pale magenta filly with a pale, lightish grey violet with streaked mane and tail and a tiara on her head. Her friend, a Cornflower bluish gray filly with a Ceruleanish gray mane and tail and pale cyan glasses was helping in the torment.

As Lightning Dust left, she was wondering if maybe Dangersignal might have a plan. It was lucky for the two wives that Dangersignal was sent to collect the children. When the school day ended, he meandered up to the school house, where his two daughters, one son, two nephews and one niece were waiting for him. From where he stood, before approaching them, he noted they had been crying.

“Hey up,” he said. “Come here, what’s been going on?” he asked.

He soon got his answer when the two bullies appeared. He glowered at them as his kids, nephews and niece hid behind him. One pointed and began laughing, but stopped when Dangersignal turned and told his kids to follow.

“I’m not done!” came the angry protest.

“You are,” came Dangersignal’s blunt reply. “Keep this up and your father will hear from me.”

“You think your some big shot?”

“Your talking to the controller of the Equestrian Railways,” Dangersignal snapped. “I expect you show some respect to my kids, or I shan’t show you any.”

That shut her up. Dangersignal lead the kids away. When they were clear, he looked at them.

“That’s Diamond Tiara and her friend, Silver Spoon,” his eldest son said, despondently.

“What’s wrong?” Dangersignal said.

“She makes fun of us for not having cutie marks,” his niece said, ready to cry.

That was it! Dangersignal turned around and saw a pony arriving to collect Diamond Tiara. Taking deliberate steps, the Alicorn approached the pony.

“Excuse me sir, but are you Diamond Tiara’s father?” he asked the strange pony.

“I am, Name’s Filthy Rich,” came the reply. “You look like your ready to lose your temper.”

Dangersignal explained all that Diamond Tiara did, including insulting his children, nephews and niece for not having cutie marks. Diamond Tiara had to bite her tongue to keep from making rude remarks. When the Alicorn finished, Filthy Rich looked at Diamond Tiara, a disgusted look on his face.

“So, Dangersignal, what do you propose we do for punishment?” he asked.

“Have her clean out the passenger coaches until you can trust her again,” Dangersignal said. “Give her a nice long time to think about her actions and maybe let a simple lesson sink in-actions have consequences.”

Diamond Tiara looked up, horrified. Her father was prodding her to follow the Alicorn and his children to the railway depot, where coaches, fresh from a journey to Trottingham were waiting to be cleaned out. Diamond Tiara protested that her butler should serve her punishment.

“Do you want your punishment to be extended to “you’ll be cleaning out these coaches until your married”?” her father asked.

Diamond Tiara decided not to push her luck any further and duly carried out her punishment. Dangersignal’s kids, nephews and niece were grateful that the torment was put to an end and were able to enjoy their time at school in peace.

One morning, two days before the Hearthswarming Weekend, Dangersignal’s children came to see him as he polished the LBSCR K Class 2-6-0, ready for a royal train. As the three fillies came into the shed, there came a wheeshing noise an the Black Five shunted into the warehouse where the K Class was being cleaned and polished.

“So, your kids are here?” came a voice.

“Oh, they must want something. I’ll tend to them Alistair,” Dangersignal said. “Just clock off.”

“Right-o,” Alistair said.

Dangersignal turned to his kids and smiled.

“Alright, Flash Freeze, Firestrike and Breezeblaze, what do you want?” the Alicorn asked.

“Well, our teacher, Ms. Cheerilee gave us an assignment, to talk about the underappreciated,” Breezeblaze said.

Breezeblaze, the Pegasus child of Dangersignal and Rainbow Dash had her mother’s multicolored mane and tail (mainly oranges and reds), while she sported her dad’s dark red coat. She had fiery orange eyes and her mother’s brashness, as well as her father’s “take nothing sitting down” attitude and work ethic. She was also timid around new fillies and very hesitant to make friends.

She was often deputized to ask her father if she and her brothers could do something, which lead to her being too nervous to approach the Alicorn with the idea and it never got done. However, this was a school project and she had been put on it with her brother, sister and three cousins and she was deputized because she had a certain charm to work on her father.

However, her father was grinning broadly, so her charms were wasted.

“Did she indeed?” he asked.

“Correct,” said Breezeblaze’s brother, a unicorn with an ice blue coat with snow white mane and tail. His eyes were the same ice blue as his coat. He didn’t share in any of Rainbow Dash’s cockiness, but he had his father’s brand of cockiness, which was he was cocky about doing his job properly.

“So, Flash Freeze, can you explain the assignment in detail? And no deputizing your sister to explain,” he said.

‘How’d he know?’ Flash Freeze thought, but explained the assignment in detail. By the time the unicorn finished his explanation, the Alicorn was smiling. He then told his kids that he’d be glad to help and if he could meet with their teacher after class, he’d explain his plan for the assignment.

The kids thanked him and left, but they couldn’t help but wonder what Dangersignal had in store for their assignment. They finally concluded that it must be something big and special for him to want to talk to their teacher.

The next day, when school ended, Dragonstorm collected the kids while Dangersignal explained his plan to Ms. Cheerilee, who happily agreed to make the arrangements with him for their assignment. When that was finished, he bid her farewell and trundled off to the castle, which was “home” for him, his family, his brother and his brother’s family.

“Time for the next part of the plan,” he said to no one in particular.