Chapter 1: A Lost Runaway

Appleloosa, June 22nd. Night fell upon the small western town and Braeburn

was heading back home after a long hard day on the apple orchard. Along the way he

decided to meet up with his best fillyhood friend, T-Rail. He went to the train station

where he found T-Rail oiling and checking the parts on his engine.

"Howdy T-Rail! " called Braeburn. His friend turned his head towards the yellowish-orange stallion.

" Oh! Hi Braeburn! Watcha doin' here at this time of night?"

"Ah thought I'd stop by cause' ah haven't seen ya in a while and.... oh wow! I see ya gotcha' engine under it's own power now."

"Eeyep. Took em the whole dang winter but it payed off now! Say, yous' lookin' hungry. Ah got some corn and apple bread bakin' in the firebox if ya want some.

"Well.... ah ain't planned anythin' for supper so, sure why not?"

Just as the two friends were finishing their food in the tiny engine's cab, they felt a

rumbling beneath their hooves.

"What in the name of apple buckin'...." Braeburn was soon interrupted from a light

behind him, a mile down from the tracks.

"Ain't no trains this time of night right T?"

"No." he said. " Smokey ! Throw the switch to track 2!"

The fireman (or fire pony) understood and threw it as hard as he could. The 3 ponies

climbed to the top of the engine tender to watch the mysterious train pass. Braeburn

could just make out the details. Black engine with a silver front, a single headlight, and

white lettering. The engine was twice as big as the Appleloosan steamer and twice as

long. The chugging grew louder and faster as it rolled by.

"Sweet Sister Sadie!" shouted Braeburn. The engine soon disappeared in a cloud of

smoke and steam.

"What was that?"

"Ah don't know but whatever train that's was, ain't nopony in that cab!"

"Ya think we should chase it?" asked Braeburn.

T-Rail nodded in agreement. They returned to the cab and the chase was on.

Braeburn gathered his lasso ropes and a random grappling hook from the depot

shed. Smokey was in the cab shoveling coal into the firebox to increase boiler

pressure. He also checked the air pressure for the locomotives brakes.

T.R. was outside oiling and greasing the drive rods and valve gear to the fullest. No

doubt in his mind that he was going to push his engine to the limits. He ordered

Braeburn to tie himself to the front of the locomotive so he can lasso the ropes to the

mystery engine. According to T.R.'s observations, the couplings for the two trains

weren't compatible so that's the reason for the ropes. With two blast of the tiny

engines whistle, he opened the throttle wide. The engines superheated steam hit the

cylinders and the wheels responded. The engine groaned and slipped as they pulled

out the station platform.

They were about 30 miles out of Appleloosa, it was a quarter to 9 and the moon was shining bright. This helped Braeburn, for no he could see the locomotives black

smoke emitting in the distance. Considering this, he shouted back towards the cab to T-Rail.

"How fast we going?"

"59."

"Can't ya go any faster?"

"I'm tryin' but she wasn't built for this!"

"Giver all ya got!"

This forced poor Smokey to work twice as hard and twice as fast. Generously, T.R. pitched in to help increase boiler pressure.

"Check em dampers!"

Smokey nodded in response and turned several knobs and valves to the dampers. The engine ahead was becoming more clear now, where Braeburn could make out the

markings on the back of the tender.

"4460?"

They were finally close enough for Braeburn to cast his ropes. He began tying them and securing himself to the front of the tiny steamer. He took 3 deep breaths and

started to spin the ropes.

"1...............2................3!"

He cast the ropes hoping to make the shot.

Sure enough, he did and gave the ready signal. With ease, the pony engineer worked the brakes and trying to slow them down. The 4460 hardly reacted to the force it

was too strong. He tried again, but this time switching the brakes on and off causing the engines to jolt a little. " There we go!" Said T.R. They were approaching a 2% grade.

Now was his chance. About half way up, he slammed on the brakes causing the trains to slow down some more. But still, 4460 wouldn't bite. Her chugging got more intense

and her smoke went pitch black with some sparks flying out. The ropes on her tender began to give and one snapped, whipping Braeburn across the face.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" he screamed. " C'mon girl bite!" Shouted the engineer, praying that the engine would hold. They were approaching the climax of the grade giving

T.R. the last chance to stop the engines. He slammed the brake again causing the engine to jolt hard. Poor Smokey was thrusted forward into the engines backhead knocking

his head into the injector valve. T.R. noticed that they were low on water anyway which would have been catastrophic. The water level rose again thanks to Smokey.

"Thanks partner." he said. Smokey nodded in reply.

Now over the grade, 4460 pulled the tiny engine downgrade, destroying the brakes. "No!" screamed T-Rail. Another of the ropes gave way whipping off Braeburn's hat. "

And ah just bought that!"

The crew was now left clueless on how to stop 4460. Then Braeburn had an idea. "Ah hope to Celestial that ah won't regret this." he said. He then slipped off his securing

ropes and prayed. " Braeburn what are ya doin'? Don't do nothin' stupid!" yelled T-Rail. Then the earth pony jumped off. " BRAEBUUUUUURRRRRN!"

Chapter 2: The Visitor of Ponyville

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It was morning in Ponyville and almost everypony were just starting to wake up. Applejack however, was up since the crack of dawn to get ready for her chores around

Sweet Apple Acres. She stopped at the hardware store for some farming supplies when she noticed Rainbow Dash diving towards her. The Pegasus stopped abruptly in from

of Applejack, looking somewhere between tired and eager. "Mornin' Dash!" Applejack said. She then noticed that Rainbow Dash was covered in oily black soot. "Gosh darn!

what happened to ya?" Dash began to cough and clear the soot from her mouth to speak. "I don't know. I got up early to do some wing stretches and workouts," she

explained. "until I flew into some black oily cloud. I thought it was that big red dragon again, but the realized the smoke was coming from below. I went to investigate to find a

blur of black and silver racing into the 3-mile tunnel. It looked like some sort of train! But that's not all, it was being chased by a smaller engine!" Dash was tired and panting.

Applejack looked curiously at her. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and rumble causing all of the town's ponies to look out their windows. "What's all this racket?" asked

one. "Is it an earthquake?" asked another. Later, Rarity ran over to Rainbow and A.J. looking very annoyed. "I cant stand this ruckus!" she said. "It's interfering with my dress

detailing, and I need this done by tomorrow!" Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes. "We're all wondering sugar cube." said Applejack calmly. "Rainbow Dash witnessed

something strange that might connect to this. Rarity looked over to the soot-covered Pegasus in shock.

"Goodness darling, you look dreadful!"

"Thank you, I try." she said sarcastically.

Pinkie Pie rushed over with Fluttershy right behind her. Applejack answered before the two could ask. "We don't know either, but it's big and I think we should head over

to the train station to find out." The four nodded and rushed over to the station to see what's up. Along the way, they weren't the only ones to go investigate. Several

others, actually the whole town were wondering what was happening. As soon as they got there, they heard the welded rails beginning to hiss and Rainbow Dash shouted

out, "Look!" Everypony looked where she was pointing and sure enough, black smoke began to rise over the horizon. Then, there was a low tuned moan of a whistle followed

by a voice. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Fluttershy was looking confused as much as the others. "What kind of whistle was that?" she asked timidly.

Rainbow Dash shrugged her wings. Just then, Pinkie Pie turned around to find Twilight Sparkle and Spike running towards her.

"Twilight! Twilight!" shed called. "Twilight, you'll never guess what's happening. Something BIG."

"Well, what is it?"

"Biggest thing ever happening in Ponyville! Real big! BIG! Big big!

"Well tell me what's so..........." shed was interrupted when she saw the smoke. Now she began to make out the engines details. Quickly approaching the station platform, the

ponies began to back away. They then noticed a smaller engine following behind it. The chugging was intense as the giant steam locomotive rolled into the station, it's wheels

squealing to a halt. It gave a tall and loud spout of steam from the top and a familiar face of an earth pony peaked out of the cab window.

"B-B-Braeburn?" shouted Applejack. He jumped out of the cab and walked up to his cousin. Applejack noticed that he was covered in the black oily soot and had a couple of

bruises and a bloody scar across his face. Though he was in rough condition and was tired, he looked confident.

The earth ponies looked at each other for a few seconds. Braeburn was giving her that big grin he always did every time he saw her. He finally spoke.

"Howdy cuz. Wasn't expectin' to visit you like this."

"Braeburn! How-what is-how is this-look at you........." she couldn't finish. Instead she ran up and tackled him in a loving hug. She had tears in her eyes.

"It's okay Applejack. I'm okay. My friend T-Rail is involved in this too." Sure enough, from behind the big black engine, T-Rail walked up. "Hey Little A.J." he said.

Applejack knew him in her fillyhood too. He was a little older than her and Braeburn and she ran over and gave him a warm hug too. "So," she said finally, "what it this all

about?"

The two stallions explained to her and the rest of Ponyville about how they saw the engine, randomly appear out of the tunnel in Appleloosa,, how they were chasing it

down in the tiny pony engine, and how Braeburn made a suicidal jump to the 4460 to tried and stop it from the cab. Applejack, now stunned in surprise along with the others

slapped her cousin across the face with her hoof. "Ya darn idiot Braeburn! Ah seen some stupid stuff from you before, but this was the stupidest thing ever! Ya could've been

killed! I oughta'......." she didn't finish, again giving him a loving hug. "I'm just glad ya here cousin."

Finally Twilight butted in. "Sorry to break up this family reunion, but we still need to find out about this steam engine. "The 3 ponies nodded in agreement and the others

cautiously approached 4460. Twilight examined it closely, walking along the massive drive wheels with white stars in the middle, in front, and the other side until finally, she

came across the name and number on the locomotive's tender. "Southern Pacific 4460." she pronounced. "Well what does that mean?" asked Fluttershy. "Maybe that's the

train's name!" said Pinkie Pie assuring. "Super-dupper strange, but who am I to judge?" she said proudly. She ran in front of 4460 and grinned at it. "Hi Southern Pacific

4460!" she exclaimed, "Welcome to Ponyville!" 4460 said nothing, but instead spat some steam from her cylinders. Pinkie looked around at everypony else who were staring

at her like she was nuts (well, since when isn't she?). The pink pony blushed in embarrassment and moved out of the way. "I'm not the type for trains," said Rainbow Dash,

"but this one looks like it's made for speed. After all I did see it first and it was flying. Not literally." Rarity walked up to the engine next. "I don't mind its style or the silver and

white trim, but the color black makes it look so depressing." Twilight then returned to the station platform and called for Spike the dragon. The unicorn's assistant rushed up

to her as quickly as possible.

"Alright Spike, get ready to write a report to Princess Celestia."

"I'm on it." he boomed. He randomly reached behind his back and pulled out a paper and quill. Twilight began.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, Ponyville has received an unexpected visitor, a steam locomotive. I know they are very common around here, but this one is like no other we've seen before.

It's nearly twice the height, and twice the length of our own. It's wheels are as large as an Alicorn such as yourself, the engine is black with a silver front and has unusual

white markings on it. The driver's cab is marked 4460 and the tender is marked Southern Pacific. Nopony knows where it came from or why it's here. We hoped that you

would come as soon as possible to see, and hopefully have some ideas on what this is about.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Spike rolled up the letter and blew it into the green fire. Then Fluttershy came up to Twilight. "How long do you think it'll take?" she asked.

"I don't know Fluttershy." she said. "But I hope it's soon."

Chapter 3: Meeting Royalty

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While Twilight was waiting for the arrival of the princess, she and the other ponies stood around the locomotive still bewildered. Word began to get around quickly about the engine being some sort of alien craft, or a machine from the darker side, or a parallel universe. Lyra Heartstrings however, didn't mention to anypony but to Twilight, that it's possible that 4460 was from the human world. Twilight said nothing but from the way things were, she had no doubt it was possible. She, Lyra, T-Rail, and Braeburn climbed up into the cab and examined the interior. Braeburn was talking to T-Rail on how similar the engineer's control set up was to the Equestrian locomotive's. Lyra looked up at the valves on the back-head where there were brass plates with words engraved in them. "Twilight." she called out. Twilight walked to her side. "The wording and numbering in here is so similar to ours. Wherever it came from, whoever operated this must have some relation in intelligence like us. T-Rail looked over and nodded in agreement to the mint-green unicorn. "I recognize some of these controls, but some others I don't know about, or they jus' far to complicated. Some ah can't even reach!"

Just then, a white Pegasus in golden armor flew in. He had a serious look on his face. Everypony in the cab turned their attention to him. "This engine is off limits until approval of her majesty, Princess Celestia." Then another Pegasus guard came in. "We please ask for you to evacuate the engine and station platform." he said. They began to escort the ponies out the cab and off the platform to the front of the train station.

"Well, at least we know that she's coming soon." said Rainbow Dash as she flew up to Twilight. Suddenly they all saw a chariot descending from the sky and landing right in from of them. There, walking before them was the Alicorn herself, Princess Celestia. Everypony bowed down to her and she looked across the crowd. "At ease my subjects, she said in a calm tone, "I received word from my student about this newcomer and I am looking forward to seeing it for myself. Twilight Sparkle." The purple unicorn approached her. "After you." Twilight straightened up and guided her to the station platform, where a group of guards stood around the black engine. Celestia stopped short of the engine with an expression of amazement and curiosity.

"This is impressive Twilight! It certainly fits your description.

"Thank you princess!"

"Who were the first witnesses and who brought it here?"

"Braeburn and T-Rail."

"Bring them here."

Seconds late the two stallions rushed before her and gave a quick bow. "Ya called?" asked Braeburn. The princess nodded and guided them closer to the base of the engine's cab. "Tell me exactly what happened and how you managed to bring this here." she requested. the two earth ponies switched back and forth on how they watched the engine appear out of the tunnel in Appleloosa, to when Braeburn made his death defying feat to stop the engine manually. All of this, through one night. Celestia listened closely and was totally impressed by this. "May we go inside?" she asked. "Anythin' for the her magesty." said T-Rail politely. With that they all climbed up the ladder into the cab. Once again, Twilight was examining, with Celestia, the valves and gauges of 4460.

"T-Rail. Can you show me the controls you're familiar with?"

"Well your highness, on this side; the engineer's side, we have the few main controls. Up here is the throttle, here are the brakes, this is the speedometer, sander, reverser, and the whistle."

"The whistle?"

"Wanna try it?"

With her magic, Celestia grasped on the cord and pulled downward. There was a loud his a steam and a bit of gurgling until the whistle blew in tune. It was a low, very musical tune and Celestia could help but chuckle. "I always wanted to do that!" she said. "I tell ya Celestia, but ah never heard anythin' more beautiful than that whistle." said T-Rail. Then the Alicorn turned to the fireman's side.

"What about these?"

"Those look like water valves and dampers to me. I'm not sure, but that lever looks like a blow down valve and this here looks like some type of oil feed."

Celestia knew that none of the trains in her land burned oil. This is what got her attention. "I wonder what civilization does that, or just builds something like this in general." Twilight then spoke.

"According to my friend Lyra, she believes that the engine is from the......."

"Human world?"

"Uh......yeah. I know that sounds kind of strange, but....."

"No, no, no. Humans aren't out of the question, nor is anything else. Nopony knows where this came from."

Twilight and the others looked up at Celestia in amazement. Even she had no doubts. She guided them out of the cab and out to the front of the station once more. Everypony gathered around Twilight and the stallions until Celestia spoke. "Braeburn, T-Rail, Lyra, and the Elements of Harmony, meet me in Canterlot at 5 o'clock , we shall discuss more of this in private. Guards, take the engine and store it in the Canterlot shed until then. Nice to see everypony!" With that, Princess Celestia got into her chariot and took off. Leaving the town quiet for a minute. They then turned to see that a guard was driving 4460 in reverse towards Canterlot, leaving a cloud of black smoke behind. The town went back to their business and still talking about the recent event. "Now what?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Now we prepare." said Twilight. I'm assuming we'll have dinner over there so everpony, look your best. We always want to keep Celestia pleased. "How long are we going to stay?" asked Fluttershy. "I can't leave my animals alone for a long time. They might starve, or fight, or even worse......" Rarity butted in to calm the Pegasus. "It's okay darling. We'll find a temporary caretaker for you until we return. I think i might know somepony." This definitely soothed Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie then spoke. "Oh! Should I bring desert? Or anything to celebrate the train's arrival?" Twilight shook her head. "The desert is fine Pinkie, but nothing party related. I don't think ponies would party for a machine." This sort of discouraged Pinkie Pie but she didn't mind. "Well then," said Applejack, "lets get this show on the road."

***********

Canterlot, 5:00 P.M.

"Perfect timing Twilight!" said Princess Celestia, as they met in front of the palace. "Please follow me, we have dinner waiting for us downstairs." Downstairs? Normally dinner was held on the main level. Was it really that private? They ponies followed her down several flights of stairs into what appeared to be a large laboratory full of giant computers, and other machines. There were spotlights shinning down on a collection of automobiles, airplanes, a ship, and two steam locomotives! 4460 was one of them but the other one appeared to be smaller and seemed to look older. It had 4 small pilot wheels and 4 large drive wheels. It was trimmed in brass with read, green, and white paint. It also had a wide funnel like the equestrian engines. In the middle of the lab was a furnished wooden table with a velvet cloth, surrounded by several chairs. The largest one at the end appeared throne like and most likely was for the princess.

Over the course of dinner, the ponies talked amongst each other and to Celestia about what was going on in Ponyville and the small meeting on the platform with 4460. Many listened in as Celestia talked about here experience with the engine and here opinion about it. She then stood up and made a conclusion. "This locomotive, Southern Pacific 4460 is without a doubt, solid evidence of a parallel universe. And further more extremely likely to be a part of the legendary human world." It took a while for the ponies to soak this up, but for Lyra, it looked as if she was going to explode. "I knew it!" she exclaimed "I knew humans existed, and you thought I was crazy! You heard it from the princess herself!" They could help but laugh at her attitude. They never seen Lyra so excited before. Lyra blushed when she realized she was standing on her hind legs like a person, then she sat down.

After dinner, the ponies were led by Celestia to a giant machine in the floor of the lab where there were rails with silver rollers in between. in the back was a mechanical arm with a draw-bar coupling at the end. The machine was surrounded by a guard rail and behind it was a computer showing a diagrams and graphs. Celestia turned to the ponies. "It has been more than one hundred years since we seen human technology for the railroads. As you can see behind me, this steam locomotive is very similar to our own. This is the Central Pacific "Jupiter" number 60. It was built in 1868 and since it's arrival, we've built our own engines from its design. It is the same for these other vehicles. Ford's model A and T, American Airways Douglas DC-3, and the warship, HMS Hood. All are from this parallel universe. We know their stats, but never found any historical information. What we do know is that all from this collection have been destroyed in their world and reformed here. My guess it's the same for our newcomer." Everypony stared at Celestia speechless. "So let me get this straight." said Lyra. "You're telling us that you've held these underground for more than 100 years, and that our technological innovation is based off of what the humans, in the parallel universe had already made?" Celestia nodded. "Apparently, until then, we lacked the intelligence and ability to create machines like this, so we recreated them for our purposes." Then Celestia turned to Southern Pacific 4460 and using her magic, rolled it on the the machine in the floor. 4460's wheels locked into place on the rollers and her tender was detached, except for an extension on the fuel line. The machines draw-bar arm was then attached to the engine.

"What are you going to do? " asked Fluttershy.

"I'm going to run some tests on the engine to see what information I can get out of it. I measures draw-bar horse-power rating, tractive effort, speed, etc."

"Oh."

Celestia turned on the machine and opened 4460's throttle wide. The engine's wheels began to turn slowly, but gradually picking up speed. Her chugging intensified, and steam shot from the top of her boiler. Celestia and the others watched the locomotive transfer readings to the computer. It gave larger numbers and the line graph began to rise. By now the engine was at full speed! The computer read 116 mile per hour, boiler at max pressure: 260 psi, and her tractive effort at 64,600 lbs. Celestia kicked in the booster and the traction increased to 76,050 lbs. "Wow! This is awesome!" cried Rainbow Dash. Celestia offered Rainbow to blow the whistle. She flew into the cab, grasped the whistle cord and blew. 4460 let out that musical moan of her 3 chime. "This just got 20% cooler!"

Chapter 4: Celestia Finds the Truth part 1.

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Celestia had 4460 running the test for at least and hour before shutting her down. From the results recorded, the locomotive performed flawlessly, having kept a constant rate in power and speed. The princess and the rest were very impressed, and thought the engine was worth using for regular service until they figured out where it came from, and the story behind it. For Celestia, it wouldn't be very long until she finds the truth. The clock in the laboratory, chimed at nine o'clock which triggered a power switch, shutting down the equipment, except for the emergency lights. "My goodness." said Celestia. "Is it that time already? Well, I guess we should get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow, and there's work to do. So I want you all to be refreshed and prepared." The ponies looked at each other in confusion. "Work? Big day?" asked Rainbow Dash. Twilight placed her hoof on the Pegasus's shoulder. "You can count on us princess. Come one guys." The guests walked up the stairs and out the laboratory leaving Celestia alone with the 4460, and her collection. She walked over and began to reattach the engine to it's tender when she started to feel light-headed. She began to sweat, and was hyperventilating. She could stay up much longer. Loosing her balance, she blacked out and hit her crown on the locomotive's Knuckle Coupler, making a metallic "PANG!"

Poor Princess Celestia didn't know what hit her, for now she woke up in a strange atmosphere. She was surrounded in white fog, and could barely see her hooves below her. "Hello?" she called out. Nobody answered but her own echo. She called again, "Hello? Anybody here?" Just then, she heard a faint sound of rushing steam and a continuous
"Clang Clang Clang Clang!" of a bell. The sound was all too familiar now, for a black silhouette of a steam locomotive appeared out of the fog. It couldn't be no other but the Southern Pacific 4460, grinding to a halt just a few yards from the Alicorn. An eerie, but calm voice of a young adult female pierced through the fog. "Hello Princess Celestia." The princess was stunned now, she had no idea if this was the voice of the locomotive of somepony else.

"Uh...Hello. To whom am I speaking to?"

"The one who stands before you, your highness."

She knew what that meant. Nervously looking back to the locomotive's boiler front, she gasped. The locomotive now had eyes! The pupils were blue, the lids were a darker shade of silver, and the eyelashes were similar to Celestia's.

"I am 4460. That's what I'm commonly called."

"I....I don't understand! How are you speaking? You're inanimate!"

"Hey! Steam locomotives have souls too! Only, I am to personally communicate telepathically."

"You mean to say, I am just dreaming?"

"Yes. Though you currently have a conscious connection with the mind. Our souls are speaking."

"Oh goodness! I must have blacked out earlier!"

"Yes you have. You took a nasty hit to the head on my pilot."

Celestia blushed in embarrassment. It's not like an immortal princess like her to just black out like that. Actually it's not like an immortal princess to be talking to a train through a dream. She looked around and the fog began to move. She looked at the locomotive, her eyes closed as if she was concentrating. The scene shifted to the Canterlot lab, where the spotlights were shining down on the collection, with the surroundings being pitch black. "Your pieces of your collection are from my world." said 4460. "To my knowledge, which has been accurate lately, arrived here because they were destroyed. Just as you said before. But notice how they aren't alive like me. They have lost their soul. They are officially inanimate." Celestia had taken a minute to soak that up, which triggered something in her mind. "You arrived here in motion. You were unmanned, but operating! Are you to tell me that you are a preserved, working example of human technology?" The locomotive smiled. Celestia hit the nail. "You'll understand more when I give you a tour of my life. From the beginning, to now.

The scene shifted to several enormous brick buildings, with stacks belching out black smoke and white steam. Celestia read the sign on the main building.
Lima Locomotive Works. The factory whistle blew and Celestia looked around. She saw for the very first time, a group of humans! They were wearing old, worn-out, dirty clothing and a few were wearing hats. They all were walking towards the factory, apparently not seeing her. Some just walked right through her. Her jaw dropped in awe as she watched. She never thought this is whats humans looked like. Their physical features didn't fit too accurately to the description archives, which made them look a lot better. "Welcome to my birthplace." said the voice of 4460. She appeared on Celestia's left, on a track leading in to the locomotive shop. "Lunch break is over for second shift! If we hurry, we can see the boys putting my boiler onto my frame." She followed the engine into a longer section of the shops with several tracks leading to it. Walking in, the princess could see several hundred men at work pouring hot liquid metal, operating machines, rolling wheels, and operating a large overhead crane. The crane's rail went the entire length of the building. "Oh! There I am!" 4460 shouted. She rolled forward to a giant metal cylinder sitting on cinder blocks.

Princess Celestia walked up to the cylinder, examining it closely. "This is you?" she asked. "Well, that's part of me. The rest of my parts are either scattered around the building, or are still in the process of being made. Here comes the crane." They both looked up and saw the cranes brackets lowering down to the boiler. "Okay hold it!" a man shouted. He appeared to be a foremen. He dressed similarly to the foreponies in Equestria's factories. Two other men rushed over to secure the brackets and gave the foreman a thumbs up. "Hoist her easy now!" he told the crane operator. Slowly, 4460's boiler raised into the air and was carried down to the other end. "Amazing!" exclaimed Celestia. "That's not even the good part." said 4460. "Watch how they put me together." The scene shifted rapidly, to the other end of the building. 4460's boiler was already on her frame. "Lets speed this up." said the locomotive. Suddenly, everybody and everything were moving quickly. The clock on the wall was spinning like crazy, and the two watched as the men worked putting 4460's parts together. Starting with rolling her trucks and wheels into place, then her cylinders, her back-head instruments, cab, catwalks, skyline casing, step ladders, pilot beam, air pumps, air tanks, smoke box cover, pistons, and finally her drive rods. "My goodness! How long did that take?" asked Celestia "30 seconds." answered 4460. "But real time, it was about two and a half days."

The Alicorn and locomotive went outside the shops by the shed door. "Now observe, as they unveil me." A small steam locomotive with 6 small drive wheels rolled through the shop's doorway. After about two minutes, it backed out slowly. Coupled to its front, was the shinning black locomotive herself! "There I am! Freshly painted, and filled with water. Now all they have to do is light my fire, and that's when my life begins. Lets speed this up once more." They followed the new-built 4460 to an empty lot with several tracks. The small steamer uncoupled from 4460 and disappeared behind another building. Several men crowded around the new-built locomotive, and three climbed into the cab. "Your highness, feel free to watch from the inside." Celestia spread her wings and flew into the cab and watched a man light an oily rag. The one on the fireman's side pushed forward the oil feed valve making the sound of gushing oil echo in 4460's firebox. The man with the rag threw it in the firebox and a blinding light filled the cab. "And there she goes!" said a man on the engineer's side. He looked middle aged, with grey hair but he was in physically fit condition. Everything sped up again and Celestia watched as the pressure gauge rose to 250 psi.
Flying out, she could see steam exiting the cylinders, and the crew checking the drive rods. She saw the spirit engine sitting in front of her past, and she was talking to her. "Happy Birthday young one. You have a successful life ahead of you. A new class, a new era, you'll serve your country, you'll be with your siblings, and you'll meet your fate to the diesel locomotive. But not here, not today. Understand?. We'll be with you." The new-built blew a long lonesome note from her whistle, and steam began spraying form the cylinders. Celestia could help but notice tears falling from spirit 4460's eyes. Celestia was doing the same. Both watched as the engine lurched forward down the strip of track, and disappearing.

Chapter:5 Celestia Finds the Truth part 2

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The princess and the steam locomotive were now, what appeared to be traveling across the country. The Lima Locomotive Works building changed to a forest, then to massive grass plains, to the harsh hot western deserts, to the Rockies, and finally to a railroad yard. Celestia looked around, but all she could see were steel tracks, several hundreds of metal and wooden freight cars, and the plumes of smoke rising from above them. In front of her, the 4460's image rolled up to her and spoke. "Welcome to the town of Sacramento your highness. This is Sacramento Yard, owned by the Southern Pacific, and the place where I took my first assignment as a mixed traffic locomotive. That's my crew over there." Celestia turned her head to where 4460 was looking, and saw two men dressed in suspenders, jackets and caps, standing by the 4460 of the past. One appeared to be older, with glasses, white hair and was pretty short. The other, was younger, tall, and slim with short brown hair. The two men were reading a newspaper, until one of them spoke.

"So this is what were in for, huh Donald?" said the young man.

"That it is Barry. The allies want us to assist them in the bomber raid. This will show them Germans!"

"Wow, a train full of medical supplies and ammunition and this is only my first assignment."

"Barry, you'll do fine, I know that. Besides, this is our locomotive's first assignment as well. She'll do fine as long as you keep her steam up."

"Yes sir."

4460 grinned. "And what a good fireman you were Barry." The crew climbed into the cab and were preparing to leave. Princess Celestia became curious on what the crewmen were talking about. She never heard of bomber raids or Germans. "Excuse me, 4460." The engine looked down to the Alicorn.

"Mmm?"

"Your former crew, they spoke of bomber raids and the Germans. Who are they, or what are they?"

"Ah yes. My assignment was to take this train load of supplies so they can be taken to Europe, on the other side of the world. My country, America, went to war and we were helping out our allies in a bomber raid on one of the enemies, Germany. Bomber raids are a group of large airplanes, that drop bombs from above. This mission was ran by the Royal Air Force."

"A war?" asked Princess Celestia. That word had sent a cold chill down her spine. She remembered the last time there was a war in Equestria, but it hadn't occurred for centuries. She began to question herself, if this locomotive was a true war machine, or was it doing it's job for the sake of protecting the country. If so, was this so called, Germany, or any of the other enemies, that serious to kill for? She couldn't tell.

They watched as the train departed out of the yard and began to grow smaller in the distance, until the scene, as usual shifted to a different location. They were now on a street with tracks curving into a station. As Celestia looked around, she saw several trains pulling passenger cars in and out of the station, their bells clanging and their whistles blowing. She never seen a station so active. So active, that a few men were standing outside with red flags and holding up the automobiles at the crossing. The engines were all different sizes. Some looked similar to 4460, but with different sized drive wheels, dual headlights (the top one flashing), different cab styles, numbers, and different tenders. Two of them, had a beautiful color scheme of red, orange, black, and a slick cursive writing saying Daylight on it. Celestia looked at her telepathic companion as if she knew the engine would speak, which she did. "Los Angelas. This is where me and a lot of my relatives spent most of out time as passenger locomotives. My cousins, the mountain types had several services on the railroad, and they even got to look a little like us with the skyline casings and horns. Those, over there were my famous siblings, the GS Class. 74 of us were built, but only 50 were chosen to become the famous Daylights, Oh how boastful some of them were, especially the GS-4s and GS-5s, they're the ones with the two headlights, not to mention how new they were. My eldest siblings were a little more calmer."

Celestia looked at 4460 in astonishment. Everything she explained clicked into her mind, especially to see how many siblings the engine had. It was as if each had a personality of their own, well according to 4460, they did. She wondered of 4460 still knew, or had any close relationships to the other engines in the present day. "Do you still talk to your siblings? Do they know where you are? Can you speak to them?" That question seemed to hit 4460 like a dagger in the heart. Tears began to show in her eyes but she refused to let them go. "Did I say something offensive?" she thought to herself.

"It's okay Princess Celestia." said 4460.

"I thought that it would be interesting to know, but i guess...."

"No. It's necessary for you to know, I'm the only one that can give you my background history. Let's just say, I know of a few family members that survived."

The two were now at a massive engine shed where Celestia saw 4460 of the past sitting inside her stall, while her siblings were lined up. Their numbers were striped, the drive rods gone, boarded up cab windows, blacked out headlights, and empty of steam. Celestia couldn't help but wonder if they were deceased. She turned around and saw a strange looking locomotive. It had a similarly sleek look to it, but the windows were up front, it had no drive wheels, and it was very quiet as it moved. It purred like a cat as it slid up to the dead steam engines and coupled up to them with a soft clank. "What is that?" asked the princess. "That's my fate your highness." replied 4460 "The diesel locomotive. They would be the what replaced us steam locomotives because of efficiency and money. They could run off of fuel ONLY. They didn't need a fire to make steam, they didn't need the maintenance we required, and they didn't even make smoke. I HATED them with a burning passion because they were so rude and kept telling us we would die soon. The only exceptions were the innocent, sweet little switcher engines that actually helped us in the yards."

They both watched as the black, orange, red, and silver diesel pulled the line of dead steamers out of the siding. "You don't recall any of them surviving?" asked the Alicorn.
"Unfortunately, not." answered 4460. In present day, I've met three of my Pacific cousins, but never met my only other surviving sibling, a GS-4 Daylight. I feel too pained to show you my last run on the railroad. To be brief, I was one of the few engines to be put in storage. In 1958, several railfans requested an excursion behind a steam locomotive, and I was chosen. As a matter of fact, I was the very last steam engine to ever run of the Southern Pacific railroad before I was saved for the scrappers torch, and put into a museum in
St.Louis, Missouri. I'll show you my restoration in present day and my disappearance. We'll finally be on point."

With that, they were now in present day at a museum. Standing outside was the 4460 once more, being rebuilt. Time was moving quickly, along with the people working on the engine. Celestia could just make out the lettering of one of the workers shirts. "Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation." she pronounced. She saw a pair of men standing in front of her looking at he work being done and the older men gave a couple pats on the back of the younger one. "That's the organization's president and apprentice. D. McCormick and James Jackson." said 4460 "James was my absolute favorite engineer since my restoration. For a twenty two year old, he learned quickly and had some talent." They both watched was the restored engine was steamed up, coupled up to five passenger cars, rolled on out of the museum grounds, and on to the mainline. "Now, the conclusion of how I arrived in your world." said the locomotive.

"I sense it's nearly morning." said Princess Celestia. " I must wake up soon."

"Then let's make this quick shall we?" replied 4460. With that, they both witnessed as the restored engine came thundering through a gorge. Just ahead was a tunnel that was glowing with several colors. Celestia was shocked as she witness the entire train pass through the portal and vanishing. Seconds later, she saw the crew, James and all walking out the tunnel in shock and bewilderment. "So that's how you got here." concluded Celestia. "Your crew and train hadn't managed to make it through the portal. That's why you were a runaway. Oh I feel sorry for Braeburn and the trainmen risking their lives to stop you. Er no offense." 4460 just chuckled. "None taken your highness. Now wake up."

Chapter 6: Power Starved

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Upon the locomotive's demand, Princess Celestia woke up in sudden shock. She trying to wrap that strange telepathic dream around her head, which even for a goddess, was hard to do. As she got up, she began to feel a painful throbbing on her head, then remembering what the 4460 had said about her hitting her head on the engines pilot. Gaining her balance, she turned on the laboratory lights and looked at the clock. "*Gasp* Goodness! It's half past five, the crack of dawn! I gotta hurry!" With that the Alicorn princess disappeared in a flash of her magic, leaving the lab empty and silent.

Later that morning, the guests woke up, feeling fresh and energetic. Twilight had something on her mind as she led her friends downstairs for breakfast, feeling isolated within. "I wonder." she said to herself. "Wonder what Twilight?" asked Lyra. Twilight jumped from being startled, and took a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's nothing Lyra. It's just that, I have a feeling that Celestia might have found out something last night while we were sleeping." She turned to the mint-green unicorn who looked somewhat bewildered.

"You think there's like, some kind of spiritual energy? Oh, I like the sound of that!"

"Well lets not make any assumptions. I don't know for sure, but her majesty said this will be further discussed."

They all went down into the laboratory to find the table set up with lots and lots of breakfast options. Pancakes, muffins, toast and butter, juice, cereal, and such. Everypony's stomach began to growl, but Applejack's and Braeburn's were the loudest of them all. On the table, they spotted a note written by the princess. Twilight picked it up and read aloud.

Here is today's breakfast for you all. Make sure you eat plenty because we have a big day ahead, along with some information

I gathered from our visitor last night. I will be with you shortly, for I have some minor errands to take run. I hope you enjoy.

Princess Celestia

"Well what are we waiting for?" asked Pinkie Pie ecstatically. "Dig in!" So, everypony charged at the table of food and began to chow down, even Fluttershy. But she seemed to be nibbling quickly. Applejack, Braeburn, Pinkie, Lyra, and Rainbow Dash challenged each other to see who could eat the fastest and the most. Rarity looked at them in disgust and ate her blueberry muffins in an elegant manner, while Twilight and T-Rail just chewed their food normally. T-Rail looked over at the 4460 and just stared. "My, my. Ah still can't get over how something like that could ever end up here. Ah wonder if her majesty plans on usin' it on our railroads." Twilight looked over at the engineer and smiled. "T-Rail, I'm sure she has some special assignments for you and that engine. It's just in a matter of time."

And in a matter of time it was when Twilight realized that the princess was standing right behind her. "Oh! Princess Celestia!" This made the gang freeze as they saw her majesty looking at them. They all sat down in a formal manner as if nothing ever happened which made Celestia laugh. "Too late. I caught ya." Celestia's guests could help but blush. She walked over to her chair and elegantly took a bit of a chocolate muffin before speaking. "Good morning. I assume you all had a good nights rest?" They all nodded in response. "Excellent! Do I have news for you all, but a fair warning, this might not seem very......believable." Twilight gasped. "Your highness, we would never doubt you in a million years." That made Celestia relieved that she could trust them. So, she explained her encounter with the Southern Pacific 4460 in her dream and how she managed to find out the engines history, to the time of her disappearance in her world, the day before. Nopony said a word, but took the time to soak all this information up like sponges. Lyra was the first to break the silence.

"So you're telling us, that you were talking to this machine and pretty much time traveled, in a human world?"

"That's right Lyra."

"Aw. How come I miss out on the good stuff!?" she pouted.

"It's okay. I will however, tell you this. Humans don't look like anything that's described in our books, and are very, very intelligent. It's just that, they do take up a violent side."

Besides the part about the violence among humans, Celestia's guest were fascinated by what she said about humans having a completely different appearance and level of intelligence. It's no wonder they could build something so advanced like the 4460. "There's only one thing that's really important I must tell you." Celestia continued. "This engine is 73 years old, and upon what she has told me, her kind has been replaced by the diesel locomotive. The diesel is a newer type of engine that is fuel efficient and doesn't require lots of maintenance. She is one of the last of her kind." The ponies kept their attention to Celestia, waiting for her to speak any further. "Until I can figure out how I can return the locomotive to our human parallel universe, 4460 will be used for temporary revenue service on the Equestrian Railroad. T-Rail, I want you to be in charge of her, and build a new engine stall. Also, since there's been high demand in produce and merchandise, and the lack of motive power, we need new steam locomotives built, but for now, this one can do the work of 3."

They all were liking this idea and were looking forward to see what this engine could do. Celestia laid out on the table, some blue prints of the railroad cars she had seen in her dream, like the Daylight passenger cars, Pacific Fruit Express refer cars, metal boxcars, flatbeds, tank cars, and cabooses. "T-Rail." she said. "Have these taken to the car builders, and I would like 10 sets of each finished in a week. Can you do it." The engineer looked up at the princess in a dignified manner. "Your highness, if it can be done, we'll do it. I'll get on it right away." Celestia smiled, then turned to the rest.

"This meeting is dismissed. I'll have an escort ready for your return to Ponyville with the locomotive."

"Yes your highness." they all replied.

A week later, everything was in order. 4460's stall was built, the freight and passenger cars were finished thanks to the shop ponies, and 4460 was going to take her first assignment in Equestria. The engine simmered and gleamed at the Ponyville station with a long line of freight cars full of miscellaneous cargo to take to Vanhoover, a 2 day trip. Just the other day, Celestia had ordered nearly 900,000 gallons of Equestrian Golden Fuel Oil for 4460 to burn, which made the engine steam a lot better, according to the test trials. Everypony was waiting for the departure of the train when Rainbow Dash arrived to give a weather report. "There's going to be bee a little change in our forecast everypony." she said. "There's a snow storm about 30 miles north in the Equestrian Rockies. Our train might be delayed for it might have to take a detour through the valley." Everypony look discouraged at this, but 4460 let out a loud spat from her safety vale as if saying, "Please, I've handled worse in my world. I can do this." Then Dash noticed something, T-Rail wasn't in the cab! The only pony she saw was Smokey. "Hey! Where's the engineer?" she shouted. The town's ponies looked around but didn't see him. Just then, Twilight came rushing through the crowd with a note held by her magic. "It's a note from T-Rail!" she cried. "He's come down with the flu and won't be better for maybe a week." This was a shocker.

"Well, find another engineer Twi!" said Dash

"They've been called out on duty. No engineer is available."

"Well does anypony know how to drive a train?"

The town looked among each other with head shakes and shoulder shrugs. This was bad. Pinkie Pie was panicking now. "Oh no! Oh no no no no no no no no! No engineer means no train. No train, means no cargo. No cargo, means no business. No business, means no happy faces. No happy faces, means no money. No money means no RAILWAAAAAAA...." Twilight rushed over to shut her up. "Pinkie Pie! Calm down. We can find an engineer, but we have to think. Who else we know could drive a steam train." They pondered. and pondered, until Fluttershy spoke up.

"Um.... Twilight. I volunteer to drive the engine."

"What? Are you sure Fluttershy?"

"Of course. Remember when I drove the Ponyville Express a few years ago?"

"Well.....yes but that's a small engine and........"

"It makes no difference Twilight. I have some knowledge on trains."

Twilight was shocked. Such a timid Pegasus like her, driving a big steam locomotive like the 4460. "Well okay Fluttershy. If you insist. Well, at least you have Smokey for assistance." With that, Fluttershy flew up into the cab where she saw Smokey on the fireman's side. She blushed. "Um.....h.....hi Smokey." The fireman blushed too and gave her a silent tilt of his cap. "What should I do?" asked Fluttershy. For once, Smokey replied. "Don't you worry about a thing hon....I mean.....Fluttershy." he said timidly. "Just keep your hoof on the throttle, and ah help from there." She blew twice on 4460's whistle and slowly opened the throttle, letting the steam through the engine's cylinders. "Take care darling!" said Rarity, as they watched the train depart.

Chapter 7: Two Worlds at Once

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Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 30th.

A white car was driving along the winding road, under an iron bridge crossing the viaduct, and off onto a gravel path on the northernmost side of the freeway. Out stepped a young man, tall, slim, and possibly in his early 20's. He was wearing a white T-Shirt, blue jeans, shades, and had a guitar case slung over his shoulder. The bright sun made his dark-brown curly hair glow as he walked along a small footpath next to the railroad tracks. He had reached an open spot, where there was a wooden bench and a few other things that made this place a good resting area. He took off his guitar case and laid down on the bench, slowly inhaling and exhaling. The look on his face was expressionless, as if he didn't know what to think about. Just then, he heard the sound of tires scrapping to a halt next to him and catching a little bit of dust up his nose.

He looked over to see a older gentleman. He had a floral cap, a Bud-Light shirt, shorts, and tan Converse All Stars. He was full bearded in white with his hair hidden under his cap. "Good morning James! Fancy seeing you around here. It's been a while." said the old man.

"Good morning Mr.B. It's good to see you too. Seems like you're in a good railfanning mood today."

"Well I needed some time off since my girlfriend went with her...."

"Wait, wait, wait. Say what now, a girlfriend?"

James had always known Mr.B to be a single man with a few girlfriends in his life, he thought Mr.B by now would be too old. "I'm sorry Mr.B. I'm just surprised you'd be wanting to be with someone in your stage of life. You know." Mr.B laughed and patted James on the shoulder. "Oh it's okay. It's just that, I've never met someone like her before. She's like no other, but what about you? Anyone special in college?" James couldn't really answer him straight forward. He's never had the best of luck getting girlfriends. "Well," he spoke finally, "I haven't had time to be with anyone since school is more important. Plus, I have a big problem on my hands right now." Mr.B look confused, for he's never heard of James having problems in his life.

"What kind of big problem."

"Really big. It's 16 feet tall, over 100 tons, I was responsible for it, and it got away."

"An elephant? You have a pet elephant?"

"Elepha........NO! The 4460!"

Mr.B finally remembered the incident a nearly a week back and gave the "oh" face, James gestured a "yes" in return. He went over to the tree root penetrating out of the ground and took a seat, burying his face in his palms. He sighed. "So what happened out there J?" asked the old man. James had explained how he could see the multicolored flames ahead of him, and how the train wouldn't respond to the brakes. "As we hit the portal, I blacked out. My crew was taken out safely along with the five cars. I was rushed to the hospital with minor injuries to the knees and wrist, along with a concussion to the head. The doc said i would had temporary amnesia, and would last for a couple of days." James looked over to his old friend to make sure he was soaking this up. Mr.B gestured to James to continue. "So afterward, I was sent back home where I was told to be resting for the week. The strange thing is, I was having dreams that the 4460 is somewhere else. I saw it being stored in the depths of a castle, where I saw a........ never mind. I'm just crazy." He got up and walked back to his guitar case and pulled out the instrument. He took out his cloth and began wiping it down, and adjusting the tuning knobs. Mr.B sat down in a metal chair and took out his radio scanner. "So why haven't you gone to the Oregon Police or FBI for assist in the investigation? It's all over the news."

James looked up at the old man and began to speak in a sarcastic tone. "Sure detective. I saw a multicolored portal up ahead, but I couldn't stop my train in time. It disappeared into thin air. I had dreams that it was in a parallel universe." James paused and took a breath. "Unless I'm asking to go to a mental facility for the rest of my life, I'd rather keep this to myself. The 4460 is out there, I just need to find it." Mr.B shrugged and turned on the scanner. They both could hear the railroad crew speaking as the rails in front of them began to hiss. James kept his ear open for the oncoming train, and soon heard the sound of a diesel engine. "Sounds like and EMD locomotive. SD60 possibly, it has its dynamic braking on." Mr.B chuckled and looked back to James. "I thought I taught you that James." They both laughed together as the engine approached. It was red and white with "SOO" written on it, its trucks whirring from the motors. As the cars went by, James played a rhythm on his guitar in sync with the wheels. After a good play, Mr.B offered him a cold beer which James accepted. "So." said Mr.B. "What do you do now?" James took a sip from the bottle and paused. "I don't know just yet. But I'll think of something."

* * * *

Meanwhile in Equestria, Fluttershy was at the throttle of the lost locomotive. She is currently T-Rail's replacement until he gets better. She was now in charge of running 4460's first freight train on the Equestrian National Railroad. With her, was firestallion Smokey. They were just pulling out of Ponyville when the engines drives began to slip. *chuff chuff chuff chuchuchuchuchuff chuff chuff chuff* Fluttershy squealed and eased the throttle forward to put 4460 under control. "I'm so sorry." she said shyly. "I really should be here, I'm too scared to run the train." Smokey looked over at her and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He knew before that she was a timid pegasus. He wasn't one to talk much, but he spoke to her gently to try and comfort her. "It's okay Fluttershy, the wheel slip ain't that big of a deal. It happens all the time, but I know how you feel." She looked over at him, still a little scared. "Really?" Smokey nodded in reply. "Yes. I'm just as scared as you are. I've never worked on something so big before. This is all new to me, to try and keep this thing alive. We're in the same boat......or in this case, cab." Smokey paused and looked out the window to check the train. "The point is, if you stay confident and be brave," Fluttershy finished his sentence. "Then you're able to do anything." They both blushed and looked away from each other. Those were the words that their teacher spoke before.

Later down the line, they approached a red signal where the points where switched into a siding. The engineer eased the throttle forward, and tapped the brakes to bring the freight train in. Smokey was looking out his side to the rear of the train to make sure it cleared the switch. "5 cars, 4 cars, 3 cars." he called out. Fluttershy put the brakes on a little more. "2 cars, 7 feet, clear." She ground the train to a stop, but wondered why they were here.

"Why were we switched to the siding?" she asked.

"The Ponyville Express has to come through. According to the schedule, it has been detoured down the valley putting it, and us behind."

"I was wondering why it wasn't back in Ponyville sooner."

"Well we're here, it isn't unfortunately."

Suddenly, they heard the chugging of the tiny steam locomotive, approaching them. Smokey could just make out the heart-shaped headlight, and the pink boiler of the oncoming train. The train's engineer could see the 4460 up ahead and gave 4 happy blasts of the whistle, and Fluttershy grinned, replying with a long blast of 4460's 3 chime and a toot of the air horn.

As the Ponyville Express rolled by, Smokey reached out and grabbed a note that the conductor had for him. As he read it, he began to sweat and shiver. Fluttershy wondered what was wrong, and Smokey gave her the message. The mare began to read it.

Warning! Mountain run off has wiped out the valley mainline at 10:15 a.m. We just made it through fortunately.

Please send telegram to Vanhoover for further status #4460 at the next station. - Ponyville Ex.

Both looked at each other and exchanged nervous looks. "This is bad." Smokey said. "That means the mountains are the only option left. We can't afford spoiled produce if we're late or even turn back. Besides this is a priority freight, we can never be late with one of these. We're taking a risk, but I do it for the citizens. Are you okay with that?" Fluttershy sighed, put a hoof on her cheek, and smiled. "Smokey you're so brave and thoughtful." His face went hotter than 4460's fire, but tried not to express his embarrassment in front of her. "Yes well, let's get moving." he said. With that, the train began to pull out of the siding and down the mainline to Trottingham. For the past 2 hours, Fluttershy and Smokey were sharing stories about each other. Smokey explained how he was being T-Rail's apprentice, and how he never gave up on the firestallion, making him proud. "Sounds like Rainbow Dash sometimes." said Fluttershy. She talked about how Rainbow Dash wanted her help to bring the water back up to Cloudsdale with a waterspout. In the end, all though they didn't break the record, Rainbow was still proud of her for being a part. The rest of the way was quiet except for the pounding of 4460's drivers.

* * * * *

Soon, the train arrived in the depot where Fluttershy and Smokey went inside to send the telegram. Word had spread quickly on 4460's arrival for the town's ponies began to crowd the depot and view the iron giant for the first time. As 4460 simmered and felt the warn sun shine on her boiler front, she began to feel proud to be a part of their world as a freight engine. Just like the good old days. Yeah the good old days. 4460 thought to herself. She then had a flashback to her past. The year was 1958. 4460 was sitting in her stall in Sacramento, steamed up for her final excursion to Sparks, Nevada. She looked over to the siding to see a line of dead locomotives. Most of which were her relatives, the GS class. She could see their cabs boarded up, numbers stripped, parts of their drive rods missing and a lot more. She saw people climbing all over them salvaging whatever they could get their hands on like whistles, gauges, and builders plates. She hated the sight, but knew this was the end of her era. She saw one locomotive at the front, numbered 4449, being detached from the deadline by a switcher diesel. She heard the locomotive's last words before disappearing into the yards. "Long live the Daylights my young sister!" she called.

4460 came back from her vision in shock when she noticed fillies and colts sitting on her pilot and deck plate. A few mothers were nervous about their children being around her but the fathers were there supervising. 4460 felt happy again, seeing the warm smiles on their faces as the looked up to her. Some saying they want to be engineers, or wanting a ride on the engine. She could see news reporters and journalist taking photos of her. 4460 remembered the same thing on her test run in St.Louis after restoration. Her dynamos whirred to life making her headlight glow, she gave a few soft taps of her bell trying not to scared the fillies and colts, and gave a soft blow on her whistle. 4460 loved the moment.

Chapter 8: Celestia and James Braking the Case #1: Celestia

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Canterlot Castle

After Princess Celestia temporarily added the Southern Pacific 4460 to the Equestrian National Railroad roster, she could have some time to do some research on the incident of the engine's arrival. Since her dream, she already had some background information that she had taken note of that could possibly help on getting 4460 back home. She spent hours and hours, browsing through the Canterlot archives with Twilight Sparkle and Lyra with little luck. What she could find was some history on humans,(which wasn't so accurate), a map of the early railroads, and mythological strategies on getting to parallel universes. Otherwise, not much to go through which made Celestia really doubtful. She and the two mares took whatever they had to Celestia's room and began to soak up every bit of information. "Wow look at this!" said Lyra. "The first drawing and impression of a male human. Almost looks like an ape." Twilight had her eyes focused on the myths and spells. "Some of these seem reasonable for a guess, but not enough evidence." she observed. The princess was comparing the old railroad maps to the knew ones. She marked out no existing lines. A few more hours had passed as they studied, when Celestia dismissed the two. "Are you sure your highness?" asked Twilight. "I'm positive. I'll have an escort home ready for you. Goodnight now." Twilight and Lyra bowed and left the room.

She later began to feel tired, and looked out her window and saw it was already late dusk. "I'll feel regenerated tomorrow after a good night's rest." she said to herself. Just like that, her head hit the pillow of her bed and drifted off to sleep. It felt like a couple minutes into her sleep when she realized she was zooming across the country like she did the week before, but this time in Equestria. She followed the railroad line to Vanhoover and she already knew this was another dream where she would meet up with the 4460. Just up ahead, she saw the glowing lights of the town of Trottingham in the night. She had approached the depot platform and scanned the area with no sign of 4460. However she did hear the town's ponies talking among themselves about the train's recent visit just an hour before. "What a massive monster that thing was." said a blue stallion. "I'm sure it's gonna destroy that steep grade up the mountains. It usually takes three of our engines to climb it ." said the station master as he locked up for the night. The other ponies nodded their heads in agreement. Celestia gasped, but nopony heard her. She had heard about the snow storm up there, and how dangerous it was going to be if 4460 was going to travel that way. With that she followed the line to the north to catch up with the train.

A short ways away, she could see the lights of the newly built wooden caboose at the end of the train. The week before, Celestia made blue prints of the Southern Pacific rolling stock for 4460 to pull since the Equestrian freight car couplings weren't compatible. As she got closer, she could see that the train began to slow down and up ahead was the ruling grade. Looking inside the cab, she could she Fluttershy and Smokey talking to each other. "Okay Fluttershy," Smokey said. "up ahead is the grade. It's 5.89% which is really steep." The pegasus looked out the cab window towards the incline which made her nervous. "Will we make it?" she asked. Smokey thought aloud. "Well, the grade is 5.89%, with the engine booster ah' discovered, could give us 76,050 pounds of tractive effort, it's an additional 20 pounds per ton of train, yeah we'll make it, but our speed gotta be..." Celestia could see on Fluttershy's blushing face, that she admired the fire stallion a lot. She was soon interrupted by the call of the young female voice of 4460 herself. "Princess Celestia!" The princess flew over and landed on the track in front of the steam engine, with her blue eyes and other beautiful facial features. "You've summoned me. I don't get that to often." Celestia said. "I have your highness." 4460 replied. "I had a feeling that you were kind off stressed on trying to get me back home." Celestia nodded as a gesture for the locomotive to continue.

"Well, I have an idea, but I'm not even sure this will work."

"Anything right now works."

"I'm no astronomer obviously, but early in the morning, I was on my way to see my sister when I noticed that the moon was red. A lunar eclipse."

In the back of Celestia's mind, she remembered that her sister Luna had risen the Red Moon as a rare occasion on the 22nd. She was told that there would be a Red Moon twice this year but was planned carefully, not to mess up the season flow. They were to be only 2 months apart. "I believe," 4460 continued, "that the after-affects of the lunar eclipse had caused that portal to appear. I also remember traveling through a dark, dry, horrifying land before I came out the tunnel to Equestria." A dark land? the alicorn thought to herself. She couldn't recall anything of the sort, nothing like that in Equestria.

"However, I need James, my engineer to take me back, I have a feeling he's they key. But how do we get him here?"

"I don't know. It's sounds like a mission, but I wish you could have told me earlier." Celestia remarked humorously.

"Well, we didn't have enough time. Besides, I may look and sound young, but I'm still 73 years old. I don't remember everything.

The two had a long laugh in the night until 4460's bell went off. Her wheels slowly began to turn backwards. "Well, here I go! I have to tackle this grade. I don't think I've been on one this steep, well at least from what I remember." Another laugh from the two, making Celestia feel better and regenerated. She told 4460 that she would be staying close to watch, and see the engine doing her best. "Trust me your highness, you won't be disappointed! Though I haven't handled steep grades like this, I can handle mountains. I've dominated Donner Pass with my Cab Forward cousins and on my last run in '58! It's a cinch." Celestia couldn't argue with that, especially a steam locomotive of 4460's size and power. All she could do was take her word for it.

The 4460 stopped about a mile and a half from where they were talking. Her pneumatic reverse gear shifted down to move forward, and she soon began to charge forward. Over the tops of the trees, the princess could hear the shotgun-stack in the distance which sounded like her giant iron friend was working hard to get the train moving. The light reflected off the rails as 4460 got closer now picking up speed, faster, faster, until the sounds of her chugging began to blend together. Celestia stepped back a little when the train came into view, her marker lights glowed green, her oil-fed fire flickering, and kicking up the surrounding dirt. The engine looked marvelous at speed making Celestia think 4460 was an innocent show off. The drive rods whipped around almost looking invisible, the holes in her box-pock wheels giving the optical illusion like they were still, and the smoke flying back over the skyline casing.

The 4460's deep whistle wailed as she flew by, the princess's head following and watching her charge up the steep grade all the way until the engine disappeared into the fog, the cars still rolling by. She looked to the glowing caboose. It too, disappearing in seconds. Throughout the night, she watched as the train was stressing up the grade, getting closer and closer to the summit. Smokey closed the cab doors keep him and Fluttershy warm, for now the temperature began to drop and coating the the windows in frost. At first the snow began to fall slowly, but soon got heavy with the strong winds picking up. 4460 didn't seem mind since Celestia could hear her humming cheerfully, which she thought was crazy! The engine's front was covered in snow in minutes and snow was caking up in between small spaces. Her hot boiler was the only exception since the snow melted instantly.

As they reached the climax, the whole train stopped when Smokey and the conductor walked outside, bundled up in winter clothes. They had a small talk, then began climbing on top of the refer cars, opening the doors and hatches. The conductor was a unicorn, so he used his magic to shovel snow into the cars to keep the produce cold (smart idea). Fluttershy hesitantly walked outside with an oil can and began to walk around the drive rods oiling all the parts. She had no warm clothes on her which made Celestia feel sorry for her, but Smokey caught Fluttershy and ran over to her. "Are ya crazy or somethin'!?" he called over the whistling wind. "I'm sorry Smokey!" Fluttershy answered. "I just want to help out. Save you the trouble and......." Smokey put his hoof up to silence her "Get back in that cab cause ya gonna freeze out here! Ah will take care of the oil!" Smokey sounded pretty angry to Celestia's ears, but the caring type of anger. "O.....o......okay S.....S....Smoke.....S....Smokey." Fluttershy shivered. She then flew into the cab and closed the door. "That poor pony." he mumbled to himself. "Wanting to help, it's cold and snow, in the m....m....middle of s...s...summer, mountains, aaaachoooo! (Uh oh! Not you too Smokey. Wait I'm writing this story!)

Quickly but carefully, he finished oiling the drivers. Celestia now began to understand what some railroaders go through and why they are so tough. Just as Smokey was walking to the cab, a deep shrill pierced the darkness, then falling silent again. The fire stallion's ears folded down, he bit his lip, and his irises shrank. Celestia was shocked too, and she thought of the worst. "Smokey! What was that?" Fluttershy asked from the cab. The deep shrill came again, but this time it was closer. "I don't like the sound of that!" 4460 cried, half her face covered in snow, but only the princess could hear her. 4460 looked around nervously but couldn't she what was behind her. The ground shook to the pattern of giant footsteps. "4460!" Celestia shouted. Still with her faced covered in snow, she replied.

"Mmmph?"

"There's a Yeti! Get out of there now!"

The engine didn't think twice. She tried moving but realized she was under control of Fluttershy. "Guys! We gotta go! Smokey hehehe don't stand there, hehehe let's go!" Smokey and the engineer were still frozen in shock. "Guys let's go! Quit fooling around! I wanna go home too you know!" They still couldn't here her and she realized it. Oh I'm so stupid!, the locomotive said to herself. She closed her eyes and built up pressure. She gave a loud cry of the whistle, rang her bell, and blew her horn. Anything noisy for the crew to snap out of it and it worked. The crew was back in consciousness, but now they could hear the footsteps getting louder and faster. "Uh no." 4460 grumbled. Smokey yelled up into the cab. "Fluttershy! Get us outta here!" She responded by pulling the throttle wide open but the drivers began to slip with snow flying off. "We're not moving!" she cried "Sand! Give 'er sand!" Smokey shouted." The sander was put on full but 4460 was still slipping. "Sand!,......SAND!,.......SAND!" 4460 finally got a grip and slowly started pulling out. Celestia wished she didn't have to sleep to see this but she couldn't wake yet. The yeti's shrill came again and the footsteps grew, scaring the life out of the 4460 and her crew. Smokey was half way up the cab ladder when he saw the angry red eyes in the distance. "Oh buck."

Chapter 9: Celestia & James Braking the Case #2: James

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It was almost sunset, but James and Mr.B still enjoyed conversing with each other. James had been playing his guitar the rest of the day and Mr.B thought he was pretty good at it. "That's some pretty impressive playing there James," he said. James shrugged as he smiled at the compliment. "Well, guitar was always my favorite instrument, since my dad liked listening to different kinds of Rock," he replied. The young man looked down at the instrument and stroked in, cleaning off the dust that the trains had kicked up "A lot of those pieces are Rolling Stones. They've always inspired me to play guitar. I said one time that, I wanted to be like Keith Richards or Ronnie Wood." They both had to laugh at that. He sounded like a 5 year old with the biggest dreams. The sun was now halfway below the horizon, when James bid goodbye to his friend and began to walk down the trail, towards his car. When he got in, he paused for a second to think. He snapped is head back up and gasped, "Of course!" With whatever that meant, he started up his car and charged up the gravel road back home.

When he arrived, the windows were still dark, his parents haven't came back. Now, this was the house James grew up in most of his life, but he was allowed to stay there anytime of the summer. His parents were on a 4 week vacation, letting him know at the very last minute. It kind of upset him, but being a steam locomotive engineer was way better.

James reached for the phone and began dialing some numbers, and held it to his ear. He heard the tone; 1.....2.....3.....4, then he heard a familiar voice. "Hello?" James' face lit up with excitement. "April? Hey it's James!'' April the only close female friend to James and for a while, he liked her a lot, until she got a boyfriend. She was one of the volunteer crew members on engine#4449. But as a career, she was a forensic scientist. "James! Oh my goodness, are you okay? I heard about the incident." she said, a little nervous

"It's okay, I'm fine, but I called because I need your help involving that."

"Sure, anything for my friends!"

"That's good to hear. I need you to go to the scene and get some evidence on the locomotive's disappearance."

"But they have no explanation for it. How am I to figure it out?"

James thought that was a ridiculous question to ask, especially from her. "April, you've impressed me so many times. Since the second grade, you've helped me figure out stuff, and find suspects. You're amazing!" The line went silent for a quick second until April spoke again. "James, you're such a flatterer. Okay I'll try. I think there had to be a prior event to 4460's disappearance so I need all events that happened within the past 48 hours."

James hated questioning at times, but this was to important to ignore. So, he had answered all of his friend's questions for the next hour or so. He took the time to take notes himself on the events, to see if he could get any ideas. Afterward, he thanked April for the help, set the phone back on the jack, and looked at the clock; 10 p.m. I should get some rest, he thought to himself. He climbed up the stairs to his roomand threw himself on the bed. It didn't take long before he went to sleep. He didn't have a full life-like dream that he usually had, but instead, visions. Numerous visions that related to the events he told April, and more.

First, it started off with the 4460 going through the tunnel in the gorge, then he saw it go through a barren land of black grass and dead trees. Followed after that, he saw the 4460 being chased down by a smaller steam locomotive with a railroad crew, in what appeared to be ponies! James was confused. Was it real? Did this actually happen, or was it just his imagination running wild? He then began to hear female voices with images of their source. He saw a group of six female ponies, all pastel colored, a mint green one in the background, and a yellow stallion he'd seen on the small steam engine. "Princess Celestia must know about this," said the purple one. "Braeburn ya darn fool!" said the orange mare, slapping the stallion with her hoof. "Hello Southern Pacific 4460! Welcome to Equestria!" shouted the pink pony. James was now feeling nervous, for he had the feeling this was actually happening. The scenes kept shifting, with the sounds of clanking metal, hissing of steam, and chugging. He saw 4460 appear out of a mist and she had a face! She was talking to a white horse. She was mixed with unicorn and pegasus. "Your highness, I need to get back home," the 4460 said. "The Red Moon appears in two months this year." the alicorn responded, followed by an image of a lunar eclipse.

James was now looking at a mountain range, where a violent snow storm had brewed. Piercing through the blinding sheet of falling snow, was 4460's whistle. He saw her headlight glow in the distance and right behind her, was a pair of red eyes; angry red eyes. James couldn't see who was driving her, but he sure did see the glowing silhouette of the alicorn flying right next to her. When the caboose had passed, right in his sigh was the horrendous face of a yeti! It roared at him, causing James to wake up. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" he screamed. He was short of breath from the shock, but soon was relived when he looked outside. The sun rays were shining through his window, reflecting off the exposed areas of the hard-wood floor. "That was NOT right." James said aloud.

* * * * * *

"Come on Braeburn!" shouted Applejack to her cousin. "Rise an' shine! Apples don't wait!" Braeburn moaned as he was being shaken awake. He still wasn't feeling pumped up after chasing a 356.6 ton engine across a desert, being whipped in the face by snapping ropes, then getting hit again by his own relative. Ponyville was supposed to be his getaway, his break. But like all of the members of the Apple family, there was always some form of work to do. He rolled off the mattress and hit the floor, still sleepy. "Why Jacks? Ah told ya what ah just went through." Applejack shook her head in pity. "Oh buck up! Once ya start movin' ya'll be wide awake and ain't no stoppin'." Braeburn looked up at her. "That's what ah'm afraid of." he said. "Anyway," AJ continued, "ah have an errand for ya to run in town. Not to mention, a lot of mares have been admiring you." His eyes lit up at those words. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" Helping him up, Applejack took the stallion downstairs for a good, hardy breakfast.

4460 and the Equestrian Magic Railroad

by stallionlocomotive4412

Chapter 1: A Lost Runaway

Chapter 2: The Visitor of Ponyville

Chapter 3: Meeting Royalty

Chapter 4: Celestia Finds the Truth part 1.

Chapter:5 Celestia Finds the Truth part 2

Chapter 6: Power Starved

Chapter 7: Two Worlds at Once

Chapter 8: Celestia and James Braking the Case #1: Celestia

Chapter 9: Celestia & James Braking the Case #2: James